On April 12, 2006, the
League of Women Voters
hosted the
third
candidate forum for the May 2, 2006 City Council Elections
. Complete election coverage can be found on
Charlottesville Tomorrow’s
Election Watch website
.
*Note: Mr. Schilling (R) had to leave the forum early because of a prior engagement and was present for only the first 11 of the 20 questions. His closing remarks can be found at the 1:04:17 mark.
Listen to podcast:
Download CityCouncilForum20060412.mp3
Read transcript:
Download transcript as PDF
Introduction by Tara Boyd, VP for Community Engagement of the
League of Women Voters
Opening Remarks
Question and Answer session
1. As a community, we have many priorities–good schools, affordable housing, safe neighborhoods, user friendly transportation–and of course all these things cost money. How can we make the city less dependent on the property tax and what are your ideas for economic development in the city?
2. What are the candidates positions on the issue of rebates for moderate and low income homeowners, especially in view of rising real estate assessments?
3. Do you support a permanent mall crossing at Fourth Street and how would you evaluate the success, or lack thereof, of the temporary crossing?
4. Where do the candidates stand on infrastructure maintenance and improvement?
5. Will you vote to end the practice of programming the tax increase into the budget and publicizing the budget before determining that the tax increase is necessary? What specific procedural changes will you bring to bring some fiscal discipline to the City?
6. Are you willing to pledge to not engage in personal attacks on other candidates and are you willing to publicly disavow yourself from Blake Caravati’s remarks?
7.
[Specifically addressed to Mr. Taliaferro]
Is it true, in the early 1970’s, that it was the [Fire] department’s policy and therefore [Mr. Taliaferro’s] policy not to hire African-Americans, and if not could you please explain?
8. In light of the city’s current democratic controlled spending habits, what changes would you make to the city’s current spending policies?
9. What can you do about the transportation headaches that will keep developing as UVA, Albemarle County, and the City all continue to build and grow?
10. As a counselor, what specifically has Mr. Schilling done to improve adult literacy and what kinds of programs or actions do the other candidates support to address the problem of adults without a high school diploma and/or who cannot read?
11. What type of system should be used to elect school board members and why?
[1:05:17
Mr. Schilling’s closing remarks]
12. Are you in favor of specifically funding more ESL programs to address the growing population of students in public schools who speak English as a second language?
13. If a resident asks for your assistance in interacting with a city official, what if any action would you take? And if not, why?
14. Would you have supported City Council’s letter to the General Assembly opposing the HB751 resolution to ban gay marriage? And how will you vote on a proposed amendment to the Virginia constitution to support HB751 when it will appear on the November election ballots?
*Note: HB751 states that a civil union, partnership contract or other arrangement between persons of the same sex purporting to bestow the privileges or obligations of marriage is prohibited and that such an arrangement entered into in another state or jurisdiction is void in Virginia and any contractual rights created thereby are void and unenforceable.
15. Would you have voted for the recent appropriation for MountainSide Assisted Living? Are there any conditions in the next budget cycle that would lead you to support city council expending funds on behalf of Mountainside Senior Living?
16. If elected, would you increase the city budget beyond its current allocation to public schools despite the funding needs of many other city programs?
17. How do you think you can help bring a real vision to Charlottesville achieving a leadership role and becoming a true world class city? What do you think are the areas with the greatest resources, will, and community cooperation to make such a mark?
18. Do you support government use of eminent domain to build public facilities in minority neighborhoods?
19. If elected, how would you bring back summer youth employment programs? And what strategies would you use to to improve re-entry of ex-felons?
20. Where do you value law enforcement and fire services as priorities in city? And what measures might you take to getting these services fully funded?
Closing statements
