Mayoral candidate questionnaire

Editor’s Note: A questionnaire with the same five questions was sent to each candidate for Berea mayor twice. Incumbent Bruce Fraley was the only candidate to respond.

1. What do you feel are the biggest issues facing Berea at present, and what plans do you have to address them?

The two issues Berea and all cities are facing that immediately come to mind are illegal drug use and housing affordability. 

 For combating illegal drug use, enforcement is critical. We created and have strengthened the Berea Police Department’s street crimes unit, which has been very successful in identifying and arresting people selling illegal drugs in our community.  We will continue to strengthen the street crimes unit and simultaneously work collaboratively with other law enforcement agencies to keep illegal drugs off our streets.  A second key to addressing the illegal drug problem is prevention.  We will continue to work with our local school systems to educate our young people on the dangers of illegal drugs while maintaining our commitment to “community-oriented policing” where our officers interact with our young citizens throughout our community.  A third key to addressing this issue is treatment.  We will continue to work with our local health care providers, the Madison County Health Department, our community action agency and organizations, such as the Bluegrass Reentry Council, to advocate for treatment and recovery:  Our city’s Community Resource Coordinator is very effective in this area.  

 Housing affordability is a nationwide and statewide issue that we are facing right here in our city.  The rising cost of housing is related to significant inflation in building and construction materials; however, we will take action to address the issue on things we can control at the local level.  One way to address this issue is continuing to modify our land management and development ordinance with the goal of reducing costs to build and renovate housing, such as reducing lot width and setback requirements.  A second strategy will be to form public private partnerships with investors who are building senior housing units with help from the Kentucky Housing Corporation.  We have been working with two such investors and see this as a positive step toward creating more affordable housing options.  Finally, we will need to benchmark with other communities that have implemented successful affordable housing policies to see if they would work in our community.

2. Where do you want to see the City of Berea in 5 years, and how can that be attained?

Berea is a special place where people genuinely care about each other and care about our community.  I want to implement policies that preserve that history of care to keep Berea special.  At the same time, we will inevitably experience growth in our business community and the population of our city.  I envision smart growth, where we follow our city’s comprehensive plan and continue to work with new and existing industries to create good paying jobs for our children and grandchildren.  Berea has a very strong local economy now with over 700 new jobs being created in our industrial park in recent years, and I want our economy to continue to strengthen over the next five years, where our standard of living continues to get better. This can be attained by being pro-business in all we do, working collaboratively with our business community, educational systems, non-profits, and our citizens. 

 We also need to implement improvements in our city’s park system, and continuing to follow our Parks Master Plan is the roadmap we can use to guide us in making incremental progress over the next five years.  We have already achieved improvements such as new pickleball courts, renovated basketball courts, a new city swimming pool and decking, new trailhead restrooms at city park, a dog park, a mountain bike park, and new shared use trails.  We need to keep up the momentum we have achieved in recent years to continue improving our park system for the good of all. 

 Additionally, continuing to focus on creating policies that help with affordable housing will be critical over the next five years (how we get there is covered in question 1 above).  Further, as elected officials, we need to be visionary in our policy making and planning, thinking 40 to 50 years ahead, while also doing our best to improve the quality of life for all current Bereans.  Whether we are looking at the next 5 years or the next 50 years, we need to be receptive to ideas from our citizens, our business community, our young people and all of our citizens to do our best to be united in paving the way for the future of our city.

 In summary, I want to see the quality of life get better for all of our citizens over the next five years and we can get there by working together.

3. Flock cameras are a hot topic at the moment. What specific concerns, if any, do you have regarding their use and how would you address those concerns if elected? If you have no concerns, how would you address concerns community members have expressed? 

The City of Berea has ten flock automated license plate readers located along the primary entry and exit points to our city.  Our Chief of Police made a presentation on them for the city council two years ago, and they were approved as a crime prevention and crime solving tool.  Over the past several months, I have been reading articles and reports of misuse of the automated license plate readers around the country; therefore, the primary concern I have is the same as many of our citizens, including how the data is used and concerns about personal privacy rights.  The Chief and Assistant Chief of Police are currently reviewing our agreement with Flock to determine our obligations and options for the future.  This topic will require broader discussion with our City Council and our citizens to determine what is in the best interest of the city as whole.

4. Data centers are also in the news. How do you feel about data centers? If someone wanted to build one in Berea, would you be for it or would you oppose it?

I am opposed to data centers in Berea.  They are not a good fit for our city, and we are not a good fit for them.  We plan to introduce an ordinance this month which will impose a temporary moratorium on data centers in our city.

5. Berea currently has a surplus of funds. How do you propose the city use those funds?

The City of Berea is in a great financial position due to record job growth and responsible financial management over the past eight years.  At my annual State of the City address, I proposed using our surplus funds to build an indoor community recreation center.  This proposal would address the needs of both youth and adult citizens of our city, which were identified in surveys conducted earlier this year during our city’s comprehensive planning process. Feedback on constructing this type of community center has been overwhelmingly positive, and the Superintendent of Madison County Public Schools, along with the president of Saint Joseph Berea Hospital have already inquired about how they could help make this idea a reality, which is very encouraging from my perspective.  I look forward to making this happen during my next term as Mayor of our city.