‘The city could do a lot more’

Editor’s note: Due to time and space constraints, our story on Tuesday’s town hall focuses on just a few of the many topics discussed. A video of the debate can be found on the YouTube channel for 42 Lines Creative. 

Also, check next week’s issue of the Berea Citizen for a fact check on statements made by candidates during both recent town halls held by the Berea Restaurant Association. 

Berea mayoral and city council candidates had a chance once again to answer residents’ questions at a town hall on Tuesday. 

The town hall, the second hosted by the Berea Restaurant Association for this year’s general election, featured new topics including resources for seniors, 911 funding, agricultural land use, term limits, and the unhoused population. Two hot topics at the first such forum—Flock cameras and the city’s 3% restaurant tax—made another appearance. 

On a question for city council candidates about the city’s unhoused population, both Leah Van Winkle and Ali Blair said there is a need for more work in this area.

Van Winkle said that, though there are resources in the area for people facing homelessness, a lot of barriers still get in the way. 

“I think the city could do a lot more to help fund that work and also to reduce those roadblocks and keep those organizations open and operating,” she said. 

She said some of the city’s opioid abatement funding should be used to help with housing resources. 

“Unfortunately, homelessness often coincides with issues with addiction,” she said, stressing that that is not always the case. 

She also mentioned a need for a homeless shelter.

Blair, who said she and her three children faced homelessness at one time, said she would like to see more of the police department’s resources used for social services, and mentioned propping up existing organizations. 

“Supporting the coalition of people who are already doing that work with more resources is important too,” she said. 

Eleven of the 13 candidates running for city council attended Tuesday’s forum. Incumbent Katie Startzman and newcomer candidate Brooke King did not attend. 

Two of the city’s mayoral candidates, incumbent Bruce Fraley and Ricky Clontz, attended. Troy Lane did not attend. 

Many of the city council candidates focused on existing resources for unhoused people in their responses. 

Incumbent John Payne said he wants the city to “continue the momentum” it has started with providing resources, such as the social worker position within the city’s police department. He also stressed a need to focus on identifying the people who want help and then ensuring they know where to find that help. 

“The important thing is for them to know that there are people out there willing to help,” he said. 

Ronnie Terrill, who resigned from the council earlier this year but is running to be elected again, said he doesn’t know the answer to the question on what to do about the city’s unhoused population. 

“We do have some places I think for homeless people to go to,” he said. “It’s just a matter of getting them there.”

Saying there are 40 homeless people in Berea and 140 in Richmond, newcomer candidate Dan Sipple said the city has “to be able to monitor and take control of some of that.”

“There are people who don’t want to be homeless,” he said. “There are people who want to take..to live in the system, want to live in the system that benefits them. But they do have value.”

911 funding

Both mayoral candidates and city council candidates faced questions on the recent move to add 911 fees to city residents’ water bills when the county stopped receiving most of the funding from CSEPP. 

Mayoral candidates were asked whether they agreed with how the county’s emergency operations center is funded, and, if not, how they would look to fund it. 

Fraley said he believes the city benefits from the 911 center being consolidated with the county and the City of Richmond. 

“We have to have a great, first-class 911 system,” he said. “When it comes time you need 911, it’s important that you get somebody right away and somebody is dispatched to you.”

The city pays about 20% of the costs, he said. 

Clontz said Madison County Judge-Executive Reagan Taylor spent unnecessarily on the 911 center. 

“We’ve got facilities over there we don’t need,” he said. “But Reagan would not step off his high horse. Because he’s above us.”

City council candidates were asked a slightly different question about 911 funding. They were asked whether they agree with how the city’s fee is collected, which is on water bills. 

City council candidate Barry Poynter, who was appointed to the council earlier this year, called the funding “a difficult situation” and said that the funding model is working right now. 

“It is a solution that’s working right now,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s a solution that will work forever.”

He stressed that 911 is critical. 

“I do want to be sure that we have a 911 system that works, that we have an integrated, coordinated system in the county with all three governments...and I just want to be sure when you dial that 911, you do get somebody,” he said. 

Incumbent city council candidate Steve Caudill said he generally agrees with the funding model and pushed back on allegations of unnecessary spending. 

He said officials made upgrades so that they were purchased before CSEPP funding expired. 

“There was a lot of work that went into that, to be sure that the budget that we have for county 911 is what it is and not five times that,” he said. 

Sipple said the funding issue is “just big government still.” 

“Let’s not let government dictate” what happens to citizens, he said, after discussing CSEPP funding services and then pulling that funding.