From the Record Searchlight 

Debate addresses city finance

Redding candidates disagree on past and future spending

By Scott Mobley, Record Searchlight
October 12, 2006

Redding City Council candidates disagreed dramatically Wednesday on recent municipal spending priorities -- at last igniting the debate at the core of the current campaign.

The four challengers and two incumbents vying for three open council seats Nov. 7 had one minute each to answer often-complex questions from an audience of about 200 at the Cascade Theatre.

The Viva Downtown Redding-sponsored forum was easily the best-attended council candidate forums in recent city history.

Councilwoman Mary Stegall -- who for many symbolizes Redding's decadelong effort to bootstrap its aesthetic and cultural profile -- defended the Aquatic Center, the Big League Dreams sports park, the Sundial Bridge and the downtown revitalization completed on her watch.

"It's short-sighted to call these projects frills," Stegall said in her opening statement. "They are economic development tools that will give us more money for infrastructure."

Stegall also remarked that the development, business and tourism industries have benefited most from Redding's so-called quality-of-life projects.

"You would not have Sunset magazine saying come to Redding' because the potholes are patched," Stegall said to laughter.
At the same time, Stegall said, the city's big projects are finished for now and "I won't be approving any more."

Yet while Redding was busy beautifying, the city let its police force and fire crews slip below the growth curve and allowed its street maintenance backlog to balloon, challengers Jay Gibson and Patrick Jones said.

Gibson called for a "180-degree change in the philosophy of where the city goes next."

"No one is against the thrills and frills," Gibson said, in rebuttal to Stegall. "But if city finances are in such good shape, why are we asking for a half-cent sales tax increase?"

The recently approved Oasis Specific Plan has become a campaign issue even though it drew little public interest during its nearly seven years in the planning pipeline.

Candidates disagreed whether plans for major big box shopping and a tight cluster of apartments, townhouses and condominiums represents the way Redding ought to grow.

Stegall and Jones, who usually differ in their approaches to city priorities, both said the city should have allowed for more park space in the small city planned for the square mile around the Interstate 5/Oasis Road interchange.

Challenger Dave Rutledge also said he would have followed the Planning Commission's recommendation for less-intense retail development at Oasis than the council finally approved.

Councilman John Mathena, who voted for Oasis, defended his decision. "We will have the opportunity to tell developers how to build with this plan," Mathena said.

Challenger Rick Bosetti said he would have voted with the council, too, noting that Oasis will provide much-needed affordable housing. Not everyone can live on a half-acre lot, he said.

Candidates also strongly differed on whether the city ought to keep investing general fund money in Turtle Bay Exploration Park. Redding contributed $500,000 this year -- $350,000 as a grant from the general fund and $150,000 by hiring Turtle Bay to perform already-budgeted services such as promoting clean water, energy and water conservation.

Bosetti and Gibson said they'd like to see the city wean Turtle Bay off public funding. Jones said he'd like to see how much municipal money Turtle Bay actually needs.

Rutledge said he'd at least like to see Turtle Bay break even one day. And Stegall, as a current council member, refused to say how she'd vote.

Turtle Bay's only unqualified support came from Mathena, who as a candidate in 2002 said he'd want to eliminate public funding for the park.

"Turtle Bay's good for our youth," Mathena said Wednesday, adding he'd support the park as long as it continues admitting youngsters free of charge.

The League of Women Voters moderated Wednesday's forum.

Reporter Scott Mobley can be reached at 225-8220 or at smobley@redding.com.