Hubbard residents face contested races for city council

By John w. Goodwin jr.

Communication and finances are on the candidates’ minds.

HUBBARD — Candidates for council at large each want more solidarity between city officials and a better grip on city finances — changes each feels he is most qualified to bring about.

Four candidates are seeking three at-large seats in the May 5 primary election. Jerome C. Crowe and Raymond J. Moffitt are challenging incumbents Patton M. Gilliland and Douglas L. Rohrer.

Each ward race also is contested, with Marianne Hallapy challenging incumbent Bonita L. Viele in the 1st Ward, and Ralph T. Ferguson III and Timothy O’Hara challenging incumbent Richard A. Perry in the 2nd Ward.

The 3rd-Ward race will have Arthur E. Daly and incumbent Lisha A. Pompili-Baumiller. Harold E. Deraud and incumbent Edward F. Palestro Sr. are vying for the 4th Ward seat.

Gilliland said the members of council, himself included, are working hard to keep city finances in hand and avoid layoffs.

“The biggest issue is the economy and money needed to keep running this city. That is the main thing to try to keep our service to the people and keep our people working,” he said.

The city recently abolished the position of road superintendent, a move Gilliland supported, but he said that is not considered a layoff. The city, he said, abolished the position for financial reasons.

Crowe disagrees with council’s decision to abolish the position. He said council should have a goal to keep city services at current levels and keep city workers employed.

“It is important to keep our workers happy,” he said.

Rohrer said a major point to lowering the city’s budget will be contracts with unions that are fair to both the city and workers. He said council members, including himself, just received a fact-finder’s report and are working to achieve that goal.

“Our general fund has really gotten hammered,” he said. “We have to get some movement on the contracts to scale back costs a little bit. Labor is our biggest cost.”

Rohrer said he is opposed to any additional taxes and would like to see the city look for “alternative types of financing” such as grants or stimulus money.

Moffitt agrees the budget is a major concern for the next council, but he sees the creation of a better relationship between council and the administration as equally important.

“One of the big things I would like to see is mutual cooperation between both sides — council and the administration. If we could do that, then we could get more done out there,” he said.

Gilliland said he wants to see a better working relationship between the mayor and council, but he does not want to see any more incidents such as a recent situation in which the mayor defended his own son-in-law who was driving city vehicles without a driver’s license.

Crowe said he would push for open communication between council members and the city’s administration.

“The people I talk to just want to see a clean house down there [city hall]. There is no cooperation between the mayor and council,” he said.