The four candidates vying for two Redding City Council Seats recently hashed out their policies on public safety, even though the forum they were attending was billed as a chance for them to talk about trails, parks and recreation.
The forum was sponsored by several different groups with an interest in outdoor issues. But rather than open space and recreation, discussion quickly veered into the hot-button topic of public safety, or a lack thereof in the city’s open spaces.
Homelessness, illegal camping and crime on the city's trails and parks dominated the evening. Moderator Jay Thesken, also with the Shasta Chapter of the California Native Plant Society, says even though most of the questions from the audience were geared toward outdoor issues, he isn't surprised that all four candidates swung toward public safety in their answers.
"My wife and I live in the city and we use a lot of the trails all the time,” Thesken said. “Just like any place else in Redding and probably some of the other Northern California cities, the homelessness problem is getting more and more severe. I knew it was going to come up. Even in the news, just the other night someone in Caldwell Park got beat up. So, it’s an issue. I like to see people think they are safe to use the outdoors.”
And at least according to those we spoke with, Incumbent Candidate Gary Cadd and first-time Candidate Adam McElvain have a good handle on the public safety issue. Dale Ball heads up the volunteer group Shasta Support Service. He says he feels that those are the two candidates who support his vision for keeping the outdoors safe.
"Gary and Adam are both are people who will get stuff done in the city and move forward with what we've got going on," Ball said.
Cadd stated that he'd like to have the city waive the dump fees for Ball's volunteer group, which spends weekends cleaning parks and trails. He also said he'd like to make it harder for the homeless to establish a foothold in the open spaces, which would eventually drive them out of town. According to Ball, the other two candidates, Lea Tate and Julie Winter, seemed unprepared and only wanted to tout the worthiness of Redding’s half-cent sales tax Measures D and E, which would add money to public safety.
"It doesn't seem like they had answers to any questions other than Measures D and E that will fix everything,” Ball said. “It’s not a magic wand. We need real solutions. I think Gary and Adam both came up with a lot of great tangible solutions that we can get in place a lot sooner."
All four candidates agree that we need more officers but how to get there is the issue. Cadd and McElvain oppose the tax measures and prefer to use general fund money they say the city has now. Tate and Winter both support the measures, which would put an estimated $11 million toward public safety, but not for about a year.
Otherwise there wasn't a big difference in the candidates’ views of the issues.
Bill Oliver with the Wintu Audobon Society says when it comes to parks and recreation, he liked all of the candidates. But he'd like them to be more specific when it comes to funding.
"All things being equal, yes, they want to spend more on trails and maintenance of parks and that sort of thing,” Oliver said. “I have to admit they are stymied by the economy and the funding."
It did not seem like any minds were changed on who to vote for in November. But most agreed that these are important issues that need to be discussed and whoever wins the two open seats needs to continue to fight for Redding's open space and trails.