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Incumbents push back on many issues during public forum at Vermilion
Familiarity and experience clashed with new faces and at times opposing viewpoints during a city council candidates forum in Ely Tuesday night.
Four of the five candidates running for three council positions - including both incumbents on the ballot - took part in a roughly 90-minute session held in the theater on the Vermilion campus of Minnesota North College.
Longtime council members Paul Kess and Jerome Debeltz, who together bring better than 50 years of council experience, were joined at the table by first-time candidates Frederica Musgrave and Emily Roose.
A fifth candidate, former police chief John Lahtonen, did not take part in the event, which was sponsored by the Ely Rotary Club and the local branch of the American Association of University Women.
The format called for the candidates to answer separate questions in each round, with a brief opportunity at the end for rebuttal, and Musgrave in particular made an effort to call for change in city politics and stand out from the incumbents.
Musgrave, who regularly attends and records city concil and committee meetings, made numerous references to her website devoted to Ely government and cited her conversations on the campaign trail with residents and business owners.
“City Hall and the city council are a good old boys club and that needs to be changed,” said Musgrave.
Roose, who is part of several city committees, told an audience of about 65 people that she sees three major issues facing Ely - child care, jobs that provide generational wealth and housing.
“Tackling all three together will provide the biggest impact in our city,” said Roose.
Frequently, Musgrave made the case that the current council lacks transparency and has not responded to the needs of citizens and business owners, and at times catered to the wishes of developers.
Both incumbents, particuarly Debeltz, pushed back.
“When I’m walking down the street, I talk to anybody,” said Debeltz.
Debeltz also pointed to the work of city economic developer John Fedo, and the availability of low-interest loans for small business owners.
“I do disagree with the point that we don’t help the businesses,” said Debeltz.
Kess added “In some ways we’ve been told we’re the envy of the Range,” for the city’s support of business.
Questions covered a broad assortment of topics, including whether the city should accelerate the replacement of old infrastructure because of a recent water line break that curtailed water service for several hours.
Kess cautioned the city faced limits, particularly finances.
“We have a lot of old pipes, there’s no way to predict it,” Kess said. “We respond to them as emergencies. The one by the water tower was simply pipes that were 100 years old.”
Debeltz added, “If we had $100 million, we could tear up all the pipes and fix them.”
Another question related to the city providing more information about the plans to turn the old Community Center building into a boutique hotel.
Musgrave said that efforts to seek Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board funding for improvements could be directed elsewhere in the city, although Kess noted that the building is now under private ownership.
“He is a private person and ultimately those are his efforts,” said Kess.
Roose added that the project is being tracked by the city’s projects committee, one of several committees she is involved with.
Debeltz disputed contentions that Ely is “dying” but pointed vast differences since the city had more than 5,000 people, and said that population loss can be attributed to downturns in mining and a lack of good-paying jobs.
“ You can’t raise a family on $10 an hour,” said Debeltz. “Maybe some of the people who are anti-mining should help us get good-paying jobs. We need help here.”
Kess said he believed “by and large we have a good city government,” and said that his biggest frustration is “sometimes we move at the speed of government.”
Musgrave said council members haven’t done enough to find out the needs and wants of their constituents and that “the city needs to prioritize what’s important,” although Kess responded he gets few if any phone calls from constituents.
“To get input you have to talk to the people,” said Musgrave. “That’s what I intend to do.”
Housing was another topic, with Debeltz voicing frustrations that the city has been unable to secure state funding needed to advance a proposed apartment development.
Musgrave, however, said the city should focus on unoccupied homes.
“There are many not occupied and many in need of repair,” said Musgrave.
Roose questioned whether the city should take positions on issues it has no jurisdiction over, adding that if the council was to act, it should hold public forums and do more to gather citizen input before taking a stand on behalf of the city.
Responding to a question about Ely’s biggest need, Kess responded “I think the greatest need is housing. Jobs depend on housing.”
Roose said she thinks Ely can stand out as an “arts town” and added “we want to make sure Ely is open and inviting for those who want to come here.”
She was also questioned whether Ely should take action to limit trails that allow for motorized recreation.
“Motorized recreation does have a significant hand in helping our tourism during the shoulder seasons,” said Roose. “However I do think having public forums where we can limit and have public input on where those trails are located will help our city.”
The proliferation of vacation rental properties, such as homes rented via sites such as Airbnb, was another topic.
Kess noted he opposed expansion, particularly in light of the ongoing housing crunch, adding his opposition is “for the simple reason that it takes housing away from people who would like to live here,” and Roose called for exploration of a moratorium in commercial zones.
On green energy and jobs, Musgrave said “we have some experts here who have some details who can present to council. We have a fabulous climate control group, a sustainability group, also CURE Minnesota and they have done so much research.”
Debeltz noted the community’s large senior citizen population and urged residents to help them, recalling his previous volunteer work in delivering for the Meals on Wheels program.
“I wish more people would give their time to help senior citizens and stuff,” said Debeltz.
During closing statements, Kess said “I’ve seen Ely change over time. Some people decry that. I look forward to the new energy young people bring to Ely. I think Ely is changing for the better.”
Musgrave said she “believes in balanced growth and development that reflects the needs of small businesses and residents (and) respects the reasons we moved here.”
Debeltz added “I’ve served on the council a long time and I would appreciate your vote. I work for the citizens of Ely. I’m not a special person or anything. I grew up here. I’ve been here for 72 years out of my 73 years of life.”
Roose said “I am so grateful to live in this community and call it my home. I am someone who is trying to provide an inclusive and welcoming ethos and bring it back along with my financial background to help the city check all of these challenging issues.”
