Mtn View candidates debate city money woes and transparency
Tue, 03/25/2025 - 1:59pm
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By:
Laura Wagner, contributing writer
The City of Mountain View will vote for an alderman during the Tuesday, April 8 election. In preparation for the election, Howell County News held a candidate debate Saturday afternoon. Three candidates, Barbara 'Gail' Wallander, Brigg Pierson and Jennifer McAdams were in attendance. Wallander is running uncontested for the West Ward Alderman position while Pierson and McAdams are vying for the seat of East Ward Alderman.
Wallander introduced herself as having lived in the area for 25 years, with 12 of those as a community member. "I have seen how things have changed over the last few years and how much needs to be done to our community to get it right," Wallander began. "I can't gripe about something and not do anything about it so that's why I chose to be part of the city council." Wallander went on to say that she plans to work with the current council the best that she can.
McAdams introduced herself by stating that she has lived in the community with her husband Ernie for 20 years with her children graduating from the Mountain View-Birch Tree School District, remaining as residents. She also has grandchildren in the area. "I made the decision to run due to the concerns with the leadership and direction our town is heading. We cannot continue letting this occur and if we don't get it corrected now, it may be irreversible," she said.
Brigg Pierson introduced himself as being a part of the community for the last 10 years. He served as a law enforcement officer and is currently a reserve as a non-police officer and volunteers for the fire department. "I've watched the city I've seen a lack of government, or at least a lack of responsibility in the government and transparency hiding behind vague RSMos. I can't complain if I'm not willing to step in and help solve the problems," he said.
As the introductions ended and switched towards the debate portion, questions on transparency and the city’s precarious finances taking center stage.
On whether or not they would vote for a tax increase, McAdams said, "Depending on what the tax increase is, depending on where the funding will be coming from, it needs to be looked into. It needs to be studied. It needs to be where the people can afford it. Again, we're a small town. We live just like normal folks around here. We don't have that extra money for taxes and utility bills raising and this and that. And that is where we have got to figure out what is best and not just jump up and make a rash decision over it. And that's where a city administrator comes in. Also, I think that they will look into the best possibilities for our town. They know where things can be gotten, where it doesn't affect our citizens as much.
Pierson said, "Unfortunately, taxes are part of our lives. We live in an unperfect world. There is inflation. Everything's going up, which means the cost of everything in the city is going up and to afford that, unfortunately, we're going to have to shoulder some of that burden. I myself understand the issues with being unable to afford taxes and utilities, but I also understand that it's going to happen. There are bills to be paid, there are improvements to be made, and even with grants, most of the time they require the city to bring at least so much money to the project. We have several big projects needed done. Our roads, to my understanding, the sewer lines are extremely outdated, and these projects have to be done without funding that comes from the city taxes.”
Responding to a question about raising taxes to keep utility services the same, or performing less utility maintenance to combat inflation, Pierson answered, "Repairs are mandatory. If things are not kept up to date, then the city can be fined for having issues with say the sewage leaking to other places. Too much drain water going in, it's not being recycled the correct way and costing us more -- the same with our electricity. If we don't keep it up to date, the city's going to constantly be losing power. The other day during all the wind the whole west side, at least a good chunk of the west side, lost power. Better poles, better transformers, better lines could help keep that going."
McAdams rebutted, "There is a lot of studying a person can do. I don't feel like decisions should be hit as hard. You know, there's things like gas taxes. Let somebody else pay the extra. We have travelers. We have seasons around here where people come through here all the time from different states and are already used to paying a high gas anyway, so why not have a gas tax? Let's not tax our citizens personally, and let's kind of keep these utility bills down again. There is a lot of our citizens that live on fixed income. They cannot afford a $500 electric bill. They cannot afford a high sewer. And there has got to be a solution out there to prevent this from happening and getting it through other means."
When asked if the candidates would look to cut the city budget before raising taxes, McAdams said, “We've got to do something to prevent this from being on our citizens’ back. There is things that's probably wasteful. I'm sure there's wasteful spending, but we need to look and see where it's at and we need to fix it. We need to find other ways through grants, through programs, through whatever it takes before we start taking it out on the citizens."
Pierson responded, "That is most definitely where we should look first before taxing our citizens. There's a lot of fixed income. So if there is frivolous spending in the city somewhere, that should definitely be stopped to help alleviate any financial issues that could be burdened, put on our citizens. Again, not knowing those numbers at the moment I can't say how much we spent, but I do believe that there is probably, as she said, plenty out there to cut and move towards other."
Asked to pin down exactly what they plan to do about the city’s financial difficulties, Pierson said, "Again, not being privileged with numbers, it's hard to really say. Checking spending, making sure departments aren't spending more money than they need to be buying things that aren't necessarily needed would definitely be a way to help alleviate stress. Looking into ways to bring new businesses in, that would be a task I have to figure out a way to entice other people to come here, show them why this is such a great city. It's a beautiful town, I love it here. W need other people to see that, to bring businesses in to help the infrastructure."
McAdams rejoined, "I do believe that a lot can be taken care of if we get our infrastructure up to date. We have pipes under the ground that's been there for years, many years, and if you get them upgraded, updated and repaired, that is less wasteful spending later on down the road to constantly fix, to constantly repair something. This town needs a big upgrade. There is spending out there that probably could be cut back, but it all pertains to saving money by upgrading our utilities, our street, street repair."
Moving on to the infighting among the administration, each candidate offered an answer for how they would build public trust.
Pierson said, "Again, that goes back to common ground. Clearly, there needs to be calm and concise discussions between our council members, which also needs to be conveyed to our mayor. I've heard that there are disagreements in that, but as not being part of the council, I cannot speak to how bad they truly are. It's being able to communicate, being able to come to common ground without being bullheaded and just so stuck in your way that you can't agree to meet them."
McAdams said, "I think it all comes down to transparency, and I think that it needs to be honest. Everyone needs to be honest. Everyone needs to be fair. It shouldn't be what one person wants. It should be what the community needs. And I still believe that the community needs to be on the top of the list of being involved. I think they should have a right to stand up and speak. I think they should have a right to voice their opinion on it and be informed, involved in it 100%, because it is the council and the mayor's job to listen to their citizens and not make it a personal vendetta. It should be all about listening and transparency and honesty on top of that."
The candidates differed on the subject of a city administrator.
Pierson said, "That's been a hot topic for years. It really could go either way. It could alleviate stress off of others that work in the city and manage more departments than they probably should be. So again, that's something that I would have to look into more if I can see more numbers and things like that.
McAdams was firm, "I do believe we need it. I do believe that would help us fundamentally. I do believe that would help us a lot better with grants and bill writing and directions that they could take us and take our town. The city administrator has a lot of pull, has a lot of knowledge of things that can be done for this town, and I think that is one thing that we are definitely lacking and I am very much willing to."
Addressing a crowd question about public interest, McAdams divulged that her husband is employed by the city as the gold course administrator.
“Yes, my husband is the manager of the golf course,” she said, “but that is not why I'm running. That is not anything to do with what I feel is going on in the city. That is his job, just like my job. My thoughts on it is there could be a conflict and I'm sure somebody's going to come up and say, well, you know, your husband works for the city. I have no use for the golf course. But it's nothing to me other than it is a historical structure for our town, just like the parks, just like the Veterans memorial. But that will not affect my thoughts, my decisions on anything to do with this town."
Pierson responded, "I have no conflicts of interest. The only family I have here is my wife and my two children. So I'm pretty neutral on anything. And again, I would be here to just come to common ground and help alleviate any issues we have in the city. I am employed as a reserve officer and a volunteer firefighter. I currently do anything I do for either department unpaid. It's all my volunteer time to help out where I can so I can stay neutral. If it is something that pertains to wages or something that could benefit monetarily to either department, I would abstain from the vote."
To close, Pierson stated, "Thank you for being here today. Being able to voice my concerns and my hopeful solutions to problems that we are facing, in a face-to-face manner"
McAdams closed with, "The role of a city council member is to act as a legislative body representing the citizen and establishing policies and guide to future developments, services and operations to ensure effective governance. Advocating for both their needs and concerns while effectively serving the community. And as your city councilman, my priority will be in taking responsibility, addressing and finding solutions along with ways to improve our town. Actively listening and representing the concerns of the residents by communicating openly, honestly and gaining their trust by promoting full transparency, acknowledging mistakes and taking corrective action because accountability leads to better results."
The debate was sponsored by Venue 122, TNT Wifi, Shelter Insurance-Andrea McNew and Crosscut Package Store.
To watch or read all the questions and answers from this debate, visit howellcountynews.com/election.