Geneva 2nd Ward candidates ready for the details

Richard Marks and Renee Brenner are seeking the Geneva 2nd Ward seat Alderman William Barclay is leaving.

Marks is a certified public accountant and chief operating officer for a financial services firm. Brenner, a homemaker and longtime school volunteer, is a former alderman, having served from 1997 to 2001. (She joked at a forum that she can save the city money by using her leftover business cards.)

Policy vs. nitty-gritty

Brenner and Marks were asked whether the city council should be a policy-setting body or delve into the details of budgets and programs. Recent city council examples have included lengthy discussions about leaf pickup, flowers for downtown and spending on bike racks.

Marks says an alderman should look at the city budget line by line. "It adds up, no question about it." He suggests aldermen be assigned as liaisons to various city departments, to better understand some of the ideas proposed by staff.

And the decisions might get tougher, he said, because the city is only feeling the pinch of sales tax reduction and possibly one year of reduced property tax. With declining property values factored in the next two years, rate limits might push property tax bills lower. He does not, however, favor an across-the-board percentage budget cut; spending should be examined department by department, he said.

"We probably should be more policy-oriented, but constituents call us about the nitty-gritty," Brenner said. "We don't need to micromanage, but constituents need answers." She thinks that ability to call your alderman directly is part of the small-town charm of Geneva.

Brenner does not favor laying off city workers. She would prefer unpaid furloughs, or a four-day workweek of 36 hours, except for public safety workers. "I think it is important we keep our experienced personnel. They know what we expect and are responsive and responsible," she said. The staff may be in a better position than the aldermen to know what is needed, for example, to maintain facilities and services.

Those darn leaves

Marks believes the city should have gotten a firm bid for an outside contractor to pick up leaves last fall, at least to see what it would cost to have a guaranteed third pickup. If the cost increase was low enough, he thinks people would support it. That would free up city staff to work on other items such as the emerald ash borer infestation.

Brenner thinks the leaf service is something of a double-edged sword. "The city has provided excellent services, so people have come to expect more than the city could provide," she said, referring to a third, unpromised pickup that was not done in 2008 due to snowy weather starting Dec. 1. There are still piles of leaves around town. She's open to seeing what contracting it out would cost.

For more details about the candidates, see Election 2009 on our Web site, dailyherald.com.