Elgin hopefuls talk expenses and more at forum

Elgin's first election forum featured sparring between the mayoral candidates as city council hopefuls gave their views on city expenses, privatizing services and investing in the arts.

Mayor David Kaptain and his opponent Joseph Galvan, along with city council incumbents John Steffen, Tish Powell, and Toby Shaw, and challengers Julie Schmidt, Jason Dusenberry, Fred Moulton, Mohammad "Mo" Iqbal, Jaime Hjelm and Andrew Cuming, participated in the forum hosted Saturday night by the fiscally conservative group Elgin Octave at New Covenant Fellowship Church in Elgin.

Incumbent Rose Martinez and challenger Kyle Scifert, both running for city council seats, did not attend.

Mayor's race

Kaptain, who had extensive experience serving on Elgin commissions and the city council before he ran for mayor, questioned Galvan's level of involvement in local issues.

Galvan replied he's active with the Knights of Columbus and his church, and can connect with Latino and Spanish-speaking residents better than the city has done so far. He also dealt with fair housing issues in Elgin when he worked for the U.S. Department of Urban and Housing Development, he said.

Galvan criticized a decision by Elgin police to send recruiters to Puerto Rico. Kaptain said he supported that as part of the city's efforts to diversify its workforce.

Elgin has been fiscally responsible and is among few towns in the area that has not raised property taxes, Kaptain said. But the city also increased expenses for churches, schools and hospitals when it added taxes such as natural gas in 2012 to diversify revenues, Galvan pointed out.

The apprenticeship provision in the city's responsible bidder ordinance is "bad," Galvan said. Kaptain said he's reserving judgment until a full review takes place.

The debate got personal at times, as Galvan claimed Kaptain failed to respond to his attempt to talk to him at an event sometime in the past. After the forum, Kaptain said he doesn't remember that. "That would be pretty unusual for me; usually it's hard to shut me up. I think maybe (Galvan) maybe made that part up," Kaptain said.

Forum moderator Chuck Keysor asked the candidates to opine on Kaptain calling Councilman John Prigge "clueless" when Prigge criticized nonprofit funding during a city council discussion about a year ago.

Galvan said Kaptain showed "a lack of decorum" and "a lack of respect." The comment was "probably inappropriate," Kaptain acknowledged.

Later in the debate, someone in the audience shouted "decorum!" at Galvan after Galvan interrupted Kaptain's answer on a different topic.

City council race

Most candidates questioned a provision in the city's responsible bidder ordinance requiring companies applying for city jobs to provide an apprenticeship program. The provision de facto excludes nonunion employers, which typically don't have such programs, Shaw said.

"It shouldn't matter if it's a union or anyone else, as long as it's giving the best price to you, the taxpayer," Cuming said.

Steffen said he supports the provision, while Powell pointed out workforce development is part of Elgin's strategic plan.

In order to balance the budget if the state cuts Elgin's share of income tax, Hjelm said she'd "slow down" on capital projects; Cuming said he'd ask city departments to slash their budgets by 2 percent; Moulton said he'd look at targeted buyouts.

Dusenberry said he wants to fast-track the permitting process for builders and developers. Hjelm said she wants a friendlier code department that doesn't do "selective enforcement." Schmidt said she wants to reduce the tax burden on residents.

The city should have hired an economic and business development director, rather than a communications director - who started in early January - Moulton said. Iqbal said Elgin has a high poverty rate compared to its neighbors and the city must revitalize blighted areas.

Some candidates said they'd support privatizing some city departments.

Hjelm pointed to the legal department, while Iqbal said leaf collection is a possibility. Dusenberry said that's a complex issue that would need a full review. Schmidt said there are "no untouchable items" and everything needs to be constantly reviewed for possible outsourcing.

The candidates agreed public pension funding is among the top issues facing the city, but they differed on the city's role in promoting the arts.

Powell said it's an economic driver that brings in restaurant, gas and hotel revenues, but Schmidt and Cuming said residents - not the city - should decide whether to invest in the arts. Dusenberry said he's conflicted about it, while Moulton said a study needs to be done on the economic return of investing in the arts.

The city's practice to waive some fees to attract businesses has worked so far, Steffen said. Cuming objected to that, saying "government should not be picking winners and losers." Iqbal pointed out it's difficult for any city to retain or bring in business because of the stiff competition out there.