The Post is sending this five-item questionnaire to candidates running for Westwood City Council.
We will publish candidates’ responses the week of Oct. 20, before early voting begins.
These questions are based, in part, on readers’ input.
The Post touched upon some of the same topics and more at our live, in-person candidate forum on Wednesday, Sept. 10. You can watch that forum here.
Here’s what we’re asking candidates:
- Background: Readers want to know something of your background. Briefly explain your education and employment history and how those experiences qualify you for this job.
- Property taxes: We frequently hear from readers urging cities to consider tax rate cuts or other relief to counteract the impacts of rising valuations in Johnson County. It’s the job of each city’s governing body to set your city’s annual mill levy, or property tax, rate. Is your city’s current tax rate appropriate for your city’s needs? Would you vote for steeper tax rate cuts, as residents often call for? Why or why not?
- Joe D. Dennis Park: Voters earlier this year rejected a plan to sell Joe D. Dennis Park to make way for a larger development that included office and retail buildings along Rainbow Boulevard and a new, bigger public park on the site of the old Westwood View Elementary. Readers want to know where you stood on this much-discussed plan. Did you support selling Dennis Park to make way for the Karbank project? What do you want to see done with that area now that voters have rejected that plan?
- Capital projects: The city projects a looming deficit for its five-year capital improvements program. If nothing is done, the city says that by 2028 Westwood’s CIP would be in the red by more than $5 million. That’s part of the reason the city council this year opted to raise the city’s property tax rate. Still, city officials warn much-needed capital projects in coming years could be delayed or even canceled outright. How should the city contend with this issue? What steps would you advocate for if elected?
- Motorized scooters/bikes: Cities and businesses in Johnson County in recent months have started contending with the increasing use of motorized bikes and scooters, especially by children and teenagers. Some worry they pose a danger not only to the users but other pedestrians. How should the city deal with this increasingly popular mode of transportation by young people?
