England, Hubbard answer identical questions separately

Election 2007

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October 25, 2007

Event held at New Albany-Floyd County Public Library

By ERIC SCOTT CAMPBELL The News and Tribune Thu Oct 25, 2007, 02:03 PM EDT

They didn’t debate. They were 15 minutes apart from even being in the building simultaneously.

But Doug England and Randy Hubbard answered the same questions in the same library auditorium Wednesday night, affording voters a rare live chance to compare and contrast the two New Albany mayoral candidates’ platforms.

The candidates differed on traffic patterns, government office space and legal staffing, but both looked forward to working with City Council members and neighborhood associations.

Board members of the nonprofit Develop New Albany compiled a list of 18 questions for moderator Greg Sekula to pose. Each man answered them in succession, using allotments of one to three minutes per response, 45 minutes in all.

The topics covered development, law enforcement, politics and neighborhood activism. Hubbard, a Republican, spoke first and answered the whole batch in 25 minutes, approaching no question’s time limit.

After a short break, England, a Democrat, took the same seat and fielded the questions in 40 minutes, occasionally speaking for a few seconds beyond a question’s allotment.

Differences

On the prospect of converting one-way streets to two-way traffic, Hubbard stressed the “need to assess public safety and parking,” proclaiming that the traffic pattern was “changed for a reason many years ago.” England said that for the sake of businesses, “They need to be two-way streets.”

Both men acknowledged the need for more government office space than the City-County Building can provide. But Hubbard said, “It’s better to have all government services under one roof,” while England proposed that city and county offices “should be separated” into different buildings.

Hubbard told the audience that the city should have a full-time city attorney, as long as funding is available. England disagreed and pushed for a “temporary city court” that would “pay for itself eventually” with the income from fines.

Other answers

The candidates did not disagree outright over the prospect of a rental-inspection program, but Hubbard was more hesitant to embrace it, saying the idea had stalled years ago and that property owners “have legitimate concerns.” He allowed that, “I think it’s something again we can revisit.”

England said of the idea, “I believe in it wholeheartedly,” emphasizing that landlords must be “courageous enough” to allow inspections.

The two candidates’ answers to a crime question — “What steps will you take as mayor to work with local law enforcement officials to combat the problems?” — contained almost identical phrasing.

Hubbard: “Your law enforcement is probably only as good as the eyes and ears of people.”

England: “They [police] can’t be everywhere all the time. We need the eyes and ears of the public.”

More campaigning remains

Several questions seemed more lengthy than the responses. The final question, 120 words long, was a combination of four sentences.

A staff member for the New Albany-Floyd County Public Library counted 84 attendees. Several wore T-shirts advertising candidacies; audible enthusiasm was contained to applause at the beginning and end of each man’s remarks.

Sekula, the vice president of Develop New Albany, said he was pleased with the candidates’ answers: “They tried to stay focused and be succinct.”

Asked whether he would have preferred a more interactive debate format, Sekula replied, “I think having that dynamic would have been beneficial for the public. We tried to make it work within the parameters of what we understood was agreeable.”

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