KJAM's Lauri Struve posts the first of her local candidate interviews online. First up: incumbent Madison City Commission candidate Scott Delzer, who won his seat by dumb luck in 2008. Let's see if his answers give him a boost in the current Madville Times online poll (in the near right sidebar: click your picks now!).
Delzer says city electric rates have gone up fast only because Madison has held back on rate hikes in the past. Inflation eventually catches up. Delzer says he'd prefer the city keep rate hikes slow and steady so citizens can budget better.
Asked what projects the city should prioritize, Delzer says streets are always on the city's plate. he says the city may need to alter its current street maintenance planning to take into account usage and deterioration rates. (Want to see deterioration, Scott? Go drive South Division Avenue, which is now gravel Swiss cheese. Then pave it!)
Asked what revenue source smight be available to pay for such projects, Delzer says the city's current tax levels are sufficient for the projets we have. He recommends we focus on economic development to bring more tax dollars to the city. (So Scott, you would support benchmarks for the Lake Area Improvement Corporation's performance on that account, and consequences if they take our tax dollars and fail to meet those benchmarks, right?)
No mistakes, no revelations, no surprises, status quo not terribly threatened... alas, no Unexpectedâ„¢ to Discover in that video. Stay tuned for candidates Roger Husman and Dick Ericsson!
Mr. Delzer says "city electric rates have gone up fast only because Madison has held back on rate hikes in the past." I don't mean to be critical of Commissioner Delzer, but when has Madison "held back" on rate hikes of any kind? Our electric rates have increased at a level of nearly 10% a year or more for over ten years straight and we are now higher than the rural rates of Sioux Valley Electric. Commercial users are also getting pounded. Rates for water and sewer along with "maintenance fees" and "meter fees" have been added and increase regularly. The City needs to put itself on a hiring and spending diet. Our population isn't growing, yet the City continues to add more and more employees, especially the Engineering Department and Parks Department and keep increasing our electric rates to cover the extra costs.
I would agree with Rod on new hires. Why should the City of Madison need 2 engineers on staff when they refer most work to Banner?