Easton Neighborhoods the Talking Points for Mayoral Debate

Mayoral incumbent Sal Panto and challenger Mike Krill seem to agree on one thing: this election, it's all about Easton's neighborhoods and residents.

The two candidates, answering questions from a panel consisting of Joe Owens, Jim Flagg and Edward Sieger of the Express-Times, then asking and answering questions from each other, concluding with a closing statement at the end.

Questioned on the , Panto said he would not support a 5 mill fee for property owners in the district as presented in the revised proposal, nor would he be inclined to support a 1 mill increase in city property taxes to support the city's Main Street and Ambassadors' programs, an idea he had previously said he possibly supported. Instead, he said he favored parking meter increases to support the programs.

Krill said he was and said some of the burden of keeping the city clean and safe should include residents and business owners, both in terms of “sweat equity” and more input from them about what services are really needed. He added the city should be looking at ways to provide more free parking and other ways to welcome visitors to the city and support local business.

, such as street sweeping and parking fines, came up more than once during the debate.

Asked how much the city makes in parking tickets, particularly those resulting from failure to remove cars on designated days for the city street sweeping program, Panto said the city doesn't make money on the program as the money from the fines pays for city employee time to run the program. He added the city is looking to add more streets to the sweeper's routes.

Krill said the city issues 26,000 parking tickets a year, generating $625,000 annually, much of it borne by residents, not city visitors.

“We have to look at solving the problems before the problems happen,” Krill said. “It's important to include the people involved to make sure you're not causing more problems than you're solving...We need to talk to the neighbors and include them in the decision making.”

Neither candidate thought the city's amusement tax could or should be lifted soon. Though Panto said he didn't support it's institution, it's now a substantial part of the city's budget, annually generating $1.1 million for the city.

“The amusement tax is in the and I don't see it being lifted until the economy recovers,” Panto said.

“I'm more concerned about residents than an amusement tax paid by tourists,” Krill said. “We need to take care of our residents before we take care of tourists.”

Asked about the city's aging police station, Krill said he feels the city's debt service is still too high to consider the capital purchase, but if elected he would work to drive it further down, allowing room for the city to bear the cost of constructing a new one.

Panto said the new station should be built with grant money when the city finds an appropriate opportunity, but until then, it will remain “substandard.”

“It's just something we can't pay for right now. We have to live within our means,” Panto said.

On the issue of the city's Home Rule charter, Krill said he was against its adoption because it allowed the city to raise taxes beyond state caps. He said if elected, he would revisit the charter and some of its provisions, possibly putting it back before the voters for changes.

A major change he said he would consider is whether the role of the city mayor and the budget to support the office, cited at $292,000 annually, should be reduced.

“We need to make the mayor a part-time position. An elected president of council is what it would be,” he said, adding that city administrators, directed by the mayor and council would be unaffected by the plan.

Panto said the home rule charter options was chosen by a majority voters and that it gives the city more options. As a result, he doesn't plan on revisiting the issue. He added that adding a city administrator has freed the mayor's office up to do other things, such as procure more grants for the city.

Trading questions, Panto asked by Krill opposed the recent loan by the city to GEDP to purchase a parking lot for a redevelopment project.

Krill said the project itself was ill-conceived, and the city should continue to concentrate on raising its reserve capital, to a total of 10 or 15 percent.

“Our finances are better, but still need work,” Krill said

Questioning the need , Krill asked Panto if the nearly $200,000, up from an original estimate of $50,000, could have been better spent.

Panto pointed out the new chambers were necessitated when the city rented the fifth floor of the Alpha Building to a private firm, generating new revenue for the city, and the chambers were paid for with that money.

He added, “We've given millions and millions of dollars in the neighborhoods.”

On the issue of city worker contracts, Panto asked Krill, a city firefighter, what he would do to curb the “entitlement mentality” of the firefighter's union.

“I believe it's all about fairness and negotiating in good faith,” Krill said, adding the union has a job to do, just as city officials do and potential union give-backs need to be backed with good reasons.

“They need to know you're not going to waste the money they give back,” Krill said.

In closing statements, Panto said the record of his administration stands for itself.

“Four years ago, the city was on the verge of bankruptcy, but now it's a role model,” Panto said, noting there have been no tax increases in the city in four years, and the city fees have remained the same for three. He added the city is cleaner and safer, and if re-elected he intends to continue on the course his administration has followed for the last four years.

Krill again emphasized the needs of residents in his closing statements.

“It's simply summed up in two words—residents first. Not tourists, not Lafayette College, but residents,” Krill said. “They've put up with a lot, and it's time to put them first...Leadership needs to seek out residents and sit down with them to build consensus and solutions from the ground up, not the top down.”