Gainesville City Commissioner At-Large (2) Candidate Response: Scherwin L. Henry

 

1.Do you support paying a living wage for all City workers including part-time, temporary, seasonal, and contracted workers? (The ACLC defines a living wage as 125% of the Federal Poverty Level – currently $15.08 an hour).

 

Yes.  I do support paying a living wage for all City workers including part-time, temporary, seasonal, and contracted workers.

 

2. The Gainesville Living Wage Ordinance for contractors has so many loopholes that it applies to almost no contracts the City currently has. To address this issue, the City of Gainesville started to look into updating the Ordinance in December 2015, but no action has been taken until December 2018 when a six-month study was started. What will you do to ensure the timely and effective changes needed to the Gainesville’s Living Wage Ordinance?

 

I would support modifying the bid process.  You could modify the bid process by setting certain percentages of hires from certain underrepresented groups.  I would like to see chances given to ex-felons, apprenticeships, and even hiring residents from the neighborhood or the community in which the project or development will be built.  

 

 

3. What other ideas do you have to help improve wages and benefits for workers throughout our community?

 

There must be a concentrated effort to invest in our human capital i.e. job training for the under skilled workers, better education for our children, and expanding our economy to help the under employed.  Employers in Gainesville have to change their mentality when it comes to hiring.  For decades because of UF and the pool of students from which employers can hire, Gainesville has experienced a wage suppression.  Somehow, there has to be a change in the hiring practices and wage scale. We must make a concentrated effort to bring the level of jobs to our city that will have an impact on wages.  The Airport industrial Park is an example of missed opportunity to do that. 

 

 

4. What do you envision as the role of large local employers in Gainesville in helping to improve wages, benefit workers, and reduce inequalities?How have/would you encourage these large local employers to address these issues?

 

I envision as the role of large local employers in Gainesville in helping to improve wages, benefit workers, and reduce inequalities paying a livable wage, becoming a community partner which will support he organizations advocating for these changes. These large local employers to address these issues would have to see the benefit it would make for their companies.  The benefit would be a better trained workforce, a more educated workforce, and a more diverse workforce.

 

 

5. Do you support providing paid administrative leave for part-time, temporary, seasonal, and contracted City workers in the event of emergency work closures (e.g., hours missed due to a natural disaster)?

 

Of course I do, that is the best case scenario but it’s not that simple.  We have to realize the fact that some businesses just can’t afford to do that.  In this instance, I will give the business owner the benefit of the doubt. I truly believe you will have some business owners that will take care of their workers.  Others desire to compensate their workers but can’t pay them full compensation, and then there are some who will pay them nothing. Unfortunately, all we can do is be a voice for the workers and set the atmosphere to make it happen.  Now I do support this if workers for city government are affected in this manner.

    

 

6. If you are an employer: Do you pay all your workers a living wage? If you do not: How are you making an effort to do so?

 

No.  I am not an employer.

 

7. Do you support a “Renters Bill of Rights’” which would:

 

  • Offer an alternative to costly courts to settle disputes over security deposits and damages.
  • Protect renters from high utility bills by enacting policies that require landlords to make basic investments in energy and water efficiency.
  • Require universal licensing and safety/health inspections of all rental property.
  • Offer protections against discrimination based on source of income and citizenship status.
  • Ensure greater disclosure of renters’ rights and responsibilities.

 

 

     I support a “Renters Bill of Rights”.

 

8. What are some additional policies the City of Gainesville can enact to improve access to quality, safe affordable housing in our community?

 

Affordable housing should not be located in one area or community of our city.

For families that are below the poverty line, there might be a need to subsidize the cost to rent. I would like to pursue developing a consistent and perpetual funding source for affordable housing such as a housing trust. 

 

 

9. Do you support a local hiring preference that includes the use of certified apprenticeship programs for taxpayer funded projects?

 

Yes. I do.  This relates to the answer in question 3.

 

10. Do you support offering free RTS bus passes for K-12 students and/or making RTS free for all Gainesville residents at the point of service? How can the City of Gainesville improve public transportation for people who rely on it and don’t work for UF?

 

I support offering free RTS bus passes for K-12 students.  If I’m not mistaken, that’s something RTS has already implemented.  At this point, I can’t agree to make RTS free for all Gainesville residents at the point of service.  For people who rely public transportation and don’t work for UF we must increase the frequency of the bus routes so residents who live for instance, in east Gainesville will have more frequent and better access to public transportation.  Gainesville is a car city. It is a car city because the residents want to travel in a timely manner. Bus route frequency must be improved to increase ridership. 

 

11.  What is your position on SB168, which is the law that requires local governments to comply with ICE and detain people without a warrant?

 

First of all, we have to obey the law.  Should the City of Gainesville devote resources specifically to seek out and detain people without a warrant?  I don’t think so. We have more important things for our law enforcement people to do. There are more pressing needs for which our members of law enforcement should be involved.

 

12. What would you do to advance healthcare outcomes in black and brown communities as well as racial equity overall in our community? What steps can the City of Gainesville take to address unequal access to quality food?

 

When it comes to advancing healthcare outcomes, I would reach out to our healthcare partners.  The City of Gainesville does not possess the expertise in healthcare. It would be important to develop a vision with our partners to educate, treat, and institute preventative measures to improve health outcomes in the black and brown communities.  An important step that should be taken is to insure access by locating urgent care centers in the communities to service these residents. We need to address the food desert issue.  Communities such as east Gainesville suffers greatly from unequal access to quality food.  Not one grocery store exists in east Gainesville. Maybe a food co-op might be a solution. There might also be an opportunity to bring an up and coming grocer or entice a local grocer that would serve our underserved communities like east Gainesville.

 

13. What will you do to ensure UF is a better corporate citizen in Gainesville (e.g., payments in lieu of taxes, moving more services to GRU, etc.)?

 

What I will do to ensure UF is a better corporate citizen in Gainesville is to impress upon the University of Florida the benefit of being a better corporate partner.  One way UF can be a better corporate partner is to support the City of Gainesville by purchasing more energy from GRU. Secondly, as UF buys land near and around campus, UF should somehow find a way to compensate the city monetarily for the lost ad valorem taxes that will not be collected.  Thirdly, UF should be very cognizant and respectful to how change impacts neighborhood character when they expand into city. 

 

14. How will you work with UF to ensure better access to affordable, quality housing in Gainesville?

 

The University of Florida is one of many community partners I will work with to ensure better access to affordable, quality housing in Gainesville.  Specifically, it will be important to make the case with the University that their role as a partner to ensure better access to affordable, quality housing would benefit their workforce.