Thanks, Scherwin, for responding to our candidate questions. As a reminder, the ACLC does not endorse candidates. We have provided these questions to all of the candidates and will be posting their responses as we receive them.
Alachua County Labor Coalition City Commission candidate questionnaire
Please keep each response to 500 words or less.
- The Gainesville City Commission and Alachua County Commission have made significant progress on providing living wages for municipal workers, including part-time, temporary, seasonal, and contracted workers. How do you propose we achieve similar wage and benefit gains for workers throughout our community?
It seems with the existing climate of a shortage of workers, now the time for workers to demand better pay and working conditions. With the present worker shortage, this is the opportune time to have this conversation with the business community with the City of Gainesville taking the lead. It is also important to speak with the larger employers such as the Alachua Board of County Commissioners, University of Florida, NFRH, UF Health and Shands, and Santa Fe College. Another segment that’s probably been over looked are the temporary employment companies such as Tempforce and Manpower.
2. If you are an employer: Do you pay all your workers a living wage and how do you define a living wage? If you do not pay a living wage: how are you making an effort to do so? [If you are not an employer, “N/A” is an acceptable answer.]
N/A
3. The City of Gainesville recently passed a comprehensive rental housing ordinance. What will you do to see that this ordinance is properly implemented and what measures would you propose to keep the City accountable to these protections? What are some additional policies the City of Gainesville can enact to improve access to quality, safe, affordable housing in our community?
To see that this ordinance is properly implemented, we must be properly staffed so the ordinance is and can be properly implemented.
The measures I would propose to keep the City accountable to these protections is to have staff report to the City Commission on a quarterly basis as to the success of the program but also share what tweaks need to be made to the program. Randomly select renters to speak with about the program to ensure the intent of the rental program is benefiting the renters as it should be.
Additional policies the City of Gainesville can enact to improve access to quality, safe, affordable housing in our community would be to continue to fund housing assistance in our budget and via block grant funding, partner with other affordable housing entities such as NHDC and Habitat for Humanities, and creating a housing trust which can be a public/private venture.
- Do you support a local hiring preference that includes the use of certified apprenticeship programs for taxpayer-funded projects?
I support a local hiring preference for taxpayer-funded projects but the preference should not only include the use of certified apprenticeship programs. The program should make some allowances for those at the entry level stage or in training for an apprenticeship who might not have received their certification.
5. Do you support 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 but aren’t affiliated with UF or Santa Fe?
It wouldn’t be prudent to make RTS free for all at this juncture. Making RTS free to all at the point of service should be phased in over time. It is my belief we should start with the senior citizens, the physically handicapped, the visually and hearing impaired, and our youth. To the other segments of our population, we can then offer reduced cost for ridership.
6. What would you do to advance equity in healthcare outcomes throughout our community?
First, we need to recognize what are the inequities and identify to what extent the inequities exist. Secondly, we must recognize a singular entity be it governmental or otherwise cannot solve the problem of health inequities. To solve this problem, we must work in partnership, governments (county and city) and the health community. Thirdly, we must reach out to the citizens at large to hear and listen to what they believe the inequities are and the magnitude of those health needs. Finally, we must have the political will and be willing to invest monetarily to bring about a solution.
- What steps can the City of Gainesville take to address unequal access to quality food?
It is incumbent upon city government to take the lead in being a primary voice in addressing unequal access to quality food. Again, this is where partnerships are so valuable. There are organizations who are better equipped and organized to address the issue of unequal access to quality food. We could allocate some of the federal dollars we received from the ARP to fund this initiative.
8. 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, helping to ensure better access to quality housing, etc.)?
What is needed is to present a clear and concise plan and vision of what is desired from the University of Florida. Secondly, we must meet with our state representatives to impress upon them how our city tax revenue is affected by the amount of state property that is not a part of the tax roll. We must work at the state level to change legislation that exempts state facilities from contributing some level of monetary reimbursement.
- What will you do as a City Commissioner to help GPD keep people out of jail unnecessarily? For instance, civil citations in lieu of arrest.
Civil citations in lieu of arrest is a good start. What we must do is put measures in place before that person finds himself or herself in that position. We seem to want to react after the fact but our goal should be instituting preventative measures. Our juvenile rate of arrest is increasing because we have gotten away from providing opportunities for our youth like summer jobs or enrichment programs which gives our less fortunate youth better alternatives in which to participate.
How will this issue play a role in your selection of a new City Manager?
The new city manager should have some experience and creativity to assist in solving the problem. The new city manager should be able to build consensus among the city commission and the citizens at-large.
- Given all the turmoil at City government in recent months, what reforms would you like to see to our local governance structures that would improve local government’s effectiveness while maintaining transparency and accountability?
If you’re implying if we should change our governmental structure to a strong mayor, my answer is no. The citizens voted to have the structure of government we have now to ensure all citizens of our city should be heard. To maintain transparency and accountability, it is the city commission who should review and understand what their duties are and who they are there to serve and meet the expectations of the citizens.