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<\/a>The following article was published by The Citizen, a new online news forum offering in-depth coverage of local policy, social and cultural issues.\u00a0Andrew Jenner ’04 <\/strong>is a co-founder and co-editor, with Ryan Alessi, who reported on the city council forum. Read more at hburgcitizen.com<\/a>, and follow The Citizen on Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n The five city council candidates spent much of Tuesday night\u2019s forum agreeing with one another on issues like completing the Northend Greenway and police recruitment and retention, while still seeking to distinguish themselves through nuances in their answers.<\/p>\n The candidates, who are vying for two seats on the council in the Nov. 6 election, fielded questions from Eastern Mennonite University students and members of the audience at the hour-long forum at EMU\u2019s University Commons building. It marked one of the candidates\u2019 final public forums before Tuesday\u2019s election as they sought to reinforce the respective themes of their campaigns.<\/p>\n For Democrat Chris Jones, the only incumbent in the group, that meant pledging to be a champion for recent requests made to the council. For instance, twice he mentioned his commitment to hiring a\u00a0city sustainability coordinator<\/a>, a position focused on energy efficiency, pollution reduction and recycling program improvements. A committee of community members and city staff\u00a0recommended at last week\u2019s council meeting the creation of that job<\/a>. He said another priority is to push for a\u00a0justice planner to, among other duties, assess<\/a>\u00a0how to handle non-violent criminals in the local jail. That was a subject of a\u00a0march and public forum earlier this month<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cNonviolent convicted individuals that are in our jails\u2014most likely they can come on out and save us a lot of money and be more productive for themselves, for their families and for all of us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Carolyn Frank, a former council member running as an independent, sought to reinforce her ties to the community by mentioning her volunteer work and past service on the council. As she has throughout the campaign, Frank struck a conservative tone on fiscal issues, repeatedly mentioning the need to keep taxes lower.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve seen the pressure that\u2019s been put on the taxpayer as the balance\u2014the scale\u2014has tipped, and we seem to have more needs than we have revenue,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Sal Romero, a Democrat and former Virginia Board of Education member, repeatedly referenced his background in education, as well as his support for building a new high school. He also framed many of his answers around knocking down barriers for all members of the community. In one example, he mentioned immigrants who can\u2019t work in the profession for which they\u2019ve been trained because of difficulty in transferring licenses.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have\u2014my goodness, it\u2019s hard to say\u2014a lawyer and a pediatric doctor who are cleaning houses for a living,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have to make sure that we are working with these new people who are coming to our city \u2026 so that they have a pathway for their credentials to be validated to a certain level.\u201d<\/p>\n Paloma Saucedo, a social worker and an independent making her first run for public office, positioned herself as a voice for groups of people whom she said aren\u2019t well-represented in city government.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to balance the power imbalances in our society, in Harrisonburg and in the nation,\u201d she said. \u201cOur campaign focuses on inclusion of all sectors of our community, creating new leadership and cultivating a culture of trust and respect for nature and human alike.\u201d<\/p>\n Frank McMillan, who works for the employment company Kelly Services and also is an independent candidate, underscored his political newcomer status by calling for \u201cout-of-the-box thinking\u201d to address problems. McMillan, like Frank, also has staked out a more conservative financial position.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d like to see us improve our education system\u2014focus more on the teachers rather than on buildings,\u201d he said in a clear reference to the plans for a new high school.<\/p>\n Each of the candidates voiced support completing the\u00a0Northend Greenway and bike trail<\/a>, which has been in the works since March 2011.<\/p>\n Jones said the greenway, which started before his first election to council, stalled because of \u201cpromises made and promises not kept,\u201d but said he expects it to come together as the city seeks grants, as well as state and federal funds.<\/p>\n \u201cIt will happen,\u201d he said, \u201cwithout extra stress on local citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n Saucedo said the bike trail project should have been finished by now and illustrates why residents should hold local government accountable.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the ways we can encourage the city council to compete tasks is by putting pressure on them,\u201d she said, adding that students and community members should engage in nonviolent protests to communicate their will.<\/p>\n Romero said the project is another example of an issue that requires collaboration and inclusion.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of neighbors along the way,\u201d he said. \u201cSo every time I make a decision, I ask myself, who is not here at the table?\u201d<\/p>\n McMillan agreed about the greenway, then pivoted to talk about making\u00a0recycling a priority<\/a>. He made a pitch for collaborating with companies like New York-based\u00a0ByFusion<\/a>, which converts used plastic into construction blocks.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s part of an environmental program that we can take something that\u2019s too expensive to recycle and make something out of it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n And Frank agreed that figuring out what to do with recyclable waste should be a priority. She also said she was glad the next phase of the greenway would be underway in the spring.<\/p>\n \u201cIt just shows you the wheels of government move slowly,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n In response to a question from James \u201cBucky\u201d Berry about supporting police and making sure they have proper equipment, each of the candidates pledged to support the department, albeit in different ways.<\/p>\n \u201cFor sure we have to make sure that we fund our police department because, again, safety \u2026 is a top priority,\u201d Romero said. \u201cMy responsibility would be to support all the city resources, including the police department so they are fully staffed and ready to keep us safe.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what I want to hear,\u201d Berry replied.<\/p>\n McMillan, who has worked with the police department\u2019s citizen advisory board, said the department has a high turnover rate because other cities have lured officers away with higher salaries. Often those municipalities can pay more because they don\u2019t have the cost of training them.<\/p>\n He suggested looking into providing take-home police cars for each officer. While that might be expensive in the short term to buy more cars, he said it could be more efficient in the long term by reducing wear and tear but, more importantly, could be a morale booster.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are some solutions we need to look at to keep our officers happy and safe and keep them in the city of Harrisonburg,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Saucedo said the city should add cultural competency to police training to make sure officers are equipped to deal with all Harrisonburg residents.<\/p>\n \u201cWe also have to look at our hiring practices,\u201d she said. \u201cOur population is 20% Latino, and I don\u2019t think that\u2019s represented in the police department.\u201d<\/p>\n Ten organizations put on the forum, including EMU Peace Fellowship, Student Government Association, EMU Young Democrats, Latino Student Alliance, History Department, Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, Student Life, Black Student Union, Political Science Department and EMU Young Conservative Voices.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2018\/11\/20181030-City-Counsel-Meeting-002-1000px-300x200.jpg\")
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<\/a>Northend Greenway and sustainability<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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<\/a>Supporting police<\/strong><\/h3>\n