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Politics & Government

Council Hopefuls See Distinct Shades in City Issues

Debate lets 5 candidates elaborate their views on taxes and government's role in Highland Park.

Highland Park’s five City Council candidates gave differing views intheir proposals to and other topics when they debated at on March 6 at the . 

Unlike mayoral candidates and , who gave , only Paul Frank and Lane Young explicitly said they would not vote for an increase in the property tax. 

Candidate David Naftzger expressed a desire to maintain the current property tax level while Carolyn Cerf and Tony Blumberg did not express a position.

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Only Frank clearly said he would use the city’s reserves to balance the budget. 

“Spending reserves is not a great option,” Frank said. “But we have a healthy balance in our cash reserves at the city level, and when the deficit is under $600,000 as it was last year and the year before, I would support spending some of the reserves so we’re not asking taxpayers to pay more at the exact wrong moment.” 

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With along with Councilmen Scott Levenfeld and Larry Silberman not seeking re-election, voters will choose among Blumberg, Cerf, Naftzger, Young and Frank to fill three of the governing body's seven seats. 

The candidates found more agreement on the use of intergovernmental cooperation and economic development to balance the city's budget. Everyone made references to using those tools, particularly finding efficiencies with other governmental units. 

Young specifically suggested the possibility of merging the Park District of Highland Park into city government. 

Instead of discussing intergovernmental cooperation, Cerf pointed to economic development as a way to generate revenue through additional sales tax collection. She also stood alone in flatly refusing to use the city’s cash reserves. 

“Business development is about developing our business community in a way that increases our sales tax revenue base,” Cerf said. “Increasing revenue streams is  just one of the ways that we can increase our ability to balance our budget without putting additional burden on the taxpayer.” 

Blumberg echoed Cerf’s call for developing the city's business community and described efforts he has undertaken to understand the local commerce needs. He went further by pushing for shared expenses with other local governments. 

“I’ve had the opportunity over the last several weeks to talk to owners who have good ideas about how to increase revenues,” Blumberg said. “There’s also the concept of shared services in other communities or intergovernmental sharing agreements with the Park District, with the school districts.” 

Naftzger was more general in his approach, but he also suggested that costs could be reduced by working with other branches of government.

“I understand firsthand how to do more with less,” Naftzger said. “There are many things we can do to improve the efficiencies with which we deliver services without cuts. These involve partnerships with other governments; they involve being single-minded about outcomes we hope to achieve with every dollar spent.” 

All five candidates are in agreement the city must act quickly to . While Cerf was critical of the city’s decision to purchase the theater in the first place, Blumberg criticized the city for not acting quickly after making the purchase.

“The issue of the ownership of the theater is a past issue. We own it,” Blumberg said. “Before we can make that decision (of what to do next), we have to face it. So far, the shortcoming is that this City Council has not addressed this issue.”

All candidates agreed a quick but contemplative decision is necessary. 

However, they were not in complete agreement on the role of the City Council and the ways its members should offer leadership. Blumberg, Cerf, Frank and Naftzger want to start by setting policy while Young wants to listen first. 

“The City Council members should take their lead from the residents,” Young said. “The council needs to set clear priorities and set clear agendas and then expect that our very capable city staff carry those out.” 

Blumberg thinks the mayor and city manager have been setting policy more recently. He wants the council to set the agenda.

On the flip side, Naftzger calls the mayor “first among equals” who should set the agenda. 

Frank said making hard decisions is a form of leadership council members should undertake. He cited the recent while driving and a . 

“Sometimes leadership is a hard thing to do,” Frank said, referring to the cell phone and Styrofoam initiatives. “Those are hard issues, and I consider to be leadership-type issues. Those are things that the council can do for you to make sure our policies reflect our values as a community.”

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