Three mayoral candidates spent Thursday, April 7, telling constituents why they should get their votes during a virtual forum at the Gering Civic Center. The forum was organized by the Scottsbluff/Gering United Chamber of Commerce’s Governmental Affairs committee.
Current mayor Tony Kaufman is not running for re-election.
The primary issue of the evening for the mayor candidates was infrastructure.
All three candidates — Ben Backus, Kent Ewing and Eldon Hubbard — agreed that the city’s infrastructure needed to be addressed, and each of them held it at the top of their agenda if elected.
“All our infrastructure in Gering is aging rapidly,” Backus said. “We have to keep that up, keep up the maintenance and put in new infrastructure, because parks are nice, but if you go home and your toilets don’t flush and your lights don’t turn on, it doesn’t matter how many parks you have.”
Ewing said, “The city has kicked the can down the road for so many years. They always say we don’t have the funds. …We’ve built ball diamonds; we’ve improved parks. We’ve done all this stuff for the activities outside of that, but if we don’t continue, or get started, heavily on our infrastructure, we’re not going to be able to continue (as a city).”
While infrastructure is also at the top of his list, Hubbard said he was disappointed that would have to come at the expense of an extra tax.
“I have to say I was a little disappointed to see that we have to pass an additional tax to pay for the infrastructure,” he said, “but I know I was not there to make these decisions along the way, and I’m not going to second-guess those decisions … but this is something that needs immediate attention...”
Despite their disappointment in the need for a tax increase, Hubbard and Ewing said they were encouraged that this ballot issue specifies how the money can and would be spent.
Backus, however, did not wish to comment on an issue that was on the ballot, but did say that as a city council member, he voted against putting it on the ballot.
Candidates also delved a bit into the need to develop more affordable housing and attracting new businesses to Gering.
“There’s got to be people that we have bringing people in. We get the property tax, build the housing, we get the businesses,” Ewing said. “Some of the actual problems and issues with inflation has sidelined a lot of building, but houses in this town, as soon as one pops up, it’s sold. We’re starting to see people move here. ... We need to make sure that we have proper infrastructure and housing to take care of them.”
Backus said if he were elected, he’d gauge his success by gains in affordable housing.
“Currently, I think there’s 18 houses — 18 to mid-20s — for sale in Gering,” he said. “I would define my success as if that number is double that...”
Hubbard had a similar sentiment, saying for him success would mean “we’re going to have a development of affordable housing, which is a bugaboo in itself. We will have housing available for new residents and current residents, and through the funding mechanisms available to the various government pathways, we will have new businesses in town.”
Candidates also touched on the racetrack and casino issue, city finances and what the mayor’s exact role is in Gering. See the video at starherald.com for the full forum.
Voters will be allowed to vote for one mayoral candidate in the May 10 primary election. The two with the most votes will advance to November’s election.
*This article was originally published in the Gering Courier on April 14, 2022.
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