Marysville council candidates discuss Hwy 70, tax base, vision

Six candidates vying for two seats on the Marysville City Council – a mayoral position and council seat – discussed a variety of issues during a recent forum hosted by the Yuba-sutter Chamber of Commerce.

Candidates running for the mayoral seat include Chris Branscum, Stephanie Mckenzie and incumbent Ricky Samayoa. Running for a seat on the council are John Dominique Belza, Michael Ferrini and Stuart Gilchrist.

The following is a summary of the candidates’ responses to questions that touched on Highway 70, taxes, Ellis Lake, city leadership and homelessness, among other topics.

Q: Given that Caltrans has proposed widening Highway 70 from two lanes to five lanes as traffic enters Marysville, some local citizens are concerned about highway traffic spilling into neighborhoods. What’s your stance on the project?

Gilchrist said residents need a bypass around the city of Marysville. He said there are certain portions of B Street that already

have five lanes – two lanes in each direction plus a center left-turn lane – and that he is following the project closely. He said it’s important officials focus on working toward a bypass.

Belza said the issue has faced the city for many decades.

It’s important to look at the economic impacts of the current system and a bypass. He said sitting on the council, he’d be an advocate for working in unison with organizations like Caltrans and Yuba County to discover the best traffic flow options for the city and to make sure residents are taken care of, from an economic standpoint to a functionality standpoint.

Ferrini said looking at average daily traffic counts, about 4,200 vehicles utilize 14th Street per day. He said the city needs to negotiate with Caltrans on how best to keep their state highway traffic on the state highway system due to safety concerns of cut-through traffic, considering the city sees about 350 collisions a year. He said he’d encourage the city to look at a bypass option and Caltrans needs to be asked to do another analysis for 2-3

alternatives.

Mckenzie said she supports a Highway 70 bypass, though it comes with some concerns for the city, as far as tax revenue – the city receives a good chunk of tax revenue from its gas stations and fast food locations, so the additional traffic is beneficial for the city. She said the Highway 70 improvements will result in more traffic to the city, so officials need to find a way to manage that.

One plan in the works by the county is the Goldfields Parkway road, which will help divert some traffic south of town directly to Highway 20, though it’s not a complete solution.

Brancsum said the topic isn’t a binary choice and that more traffic is coming to the city, so it’s up to elected officials to optimize a suboptimal situation. As a D Street resident, he sees vehicles cutting over from 14th Street daily to connect with Highway 20, speeding over 50 miles per hour on the roadway, and that’s not the only street he’s seen that occurring. He said the city needs to work hard on figuring out how to make the most of the situation.

Samayoa said the city has a circulation issue, and if it wants

to see growth, it needs to work with Caltrans on improving different areas, like more bike paths, pedestrian pathways and more active transportation means. He said Highway 70 is a death trap the way it is set up now, so the safety project, which he supports, will end up saving lives.

Q: How can the city build up its tax base as far as its businesses are concerned, considering so many are turning to online shopping?

Belza said society is moving into an Amazon era, but what the company doesn’t offer its customer is experience. He said the city can offer shoppers with a unique downtown experience and officials need to get aggressive in promoting that aspect. He said the city should work with businesses to give them the tools they need to advertise. With up to 10,000 people living in East Marysville and driving through downtown to make their purchases elsewhere, he said the city could capitalize on that traffic into the downtown district.

Ferrini said the city needs to work on creating a walkable, bikeable and livable community.

The way the city is currently configured into quadrants segmented by the state highway, the layout makes it difficult for people to walk places. He said once residents have to get in their vehicle to go somewhere, they are more likely to go elsewhere to shop. He said it’s important to get shoppers downtown to connect with retailers, and in the process they’ll discover that all their needs can be met in Marysville rather than having to shop somewhere else.

Mckenzie said she believes the city could be a destination for shopping and dining. One focus she has upon becoming mayor is to develop the downtown area to be that destination. She said the city has beautiful assets and resources that could be built upon, and that the city could utilise the local tourism board and organizations like the Yuba Water Agency to help with that. She said building on what the city already has to offer would help offset the sales tax revenues lost from online shopping.

Branscum said downtown Marysville used to be the beating heart of restaurant and entertainment activity throughout the area. He sees

the potential for Marysville becoming more of a restaurant destination to give more life downtown. He said the temporary relaxation of rules that allow for restaurants to spill onto sidewalks should be made permanent, and would allow the business owners to have the confidence to invest more in their outdoor venues to create a livelier experience and bring more activity to the downtown area.

Samayoa said the city has already taken steps to lower some of the barriers for businesses. He said officials are making changes to entice the building of more housing and other areas, which would result in more investment in the city, though it won’t happen overnight. He said the city has to incentivize people to do business within the jurisdiction. He highlighted the spicery for converting a historical building and creating a micro-manufacturing company that provides locals with goods and sells internationally. He said the city will continue to work to lower the barriers that will encourage more investment.

Gilchrist said he agreed with his

colleagues and that the city needs to expand and update its municipal code to attract good investors into the community, as well as build more housing downtown. He said he’d like to see more people traveling downtown to purchase specialty items, and with the work being done on the Yuba County economic strategic study and with the Yuba Water Agency, the city is an amazing destination for entertainment that can still improve.

Q: (For Mayoral candidates) What is your vision of what a good mayor accomplishes?

Mckenzie said the role of mayor is often misunderstood. She said the mayor should represent the council and be a spokesperson to the public on behalf of the rest of the council, rather than telling everyone what’s going to happen. She said her ideal mayor should be a leader who inspires and casts vision, helps grow the capacity of the council and garner vision for the city. She said they should be an encourager for the city at large and supportive of nonprofits and businesses, a leader in integrity and character.

Branscum said he’s been on more than 20 corporate board of directors and the chairman, which is equivalent to the mayoral position, has a little more influence. He said he decided to run for mayor because he wanted to do important things and have the portfolio of mayor to help accomplish those things. He agreed with Mckenzie but said, with the right experience, a great deal can be accomplished from the mayor position.

Samayoa said it’s about continuity and having someone there to help build relationships around the community, something he said he’s done in the eight years he’s spent as mayor. He said continuity is important because people know who the mayor is, and whether a policy decision is good or bad it often comes down on the mayor. He said the position requires thick skin. Mayors set objectives, share the vision and put together goals to help guide the rest of the council, he said.