The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Mayoral candidates answer community questions
The following are answers from the City of Oneida mayoral candidates to community questions. Each candidate has 700 words.
What do you feel is the most important issue facing the city of Oneida right now and how would you tackle it?
Jim Chamberlain: I feel several important issues are facing our city. My priorities would be to focus on safety for our residents, our city’s drug problems, replacing old sidewalks and making it affordable to live here, all while maintaining our present services by researching more shared services and getting after resurfacing more of our deteriorating streets. First safety: I will work closely with the police chief, whom I have a very good working relationship with, and include our fire
chief and discuss ways to increase public safety while assuring the public that our city indeed is and will be safer. This we will do by more police presence, more bike patrols as weather permits, regularly visiting our businesses and interacting with the public with a simple conversation. We will create a “reputation” in a short period, which will include a plan I have for a strict traffic speed control program that I will implement with the chief, which will create that “reputation” of “do not speed in Oneida”. Sherrill does it, we will also. Our drug issues: This is a priority. We will use our city’s nuisance abatement law whenever it can apply. This comes down on landlords who ignore or permit drug activity. We used it on a recent problem residence and it works perfectly. It makes landlords comply, get rid of and improve issues that cause the drug presence. We need to lobby our judges that they need to be much stricter on violators. It takes better communication and cooperation. We will change this increasing problem. Keeping our city affordable: I will work very closely with our department heads to carefully focus on “smart spending”. I understand the interworkings of our city by my 35 years of experience working for the city and how and where to save. I too am a taxpayer and will work very hard to do this daily.
Helen Acker: This is a two-fold answer from me. As I walk throughout the neighborhoods, codes enforcement and rampant drug use are the predominant issues for our residents. As I have stated previously I would like to see an actual codes department, enforce the laws we have, get rid of ones that are not working and implement new ones to bring us up to date. I will put an emphasis on slum landlords and enforce whatever laws we have to make them comply. Enough is enough. If they continually rent to people who cook the meth, then they, the landlords, should be responsible for the cleanup. We should shut their buildings down until they comply and make it a safe place to live. The landlords, in turn, would look to get better tenants that pay fair market rent. This would help to drive out these meth houses that we deal with on a continual basis. This, in turn, would help to increase the value of their property and help maintain it. They should be good stewards of their homes and buildings. I too am a landlord and I choose who can live in my home. They can too. We need to start taking steps to take pride in our community. We can do this one step at a time and we need to start now.
How do you anticipate building a working relationship with the Oneida Indian Nation?
Jim Chamberlain: I have had very good conversations with Mr. Carmen of the Oneida Indian Nation when I was acting mayor for three months during the absence of the mayor. There were issues with our maintenance agreements regarding city water, and we were able to discuss and sign good agreements. We also talked about how we can work together and have the O.I.N. and the city share ideas and possibly services, as they were very helpful during the devastating flood in 2013. I think the Oneida Indian Nation and the City of Oneida can have many further good bonds.
Helen Acker: The Oneida Indian Nation is one of our largest employers for the residents of the city of Oneida. I would be open for dialog with the Oneida Indian Nation and welcome any help that would enhance the City of Oneida.
What would you do to support police and advocacy groups in the fight against the drug epidemic?
Jim-Chamberlain: I mentioned our city’s drug issues and they compare too many drug-related problems in so many communities surrounding us. We have a great police department as they have busted the many drug-related residences and have made many arrests. We need to come down on drugs hard. We need to have stronger consequences for the violators and this needs to come from the courts, as well as enforcing landlords who do not care and allow these types of people to rent. This will stop.
Helen Acker: I support our police department and respect what they do now in finding and eliminating the meth houses. I support the programs they have now for our youth such as the Bike Rodeo, Public Safety Days and Coffee with a Cop to name a few. I will continue to work with our police department and look to increase other programs that support our youth. I would also like to work with all of our local law enforcement like our county sheriff’s department and our state police along with advocacy groups. Working together, with one common goal can only make things better.
How do you plan on addressing the exodus of young people from the region?
Jim Chamberlain: I personally do not think there are a large amount of younger population leaving Oneida, as some say. I do know, that in order to continue to entice them to stay, we will have to accomplish opportunity, safety and clean up some of the areas and eyesores, as well as help them help us, by ways of including them in on their ideas and ways they may have on making areas of the city better. They are our future. I will form a committee of our younger residents to do this and try to accomplish ideas.
Helen Acker: I feel that this is a statewide problem with the younger generation leaving not only our area but New York state as a whole. Locally, I would encourage businesses to come to Oneida and giving job opportunities to our youth. I will be calling, sending out letters, follow up with phone calls and go whenever possible to their site and ask them to join us with their business in Oneida. I would also like to work with our school system and BOCES in encouraging our young people to get into the trades. Coming from the work/labor background that I do. I see the great need for tradespeople like plumbers, electricians, HVAC, large machinery, mechanics, house painters, flooring installers, carpenters and truck drivers. There is a demand for the trades that can provide jobs and opportunities to make a decent living so they can live, buy a home and raise their families here. We need to keep our young people here. They are our future.
What experience do you have with multi-million-dollar budgets?
Jim Chamberlain: My experience of a budget starts with owning a home in this city for 27 years. I would continue my experience with years as a supervisor putting a multithousand dollar budget together for several years. Then, nearly eight consecutive years on the city council reviewing and approving (soon) $8-11 million city budgets. Finally, nearly eight consecutive years as a city councilor reviewing, changing and approving those multi-million dollar budgets and my past and present 4 consecutive years as my duties of deputy mayor conducting and running city budgets meetings. I too am a taxpayer and will work very hard to keep our city affordable.
Helen Acker: I’ve been through seven city council budgets, worked in various businesses and have been responsible for putting multi-million dollar budgets together. I have also been instrumental in securing the $22 million budget from FEMA for the City Flats Buy- Out Program. I owned my own business in downtown Oneida (Oneida Office Supply) for 23 years working on a much smaller budget, and, have always lived within my own means. For the last 20 years, I have been the manager of Smith’s Flooring and Paint. I put together Smith’s budget and we live within our means there as well. I am very prudent with my own money and those of my employers.