Parties focus on differences in race for 3 council seats

Four votes decided the last county council election. \nThis year, candidates realize the race could again be close and are campaigning hard to outline their differences. With three seats open on the council and six candidates in the running, Democrats and Republicans are holding fast to party lines. \nOne of the highly disputed issues between candidates is zoning and planning in the county. \nDemocratic candidate Scott Wells announced at a budget hearing that the planning director's salary should increase from $43,279 to $51,818. He argued that neighboring counties pay their directors up to $55,000 and the reason the county has lost two planners in the past two years is because of the salary. \nRepublican incumbent Jeff Ellington adamantly opposes this view.\n"We need to be concerned with the basic services first, before we can move forward," Ellington said. "For example, the building department personnel should be paid more because of experience and concern for community safety. Ensuring the safety of the building is more important than deciding what type of tree should be planted in front."\nAnother difference between candidates are the views on whether or not the County Planning Department and the City Planning Department should join together and work as one force. Democrat Charles Wilson said if they were to work together, resources would be used more efficiently and citizens would save money.\n"There's no reason to have two separate planning departments," Wilson said. "It's just duplication of services to have both."\nRepublican Doug Duncan said the departments need to be separate.\n"I don't think, at this time, joining them would be the right thing to do," Duncan said. "People living in the county have a fear of city people moving in and taking control and that county people would n't be represented fairly. There's no question that they should cooperate and work together, but they need their own different departments."\nOther issues concerning candidates include the possibility of a storm water tax, property rights and zoning problems. \nBut perhaps the biggest difference between candidates is simply in the party lines. When visiting the official Monroe County Web site of the Democrats, www.monroedems.org, the first thing one reads is the large headline, "We're Right, They're Wrong!"\nThe Republicans also have few kind words for their opponents \nThe Democrats are extremists, Ellington said, and even some of their own party members are leaning toward the more conservative approach of the Republicans. \nThe Democrats argue that they are right to say that changes must be made soon. \nWhat the program really needs to do is look at the long term interests of the community and how to fund certain areas, Democrat Julio Alonso said.\n"Our Republican opponents seem to be more concerned with short-term gains," he said. "The county right now really doesn't have the money it needs and the Republicans will not acknowledge that fact and won't specify what can be cut in the budget to avoid tax increases. I'm looking to update and modernize the way the budget process works and keep the long-term goals in mind."\nDuring recent debates, Republican Randy May has reiterated that government growth has increased 52.6 percent over the past 10 years. He said he doesn't want to see spending raised anywhere. He said he thinks it is not always a matter of spending more money, just a matter of spending it more efficiently and in the right places.