LAUREL HILL — Some residents know exactly what they want in a city council member.
"Honesty! Honesty!” Carl Gay said.
“And someone who’ll work for the people and not for their own self,” his wife, Ann, said.
“A great leader with honesty,” Tara Llewellyn said.
Fewer than 20 residents listened Monday as City Council candidates discussed hot topics during the North Okaloosa Republican Club's forum at Laurel Hill First Baptist Church's Fellowship Hall.
School teacher Debra Adams, retired engineer Daniel Lane, former Marine and sailor Scott Moneypenny, former mayor and city councilwoman Joan Smith, and Councilwoman Willie Mae Toles were present. Randy Tickle, a long-haul trucker, was absent due to illness. (See our Election Guide, which includes Tickle's comments on his platform.)
Here are some of the questions and answers:
Should Laurel Hill dissolve and be absorbed by the county?
ADAMS: “There’s a lot more research that needs to be done. This is a huge decision that needs to be made.
“Personally, I don't think this is a decision that needs to be made by the council or the mayor. It should be decided by the people. But it is the council and mayor's jobs to educate the citizens.”
LANE: “I'm not so sure it's going to be that easy to turn this town over to the county, or whether the county wants it. It's hard for me to say ‘yes’ when there's people who've lived here all their lives.
“It's going to be a long time before this ever takes place. We can't just turn the city over to the county and expect the county is going to be here the next day to pave the roads.”
MONEYPENNY: “It's definitely a very, very tough decision. I will fall back on my military background. I was involved in the BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure). I can say that with all the bases that were closed, the repercussions lasted many, many years.
“To see Laurel Hill dissolve, it would have to be an extremely long-term plan.” Services such as street lighting and garbage collection would be affected, he said.
JOAN SMITH: “I said it would be up to the people and it would be a referendum on the ballot. So many things would have to be approached. It would be a long, drawn-out process. And who says the county wants us back?
“The ones you talk to that want to dissolve are the ones paying the ad valorem tax, and they don't feel like they're getting anything for their taxes.”
TOLES: “We have to speak if we're going to be city council members. We can't say we're going to do this for Laurel Hill or we're going to do that for Laurel Hill, but then you say something different behind my back.
“We don't need to talk about where we've been. I don't talk about where we've been or how many kids went to Laurel Hill School. That's not fixing any roads.”
The city lacks a grocery store, hardware store and banks. What can be done to attract more businesses?
ADAMS: “We had the opportunity to have a bank; a credit union. It did not happen. I was told by current council members there were too many people in the community that didn't want it.
“We had a credit union willing and able to come to our community and we turned them away. But when city government turns away a credit union, we have a bit of an issue.”
LANE: “We have a dollar store, a gas station and a liquor store. You can't buy a loaf of bread hardly in any of them. I'm all for getting any kind of business in this town.
“If you work for Laurel Hill, you have to get yourself out and do something to attract businesses.”
MONEYPENNY: “I have been on the phone with the Economic Development Council. I said, ‘Send some business our way.’
“One of the things that will help Laurel Hill is to develop our commercial corridor along (State Road) 85. Make it look like some place that someone would want to come to. Get business in the 1905 Gallery; get our tax base up.”
SMITH: “We don't have to let people come to us. We have to go to them.
“We have to go out and tell people what's available. Invite them to come see what we do have. That's what it's going to take.”
TOLES: “You and me can't do it. It takes all Laurel Hill to do it. (We're) going to have to make it happen first.
"We need grocery stores, we need jobs, we need business. We have young kids not doing anything. Some just sit down because there's nothing to do.”
Many long-time residents recently learned they live outside city limits. With their permission, should the city annex their property?
ADAMS: “Back in the '60s, it was assumed the property was annexed when the city annexed the property across the road.
“I think it is our job as a city to fix it. In 2006, there was an ordinance passed that said yes, you would have to be charged to be annexed into the city, which was a bad part because this was a misunderstanding.
“Somebody didn't cross a T or dot their I's, but the intent was there.”
LANE: “Those boundaries are set. They were set by Okaloosa County. It was not the city's responsibility. We have to go back to the records that show where those lines end and where they did not.
“We need the city attorney to make sure those boundaries are looked into. It's got to be definitely sure where those lines are, and we need to find out and do whatever needs to be done.”
MONEYPENNY: “There were 23 people notified they don't live inside the city limits … Why would you want to annex them? To give them amenities. We don't have too much to give.
“Another reason is to increase our tax base. Twenty-three people are not going to bring too many tax dollars to pave our roads.”
SMITH: “Every annexation I know of, the one who is requesting it has had to foot the bill. It was terribly expensive. It should not be the city's responsibility to foot the bill.”
TOLES: “Some people who live outside the city limits can't afford to pay the (annexation) fee, and the city can't afford it either.
“We need to stop this and find out where people live. Nobody knows where the city limit is. They (county authorities) only know where the city limit is when we're ready to vote.”
Do you have solutions for immediate relief of the roads, and would you support an assessment?
ADAMS: “Is there an immediate fix? No, because it takes money, equipment and manpower. All that stuff our city is lacking.
“We have a (Community Block Development Grant) … $600,000 is not going to cover 14 miles of roads. We need more grants to pave more roads. This is going to take time.”
LANE: “I know some of the fellows doing the patching could do with a little training. When that inspector comes and sees that hole, he's going to make them do it over again.
“It may be years on end before we get enough to fix those roads.”
MONEYPENNY: “Special assessment? Absolutely no. We're not young bucks. We live on a fixed income. The only way my bank account grows is if I don't spend any more."
He suggested looking at traffic patterns to take heavy trucks off side roads. “Any trucks that drive on our roads need to be looked at because they're tearing up the roads.”
SMITH: “I do not. We pay an ad valorem tax, and that would be enough for the roads.
“We had a project going. We chose the streets that would not be included with this grant. We started working on it, and all the planning that went to that went upside down and that was the end of that.
“What it takes is to use the money that has been assigned to us and work with the county, and I believe we could find some good progress.”
TOLES: “I been here. I drive a lot. I go to the post office a lot, and that's a terrible road.
“Last Saturday, I attended a funeral in Montgomery and I fell asleep (as a passenger) going because the road was so smooth…
“We got to get together. We got to get the people together.”
Laurel Hill School graduates have too few job opportunities to stay here. What can be done to attract more businesses to the industrial park?
ADAMS: “We can't turn our backs when we have a credible business that wants to come to Laurel Hill. We can use the Industrial Park to attract businesses.
“Community members who have contacts need to approach businesses.”
LANE, citing his nine children and 27 grandchildren, said, “I know what can happen when kids don't have anything to do… Try to draw any kind of business that can give jobs. We need to make sure there are opportunities here.
“Kids are very important. There's not that many fortunate enough to go to college. We need something here.”
MONEYPENNY advocated more vocational training and youth volunteer opportunities. “Everyone talks about, 'We need to bring businesses in,' but what kind of business can we bring in for a high school kid?
“Volunteer. Get your foot in the door with a volunteer group. I think it really takes getting to them when they start high school, and finding out where they want to go. To get an 18-year-old to work at Elite Trailers — that's a tough one.”
SMITH cited the school’s CHOICE programs, which, in conjunction with industry, lead to students’ certification in vocations.
“It all goes back to try to reach people for the Industrial Park. Try to get businesses in. The whole (1905) Gallery up there is empty. It needs businesses in it.”
TOLES: “The kids that graduate from Laurel Hill, they don't have anywhere to go. They can't stay here. If they stay here and they don't have no job, they’re on drugs. I've seen kids destroy their life because they don't have nothing.
“If your kid graduates, make them leave here. I've seen it. I'm saying it from my heart."
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Laurel Hill council candidates discuss roads, businesses and dissolution