Local candidates face off: Marysville City Council candidates take part in forum

Sep. 27—Three candidates running for Marysville City Council in the Nov. 8 general election participated in a forum at Marysville City Hall on Monday.

The candidates include incumbent city council members Brad Hudson and Bruce Buttacavoli along with former city council member Stephanie McKenzie.

The forum was moderated by Bob Harlan, executive director for Yuba-Sutter-Colusa United Way, and Robert Summa, editor of the Appeal-Democrat. Candidates were given the opportunity to deliver opening statements regarding their campaigns and answer questions from both moderators and the public.

Q: The city is currently working on a 2050 general plan and specific plan. In an effort to help guide those plans, three areas of focus were recently presented to the council. Alternative one puts a focus on the downtown area with accelerated infill development. Alternative two seeks a reinvestment throughout West Marysville. Alternative three looks at moderate infill with the development of downtown and the possibility of using annexation as a tool for growth. If you had to choose, what plan would you like to see be put in place in order to spur growth in Marysville? A focus on downtown? Reinvestment throughout all of West Marysville? Or a big push for annexation?

Buttacavoli believes that there isn't a singular plan that will propel the city's growth. Rather than focusing on individual areas, he suggests using a hybrid of all three development plans to make improvements across all parts of the city.

McKenzie said that the downtown portion of Marysville needs the most attention in the city's general plan. She said that if resources are limited, then the city's focus should be placed on an area that will bring the biggest and quickest impact for economic development. McKenzie addressed the possibility of obtaining state grants to advance downtown projects and continue the momentum seen in the area. The biggest gains will come from continuing to develop downtown Marysville and revisiting alternate plans at a later point.

Hudson said that the city must take a "multiple-pronged approach" to the general plan in order to fairly distribute development opportunities. While Hudson said that annexation has potential, he believes that it could take over a decade to see results. He believes that the city will be able to bolster staff and equipment to combine plans for infill with development of the downtown area.

Q: What is your take on what Dan Flores has accomplished getting the owners of the Marysville Hotel and State Theater talking? How about the tentative plans for the B Street property?

McKenzie said that Flores is performing well as the community development director.

"We should be happy to have Dan Flores on our team and when we have somebody in that economic development position, things start to happen. He has a passion for Marysville and he's working hard," she said.

McKenzie said that Flores is working on the hotel development process each week and has already seen an established workforce along with improvements to the roof. Flores is actively looking for someone to purchase the State Theater from the current owner. McKenzie hopes that the city will be able to move forward with the plans for the B Street property in the future.

Hudson said that the skill sets that Flores has brought to the department will allow the city to move forward with its development plans, including the B Street property. He appreciates Flores' knowledge and contributions to the city.

Buttacavoli is grateful to Marysville City Manager Jim Schaad for bringing Flores to the city development team. As a member of the B Street planning committee, he's impressed by the progress that has been made in planning for the project. Buttacavoli expects to be under contract on the property within the next 30 days.

Q: The mayor has previously brought up the idea of a blight or vacancy tax in some form to encourage property owners to either fix up their buildings or sell to someone who will. Because of Marysville's limitations in growth, abandoned properties can be a true source of housing or business development. What are your thoughts on a blight or vacancy tax to solve some of Marysville's issues?

Hudson said that he was not receptive to the idea of another tax when Marysville Mayor Chris Branscum originally discussed it. However, he believes that the intent is effective because city departments are able to enforce ordinances that address issues of blight. Hudson said that after seeing substantial clean-up efforts throughout Marysville, he is not opposed to further discussing a blight tax.

Buttacavoli acknowledged the impact that blight has had on Marysville and is grateful to Branscum for bringing the issue to the forefront of the city council. However, he believes that the city should focus on strengthening existing ordinances to combat blight.

McKenzie said that a blight tax would be reasonable should the current ordinances fail to make an impact on the prevailing blight issue in the city. She said that implementing a blight tax signals that the city is prioritizing the issue and is committed to solving it.

Q: What can the city realistically do to decrease the amount of homeless individuals on the streets and the impacts they can have on businesses and the average citizen?

Buttacavoli said that an additional community service officer has been appointed to work with the homeless population. He said that the biggest facet to this issue is the fact that surrounding jurisdictions "bring their homeless issues" to Adventist Health and Yuba County Jail. Once these individuals are served by these organizations, they remain in Marysville, Buttacavoli said.

McKenzie said that it is important to keep the community service officer position fully funded along with other social service programs that assist the homeless population. She also believes that businesses and business owners need to be protected from damage caused by vagrancy. She said that Marysville is missing mental health and addiction treatment components when serving homeless individuals. She also looks forward to working with Adventist Health to provide more assistance to homeless people.

Hudson said that Marysville is the hub for medical assistance for homeless people in the Yuba-Sutter area. He believes that the city needs to continue to work with private organizations in order to supply assistance that is currently unavailable.

"We need to be able to figure out how to give a hand-up, not a hand-out," Hudson said.

Q: Current Councilmember Brad Hudson said earlier this year that, "People need a reason to stop in Marysville and not just drive through Marysville." How do you think Marysville can accomplish this?

McKenzie said that a clean-up of the E Street corridor would help attract people to the city. As people begin working on the Marysville Hotel and State Theater, cleaning up E Street would create a more pleasant entrance to the city, she said. She also believes that rerouting truck traffic to bypass the downtown area would create a relaxing environment for drivers. People will want to stop in Marysville if the city prioritizes its aesthetics.

Hudson said that Marysville will never be what it once was as a social hub, but the city can strive to become a variation of this. He said that families need a place to stop when driving through Marysville. At this time, fast food restaurants, gas stations and bars are all the city has to offer which deters traveling families. Hudson believes that the city needs to implement entertainment for all generations in order to attract more people.

Buttacavoli said that the city also needs to use family oriented entertainment to get people to visit Marysville and maintain residents. He suggests using underutilized spaces like softball and soccer fields and expects the developing B Street project to attract more visitors upon completion.

Q: What can Marysville do to increase the amount of affordable housing available to residents?

Hudson said that the city needs more affordable housing options that are distinguished from low-income housing. He said that homeless families and individuals work within the limitations of low-income housing. He said that affordable housing should be available to residents based on a median income.

Buttacavoli believes that low income and affordable housing are already well established in Marysville.

"Our median income is so low in Marysville that everyone falls within the affordable income or low income with the exception of a small percentage," Buttacavoli said.

He believes that more affordable housing should be implemented based on the high demand from residents.

McKenzie said that homeowners should assess the possibility of renting accessory dwelling units on their property. Private homeowners are able to create affordable living situations and be able to make an income. She also acknowledged that business owners in the downtown area have rented living spaces within their buildings. She believes that creating more renters space may be more affordable than creating more subsidized, low-income housing.

Q: Recently, action was taken as a test to see how Ellis Lake could be cleaned up. That action included the removal of carp and the introduction of a phosphorus sequestration agent (Phoslock). While the initial results looked promising, the lake has subsequently returned to its previous undesirable state. What should be done to improve Ellis Lake?

Buttacavoli has observed this issue for over four years. He said that while improving Ellis Lake is high on the city's list of priorities, maintaining the lake and its ecology requires the work of several consultants. Ultimately, improving the lake is a long process that the city will continue to work toward.

McKenzie encouraged the city to seek a partnership with Yuba Water Agency to assess what progress can be made for Ellis Lake while also exploring the possibility of reducing its size.

"I think we need to be open to different ideas of possibly reducing the size of the lake and increasing the size of the park area around it," McKenzie said.

Hudson said that he agrees with the idea of dredging the lake, but is unsure about the possibility of carrying it out.

Q: Talk of a highway bypass has been around for a number of years. There are ideas to have two bypasses to help traffic flow and spur economic development in Marysville. Do you support a bypass? Please explain why or why not.

McKenzie supports the bypass in order to reduce the amount of truck traffic. She believes that the city's best option is to work with Yuba County and use Goldfields Parkway to redirect truck traffic. She said that building the parkway to highway standards and making it a designated truck route would significantly improve the state of traffic in Marysville.

Hudson also supports the bypass, but said that, according to the CalTrans district leader, it would take 25 years to bring this plan to fruition. While Hudson likes the idea of a bypass, he believes that a solution should be derived from several angles.

Buttacavoli is also in support of a bypass, but believes that a focus should be placed near 9th Street and B Street to keep traffic flowing.

Q: Besides the potential of annexation, how can Marysville generate more tax revenue?

Hudson believes that annexation is far down the line, but the city should focus on the businesses and vacancies that currently exist in Marysville. The city's priorities should remain on making it easier to open a business and allow it to continually exist, he said. Hudson believes that businesses should be at the forefront of the discussion rather than increasing taxes.

Buttacavoli does not foresee annexation happening in his lifetime. He sees a significant amount of potential in revitalizing the Marysville Hotel due to hotels being one of the most taxable industries available. Aside from businesses, Buttacavoli said that infill growth could play a large role in generating tax revenue.

McKenzie believes that along with the previously discussed developments, investing more into the city's streets, building and blight issue will allow for future interest from outside businesses. This will also encourage new homeowners to settle in the area. Investing in the beautification of the city will help attract and maintain more revenue, she said.

Q: With assets like Bryant Field and Ellis Lake, what can Marysville do to bring more entertainment options to the area, such as concerts or events?

Buttacavoli is unsure whether more entertainment options can be brought to Marysville and believes that the city should focus on improving existing entertainment. He said that the best option is to take the entertainment options available and improve upon them in order to make them "revenue friendly and revenue generating."

McKenzie sees plenty of new opportunities for entertainment in the area including a farmers market, utilizing the State Theater and volleyball. She also believes that expanding Marysville's historic tours would be a good outlet for tourism.

Hudson said fresh ideas from the Yuba-Sutter community need to be fostered when providing entertainment for the area.

Q: How would you assess the current city manager Jim Schaad?

McKenzie has worked directly with Schaad through her work with the volunteer organization SAYLove. The organization partners with the city as well as the public works department to help support different efforts in the city. She said that Schaad has been open and engaged with the community during their work together.

Hudson said that Schaad maintains open communication with all members of the city council and staff. He appreciates Schaad's leadership style, knowledge and ability to find alternative solutions for the city.

Buttacavoli said that Schaad has gained a significant amount of experience from his previous position as assistant city manager for Fresno where he handled a budget three-times the size of Marysville's. Buttacavoli said that Schaad is moving the city in the right direction.