There are three candidates running for two open seats on the Anderson City Council. North State Public Radio’s Kelly Frost has more on the race.
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Like other cities, public safety is one of the main issues in Anderson. Voters in June passed a half-cent sales tax increase to be used for police.
Baron Browning moved to Anderson in 1996 and is a business executive. He says is up to the council to ensure that the money goes to putting officers on the street. And he says a restructuring of the police department is working.
Browning: “Our Chief has done a magnificent job in his last year of rallying the team together as far as officers go, and putting them out there in areas and fields that they want to be in. Whether it’s working at the schools, or working with the citizens, they all have a special role now, and they take that very seriously from what I’ve gathered from them”.
Mayor Debe Hopkins is running for re-election. She is a real estate agent and is also active in the Exchange Club and the Anderson Chamber of Commerce. She also says the police department is doing a good job, given the resources it has.
Hopkins: “I don’t have any real concerns at this point, I think just keeping up the momentum we have now. And our police department does an excellent job. The Chief’s doing an excellent job. And with the sales tax we are hiring new officers. That’s to look to the future to make sure we maintain the safety level we have in our city have now”.
Former council member and three-time mayor Norma Comnick is running again after a two-year absence. She holds positions on a number of boards including the Shasta Fire Protection District. She also says the police are doing a good job, but could use some more help. She says another way to fund an officer position is to hire a city attorney part-time instead of using an out of town contractor as they do now.
Comnick: “They’re expecting about a million dollars from the sales tax thing which half of it goes to the police department. So I think they’re going to do a good job. I think we could do with a local attorney maybe on an hourly basis. Save some money and might be enough to hire another police man”.
There are the three candidates for Anderson City Council. For North State Public Radio News, I’m Kelly Frost in Redding.