by Brett Thorne

The Buda Chamber of Commerce hosted a City Council Candidate Forum on Oct. 15. The forum gave the five candidates a chance to voice their opinions on a range of issues affecting the city. Taryn Davis, who was running against Jose Montoya for Sandra Tenorio's Place 3 seat, dropped out of the race prior to the forum, leaving Montoya to run unopposed. George Haehn and incumbent Cathy Chilcote are competing for the Place 4 seat and Jim Corry and Eileen Altmiller are running for Dawn Schaeffer's unexpired Place 5 seat. Below are each candidate's answer to a few of the questions that were asked throughout the evening.

Why are you a candidate for City Council?

Jose Montoya: As a family man, I want to see Buda protected and preserved. I've lived a lot of places all over the world and Buda is special. One of the reasons I've served on the zoning board of adjustments and I now serve on the planning and zoning commission is that I want to give back to this special place. I want to make sure we don't just become another Round Rock or Kyle. This is Buda and I want to keep it Buda.

George Haehn: I made the mistake of speaking out in a meeting. I've given my whole life to serving the people of this nation. 21 years in the marine corps and I was a teacher after that. I went to this meeting and I spoke out against what was happening and some people came up to me and asked 'Why aren't you running?' and it took me a while to figure out why and they said 'OK, then you need to file.' I'm running because I see the potential for what Buda could end up being. Right now we're at a crossroads. We could either continue to grow in a wise manner that keeps Buda's character alive or we could die and go the way of Arlington and other places that are just a bunch of dilapidated old factories.

Jim Corry: It would be an honor if you would allow me to apply my time and talent to representing you, the citizens of Buda, and guide the city and the resources we have and the issues we're facing. I think everyone up here agrees that we're facing some growth. It's the end of the recession, things are going to start happening. The question should be not whether we are going to grow or not. The question should be 'How best should we grow?' We can all agree Buda is a special place. We all want to keep it that way. So the question then becomes, 'Who best represents you in the decisions of how to make that happen?'

Cathy Chilcote: I'm a citizen and I've always worked hard to be the change that I believe Buda needs. I've been a strong voice, someone who is not afraid to speak up. I stood up to bullies on the council in the last several years. I've called council members out on illegal wrongdoing, sometimes I have been the only 'nay' vote and I'm not afraid to take that road. I analyze and I evaluate all decisions. I speak for the citizens. I have a proven track record for standing up to developers and for holding them accountable and making them pay their fair share. We need experience on the council. We need someone who has led the council in the past and has always spoken their mind and spoken for the citizens. I am not a follower. I am a doer. I have proven I can get the job done keeping taxes low and still meet the needs and provide the quality of life for the citizens here in Buda. I have a lot of experience. I have a lot of volunteer experience. I served on the Santa Cruz Private School Board for several years. I was mayor pro tem. Many many other things. But I have done my share here in Buda of taking charge and working programs that the citizens need to continue that quality of life.

Eileen Altmiller: I have seen many of you in this room at many many meetings. I am involved in the city government, coming to city council meetings, historic preservation meetings, planning and zoning commission meetings, I have served on many boards and commissions. Friends and family have been encouraging me to run for a number of years. I've always felt that it wasn't the right time. But I decided that this was the right time and there are times when you see important priorities that are not advanced, that seem to be falling through the cracks. There are things that are important but not urgent that need to be addressed. There are many many things that are on the capital improvement plan that are on the list that need to happen. One of the most important things I think is the downtown plan. I understand that that needs to come after the EDC's strategic planning and retail leakage plans but I think the downtown plan is really important. And the drainage plan. I think it's crazy that the fire department floods. I would really like to see us work on those issues. Finally, my husband told me not to say a word about the city unless I was willing to run for office. It's true. I also worked on the comprehensive plan.

How do you propose to balance the economic business needs of the growing I-35 corridor with the small town desires of the constituents you represent?

Haehn: I have to take a look at the infrastructure needs of the businesses that want to locate along the I-35 corridor, but I would also have to require them to contribute to funds that would improve our parks and our hike and bike trails so that we have connectivity between businesses along I-35 as well as Stagecoach Village, City Park and downtown. If you look at their economic situation right now, I know the word is out that we're in a recovery, but there are still a lot of people that are in trouble. Within the next year I would expect that to turn around. We always have come back. But when you're looking at the desire of the people to balance our needs, we have to look and say 'Traffic flow is going to be one thing' and they do all the traffic studies before they even propose to build there, but when it comes to the hometown feel, we could change or modify the EDC to require that all future developments include a facade, no matter how modern, it it looks and feels like hometown Buda, that's something that would make it more appropriate for our small town and we could do that if we change the EDC. We have to work with the EDC, TXDOT and the county to improve the roads, frontage, exits and signage along the roads to make sure that everyone knows that we are Buda and this is a great place to be and to work, play and live.

Corry: There are several things in place and there are some ordinances that have been passed to address this. There's a sidewalk connection between downtown and the freeway and I think that's going to be a wonderful thing. I plan to walk it. There's already a new landscaping ordinance that hotels going up across from the post office is the first water structure that is subject to the new landscaping regulation so we'll see pretty soon kind of what George is talking about, the small town feel of even modern buildings. So I look forward to seeing that as well. In terms of the I-35 versus the small town, those plans address some, and I also believe that it's in all of our views and in all of our best interests that the I-35 land – what small piece of it we have – be used for the best use for the tax dollars that it can generate. We might be presented with certain desires of businesses that want to move there or an industry that wants to move into that area, but we have to consider how much of that is going to generate? How much are they going to contribute to our parks, and our police and our fire and the infrastructure of our town? The charming part of Buda, the downtown and the connecting areas, we can maintain them as desirable, charming areas.

Chilcote: I think there are ways that we can all have what we want and what we all hold dear about Buda and still bring clean economic development to Buda. When we do the retail leakage report with that study, and the EDC has partnered with the city to do that, and there are going to be public meetings where citizens can help identify what they want, what they want located in their downtown areas, what they want located on the IH-35 corridor. And there is not a lot of land left out there. It is very limited. We have a documented vision. It hasn't changed since everyone got an opportunity to speak. We all want a revitalized downtown area. Well what does that mean? Well we have the overlay district, we have the historic district documented. We're going to stick to that vision no matter what because I think it's the one thing everyone in town wants to see or what they don't want to see, if it's overbuilt, it's modernized, we don't want to do that. We want to get those buildings up and going and keep them open. We've been working with the building owners as part of our plan with the EDC and we'll continue to work with developers and make them pay for infrastructure, as they have done in the past. They have contributed. And that has kept our taxes down which is very critical to everybody that lives here. We have several projects we're addressing on the IH-35 corridor. Again, those are not place, those are not projects, those are not businesses that would be well-served to be located in the downtown area. So I think we're using a lot of common sense in those areas. We are committed to working with the chamber, we're committed to working with the EDC and we want to all work together.

Altmiller: Buda is landlocked by many other ETJs so we need to make sure that every development decision we make is very carefully thought out. If we make a mistake it's a 20-year mistake so we need to be careful about that. We've got plans to do cooperative city, EDC, strategic plan, retail leakage, the market analysis, and all of those plans are good plans. We need to identify the businesses that we want and need and that meet the needs of the citizens and maximize our income. I don't think there has ever been an EDC strategic plan. I think it's really important to do that now. After the EDC's strategic plan is done, we need to do a downtown plan and we need to include the businesses that also have the people who live here and not just as an afterthought. They need to be incorporated into the process of writing that plan. We need to think really carefully about our IH-35 and our industrial areas and our gateway areas and finally, I think if we really enhance the city amenities that we have and create a safe place – the kind of place we all want to live – businesses will want to come here and they will do well here. And again, I think we need to work really well with the EDC, the city and the chamber.

Montoya: The interstate area is going to grow and develop no matter what happens. Our challenge is to grow and develop the rest of Buda. I think the best way is to invest time and continue to have a comprehensive plan and a uniform development code and take all sides into consideration. You can find a Best Buy within 20 or 30 miles on 35 in downtown Austin or San Antonio. But you can't find a Nonna Gina's a Raby's Roots or a Buda Dental Store within 20 or 30 miles. We cannot sacrifice our sales tax revenue for the soul of Buda. We are the last unspoiled area within 30 miles of downtown Austin. They are coming no matter what. But when they do come, they'll play by our rules.

What do you think is the most important issue facing Buda today?

Corry: The most important issue facing Buda today is managing growth. We want to maintain the look and feel of Buda, the way it is now , we want to continue to be a desirable place to live and a desirable place to grow families and businesses. We all have the same goal and you've heard this over and over again. The question then becomes, 'How best do we do that?' and the debate should be 'How best to move forward?' We should not be considering any other alternatives other than moving forward. If there are any factions out there who say that Buda would best be served by keeping Buda the way it is and not growing, they are not living in the same world the rest of us are in. The growth will happen. We have into position people who can best decide how that growth should be molded, what kinds of growth it should be and I don't think we would disagree on that. So the most important issue is Buda's future.

Chilcote: People move here because we are a great place to live. When I moved here I looked at the schools because my children were young so we better pay attention to the educational system here. We have an obligation to make sure we plan for that growth. I believe we have and I believe we are and we will continue to do that while keeping our costs and our taxes as low as possible and still giving citizens the services that they require, that they demand, that they want. As per the many surveys we have had landowners switching from crops to rooftops, we have to have enough responsibility to plan for that growth, to put it into place and to stick to it and I believe we have that and I believe we've done that and I believe we are moving forward, not irresponsibly, but with plans in place, districts created on where what can be built, what's best suited for what area. Roads are always going to be an issue. Roads are an issue for every city in every state in the United States. It's always going to be a challenge to address roads. It is something that we talked about frequently and we need to continue to have that conversation. But I think getting economic growth in here – the right kind of growth – is extremely important, while balancing a multi-faceted approach to growth and to working within businesses. We have to do everything at the same time to keep moving forward, without going into debt, without raising that tax rate so unbelievably that no one can afford it.

Altmiller: My answer is going to be growth of course. I think Buda needs to grow gracefully, we need to be sensitive to the quality of life challenges that come with growth and we've had tremendous growth in the last 10 years. The need for transportation, the need for more facilities, infrastructure needs, spending water and wastewater lines, just the adequacy of the amount of water that we have. Police, libraries, parks, all of these things. We need to do so in such a way that we keep a reasonable tax rate and we need to preserve the things that we value the most about Buda. I spent a year living and breathing the comprehensive plan and I will work to implement the updated comprehensive plan.

Montoya: I believe the most important issue is preserving our character and small-town feel. It is possible for us to balance our growth opportunities along IH-35 and other parts of town. As I mentioned in the last question, we are the last unspoiled area within 30 miles of downtown and we can control our own destiny if we are smart and patient.

Haehn: It's obviously growth and our management style that we're going to use in order to prepare for it. We can either shoot ourselves in the foot every five years and try to catch up, or we can look ahead to 20 years or 30 years, not just the next 2 years and say 'OK, we're landlocked,' like I believe Eileen said, 'we've got about 2000 acres left that are going to be developed. It will be whether we want it to or not. The developers are going to come.' What we have to start looking at, like Jose said, there were agreements made with the developers when they platted their properties five or ten years ago that we didn't put in place in the contracts to ensure that they actually ponied up something to get something from the city. I believe in this year's budget there's a little over $1,583,000 being spent to upgrade the force main coming out of Garlic Creek. Why? Because we allowed Garlic Creek to continue to build and I do not believe that Garlic Creek is paying any of that. The citizens and taxpayers of Buda are. Those are things that bothered me, those are reasons why I started to voice my concerns to people about the development and the way that our growth was being managed, or mismanaged. I think we could do it wiser and if we don't get a handle on it now, we won't have an opportunity to fix it. We'll be stuck with what we got. Our number one issue is going to be managing our growth in a wise manner.