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Calera political candidates address issues
Published 12:29am Wednesday, August 15, 2012Bunn said even if the economy doesn’t improve, he thinks the city is “in good shape.” He also addressed Calera’s unfinished park by Calera High School.
“We have all ready gone through tough times,” he said. “And when it comes to parks, we have needs and we have wants. I want to make sure we meet our needs them focus on our wants.”
Busby, who is the vice president of Calera Youth Baseball, said he plans to focus on parks and recreation. He said the fields are “overcrowded.”
“We need to get it fixed so we can grow and get more rooftops in Calera,” Busby said.
Gray, a bus driver for CHS, said she decided “over a year ago to deepen (her) involvement” with the city of Calera, and has attended the last eight City Council meetings. She is also involved with CHS’ Parent-Teacher Organization, serving as president and raising about $200,000 in five years.
“I have a track record of success, and I can bring that to the council,” she said.
Montgomery is an advanced certified municipal officer with the Alabama League of Municipalities.
“I would love to see the fire department on Highway 25 up and manned,” Montgomery said.
Phillips has served on the City Council since 1972.
“In terms of recreation, we’ve come a long ways. If we finish this new project by our high school, you won’t need a new place for kids to play,” Phillips said.
Sizemore said the next four years will be crucial for the city.
“Alabaster will finish its next two phases of the Promenade, so we need to be aggressive in recruiting businesses,” he said.
Snowden-Turner worked for more than 20 years with the Alabama Department of Transportation.
“Our major economic engine is to attract business off our interstate. We need to improve the infrastructure,” she said. “We need to attract those vehicles to stop and spend money in Calera. We have to be able to market Calera and improve the flow of traffic through our town.”
Watts said the council should focus on retail development opportunities.
“We need to get areas cleaned up that need to be cleaned up so when people drive through Calera it looks good and they have a good impression,” Watts said.
He also said the city needs to purchase the most current equipment for both fire and police departments.
“I think we need to do everything to support these departments,” Watts said.
It was interesting that Mr. Gentry spoke of a sales tax increase in terms of being better. As if the government taking more of our money makes us a better community. Alabaster having a higher sales tax doesn’t make it a better city, it’s a cesspool. It has completely abandoned it’s downtown area and is only concerned with the Colonial Promenade project. It’s subdivision’s are in chaos and it thinks it can run it’s own school system.
If increasing the sales tax gets Calera to the same state, I’d just as soon have lower taxes in this city, attract more businesses that appreciate the lower sales tax and bring in people from the surrounding areas to shop in Calera. THAT would bring in much more tax revenue. Hey politicians, quit trying to get into our wallets, learn to BUDGET like the rest of us and recruit businesses to increase our tax base!
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