EAST LIVERPOOL — Approximately 40 people turned out for the mayoral debate hosted by River Valley Organizing (RVO) at the East Liverpool Community and Learning Center Thursday.

Two of the three candidates running for East Liverpool mayor in the Nov. 7 General Election participated — Darlene S. Kinsey and Shawn David McKinnon. Candidate Bobby Smith did not participate.

Candidates were asked questions, some submitted via an online form and others from the event moderator Jamie Nentwick of RVO.

Lindsey Smoot of RVO said all the questions listed as community submitted were submitted by community members and were unedited.

Questions were asked on a variety of topics including housing development, experience with large budgets, goals for office, campaign funding, safety service director, their thoughts on the LGBTQ+ movement, drugs, road issues, RITA (Regional Income Tax Agency) and more.

Each candidate had 60 seconds to answer each question with an opportunity for rebuttal if needed.

“Are there any plans for new resident-owned housing development within the city limits” was a community member submitted question.

Kinsey responded that there was a proposal by the current mayor Greg Bricker that was presented to the City Council a few weeks ago that was presented by an investor who had three proposals for redevelopment of the Maryland Avenue property. She went on to say it was her understanding that the Council decided at this time these were not proper plans for the neighborhood.

“So, at this time, I am not aware of any potential housing that has been proposed other than that,” Kinsey said. Currently there are no set plans for proposals of rebuilds in the community; however, there is a coalition that has been formed. The goals are two-fold, one is to take the remainder of the condemned homes and demolish them using all the materials that are refurishable. Much of the lumber that was placed in these older homes could be refurbished and used.

Kinsey believes that a lot of the wood and materials from these homes could be used to facilitate building other homes at a lower cost.

McKinnon answered saying that there is none that he knows, but he feels it’s a really important aspect that they need to bring back to the city. He also noted that there are many ordinances that prevent people from building homes because of being too close to other homes.

“I think if someone is moving into this town and wanting to build a new house, we should use every avenue possible as an administration and now City Council and city government,” McKinnon said. “To push that and help people, we should not be driving people away and I feel like some of the old ordinances and laws that we have are a little outdated and they need to be replaced.”

The candidates were asked through a submitted question to describe an ethical dilemma they faced and how they resolved it.

McKinnon said he had faced many ethical dilemmas in his job — the finance industry and banking.

“Usually how I go about them, I try to talk to the person directly instead of pulling the boss in or anything like that, trying to fix the problem between me and the person,” McKinnon said.

Kinsey said she has brought to the attention of at least two individuals since she has been running her office her concerns of unethical or potential unethical behavior and she has no problem with talking to an individual on a one-on-one basis and sharing her concerns in case in the future she would have to have an association with that individual they would respect her for her honesty and integrity and that they understand she is there to do the right thing.

The candidates were asked in a submitted question to describe pressing issues in the office they are running for.

Kinsey responded that there are a lot of pressing issues in the city and that nothing was going to be solved in a four-year term.

“The perception of passers-by and of our residents as well is that we live in decay, we have a very dirty, uninviting city,” Kinsey said.

She also noted that the conditions have made it unattractive for anyone outside the city to show any interest in starting a business in East Liverpool or relocating to the city. She said this is a top priority for her to address.

McKinnon said that he felt the city has many pressing issues and that he agreed with Kinsey on that they were not going to be resolved in four years, because most of them were long-term issues.

“We need to clean up the city,” McKinnon said. “I would love to continue with community clean-up days. I think that is very vital and I think our city, we want it to be better. We have to do it as a team. It’s not going to be the mayor; it’s not going to be Council. It’s not just going to be us here. It has to be everybody.”

The candidates were asked in a community submitted question what are some of their goals for this office, what do they plan to accomplish in their first 30 days and first 90 days?

Kinsey said she would take the first week alone with the newly appointed safety service director and meet each city worker individually to listen to their concerns and suggestions. She also said she wants to familiarize herself with the city department heads and what they are responsible for and what they need to enhance their ability to perform their jobs.

By 90 days into administration, Kinsey said she expects to be in discussions with Council and have in place a strategic plan for the city that sets some goals for the upcoming year, and all departments, Kinsey said.

McKinnon said that his short-term goals would be to continue to meet with department heads and people in the community such as business owners and landlords and resident to interact with them and get their thoughts.

McKinnon said he wants to get everybody’s voice from the homeless person to the millionaire for their ideas on the city. He wants to run on transparency with an open-door policy.

“What experience do you have with large budgets? How are you equipped to handle a budget as large as our city’s budget” was a community submitted question.

Kinsey responded that she has 28 years of sales and insurance appropriations and negotiations.

“As mayor, it is not my job to appropriate the city budget. That task belongs to City Council with oversight by the treasurer and the auditor,” Kinsey said. “However, it will be my job as mayor to oversee the safety service director is on top of the monthly budget for each of our city’s departments. Money will be allocated through the proper channels. This will ensure that each department receives sufficient funding to fully operate and give department heads the ability to allow city workers to perform their duties and provide the necessary services for our residents.

McKinnon responded that Council handles the budgets.

“What I can do as a mayor standpoint is kind of devise and kind of help and look and see where money needs to go and where money should go and kind of advise council like, ‘hey this department of the city needs more help or this department, you know, is going well,'” he said.

McKinnon noted that his experience with budgets is from working in the finance industry for the last five years. The degree he is currently working on is in economics and has provided him with plenty of math, accounting and calculus.

When asked in a community submitted question if either candidate had a candidate for a new safety director in mind, both Kinsey and McKinnon said they each had several potential candidates in mind but neither named anybody.

A community submitted question asked the candidates why they were the best person for the job and what would make voters want to vote for them.

McKinnon responded that it was pretty obvious that youth made him stand apart from the other two candidates.

“I would say I can bring a young voice to the city,” McKinnon said.

McKinnon believes the old way of thinking is not working. He attributes the decline in the city over the years to prior administrations, councils and people in positions of power leaving the city.

Kinsey said she was honest, hardworking and strives for success in all she does.

“I’m empathetic to the needs of our people and their individual situations,” Kinsey said. “I feel that there are always solutions to even the worst problems.

A moderator asked question addressed the issue of rental homes owned by out-of-town companies that are neglected and what the candidates’ plans were to address slumlords.

Kinsey said there are slum lords for sure but that there were many respectful people with rental properties in the community and they are important to the community as everyone is not capable of owning their own home.

“If there is an issue with the house itself, we have a very competent housing department that can address, if necessary, issues,” Kinsey said. ” If there’s a certain violation, they would be able to remediate and if it gets to the point where we have to intervene.”

McKinnon said unfortunately we need to crack down on this and he believes that there are plenty of people who rent homes that are more than competent enough to do so.

“Slumlords, they’re an issue that causes unhabitable places for people who live within the city and it pushes people away,” McKinnon said.

A moderator asked question asked the candidates for their plans on addressing road issues.

McKinnon said everyone has their points on the road.

“They suck, obviously they suck,” McKinnon said. “We need to use all the funding we can get from outside, whether from ODOT (Ohio Department of Transportation), the state. We put in numerous applications for grants.”

McKinnon believes when it comes to fixing the roads priority should be put on the entry ways into the city since that is the first thing people see when they come into the city.

Kinsey said that roads will always be an issue no matter what city someone lives in.

Both candidates agreed that money was the biggest issue, and the city is broke.

“We need to set a certain rotation for roads that have not had anything done to them in 40 years,” Kinsey said. “We have neighborhood roads that are decaying to such a point they are almost impassable. I think we need to set a plan to investigate each road and rate them from the worst to the best.

A moderator asked question asked the candidates how they feel about the LGBTQ+ movement.

McKinnon responded that whether gay or straight he feels everyone has a voice in the city.

“We shouldn’t be trying to drive anybody out because of sexual orientation,” McKinnon said.

Kinsey said she does not different people by their denomination, the color of their skin, by what they do for a living.

“It’s immaterial to me,” Kinsey said. “Each and every person has the right to live life as they see fit. If in any case it made someone uncomfortable, it’s just one of those cases where you just have to learn to be appreciative of the fact that we have the rights in our country to be who we are and conduct ourselves in a mannerly way.”

When it came to the time for questions from the audience, several asked questions about housing and safety issues.

Council member Brian Kerr said he was planning to reintroduce the RITA ordinance at Council and asked the candidates their thoughts on it.

McKinnon said he wasn’t supporting or opposing RITA but believes that it couldn’t hurt to try them out.

Kinsey was strictly opposed to the city utilizing RITA, saying they have a perfectly good and competent tax office.