University Heights mayoral candidates debate at John Carroll

By Sophia Maltese

Originally published 11/2/17

With the election coming up, mayoral candidates were poised to convey their visions for University Heights to John Carroll’s students and residents.

On Thursday, Oct. 26, current Mayor Susan Infeld and opponent Michael Dylan Brennan participated in a public debate pertaining to key issues that would arise or need to be addressed in the next four years. Each had their own plans for University Heights’ future, including zoning tactics, rental issues and the city’s relationship with our University. Each candidate began by humanizing themselves, sharing pieces of information regarding family life and personal experiences. Infeld has spent most of her recent time as mayor of University Heights, serving two consecutive terms, and Brennan has been immersed in the legal world as an attorney.

Role of City Council

While Infeld’s experience may be a pull to some voters, Brennan’s endorsement by six of the seven members of city council is a pull for others. As it happens, one of the main issues addressed in the debate was the relationship between the mayor and the city council.

“It’s normal for the administration to bring ideas to the city council and let them mull it over, pass it, not pass it, and that’s what [happens],” said Infeld regarding her communication with the city council.

Brennan countered “One of the problems that had come up because of the lack of cooperation or collaboration was that when the agenda was being set, if council wanted to add something to the agenda, it would not be put on the agenda until the next day, or actually after the meeting, when they would move to amend the agenda because it was then and only then that they could provide input for what was on the agenda.”

While the relationship between city council and the mayor could take the blame for misinformation between the two or slow actions of government, it is often not realized how much the mayor’s office must do.

JCU Internship

One program that was discussed was the mayor’s internship program. This came along when the candidates were asked how the city built its relationship with JCU.

Infeld said that JCU has greatly benefited from their internship positions at city hall, and will continue to do so. Brennan took a more aggressive approach. He wants to expand the internship program so that the relationship between the University and the city can be strengthened while simultaneously “growing a generation of young community leaders.”

Spending

In the upcoming years, University Heights, especially University Square, will face challenges when competing with larger cities that house more extensive retail options.

The small business fight is weakening and large corporations and chains are sweeping in. In order to address this issue, Brennan wants to provide small businesses with a tax cut, a possible use of the surplus the city has had. Infeld says that’s a bad idea. “I have worked very hard to make sure that the city government’s finances are in good shape, that the city is financially solid and I get concerned when my opponent talks about spending that money,” said Infeld.

Money spending seemed to be a sore point between the two opponents. Brennan suggested splurging on an increased police force and tax cuts. Infeld stressed the need to save that money and maintain University Heights’ status as a city of prosperity. Infeld was particularly concerned with Brennan’s desire to hire more police officers. She had already hired three additional police officers and was entertaining the idea of a “community police officer.” Brennan said that the community needs to hire that police officer, saying that the city must, “create a bond [between the community and the police] that isn’t necessarily there and doesn’t seem to be there right now.”

Lawn Care Controversy

While each candidate has their own agenda, the community has an agenda, too. The audience asked questions pertaining to recreational facilities, foreclosure bonds and small businesses.

One audience question even elicited an interesting tension between the two candidates. The subject was the city maintaining yards and such when a property was foreclosed. Brennan said that this duty should be put on the banks so that the state does not have to manage this. Infeld followed his statement with her own: “I would be remiss if I did not mention this. Brennan mentioned that when homeowners do not take care of their property then the state has to step in and repair and add that cost to the property tax bill. Unfortunately, my opponent was in that exact position. In 2014, he did not take care of his yard, so the city had to cut the grass [and] bill him.”

Brennan then gave his explanation to the audience.

He was out of town on business and upon return the weather had been poor for three consecutive days. This is the reason his grass was not cut. Brennan then applauded the city for being so fast in its response to his yard, but asked, why could the city not be as fast in other areas?

Closing Statements

After a long night of politics, Brennan gave his closing remarks. “Before you vote, you should ask yourselves, ‘what kind of city do you want to live in?’ … The city that I want to live in is a forward-looking city that’s making progress.”

Brennan continued, “It executes the basics, like garbage pickup and recycling and repaving all of the streets regularly, but it also has an eye on the future, one where we have a real master plan for the future, where we really do update our city. We can make University Heights the city we intend it to be for decades to come.”

Infeld spoke next, ending the night with her final thoughts.

“This will be my last term, it would be most responsible of me to have a succession plan, make sure that the community has a smooth transition.”

She continued, “If people are happy living here in University Heights, I would be your person. I think I have done a lot for the community. Our housing values have gone up, we’ve heard recently from Cuyahoga County that that is the case, so we have a lot of good things going for us and I would like to build on those things with real and measurable accomplishments, not promises.”

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