Platitudes ruled at the candidate forum for Cortez council hopefuls Wednesday, with hardly a discouraging or disagreeable word uttered by any of the seven contenders for the four open seats.

Two incumbents —Mayor Joe Keck and councilwoman Cheryl Walkenhorst —face a field of five challengers that includes former councilman Jim Herrick, Planning and Zoning Commissioner Dennis Robson, businessman Steve Gates, MRI technician John Willard and Bill Rutledge, a retired law-enforcement officer. The three candidates receiving the most votes in the April 4 election will win four-year terms and the runner-up will get a two-year term.

Keck, who is running for a second term, praised both the current council and city staff in his opening remarks, declaring the city has made "major progress" during the past two years with him at the helm.

"I decided to run again because I feel like we’ve really turned some major corners within the city and we’ve put together a really good group on the council," he said. "I want to continue that progress."

Rutledge, who served as a police officer in Cortez and with the sheriff’s office as well as on the Ute Mountain Ute reservation, said he has both the time to devote to the job and the desire to learn the functions of the various city departments.

"Cortez has been awfully good to my family and myself," Rutledge said. "I want to help continue what’s going on."

Herrick touted the achievements of the council during his service from 1994 to 1998.

"I felt like we accomplished a lot of positive things for the city, and I’m looking forward to being back," Herrick said, adding that his priorities would be a recreation center, better telecommunications and making sure economic development isn’t hampered by inadequate sewer service.

Willard said his engineering background would be helpful in dealing with telecommunications issues.

"I may have a better grasp on [those] issues than most, or at least know what questions to ask," he said. "[Good telecommunications] pretty much concerns the growth in the future of the city — where we’re going, who’s attracted to the city and how we’re going to grow in an orderly manner."

Robson, an employee of Slavens True Value, said he’s gained insights into the community through his employment and volunteer work.

During three years on P&Z "I’ve seen the growth that’s occurring in the Cortez area," he said, "and I want to see that continue . . . but at the same time I want it to be organized and regulated the way we want it to be."

Walkenhorst, who was appointed to fill a vacancy last spring, praised her opponents.

"I think we have a bunch of really qualified, good candidates," she said. "I think its going to be a tough election and hard to decide who to vote for.

"I started initially out of curiosity and concern —no one else had applied for the position — and now I feel like I really want to participate in the process. It’s an exciting time here."

Gates, owner of a plumbing and heating business, said he was bowing to a request.

"The reason I’m running, quite simply, is because someone asked me to," he said "I’d never given it much thought until they asked, and as I did, I got to thinking that maybe my life experiences —from being involved as a fireman, from being in the food-service business, shipping and receiving goods and merchandise and in the plumbing business I have now serving customers, I figure I can help."

Responding to questions, the candidates all said they’d read the city charter —some more than once — and all agreed it was a sound basic document for governing the city. They also all agreed that Cortez needs better telecommunication service.

There was some disagreement among those who addressed the issue on whether local businesses should be given a preference by the city, even if their prices are higher than out-of-town competitors.

Herrick, who operates a roofing company, said he was opposed to the practice because it stifles competition.

"I’ve been an independent businessman for 15 years," he said, "and I do not favor any kind of preference or subsidy for local businesses just because they’re local.

"That would be counter to the competitive process," he said, and result in Cortez becoming an "island" apart from the rest of the world.

"I think it’s important to realize we live in a free trade society."

Rutledge also endorsed the concept of free trade, but apparently would support preferences.

"We’ve got to help the local merchants as much as we can," he said. "Local concerns come first."

Keck said as far as major franchises go, the city needs "to take a look at working with as many local entities as we can [and] increasing the amount of benefits generated" by retaining the dollars in the community for recycling.

Willard said that the city has provided local businesses with some incentives to improve their looks, but it is up to them to show some initiative in the face of chains and discount giants.

"You have to let them in," he said. "If they want to set up shop, all we can do is say, ‘These are the zones, this is the code, welcome to town.’

"I’m afraid it is a free market," he said. "Hopefully the locals can challenge that from their perspective rather than looking for governmental help."

Robson said that while it is important for the city to provide local merchants with ample parking and well-maintained streets, those merchants must be pro-active rather than passively accept their fates.

"Businesses themselves have to take the initiative and be aggressive," he added. "They can’t just sit in their little corner and whine about how bad Wal-Mart is treating them —they have to be out there on the front line."

Walkenhorst agreed that competition is healthy and teaches resourcefulness, but advocated preferences for local business.

"As a municipality, I think we need to try to do as much business as we can locally — to have a local merchant lose a bid with the city for 5-percent difference or 10-percent difference is really something that I think we need to look real hard at.

"We can’t stop franchises from coming here," she said. "We can just do everything we can as a municipality to use your tax dollars to try to help the people who are in business here already." She pointed out that efforts are underway to improve the appearance of the entryways and the downtown area.

Gates said he’d been in business since 1983, and believes competition stimulates growth.

"I personally have always strived to one-up the competition," he said. "I can’t provide all the plumbing services in town, but I can find my niche and do a darn good job."

"If [businesses] are in the city and the city needs those services, I’d like to always look at ways to keep that money in town, and not ship it out to some of the major suppliers" elsewhere, he said.

The city already has a preference policy for vendors located within the city that uses a sliding scale going from a 5-percent differential for purchases under $1,000 to a 1-percent advantage for purchases between $10,000 and $50,000.