Cortez will hold its biennial city-council election next Tuesday, with seven candidates vying for four open seats. The three candidates receiving the highest number of votes will win four-years terms, and the one receiving the fourth highest number of votes gets a two-year term.

All candidates, Steve Gates, Jim Herrick, Joe Keck, Dennis Robson, Bill Rutledge, Cheryl Walkenhorst and John Willard, were asked the same questions during recent interviews with The Cortez Journal.

Also on the municipal ballot are six proposed changes to the city charter, mostly housekeeping measures designed to get rid of outmoded language and provisions and one that eliminates a requirement that the city attorney live in Cortez, a caveat that has been largely ignored in the past.

Absentee ballots may be cast at City Hall through 5 p.m. Friday. Anyone with election questions can call City Clerk Linda Smith at 565-3402.

"It’s time to change that portion of the land-use code because it’s always misinterpreted. It’s taken so much heat, it’s time to get away from it.

"It was one of those things that was put in the land-use code to keep modular and mobile homes out. It’s just not worth the brain damage anymore —let’s get it out of there and move on."

"I think there will be some real economic benefits to having (MCEDC) right there together (with the Chamber of Commerce and visitor-information center). The city is the primary funding mechanism for economic development, and, as I understand it, (MCEDC) will be paying some rent.

"A good portion of that economic-development deal is tourism, and having the (MCEDC) tourism coordinator near the Chamber people is going to streamline things. They’ve got to be someplace that if you’ve got a live prospect that walks in the door and says is a nice place, I’d like to live here, we’d like to live here,’ they can say, ‘Step right up.’

"By virtue of my business (roofing contractor) here, I hold contractor licenses in Utah and New Mexico, and the administrative part of obtaining them is cumbersome and, in my opinion, not necessary.

"Good people are going to do good work and bad people are going to do bad work and giving them tests and making them buy licenses —that’s not the answer. The answer is to enforce the [building code] laws already on the books."

"Obviously, I don’t want to cause anyone any heartache because of construction noise, but I also think it needs to be balanced with what progress is good for the public at large —theoretically, construction doesn’t go on forever.

"I think it needs to be addressed at the (beginning) of any project and noise needs to be minimized at weekends and at night.

"Diesel idling, no, they shouldn’t be allowed to idle (indefinitely). There’s a prudent time to warm one up, that’s one thing, but allowing them to idle all night . . . no, that should not be allowed in a residential area."

"The economy in our town is growing at such a rate that we can absorb it into the already existing revenue stream [from the 3.5-percent sales tax]. Aside from that, you would have to go with a tax increase —whether from sales or property tax. I’ve tried to sell that before and it’s a difficult one."

"I think being involved in municipal government is a fascinating process that I really enjoy. In my formal education, local government was never really hit upon and it’s really a part of everyday life that touches you the most.

"I think people will take note that nothing new has happened in the last couple years —without exception everything the current council has done is stuff that was initiated by prior councils."

"Because I care deeply about the town and I want to make this a prosperous place where my family can be proud of living."

"I sure think the 1,500 [limit] is questionable. I’m not sure who exactly that limit is protecting or what it is protecting people against.

"I don’t understand why people put those kind of limits in zoning."

"Yes, I do. I believe that it makes good sense for them to be housed in the same location (as the Cortez Chamber of Commerce). They’ll be paying rent and I don’t think there’s a conflict.

"I do think the Welcome Center needs to be expanded, and at the very least the parking needs expanded, but it’s going to depend on getting the right grant money —it’s not going to be a cheap endeavor."

"There needs to be some kind of a system to give people access to information about the builders in the community. How that system comes to fruition is what the big debate is about.

"Certainly this last ordinance we considered wasn’t going to take care of this need —it was duplication of what’s already in our codes [and] really wasn’t going to address the problem.

"An open-book test is no way to judge whether a person knows what he’s doing —if they’re going to do a good job."

"I do support [limiting] hours of construction in residential neighborhoods and I support diesel-idling limitations, more from a pollution perspective than the noise.

"I live in a very nice neighborhood and occasionally there’s a diesel truck that will warm up there in the mornings. It’s not particularly noisy, but it stinks to high heaven."

"I’m not sure how it could happen. Right now our choices are:

"Save the money until we can pay cash for it, the choice the city made with other capital-expenditure projects like the water plant and the parks (expansion).

"Go back to the public with a vote so it can be paid for through [a tax hike].

"Or possibly through privatization, someone coming in and running a rec center that would, through the proceeds, pay for itself."

"All those options need to be explored —the most expedient would be financing it through some type of taxation, or peeling off part of what [revenues] we’re already getting."

"Get involved — it has never been more critical than it is right now.

"And recognize that we’re trying to do our best. We really do want to want to hear from them.

"We do listen. There are comment boxes at City Market and outside City Hall, and absolutely every one of those gets passed around at our work sessions. Input is valued."

"That’s a tough one —I was sitting there last night [at a candidate forum] asking myself that.

"Perhaps because I do have ten months invested in that learning curve already.

"I don’t have an agenda. I feel I approach every topic with an open mind. I’m a negotiator and I feel that every problem has a solution."

"I’m willing to do the work —to make the time and to the best of my ability participate in the process."

"After going through this for a while, I probably wouldn’t support the 1,500 square-foot [limit]. It’s too much of a disincentive to infill development within the city.

"People can build really nice 1200-1300 square-foot homes that won’t negatively impact property values and especially for the first-time home buyer, from conversations I’ve had with lenders and builders, [homes above the minimum] are just too expensive for them to afford.

"I will want us to take another look at it —I definitely don’t think we should be pushing development out into the county where they don’t have the infrastructure to support it."

"I do, because the MCEDC is partly funded with public funds. It’s a public/private partnership between the city and the private business interests to promote business development in the area.

"What we’ve learned from other communities [is that] a lot of people who end up moving their businesses to a community will have a contact through a welcome center, where they’ll get information about the area.

"Having economic development right next to tourism and the welcome center would be a great way of introducing them to our community and showing them what the possibilities are."

"The big contractors building homes probably need to be licensed.

"I don’t think we ought to be trying to control what homeowners are doing or what these smaller fixer-up people are doing. If a homeowner does anything now that’s structural, they have to get a building permit, [so] we can provide for the public safety through the building-inspection process."

Would you support noise restrictions in residential neighborhoods related to idling diesel trucks and construction projects?

"Probably not unless it was a major construction project. I’d take a real hard look at it but I’m not sure additional regulations are needed.

"If [diesel idling] becomes a major community issue where there are significant complaints about it, I’d be willing to look at it.

"I’d probably support something that would limit the amount of time to make sure it’s only what’s absolutely essential for warming a truck up."

"It would have to be a sales-tax increase. That’s about the only funding source the city would have available. I doubt we could do it within the existing revenue stream.

"We’ll have to see what the impact of Wal-Mart is on the total sales tax revenue picture, but I don’t anticipate it could be done without an increase in sales tax."

"I think that we have a really excellent team, between the council and our [city] manager and our staff we’re working well together.

"I got some really good plans on the board and we’ve been implementing them. I would really encourage the community to get more involved in what’s going on with the city, and especially participate in the comprehensive-planning process that’s getting underway."

"I have a little bit of sense of the history of Cortez, and I’ve tried to mix in a little bit of vision about things we need to address in the future.

"I’m willing to do that, and I think I’ve demonstrated that I am."

"Yes, with exceptions, and the exceptions should probably be a case-by-case basis. I’m not sure 1,500 is the right number, but it’s a good number.

"Basically it’s good for resale value not only for the homeowners themselves, but for the community in general."

"I don’t know. I don’t have a definite opinion on that. It would probably be best to hear arguments on both sides.

"I tend to want to separate, though, private business from government, but sometimes when it’s a potentially huge mutual benefit like this, maybe it’s not so bad."

"I’ve read the proposed ordinance and discussed it with builders —I have to have a (plumbing) license, so obviously I’m not opposed to it in total.

"I think the homeowner section (that limited them to one ‘non-structural improvement’ per year) might have been a tad restrictive.

"I think contractors should be licensed. The fact that they have to pass some kind of a test doesn’t necessarily mean they’re capable or not capable, but it gives us some indication. Unfortunately the state doesn’t see fit to make that mandatory yet, but maybe at some point in the future."

"I probably would. I can sleep through just about anything, but not everyone can.

"I really would like to see a common-decency rule —I don’t like to legislate it, though (but) I wouldn’t mind taking a serious look at it. There are precedents in other towns for noise control and construction times —7 to 7, for example.

"I don’t want to legislate it if I don’t have to, but if I have to I would lean toward doing it for the folks that can’t sleep through it."

"Typically, my thinking is ‘private funding.’ I would like to look at an avenue something along the lines of the Boys and Girls Clubs.

"I like privatization.I don’t think government —city, state, federal — can do everything. I would say there is a definite need for something like that, though."

"What I can bring to the council and the city in general is common sense, an openness to look at both sides. There are very few things that I adamently oppose in life.

"I’m willing to serve people, which is something I’ve done all my life in one form or another. I think my positive attitude would go a long way to helping continue some of the strong things the city’s been doing in recent years.

"I sure would like to do it, but I just think the other folks running are really well-qualified and have some great thinking, also.

"On a personal level, I just think I can do as good a job as anyone else. I don’t toot my own horn very well."

DENNIS ROBSON

"I think it’s a good idea because, being on Planning and Zoning, I’ve looked through (the zoning code). It allows smaller infill as we need it, but at the same time it protects the owners who do have the 1,500-square-foot homes.

"We have had instances come up (with P&Z) where people wanted to put a smaller subdivision in the 1500-square-foot zone, and the people that actually own the larger houses don’t want that.

"You can use architectural standards to regulate the same thing, but they’re really difficult to maintain."

"I really do. I’ve talked with the various entities that are involved with that, and there’s a lot of travel time between where they are currently (on S. Broadway). I think the Chamber of Commerce building is a better location, and it would be better to get them organized all in the same place so it can be more profitable —eliminate the replication in things they are doing.

"A lot of that funding (for the expansion) is coming primarily from private sources, from grants and everything, and they are still actively seeking grants."

"I’m pretty much in favor of that. In talking to (Police Chief) Roy Lane, we’ve had a bunch of people come who have dealt with fly-by-night contractors that come in (to town) and do siding and roofing work and then don’t guarantee anything and leave.

"All it does is protect good contractors from the cheap fly-by-night people who come in here and do it for half the price and do half the job. It’s more to protect the consumer than hamper the contractor."

"That’s a real hot item. I think they’ve tried to do that in the past and it hasn’t got a whole lot (of support) because the truckers’ union and people like that have been pretty stout.

"It would be nice to restrict that. I think it needs to be stipulated for new construction, like the problem we had with Wal-Mart where they were working 24 hours a day.

"The trucks — it would be a real nice thing if we could do that. I would definitely be in favor more toward those noise ordinances."

"It would be important to get involvement community-wide, including the city and the county, because I don’t think the city itself should fund it. I think funding should be from a broad base, because it’s going to be used by everybody.

"The optimal thing (to pay for it) would probably be a use-type charge . . . more like a commercialization of it where if you’re actually going to use it, you pay for it."

"My main thing is I want people involved (beyond when) it’s in their back yards. If we could get that involvement in every part (of the process), even the boring issues that don’t apply to everybody, if people would show up and put in their voices, I’d love it if we could get participation."

"I do have experience from Planning and Zoning and I try to stay as unbiased as I can and get all the facts.

"I’m very fair and I don’t make decisions up front."

"I think there should be limits, but I don’t know about the 1,500 square foot. There’s people who want a home (that) can’t afford 1,500 square feet. They just don’t have the salary to do that.

"The number of residents who are going to reside in the home should have something to do with it. It all depends on the family that’s moving in."

"Yes, I think it should be because it would be right there where people can come in and ask questions. It would be very convenient. I looked at the plans . . . and it looked like a very good deal.

"It’s my understanding that it expands parking in the back (of the center). In the past I would not be for the parking, but since they’ve developed (Parque de Vida) there’s plenty of space."

"Yes, so that they could have some standards, but I am definitely against (a proposed ordinance limiting homeowner improvements). That wasn’t the way to go.

"They have, I believe, five inspections during the building — the foundation the beams, the framing and so on — and I think that suffices.

"Some kind of license for the builders is just to keep the fly-by-nights from coming in —the ones that are here, just grandfather them in, but the ones coming in —it shouldn’t be a very high fee, just something to do an investigation on. You wouldn’t have to hire anyone else to do that."

"I believe if (diesels are idling) for a long period of time, just call the police and ask them to check on it and tell them it’s causing a problem.

"If that doesn’t work and I’m on the council and it comes to that, I think there should be an ordinance against (prolonged idling), but not if they’re just going out there to warn (a truck) up. Thirty minutes would be a reasonable time.

"I think in residential areas construction hours should be limited to daylight hours, unless it’s an emergency."

"I understand that the city gets about $70,000 a year from Lotto. They’ve used that to develop the parks and I think they’re far enough along now —and it’s got to be used strictly for recreation and parks — they could start setting some of that aside to pay for a recreation center."

"I’m a taxpayer, and if I’m elected, I’m going to be there to make sure the money is spent wisely and to improve the city as we go along, because we either grow or decay —you don’t stay the same.

"I think we should endeavor to grow, which the town is doing now, and I’m all for being here and planning for those future endeavors."

"I’ve been here for about 48 years. I have worked for the city. I have worked for the county. I have worked for the Ute Mountain reservation.

"I plan to be part of the improvements in the future within budgetary restraints."

"I’ve got a 1,250-square-foot home myself and it fills up the lot pretty nicely, giving me a back yard, and I could see someone who didn’t have the cash wanting smaller than that.

"A minimum would be nice ... so it would be marketable after the owner leaves and sells it to someone else. You wouldn’t want to be going down to 700 feet. Somewhere along the lines you probably have to (set a minimum) because the problem with human beings is there’s always some extremes."

"The argument is by having it there, along with the Chamber of Commerce, a lot of tourists coming into town may have business interests or thoughts of wanting to move somewhere and when they show up at the Welcome Center, it’s a one-stop-shopping philosophy.

"If they move into this, because it’s city-owned, the subsidy might change as a result of that because of the rent aspect."

"There are some very good arguments against it and I have to agree with them. The biggest concern is, you get too many laws when actually you can enforce the ones you have — we’ve got a lot of good zoning codes and people who know what they’re doing on inspections. There’s something already in place to ensure good building practices."

"Hours-wise, 7 a.m. to dusk is not a half-bad idea (for construction limits).

"I’m not sure why they keep those things idling all the time . . . but I don’t think they should be doing it on a residential street —not only is there noise, there’s the smoke from it, and the safety factor (of leaving an idling rig unattended)."

"We’re not going to be able to do it with fees, because the fees would be outrageous. It would have to be with taxes, the way we pay for a lot of things.

"Right now, even in the planning stages the rec center is probably still a couple years away."

"We are growing and we have to plan for that growth. Things are being done already in some respects — we’re getting (better) telecommunications, the sewer system is, hopefully, going to be upgraded to where it would be expandable for any amount of people who show up.

"There’s going to be expansion everywhere (and) we have to figure out now where we go in the future. We need to prepare for it because it may happen quicker than you think."

"I believe in being fair and collecting the facts, but I’m also aware that I’m not going to make everyone happy —I’m realistic about what I’m getting into.