Steubenville Council hopefuls answer questions at forum
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STEUBENVILLE -- Two groups resurrected a local political forum, bringing together Steubenville City Council candidates on Thursday to answer questions in anticipation of the Nov. 7 general election.
Eastern Gateway Community College hosted the event lecture hall, where the seven council hopefuls received questions sourced partially from attendees, having submitted them through note cards. The forum was organized jointly by Strong Towns Steubenville and the Ohio Valley Business and Professional Women.
The BPW hosted similar political forums until 2019 but paused following the coronavirus pandemic, said Sarita Asawa, BPW member and committee chair for the forum. Previous forums had addressed ballot issues and included candidates for state representative and mayor seats.
"We really wanted to bring back the forum," Asawa said, "because it's super valuable for local voters to be informed about their choices."
Candidates speaking at the forum included First Ward candidates David L. Albaugh, Republican, and Asantewa Anyabwile, Democrat; Third Ward candidate Heather Hoover, Republican, who is running unopposed; Fifth Ward candidates Larry Gerber, Republican, and Ted Gorman, Democrat; and council at large candidates Scott M. Dressel, democrat, and Joel Walker, Republican.
Each candidate was given a two-minute introductory statement.
Albaugh referenced his volunteer work and presence on the city's board of parks and recreation. He said he was motivated to take action and run for council after not seeing much progress from the body. Anyabwile, who is seeking re-election, said she was raised in Steubenville, moved away, and then came back, seeking a safe environment to raise her family in. Upon moving back, she noticed the community's significant decline and was led down the path of becoming more involved.
Hoover was appointed to council after former Councilman Eric Timmons was elected to the Jefferson County commissioners. Hoover said she hopes to continually offer council a fresh perspective and act for the city's betterment as a whole, instead of catering to individuals' own interests.
Gerber recalled downtown Steubenville's booming success in the 1970s, but recognized how that time has passed. His goals to improve the city included bringing in more businesses, creating more activity opportunities for children and cleaning up the city. Gorman, current principal of Steubenville High School, said he wants to give back to the community and referenced his track record of previous work. One of his main goals for the city was bolstering civic pride to make good first impressions on visitors.
Dressel, a former city councilman, listed his focuses if elected, including infrastructure, code enforcement, supporting first responders, increasing bike accessibility and revitalizing the city's riverscape. President of the Steubenville Historic Landmarks Foundation, Dressel announced the theater received a $1.5 million grant Thursday. Walker said he wants to ask why other cities nearby and growing but Steubenville isn't, even though Steubenville is primed for growth through the Ohio River, highways and two nearby airports. He expressed the desire to make changes to help the city, including revisiting the city's codes to better suit incoming businesses.
At first, questions were directed at individual candidates, who had two minutes to answer. The opposing candidate had one minute to respond, after which the roles would flip for the next question. Candidates answered inquiries regarding zoning, public infrastructure, budgeting and grant money disbursement.
Certain questions were addressed by every candidate, including a question on what each would do to make the city more walkable. Other topics included whether the city should have dog parks, how each candidate plans to address safety of children, how to improve city transportation, whether there is a shortage of affordable housing, each candidate's priority for parks and recreation and whether they would support a parks and recreation levy.
Amelia Taggart, BPW's president-elect for the state federation, introduced the forum. She noted the BPW, which had its local chapter founded in 1929, was created with the goal of attaining women's suffrage.
"This week, BPW celebrates National Business Women's Week," said Taggart, who has been a BPW member since 2006. "It is fitting that we get to host a political forum to showcase candidates that we get to vote for -- a right that many women fought very hard for us to have and our group does not take for granted."
The forum's co-organizer, Strong Towns Steubenville, is a local chapter of the national nonprofit Strong Towns and seeks the revitalization of Steubenville through bottom-up means. STS' efforts to that end, since its founding in July, include monthly community bike rides.
Jamie Nugent, vice president of STS, said questions for the forum were based on Strong Towns' "10 Questions to Ask Someone Running for Local Office," and centered on municipal topics like housing, finance and development.
STS core team members assisted the forum by distributing and collecting note cards for audience questions.
Ross Gallabrese, executive editor of the Herald-Star and The Weirton Daily Times, moderated the questions, and Mary Lou Jones, production director and radio personality for WCDK-FM, served as the timekeeper.