The Eastern Shore chapter of the Common Sense Campaign held a candidate forum last week at Homestead Village for the Fairhope municipal election candidates.

Common Sense Campaign leader Cody Phillips said he wanted residents to be able to hear directly from the candidates on the issues that matter to them.

“We had some set questions that we thought would be important, but we wanted to be sure that citizens got the opportunity to directly question and talk with the candidates,” Phillips said.

The main theme across the candidates’ speeches for the evening was growth and how they would address the issue as elected officials.

Incumbent Mayor Tim Kant said the best way to combat unwanted growth would be for the city to stick to its recently developed comprehensive plan.

“The only way we’re going to be able to preserve our way of life is if we work under the comprehensive plan we passed,” Kant said. “The villages concept it calls for helps to preserve downtown Fairhope, calls for a moratorium on new subdivisions and it’s one of the only tools we have to regulate land use.”

Kant’s challenger, local businesswoman Karin Wilson, said while she agreed that the comprehensive plan could help solve some issues, it would only work if elected officials actually followed the plan.

“Our leaders have continued to make exceptions to these rules and regulations they’re claiming to support,” Wilson said. “Decisions are being made in the face of significant public opposition. We need to stop changing ordinances and allowing exceptions for outside developers who want to exploit our beautiful community.” Current Council President Jack Burrell said he was proud of the amount of money that the current council has been able to put toward paying down the city’s debts.

“Four years ago, we talked about debt reduction and we will soon have $16 million less debt than we did then,” Burrell said. “That’s over 30 percent debt reduction and it helps free up money that we can now use for other needed city services.”

Fairhope newcomer Meredith Smith is challenging Burrell for the Place 1 seat, and said she feels her background in publishing could be an asset to the city.

“I’m hoping to take the negotiation and budgeting skills I’ve developed through my work and apply them to how we run this city,” Smith said. “I want to represent working families and the 46 percent of women that are in the workforce here in Fairhope.”

Incumbent Rich Mueller and his opponent Jay Robinson both fielded a question on the Rock Creek Apartments, which were a source of controversy to many area citizens over the last year.

Robinson said he approved of the PUD changes as a member of the planning and zoning commission but said he recognized the differences in voting for the change as a member of the planning and zoning commission versus being a councilman.

“I don’t like the apartments any more than the next person, but the 2015 plan had heavier restrictions on environmental impact and more green space, which fit in with the comprehensive plan,” Robinson said. “It was about looking at these two plans and picking the one that was most appropriate for the city.”

Mueller said he stood by his decision to vote for the project because the changes actually helped limit the damage to the surrounding environment.

“The population density and the traffic would have stayed the same no matter how it got developed,” Mueller said. “What did matter was the protection of Fly Creek, which we did not have in the previously approved project. The apartments have a larger buffer away from Fly Creek and there are insurance riders for any potential runoff problems that could occur.”

Incumbent Diana Brewer and her challenger Jimmy Conyers were questioned on whether they supported an independent city school system for Fairhope.

“I’m not in favor of breaking way from the county,” Conyers said. “I am interested in considering the special tax district but it would be something that I would obviously want the voters to decide.”

Brewer said she felt there were ways to accomplish better educational achievements without forming a city system.

“I know we don’t have to form a city school system to accomplish the goals we’re trying to set for our schools,” Brewer said. “The city is currently giving $350,000 a year to the schools and we could talk about increasing that amount to the necessary level in order to meet the recommendations given to us in the recent schools audit we performed.”

Place 4 candidate Phil Nix Jr. said in regards to the schools question that he felt strongly about staying with the county schools.

“We need to work with what we have,” Nix said. “As far as the special tax district, it’s something the citizens should definitely vote on and then we need to have transparency and openness about how any money raised is going to be spent.”

Incumbent Councilman Kevin Boone and challenger Gary Gover answered questions on traffic flow issues on U.S. Highway 98, one of the city’s major thoroughfares.

“I’m not in favor of putting in another lane because I think that would only compound the problem,” Boone said. “Part of our issue is that we’re in a fairly compressed area so there’s not a lot of room to reroute traffic around, but we’re continuing to look for ways to solve it. I think the stoplight automation we’ve been pushing will certainly help.”

Gover suggested moving additional traffic carrying roads to the east.

“This is the kind of thing that is addressed by the comprehensive plan,” Gover said. “We’ve got a lot of traffic that’s going to continue moving through here and we have to continue to address it now so it doesn’t become an even greater problem later.”