City Commissioner Jack Porter, Rudy Ferguson & Louis Dilbert Answer Questions at Candidate Forum

On June 25^th, WFSU held a forum hosting City Commission seat 1 candidates including Louis Dilbert, Rudy Ferguson and incumbent Jack Porter.

Law Enforcement

When asked to grade TPD on how well they’re fighting violent crime, Dilbert noted that since the violent crime was increasing, he would have to grade them a C. He also commented that if they were operating at a higher level then violent crime would reduce.

Ferguson who has worked alongside TPD at the Citizen’s Advisory Council, graded TPD a B, stating, “We still have a long way to go, nevertheless, our law enforcement is getting there with our community.”

Porter graded law enforcement an A, while grading the Chief of Police an F. She stated, “I think they’re doing the best they can with the resources they have.” Additionally, she noted that she doesn’t believe it’s law enforcement’s job to prevent crime.

Additionally, the candidates were asked about the new TPD Headquarters project. Each candidate agreed that law enforcement deserves to have the tools they need. However, Porter and Dilbert do not agree with the budget for the project being $200 million, and Ferguson said he would want to figure out what unnecessary dollars could be spent elsewhere.

Firefighters

When asked why firefighters have a problem closing the deal when the police union does not, Ferguson stated “The negotiations failed because it has been weaponized for political purposes. And I believe that if the union president had simply just offered that to the firefighters, they would have made a decision, up or down which way they want to do, and that would have brought us back to the table.”

However, Porter, who’s campaign is endorsed by the firefighter’s union stated the union president has brought back offers to the firefighters, and blames the lack of progress on “political retribution”. She stated, “I believe that this is a political issue unfortunately.”

Additionally, Dilbert took a different angle than Porter or Ferguson, blaming the union for not moving the negotiation along, stating, “It goes back to whoever is in the leadership of these unions. He went on to note that unions are not always reflective of the people who work there.

Amazon

The candidates were asked about a slew of recently approved controversial Blueprint projects, including the $2.5 million in tax incentives for Tallahassee’s Amazon facility. When asked if the project was “worth it”, Ferguson said “Yes”. He stated, “Certainly, because it brought the 2,000 jobs … and it also gave a sense of hope for those zip codes who are otherwise unemployed.”

However, Porter (who voted against the $2.5 million tax incentives) felt the money could have been spend differently stating, “These kind of incentive packages do not really factor into the decision making for a company like Amazon.” She continued, “They don’t need our $2.5 million dollar tax incentives.”

Additionally, Dilbert also felt that Amazon didn’t need the $2.5 million stating, “Yeah I don’t know about that, (laughs) Amazon makes a lot of money.”

Affordable Housing

When asked what measure the City should take to increase the stock of affordable housing, Porter noted that the City needs to look at growth management and use decisions for long term effects stating, “When we invest in urban density, its cheaper for the City, it’s cheaper for those who live in the City.”

Dilbert said that the permitting process for what type of housing is built in Tallahassee needs to be looked at, saying there are too much high-rise housing for the City’s college students.

Additionally, Ferguson noted that it is important for the City to work along-side the business community to incentivize developers to build affordable housing.