Parking and landlord licensing dominated discussion as candidates for the Logan City Council met for a debate in preparation for next week’s city elections.

The debate, held Wednesday in the Taggart Student Center (TSC) Ballroom, was part of USU’s Civic Awareness Week and drew students, members of the community and mayoral candidates Randy Watts and Mike Morrill, who took advantage of the opportunity to present their platforms.

The candidates – Holly Daines, Steven Stokes, Dean Quayle and Tony Wegener – were allowed two minutes each to respond to questions, a time that on some of the more heated issues challenged the speaker to be concise.

Wegener was cut short while responding to a question regarding Logan’s recent decision to remove road-side parking strips as part of a city beautification program. Wegener called the city’s actions “tyrannical” and spoke of a lawsuit currently filed that calls into question whether the city council acted legally in regards to city ordinances.

“I thought it was unfortunate the way it was handled,” Wegener said of the parking-strip removal.

Stokes criticized the beautification program also adding that many residents a $200 permit to park in front of their homes on city streets and called for a compromise in the form of allowing residents wider driveways to accommodate more vehicles.

“Why should the government charge us $200 a year to park on a street we (publicly) own?” Stokes said.

Daines and Quayle both voiced their support for the parking-strip removal. Daines reminded those present that the strips had always been city property and suggested that their removal was a form of “golden-rule” policy.

“I would like to live next to a property that is attractive,” Daines said. “I think it beautifies our city.”

Quayle said the city’s actions were a crucial step in preserving the older parts of town.

“We cannot continue to let the inner city, the older parts, deteriorate,” Quayle said. “Anything we do could be done better, but we learn by doing.”

After a series of structured questions, the floor was opened up to members of the audience with preference given to university students. Parking was presented again by Ericka Black, who mentioned situations where backyards were paved to accommodate the loss of parking and asked the candidates whether city beautification justified a disservice to residents.

Wegener responded that if elected, he would try to approach such issues on a more individual basis.

“I would handle it a little more humanely,” Wegener said. “You can’t apply a blanket ordinance to all the situations.”

Quayle agreed that often a one-size-fits-all approach presents difficulties but added that many of the problems associated with the parking removals stem from properties that were intended to be occupied by a singe family and have since been converted into multiple units.

Daines also brought up the issue of renting, saying, “Landlords are making money, they should be providing parking for their tenants.”

Candidates were asked for their opinion on landlord licensing, legislation currently in the proposal stages in the city council that would impact apartment standards and inspection policies.

Stokes said he is not overly concerned about the proposed $25 per year landlord fee but is worried about possible fees in the future, including a Good Landlord program that would require higher annual fees as well per unit fees that would ultimately be passed on to renters.

“It’s going to affect the bottom line,” Stokes said.

Later, Stokes said, “There’s going to be so many additional fees that we can’t even name them all.”

Stokes, a landlord himself, said students and other renters are capable of inspecting potential apartments themselves and deciding on whether it is good environment in which to live.

“We don’t need another layer of government to do it for us,” Stokes said.

Wegener echoed Stokes’ comments and added that there is already an existing ordinance, the Landlords Responsibilities Ordinance, that allows protection for tenants and establishes standards for landlords. He also said conducting inspections on roughly 5,000 units once every three years would be a burden on the city.

Daines said many landlords, while not all, need regulation and hopes that the licensing would increase the mechanisms for tenants to raise concerns and hold the property owners accountable for living standards.

“We require licenses for every other business I can think of,” Daines said.

Quayle became somewhat emotional when addressing the issue. In the form of speaking to landlords, he said he would expect them to be comfortable with their daughters and granddaughters living in the units they own.

“There is a problem in some areas and we need to do something about it,” Quayle said.

Other issues were addressed at the debate. All of the candidates agreed that aspects of Logan’s infrastructure were aging and required attention. In her closing remarks, Daines emphasized her goals of improving Logan’s trail systems and dealing with growth and development.

“The real issue we need to deal with is the growth that’s coming,” Daines said.

Quayle closed by expressing his appreciation for Logan and his support of the current city leadership.

“I think the city is on a remarkable course,” Quayle said. “We need to continue that course.”

Stokes and Wegener spoke of city growth but also focused on change looking forward past the election. Stokes stressed the need for the city council to prioritize and Wegener mentioned the need for improvement.

“Logan is moving ahead without knowing what is on the books now,” Wegener said. “The city needs to be more responsive to citizens, more friendly to new businesses and even more friendly to existing businesses.”

As the last comment of the debate, Daines urged voters to take a step back in their decision of casting their ballot.

“Look at the big picture, don’t just focus on a few narrow issues in this election,” Daines said.

Campaign debates continue at USU as mayoral candidates Randy Watts and Mike Morrill meet at 12:30 p.m. Friday in the TSC Ballroom in preparation for the Nov. 3 election.

– b.c.wood@aggiemail.usu.edu