Snyder, Clancy debate focuses on Portage debt
October 21, 2015 - 10:31 PM
Chicago Tribune
Carole CarlsonContact Reporter
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-portage-mayoral-debate-st-1022-20151021-story.html
In a debate Wednesday that gravitated between genteel and caustic, Portage Mayor James Snyder and challenger Brendan Clancy sparred with each other on a wide range of topics from the city's debt to skate parks.
Snyder, 37, seeking his second term in the Nov. 3 General Election, said he inherited a city in 2012 akin to a house with a leaky roof and bad foundation.
"We had to invest in our community when we took office," he said.
Nearly 300 people filled the west auditorium at Portage High School to hear Snyder, a Republican, face off with Clancy, a Democrat who's the Portage Township trustee and a former city councilman. The Porter County League of Women Voters and Lakeshore Public Media sponsored the debate.
Snyder criticized Clancy for voting for projects that created $26.5 million worth of debt while he was a member of the city council. Snyder said the debt authorized under his watch is $21.5 million.
"He took a house that was crumbling and bought new drapes … we rebuilt this house," Snyder said.
Snyder referred to projects such as a new street department, street paving, park improvements, automated garbage pickup, and new police and fire stations. "They talked about it. We fixed it," Snyder said to a big round of applause.
Clancy, 51, who owns Clancy's Pub in the Portage Mall, pounded away at what he said was the city's growing debt that he pegged at between $70 and $80 million. "We have increased our debt astronomically in the last four years," he said.
Clancy also criticized the city's redevelopment commission for creating tax increment finance districts that don't provide tax revenue to Portage schools.
He pointed to the bonding for the $50 million Promenade at Founders Square development project that spans 20 acres and will include about 300 rental units."The kids in those apartments will go into the school system, but no tax revenue will go to the schools," he said.
Snyder called Portage "an economic engine," saying it has the strongest economic climate in the region.
Snyder pointed to new businesses like Meijer, Starbucks, and Chipotle in the U.S. 6 corridor and industries like MonoSol, which launched a $95 million expansion project last year at the AmeriPlex at the Port business park.
Clancy tried to defuse the claims of prosperity.
"Mickey Mouse could have been mayor and we could have got Burger King and McDonalds to U.S. 6," said Clancy. "Those places will develop."
He said the city needs to work harder at its lakefront. "Geographically, the whole lakefront should be already filled."
In response to a question about an FBI investigation into Snyder's administration, he said the federal government is trying to restore trust and confidence in local government. "They're looking in Valparaiso, Porter County and Portage. It's a good thing... with the microscope we've been under, we've risen above it and Portage is better for it."
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