By Stacey Saldanha-Olson, Topeka Capital-Journal
All six mayoral candidates took the mic to explain their views on some of Topeka’s top issues.
Topeka Justice, Unity and Ministry Project hosted a candidate forum July 10 for both the mayoral race.
The mayoral candidates include Chad Fay, Ed Patton, Gabriel Killman, Henry McClure, James Bolden Jr. and Spencer Duncan. This race will require a primary election on Aug. 5.
The panel was moderated by the Rev. Harry Christian and Anna Ramirez. Questions asked were based on JUMP’s main priorities of homelessness and violent crime.
Do Topeka’s mayoral candidates support getting a low barrier shelter?
For the homelessness portion, moderators asked if candidates support having a low barrier shelter and one-stop shop — and if they’d be willing to advocate for funding for the two ideas.
Patton said he has faced homelessness in his life and now is the time to rally and work together to solve the issue.
“We need to get behind the homeless,” Patton said. “They wake up every day, praying that they just make it through another day. And homelessness is kind of like the prisons, out of side out of mind. We can’t do this any longer. Even prisoners have food, have a bed and on and on. But the home was still gone.”
Duncan said he’s always supported the low barrier shelter and one-stop shop. He said he has actively worked with JUMP to bring the concepts to Topeka.
“But if you look at every community that has been completely government driven, they don’t work over time because new people get elected and they have different priorities,” Duncan said. “They have to be community driven. So, if the community continues to work towards it, and they are. … That is something we can support as a city.
“Once that plan comes to us, we can provide the support they need.”
Killman said he supports having a shelter, but it needs to be done the write way so that people, especially women, feel safe.
“I believe a clean and drug-free safe housing or safe spot for the homeless is a great idea,” Killman said. “You just have to make sure it stays clean, because no matter what people tell you, they do smuggle drugs. We saw with this last blizzard that hit Topeka it really affected the homeless really hard. People were out there in the freezing cold below zero temperatures.
“I’m pretty sure some people did pass away during the blizzard, and it’s unacceptable (that) as a community we have people out there dying in the cold.”
McClure said the city needs to offer rehabilitation services.
“It’s almost like homelessness is a choice,” McClure said. “I think that if we can offer a recovery for the addicts that are homeless and we can get people healthy, they’re not going to want to be homeless.
“Now, I don’t really understand personally the low barrier shelter. So, the vote for providing funding is one thing, but I don’t think the low-barrier is the way to go. We have to create some sort of tax incentive, where the the very wealthy up here can make a donation and make it some sort of tax credit.”
Bolden said he would not support a low barrier shelter.
“It requires no ID,” Bolden said. “No ID, you have no idea who you’re putting in there that may harm other people that are in there. So, we (he and his wife) decided we are not for a low-barrier shelter. We are for shelter. We are for shelter.If we are to do something here we have to do it the right way.”
Fay said the homelessness issue can’t be solely on the government to resolve but that the vast resources Topeka has make a huge difference to fill in the gaps.
“Homelessness is a true true problem within the community,” Fay said. “I know we’re going to fix this if the community helps. It’s not governed. You cannot have your city govern the homelessness. Working in health care, I get to see these people at their most crucial moments, when they’re truly in crisis, and I never even knew the resources that Topeka had as a health care provider. You think they’re out there.
“You have case managers that handle it on that side, and we discharge people from the hospital, and you hope that there’s resources out there.”
Will Topeka’s mayoral candidates advocate for violence prevention funding?
Christian asked the candidates if they would advocate for programs and funding to help reduce violent crime in Topeka.
Fay said policing and community work has changed vastly from when he grew up living in East Topeka as opposed to now being on the west side of Topeka.
“The police are way more involved within community, talking out to communities, showing up at Neighborhood Improvement Associations,” Fay said. “That’s a big ordeal when you have other, especially in your own neighborhood, a group of people get together and is creating a new culture. So, I will fully invest in everything I can do in this position to help with the lessening crime.”
Bolden said he would focus first on holding government accountable and accused officials of inappropriate behavior.
“When you have government officials that are doing white collar crimes and we’re focusing on these (violent) crimes,” Bolden said. “We must root out the crimes in government first. Set the example. Look at where we’re at today, we must set the example. As a mayor, that’s what I’ll do.”
McClure agreed with Bolden and said the real crime is funding projects like the AT&T building. He also said he approves of the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office and its crime surveillance system.
“Do you know that every citizen in here can be connected to that network?” McClure said. “Your cameras and it’s not a lot of money to create a network of home safety. Once you’ve signed up through their system, when you call 9-1-1, your camera turns on. Homelessness and violence, these are very tough things that — I don’t have the power to save — but I do have the power to try to come up with solutions and work with people on ideas.”
Killman said building connections with young people and the police is a great way to prevent crime at an early age.
“If you can get community outreach to these younger kids and get people with these experiences to talk to them to try to get them on a better path, I think it’s one of the best ways to do it,” Killman said. “Maybe getting the Topeka Police Department to start doing more ride-alongs for younger kids or more face-to-face experiences with law enforcement getting to see their side of what happens when you go down certain paths.”
Duncan said Topeka sometimes talks the talk but doesn’t walk the walk when it comes to community policing.
“We talked a lot about community policing, but boy, we really talk about it conceptually a lot, right,” Duncan said. “We do not do a good job of defining it. Community policing really needs to continue to focus on — going to NIA meetings is great, and it’s imperative — actually, having officers who get out of their cars and walk neighborhoods and talk to people.”
Patton said the two most important things is hearing from the community and providing resources for community policing or violence reduction.
“We need to hear from you because you’re the ones that’s actually in the trenches where all of this is going on,” Patton said. “As mayor, I will have an open door policy when I’m in, and they don’t have me doing something else. But you can always call my phone anytime you need to.
“And we have to get around and look, because when it comes to tax dollars, I understand, nobody wants to spend any more money than they have to — and you shouldn’t have to — but we can make better use of tax dollars.”
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