Emporia City Commission candidate Tammi Ogle joined KVOE News as our ongoing Candidate Spotlight interview series continues this week.
Ogle was asked questions about property taxes, sales taxes, economic development partners and housing. Ogle says property taxes are high, but controlling them is “a conundrum.”
Ogle is cool to the idea of a new sales tax, regardless of the potential use.
The Regional Development Association has seen a lot of attention this year, in part because of a restructuring of its voting membership and in part because it still doesn’t have a permanent president over 18 months after the resignation of Chuck Scott. Ogle isn’t opposed to the restructuring, and she does not believe the search for a president has been bogged down in looking for the perfect candidate. She believes the RDA should continue seeking out manufacturing jobs — but it should also expand its search.
Ogle’s time on the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission gives her an additional perspective on housing matters. She wants to see more infill work, and she would like to see more conversations about greenfield lot sizes after the Cedarbrook Meadows saw the Planning Commission wanting larger lot sizes than what the City Commission ultimately approved.
Ogle’s interview was the first in the Candidate Spotlight series to venture into another topic: the city’s involvement, alongside the United Way of the Flint Hills, in Abundant Harvest operations after the Rescue Mission Board decided to pull its support for the food kitchen. Ogle says she does not have any issue with the city’s short-term support in the form of a maximum $25,000 allocation through the rest of the calendar year, but she says she will be concerned if that agreement is extended.
Candidate Spotlights are a departure from KVOE’s longstanding tradition of group forums with the goal of getting deeper answers into some of the main issues facing the city and its residents. The remaining on-air schedule is as follows:
*Thursday: Monica Duncan at 10:06 am, Kenneth Gardner at 10:30 am and Travis Hitt at 11:06 am
All interviews will be stored in the KVOE.com Audio Vault and will be accessible in the KVOE News Voter Information Guide courtesy of Community National Bank.
