PINEHURST –– With Election Day just around the corner, residents of Pinehurst had the opportunity Wednesday night to meet their candidates for city office during a political forum at the P-K Lions building.

Perhaps no community in the Silver Valley has been as much of a political hotbed as Pinehurst — where the position of mayor, as well as three city council seats, are up for grabs.

The forum was a simple question-and-answer format, with the questions coming from the audience.

The candidates for mayor kicked off the proceedings with incumbent Russ Lowe and his opponent Skip Robinett.

Many of the questions centered around issues such as transparency and access, city ordinances, as well as what they believed was an effective use of the position of mayor.

The forum moderators asked that each question be broad so that both candidates had the opportunity to answer them.

When they were asked about effectiveness, Robinett said he felt that the state of the community dictates the actual effectiveness of the position.

“Being a voice for the community,” Robinett said. “Listening to the citizens, asking them, and trying to find out what they need. What they would like to see out of the public office and be able to follow up with and finish it.”

Lowe, who has served in the position for only a short time after being appointed last year, indicated he believes that the person sitting in the mayor’s chair needs to have the skills and heart for the position.

“Effectiveness?” Lowe asked. “Listening skills, communication skills, hard work and wants to work. Loves their community and are willing to serve their community — and work for what’s best in their community.”

Both candidates agreed the city needs to make sure they are adhering to the ordinances that are in place and acknowledging when they fall short.

Issues surrounding the transparency of the Pinehurst City Council have been brought up in recent weeks with many people believing the city’s tepid approach to filming or broadcasting its meetings is demonstrating a lack of willingness to be transparent.
 

When the topic of transparency came up, Lowe was ready for the question and gave a pointed answer.

Lowe said he believes that only a small amount of the city’s population actually desires to see the meetings broadcasted and doesn’t want to spend taxpayer dollars on the wishes of just a few people.

“We have open meeting laws, which we abide by. Any of the information that the public wants is available,” Lowe said. “You can show up to the meeting if you’re wondering what’s going on — if you have any questions, you can any of the people on the city council, you can call the mayor, you can call the clerk. All of that information is public record.”

Robinett took a more careful approach with his answer about transparency in city government.
 

“Being more open when people ask where the money is going and what’s going on in city hall,” said Robinett.

Questions about Robinett’s previous employment wrapped up the session with the mayoral candidates. The former salesman at Dave Smith Motors was asked why he was no longer employed at the car dealership, he answered quickly, “I resigned, simple as that.”

When the forum switched over to the city council races, the tone of the forum lightened up.

Five of the six candidates for the three open seats were on hand, with incumbent Kyle Ross not being in attendance due to a conflict with his work schedule.

The two races for council seats are broken up into two groups of three candidates. Dan Garner, Jay Huber and Brandon Church are running for one open two-year term. Incumbents Ross, Nick Elam and Heather Bauer are running for two open four-year terms.

As an incumbent, Elam fielded a few more questions than the other four candidates, these included questions about some of the processes and procedures the council utilizes, the salary of Pinehurst’s police chief and how many meetings he’s missed during his time on the council.

All the candidates have strong backgrounds in community involvement. Garner, Elam, Bauer, Huber and Church all participate in local civic organizations, many of them overlapping with one another.

All five candidates indicated they believe that retaining the city’s limited employees and staff is a vital part of the city’s success.

When asked about the city accepting federal dollars, all the candidates said they would accept the funds, but it also depended upon the stipulations that came with the monies.

Garner said that nothing from the federal government is ever “free.” But the city would also be foolish to turn down things that could be used for the betterment of the residents.

Huber talked specifically about federal grants but is said he is weary about accepting funds that may have strings attached.
 

Church agreed with Huber’s statement but also added that if there are grants out there, the city should be aggressively trying to find them.

Bauer said the city should never feel obligated to accept federal funds, but that she believes grants should be discussed separately from other types of federal funds, like the stimulus money that was allocated in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Elam was the final candidate to answer the question and echoed all of the candidates who spoke before him acknowledging that there is a difference between grant money and other types of federal funding and that the city has applied for and received grants and will continue to do so. But he also said the city should never feel obligated to take funds if they don’t come at a cost to the city that is too intrusive.

All the candidates running for mayor or city council seats agreed that partisan politics do not belong in city government.

Election Day is Nov. 7.