COLUMBUS — Amid discussions of a citywide curfew, high-tech cameras and increased police presence, incumbent mayor and Ward 1 candidate Keith Gaskin cautioned council candidates against turning Columbus into a surveillance state.
“We can’t become a big brother system,” Gaskin said during a candidate forum Saturday at the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library. “… The important thing to remember here is, you will never arrest your way out of crime.”
Crime prevention and public safety were key issues of the hourlong forum, hosted by the League of Women Voters of the Golden Triangle Area and attended by about 25 community members.
Mayoral candidates Bill Strauss and Darren Leach joined Gaskin, along with council candidates Pierre Beard and Robert Johnson IV of Ward 4, Mary Beth Jeter of Ward 5 and Donald Pope of Ward 6.
Mayoral candidate Stephen Jones and Ward 6 candidate Jason Spears could not attend but said they would respond to forum questions via Facebook. Responses were not uploaded by presstime.
Other candidates absent included Lavonne Harris of Ward 4, Gary Jefferson of Ward 5 and unopposed candidates Roderick Smith of Ward 2 and Rusty Greene of Ward 3, who is running unopposed.
The debate covered five questions with topics ranging from crime reduction and safety measures to infrastructure investment and lack of communication. Audience questions were also welcomed by forum moderator Quondra Johnson of the Oktibbeha County NAACP.
Crime prevention and safety
When asked how she would reduce crime in Ward 5, Jeter advocated enforcing a citywide curfew.
“You’re walking around at 2 o’clock in the morning,” Jeter said. “… I feel like police should have a right to stop you and say, ‘What are you doing out this late?’”
Beard supported Jeter’s idea and said he would review the ordinance alongside her if re-elected. He also emphasized his plans to create a public transportation system to reduce the need for late-night walking.
Jeter and Strauss both favored increased surveillance throughout the city, advocating for more patrols and a high-tech camera system to proactively prevent and solve crime.
But Gaskin warned that enforcement alone won’t stop crime from happening, citing the city’s investment in over 100 surveillance cameras and efforts to fund a regional crime center.
“What we’ve got to do is invest in early childhood education,” Gaskin said. “We also have to have re-entry programs for our folks once they’re out of jail. Once they’ve served their time, we’ve got to help them become better citizens, and we’re doing things to move in that direction.”
Leach agreed on a prevention-focused approach and emphasized the importance of building social infrastructure to support single-parent and working families.
“We’ve got to do stuff to continue to invest in not just childhood education, which is important, but you’ve also got to do social infrastructure,” Leach said. “… We’ve got to rebuild the communities around us. That’s how we address the crime.”
Strauss said that while youth prevention is critical, it isn’t the city’s job.
“The city cannot do everything,” Strauss said. “We have to advocate for the nonprofits. We have to advocate for the churches. They’ve got to get out there and do that. … We can’t be the whole social healer for everything. We’ve got to advocate, but we’ve got to take care of business in the city.”
Infrastructure investment
Gaskin called Columbus’ infrastructure issues “deplorable,” but highlighted the city’s watershed project and blight program as steps toward remedying them. Gaskin also stressed the need for cooperation amongst all council members to tackle infrastructure issues.
“When you’re representing one ward, you still have to keep an eye on all of the city,” Gaskin said. “When you’re paving and those types of things, the wards need to work together and make sure their constituents understand why you’re doing what you’re doing.”
Johnson expressed the need for a city planner to address each ward’s most pressing issues, citing trees as an “unspoken threat” to the infrastructure of Ward 4. Beard said, if elected, he plans to create a comprehensive paving plan to prevent council disputes, ensuring roads are paved promptly once funds are available.
Jeter said she plans to prioritize sewage issues before road paving, while Pope urged long-term maintenance of drainage ditches instead of temporary fixes.
In a separate question posed for mayoral candidates, Strauss discussed his plans to implement a “mayor’s housing fund,” pledging to donate half his salary toward blight removal and home improvements.
“It will be for blight,” Strauss said. “It will be for cleaning up. It will help citizens who are most desperately in need in our community.”
Strauss announced plans for a mayor’s housing fund via Facebook on Thursday.
Communication between leaders and constituents
Candidates wholly agreed on the need for better communication.
Pope and Jeter proposed the need for multiple channels of information beyond social media, suggesting newsletters, radio, TV and neighborhood watch meetings to boost public engagement.
Beard called for reinstating a Public Information Officer to streamline city messaging, and Johnson advocated for eliminating private meetings to enhance transparency.
Gaskin highlighted existing public work sessions and press conferences and noted his effort to add a public relations position to the city budget, though the proposal was denied. Gaskin said the best way to improve communication is for officials to be visible and active in the community.
Audience responses
Responses to the forum were a mixed bag. Jermaine Shanklin of Ward 4 said he believed some questions still remained unanswered.
“A lot of it just comes with that people don’t pay attention to what’s been going on in the city,” Shanklin said. “They just sit back and then talk about it and never attend meetings and stuff to know what’s going on.”
However, Randi Robison, president of the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library Board of Trustees, said the forum told her all she needed to know.
“I definitely thought that it helped reaffirm who I’m voting for,” Robinson said. “We learned a lot about the people running in our local election. We had really great questions and really interesting answers.”
The general election is Tuesday.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
