Three candidates running for two open seats on the City Council squared off last week in a debate that centered on the issue of growth in the area.
The three candidates, Barry S. Frame, Brian Sager and R.B. Thompson, faced off at a forum at Woodstock Mall. The winners will fill seats vacated by Don Fortin and Virginia Semrow.
“I’m for moderate growth, because it’s going to happen whether we want it or not, said Frame, 49, owner of a men’s clothing store in town.
Sager, 50, a professor at McHenry Community College, agreed, “Growth is a dynamic. The city is going to continue to grow. We want to plan for growth.”
However, Thompson described himself as an advocate for limited growth. “I’m anti-sprawl,” said Thompson, 54, a teacher at Woodstock High School. “There’s no need to sprawl.” Thompson sees a moratorium on annexations and raising builder’s impact fees as two possible ways of slowing growth.
Frame and Sager would also consider raising impact fees, although Sager said, “I don’t think it’s going to have a tremendous amount of impact on slowing growth.”
Frame, who described himself as having a business background, said, “I’m into fiscal responsibility every day.” If elected, he also plans to work toward the continued upgrade of basic city services, he said.
The campaign has been greatly overshadowed by the debate over the $52.5 million school bond referendum for the construction of new schools. The referendum will also be decided April 4. All three candidates have come out in support of it.
