FAYETTEVILLE — Like so many public policy conversations in Fayetteville these days, all roads at a forum for City Council candidates Friday led to paid parking on Dickson Street.
Candidates faced questions from Chamber of Commerce members rutted in the particulars of a new paid parking program for the Dickson Street entertainment district that has spawned some praise but plenty of criticism from downtown merchants and motorists.
“We can complain and we can gripe, but we’ve got this debt that we’ve got to cover,” said Mark Kinion, a candidate for the Ward 2 alderman seat. “It’s there and we’ve got to deal with it, and embrace the situation as best we can.”
Asked by a chamber member which debt he was referring to, Kinion said the city has to pay back the costs of acquiring the equipment installed to run the parking program. The city paid $810,974 for the equipment and installation.
That explanation brought chuckles from the audience at the chamber, a business advocacy organization.
The city will use money collected through the parking program to cover the cost for equipment and implementation, then dedicate revenue largely to building a parking deck in the Dickson Street area.
Since the program was launched six weeks ago, it has drawn the ire of some its most ardent supporters after business activity in the area dropped off.
Adam Fire Cat, Kinion’s opponent in the Ward 2 race who describes himself as a strict libertarian, opposes the program, noting it’s hitting him where it hurts — the pocketbook.
“My tip jar has started looking very empty as of late,” said Fire Cat, a karaoke jockey at You Know Uno just off Dickson Street.
In the Ward 4 race, Rhonda Adams has said she supports the parking program, though has acknowledged some implementation hiccups.
“It’s like our chief of staff Don Marr said from the very beginning, we can’t possibly know all the glitches,” Adams said.
Her opponent, Jeff Dickey, opposes the parking plan and said he would not have voted for it had he been on the City Council at the time.
“The citizens I’m talking to are revolting about having to pay anything,” Dickey said.
Chamber member Jim Huffman derided the program as overly punitive because parking tickets become increasingly expensive with each successive citation. The first overtime parking ticket is $10, a second is $15 and a third or more within a year is $25.
“We feel that fences and parking meters say ‘Stay away and keep out,’” Huffman told the panel.
Parking may have dominated the forum discussion, but candidates were also asked about their reaction to Fayetteville’s looming budget challenges, including a potential $1.5 million shortfall in anticipated revenue if Mayor Lioneld Jordan’s budget is implemented.
Dickey said “core services” such as police and fire need to be met, but cuts need to be made in other areas. He did not specify exactly where he wants to cut the budget, though he did offer hints.
“When we look at budget cuts, we have to look at (funding) the core services first. ... Then we can go down and look at the parks and trails,” Dickey said.
Police and fire departments make up roughly 60 percent of the city’s general fund budget, making it difficult to have across-the-board cuts without affecting these areas, Marr, the city’s chief of staff, told the City Council at a budget meeting Thursday.
Adams said she wants to study the budget further before making any firm decisions regarding balancing it.
“There’s a lot to learn and a lot that has to be gathered up,” Adams said.
Kinion said he would consider having employees take unpaid furlough days, “if it came to that.”
Fire Cat has little use for government other than providing “key priorities” such as fire and police protection and streets. He takes special issue with the city’s move to transfer $289,000 every year from the city’s Dickson Street paid parking program to the Walton Arts Center in exchange for programming for Fayetteville residents.
“They’ve done nothing to earn this money,” Fire Cat said of the Walton Arts Center. “So what’s the rationale?”
To date, Fayetteville has not yet signed a contract with nor paid any money to the Walton Arts Center for the programing, said Kit Williams, city attorney. Williams is running unopposed for the post in November.