City of Monroe voters have a difficult choice to make April 1 as they decide if longtime mayor Bill Ross will continue at the city's helm or if it's time for change by voting in challenger Tyler Schultz.
Perhaps the biggest asset Ross brings to the table is his 16 years of experience, over the course of two tenures, as mayor. To have that kind of experience with city government is significant.
Ross has long taken a largely hands-off approach as mayor. He says he believes the city administrator's role should be that of a CEO, and stresses not micromanaging that position nor city department heads. Instead, he says, aldermen and the mayor should give department heads and the administrator the authority to run their department and the city. For example, he stands by the recent practice of having the administrator craft the city budget for the approval of the Finance and Taxation Committee and ultimately the full council.
We agree with his approach for the most part. But over the past two years, there appears to be a fair amount of turmoil in city staffing. While the responsibility to correct this does not land solely with the mayor's seat, ultimately, it is the mayor's role to steer the ship and we wonder, as we have in the past, if Ross hasn't been a little too hands-off in his approach.
Schultz, for his part, says he sees the mayor as taking a more active role, and puts himself in the middle ground between hands-off leadership and an autocratic style that seeks absolute control. In pointing to what he calls the city's "broken" budgeting process, he said that as mayor, he would work with the city's Finance and Taxation Committee to craft a responsible budget. Then, it would be the city administrator's role to carry out the council's wishes.
Schultz, with no experience as an elected official, came in second when he ran for mayor in a three-way race in 2010. To his credit, Schultz subsequently won a council seat in 2011 and has since proven to take an active role, including serving as council president in 2012. Along the way, he has earned a reputation for being fiscally conservative.
Both candidates point to economic development and repair and maintenance of city infrastructure as pressing issues before the council - and rightly so. While the city has had some success in attracting and retaining plum businesses, there's certainly more to be done to grow the tax base and generate good-paying jobs.
Schultz specifically identified years of cutting the street department budget as a prime problem, saying it's a practice that needs to end. He also advocates increasing funding for economic development. Solid thinking, to be sure, but the reality is something will have to give in order to fund those areas. And even with a few years of experience on the council, we wonder if Schultz's experience is deep enough to navigate those waters successfully.
Hence comes the difficult choice for voters. To borrow Ross' phrase, we can "stay the course" with the incumbent, a known quantity, or bring in fresh leadership with Schultz, who has shown a commitment to Monroe taxpayers.
We endorsed Ross in 2012 with a few caveats, including ensuring the city has a solid 5-year plan. The city does have such a plan so it can now better anticipate upcoming capital projects and major expenditures. Another issue at the time, animosity among alders, seems to have improved during the past two years. It's encouraging that the city seems to be on the right path.
After meeting with both candidates this week, we see no overwhelming advantage to either candidate. From what we've seen, and based on their track records, either Schultz or Ross is a solid choice as mayor.
Perhaps the biggest asset Ross brings to the table is his 16 years of experience, over the course of two tenures, as mayor. To have that kind of experience with city government is significant.
Ross has long taken a largely hands-off approach as mayor. He says he believes the city administrator's role should be that of a CEO, and stresses not micromanaging that position nor city department heads. Instead, he says, aldermen and the mayor should give department heads and the administrator the authority to run their department and the city. For example, he stands by the recent practice of having the administrator craft the city budget for the approval of the Finance and Taxation Committee and ultimately the full council.
We agree with his approach for the most part. But over the past two years, there appears to be a fair amount of turmoil in city staffing. While the responsibility to correct this does not land solely with the mayor's seat, ultimately, it is the mayor's role to steer the ship and we wonder, as we have in the past, if Ross hasn't been a little too hands-off in his approach.
Schultz, for his part, says he sees the mayor as taking a more active role, and puts himself in the middle ground between hands-off leadership and an autocratic style that seeks absolute control. In pointing to what he calls the city's "broken" budgeting process, he said that as mayor, he would work with the city's Finance and Taxation Committee to craft a responsible budget. Then, it would be the city administrator's role to carry out the council's wishes.
Schultz, with no experience as an elected official, came in second when he ran for mayor in a three-way race in 2010. To his credit, Schultz subsequently won a council seat in 2011 and has since proven to take an active role, including serving as council president in 2012. Along the way, he has earned a reputation for being fiscally conservative.
Both candidates point to economic development and repair and maintenance of city infrastructure as pressing issues before the council - and rightly so. While the city has had some success in attracting and retaining plum businesses, there's certainly more to be done to grow the tax base and generate good-paying jobs.
Schultz specifically identified years of cutting the street department budget as a prime problem, saying it's a practice that needs to end. He also advocates increasing funding for economic development. Solid thinking, to be sure, but the reality is something will have to give in order to fund those areas. And even with a few years of experience on the council, we wonder if Schultz's experience is deep enough to navigate those waters successfully.
Hence comes the difficult choice for voters. To borrow Ross' phrase, we can "stay the course" with the incumbent, a known quantity, or bring in fresh leadership with Schultz, who has shown a commitment to Monroe taxpayers.
We endorsed Ross in 2012 with a few caveats, including ensuring the city has a solid 5-year plan. The city does have such a plan so it can now better anticipate upcoming capital projects and major expenditures. Another issue at the time, animosity among alders, seems to have improved during the past two years. It's encouraging that the city seems to be on the right path.
After meeting with both candidates this week, we see no overwhelming advantage to either candidate. From what we've seen, and based on their track records, either Schultz or Ross is a solid choice as mayor.
