2 weeks Ago By By SAWYER BELAIR [email protected]
Three candidates for the Norfolk City Council, two from Ward 3 and one challenger from Ward 4, gathered to discuss their priorities for the present and future of Norfolk if elected during the second half of a council candidates forum on Thursday evening. Incumbent candidate Justin Snorton of Ward 3, as well as challengers Jeff Jensen of Ward 3 and Sue Beckman of Ward 4, shared the stage at Northeast Community College’s Lifelong Learning Center. The incumbent from Ward 4, Thad Murren, was unable to attend because of a family trip planned several months in advance.
Sponsors for the forum, which was hosted by the Daily News and WJAG, included One Office Solutions, Appeara, Renegade, Floor Maintenance, Copple-Rockey Attorneys, CalmWater Financial Group, Allied Tour & Travel, Arrow Stage Lines, Norfolk Area Homebuilders and Northeast Community College. Questions were delivered by Daily News managing editor Jay Prauner, WJAG news director Paul Hughes and the audience through moderator and Daily News editor emeritus Kent Warneke, with each candidate having two minutes to respond in addition to a one-minute follow-up after everyone was allowed to answer. The candidates tackled nine subjects across the roughly 90-minute forum.
Opening remarks A Norfolk native who received an educated degree from Wayne State in 1991, Jensen has spent the past 14 years in Norfolk raising his children, and much of that time working as a financial adviser and serving as the treasurer for his local church and as president of the Norfolk Lions Club. He emphasized fiscal responsibility and government transparency as his primary areas of focus as a candidate for office, in addition to expanding affordable housing as well as recreation and entertainment options and ensuring infrastructure keeps pace with growth. “I believe we have to ensure every dollar of taxpayer money is used wisely,” Jensen said.
“I’ll work hard to make sure every decision the council makes is clear and accessible to the public.” Snorton, who was appointed to the city council by Norfolk Mayor Josh Moenning in 2023, originally moved his family to Norfolk from Kentucky 20 years ago with no friends, or family ties to the town, and no idea what he’d find. Snorton said he felt embraced by the community, so much so that after he relocated to Arkansas for a job promotion at Tyson Foods as a senior manager of food safety and quality assurance, he later returned to Norfolk after being given the opportunity to move “anywhere in the country.
” Snorton admitted that he was somewhat in over his head when he took the council job. “I didn’t know what I was (going to) get from this appointment; I was nervous, as you can probably tell,” he said to a ripple of laughter. “I’m not a political person, but Norfolk gave me so much when I got here to allow me to grow, I wanted to give back.
” Beckman, a lifelong Norfolkan, is running for the council seat where she previously served two terms in the ward where she’s spent the past 45 years with the childhood sweetheart she married right out of high school, after which she earned a bachelor’s degree at Northeast Community College and a master’s at Wayne State. Beckman said she was convinced by two friends to run again to bring more development focus to areas outside of downtown. “I am who I am,” Beckman said.
“I don’t put on airs, and I’ll say what comes to my mind when it comes.” Although absent, Murren was allowed to submit his opening remarks, read to the audience by Warneke. Murren affirmed his support for public safety, economic development and growth, issues he said have been at the top of his priorities since being elected.
Murren said he saw a “bright future” for Norfolk, but that it could only be achieved by maintaining a forward-thinking mindset. He also included his contact information, his email being [email protected] and phone number 402-640-1072.
“At the end of the day, if you’re not moving forward, you’re falling behind,” he said. What proposals do you have to tackle Norfolk’s housing shortage? Jensen said a major point of emphasis needs to be placed on utilizing tax increment financing (TIF) for “affordable, middle-income housing,” deriding the “million-dollar homes” he said he’s seen it being used for. He also proposed a different way of approaching TIF by having the city submit its own TIF application for a piece of land it purchases, then having a contractor build the house, then selling the home to a resident for the cost of paying the contractor.
He also noted a need to encourage developers to build single-family homes, using the anecdote of a friend of his who owns 42 rental homes and “(hasn’t) built any single-family homes in years.” “There has to be some incentive for those contractors who used to go buy an empty lot, build a house and sell it; that incentive is gone,” Jensen said. Snorton floated the idea of buying and restoring vacant, rundown homes into affordable housing through the fledgling Northeast Nebraska Regional Land Bank.
As for TIF, he said Jensen’s idea for the city to apply for TIF on developments would come with the risk of liability if the development doesn’t end up happening. He also agreed more “guardrails” should be put into place for TIF to ensure it’s used in the city’s best interests, a process he said is already ongoing through the council’s learning experiences with the tool. Beckman agreed with Snorton’s idea to refurbish dilapidated homes through the land bank and added in the possibility of using TIF to finance such developments.
“There’s a lot of families out there that can’t afford to do this themselves,” Beckman said. All three candidates agreed on the need for more affordable housing, with an acknowledgment that there is no “one-size-fits-all” to that term. While Jensen saw a greater need for single-family homes, Snorton and Beckman both said apartments should also be considered due their greater popularity among younger people, although Beckman added that some apartments “cost as much as a house,” an issue that needs to be addressed by contractors.
What are issues unique to your ward, and how do you propose to solve them? Snorton said the majority of the calls he receives from constituents are related to street repairs, which he said the city has taken steps to alleviate by purchasing equipment to fill potholes in a timely manner. Also of concern, he said, was lighting on many streets, specifically mentioning 12th and 13th streets. Jensen said he’s heard a lot of the same concerns but said adding more crosswalks also would help to avoid pedestrians being hit in such poorly lit areas.
In addition, repairs are needed for sidewalks, which he said has gotten bad enough to where he can’t walk on his own sidewalk because of a foot injury. He also talked about sewer line backups causing major issues in his ward. Beckman said she’s heard “a lot of concerns from neighbors” about the ongoing Johnson Park improvements project, which has stretched out far past its original deadline.
“I know a lot of people enjoy the river, but at what cost?” Beckman said. “I think there’s not enough transparency with that project going on right now.” She added that she’s also concerned about narrow streets in some of the older neighborhoods of her ward, as well as a revision of the city’s snow removal plan being needed.
Where does the city spend too much vs. not enough, and what can you do to alleviate property tax burden for residents as a council member? Beckman pointed to a recent report from state auditor Mike Foley that suggested the rapid increase in TIF utilization may be a factor in the state’s rising property taxes in addition to scrutinizing several cities’ use of the tool. She said TIF also should never be used for farm ground, although she did not list any examples of the city doing so.
She admitted to not having a chance to study the city budget yet but said the way the police station improvements have been approached through a referendum on a temporary sales tax increase was “not right” and that it should have been doing through the city budget. Jensen said a major driver in property taxes is a lack of housing supply because of demand driving up valuations. Jensen said he’s spent the past 12 years “teaching hundreds of people the difference between needs, wants and wishes,” adding that a similar approach is needed for city spending.
He gave the example of the Benjamin Avenue improvement project. “My mom lives on North First Street; I probably drive down it every single day, and I look at that like ‘Boy, is that beautiful,’ but what about all that Norfolk fencing that’s along the side?” he said. “What happens the first time a blizzard comes along and all of a sudden they’re bent and they don’t look so pretty anymore? Are we thinking about long term, what this project means to us?” Responding to Jensen, Snorton said much of the city’s spending goes toward needs, specifically relating to infrastructure projects, where he said quality is a must to ensure longevity and avoid greater costs further down the road.
He attributed greater costs to waiting longer to do such projects as well, with inflation driving up prices considerably in the past few years. As for property taxes, he noted that the city’s levy has gone down or stayed the same over the last several years. Council member Kory Hildebrand noted in the earlier forum that city property taxes account for about 16% of residents’ total property taxes as well.
“We don’t want to turn around and be spending another $2 million, another $3 million on a project that we had just laid down five years before,” Snorton said. “We have to make purchases that are going to last ..
. I know if I buy cheap, I’m (going to) be buying the same thing six months or two years (later).” What are your feelings about the Johnson Park project? Jensen said the project has “beautified our city,” but he expressed concern about potential maintenance costs.
He floated the possibility of one of the two-ton blocks along the riverfront slipping out of place and needing to be moved back into place. Nonetheless, he said a commitment now needs to be made to make sure the project is worthwhile. “The money’s spent, we can’t get it back; we need to move forward, going, ‘What can we do to make sure it stays beautiful, to make sure it’s a destination for people, to make sure (it’s safe)?’ ” Snorton acknowledged “major concerns” about Johnson Park in the early days of its planning but said he’s visited it and enjoyed it.
He said there were opportunities to learn from any potential maintenance issues. He cited a study from the Norfolk Area Visitors Bureau that counted 20,000 visitors to the park since June as proof of its utility to the city. “Those are people that are visiting our downtown area and supporting Norfolk overall, so that in itself will continue to help move Johnson Park and other areas in Norfolk forward.
” Beckman reiterated her concerns on the completion timeline for the park, adding that she’s also concerned about the park only being a seasonal attraction, although Snorton later noted that the park would include an ice rink for winter use. She also wondered how much it would cost the city to maintain going forward. What should be the city’s economic development priorities in the next decade? Snorton said investment in infrastructure is key to assuring businesses “look at Norfolk as a place to move and grow opportunities.
” He said that requires being proactive in infrastructure spending as well. “Sometimes you have to be ahead of the game to be in the game,” Snorton said. Jensen said one of his major concerns is how the city presents itself to people driving through on Highway 81 and Highway 275, which he described as being less visually appealing than other areas such as Skyview Lake and Johnson Park that aren’t visible from the highways.
“We don’t come across as the most beautiful town in America,” Jensen said. “I’d like to see people drive through and go, ‘Oh my God ..
. I could live here.” Beckman said the city needs to focus on creating industrial jobs in addition to infrastructure investments, as well as encouraging young people who leave for school to come back, which she sees a better chance of now with the many new amenities in the city.
How has the city handled annexation in the past, and how should it handle it in the future? Snorton declined to comment on the 2021 annexation because of not being a part of the council at that time, while Jensen said he believed it was done to lower the city’s percentage of blighted land to make way for TIF. State law caps blighted land at 35% of the total land area of a city, and the designation is required for a development to qualify for TIF. He added that it isn’t always beneficial to the city or those being annexed, citing the example of his mother being annexed into the city 25 years ago but still not being on city water.
“It needs to make sense not just for the city, it needs to make sense for the people we’re annexing,” he said. Beckman agreed with Jensen’s theory on why the 2021 annexation occurred but said that annexation could be good in cases where there was a “solid base for it.” Other topics Other topics discussed during the forum were changes to current city plans, how the candidates defined affordable housing and a recently passed English proficiency plan.
For more on these topics, watch the forum online at norfolkdailynews.com/news/video/ . Time-stamps for those topics are at 1:43:45, 2:35:48 and 2:42:20, respectively.
Closing remarks Keeping her ending remarks short, Beckman reiterated that she is who she is. “I’m nobody special. What I can tell you is that if you vote for me, I will give you a voice .
.. and do the best job I can to represent people.
” Snorton emphasized his choice to be a part of the Norfolk community and the debt of gratitude he owes it, and that he’s “not a politician at heart.” “This is my first foray in this (field),” he said. “I hope I can continue to (to serve the community).
” Speaking last, Jensen said he hoped voters “walked away knowing a little bit more about all three of us.” He acknowledged that it was his first time in an election but that his experience is in helping people achieve their dreams. More important than voting for him, he said, is that people get out to vote, period.
“Please make your voice heard,” he said. “Go vote.”.
