1st district forum, live - Part 1

Here we go again.
The three contenders for the two 1st District City Council seats -- Republican Mike Rimcoski and Democrats Cliff Block and Rich Kilby -- are answering questions at the Federal Hill Assocation's final forum at City Hall. Rimcoski is the sole incumbent.
Right now moderators Bob Montgomery and David Fortier are running through the candidates' biographies.
Pretty soon, they'll run through the standard questions before taking questions from the audience.
Watching are mayoral candidates Art Ward and Ken Johnson, who face off at 8 p.m. (come on down and see them for yourselves!), a few other politicos and a handful of seemingly ordinary folks. There are 18 people here who are not answering or asking questions -- the same number needed for the Angels and Red Sox to play at the same time, which obviously makes a much more interesting way to spend the evening.
Here we go...
Kilby says Route 72 will make the city more prosperous and bolster its tax base.
Rimcoski says, "The thing we need the most is business. ... We need business. We need it desperately."
Rimcoski said he'll "push like heck" to get the new industrial park up and running. He's also keen to lure more companies to town by marketing the city better.
He said he'll ask for zero budget hikes from all departments. Taxes can't go up, he said.
"Bristol's in a great position," Block said, with Route 72 rolling, the industrial park should be done soon and the mall is coming down. He said the grants program "is giving Bristol the edge" in attracting new companies (though there have been precious few firms taking up the city's money lately).
Block said the city needs to get the public and officials more involved in deciding what gets on the yearly bonding list.
Nobody in the audience is sleeeping yet, though I'm keeping my eye on Ward. He's writing stuff now. Is that scripting? Maybe.
Another question, about downtown.
Rimcoski said the city needs to bolster security, add lighting and doing more to bring people downtown. "We finally got off the dime" on the mall, he said, and things will get better.
The mall is "issue number one" because private investment there will push revitalization of downtown, Block said. He supports the theater at Memorial Boulevard School.
"Downtown can be revitalized," Block said, if it connects the dots, talks with the state and does a municipal development plan.
Block said that the housing around downtown is too dense and in poor shape. He said they need to be addressed, too.
"The mall site is going to the number one agenda for the new administration," Kilby said. Route 72 is crucial for its success.
"Once we have a main store" for the mall site, he said, improvements will happen.
"When good things come in, bad things will come out," Kilby said. "That is our goal for the downtown mall."
Now the school question...
Block said smaller peer groups and more parental involvement will help, Block said. He said that the 900-student K-8 schools are really two schools each: "two separate schools on one campus."
He said that renovating older schools "would cost far more" and couldn't be done while students are in them.
Block said best and brightest teachers are the true key. He said he will support education spending to make that happen.
Kilby said he is scared thinking of his 4th grader going to a K-8 school. He's happy with the school she's in. "THey're going to be bullying the little kids around. I am totally against the K-8. I am against building a new school" on privately owned land, Kilby said.
He said the Scalia site can't be used. "Our school system is adequate as it is currently for another couple of years," Kilby said. He said there are too many projects on the books that are giong to burden the taxpayers.
Rimcoski said that the city isn't going to solve problems by throwing money.
"The decision on the schools will be made largely on economic development because of the scale and money," Rimcoski said.
He said we need neighborhood schools, but they cost too much.
Problems will be solved by getting help from parents and families. They are on the first line and they need help, Rimcoski said.
Now on to a break while the audience writes out questions.
Five minutes until game time. Fenway looks like it'd be a lot more fun than this.


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Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com