The five candidates vying for the three open Martinsville City Council seats in November outlined their platforms and fielded questions at a forum sponsored by the Martinsville-Henry County Chamber of Commerce on September 12.
Held at the New College Institute (NCI), the five candidates were Kathy Lawson, Rayshaun Gravely, Lanita Herlem, Julina Mei, and John Wilson, III.
Phil Gardner served as the forum’s moderator. He said the questions were made available to the candidates at 12 p.m. that day, so they had about six hours to prepare their answers. Each question had an allotted time for the candidates to answer. Gardner said the order in which the candidates answered the questions was determined by a random draw, and that positions would rotate in an attempt to be fair to everybody.
To familiarize himself with the financial issues facing Martinsville, Gravely said he’s attended every city council meeting since he decided to seek a council seat.
“Number two, the current city manager gave each of the candidates an opportunity to meet with her to do a city orientation, and I took that opportunity to meet with her. She did an orientation overview of the City of Martinsville,” he said.
Gravely said he’s also reviewed the most recent city budget, and noted at most city council meetings some part of the budget is discussed, and the city’s comprehensive plan which he believes is to help the city make better decisions in the future, and “also with the comprehensive plan, we’ve also got the Berkely Group that’s helping out with that,” he said.
Gravely said he was in attendance when Davenport & Co. presented a report on the city’s financial health.
“Granted, that was pretty lengthy, but the overview of that was that the city’s money is going in the right direction, and the stability of the city is just the fact that the city manager and her staff continue to get grants, reach out for funding. This week I did a seminar online that was called Thriving Communities, and after doing that seminar it shows that it is grant money that’s funding out there for our community,” he said.
Mei also reviewed all the finances related to the city, including the budget. He said the current budget for fiscal year 2024-2025, of which a substantial amount is devoted to Martinsville Public School system.
But “one of the biggest issues that’s currently affecting the city financially are the three lawsuits in which the city is currently involved. One of them is a lawsuit between an employee and the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office in the City of Martinsville. The second, retirees – former city employees – are suing” because they do not believe that their retirement benefits are being honored by way of health insurance, he said.
The third, a big one in Mei’s opinion, is Martinsville’s lawsuit against the Henry County Public Service Authority (PSA). “We treat the majority of Henry County’s sewer water and in my opinion, we don’t have a fair deal, so I want us to win that lawsuit.”
Mei said he’s also attended almost every council meeting over the past few months. “I was actually ecstatic when I heard the Davenport report. It was about a 43-minute presentation, and as of the report presented on September 2, we found that the balance was increased $6.2 million to $9 million from the general fund. In other words, operating revenues exceeded expenses by $2.8 million,” he said, adding the report made him believe Martinsville was in strong financial shape.
Mei said the comprehensive plan the city’s working on is an older one that’s reflective of older data. He estimates about $186,000 has been allocated to do a new comprehensive plan, and that it will take about two years for it to be completed.
“We need a comprehensive plan, because without a plan you are a rudderless ship, and this city needs strong people with strong plans to keep us moving in the right direction, not people who have absolutely no idea what they’re talking about,” he said.
Like Mei, Herlem said she did not get an invitation to do an orientation with Ferrell-Benavides. Instead, she contacted Ferrell-Benavides to ask to speak with her.
“It’s my understanding she’s putting a presentation together, she went over a little bit of it with me then we did a tour of the municipal building so I could see the damage and that sort of thing,” she said.
Herlem said she’s done a lot of research on reversion as that’s something that she gets asked a lot of questions about. Because of this, she went back and did a deep dive of the budget back then to compare it to where the city currently is financially.
“I’ve spoken with city council members about it, and it’s my understanding we had a $2.8 million surplus, so when you look at where we were at with reversion with the latest city council, we are moving in the right direction,” she said.
She only recently found out about the comprehensive plan, and Herlem said she hasn’t researched it yet. “But if Julian’s (Mei) saying it’s an old plan, and we’re looking at a new one, maybe I won’t research it as much, but I will find it and look through it,” she said.
Like others, Herlem was at the Davenport presentation, and like Mei she was really surprised.
“We don’t have a credit rating, but based on the presentation, it looks like we have a pretty good foundation upon which to build. I don’t want to say that we’re on solid ground either, given our infrastructure particularly with water, sewer, and the electric grid. It’s my understanding we could be right in the middle of a $20 million disaster because of the neglect it has faced over the years,” she said.
Herlem believes Martinsville is moving in the right direction, but noted it needs to move a little bit further. To do this, and to ensure the financial stability of the city, she wants to return to basics by fixing the infrastructure.
Regarding the budget, Wilson said he requested and read the copy he received.
“The city is doing very good just like it has been said. The Davenport report shows the city is in good financial stability. We’re doing all the right things to keep going,” he said.
Wilson said he’s gone door to door to talk with city residents to hear what they believe the biggest issues facing the city are.
“Most people, the electric bill or the utility rates come up, then they worry about our infrastructure and housing. These are all things that we’ve got to deal with as we move forward, and I believe we’re heading in the right direction,” he said.
Regarding the comprehensive plan, Wilson said it is outdated and is looking at a different era than when the last one was updated.
“One thing that we’ve got to do, like I said, is figure out a way about our housing. Because if we can bring housing in, that will help us with the financial stability of the city,” he said.
Lawson said she’s been through 12 city budgets in excruciating detail and line by line, to make sure the city council is spending taxpayer money responsibly.
“I believe it’s important that the budget is thoroughly reviewed, and every dime accounted for,” she said.
Lawson also reviewed the comprehensive plan and the Davenport presentation, and the city is in the process of updating the comprehensive plan that will seek community improvement and input, and community partner input.
“To ask how the city is doing, the city is holding its own. While we have an increase in revenue, it’s on the backs of our taxpayers and our businesses. Some can afford to pay more in taxes and fees, but others cannot; we have to be mindful of all citizens before increasing taxes to compensate for the inflated cost of doing business that we are currently seeing,” she said.
Lawson said Martinsville operates as frugally as possible and focuses on providing quality services to its residents.
“The fact still remains that the City of Martinsville is still listed as a fiscally stressed community. For those who are unaware of what that means, the fiscal stress index illustrates a locality’s ability to generate additional local revenue from its current taxbase,” she said.
Even with its limitations, Lawson said Martinsville continues to provide the best services it can to its residents and businesses.
Regarding the city’s utility rates, Mei said obviously they are too high. “I mean, they’re way higher than they were before. I mean, who would want them raised,” he said.
Mei said the utility rates are in alignment, to a great degree, with national trends.
“I don’t want to sound like someone who hates the Green Deal or new energy initiatives because I think we really do need to investigate some of the opinions, including solar, wind, and hydro. That said, you also need to bear in mind that the investment in these options, you won’t have a guarantee necessarily on your return on your investment,” he said.
There’s many of these alternative energy initiatives that are just proven not to work, Mei said. Therefore, he believes the city needs to do its research, due diligence, and put plans together to investigate these alternatives as nationally coal and natural gas are being regulated virtually into extinction.
“Electric is our main source of power right now. Would I vote to lower rates? If there was an opinion to lower rates and not cripple Martinsville, sure I’d love to lower rates, but I really think this is part of a bigger conversation that has to do with, in many ways, not to offend them, our sponsor tonight,” Appalachian Power, he said.
Just by looking at the news that’s come out the past week, Mei said he didn’t feel like he should have to pay an exorbitant amount of electric fees so a company can enjoy an increased profit margin.
“What are we going to do about those things? We’ve all got to work together and figure out an alternative,” he said.
While researching utility rates, Herlem said she discovered both she and her mother are both paying the same amount for utilities.
“So, I did a little more research, and I went to the June report from our electric company. They stated that the national average was 16.68 kilowatts an hour and Martinsville was $16.04, so we’re less than the national average,” she said, adding this was a little less than what she found.
Herlem said she then went even further into it and took that $16.04 and multiplied it by her usage.
“It came out to be about right, so then I went online to see what was on our website.” Breaking down her bill, she said “under residential, it said there is a $14 a month charge, the first 900 kilowatts an hour is .1375, which is a little less than the 16. Then the power cost adjustment is .01, about .02. I’m like, ‘why aren’t I getting that 13.75 they say it is online?’ So, of course it is too high,” she said.
Herlem said energy rates are currently based on speculators that look at nation and international policy.
Despite this, Herlem said she would absolutely vote to lower utility rates as long as it doesn’t hurt the city.
“Our electric grid has been neglected for years, and we have two transformers that need to be replaced or in the process of being replaced, and that’s not cheap. So, I would have to look at where we’re at and if it would actually hurt our electric grids to do that,” she said.
Echoing the other candidates that of course no one wants to pay more on their utility bills, Wilson also asked if the city could afford to vote to lower them.
“If we vote to lower them, the city loses money. That hurts us. We’re a small community, we need every penny we can get, but we need to do it the right way,” he said.
Wilson said he knows that Martinsville buys its power on the open market. “Like it or not, it seems to be the best way for us because I know most of the power bills from the county are higher. Are they exorbitantly higher? No, but they are higher,” he said.
Wilson said the council has to look at all its options and keep its grid up to snuff and take care of its utilities. He added Martinsville is also fortunate as when something happens in the city, residents aren’t usually without power for very long.
“They’re very quick to get on it and get it back on, and that’s commendable. I mean that’s just great. sometimes it takes some cities days to get back online,” he said.
Noting that everyone feels utility rates are too high, Lawson said they compare favorably with AEP and have for several years.
“Some years, we are a little higher, and other years they are a little lower. Currently, our rates are a little lower. The city’s electric fund, which is an enterprise fund, has to balance its revenues and its expenses. If you were to lower the rate, we would be subsidizing from other funds,” she said.
Lawson said this could mean the city’s real estate taxes could be subsidizing the electric expense of a large user.
“That would not be fair to any property owner,” she said, adding the city provides quality service to its customers and its crews are out within minutes to take action when there are power outages to restore the power.
Lawson said the city has to charge rates based on the cost of the power and the transmission costs. Martinsville has no control over the transmission fees.
“I would only vote to change the rate to balance the actual cost to produce electric service with the actual revenues,” she said.
Gravely said apparently the rates are too high as everyone’s complaining about them.
“In all reality, the city of Martinsville is at a lower rate than most places are at this point. I looked in an article with AEP in Martinsville, AEP increased by 10 percent and Martinsville increased by five percent,” he said.
With that being said, Gravely said he guessed it falls to city officials to find more resources and educate the citizens on what they can do throughout their home to keep the energy levels down.
“I also noticed that Henry County’s residents are 171 for 1,000 kilowatts and the city of Martinsville is 160 for 1,000 kilowatts. So, I’m not in favor of raising taxes, but I am in favor of exploring other opportunities to see what we can do to keep it at a lower level or keeping that at a standstill,” he said.
To watch the full candidate forum, go to Facebook.com/StarNews.
