Incumbent Jeff Smart is working for another four-year term as the mayor of Hamlet, meanwhile current councilman Jesse McQueen is campaigning for that same position.
“I feel really confident right now,” McQueen said. “I’m still out there and want to talk to people.”
McQueen currently sits on the Hamlet City Council and given if the election swings in his favor, has several objectives he’d like to see achieved and grievances addressed.
“I hope people vote on the issues at hand and don’t make this into a popularity contest,” McQueen said.
McQueen is only one of two mayoral candidates vying for the seat and feels that his ability to, “vote my conscience” will help him in the race.
“I’d like to maintain an open form of government that allows input from all citizens,” McQueen said. “I also will work to ensure fair treatment of all citizens, not just a few.”
Likewise, McQueen says he will do everything in his power to have the city council meetings televised again. Televising the city council meetings has been an on-going issue with the city and often brought up during city council’s monthly meetings.
McQueen also wants to address a rumor involving the parks and recreation department in Hamlet.
“Doing away with the parks and recreation department is not in the plan,” McQueen said. “I want to maintain an active parks and rec department,”
Also according to McQueen, some issues have been ignored or just simply looked over in the past few years.
“If a ship is sinking, do you want the captain to tell you that everything is OK? Or do you want him to tell you it’s leaking and say, let’s do something about it?” McQueen said.
One example McQueen says is that the city, “used well over $200,000 of our fund balance, to balance our budget this fiscal year.”
The money was used while telling everyone the city is in good financial shape, according to McQueen.
“It is my belief the budget should not have counted on this fund balance reserve,” McQueen said. “We must distinguish between needs and wants. We can’t continue to spend at our present rate.”
Smart’s stance on the city’s financial situation is somewhat different than that of McQueen.
“We have been and will continue to be very cautious with our spending habits,” Smart said. “Even through these difficult economic times in our country, Hamlet remains financially stable and has been able to maintain the budgets without compromising the quality of life of our citizens and without raising the tax rate.”
According to Smart, he has all intentions of keeping Hamlet moving in the direction it is currently heading.
“I am proud of a lot of things that we have done in the last two years,” Smart said.
During Smart’s term, the city began working on the upkeep of the city through its Downtown Main Street Program and is presently in the process of hanging new banners in the downtown area.
“Additionally, we have worked diligently with property owners in trying to remove the abandoned houses and buildings throughout town,” Smart said. “When I became Mayor, we had a list of 30 structures that needed to be removed. As of today, we have had 14 of these structures removed, and we continue to put the pressure on the owners of these other structures on this list.”
Smart and McQueen both have a long history within the city of Hamlet and said they would like to bring more businesses into the city in order to boost the “quality of life”.
“I want to continue to help the leaders of this city make the decisions for the future, Smart said. “I want to help make sure Hamlet continues to be a place where people can live, work, and play as they see fit.”
n Staff writer Bryan Stewart can be reached at 997-3111 ext. 15, or by e-mail at bstewart@yourdailyjournal.com
Post a Comment
