The challengers for three Town Council spots up for election on Nov. 3 were put on the hot seat near the end of Thursday’s town-hall meeting when Mayor Jody McLeod asked them where they stood on taxes. McLeod said he knew the incumbents’ position – two years ago, they voted to raise the tax rate by 5 cents to maintain the town’s reserves – but said voters needed to know if the challengers had the fortitude to increase the town’s property-tax rate if necessary. The mayor and council incumbents running for re-election – Mayor pro tem Bob Ahlert and Councilmen Michael Grannis and Bob Satterfield – have pointed to the 2007 tax increase as a major reason why Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s recently upgraded the town’s bond rating, which could save the town hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt-service costs in the coming years.Two of the challengers issued no-tax pledges.“I’m committed to not raising taxes,” Steve Agbayani said. Russell Cotten, meanwhile, said succinctly: “No new taxes.”The other three challengers said they would raise taxes only as a last resort.“I don’t see how you can run for council and not be financially responsible,” said Art Holder, who stressed that he would scrutinize the town budget for ways to save money before voting to raise taxes.“As a town, you have to be fiscally responsible. But I don’t think the first thing you do is raise taxes,” said Mike Carrothers. He said he would make certain that every penny of taxpayers’ money was well spent before he would raise taxes.Carrothers said Clayton had the highest tax rate among Triangle municipalities. He cited Cary, which has a rate of 33 cents per $100 valuation, and Raleigh, with a rate of 37.35 cents, as contrasts to Clayton, which has a rate of 54 cents. However, assessed property values are significantly higher in Cary, Raleigh and most other Triangle localities, enabling municipal governments to keep tax rates comparatively low.Another challenger, Brooks Remencus, said he would look for ways to trim the town’s budget before raising taxes.But, he added, “I have to make sure my check book is balanced, so I’d have to make sure the town’s is as well.” Grannis argued that council members have been thrifty with taxpayers’ money during his tenure.“I think this council and other councils have been very fiscally responsible,” said Grannis, who is seeking a second four-year term.He noted that the town has cut its operating budget in each of the last two fiscal years.Clayton’s general fund expenditures this fiscal year are down by nearly $200,000 over last year’s budget and are approximately $1 million less than they were in 2007-08, marking a 5.8 percent decrease over two years.Grannis said that despite such frugality, elected officials sometimes “also have to step up to the bar and make a difficult decision to sustain ourselves.”Calls for changeThe challengers at Thursday’s town-hall meeting also went on the offensive, arguing that it’s time for a change. “We need to be diversified in Clayton, because the perception that we want people to see is that we are 21st century, not the good old boys, but changing for the 21st century,” said Cotten, an associate pastor at Mount Vernon Christian Church in downtown Clayton and the lone African-American candidate. “We want to look like our community in our small government.”Clayton has had only one African-American council member, Nathaniel Sanders, who served two terms in the 1980s and early 1990s.Carrothers, a systems engineer who moved to Clayton in 1996, said, “Basically, I’m running for Town Council because I’m kind of tired of the status quo.”“We need to bring small- to medium-size businesses in to support the town residents who are here so we don’t have to drive to Garner or Raleigh or Smithfield to spend our money,” he said.Holder, a retiree who was born in Clayton, moved away as an adult and came back in 1998, said he was concerned about the town’s recent stagnation.“Growth has disappeared; jobs have disappeared,” he said. “We’re not going to have growth return until we get jobs.”Remencus, 31, a former educator who now works in sales, promoted ecological and small-government themes.He said the town should turn its attention toward energy conservation – especially solar power. Remencus said he recognized that large capital expenditures might be involved in such a transformation, “but I think it’s an investment in the future of this town – in what this town can be.”He added that he was “very concerned about the burden that this government has on its citizens” but did not elaborate on the point.Agbayani, an applications developer with the SAS Institute in Cary, has worked on large contracts for the Cary town government and Wisconsin’s Department of Revenue. He said he’d use his experience to help the town assess contracts.In particular, he said he’d like to “explore our utility rates,” which he believes are too high.He also touched on the theme of fiscal fairness.“I want to ensure a balance of funding for all of Clayton,” he said.Cotten sounded a similar note.“If we’re going to live together – which we are – then we’re going to need to have equal distribution of tax revenue funds,” he said.“We need to make sure we have sidewalks, we need to make sure we have replacement water and sewer in the developments that we already have, whether they be new or old – but mainly the old,” he said.Cotten has argued that Clayton’s north side has been neglected by the current and previous councils.In rebuttal, Grannis argued that the town continues to seek land around Clayton – including on the north side – to build parks or rec centers. He also said bond funds will be used in the coming months to build a picnic shelter at All-Star Park on Front Street and to improve streets and install sidewalks in all parts of the town, including the north side.Incumbents point to successesThe incumbents encouraged voters to examine their records.“We have done a number of things over the 12 years that I’ve served that I believed have enhanced the community,” said Ahlert, who is seeking a fourth term. He cited as achievements construction of The Clayton Center, two fire stations and the new Community Center on Amelia Church Road, arguing that those things would not have materialized if the town had not gotten its finances in order during the time he has been on the council.Grannis said the council during his tenure has rewritten town ordinances and zoning requirements in order to promote sensible growth and development.He also pointed to recent successes in luring employers to town – notably the new medical center on N.C. 42 West, which employs about 90 full-time-equivalent staff and will hire more people in the coming years as it expands, and Turkington USA, a baking-equipment manufacturer that moved to town this fall and will create at least 27 new jobs initially. Another estimated 113 workers will move to the new Clayton facility from Turkington’s former location in Goldsboro.Looking to the futureHolder said the town should put the brakes on residential development for the time being. “We need to hold up on residential development until we’ve got the ones that are already approved – with sewer … capacity already allocated to them – come to Clayton,” he said.But Ahlert said the town cannot put moratoriums on future developments. “That’s not something the state statutes allow us to do in the first place,” he said. “So we need to be cognizant of what we can and cannot do as a council and as a town before we make statements about what we’re going to do.”Looking ahead, Grannis said he wanted to maintain fiscal responsibility, broaden dialogue with Johnston County Schools, upgrade code enforcement policies for properties in town, foster downtown development, seek land for parks and recreation facilities and make more activities available to seniors.Ahlert, meanwhile, said he wanted to create a “small area plan” for the area around the U.S. 70/U.S. 70 Business split east of town.“We need to have a plan in place so we don’t have another 40/42 disaster,” he said.Satterfield, who, like Ahlert, also is seeking a fourth term, said he was on board with his fellow incumbents’ agendas.“They speak the same language I do. Everything they want, I want, too,” he said.Cotten promoted the idea of offering incentives to the private sector to create a public shuttle-bus system for the Clayton area in the next five years.Agbayani and Grannis also liked the idea. “I do think it’s something we need to seriously consider,” Grannis said.Only about 30 people attended Thursday’s town-hall meeting, which was moderated by local filmmaker and former radio personality Mark Grady. The Clayton News-Star sponsored the event.

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