Given the rancor the past two or three years, it’s no surprise that town spending and a possible property tax are huge dividing issues in the mayoral race.

Candidates Jerry Miles and Jay Schlum made their first public appearance together at a Republican Club-sponsored forum Jan. 19.

Miles, who previously served one term as mayor, and Schlum, a current Town Councilman, are seeking the seat to be vacated by Mayor Wally Nichols in June.

Miles hammered away at several controversial issues during the debate, including former Town Manager Tim Pickering’s pricey severance package, the town’s spending practices in recent years and what has or has not been done with the intersection of Avenue of the Fountains and Saguaro Blvd.

Schlum was left to defend the town’s recent practices and emphasize the many positive things accomplished the past four years while he was on council.

In response to a question on how they would make sure proper authority rests with the Town Council, Miles said Pickering “got away” with too much power for five years.

“The Town Council sets policy, and it is the town manager’s job to follow that policy,” Miles said.

“The manager reports to the council, and the council reports to the people.

“We had a town manager who for five years wasn’t reporting to anyone.”

Schlum defended the council’s handling of Pickering through the years, saying he had “skill sets” that proved beneficial to the town in his early tenure.

“But you just don’t discuss (human resource) problems in public,” Schlum said.

“The Town Council acted professionally and responsibly in its handling of the town manager.”

Miles said if he had been mayor he would not have paid nearly $190,000 to Pickering in a mutual severance package.

Schlum said the current council inherited an employment agreement with Pickering that spelled out severance terms.

“Even if his contract expired he would have still owed him money,” Schlum said.

“This was a black and white issue, not a debatable one.”

Miles said Pickering could have been terminated “with cause,” thus making the severance package moot.

“That brings up a whole lot of other issues,” Schlum said, alluding to Pickering’s likely legal challenge.

“We decided not to go down that road.”

Since they are both members of the local GOP Club, a question was asked concerning their beliefs on lowering taxes, cutting government’s size and how they would vote on the property tax question.

“I believe in less government and in spending on our needs only,” Schlum said.

However, he emphasized several times the town needs to examine its financial structure and heavy (and unstable) dependence on sales tax revenues.

“I support the property tax only with an equation that lowers the burden in other areas,” Schlum added.

“We need money for public service, for example. If we can do that, I would vote for it.”

Miles said an argument is being made that a property tax is more “fair” with regard to full-time residents as opposed to part-time visitors, but he said snowbirds should be thanked instead for their financial contributions.

“This is the worst time ever to put a property tax on the ballot,” Miles said.

He commended Councilman Keith McMahan for having the “guts” to be the lone vote against placing the issue on the ballot.

Schlum said people think imposing a property tax means spending more money, but he argued that is not necessarily the case.

“This would replace the fire district to some extent, and it is more fair,” the councilman added.

“It is incumbent on us to get into a financial model that is sustainable…we are so leveraged on sales tax income.

“This is a good opportunity to reach a consensus. There is a lot of momentum and support behind this. It takes a lot of guts to vote for something like this.”

Schlum cited the hard work of the Strategic Plan Advisory Commission and an outside consultant who favored imposing a property tax after an extensive revenue analysis.

Miles retorted: “One promise I will make, no more consultants. We have consulted ourselves to death.”

Miles said a property tax would most hurt those who can least afford it: “I haven’t heard anything regarding cutting expenses.”

Along those lines, council candidate Dennis Contino asked why the town is not looking at budget cuts and why the town keeps hiring people and giving out raises.

“If we ran our businesses this way, we would all be out of business,” Contino said.

Miles said the Town Council approved the “assistant to the town manager” position, which was not needed, and now they are in a “big rush” to hire a new manager.

“We’ve got to spend less,” Miles said. “It’s time to pull in our belt.”

Schlum countered that the town has not continued to grow with staff and that the town has not overspent its budget.

“We will continue to make our budgets, but you have to understand there are increases you have to deal with, like law enforcement costs and matching grant monies,” Schlum said.

The Fountain Hills Republican Club presented each mayoral candidate with a set of questions prior to the meeting, asking for their written responses.

Those responses were handed out after Saturday’s meeting and are available for public perusal at www.fhrepublicanclub.org.