This week the candidates for Town Council will respond to the sixth and final question being posed by The Fountain Hills Times staff. Early ballots go in the mail today, Wednesday, July 6, for the Aug. 2 Primary Election.

The question this week is: The council often finds itself pondering whether a budget item is a “nice to have” or a necessity. This is often a matter of perspective with no clear dividing line. How do you balance “nice vs. need” when considering overall quality of life for Fountain Hills residents?

Ginny Dickey: As the question suggests, “nice to have” vs “need to have” is somewhat simplistic, minimizing the importance of what can make life fulfilling and enjoyable.

What does a municipality actually need? Public safety in the form of police and fire protection, first responders for medical emergencies and building codes for structural integrity. Power, roads, water, sewer, communication – supported with staff, equipment and supplies – and the ability to react to unforeseen events. One could say that’s about it.

Is economic development a need? We are in a bustling urban area, well-equipped to handle any want. Parks, music, theater, restaurants, gyms and any number of activities are all within reach. Do we need to partner with the Chamber, our neighboring tribal communities, or become members of any regional organizations? Participating in the State’s Centennial celebration, burying our 50th Anniversary time capsule, and buying holiday lights are all far from necessary.

Setting up dramatic choices is a campaign approach, but when faced with making decisions, it becomes real. We are organized by departments where professional staff make recommendations with public, council and commission input on their priorities. Our finance department has demonstrated nothing but conservative budgeting with insight into the economy and trends – and whether council agrees with every project or proposal is what gets debated and voted on. We have short- and long-range plans to guide us, and informed discussion to address financial investment and implementation.

We are responsible for meeting needs but should offer amenities and services for individuals and families to experience and make memories while living in Fountain Hills. It’s what they expect by being part of this community. I believe we have balanced those decisions well in the past; that’s what you elect leaders to do.

Joe Arpaio: We must create new programs and policies which will benefit the people of Fountain Hills (looking forwards to the future) and not use personal interests when deciding budgets and fiscal responsibility.

Elected officials (the council/mayor) should continue to have meetings such as town retreats to decide what the town needs. May also decide to meet with outside professional organizations to determine what their ideas are when you have tough decisions to make and dividing lines. A good example of a bad policy is the roundabout idea that will cost $400,000 just for a study (not taking into consideration the excessive funds necessary for final development of the project). It has also been reported, for example, that walkways were constructed for personal reasons, not because the construction was really necessary.

The news media and the voting public should be kept abreast of certain controversial programs and make known to the public the positives and negatives of the project or program. Last but not least, I never hear from the politicians or media about the public safety, law enforcement, or drug issues which should be top priorities because of their direct and indirect impact on the town’s quality of life. It should be noted, the first role of government (including Fountain Hills) is to ensure public safety and to protect people and property from the criminal element.

Brenda Kalivianakis: The current administration seems determined to spend town resources on “want to have” spending items that make for great ribbon-cutting ceremonies. These items include building unsafe roundabouts and unnecessary palatial stairs by the lake, crosswalks that go unused by pedestrians, expensive sunshade structures, quarter-million-dollar parks that the local residents don’t want, and the list goes on. The boring but critical “must have” jobs include fixing the darn roads, storm water flood mitigation, fixing our Community Center that leaks and repairing and upgrading our infrastructure to meet modern standards; these items must be given a higher priority.

If elected, I would encourage heightened scrutiny on “want to have” projects until I see significant improvements on the “must have” items previously addressed. You may not see my photo cutting ribbons in the newspaper, I will be out patching potholes and talking to the people about what should be done first. If we listen to the people and put their priorities over politics, we will get things done that need to be done. By listening, we will make the people satisfied with their government and will have done right by the people we serve.

We also waste huge amounts of money on expensive consulting services when we already have experts on staff and can get advice from the community (Example: Roads Committee). Most people agree the four-way stop at Palisades and La Montana is unsafe and we should place stop lights there. Do we really need to hire a Scottsdale consulting firm to rubber stamp approval of the project at the cost on $75,000 (estimated)? I think we just need the leadership to make good decisions on behalf of the people. We need a new way of doing business in Fountain Hills, expect more.

Allen Skillicorn: Determining needs and wants is not that hard. First, we must consider the proper role of government and then priorities of government. The Fountain Hills Town Council only needs to focus on local matters.

I recommend the following priorities, in this order: Protect the people, protect our assets, protect our community.

Primarily, our town must fund police and fire. The majority of my neighbors want to see more police presence in the town and neighborhoods, not less. Fire and rescue service must be close enough and staffed for minimal response times. Protecting the people also means safe roadways and common-sense zoning.

Second, we must protect our assets. This means keeping the finances accountable and transparent. Our physical assets matter, too. We must do a better job maintaining our streets and infrastructure. Deferred maintenance on streets, parks and lake can lead to overly expensive repairs down the road.

Finally, our town is more than streets and a lake. Community events and activities influence our quality of life. Protecting our community through proper zoning and enforcement matters, too. We want families in our neighborhoods, not short-term party houses and commercial addiction centers.

Having a strong rainy-day fund and more conservative fiscal policies also makes these discussions go much easier. I would prefer to fund our police, safety and roads more than we currently do. I believe ignoring these realities will cost us more in the future.

With consistent leadership, we can accomplish so much more in Fountain Hills!

Hannah Toth: In order to differentiate between “need to have” and “nice to have” items, we need to understand the importance of preserving our town’s quality of life. The primary way to cut out “nice to haves” and not create a negative impact on residents would be cutting our capital projects. New projects are very nice to have! But, considering the current backlog on road maintenance, we need to understand that many of these projects are going to have to wait.

Secondly, I’d like to sit down with the Town manager and the finance director to comb through all contracts the town has entered into, ensuring first that we are getting what we paid for, and then looking for opportunities for cost reduction. For the time being, Fountain Hills must remain focused on maintenance, flood management and preserving our current services to the best of our ability.

Solving the backlog that we are facing on roads maintenance is going to take a lot of team effort from the Town of Fountain Hills. This is a gigantic cost, and an absolute necessity to address. Luckily, we are a great town, and the people of Fountain Hills do understand that while we enter into an oncoming recession, we’re all going to need to be much more conservative in our budgets – and that includes the Town government.

Cindy Couture: An old Rolling Stones song points out that “You can’t always get what you want.” This mantra follows the Town Council members in all their financial decisions.

All budgeting decisions must be carefully weighed. With finite funds available, the most pressing needs earn first priority. Paying for town staff, infrastructure and upkeep of our buildings and parks must come first.

Once the necessities are covered, decisions can be made regarding the “nice to haves.” For example, this year’s “nice to have” included the rebuild of the children’s splash park. If you’ve been to the park recently, you’ve enjoyed watching the delight this gift brings to families.

However, we’ll likely see none or few “nice to haves” in the next years. Options such as the Community Center shade pavilion and the Saguaro Fountain viewing platform and roundabout will have to wait.

Our decisions and finances must focus on our current top necessity, our neighborhood streets. That decision is an urgent one and one a citizens committee will advise us on. Our streets provide a basic quality of life requirement. Addressing them will ensure continued high property values. This is a must.

As a council member, I will be willing to make the hard financial decisions necessary to run our town. I believe in the Stones’ line, “You can’t always get what you want.”