Below are the answers from Mr. Jerry Bittner (Ward 2), who is running against Councilwoman Reva Sullivan. The answers are cut and pasted directly from the email and contain no altering of text, except for format (bulletized the questions and indented the answers).

• – Water is becoming a less plentiful, but more frequently required asset in Eastern NC. What policies would you push to ensure that Jacksonville has a safe, secure and clean source of water?

• I believe the city has been active in developing new water sources since the State has reduced the amount of water that can be withdrawn from the deep aquifer.  I would continue to advocate a policy of conservation year round and pursue working relationships with the other principal purveyors of water in Onslow County — ONWASA and Camp Lejeune.

• – The current City Council took steps to reduced benefits to city employees. What policies would you push to maintain a viable city workforce and recruit/retain employees?

• The city has to ensure competitive salaries, benefits and training or risk the loss of valuable experienced employees. The merit pay program which was eliminated in this year’s budget needs to be reinstated. No doubt there are times when circumstances dictate budget reductions.  However, they should be applied evenhandedly, not solely on the backs of the employees.

• – Transportation is a significant issue in Jacksonville. How would you seek to solve traffic issues and mitigate risks? How would you work with the NCDOT and the legislators to push for better support of our transportation systems?

• The city has relationships with NCDOT via our local Transportation Coordinating Committee and continually monitors needs and proposes improvements.

• – What priorities will you have regarding infill development within Jacksonville?

• Infill development has its advantages since the infrastructure is in place to serve it. It has been and must continually be promoted. The Unified Development Ordinance under consideration at this time offers some benefits to infill development, but the most significant step will come in the integration of a tiered facility charge system for connections to the water and sewer that will offer lower charges for developing where facilities are already in place.

• – What policies would you push to make Jacksonville more attractive to businesses?

• The growth over the recent years is evidence that Jacksonville is attractive to businesses. But, while growth and new business openings are evidence of success, additional successes can be won by promoting Jacksonville as a business-friendly place, offering amenities that make their employees want to live here and to celebrate the things that have made us have the success we do. These include the collaboration with the military, the County, the education and health services community and all the other synergist activities that have advanced our community. One key is to ensure everyone is counted in the Census next year since so many businesses only look at areas that have ‘good numbers.’– Many residents complain about the lack of recreational opportunities (swimming pools, parks, mountain biking trails, etc) in Jacksonville. What priorities will you have regarding recreation?

• The recent Chamber of Commerce Amenities Forum demonstrated the economic value of recreational opportunities. Certainly, they don’t come without cost, but when weighed against getting people to stay here after their military service, attracting a quality work force and citizens’ desire for more businesses, they have benefit. When weighing recreation improvements vs. cost, it is incumbent upon the council to expose these issues to public input.

• – The City is currently fielding resumes for the City Manager position. How would you feel about the current Council hiring a Manager before the potential election of a new council?

• The present Council should not hire a new manager.  First of all, the divisiveness of the present council along with the manner in which the former city manager was fired detracts from the city being an attractive employer.  City manager candidates look for stability in the work environment which at present is questionable. The new Council should guide the process to recruit and hire.

• – Downtown Jacksonville has been overcome with blight and abandoned and unused buildings. Past Councils have approved Downtown Master Plans that would replace the existing buildings with high-priced homes. Even now, there are several recently built homes in the above-$250k price-range available downtown. What policies would you support to revitalize the Downtown area?

• The city and county governments have developed a workable master plan to guide the development of the downtown area.  This plan has effected change and in fact the developments in the downtown area have produced a positive cash flow.  However, the current plan should not be pursued as cast in stone.  Changing circumstances, for example the jail requires continual review of the plan and modifications as circumstances may require.

• – Actions by the current Council have raised questions about transparency and integrity in Council-actions. What are your thoughts on the recent events and how would you address potential issues of open-governance?

• Your question of integrity poses its definition: "the quality of possessing and steadfastly adhering to high moral principles or professional standards." Did members of the current council who voted for the firing of the manager adhere to professional standards?  Why he was fired remains a mystery particularly when less than nine months before his dismissal, council awarded him almost an $8,000 raise.  So who knows?  The only public statement offering a reason was that "… he was trying to lead us." Most people think leadership is a trait desired of CEOs and managers. In so far as transparency, I take it you mean open government. I was on the city council when G10 was authorized and voted for it.  Likewise I voted for a public comment section as part of the regular meeting agenda. I’m forever mindful that it is the people’s government.

Incumbents:

• Reva Sullivan (Onslow) (Ward 2)
• Randy Thomas (Onslow) (At Large)
• Alva M. Williams (Onslow) (At Large)
• Jerome Willingham (Onslow) (Ward 1)

Challengers:

• Jerry A. Bittner (Onslow) (Ward 2)
• James Bryan (Onslow) (At Large)
• Hunter B. Hadley, Jr. (Onslow) (At Large)
• Kevin O’Connor (Onslow) (At Large)
• Lori B. Ready (Onslow) (At Large)
• Robert ‘Bob’ Warden (Onslow) (At Large)

Below is a list of questions I will be sending to all the candidates within a few weeks. Give them a read and add your own in the comments I’ll add them to the questionaire before sending.

- Water is becoming a less plentiful, but more frequently required asset in Eastern NC. What policies would you push to ensure that Jacksonville has a safe, secure and clean source of water?

– The current City Council took steps to reduced benefits to city employees. What policies would you push to maintain a viable city workforce and recruit/retain employees?

– Transportation is a significant issue in Jacksonville. How would you seek to solve traffic issues and mitigate risks? How would you work with the NCDOT and the legislators to push for better support of our transportation systems?

– What priorities will you have regarding infill development within Jacksonville?

– What policies would you push to make Jacksonville more attractive to businesses?

– Many residents complain about the lack of recreational opportunities (swimming pools, parks, mountain bikiking trails, etc) in Jacksonville. What priorities will you have regarding recreation?

– The City is currently fielding resumes for the City Manager position. how would you feel about the current Council hiring a Manager before the potential election of an new council?

– Downtown Jacksonville has been overcome with blight and abandoned and unused buildings. Past Councils have approved Downtown Master Plans that would replace the existing buildings with high-priced homes. Even now, there are several recently built homes in the above-$250k price-range available downtown. What policies would you suppoyrt to revitalize the Downtown area?

– Actions by the current Council have raised questions about transparency and integrity in Council-actions. What are your thoughts on te recent events and how would you address potential issues of open-governance?

Since there’s not much campaigning to analyze so far, I figure that it’d be useful to lay a baseline…Which is how I would campaign for Jacksonville City Council, were I a candidate.

Follow the jump for the details on how I’d reach out to the residents of Jacksonville.

The key to a successful campaign in Jacksonville is voter outreach. There’s a ton of ways to get your message to the voters today. Not only do you have snail mail and newspaper advertisements, but there’s email, Twitter, Facebook, web pages and internet advertising (which is significantly cheaper and can be more effective (depending on your target audience) than print advertising). If I were a candidate, the first thing I’d do is set up a web-presence. Twitter and Facebook are free, so I’d start there, but you could purchase a website domain and hosting for not a whole lot of money and set up a proper website. I’d sketch a budget for print advertising, but hold my fire until October (any print ads read before 30-days prior to an election are forgotten by voting day).

Those aren’t necessarily the most effective ways to get name recognition in Jacksonville…Especially considering that the primary source of voters in municipal-only elections are the elderly and politically-fanatic. The key to winning an election in Jacksonville is individual communication. Once you’ve developed your platform and message, you’ve got to be the one out there. The candidate has to knock on the doors and dial the telephone numbers. It’s the only way to win in this city. I’d spend $25 at the Onslow County Board of Elections and purchase a CD of all the voter data they have. That would give you names, mailing addresses and telephone numbers for the nearly 85,000 voters in Onslow County. Why the whole county? Running a political campaign isn’t cheap. You can make calls-for-cash to County voters and, if you’re good, you’ll be able to convince them that Jacksonville controls quite a bit of revenue for the county. That may net you a few hundred dollars, not to mention volunteers for your campaign.

I’d spend no-less-than three hours a day on the telephone calling voters. Provided that you have your message in a five-minute speech, and that you can keep someone on the phone that long, that’s approximately 3,000 contacts between now and November.

Telephone calls alone will not guarantee a win, or even much name recognition. Getting on the streets and knocking on doors and talking to residents will. Every weekend between now and November I’d be walking through Jacksonville and knocking on doors. Pre-plan the neighborhoods. Get smart on the issues that are important to those residents. Find an issue where you agree and push the message. In conversation with voters, find out what they want for Jacksonville and their neighborhoods. Find out what they’re looking for in a City Council-member.

In addition to that, as a candidate, you’d want to tap the most knowledgeable, active and experienced citizens for information. The obvious place to find those citizens is Jacksonville’s citizen advisory commissions. If I were running for City Council, I’d visit every commission at least once and my preferred appointments (Council-members are assigned commissions as liaisons) several times. I’d take those citizens to the side, before or after meetings, and ask them for their concerns, ideas and opinions.

And that’s how to win an election to Jacksonville City Council: Meet the people. Talk to the people. Learn about the City and the people and their needs.

It’s not pretty and it’s not fancy and it doesn’t take a lot of money for signs, t-shirts or bumper stickers. It takes time and sweat and effort. But, my guess is…It’d be worth it.

The incumbents:

• Jerome Willingham (Ward 1)
• Reva Sullivan (Ward 2)
• Alva Williams (At-Large)
• Randy Thomas (At-Large)

The challengers:

• Jerry Bittner (Ward 2)
• Hunter Hadley, Jr. (At-Large)
• Robert Warden (At-Large)
• James Bryan (At-Large)
• Lori Ready (At-Large)
• Kevin O’Connor (At-Large)

You’ll notice that Mr. Willingham will not have any competition in November. It’s surprising to me that Horace Mann, a former At-Large Jacksonville City Council-member didn’t file. I think he could’ve defeated Willingham this year. Instead, Willingham will have a new 4-year term beginning in December.

Former City Council-member Jerry Bittner, who lost to Ms. Sullivan in 2007, will be working to get his former seat on the Council back.

The At-Large races will be the most interesting, what-with the multitude of candidates.

I’m particularly surprised at the young James Bryan (he’s 30) filing. I don’t know him or his positions, but having a young fellow on the City Council is something that I think would make the City a better place. Adding a youthful perspective to the ever-so-standard “business-developer-retiree” point-of-view would have much added-benefit.

Kevin O’Connor’s campaign will be interesting, too. He’s known for his loud, often rude and inappropriate outbursts at the City Council meetings. His campaign style will be fun to document, I think.

I don’t know, or know of, the other candidates, but I will be reaching out to them (incumbents and challengers alike) with a questionnaire. Have questions you’d like candidates for Jacksonville City Council to answer? Put them in the comments and I’ll add them to my list.

Bittner points to the Rails-to-Trails project (which Bittner didn’t fully support), the Country Club Road bicycle lane (which is 1.something miles), the Jacksonville Commons multi-use path and new side-walks built by the City (all but these sidewalks and the Jacksonville Commons MUP were identified in the article).

I didn’t mention the Commons MUP because it’s not a “pedestrian path”, it’s a “fitness trail.” There’s a distinct difference. A “pedestrian path” gets you someplace: Work, shopping, entertainment, but somewhere. The Commons MUP gets you nowhere because the only sidewalk network that gets near the path goes partially down McDaniel Drive to the Wal-Mart/Office Max strip mall. Except that the sidewalk doesn’t go all the way to Wal-Mart/Office Max or Highway 17/Marine Blvd and there’s no cross-walks to get from one side to the other or to cross the several intersecting streets.

As for these “new sidewalks” that the City spent “hundreds of thousands of dollars constructing”, I’d like to know where they are. If I had to guess, I’d say that they’re in subdivisions and that they, like the Commons MUP, don’t lead to places of employment, shopping or entertainment. I certainly know where there aren’t new sidewalks: Downtown Jacksonville, Northwoods, Piney Green, Highway 24/Lejeune Blvd, Highway 17/Marine Blvd, Gum Branch past the intersection with Henderson Drive, Henderson Drive between its intersections with Western Blvd and Gum Branch…I can go on, but I think you see the point (Which, for those of you that don’t see it is: There’s more places without usable sidewalks that need them than there are places with sidewalks in Jacksonville).

Bittner’s letter catches me as a feeble defense of his legacy, a whining “But we did too!” in response to a disagreeing reality. His examples of “a lot” of effort by previous councils and city administrations to make the city more pedestrian and bicycle friendly are weak and pale at best.

Bittner’s true legacy, on this, is one of failure. The City of Jacksonville is not pedestrian or bicyclist friendly. Any attempts, other than the Rails-to-Trails project (which he didn’t fully support) are feeble and do not back up his argument.

UPDATED: It appears that someone (Jacksonville Daily News commenter fundamentalist) posted an interesting comment on the article related to a statement made by Jacksonville Mayor Sammy Phillips.

Mayor Phillips has publicly stated to me personally, on more than one occasion, that he is AGAINST sidewalks and bike trails in Jacksonville. He said to me – and this is a direct quote, "if you want to ride a bicycle, you should take your bike to the Northwoods area and ride there… they have sidewalks." Considering I live out near Catherine’s lake, this seemed a bit ridiculous to me. Furthermore, do the residents of Northwoods really want the entire population of Onslow County driving into their residential neighborhood for the sole purpose of bicyling???

I have no experience communicating with Mayor Phillips and I have not heard him publicly make similar comments. If you have, please add to the conversation.