By SCOTT D. JOHNSTON

About 130 local citizens sacrificed a beautiful Sunday afternoon October 15 to spend a few hours in the Lions Club listening to eight candidates for the Ocean Shores City Council discuss their views and visions as the November elections approach.

Ballots are expected to be mailed to registered voters by the end of this week. The four council races feature two relatively new residents challenging two incumbents and two former council members seeking to return to office.

Presented by Ocean Shores Block Watch, the “Town Hall” event was moderated by North Coast News Editor Angelo Bruscas, broadcast live on KOSW radio and video recorded by North Beach Community Television.

After an hour of meet and greet, the candidates took the stage to field a mix of questions from Bruscas. The first, addressed to the entire group, explained that the city’s 2018 budget includes four new positions, and asked each candidate which positions they approved of and why. The new jobs would be city administrator/human resources director, facilities manager, convention center marketing director and a part-time code enforcement officer, the latter position endorsed by seven of the eight candidates.

First to answer was Susan Conniry, who moved to Ocean Shores in 2014, ran unsuccessfully for mayor the next year, and is opposing John Lynn, the council’s longest sitting incumbent, first elected in 2009, for Position 1.

She favors a city administrator, does not think a facilities manager is necessary and gave tentative approval of a convention center marketing director, saying more discussion is needed.

Lynn said the convention center position is needed, because “the only way we’re going to keep that facility open” is by bringing in more rentals. He doesn’t think a city administrator is needed, and ran out of time before speaking on the other two positions.

Position 3 incumbent Lisa Griebel, appointed to the council last year following the resignation of Dan Overton, said yes to a facilities manager, and no to the convention center and city administrator slots. Her opponent is Shannon Rubin, who moved to Ocean Shores in 2014 and manages the Canterbury Inn hotel on Ocean Shores Blvd.

Rubin said she wants not only a convention center marketing director, but complete management of the facility by an outside company. She said no to a facilities manager and a city administrator but would like to see someone managing human resources.

Position 5 pits Steve Ensley, city finance director for five years until his retirement in 2016, against former council member Randy Scott, who was elected in 2011 but did not run for re-election in 2015.

Ensley favors a city administrator, would prefer to turn over convention center management and marketing to an outside company, and thinks a facilities manager “could be justified.”

In opposing a city administrator, Scott noted that “not too long ago, we voted for a strong mayor” and a city manager was “voted out.” The other two positions he does not support.

Seeking Position 7 is Robert Crumpacker, a 40-year Shores resident and former council member, elected in 2007 and voted out four years later. Crumpacker said, “I support all four positions, in theory, but none at this time.” He explained that he thinks all are “wants” but not “needs,” and the city should “do without for one more year.” The convention center marketing position, he said, should be filled, but paid out of the lodging tax funds that go largely to support the convention center and aren’t part of the city’s budget.

Carlos Roldan, an Ocean Shores resident since 2014, is Crumpacker’s opponent. He said, “I am for the city administrator, but only if (that person) is firm in keeping to the city’s budget.” He favors a convention center marketing director, “but only if they will bring in high end events.” He didn’t comment on a facilities manager.

Each pair of candidates was asked questions that were not asked of the others. For example, Crumpacker and Roldan were asked about the city’s string of moratoriums on a second retail marijuana store, enacted in 6-month increments since February, 2016, and thus far postponing a final decision on the subject.

Roldan said “the council needs to make a decision,” but “as to another marijuana store, no, we don’t need that.” Crumpacker said, “I’m a free enterprise guy,” noted there is already a marijuana store in town, and said “to preclude another simply because of the values of the city that we guess or think we see flies in the face of the free enterprise system that this country is founded on.” He said competition is good and the free market should if a second store would be profitable and therefore survive.

Conniry and Lynn were asked about something he pushed in city council this year, the creation of a local Transportation Benefit District to help fund street maintenance. The question was, do you support putting a 2/10ths of one cent sales tax increase on the ballot, which the TBD allows, and would you ever consider imposing car tab fees dedicated to the TBD?

Conniry said she has spoken at council in favor of putting the sales tax to a vote of the people, but is against adding car tabs “because they could continue to go up…” She said if the sales tax question goes on the ballot, there should be a town hall meeting, “so that people can come in and understand what is a transportation benefit district.”

The council visited the topic repeatedly over several months before approving the TBD on March 2, 2017. Still, Conniry maintained, “… the citizens don’t have any idea what it means, what will happen to them if it passes or it doesn’t. I think it’s time for us to engage our citizens a little bit more before we make these decisions.”

Lynn said that the council action creating the TBD had been amended to exclude all possible revenue options except the sales tax increase, which he said “is not a lot of money,” not nearly enough to adequately address the city’s street maintenance needs. “We need to know what the problem is, how wide it is, what the cost is, then take a look” at car tab fees as a possible future revenue source.

After an hour, citizens in the audience got the chance to ask questions of their own. The event was be shown by North Beach Community TV this Friday, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m. on Coast Communications channel 68.