Challenger says he’s friendlier to business
Mayoral candidate Tim Leavitt assembled a group of business owners outside City Hall Monday to underscore his promise that he will create a more business-friendly environment if voters choose him in today’s down-to-the-wire mayoral election.
Leavitt said in a statement that Mayor Royce Pollard’s jobs plan “simply maintains the status quo.” He defined himself as “the candidate who understands business because he is in business.”
The 38-year-old city councilman, who is a partner in a civil engineering firm, said the fact that one-third of Clark County residents must commute to Oregon for jobs is unacceptable.
“If you live in Vancouver you deserve the right to work here,” Leavitt said at his press conference. “Eighty percent would prefer to work here, even with a pay cut, to avoid the (Oregon) income tax.”
Pollard, a retired Army officer, countered with a press release saying his own plan to bring jobs to Vancouver is the work of citizens groups and was developed over the past decade. “If my opponent feels the citizen vision for the city lacks leadership, that is his short-sightedness,” he said.
Pollard’s plan calls for building and maintaining relationships with the Port of Vancouver and other job-generators; actively recruiting green businesses; building on existing “signature industries,” such as electronics manufacturing, to attract similar businesses; moving ahead with downtown redevelopment; and expanding the Main Street Tax Incentive Plan.
At the City Hall event, which was covered by three Portland TV stations, Claire Ghormley, owner of Mon Ami Cafe, said she encountered so many problems with obtaining city permits when she opened her coffee shop three years ago that she vowed never to start another business in Vancouver.
When she decided recently to open a bakery, she said, nothing had improved.
“Everything got harder. There is no coordination between small-business owners and the city.”
She contacted Leavitt, she said; that same day, he visited her shop and helped her with getting the permits she needed.
Pollard acknowledged that “obviously there are concerns and there are some problems,” especially for small-business owners who don’t know the ins-and-outs of the permitting process.
“We need to be extra careful with people who can’t hire the big guns,” he said. “We need to do better.”
He added that the city has been forced to lay off several employees in its permitting department, which has taken a toll on service.
Luring Oregonians
Bruce Fuerstenberg, owner of Vancouver Granite Works, said Pollard has yet to visit his business, which has been around since 1921.
“Mr. Pollard does not care about small businesses,” he said. “He cares about the big boys.”
“I hate to tell Bruce he’s wrong but he is,” Pollard said. “I go to visit small businesses, I walk around and talk to them.”
Auto dealer Dick Hannah said the Pollard administration has not done enough to attract Oregon shoppers. His comments were echoed by A. J. Gomez, owner of Global Security, a security-systems business with 22 employees. “Tim realizes Oregon businesses should be flooding here,” he said, in part because Vancouver has no income tax and better schools.
“When I became the mayor in 1996, we had 69,000 people,” Pollard replied. “We now have 170,000. A very significant number recognize” the city’s advantages, he said. “Our population has grown mainly because of the quality of life we offer here.”
Leavitt accused Pollard of supporting taxes and fees that are burdensome to businesses.
“My opponent has continued to raise taxes year after year,” he said.
“I never heard this rhetoric from Mr. Leavitt until he decided to run for mayor,” Pollard retorted.
“People may not like what I say, but I try to be honest and tell them the truth. The truth is, we have created a magnificent city that can be better.”
