Candidates say they'll tackle crime
Friday, October 12, 2007 7:03 AM PDT
By Amy M. E. Fischer
Printable version
E-mail this articleLongview City Council veteran Don Jensen faces a younger, politically inexperienced challenger who has no complaints about Jensen's eight-year tenure but thinks the council needs a new look at old issues.
Benjamin Harrison, 30, is running because he wants to improve the community's future "to leave a legacy of hope for our children's children," he said.
"I see a need for my leadership and my ingenuity, for my fresh perspective in the City Council that I don't see there now," the Kelso Burgerville restaurant manager said Wednesday.
Jensen, 65, wants to keep his council seat for a third term because his work for the city is unfinished, he said last month. For instance, the city's zoning must be updated to match the city's 2006 Comprehensive Plan, he said.
Jensen also wants to see the council's strategy to revitalize the crime-plagued Highlands neighborhood implemented and for police to bring the crime rate below the state average. He'd like for senior citizens to have a larger senior center with better access, and he wants to improve the downtown parking situation, he said. He supports getting a city dog park, and he's pushed to have the city's traffic signals synchronized, a project that's well under way.
"There's a lot of unfinished things I see hanging," Jensen said. "I just hope I'm there."
Harrison, who has been virtually invisible throughout the campaign season, said Wednesday he hasn't put up yard signs because he sees them as a marketing gimmick.
"I see the reason for yard signs, but I don't want votes because someone recognizes my name," he said. "If I'm gonna get votes, I want votes for why I'm running."
Jensen said Wednesday he doesn't know how to run his campaign against such an opponent.
"He's got me baffled," Jensen laughed. "What do you do? I'm just going on with my campaign like I had someone that was going full bore. ... I'm going for it. I want it."
Compared to recent years when the city was in a recession and laying off employees, Jensen said it's an exciting time to be on the council, now that the city's fortunes have rebounded.
As a retiree, he has time to devote to his council duties. He likes to visit sites in town that will be discussed at council meetings so he'll have first-hand knowledge of the topic, he said.
Harrison has ideas for new programs he feels could reduce crime and improve citizens' quality of life. Landlords should work with police and screen tenants better to transform drug-infested neighborhoods into places where renters care about their communities, said Harrison, who owns several rental duplexes and houses in Kelso.
Perhaps Longview could adopt a program similar to Vancouver's in which renters learn life skills, learn to pay bills on time, find jobs and become responsible citizens, he said. Renters who finish the program would earn a "good renter" certificate that would make it easier to find housing, he said.
The city also could use a "talent share" program in which businesses could exchange workers as needed when the market peaks and dips, rather than lay people off or struggle to find good employees, Harrison said.
He offers a new look at problems that Longview has had for awhile, he said.
"If they're not already fixed or being fixed, we need some fresh ideas and some new perspective," Harrison said.
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