MONROVIA >> After running unopposed in the past two elections, Mayor Mary Ann Lutz is locked in a hotly contested race to retain her seat.
Lutz is facing off against longtime Councilman Tom Adams, who vacated his seat after 20 years in attempt to oust her, and challenger Leonard Holen, a Gulf War veteran and Monrovia resident who wants to bring a new energy to the council.
Holen, who describes himself as a “common neighborhood guy,” has a tough battle ahead of him against two long-standing incumbents. Lutz served as a council member for six years before being elected mayor and Adams was first elected to the council in 1994, making the April 14 election a potential game-changer for a city that has been struggling to gain stability after the nationwide economic downturn.
A big issue on the table a $38 million maintenance backlog, which includes everything from replacing its 100-year-old water and sewer mains to repaving pothole-ridden streets and cracked sidewalks. For the first time in five years, a portion of the 2014-15 budget was allocated to begin addressing the issues.
Lutz said this is not a problem that just happened over the course of her term, but built up throughout the years.
“During the recession, we made a conscious decision to push maintenance way back, which we did, and we made cuts to our staff, just like every other city,” she said. “Now, we are looking at the totality of how much it costs to fix everything.”
Adams said he is aware the backlog did not begin recently. Four years ago, during budget study sessions, he said he began expressing concern about the lack of a plan to fund deferred maintenance, which fell on deaf ears.
Adams voted against the 2014-15 budget because he was dissatisfied with a $300,000 allocation for deferred maintenance, something he said did not even begin to address the concerns of the community.
Although the two can’t agree on how much was actually budgeted for the deferred maintenance, Lutz said the focus should be on the fact that it is being addressed now.
“I think it’s splitting hairs a little bit,” she said. “It’s all things that need to be done in our city and we put money aside in our budget for the first time in five years.”
She said the total maintenance allocation is closer to $3 million, including some deferred maintenance and some things that need to be done right now.
Holen said candidates should stop pointing fingers and get the repairs done. He said replacing the 100-year-old sewer and water mains should be the city’s top priority.
“It only costs more money each time we have to fix breaks in the water lines,” he said. “We need to address that issue first.”
Holen commended Lutz’s ability to pull through the recession, but feels both her and Adams should own up to the issues.
“I don’t think Lutz or Adams could have done it much differently,” he said. “But they are both responsible for the positive and the negative that’s going on.”
Lutz said she has a plan to address the maintenance in the next three to four years, which includes using up to $16 million in Measure R funds, which could cover streets, sidewalks and storm drains. Holen said he thinks bonds would be a good place to start. Another issue that made its way to the surface this campaign season is a handful of grants, amounting to about $4.5 million, that have either been unused, lost or returned.
Adams said having money slip through the cracks like this is a result of the city’s high turnover rate in management.
Throughout the past six years, there have been seven city managers, ranging from interim to part- or full-time employees. The “revolving door” began when former city manager Scott Ochoa accepted a position with Glendale and the city had difficulty nailing down a permanent city manager.
“I’ve never even said that the loss of the grant monies was the mayor’s fault,” Adams said. “The culmination of all these errors … are a result of poor management.”
Lutz gave reasons for why each grant was lost and said she does not believe it is indicative of a problem.
“To say that Monrovia has a problem with grant allocation, submitting or following through, is inaccurate,” she said. “You can’t take one or two situations, you have to look at the totality of what a city function does.”
Holen said to prevent this from happening in the future, there should be public quarterly meetings tracking grant monies.
With the Gold Line train coming to Monrovia, all three candidates said a priority would be establishing some sort of conduit to transport people from the light-rail station throughout the city, specifically to Old Town, the high-tech corridor and business district.
Some residents have expressed concern that without a shuttle system, small businesses in the historic corridor would have to compete with those in Station Square, which could potentially compound the rapid rate of business closures in the area.
Lutz attributed other factors to the high rate of turnover, which she said is “innate.”
“Old Town is an interesting study,” Lutz said. “We love the idea of unique ‘mom and pop’ stores, but unfortunately some of the people who bring those stores don’t know how to run a business.”
She said the city is working toward educating landlords and people that rent business space on how to have a business that will stay. She said the city is also trying to entice other businesses to come into Old Town.
“Downtown is not necessarily the economic engine of Monrovia but it certainly is the heartbeat,” Adams said. “I think everything we could do to keep that going could serve the community well.”
Lutz said if re-elected, she does not believe there need to be any big changes going forward. She thinks the city is on the right path.
Adams, however, disagrees.
“Monrovia has given the current mayor a very fair chance to prove her worth and I think they are deciding it’s time for change,” he said. “Not only are things worse than when she arrived, but she is struggling to even explain why.”
Although he doesn’t have any experience in city government, Holen said he thinks it only takes common sense and good values to run a city.
“We represent the people’s interest in the council and it needs to be more apparent,” he said. “I’m not saying I’m going to do a better job than these two, but I am a sound alternative.”
