The Capital Conservative Club hosted the first local candidate forum this election cycle Tuesday.
Three of the five candidates in the race for Tallahassee City Commission seat 1 were in attendance. Current city commissioner Jack Porter, pastor Rudy Ferguson, and Florida A&M University executive Louis Dilbert introduced themselves and fielded audience questions in the Elk Lodge on Magnolia Drive.
A wide range of topics were discussed, but the focus of audience questions was on the homelessness crisis in the city.
Porter said generating more affordable housing is one of the main pillars to address the problem. She highlighted policy she has championed in office, including pushing for Blueprint to use its funds to purchase land to build affordable housing in public-private partnerships.
“I was proud to make the motion because I think that it is an extreme need. And extreme circumstances, like the one that I believe we're in call for extreme measures. It's something that I think is certainly not a silver bullet solution. But it's one part in a complex, you know, ecosystem,” she said.
Dilbert said another important piece is ensuring Tallahassee’s economy is supplying jobs paying a living wage to its residents.
“Let's be honest, y'all, the middle class is at risk of being homeless to these days, because affordable living is becoming harder for even the middle class. So that's why we talk about if we're going to attract jobs, to the city, they need to have jobs that have a livable wage,” he said.
Ferguson said that the city should provide support to the homeless like mental health resources and job support, but it must balance providing services while not enacting policy that will attract more homeless individuals from surrounding areas.
“We have people coming from all over. And that's a man of faith. I don't want to appear to be insensitive. But at the same token, I am protective. Because it's important. We don't know who's in our city. We don't know where it came from. And they're walking around and we and some people are here to do mischief,” he said.
Another topic of conversation was the 3-2 split at city hall. Ferguson, who has been endorsed by Mayor John Dailey against Porter, said he’s running in part to end the fighting on the dais.
“It is time, more importantly, to bring civility back to City Hall. It's time to eliminate the chaos and the confusion and appointment of the fingers and who's blaming whose fault it is,” he said.
Porter defended her frequent disagreements with three-person majority on the commission. She said disagreement is an important part of the democratic process.
“These are based on issues. These are not based on personalities, there are real political differences in policy issues. And I believe that when people elect me, it's not just to be friends with the people I've served with, it's to advocate for them, that has to come first,” she said.
The five candidates will be on the ballot city-wide during the August 20th primary. If no candidate gets above 50% support, then the two candidates with the most support will go to a runoff during the November 5th general election.