Mayoral candidates speak at MARC forum
By KRISTIE LINDEN
klinden@yourmvi.com
The Monongahela Area Revitalization Corporat held its annual town hall meeting Monday night and this year it featured a candidates forum for those running for mayor and council in the City of Monongahela.
The forum lasted about two hours, with the first dedicated to two mayoral candidates, Treasurer Greg Garry and Councilwoman Claudia Williams. Audience members were given a minute to ask questions, and candidates were given three minutes to respond.
City firefighter Chris Bartkus, a lifetime member, asked the candidates what they would offer as incentives to encourage new volunteer firefighters to join the department and current members to stay. Bartkus said it’s so difficult to fundraise, there are hundreds of hours of training required of new recruits and it’s hard to attract new people to volunteer.
Gregg said he is pro-fire department, but wasn’t sure of a specific plan. Williams was glad Bartkus asked the question and said it was part of the reason she was running for the seat.
“No one has a plan for the future,” Williams said. “We need to find a way to bring people in. We need to bring small businesses and small industry in to attract more people to the city in general.”
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