Columbia mayoral candidate interview: Tanya Heath

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Municipal elections in Missouri are April 8, and one of the roles up for grabs is the mayoral seat in Columbia.

Incumbent Barbara Buffaloe is running for reelection, while challengers Blair Murphy, Tanya Heath and write-in candidate Lucio Bitoy take a shot at the seat. View an interview ABC 17 News reporter Nia Hinson did with Heath in the player above, and read Heath’s answers below.

Nia Hinson: To start, tell me why you're running for mayor again and what do you think makes you qualified?

Tanya Heath: Yes. So, I'm running for mayor again because I just felt like the direction that we're going in, I want to lead. And I want to make sure that we are looking at things and making forward progress. Especially in regards to safety, as well as how we are addressing the homelessness issue. And I feel as though my communication skills of 30 years of advertising and public relations helped me with listening to people, understanding where we can find that common ground and making the necessary steps forward so that we can have a Columbia that is safer and more prosperous for everyone.

Hinson: You mentioned homelessness. What do you think the city can do to address that?

Heath: I think we need to have a plan. And I have talked to people who are homeless. I've also talked to people who's been notified that they might get a fine, and I've talked to business owners who have had their buildings burned by warming fires. And so, my approach is to holistically look at the situation, make sure that we are compassionate but we also have boundaries because we cannot afford to have 10,000 people move here that are looking to our services. We can collaborate with other mayors and other governors, and we need to make sure that what we are doing is helping people move in the positive direction that they need to for a fulfilling life.

Hinson: You mentioned that you talk to homeless people, what are some of the things that they're saying when you're talking to them?

Heath: They are saying a few things. Because they are homeless, they don't always know where to go to get an ID. And a lot of them are not from Columbia. They are from California. They are from Colorado, Boston, and they do have addictions. Some of them, the chronic homeless people do have addiction issues and we definitely have people that I'm talking to on the medical side, as far as how to address that, so that they can actually get the help they need. We also know that they are stuck here. If they don't have the transportation to get to where their support group is, they are stuck here. And so we need to really come up with a plan that is going to help the people who are acutely homeless, as well as the ones that are chronically homeless so that we can take care of everyone the right way.

Hinson: What do you think the city can do to help clean up some of the homeless encampments?

Heath: That is something that we need. I have actually talked to people who are homeless about what would what would work because I think we we need to have that dialogue. We need to have our ideas with the city staff, with the public and we need to talk to people who are homeless and find out what would actually work. And some of the things that they have said is that if there was a designated place for them to go to the bathroom, to have a camp to to figure out where they need to take their next step, that would be very helpful to them. That is something that as a city, we need to make sure that we are thinking long term as far as what our plan is so that we are taking care of the people who are from here. And we are making sure that the people who are not here are able to connect with their support group.

Hinson: What do you think the city can do to increase more affordable housing?

Heath: I think that that is something, that it's a multi-level situation because first of all, the land has to be available. Second of all, I think we need to talk to builders and realtors, people that are in the know as far as where the stressors are. And we also need to talk to bankers and the finance availability for people. An interesting thing with the builders is that a lot of them are very creative. And so if we talk to them about how we can use the land to the most good for the most houses that will fit on it and maybe come up with creative ideas like shared backyards, geo fences, tiny homes, a variety of things. And look at our ordinances as far as the rest of our wards, as far as if we want to have people that maybe are renting a room or you know, living above a garage. Some neighborhoods would want that. Some would not. So, I want to be very thoughtful and communicative with the rest of our city to find out what would work for all of us.

Hinson: What is your plan to reduce crime in the city?

Heath: So, I have two parts to that. And on the supporting the police side, I definitely am supportive of the police having their retirement filled to the level that it needs to be. I also want to support the equipment that they need to do the jobs, as well as the training from the lens of the police going into neighborhoods and what their thought patterns are. As well as being aware of what neighborhoods think of the police coming into their neighborhoods, because we have new people that are on the force that may not be from Columbia. And so, I think understanding each community and the whole community is so important. And then we also need to look at supporting the physical and mental health of each police officer, as well. As well as, possibly contracting with a physical therapist because their bulletproof vests are so you know, long term wear is difficult on someone's back that long. And then for preventing crime, I know that we have a lot of nonprofits in town. And we also know that whether someone's spirit is robust or not and who their social group is, that really affects their perception of opportunity. As well as our own networking of how much as a community we are doing to reach all people, to tell the community what jobs are available in Columbia. And I think that we have a lot of potential to point everyone in the right direction, as well as just making sure that we have good role models to help along the way for their success.

Hinson: Specifically gun violence. What do you think the city can do to kind of address that?

Heath: Well, I think we should have a campaign where we are reminding people that they need to make sure that their guns are put away. I understand that a lot of guns unfortunately, are stolen from cars and that is that is a fixable problem. If your gun is in the house and locked away, that is a great place for it. And certainly the car. If you are somewhere and you leave it in the car, the car needs to be locked up as well. And so I think just an awareness campaign for that is so necessary. And I think that you know, more input from what the officers think, as well as the community, I would definitely want to advocate for.

Hinson: Looking at the budget, what are some areas or some places where you think the city could probably trim some expenses, if necessary?

Heath: I think that there are places in the budget that I would get a banker. I've started reading the budget. There's 600 pages, so I'm going through it and stuff. But I would get the bankers and finance people to objectively look at it. You know, I know the staff obviously knows what's going on there but I think collaboratively, it's a $500 million budget. So, I think there would be places that we could reassess and there could be some areas where cross training of employees could help us. Because I think that in this environment where we've had 20% inflation in the last three years, as well as the city has hired 120 employees and has had a 20% raise. And that's just the storm of you know, putting us in a financial situation that is stressing out the budget. So, I think we really need to look at that and do the thing that we need to to go forward.

Hinson: Some residents in the city have been hit with some like rising costs recently and probably over the years. What do you think the city can do to help them?

Heath: Rising costs as far as their water and electric? So that was an interesting change because historically, we have always had it so that if you use more, you pay more. And then from what I understand, the consultant came in and just made it all equal. And I would like to look at that to see if there's anything we can do to change that. Because I think that there's two good things that can happen from perhaps going back to the way that we used to do it. The conservation of water and electricity as an incentive because of the way that it's paid, as well as just overall making sure that we're managing how we define people paying for the utilities and if it's actually working for the people.

Hinson: Come next week, if you are elected, what would be your first priority?

Heath: I believe that my first priority is definitely safety. We have got to get our city in a safe place because everything, business, our quality of life, our time on the trails, everything revolves around having our community safe. And so that is a foundational aspect for myself and our city. We have to have that because if you would not want your college age child to be downtown at midnight, then we need to make sure that we are making it safe for everybody. Because that is a symptom of things, when it changes like it has dramatically, that is something that is a symptom that needs to be addressed before it gets worse.

Hinson: Is there anything else that you would like to add you want people to know?

Heath: What I have found going door-to-door is that people are very busy living their own lives and they don't know necessarily the statistics on what has changed, but they know that things are changing. And they have modified their behavior on a subconscious level to what they're doing in Columbia and what they're not doing. And so as a community, good or bad, we need to make sure that we are informing ourselves and taking the time to understand what's going on. Because if we don't update ourselves, we do that at our own peril. And so there's little things that are coming up frequently that we really need to address before they become bigger things. And as a possible mayor in the future, I want to address those. I know it's going to be difficult. We love Columbia being perfect. But we really have to address the things that are difficult and bring people together, listen to all sides and make a decision and move forward. And that's what I would do as mayor.