Nick Gosnell (00:00):
Once again, our interviews for city council seats continue and a Southwest District candidate, Greg Fast joins us. Good morning, Greg.
Greg Fast (00:08):
Good morning.
Nick Gosnell (00:09):
All right. So Greg, everyone has an issue that is the reason they are running. So what city policy was the one that made you decide to run for city council?
Greg Fast (00:20):
Well, I would say over the years, I've, I've been in business and built things and done things and it's been frustrating. So originally that was my reason for running. People say I'm approachable, people usually like what I have to say and how I think. But it's kind of changed Nick. It's as I talk to people in the Southwest district, and it seems like there's a disconnect between our city and the citizens. It seems like there's several issues that, that maybe, could be handled if there was better communication. So I, you know, I would say probably I'm running for better communication and to try to make it easier for people to understand and to do the things that they want to do such as build their business, make their lives easier.
Nick Gosnell (01:18):
Do you currently owe any obligations to any taxing entities for any years prior to this one?
Greg Fast (01:23):
I do not.
Nick Gosnell (01:24):
Did you vote in the last city council election here in Hutch?
Greg Fast (01:28):
Yes, I did. And could I editorialize for a moment? The last non-presidential city election, 400 people decided who was going to represent them out of 6,200 in the Southwest district. I think that it's important that you get out and vote. I mean there's plenty of ways to vote. Please take the time to do that.
Nick Gosnell (01:53):
All right. What can be done to reduce regulation on businesses coming to Hutchinson?
Greg Fast (01:58):
Well, I think we need to take a common sense approach. I think that there's...I built a loft downtown, many of you know that. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I've wanted to expand my commercial storage, rental business and the barriers or barriers that were set before me made it cost prohibitive. And so I would think that one of the things we can do to encourage business is to try not to make it so hard for them. I've built a business by making people feel like they're my only customer. I'm hoping that I will have the time to take these folks that come into the city that want to either expand their business that are already here in the city, or new people that are wanting to come to our city and give our city a shot. I'm hoping I can walk them through that process and find out what is stopping business. And there's just several things with regulations, stormwater utility fees. I mean, those are all the hot buttons. And so I want to find out exactly what's going on. I think I know, but I thought I knew why I was running and after talking to people, it's like, I think we need better communication along with these things.
Nick Gosnell (03:26):
So as I said to Brock and I'll ask you sort of the same way, it's not really fair to ask somebody who isn't currently serving on the city council. The question, the way I framed it earlier in the week, with my apologies to Marla Jean and Charles for asking this kind of, I'm not going to say inappropriately, but without having the background information, the way I framed the question originally was, what is a proper level of bonding for a city Hutchinson's size? The way I framed it to Brock and will probably do so going forward is: When do you decide that things are worth going into debt over no matter what the interest rate may be, and when is it important to save for projects in advance?
Greg Fast (04:15):
Well, I would answer that by,...our city has a very good debt rating. I look at my credit score frequently just to see how I'm doing. I think the city does that as well. And I looked at comparable cities, such as Salina, Lawrence, Lawrence has a little better debt rating than we do. Salina has the same debt rating as we do. And, you know, I think we're bonded at about $57 million right now, maybe a little more with the sports arena bond that was passed, but, but I mean, I think based on that credit score, we're probably doing fine. Have I answered your question sufficiently?
Nick Gosnell (04:56):
Well, that's sort of what Sarah Bagwell said in her interview earlier on in the week was generally that...and she gave some statistics...you can read the transcript on Hutch Post, that it's actually decreasing slightly. And at least based upon the information that Angela Richard has put out in the public meetings to this point, it's continuing to improve. Debt is getting paid off. Well, you spoke about the sports arena debt, and I believe if I remember Angela's comments, that should be paid off here in the next couple of years, 2024, I think is what I remember off the top of my head.
Nick Gosnell (05:33):
Greg, what length should the city's street maintenance program be? It's at eight years now. And they're just getting through it, is that okay? What do you think about it?
Greg Fast (05:44):
I think that's probably fine. As Brock mentioned earlier, it is somewhat underfunded and I know that, that we were all getting pretty frustrated in the last one to two years about how our streets were. I mean, there was a lot of potholes, but I think the milling and overlay has really helped the public's perception of our streets in the main artery streets. That happened just this summer. And I thought, whoever did that, did a great job, the contractor that we had.
Nick Gosnell (06:20):
So are you for or against taking the money from the federal government to put roundabouts in at the Woodie Seat Freeway?
Greg Fast (06:29):
Nick, that decision has been made by the city council. They're moving forward with that grant. The issue isn't really the roundabouts, although it is in my home, my wife and I disagree about roundabouts. I like them. I think they're fine. She hates them. So the issue isn't about roundabouts it's, it's about the closing of B Street. I think for most people in that area, once again, back to communication, the people that I've talked to would probably buy into that project, if they maybe had a pedestrian underpass, if they had a fence separating the traffic noise. If the bridge elevation's going to be moved down, there are some of those things that could be done. I, again, I think it's, I think it's communication. I also think you have an issue with it's two and a half million dollars out of the city's budget, or it's $8 million out of the city budget. Nick, we pay $29 billion as Kansans into the federal government. I think this might be a good opportunity for us to get some of that back.
Nick Gosnell (07:46):
So how do we fix the infrastructure under the city's streets? A storm water utility fee has been a sort of a hot button issue, as you said earlier. What do you think about that?
Greg Fast (07:59):
Well, I can tell you my experience with the storm water utility fee. I knew it was coming, didn't really get involved in that process too much. I figured, you know, it's one of those things we have to do as citizens. We have to pay a storm water utility fee because we need to catch up on some of these things. I got a bill for about $600 on my properties. Just, I think it...I think it should have been phased in, I think moving forward, the, the federal ARPA money could be used to fund some of that infrastructure and hopefully give some of us that have parking lots and that are hit hard by that storm water utility fee a break, maybe by using some of that ARPA money. I also think that, that the local homeowner, if you'll look at your water bill, it's probably 10 bucks a month, that's $120 a year. I'm not saying that we don't need to fix our infrastructure. I'm saying we were hit. I think we were all surprised on how much, how big the bill was. And, and I know that we're trying to get some things done. It's moving very slow with the railroad, so maybe we could back that down, whether or not we use our money or not for that.
Nick Gosnell (09:20):
So how will you build consensus with the other members of the council? There are going to be at least two new members, maybe three new members. And then of course, there's the ones that were elected recently and continue to sit on the council. How do you get together with them so that you guys can figure out what policy is?
Greg Fast (09:40):
Well, I think there needs to be transparency and communication, as I've mentioned during this whole interview. I think that probably should be done publicly, but I build many, many relationships just by talking one-on-one to people. And, and obviously that is very important. I feel like I would be able to build consensus with my fellow council members.
Nick Gosnell (10:13):
And I didn't get to this question with Brock, but I have about a minute left. So speaking generally, do you think more or less government is going to be the best direction for the city?
Greg Fast (10:28):
I think less government would be better for our city. I have had conservative values my entire life. I feel like sometimes less is more. I know that the city is trying to contract out some services that they provide. I think that might be a step in the right direction. Certainly, there are things that the government does better than the private sector can and vice versa, but I generally speaking in my head less government would be more.
Nick Gosnell (11:04):
Again, we've been talking to Greg Fast. He is running for the Southwest District city council seat for the Hutchinson city council. So if you live in that neighborhood, he'll be on your ballot on November 2nd. And as he said earlier on in this interview, and I think all the candidates would say the most important thing is go ahead and read the transcripts on Hutch Post, if you need to, go back and listen to the different interviews. But most of all, find a way to get to the polls and have your voice heard. None of the candidates want to see a minority, a substantial minority of people making the decision on which one of you serves.
Greg Fast (11:42):
I would agree with that. Nick. Thank you for that.