Monitor Photo/Carla Gray
The City of Tool hosts a meet the candidate night Oct. 9. Citizens sent in questions that they wanted the candidates to answer. Mayorial candidates Greg Figueroa and Vera Bennett answered questions about working with other council members, city hall staff, opportunities for the city and their vision for spending city funds. The election will be Tuesday, November 4.

Monitor Photo/Carla Gray
Candidates running for open seats in The City of Tool are Mike Dumont (from left), Randell Newkirk, Tommy Salvato and Micheal Flandmark. Tool citizens submitted questions for the candidates to answer at the Meet the Candidate Night Oct. 9. See the forum on the City of Tool Facebook page.

TOOL‑The City of Tool held a Meet the Candidate Night Oct. 9. It featured two candidates for mayor, Vera Bennett and Greg Figueroa, and six candidates for city council, Mike Dumont, Micheal Fladmark, Mark Holley, Randall Newkirk, BG Pierce and Tommy Salvato. Candidates were asked questions that citizens sent in prior to the meeting.
Candidates for the mayor’s seat, went first. Each candidate had one minute to answer his or her question. Before questions were asked, each candidate gave a short background about themselves. Both spoke of their families and the accomplishments they have performed for the city of Tool.
Figueroa won the coin toss to answer the first question that was sent in prior to the forum. The question had the concern that Figueroa would be able to make more of a contribution to the city as a council member than a mayor.
Figueroa’s answer: “I served on city council for three years and I feel like I have made a very good impact. My interest for running for mayor is I am the CEO of several companies and I think there is a strategic vision. The job of the mayor is to provided a strategic vision for your organization and I feel like for this time I would like to be the cheerleader for the city, I think that my negotiation skills are very good and I think as the city grows we need to have a good negotiator at the helm to make sure the city gets fair deals for the citizens, I feel like I am the best person with my experience for the city at this time.  I know that I am not going to be voting (during meetings) but I am also good at building fences with leaders. And I think I understand how government works now and I think I can strategically help lead our council to make great decisions for the city.”
Bennett was then asked how would she handle an offer to annex a business into the city from the county. In exchange for this annexation, the owner wants $500,000 guaranteed over five years to be paid by the City of Tool.
Bennett’s response: “That is a very good question, as the mayor everybody knows that the mayor does not get a vote, the only thing you get to do is break a tie. If someone comes and they want $500,000, the financials are the very first thing that you need to look at. And then you analyze financials and the council will then make a decision. I would be a part of those decisions, especially if it is in the back room, which sometimes those things are discussed in the back room. You just have to look at the financial benefits. If they have the numbers to support paying them that kind of money, then it might be a good deal. But you still have to weigh it out. They would have to have some strong financial documents to support that $500,000 over five years.”
Bennett and Figueroa had questions that pertained to working with other council members, city staff, opportunities for the city and how to spend the city’s funds. To see the entire forum, go to the City of Tool Facebook page.