Alva city council candidates debate taxes, downtown business and resident outreach at forum

Candidates for the Alva City Council outlined competing priorities and approaches to long-term municipal finances, downtown business attraction and citizen engagement at a public candidate forum in Alva.

The forum brought together incumbent councilman Greg Bowman and several challengers — including Joey Melton, Sammy (last name not clearly stated on the record), Mr. Nichols and other candidates — to answer written questions from residents and to explain their goals if elected. Topics that drew sustained discussion included local sales taxes and targeted levies, efforts to attract and retain businesses downtown, grant-seeking and matching funds for projects, and how council members would increase resident participation in city decisions.

Why it matters: Alva officials and candidates framed municipal finances as the binding constraint on city services and economic development. Candidates differed on tactics — from recruiting businesses to auditing current city expenditures — but coalesced on the need for more stable revenue and better communication with residents.

Most candidates said sales tax revenue is central to the city’s budget. Mr. Nichols said, “ALBA is funded by by tax dollars, and it's important to draw new businesses here that that get tax dollars.” Sammy also emphasized local tax oversight: “I'd like to make sure our tax dollars are going where they should be going and that everything that's getting them needs them per se.” Candidates discussed specific local levies that have funded projects in recent years, with one incumbent noting a recent increase in the hotel-motel tax and the creation of a city savings account to cover emergencies.

On downtown and business attraction, Joey Melton said, “We'll definitely have to do something on the retail side around Alba. Having grown up on the square, I can remember as a young boy that there was a lot of retail around the downtown square of Alba, and now there's not so much.” Several candidates pointed to the chamber of commerce’s recent event activity and a new brewery as positive signs for Main Street.

Candidates offered different methods for boosting resident involvement. Mr. Nichols described a privately created website and polling system to collect input and send reminders about meetings: “The website that I've created will allow people to receive reminders, when a meeting is about to happen.” Other candidates promoted more direct outreach: one suggested simple, face-to-face conversations or group text chains so council members can poll roughly 300 constituents each.

Residents at the forum asked about grants and the city’s capacity to match grant funds. City representatives at the forum said grants have enabled many local projects and that the council has, in some cases, used savings to provide match funds.

A question about unionization prompted a range of responses. A member of the public urged support for unionized city workers, saying, “I think all of our city employees should be unionized.” Candidates’ reactions varied: one candidate responded, “I'm absolutely against it,” while others said they would examine the issue.

Several candidates proposed time-limited or reviewable tax measures so citizens could revisit where dedicated sales taxes were being spent. One audience member asked whether sales taxes tied to specific purposes could be repealed and revoted with term limits; candidates generally favored reviewing long-standing taxes and said some levies might have outlived their original purpose.

There were no formal votes or official council action at the forum. The session closed after additional resident comments and a call for voters to sign in and participate in the upcoming election process.

The forum included multiple public questions and candidate answers but did not result in council directives or policy changes; it was an opportunity for candidates to present priorities ahead of the election.