Lincoln Heights candidates debate annexation, housing and broadband at NAACP-hosted forum

Lincoln Heights Village candidates appeared before residents at a NAACP-hosted candidate forum to outline competing priorities on land control, housing affordability, public-notice procedures, youth programs and a long-delayed broadband project.

The forum opened with ground rules requiring 90-second answers. In opening statements and subsequent exchanges, incumbents and challengers framed their campaigns around local control and practical steps to protect residents from annexation and rising taxes. "We shut down the gun range" and built "community farms," said Councilman Daniels, citing resident organizing as part of a broader effort to change outside narratives about Lincoln Heights. Daniels also promoted a community land trust as a mechanism to "protect this sheet" of village-owned land while allowing residents to build and accrue home equity.

Incumbent Nona R. Calhoun Mumea, who was appointed to fill a vacant seat in February 2024 and serves as finance committee chair, emphasized fiscal steps taken to stabilize village finances and said she worked with the village manager and solicitor to place a tax levy on the budget to keep services funded. "I worked with the village manager to make sure and the solicitor to make sure that we had a tax levy on the budget and that we can pay our bills," she said.

Tanya Key, another incumbent, highlighted a recent land-use study she led and argued that clearer boundaries and asset mapping were crucial to keeping Lincoln Heights intact and preventing unwanted development. "The land use study gave us a really good look at the tapestry of our village," Key said, and added that she told outside developers "no" when proposals did not match residents' wishes.

Candidates framed housing and infrastructure as linked problems. Several suggested resident-driven rehab programs and lease-to-own or community land-trust models to preserve affordability. Laverne Mitchell, a long-serving candidate, pointed to partnerships with regional agencies that have funded street repairs and a Port Authority program that offered up to $15,000 for qualifying home renovations.

On governance and public notice, candidates proposed restoring or improving automated-call systems, building a resident-facing landing page or a text/QR-notification system, and using committees for deeper review before council votes. Several speakers urged revising the village charter and clarifying sunshine-law practice to ensure consistent advanced notice for meetings.

Public-safety funding proposals emphasized youth engagement over punitive measures. Candidates pointed to youth employment programs, summer work initiatives and partnerships with Saint Monica’s Recreation Center; Mitchell said the general operating levy could be a funding source while also urging grant-seeking.

The community WiFi (broadband) project drew pointed attention. Incumbents reported Phase 1—focused in the village’s Centennial area—was completed and that roughly $150,000 had been allocated for that work, but later phases remain unfunded. Multiple speakers blamed repeated leadership turnover for delays: "You've had 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 village managers in the span of when we had this project," Councilman Daniels said, arguing the instability stalled momentum on multimillion-dollar infrastructure plans.

Audience members raised practical concerns — trees on yards of fixed-income homeowners, removal of an eyesore on Aviation Way, and efforts to keep alcohol outlets out of the village — and moderators urged incumbents to bring those items to the next council agenda. The forum closed with a poetry reading urging voter participation.

The forum provided residents with concrete proposals and competing priorities but produced no formal votes or binding commitments; several candidates pledged to pursue clearer communications, pursue grants for broadband and housing, and explore community land-trust or tax-abatement tools to preserve affordability. The next procedural step for the issues raised will be council consideration of posted questions and, for several items, committees or grant applications that incumbents said they would pursue.