During Tuesday night’s mayoral debate between incumbent Steve Rosenthal and mayoral hopeful Kenneth Featherstone, Indianola Chamber Main Street’s moderator Bryan Davis tossed out several questions, and the candidates took their swings.
And even though most of the questions were directed to both candidates, there were some that were directed to the individuals.
One of the most highly anticipated queries of the night came toward the end.
Prefacing his question with the assertion that being mayor is a full-time job and requires constant input for theday-to-day operation, Davis asked Featherstone “Where will you and your family be living if you are sworn-in in January 2022?
Featherstone, acknowledging that a lot of the citizens have been wondering the same said, "I will be there full time, no doubt about it."
He stated that he has been in Indianola for the past three years and that since he owns and operates his own business, it affords him the privilege to spend as much or as little time working at it as necessary.
He also said that he is presently grooming someone to take over in the event that he is elected so that he may devote himself full-time to the mayor's position. As for his family, he said his wife is currently working in Birmingham where she leads a GED program for incarcerated youth and heads an effective domestic violence program.
However, she plans to retire in a couple of years, he said. Featherstone said they also have a 17-year-old that they decided as a family to allow him to finish out his high school year with his friends.
In response to a question that was directed specifically to the mayor regarding the long-term and short-term plans to rid the streets of unregistered motor vehicles and make them safer, Rosenthal said the city currently has persons in private vehicles parked along major thoroughfares who are videotaping activity.
Each candidate was allowed a brief opening statement to expound on his qualifications and platforms as well as closing remarks at the end. At the onset, Featherstone mentioned his family and community relations while Rosenthal focused more on his political associations.
In response to the question of what is Indianola's greatest asset, Rosenthal stated that it was the people.
"When I look to industry, that's the first thing they want to know about,” Rosenthal said. He talked about the dropout rate and about his collaborations with the Indianola Promise Community to correct the problem.
Featherstone agreed that people are the greatest asset and mentioned the wealth of local talent. He also talked about his efforts with his family's scholarship and mentorship programs and the impact they've had on local students. However, he challenged the mayor on his statements citing that Rosenthal did not publicly support the most recent school bond issue.
Rosenthal was allowed an opportunity to rebut and stated that Featherstone’s allegation was inaccurate and that no one has ever heard him speak against the bond issue and that he has supported public schools.
Then they were asked what is Indianola's biggest problem?
Featherstone answered first and said that question had an easy answer. "Crime and gun violence is the biggest issue confronting Indianola right now. We have random gunfire on our streets every other night," he said.
Featherstone mentioned the numerous homicides of recent years and that there has not been any changes in policy. He said it affects economic growth and new leadership is needed. He also proposed establishing a 25-person volunteer corps to increase law enforcement presence on the streets.
Rosenthal agreed that crime is a big problem, but stated that the people could be a greater asset than adding additional police.
He said community and not cops would more effectively solve that problem.
"No matter how many law enforcement officers you have out there, you can't stop brothers from shooting one another you can't stop recently where we had boyfriend/girlfriend shooting each other. It takes community, those are the changes we need to make."
He said additional law enforcement personnel are needed, but not in the form of volunteers. He asserted that there's a culture problem where young people don't value other people's lives and property.
Featherstone rebutted and mentioned drag racing and four-wheelers on the streets in addition to all of the shooting crimes.
Mentioning youth crimes, the moderator asked about plans to address that issue over the next four years. Rosenthal stated that based on the state statistics, Indianola has a lower percentage of youth crimes, but said that is irrelevant.
"That doesn't really matter, someone’s child getting shot, someone's car getting broken into is bad locally, so I don't care what goes on next door; I care what happens in Indianola, Rosenthal said.
He mentioned community involvement and steadfastly asserted that as being the solution to the problem. He also talked about truancy, where youths are allowed to just walk the streets unattended to or go into homes when there's no one to tend to them. He mentioned juveniles who don't have adult supervision.
Featherstone said that he has a comprehensive plan that involves a holistic approach and noted that law enforcement is not the only solution.
"Our kids need to have some constructive activity. There needs to be more of an investment into our sports and recreation," Featherstone said.
He mentioned the condition of the existing recreational facilities and maintained that there are some inconsistencies with facilities north of town and south of town. He also mentioned the mayor's comment from a city board meeting with regard to what he called "heavy-handed policing." He mentioned a specific murder case and talked about the presence of assault rifles on city streets. Then, directing his attention to Rosenthal, Featherstone asked how he was going to address assault weapons on the street without heavy-handed policing.
Rosenthal offered up a rebuttal to Featherstone's query and said it should not be done with more high powered guns, but through mentorship and apprenticeship programs, better trained law enforcement personnel and people who understand the hardships of what's going on in the neighborhoods.
Other questions addressed the candidates’ number one priority with regard to economic development, the role of the mayor in recruiting businesses to the city and the role the mayor plays in getting stronger schools within the city even though it is a county consolidated school district.
The candidates also responded to questions about infrastructure.
During their closing remarks Rosenthal talked about things that still need to be solved and what he will continue to work on. He said he will focus on the things that can be done, with regards to law enforcement and infrastructure. He also touched on the fact that Featherstone has not operated in city government and therefore could not accurately state what could be done.
Featherstone mentioned the overwhelming amount of information that the citizens had received and asked them not to consider the person, but to consider the ideals of the person.
He said if they want to see change, then they need to change their vote. "Ideals are way bigger than people," he said.
