Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard and his challenger, City Council President Rick Sharp, faced off in a packed room at the Carmel Clay Public Library for a debate hosted by The Indianapolis Star last week.
Star columnist Matthew Tully and opinion editor Tim Swarens were the co-moderators for the 75-minute debate.
On many topics, Brainard and Sharp agreed, such as how they both support approving a human rights ordinance to outlaw discrimination for sexual orientation and gender identity, similar to Indianapolis.
One topic seemed to dominate the debate: Carmel’s debt.
When asked what separated himself from the mayor, Sharp simply responded: “A billion dollars in debt.”
Brainard responded by saying it was more like $600 million in debt because it should not include the interest because the debt can always be refinanced to a lower interest rate. He said Sharp is misrepresenting the facts.
“It’s like the swallows coming back, it seems like every four years we have a debt crisis,” Brainard said.
Brainard went on to say that Carmel residential taxpayers only make up three percent of the revenue used to pay off debt.
“For those who are trying to alarm Carmel with fuzzy facts about our financial stability, I say look around,” he said.
Sharp praised Brainard for his past achievements in growing the city, but said it’s now time to pass the baton to new leadership with an eye on fiscal responsibility.
“Most of the mayor’s discussion is focused on the past and past accomplishments, which is nice, but I’m focused on the future,” he said.
Sharp criticized Brainard for repeatedly stating that Carmel’s strong bond rating meant that there was no problem with the debt. He said a bond rating only measures if you can pay back debt.
“Can Carmel repay the debt? We are a very wealthy community. We can pay the debt. We can tax our way out of this problem but that’s not the route I would take,” Sharp said.
In his closing statement, Sharp said, “I want to stop kicking the can down the road.”
The Current in Carmel will host the next mayoral debate on April 21 at The Ritz Charles from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Maximum seating is 1,000 people, first come, first serve with no guest list.
Other highlights:
- Both Sharp and Brainard came out against discrimination based on sexual orientation. Sharp said he’s happy that Gov. Mike Pence has promised to make clarifications to the law. “I think the governor has shown real leadership,” he said.
- More than once, Brainard brought up that in some cases Carmel property tax rates have dropped more than 38 percent in the past 15 years or so, even using visual aid.
- Sharp quoted Carmel’s debt at nearly $12,000 per capita, but Brainard said it’s more like $10 per household in property taxes, even attempting to hand Sharp a ten dollar bill to laughter from the crowd.
- When asked about mistakes they regret, Sharp said, “”I failed to ask enough questions with The Palladium. That was a huge mistake.” Brainard said that he should have worked harder to build consensus before attempting annexation. “I was young I didn’t understand yet how to build consensus.”
- When asked about annexation, Brainard said it was unfair for areas to receive benefits without paying in with taxes. Sharp agreed that annexation should be done, but criticized the administration for letting the issue linger in the court system.
- Brainard defended spending public money to develop the Midtown area because he said it actually costs the city less when optimum density is achieved because the city doesn’t have to build as many roads or add new fire stations or police stations. Sharp said that was a distraction, saying: “It’s a subsidy. We can say it’s not a subsidy all you want, but it’s a subsidy.”
- When it comes to economic development, Sharp said he would focus less on marketing and target specific industries such as the medical field. Brainard said it’s wiser to use diversification when attracting businesses because industries can have slumps, plus many medical facilities don’t pay property taxes. Brainard spoke at length about his success attracting American Specialty Health to relocate its headquarters from San Diego to Carmel.
- Sharp said the Brainard administration has been less than transparent and has relied on distractions instead of answering questions. Sharp credited Clerk-Treasurer Diana Cordray for helping improve city transparency. Brainard said, “We’re very open in this city,” calling claims of a lack of transparency a cliché used to cast a shadow unnecessarily.
- Brainard said he wants to keep running after five terms because he loves his job and he wants to see the work completed on the Midtown area.
