We asked the eight Redding City Council candidates to answer one question a week for nine weeks until the Nov. 4 election. Questions are asked on Tuesday. Answers appear on Friday, word-for-word, in the order in which they were received.

QUESTION 7
Please discuss your assessment of and intentions toward
Stillwater Business Park.

Russell Hunt

Stillwater was a huge mistake for a number of reasons. It duplicates existing properties that sit empty. Most of the Park is dedicated to preserve the fairy shrimp resulting in cost in excess of $250,000 an acre for the actual parcels. It lacks the full range of services needed for industry such as a major natural gas line, a refined oil pipeline, and the railroad. And it is a pure propaganda attempt designed to mislead people into thinking the city is creating jobs.Once the first stage is finished, it should be sold and the rest of the project canceled.

Instead of Stillwater, I would use redevelopment funds and clean-up funds from the Environmental Protection Agency to revamp the much larger old mill sites in Anderson and South Redding. The infrastructure is already in place. These lands were graded before environmental restrictions existed protecting the fairy shrimp. Thus more acreage is usable. We would give these parcels to any company willing to use them for manufacturing products here.

Missy McArthur

The City of Redding has spent considerable sums of money on Stillwater Business Park. Time will tell whether or not it is successful. Ultimately, it will be successful if success is measured in terms of Stillwater being built out and filled with businesses. Unfortunately, with the economic downturn and the passing of time, it may prove financially unsuccessful in the short term. At this point, any methods the City can use to market and attract businesses to Phase 1 should be done. Whether I would have supported the project in the first place is unknown, as I wasn’t part of the City Council at that time. Whether or not I would support Phase 2 is the next question that I hope to tackle as a City Council member, basing my answer on economic conditions at that time and how successful Phase 1 turned out to be.

Dick Dickerson

The Stillwater Business Park is a long term project which was created and promoted about twelve years ago by the Chamber of Commerce, the Shasta Builders Exchange and the City of Redding.

It is a project that will, in the long term, bring good paying jobs to Redding. Our location, midway between Los Angeles and Seattle, combined with affordable utilities; Enterprise Zone Benefits, affordable housing, and a strong workforce are significant attractions to companies and manufacturers interested in Northern California.

I intend to continue to support Stillwater. A nation wide marketing firm has been retained and is working hard to promote Stillwater. Phase One construction is well underway. The current Economic slowdown is troubling. However, when conditions improve, Stillwater will put Redding, and all of Shasta County, in a strong position for the future.

Ken Murray

I’ve lived in Redding for almost 40 years. Virtually every election during those 40 years has featured local politicians campaigning on the slogan that they will do something to create ‘better jobs’ in our community. In my opinion, The Stillwater Business Park offers the best opportunity to finally make that hollow promise whole, and for attracting higher-paying jobs to Redding.

The current economic situation will recover, and businesses will grow again. The very environmental regulations and processes that have delayed the construction of Stillwater since a previous Council voted to move forward on the project in 1998 may prove to be our greatest ally and best advantage in an improving economy. Competitors to Stillwater will face years of very expensive studies and analysis before they can offer the ‘ready’ sites that Redding will have available.

Many U.S. companies are closing overseas operations and are bringing them home to new facilities. The City has retained a highly regarded, professional, world-wide marketing firm to attract those companies to our great city, and with Stillwater Park, we will be ready for them. We have the opportunity to actually be ahead of the curve for a change.

It is not the role of City government to create jobs, but it is appropriate for the City to create the opportunity for well-paying jobs to be developed by the private sector. I will personally do everything possible to make the Stillwater Business Park a major success for our community.

Gary Cadd

Regardless of who may be responsible for the success or failure of Stillwater, the City Councils, present and future, will be held accountable by the taxpayers. The City Council needs to ensure any funds borrowed or expended in the name of Stillwater are used for that purpose. Recent discussions on whether or not to use excess bond funds on other projects highlight the need for City Council members who possess fiscal integrity and will put the taxpayers’ interests first.

Excessive California regulations and costs are already prohibitive to any business wanting to locate in the Northstate, as one consultant told the council. However, slow activity in Redding’s other Industrial Park and the many large privately-owned parcels surrounding the airport are indicative of another important issue: until we change the culture in city hall to welcome job-producing businesses and streamline our permitting process to eliminate unnecessary delays, the $70 million Stillwater effort will have been in vain.

Jim McDilda did not respond.

Terry Oxley did not respond.

John Wood did not respond.

Previously:
QUESTION 1
QUESTION 2
QUESTION 3
QUESTION 4
QUESTION 5
QUESTION 6