BRENT BEAN II
WESTFIELD – Incumbent Brent B. Bean II enjoys the challenge of serving city residents as an At-large City Councilor and the diversity of issues now facing the city.
Bean said that when he first ran for the City Council in 2001 he decided to seek an At-large seat because, as a life-long resident, his constituency was spread across the city.
“I made that decision because I have friends and relatives in all parts of town,” Bean said.
Bean said that he has found that a major At-large Councilor role is to help councilors support their constituents.
“But as an At-large Councilor you also have to take an overhead view of where the city is to determine what the larger pieces are to bring the city together,” Bean said. “I've worked to have everyone connected in some way.”
Bean said that another major role of that post is to “advocate for constituents even if you don't fully agree with their position. You talk to people to identify their issues and then see if there isn't common ground.
“We have a lot of different kinds of issues facing the city,” Bean said. “I see attracting new business and improving our infrastructure as being related because businesses aren't going to come to Westfield unless we maintain our roads and provide electricity, gas and water at rates that give businesses a competitive advantage.
“We need those new businesses, of all sizes, to offset the tax rate,” Bean said. “We have to find options to generate revenue to offset the tax rate and still maintain the level of services we provide to residents. People want their trash picked up every week.”
The City Council “is slowly” closing the tax rate shift between residential and commercial property to stimulate new business in the city.
“We have to get that (tax shift) gap a little closer, which the council is doing slowly as a good business practice,” Bean said. “I don't think we'll ever get back to a single shift.”
Bean said that cutting the municipal budget is difficult because 86 percent of the municipal budget goes to fund the salaries of municipal employees providing the services to residents.
Another major issue across the city is traffic congestion.
“That is something that has plagued us for a long time,” Bean said. “Our culture is one of convenience. Everyone has a car now and you see just one person in it. We need to get more creative to f
nd solutions.”
