CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA (MPG) - “I agree.”

This is one of the most common lines spoken during a recent Citrus Heights City Council Candidates Forum hosted by the Chamber of Commerce. The event hosted at Heights Church on Sylvan Road drew six of the eight candidates that are running for three City Council seats.

Two of the seats are up for grabs as the current officeholders have announced intentions to retire from public office. The third seat is currently held by Mayor Porsche Middleton. She is running for re-election, but also faces a challenger in political newcomer Natalee Price.

Ray Riehle serves as Chair of the Chamber’s Political Action Committee and presented a series of questions to the six candidates in attendance. The questions ranged from economic development, improving traffic corridors, dealing with homelessness and police department funding. Many of the candidates found themselves in agreement with others when it came to issues such as redeveloping Sunrise Mall or criticizing previous City Council efforts to cut police funding.

All six candidates offered sharply different opinions, however, in response to managing the city’s budget and the issue of raising taxes. Price, who owns and manages the Taste of Tuscany restaurant, is running for the City Council seat in District 5. She told Messenger Publishing that she won’t vote to raise taxes.

“A majority of our residents are on a fixed income,” she said. “Many of them are still suffering from issues related to COVID, and I don’t think I need to throw a tax hike at them.”

Candidate Steven Durham, who is running in the newly created District 2 seat, shares the same views.

“I’m not voting to put a tax hike on any ballot,” he told MPG. “We are taxed enough. In fact, I think we should be taxed a little less. We need to attract developers who will help build a community and increase the tax base. You don’t tax your way out of an issue.”

The positions stated by Price and Durham offer a stark difference from the makeup of the current City Council. On July 23, 2020, councilmembers voted 4-1 to place a sales tax hike on the November ballot. It would appear as Measure M, which sought to hike the local sales tax a full percentage point from 7.75 to 8.75 percent.

The effort, which drew opposition and criticism from Councilman Bret Daniels, needed only a simple majority vote to pass. It failed. Nearly 53-percent of the Citrus Heights voters who cast ballots in the November 2020 election rejected it.

Three of the council members who voted in favor of placing the measure on the ballot chose to retire from office rather than run for re-election. This includes Jeff Slowey, who was replaced by current officeholder Tim Schaefer in 2020. Councilmembers Jeannie Bruins and Steve Miller also chose not to run for office again this year.

The lessons from the fallout that resulted from Measure M are not lost on candidate MariJane Lopez-Taff. She is also running for the District 2 seat.

“I know the sentiment that drew the no vote on Measure M,” she told MPG. “People recognize and respect thoughtful processing of information rather than a simple yes or no. Tax proposals are anything but simple.”

Lopez-Taff wouldn’t rule out the possibility of placing another tax hike measure on the ballot. Neither would candidate Al Fox, who is running for the seat in District 4. He previously served as an appointed member on the city council.

“Measure M was a very good idea,” he told MPG. “Its only flaw was that it didn’t have a sunset date of roughly seven years. I won’t support a regional tax measure because the money doesn’t stay in Citrus Heights. However, a tax measure set up by a small community is something I would support because the money stays in Citrus Heights.”

Candidate Michael Nishimura is a 40-year resident of Citrus Heights and serves on the city’s Planning Commission. He is running for the District 2 seat. He believes Measure M was a bad idea, as it would have hindered business development.

“I can’t see any reason why I would support a tax hike,” he told MPG. “We can’t avoid state taxes, but I can’t see why we would need additional city taxes.”

Mayor Middleton told MPG that as a first-time councilmember, she feels she may have missed the mark in voting to put Measure M on the ballot. However, she won’t rule out taking a similar action if she is elected to a second term.

“I needed to better understand the concerns of the opposition,” the Mayor said. “That included the lack of a sunset date and better accountability.”