VFW Mayor voter's forum with Meet and Greet

VFW Mayor voter's forum with Meet and Greet



The candidates:
Ron Nelson - Present
Joey Acfalle - Present
Bradi Dewald Diaz - Absent
Brandi Wieand - Absent

Council Members present:
Fred Chavez
Charlie Youngs

Today, there was a voter's forum in Copperas Cove, sponsored by the Veteran's of Foreign Wars 
Post 8577. It was divided into two sections. From 0800-1000, there was a Meet and Greet with the candidates and, from 1000-1200, a question and answer forum for the candidates. The citizen's were able to ask questions to the candidates. Ron Nelson and Joey Acfalle were the ONLY candidates to participate in the forum. 

Candidate Introduction:
Ron Nelson- He and Evelyn moved to Copperas Cove four years ago, to escape Austin. Ron said he is running for Mayor out of a sense of community. There are voices inside the city not being heard and he would like to represent them. The mayor needs to be the face of the city.
Joey Acfalle (Afagge)- He is a USMC and Army veteran and is originally from Guam. Joey is presently representing the city on the Board of Adjustments and the Economic Development Corporation. He also is a member of several non-profit groups in the area. He likes to use the phrase "One Family, One Voice". He is also a paralegal.

Question: With the recent 140th Copperas Cove birthday celebration, would you be interested in establishing a Copperas Cove Historical Society, possibly located at the Allen House?

Nelson: Yes because the city's history is spread about and in doing so could all be brought back to the city where the younger generation could learn about our city.  

Acfalle: He agreed with Nelson but also added that the city would need to figure out how to fund it.

Question: What do you bring to the city in order to be elected?

Nelson: He said that he is the new guy. He said the majority of residents are not from here and don't have an understanding of the history of Copperas Cove. It is time to stand up and be a voice for everyone.

Acfalle: One family, one community, be the example to the younger generation. We need family entertainment, Outsiders are looking, listening, and learning. We need to let people know where Copperas Cove is.

Question: How do we pay for these projects?

Nelson: The city needs to generate more sales tax and by that increase business representation.

Acfalle: As an EDC member, he understands the need for a greater tax base (more business') and greater growth of the city. Is it time to look at the ETJ? The Multi Modal needs to come to Copperas Cove.

Question: Citizens need to be listened to! The citizen's didn't want Fathom, but the council voted for it anyway and the citizens didn't want the Business 190 project and still again the council voted for it.  How would you regain the citizen's trust? 

Nelson: The only real way he can gain the citizens trust is for them to give him the chance.The city needs the right leadership. Fathom needs to be fixed. He is against the 190 project as it stands, but also agrees there's problems with cars playing chicken in the median so it will be tricky to fix. Maybe only have medians at known problem areas? 

Acfalle: Should we go beyond the 1% audit of Fathom? What would the find? He stated that he is against the 190 Project. How would EMS navigate the medians and the medians will create gridlock.

Question: When will we recycle glass? Can we get a grocery store on the west side?

Nelson: Aldi would be great here and they are a different store than they were just a few years ago. Recycling is a huge problem in the country. Most recycled material ends up in China to be processed. It is starting to cost more to recycle than it is to deposit into a landfill, Glass is not cost effective. Maybe the city can look into having a few mobile centers around the city.

Acfalle: The cost of land on the west side is stirring business away from going there. We need to look at improving our existing business' and to the North side where there is tremendous growth. We need to figure out what our needs are as a city. If memory serves correct, we are already taking it to Fort Hood. If you'd like to recycle glass, you can take it to solid waste and get information from them. If it's anything else, he needs to get more information. 

Question: How would you bring the council and citizens together?

Nelson: We need to set the culture correctly, set the example because citizens feel neglected, and we need to hear both sides.

Acfalle: We are one family, one community. We need to bring diversity together, establish ownership of the council, get the answers. We have differences and how do we bring this together.

Question: Will you bring the Business 190 Project back to council, to remove the islands? 

Nelson: He will bring it back to council. The plan is not firm until the bid is granted. He said it is a busy road and that we need the lanes. We need to see if it can be done better.

Acfalle: He will bring it up to see if can be done better. 

Question: How would you handle the interchange with other entities that contribute towards the growth of Copperas Cove?

Nelson: We need to be a community. Short term (Military) residents don't feel like this is home and we need to change this.

Acfalle: Citizens and Soldiers need to shut down the talk that this is a "transit city". Copperas Cove is a city for everyone. We need to encourage growth.

Question: How would you ensure that council doesn't go behind the Mayor and City Manager to get stuff done in the city?

Nelson: Laws and ordinances are in place to prevent this from happening. City employees should be encouraged to go to the City Manager about interference with there assigned job. Open Meetings Act covers this.

Acfalle: This is covered by the Open Meetings Act. The Mayor and Council must go through the City Manager but can't interfere with their daily work. He will actively engage the Council and City Manager in all areas. Would like the City Manager to inform him if this ever happens and also ask council members if they are doing this that they need to stop and why would they be doing it? 

Video of the VFW Meet and Greet can be found here. 

The next forum will be Monday evening from 530-8pm, at the CCISD Admin building (next to Lil Tex). It is sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce. Hopefully all the candidates will be there.