Harold Martin

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1.) Tell us a little bit about yourself.

My name is Harold Martin and I am a Web site and graphic designer for my own company HEM Designs. I moved to Newton in October of 2005, but originally, I am from Saint Albans, West Virginia. I graduated from Winfield High School in Winfield, W.V. in 1998. After graduation from high school I relocated to Addison, Ill., to attend college at DeVry University where I obtained my Bachelor of Science degree in Telecommunications Management in July 2001.

I have worked in various sectors of the computer industry from technical support, engineering broadband Internet lines, and managing phone systems. I’ve owned my own Web design company since 1999 designing Web sites, doing graphic design, and computer repair.

2.) Why do you want to be a member of Newton city Council?

I feel that I would make a great addition to the Newton City Council. I would bring a different and new perspective and opinion to the many different decisions that come before them. I will offer the viewpoint of a younger generation and feel that I would be able to represent not just the youth, but also the senior citizens of Newton.

I personally am running because I plan on living in Newton the rest of my life and raising my family here. I want to ensure that I had some part in helping my children stay in this town and someday raise families of their own in this town. I also was tired of seeing the things going on in Newton and sitting by wishing I had some part of the decision making process.

3.) What do you see as the most pressing issue or issues facing the city?

Infrastructure – We have various kinds of great infrastructure in this town. From our roads to the various buildings left vacant by the Maytag departure. We need to ensure that the main roads in and out of this town are well taken care of and that they can handle large loads such as the wind turbines from TPI and the towers from Trinity.

We have already used some of the buildings to our advantage with Trinity Structural Towers opening shop in 300,000 square feet of one of the former Maytag plants. We also saw the use of Maytag’s main office building now being used to house Iowa Telecom. We need to continue to try and use the existing infrastructure in this town to our advantage and not let buildings continue to sit empty all over town.

Skiff Hospital – The hospital right now has a lot of issues that need to be resolved. I feel that with the two newly elected trustees coming in next year after the election in November we will see a change. Every single candidate agreed that there needs to be transparency with the hospital and I agree 100%, as long as it doesn’t violate any laws. The communications between the board and the citizens of Newton as well as the City Council needs to be an open and honest one. Employees should not fear being fired for speaking out and voicing their opinions.

4.)The city has a long list of needed equipment. How would you handle this? Forgo purchasing new equipment? Or if you favor purchasing some or all the equipment how would you fund it, by raising taxes, using general fund reserves or floating a bond?

I would look at each expenditure and evaluate its importance. I would not bond for it and of the three options given I would use general fund reserves. I would also see if maybe it could come out of hotel/motel tax. That money currently goes to the Newton Development Corporation, but that agreement is set to expire on December 31, 2009. That is $75,000 that could be used elsewhere.

5.) What should the city’s role be in the Maytag Bowl project?

I feel that the only role that the city should have in the Maytag Bowl project should be maintenance of the park grounds as it currently does. The newly formed Fred Maytag Bowl Project has a big task ahead of them. They’ve been charged with coming up with a plan that shows what improvements are wanted, how they will fund this, and how they will sustain the upkeep of the bowl going forward. While I’m not on the committee, I have been to a few of their meetings. This is to get a better feel of the project and where they are going to keep myself informed as a citizen and so I am better educated if I am elected to the City Council. I would not support any taxpayer money to restore the bowl first and foremost. The money for this project must come 100 percent from private donations, etc. I look forward to seeing what this committee comes up with over the next year when they present their idea(s) to the City Council.

6.) What should the city’s role be in economic development? Do you favor the use of tax increment financing to provide business incentives?

I am all for enticing new businesses to come to town, but I am not in favor of increasing any taxes to provide any incentives to do so. We have a pretty generous tax abatement program in place already for the commercial/industrial sector. Right now it is either three years at 100 percent or 10 years with a sliding scale of 80 percent, 70 percent, 60 percent, 50 percent, 40 percent, 40 percent, 30 percent, 30 percent, 20 percent, and 20 percent. There is and should always be a cap on this abatement and I also do not feel that every business that asks for tax abatements should get one.