For the 2021 Voters Guide, we emailed candidates a set of questions on professional experience, local priorities and general issues. We have included those questions and the unedited responses. We have noted when candidates left questions unanswered. We have also provided links to candidate websites, campaign funding reports and other local media coverage when available.
Any questions or suggestions should be sent to: whitmancowatch@gmail.com
CANDIDATE BACKGROUND
Website: www.iamfrancisbenjamin.com
Official county Voters Pamphlet statement
RECENT COVERAGE
Pullman candidates discuss critical race theory, pandemic (Moscow-Pullman Daily News)
As primary nears, see Pullman City Council candidates’ previous political donations (Whitman County Watch)
Four candidates vying for seat on Pullman council (Moscow-Pullman Daily News)
Primary election 2021 candidate forum on July 19 (League of Women Voters of Pullman)
Responses to Whitman County Watch’s 2019 candidate questionnaire
CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE
How would you describe your current occupation or job title(s)?
I have two jobs at Washington State University.
Psychology Department, Information Systems Coordinator:
Manage Psychology department information systems & servers
Design, construct and maintain Psychology department research labs & research projects
Lead: Political Interaction Laboratory
Finance & Management Science Instructor
Teach Real Estate
What other memberships or community affiliations would you like to share with voters?
Boy Scouts of America, Friends of Neil Public Library, Innovia Foundation: Pullman-Palouse Regional Partnership Council, Kiwanis, Palouse Ice Rink Association, Palouse Knowledge Corridor, Pullman 2040 – co chair, Pullman Chamber, Pullman Community Council on Aging, Town Gown Collaborative
What, if any, charities, political campaigns, or nonprofits have you donated money or volunteer hours to in the past year?
Boy Scouts of America, Community Action Center Food Bank, Downtown Pullman Association, High School Business Plan Competition mentor, Kiwanis, Friends of Neil Public Library, League of Women Voters, Living Faith Fellowship, Palouse Care Network, Palouse Knowledge Corridor, Pullman Civic Trust, Pullman Chamber, Pullman Community Council on Aging, Pullman Depot Heritage Center, Pullman Regional Hospital, Washington Policy Center
What professional accomplishment are you most proud of and why?
Bringing the Pullman community together with Pullman 2040 and developing a community vision that we can together work to accomplish. Through Pullman 2040 we have the opportunity to make a difference, change our community and leave a legacy. It is meaningful to see community members coming together and make lasting friendships while investing and changing Pullman for the better.
What is your vision for the City of Pullman as a community, and are there any other towns you see doing things right or would like to emulate?
The city of Pullman does a good job with connections, engagement and activities for our college students and families with children, but we need to improve and make it more welcoming for our single professionals, newly married, seniors and cultures. In each of these areas, we need to improve support, activities, connection opportunities, shopping opportunities and work on making everyone feel valued and that Pullman is “home”. We need to build community together.
What is your top priority for quality of life and what, if any, changes would you make regarding that issue?
I don’t see “one” top issue related to quality of life. There are several critical issues around the areas of food, housing, water, mental health, safety, security and belonging which need to be improved. In each area, we need a clear plan that the community and leaders support and around which they will gather. Community leadership needs to bring the community together, identify the issues and plan, publicly support the plan and then work out the plan. The biggest change we need is for a clear strategy to be agreed upon and then for our leadership to in unison support the strategy. Right now, there are too many conflicting directions happening and no consistent unified strategy from our leaders.
Has the city done a good job supporting local businesses and how do you know? What else could the city council do to help encourage economic growth and development?
I feel the city of Pullman is disjointed and not consistent in supporting local businesses. When it comes to the downtown, the council is focused on the wrong thing. They are fixated on angled back-in parking and not business support. It has been over a year since businesses first requested, in the midst of Covid, the ability to utilize parking areas for outside safe eating locations. A year later, the city still doesn’t have a path forward for businesses to do this. Other towns in the area figured out how to support our businesses in this way, we should also.
Communities who do economic development successfully have figured out that a city can’t be successful if they work siloed off from everyone else. Success requires collaborative efforts. The city of Pullman is unfortunately going in the wrong direction. Instead of building collaborations, they are separating themselves from others and creating silos which produce duplicative effort and inefficiencies.
What three steps do you think the Pullman City Council could take to improve housing affordability?
Housing attainability is an even greater issue than affordability.
- Improved zoning which focuses on parking, accessory dwelling units and flexibility
- Streamline processes and improve consistency so that developers are not delayed and know what is expected of them.
- Recruit developers to increase housing stock to reduce the current supply/demand issue
What is the best action the city government or the council has taken in the past five years?
The city completed the comprehensive plan update.
What is the worst decision or biggest opportunity the council has missed the past five years?
This is a difficult choice since there have been several decisions which concern me. The one I will talk about here has to do with the senior center director position. When the city was making decisions on where to cut because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the city cut the senior center director position. During a time when the community members most vulnerable to Covid and the most isolated from the rest of the community are our seniors, that isn’t the time to cut their support. I felt that this communicated to our seniors that they were not valuable and worth investing in. Pullman needs to work on making our community a great place to retire and this requires investment and not cuts to our seniors.
What do you think will be the most significant challenge or threat the City of Pullman will face in the next five years?
Recovery from Covid. The pandemic has touched our community in a very wide and deep way. It has affected how our businesses operate, how our schools teach, job opportunities and medical and long-term care. Adjusting to the new normal will take time and as a community we need to support the build-back process.
What city infrastructure do you think needs the most attention or additional funding, and why?
The city needs to increase transportation support for a bypass so that we can reduce truck traffic and noise on Main and Grand.
What are your top transportation and transit priorities for the community and why?
- Building a bypass to reduce truck traffic and noise on Main and Grand
- Complete the new airport terminal to better support and grow air travel opportunities
- Implement street maintenance plan so that road repairs are done earlier and at a time when there is a greater return on the money invested.
Do you support creating a transportation benefit district? Why or why not? If yes, do you favor a .02-percent sales tax, increased licensing fees or another approach?
I am open to hearing more from staff about this type of benefit district. Currently, I am leaning toward it, but need further staff input.
What is your highest priority for city-managed parks and recreation efforts? What would you like to see done with the funding from the abandoned Lawson Garden event center project?
We need to find ways to support the increased demands for sport fields (baseball, soccer, football) and lighted pickleball courts.
The community specifically identified funding for the Lawson Garden event center. The money needs to be used for this designated use or a component of this design. If not, the money should be returned by paying down the debt.
Do you support the city enacting policies to address climate change or promote environmental sustainability? If so, what steps would you take?
I support the environmental goals developed through the Pullman 2040 environmental task force. These goals were developed jointly by community members and the environmental entities and experts and address the current and future needs of our community. The steps include entity collaboration and community education, engagement, and citizen science.
What, if anything, would you change to make the city more transparent or to improve communication with the public?
Pullman needs to increase communication and utilize a communication platform which communicates city information and messaging as well as coordination of community events and activities.
If you could wave a magic wand and instantly change one thing about Pullman, what would it be and why?
Coordinated and supported vision as we build community together. Pullman is full of energetic and caring people who want the best for our community, but because we aren’t all on the same page there is wasted effort. I would like to see us more efficient, collaborative and effective with our effort.