Fredericksburg City Council candidates, from left, Thomas Sigg and incumbents Graham Pearson and Gary Neffendorf took part in a forum last Tuesday at the Hill Country University Center. The foum was sponsored by the Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post. — Standard-Radio Post/Ken Esten Cooke
By Ken Esten Cooke —
Saying it’s sometimes “refreshing to bring new ideas,” challenger Thomas Sigg took questions along with incumbent city councilmen Graham Pearson and Gary Neffendorf at last week’s Fredericksburg City Council candidate forum.
The event, sponsored by the Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post, drew around 40 people last Tuesday to Hill Country University Center’s HEB Community Room.
“Growth will be a challenge,” said Sigg, a native of Württemburg, Germany. “The council currently is about as good as it gets, but I can bring different thinking in the way I look at issues.”
Sigg said he applied for the position when Pearson was still considering another term. Pearson was elected in 2011 after a career in the oil industry and software business. Neffendorf became a councilman in 2013, after decades as the town’s first city manager.
The three took questions from the audience posed on index cards during the hour-plus meeting.
Annexation
Neffendorf said the city is still working on its annexation plan after a rescinded attempt to annex east-side property near the city limits in 2014.
"It’s a way to control the appearance of our entryways,” he said, adding the effort last year would have included too much residential property, and the city’s utility investment wouldn’t have paid off for some time.
Pearson added the attempt “didn’t make financial sense,” and said the council continues to look at how to strengthen its comprehensive plan to guide the appearance of commercial buildings on the edges of town.
Sigg said long-term returns are one way to measure the feasibility of annexation plans.
Affordable housing
On affordable housing, Pearson said there is a balance between private investment and government subsidies. “I don’t believe we should over-subsidize,” he said. “The trick is getting builders to invest at that price range. We do have one developer looking to build 37 homes in the ‘affordable’ range.”
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