Colin Murphey Seaside mayoral candidates Jay Barber, left, and John Chapman participate in a forum Wednesday at city hall.

Candidates running for state House District 32 and Seaside and Gearhart offices made their cases to voters Wednesday night in an election forum at Seaside City Hall.

Affordable housing, homelessness, environmental protection and emergency preparedness all surfaced as priorities for the 10 candidates.

In Seaside, most of the attention was focused on the contested mayoral race between Mayor Jay Barber and John Chapman, the owner of KSWB Radio Clatsop. Tita Montero, Dana Phillips and Steve Wright, all incumbents running unopposed, were also present.

Appointed in January 2017, Barber said his decision to run was driven by his love of the city. He believes his leadership skills paired with his civil relationship with council would help drive future progress for the city.

“We face difficult issues, but it takes leadership to get them done,” Barber said.

Chapman believes his experience working and volunteering with people from all walks of life around the community would be an asset to the council. He emphasized his commitment to transparency and accountability if elected. His decision to run for mayor is driven by a desire to give back to a community that welcomed him 27 years ago.

“When I first moved here to Seaside, me and my wife … we had little to nothing,” he said. “The community opened the door day one. One family said we’ll put you on (their) couch, we’ll look after you until you have enough for rent and that took a month. You can imagine how hard that was … but Seaside made that happen.”

When asked about whether food carts should be allowed in Seaside, Chapman said while he supports free enterprise, he has concerns about out-of-town food trucks negatively impacting brick-and-mortar businesses that make up a large part of the city’s tax base.

“You have some businesses in town that make most of their income in three to four months, but pay rent and staff 12 months of the year,” he said. “Do I think (food carts) are bad? No. Do I think there needs to be more thought into this more than a yes or no vote? Yes.”

Barber, however, was more open to the idea, seeing food carts as a way to cater to a younger demographic of visitors. He supports the city developing an established food court, where carts can operate year-round.

“I think it’s something worth exploring, but I agree with John you have to protect the businesses that are here all year long, so it’s a balancing act,” Barber said.

In Gearhart, a newcomer, Jack Zimmerman, is looking to unseat Kerry Smith, who was elected to City Council Position 1 in 2014. Paulina Cockrum, who was appointed in 2015, is running unopposed for Position 3.

All three candidates mentioned the need to find housing solutions and preserve the environmental and cultural characteristics that make Gearhart unique.

But the candidates’ views splintered when it came to where each believed a new fire hall should be built. Recent proposals include rebuilding the station in its current location, a private plot of land in North Gearhart called the Highpoint property, or rebuilding at higher elevation at Gearhart Park — an idea that would take the station out of the inundation zone but has drawn ire from residents.

Smith and Cockrum said the decision should be driven by the opinion of the residents through a series of listening sessions and town halls.

“They will be the ones paying,” Smith said. “These are tough decisions. One place costs a lot of money. One place costs us the park. And the other costs us all of our equipment eventually when the tsunami comes.”

Zimmerman, however, argued rebuilding the fire station where it is would be the most fiscally responsible option. He also objected taking away parkland.

“I’m conflicted about how much money should be allocated to the fire department … it’s a volunteer service with four or five pieces of equipment. Does that call for a $4 million, $5 million structure?” Zimmerman said.

Health care and environmental issues dominated most of the discussion for House District 32 candidates Tiffiny Mitchell, a Democrat, and Brian Halvorsen, an independent. Republican Vineeta Lower had another engagement and did not attend the forum.

Mitchell emphasized finding housing solutions that work for rural areas, expanding essential medical services to treat mental health and addiction to the coast, and supporting green energy.

Halvorsen supports addressing what he calls “income inequality that is out of control” through higher taxes on the richest Oregonians, as well as the need for campaign donation reform.

While the two agreed on expanding health care for all, the two butted heads over the best way to reach that goal.

Halvorsen advocates for a single-payer health care system.

“A lot of people think Obamacare fixed gaps in coverage, but it didn’t,” he said. “If we had single-payer health care that mandated equal care regardless of income that would resolve those problems.”

Mitchell agreed, but sees it more as a long-term option. In the meantime, she advocates taking smaller steps to keep costs down, like keeping prescription drug prices transparent and increasing competition in the health care industry, until the state can reach a single-payer model.