GEARHART — Position 1 City Council candidates Kerry Smith and Jack Zimmerman offer different perspectives while sharing the goal of maintaining Gearhart’s character and being a vigilant watchdog for the taxpayer.

Smith, who was elected to the City Council in 2014, describes himself as a 33-year Gearhart resident. With a background in construction, after working on the Alaska pipeline, he became a contractor.

“I have tried to be a voice for the residents of Gearhart that I know, as well as tried to use some of my communication skills to ask tough questions and help facilitate the conversations,” he said in a candidate statement for The Daily Astorian’s voters guide.

Zimmerman, a former oil and gas executive, moved to Gearhart after traveling and visiting for over 28 years.

“I wish to serve to protect Gearhart from unnecessary taxation and concentrate all my efforts on improving our city’s existing assets before taking on new service obligations which can cause the city to lose its primary focus on our current residents,” he said. “I desperately want to frame this election in the overriding concept of creating beauty and goodness for our special oasis by the sea.”

In interviews last week, they discussed key issues — the location of the proposed firehouse, the growing elk herd, the budget process and growth.

Smith called a new fire station the city’s most important concern.

The existing station, built in 1958 and liable to collapse and flood during a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake and tsunami, is the topic of years of conversation.

Smith anticipated using feedback from the community to help determine a new site, he said. A town hall meeting is planned for November.

“With the town hall meeting, they’ll find the pros and cons as the committee sees it for each location,” he said.

Zimmerman opposed locating the fire station at one of the three proposed locations — the city park at Pacific Way and North Marion Avenue, he said.

“The park was deeded to the city by the county as a park, and it should be continued as a park,” he said.

The cost of new infrastructure at that site could be prohibitive, he added.

Zimmerman suggested a new building at the fire station’s current site, which already has infrastructure.

A new building could be constructed to “withstand various scenarios.”

Smith countered that building the firehouse at its current site could prove even more expensive, with a temporary structure needed during construction and work needed to backfill unstable ground.

“The park doesn’t have that problem and neither does ‘High Ground,’” Smith said, referring to a third site on North Marion under consideration.

“There are issues with both of them,” Smith continued. “Nobody wants to lose a park and it’s going to be more expensive — but those two sit on stable dunes.”

Both candidates said they share a love for the city and a passion for its protection.

Smith said the city must comply with state regulations that require Gearhart to maintain a 20-year inventory of buildable lots. “The state has notified the city that we need to comply with this requirement,” he said.

New development could provide workforce housing, which could prove a boon for the city and region, he added.

As a “no-growth” candidate, Zimmerman said an expansion of the city’s urban growth boundary would create higher density, require more services, employees and costs.

“How much do you want to put on the back of the taxpayers?” he asked. “Gearhart doesn’t necessarily want to change — I don’t think anybody’s made the case that Gearhart has to be dragged into the 21st century, or that Gearhart has to provide high-density apartments. Look at Portland.”

Zimmerman’s concern about growth spilled into his views for the city’s future. The most important issue for the city, he said, is spending priorities and the impact they have on the community.

“That’s especially true in terms of how much spending are you going to ultimately levy on the property taxpayer,” he said.

Building fees, a septic fee or taxes on cigarettes might also “throw off excess revenues” for the city’s parks and other needs, Zimmerman said.

Smith said he would seek to limit future expenses in “small ways that add up,” with housekeeping cuts and tightening up of expenditures.

Money saved could be moved to the city’s Community Emergency Response Team and resiliency planning, he said.

If elected, Zimmerman said the first thing he would change in Gearhart would be to open the budget process to greater scrutiny. Right now, he said, it’s limited in scope.

“I’d like to see that process come into the light of day and provide an opportunity in a town hall meeting and get up and describe what they want to spend money on, why they want to spend, where they’re limited,” Zimmerman said. “The taxpayer who has to pay that bill should have the ability to either agree, disagree or say ‘great job.’”

Smith said the process offers residents an opportunity to study the budget for 30 days before it is accepted by the council and presented for a public hearing where they can let their input be known.

With a growing elk herd and increasing encounters between elk and people, the city’s wildlife population has become a heated campaign issue.

Residents and businesses complain about the loss of plantings, damage to lawns, and hazardous meetings between the herd and visitors.

Smith is in favor of an ordinance under consideration that would prohibit feeding wildlife. “No feeding is the first step we can take to stop the habituation of elk-human interaction,” he said.

Culling the herd should be a last measure, he said, with sharpshooters or bow hunters tracking the animals outside of city limits.

Zimmerman said the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has underestimated the herd’s numbers and condition.

“They’ve mismanaged that thing so bad that the herd’s grown to a population where they have hoof rot, one of the most debilitating diseases an animal can get. What has happened to the elk herd is a travesty and borders on negligence in terms of state supervision,” he said.

The herd should be transported out of the city when possible and culled if necessary, Zimmerman said.

Smith said if the elk are moved from the area, “they’ll just set up shop in someone else’s town.”

The city, which provides an online blog to chronicle elk-human encounters, is building the paper trail with comments to the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and is likely to pass the ordinance to stop the feeding of wildlife except for songbirds.

“The elk are state property and that’s about all we can do until ODFW comes to us,” Smith said. “As it is now, our hands are tied. I’d cull the herd, but not within the city limits at all.”