Moscow mayor candidate Linda Pall spoke of a possible renting agency rating system in a candidate forum last Tuesday night.
Candidates for mayor and city council seats answered presubmitted questions, some from University of Idaho students, in a Moscow City Elections Forum Oct. 26 in the UI Janssen Engineering building auditorium. Candidates later answered a few questions from the audience, which was comprised of students and community members.
All candidates beside Arthur Bettge attended the questionnaire forum. The event was hosted by the UI Women’s and Gender Studies Program.
Fraudulent renting was a hot topic at the forum in light of a large renting agency, White Pine Property Management, which unexpectedly closed late June. Their closure left many tenants wondering where their security deposits went, according to MoscowPullman Daily News. The case is being investigated by Idaho State Police and the matter is estimated to involve over $200,000, the Moscow Chamber of Commerce said in a news release.
Candidates had indirect back and forth in their answers to a prepared question about how they felt about a city’s response to address fraudulent renters.
Walter Steed, an incumbent council member, stressed residents need to recognize the limits city governments must adhere to. Robb Parish, who is running for a four-year city council seat, noted there is a state law prohibiting city government from regulating leases, and said Moscow made the right decision deferring the matter to police.
The market is the best solution to problematic agencies, Steed said, because bad word about fraudulent companies will spread and people will stop renting from them. Two other incumbent city council members, Gina Taruscio and John Weber had similar remarks, and said those renters have power and suggested people avoid renting from fraudulent renters.
Weber advised residents do research the agencies before renting. Anne Zabala, the challenger to Weber’s council seat, said the burden should be on the city and commissions, not the renters.
Deborah Sullivan, a challenging candidate, said students should get involved in city commissions to help the city better understand issues they face with renting agencies. Pall, Lambert’s challenger for mayor, said a rating system for renting agencies could be established with the Fair and Affordable Housing Commission.
“Frankly, we don’t have enough tools to regulate these toads out of business,” she said.
In answering the first question of the night, all but one candidate concisely and directly said they would support a city decision to rename Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day. Current Mayor Bill Lambert agreed to a name change, but to something else.
“Discovery day,” he said.“What do you think of that one?”
Lambert’s warrants for the name were that he recognized other people lived here first, but said someone discovered it that day. Parish earlier mentioned Leif Erikson had discovered North America before Christopher Columbus.
Pall and Lambert are candidates in the mayoral race, with a four-year term. Bettge, Parish, Steed, Sullivan and Taruscio are candidates for the four-year term city council seats, of which there are three. Weber and Zabala are competing for a single two-year council seat.
Kyle Pfannenstiel can be reached at [email protected]
Correction: October 6, 2017
Due to an Argonaut error, an earlier version of this article misspelled Linda Pall’s name. The error was also published in the Oct. 3 print issue of The Argonaut.