FAIRBORN — Four candidates are vying for three Fairborn City Council seats this election season. The elected individuals will serve a four-year term and meet the first and third Mondays of each month for regular meetings.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 7.

Candidates Robert Hoffman and Donna Wilson are aiming to retain their seats while candidate Rodney McCubbins has served on Neighborhood Betterment Council since 2013 and candidate Colin Morrow is a recent graduate of the Fairborn Leadership Institute. All say they are loyal to Fairborn and want the best for the city.

This newspaper sent each candidate questionnaires relating to their experience and what they see as the most important issue facing the city as election day draws nearer. The following candidates returned the questionnaires. These are their answers.

Robert Hoffman

Question 1 – Why are you the right candidate for this seat?

“I have served the past four years on the city council. I have kept all of the promises that I made during my initial campaign four years ago. Fairborn is truly a City in Motion. We have made great strides during the past four years to put Fairborn First! It is paramount that we continue our movement in the right direction.

During the past four years our city has seen an increase in population, hundreds of new jobs and more than 340 new homes. I am very excited to be on the team that helped make all of this happen. Please keep Fairborn in Motion by re-electing Rob Hoffman on Nov. 7.”

Question 2 – What is the most important issue facing this office going forward and what solutions do you have to offer voters for this issue?

“We must ensure that our city has what it needs to attract new business and retain the ones that we already have. Since taking office, I have actively participated in developing Fairborn’s first fully-funded and staffed Economic Development Department. Another important piece of the puzzle is to ensure that our city has the tools in place to market our citizens, location and assets to developers looking to invest their assets in our region. By hiring a city manager with an economic development background our city is in a much better place than it was four years ago.”

Rodney C. McCubbins

Q1 – “There are many reasons why I am the right candidate for Fairborn City Council. Most important to me is this is my hometown. I was born and raised in Fairborn, the only candidate who can say that. Upon retiring from the US Air Force in 2012, I retired and moved back to Fairborn. This is my city and I’m 100 percent committed to Fairborn.

I have the experience and education needed to fulfill the seat. I spent 26 years in the US Air Force culminating my career by reaching Top 2 percent of the Air Force in rank. I currently hold a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Management, an Associates of Applied Science in Pharmaceutical Technology, a Professional Manager Certificate, and more recently I became a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Facilitator.

I am also committed to giving back to my community. I currently serve on Neighborhood Betterment Council since 2013. I also served as Secretary and Vice President for the Fairborn Wee Hawk Football Association, Inc, a local youth sports 501c3 nonprofit. Finally, with over 30 years of experience working in the Federal Government, I understand fully how government entities operate from various aspects such as budgets and policies.”

Q2 – “The most important issue for Fairborn in my opinion is the continued focus on economic development and jobs. City council’s priority objective is to evaluate and/or establish business friendly policies, procedures and regulations. Our policies must be current, valid and able to support our current businesses as well as affording them the opportunity for growth. This is a key element in order to be competitive not just locally, regionally, and nationally. The Fairborn Development Corporation is a key tool in assisting businesses currently located in Fairborn and those who seek to locate in Fairborn. The FDC has the expertise to assist business with taking advantage of programs such as Tax Increment Financing and the Job Creation Tax Credit.

Teamwork is very important element in order for growth in Fairborn to be successful. Establishing and maintaining relationships between the City of Fairborn and organizations such Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Fairborn Betterment Council. There is great strength in the power these organizations working together will generate positive results for our city.”

Colin Morrow

Q1 – “I have been employed in both the private and public sector and understand the nuances of both, this make me the right candidate for Fairborn City Council. I am uniquely qualified to understand what motivates a business to move to a new location. As a business executive, I have had to plan and coordinate the moving of part of a large company from one city to another. I engaged several municipalities to understand which municipalities would offer a re-location package and ‘come to the table’ to negotiate a win/win business deal.

Fairborn citizens should look at the historical challenges to understand the complexity of decisions that come before the city council. I am uniquely qualified to understand complicated situations and the ability to navigate those challenges and come out on the other side in a win/win agreement. I am married with a 12-year-old son and have deep family roots in Fairborn and have lived here since 2001. I have 31 years of Military Service, I can relate to the veterans who have retired in Fairborn and call it home. I have a vested interest in seeing Fairborn grow economically and attract families to Fairborn.”

Q2 – “I think the most important issue facing city council is economic development. I have two focus areas in that regard. First, encourage new businesses that provide living wage jobs to locate or expand to Fairborn. I will do this by working with the Fairborn City Manager to encourage the city to offer “shovel ready” locations and a combination of tax reduction incentives and assistance in coordination of requests for business re-location funds and additional tax reduction incentives from the county and the state. Tax reduction incentives should only be offered if the incentives are not at the expense of services offered to the citizens of Fairborn.

Second, promote Fairborn as a place to raise a family, I would start by highlighting the positive aspects of our schools, local businesses, and community resources. I would establish a marketing campaign to recruit businesses to Fairborn that offer family entertainment. The city can expand the amenities that are currently offered. As more families move to Fairborn, buy homes in Fairborn, the city tax base will expand not increase, allowing more family amenities to be offered by the city, improving the quality of life for its citizens.”

Donna Wilson

Q1 – “As a 43-year citizen of Fairborn, I am invested in the community and have enjoyed being a part of many service organizations, supported my three children in their school and outside activities, taught in the Fairborn City Schools and owned a small business – Fairborn Florist – which I sold in 2007. My motto is “seek first to understand.” Before I ran for city council four years ago, I worked on two committees exploring the challenges and opportunities that Fairborn faced.

Last year I sponsored a VISTA service member and we worked together to assess the needs of Fairborn. I’m now working to get the resources needed to bring job training, improved transportation options and help for those dealing with drug addiction. As one of two city council representatives on the Fairborn Development Corporation, I have had the opportunity to work to attract new businesses and support existing ones. Fairborn has been aggressively marketing itself and offering incentives, improving infrastructure and streamlining our process for new businesses. We have added over 350 new jobs in a variety of occupations, and 370 new housing roof tops, increasing our funding to improve this community. I would be honored to continue in this endeavor.”

Q2 – “Job creation is our most important issue. When citizens are gainfully employed, a community thrives. They are able to provide for themselves and their families, their self-esteem improves, children do better in school and they have the resources to pay for health care and other necessities. Fairborn is working hard to attract new businesses by removing blight and improving and expanding infrastructure to offer shovel ready sites. We have streamlined the permitting process online with information and forms in one place.

The city developed a land use plan gathering input from stakeholders. We manage growth by steering new businesses to appropriate areas, explaining expectations and an effective and consistent code enforcement during construction. We encourage redevelopment of areas after blight is removed. Our economic developers are experts at listening to what developers need and can offer incentives that are tailored to the specific business. We are also working to provide our citizens with the skills needed for today’s commerce and manufacturing. As drug addiction is a problem in our community, available job training and well-paying jobs are an important part of recovery. Employment also provides insurance benefits which allow those with mental health issues to receive treatment.”