Sitting in the very seats they hope to occupy for the next four years, the five candidates running for the three vacancies on the Warren Town Council gathered Wednesday night, Oct. 7, in the town hall chamber for what was a polite, pleasant forum co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters-Rhode Island and East Bay Media Group, parent company of The Warren Times-Gazette.

Daniel Barlow, James Core, Scott Lial, Bert Rodrigues and Rebecca Schmaeling gave opening and closing remarks. They were each directly asked questions during the 75-minute session. Their counterparts were also allowed to respond to the same inquiries, giving voters a glimpse into how they may govern if elected.

Out of the gate, the candidates were asked about the benefits of the town being a part of the Bristol Warren Regional School District and if they saw the need for any changes to the 30-plus year collaboration.

Each of the five agreed the positives outweighed the negatives. Both Barlow and Lial touched on how the district is funded. Barlow said he thought "it's worth reviewing the regional district charter to see if any funding changes might be possible." Similarly on funding streams, Lial questioned how and why the Rhode Island Department of Education has reduced Warren's allotment in recent years, calling the formula used "convoluted." He said the state needed to provide the town with more specific, detailed reasons.

How to fund connecting the East Bay Bike Path on the west side of town with the new "Broken Bridge" over the Kickemuit River was another topic broach. Just about every candidate mentioned the need to seek state or federal grants to do so. Core noted Warren was "at the center of bike connectivity" not just locally, but regionally, and said an enhanced path presented a "tourism opportunity."

On another item pertaining to infrastructure, the candidates were asked how could the town go about improving its roads.

Core said it would require "better planning, better budgeting, and better transparency" to address roads Warren owns and for the town to work with with the state on those it owns, like Market and Main Streets as well as Metacom Avenue.

Barlow referenced the town already has a pavement management plan, for which it paid and which prioritizes what roads need to be addressed. He added, "The question is, is where do we get the funding for those improvements?"

Lial said every council and town administration always has a plan to fix its roads and sidewalks, but those plans always face the reality of where to find the funding.

Questions about affordable housing and "creative" ways to increase the town's revenues brought about the most compelling exchanges between the candidates.

Core suggested officials use all means possible to gain access to state and federal funding to increase the amount of affordable units in Warren. Lial countered by saying while "those funds would be great to have, the state budget is insanely large. Federal funding is not coming the way it used to, and I don't think we can expect to be counting on those dollars to achieve these outcomes, unfortunately. It's unrealistic."

Core acknowledged accessing those monies "is certainly tougher," but he wasn't "all doom and gloom. If you want to accept doom and gloom, we should probably just all get up and leave. But we have to work hard. The problems aren't getting any easier, and you have to depend on our state and federal partners as tough as it may be. The pendulum will shift and we need to be ready. Success favors the prepared mind, or, in this case, the prepared community."

On raising revenue, Lial said bluntly, "The easy answer is the tax levy. I've said this to anyone who's asked why I was insane enough to reengage in this process, considering the challenges the town is currently facing. To Jim's point, it's not all doom and gloom...The reality, though, is that to afford the things that we are trying to afford, there's only one way to do that quickly and efficiently, it's going to be the tax levy. That includes the new school building. That includes paying for our debt service. I don't see how you're going to raise funds, not in the near term, with some creative processes that will offset that."

Rodrigues suggested the town utilize its recreational spaces to increase revenue, while also attempting to generate revenue from corporate sponsors. Schmaeling said it was important to find new businesses to fill the many empty storefronts. Likewise, Core said the town should seek additional businesses for the industrial park while continually reviewing its schedule of fees it charges. He also recommended the town consider a tiered real estate tax. Barlow agreed, referring to how Bristol taxes its non-owner occupied residences. He also said the town should look at how it enforces and collects its existing fines and fees.

Asked about where in the budget they would prioritize if faced with needing to make any reductions, Barlow and Schmaeling said they would always fully fund the schools. Schmaeling added one small, but symbolic token would be to remove the stipend for councilors.

Lial said flatly, "there is nowhere to cut...I don't see what cuts are possible." Rodrigues agreed, saying the current fiscal budget is "bare bones as it is." Core concurred, adding, "This budget's 100% lean...There may be some little margin in there. So the basic functions of a town are to ensure that it's safe, public safety and we can educate our kids. There would be really tough choices that would have to be made."

Given the opportunity to raise an issue not mentioned during the forum, Lial said one of his concerns is the increased traffic on the town's main thoroughfares. He said it more needs to be done to improve flows and safety on Water and Main Streets, specifically.

Rodrigues said wanted to make sure the monies allocated for the district school construction improvements were being accounted for properly. He added, "I would love for the council to go back to the school department and just make sure that they're putting contractors feet to the fire."

Schmaeling said she would like to encourage more community engagement, referring to the number of openings on many of the town's boards and commissions.

Core went into greater detail on his concerns with the town's water/sewer systems. He said it was imperative to review the status of the dozen or so mains feeding directly to the sewer plant to determine the system's long term viability.

Barlow said more emphasis needed to be placed on expanding the town's tax base. He said one of his aims would be attract new businesses in the maritime industry to better utilize Warren's waterfront.

To view the Warren Town Council candidate forum in its entirety visit the League of Women Voters-Rhode Island page on YouTube.