Beranek, Thompson far apart

By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

It took only a few minutes for those attending the League of Women Voters' candidate forum Wednesday night to see that the two candidates for councilor-at-large on the New Ulm City Council couldn't be further apart in their views about city government.

Squaring off were the current council president, Dan Beranek, and challenger, Ben Thompson, a New Ulm businessman. In answering questions from the audience, they quickly carved out their differing stances ranging from views on the effectiveness of tax increment financing to whether Wal-Mart should be allowed to build a supercenter in New Ulm.

Thompson quoted research that indicated TIFs do not provide the benefits that TIFs are supposed to deliver.

"The first premise is that TIF works; it does not. The second premise is that it is good for the community; it is not. Eventually, I would prefer not having it at all," Thompson said.

"TIF has been used in New Ulm numerous times with good results," Beranek countered. "With the new JOBZ, we probably won't be using TIF as much as JOBZ does essentially the same thing. The only difference is that JOBZ can only be used in certain zones; TIF can be used anywhere within an industrial area."

When Thompson countered that TIF isn't constitutional, Beranek said, "If New Ulm doesn't use it, other towns will (taking industries away from New Ulm)."

Beranek said the city being unable to develop more buildable lots "is perhaps my biggest disappointment. The biggest problem has been lack of land so lot development now is primarily through (private developers)."

"The basic business of government is to provide for public safety and to take care of infrastructure (like streets). It has no business providing any kind of housing for anybody," Thompson responded.

When asked if the city council shouldn't take opinion polls on issues such as what to do about Wal-Mart, Beranek responded, "I don't believe in polls so if it came in 51 percent or 60 percent, it wouldn't persuade me."

While admitting he has been "straddling the fence" on the Wal-Mart issue, Beranek said, "You can have Target come to town and nothing happens. Kmart comes to town and nothing happens. But have Wal-Mart come to town and everything goes boom!"

"All this anecdotal information about Wal-Mart destroying towns is just that -- nonsense. They wouldn't be in so many towns if they weren't an asset. We can't stifle free enterprise."

"If Wal-Mart came to town, they would just draw from local businesses," Beranek countered.

"The reason Wal-Mart wants to come to New Ulm is that a lot of people from New Ulm shop at Wal-Mart," Thompson said.

When asked what he saw for the future in New Ulm, Thompson said he hopes to see a push to abide by the U.S. Constitution.

"The principles of the Constitution gives local control to cities and towns."

"There are some things ahead of us that will require lots of dollars, and we may have to raise taxes. I don't believe the Constitution will help us with that," Beranek said.