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Carpenter faces Zecca in District 5

PARKERSBURG — Incumbent City Councilman J.R. Carpenter, a Democrat, is being challenged by Republican Lisa Zecca for the District 5 seat.

Elected in 2012, Carpenter said he’s learned from his first term.

“I bring back some experience. I’ve gotten more in-depth in how to operate and how we’re supposed to operate,” he said. “There is a certain amount of waste I see, and I’d like to stop that waste.”

Carpenter said he wants to eliminate the floodwall fee and “safely reduce” the police or fire fee.

“It’s not all about cut, cut, cut — it’s cut wisely,” he said. “We don’t want the city operating paycheck to paycheck.”

Carpenter said he thinks the city can consolidate three aging fire stations into one or two locations without losing jobs or hurting response time. But he’s not sure a bond issue is the best way to pay for it.

“We don’t need to totally borrow this money,” he said.

Zecca said she “fell in love” with the city before her family moved here more than two years ago and wants to “be part of the solution.”

“I’m an excellent listener. It’s certainly something I need to do every day with my regular job,” she said. “I’m able to make decisions quickly, using good judgment.”

Cutting fees on citizens is something Zecca said she would like to do, if it’s feasible.

“I’m always so conservative when there’s extra money,” she said. If revenue projections are off and too much is cut, “we could potentially sabotage the financial health of the city.”

Zecca said she supports a bond to fund replacement of the older fire stations.

“Sometimes you have to invest in the community in order to improve the quality,” she said.

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