Joe Petry, Deb Feinen and Karen Foster are all running for mayor of Champaign. They all advocate change for Champaign. They even have similar visions of what needs to change in Champaign. They just differ on the vehicle to achieve that change.

“I think you’ll find we’re a pretty respectful group,” Feinen said. “You won’t hear us talking about each other.”

The Republican Women of Champaign County hosted a forum of mayoral candidates Tuesday afternoon at the Champaign County Republican Headquarters. The event was a public forum, designed to allow members of the media and community to pose questions to candidates for mayoral office. While the Champaign mayoral election is technically nonpartisan, all of the candidates present at the forum said they represented the ideals of the Republican Party. Current Champaign Mayor Don Gerard was not in attendance.

The forum consisted of questions posed by the public to the mayoral candidates. Each candidate was given a minute to respond to each question and allowed an introduction to speak on their background, why they wanted to run for mayor and their goals for Champaign.

Some of the key issues the public posed were ensuring economic growth in Champaign, what role the city plays in determining the location of the new Champaign Central High School, how to address the recent violence, how to better accommodate the non-English speaking and deaf or hard of hearing population of Champaign and how to improve poll numbers and unify the Republican vote.

Petry, professor of Economics at the University, said his main concern for Champaign is economic growth. In his view, if the economy grows, the rest of the problems the city faces will be easier to solve.

Petry also stressed that the University is the “economic engine of the community.” He emphasized how the addition of a medical school would be a great thing for the community because of the jobs it would provide. He also stressed the importance of transparency in the government, and the goal to move Champaign toward a “micro-urban community.”

While Feinen admitted there were “lots of similarities” between her policies and the policies of her Republican opponents, she said her small business experience combined with her time spent working in the local government as a Champaign City Council member-at-large sets her apart from the opposition.

“Being a lawyer, I work on negotiations everyday, all day long,” she said. “I think that’s very important.”

Also, whereas Petry sees the future of Champaign in economic growth, Feinen sees it in broadband.

“We have a $30 million asset in the ground in this community,” Feinen said. “We need to be leveraging it for economic development.”

Champaign City Council Member-at-Large Foster, also a pre-school founder and teacher, stressed the importance of collaboration between different branches of the local government. She said collaboration is necessary to address the recent violence in Champaign.

“The great thing that’s happened in the last four years is that Urbana, Champaign and the U of I are doing so much more collaboration together — that’s huge,” Foster said. “I want to see our community continue to work together in those areas.”

The three candidates came together to express their hope to defeat incumbent Mayor Gerard and stressed the importance of a high turnout on voting day.

Foster said all three of the candidates in attendance were good choices for Champaign’s next mayor and a high turnout would ensure victory for one of them.

“If we have a significant number of people who are like-minded, one of the three of us is going to win,” Feinen said. “Frankly, I think the city would be well served with any of the three of us.”

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