POCATELLO — A referendum on the city ordinance to protect members of the LGBT community drew responses from candidates vying for Pocatello council and mayor  in next month’s election during a debate held Thursday night.

    Dr. Henry Evans served as moderator as all the candidates for Pocatello mayor and City Council seats, except for seat 4 and seat 6 candidates, Barbara Pancoast and Charlene Young, shared their goals for the Gate City during the debate hosted by the Pocatello Branch of the NAACP.

    Pancoast is one of four candidates challenging incumbent Craig Cooper for seat 4. Young is the only candidate challenging seat 6 candidate Gary Moore. All Pocatello residents can vote in any seat race on the council when Nov. 5 arrives.

    Mayoral candidates Brian Blad, Roger Chase, Paul Shepard and Sierra “Idaho Lorax” Carta started the evening and addressed the anti-discrimination ordinance as well as questions concerning making Pocatello more attractive for residents and businesses, water needs, communication and cooperation among local political entities.

    The anti-discrimination ordinance was passed by the city council on a 4-2 vote in June. Councilmen Cooper and Jim Johnston voted against it and Roger Bray, Moore, Steve Brown and Eva Nye voted for it. Only Cooper, Bray and Moore are up for election Nov. 5.

    When asked Thursday night, mayoral candidates Chase, Shepard and Carta all said they support it. Incumbent Mayor Brian Blad, who broke a tie to kill the ordinance when it first came up for a vote last April, dodged a direct answer initially.

    “We’re all God’s children,” Blad said. “I think it’s a shame it ever came up.” The mayor said he opposes discrimination of any kind. When pressed by the moderator, the mayor said he had concerns that the ordinance might not be enforceable, but as mayor he would support the measure passed by the City Council.

    In expressing his support for the anti-discrimination ordinance, Chase said the challenge is defeating the fear some people in the community have about “special rights.”

    “None of that ever comes true when rights are extended,” Chase said.

    City employee Shepard also addressed the needs to treat everyone equally when it comes to employment, housing and public accommodations.

    “Everyone is the same,” Shepard said. “We should all have the same rights.”

    Carta said individual rights have not been supported in Pocatello and that protections need to be on the books.

    City Council candidates were asked the same question and whether they support having the ordinance issue on a May ballot.

    Seat 4 incumbent Cooper reiterated his concerns for the reason he voted against the ordinance in June.

    “My feeling is it’s a flawed ordinance,” Cooper said. He said he doesn’t believe in discrimination and has family members who belong to the LGBT community, but he dislikes the ordinance as written. He supports having the issue on a ballot.

    His opponents attending the debate, Amy Manning, Mark Villano and Kevin Perry all said they object to discrimination and support the ordinance that was passed, but agreed that putting the issue before the voters will resolve the debate.

    “I agree that people should be able to vote on something important,” Perry said.

    Villano said he believes the vote will help people in favor of the ordinance and criticized Cooper for not backing the city’s legal department after they spent months drafting the law.

    Seat 5 incumbent Bray said he strongly defends passage of the ordinance even if it isn’t perfect. He also supported the right for the public to weigh in on a vote, but he worries about a misinformation campaign prior to the May primary.

    “I hope people vote as informed voters,” Bray said.

    His opponent, Michael Orr, said he is against discrimination, “but I’m grateful for government where people can vote.”

    Seat 6 incumbent Gary Moore said he feels good about his past support for the ordinance and he hopes the community sees it as a move forward.

    “When you vote on the council you know if what you’re doing is right,” Moore said.

    On the issue of making the city more attractive, all of the candidates pointed toward a need to better enforce city codes regarding weeds, trash and abandoned vehicles.

    Blad said the city does need to get more aggressive with “the weed police.”

    Chase pointed out that during Blad’s term in office the incumbent didn’t restore a position that had been cut for code enforcement. Blad reminded Chase that the position was cut while Chase was mayor.

    When it comes to bringing more business and jobs to Pocatello, all the candidates saw it as a priority.

    Chase said he would make sure people work together to achieve common goals.

    “You need a lot of ideas to have good ideas,” Chase said, adding the city must work closely with Idaho State University and local development agencies to draw more jobs to Pocatello.

    Blad agreed that the city needed to pool talent with ISU and work together.

    “We need to let our citizens sell Pocatello,” Blad said.

    Shepard said the city needs a more positive outlook and he would set the bar for service by reducing his mayor’s pay and freezing it for four years and raise it only if the citizens thought he had done a good job.

    Carta said the empty buildings and “for sale” signs in town symbolize a problem. He pushed the need to clean up slag that was used in the alleys and some playgrounds in Pocatello warning about the radioactive dangers.

    Candidates for mayor and council were given time for closing statements to sell themselves.

    “I promise to do my best,” Shepard said.

    “I’m here to save lives,” Carta said. “The quickest and fastest way to do it is become mayor.”

    “I will be involved,” Blad said. “It’s time to move Pocatello forward.”

    Chase said it was important to learn lessons from the past and understand that progress has involved a lot of people with an understanding of the town’s heritage.

    “I’m worried about the slow recovery of Pocatello,” Chase said, pointing to the city’s 7.8 percent unemployment rate.

    On the council side, Manning said, “I have a lot of energy and a lot of enthusiasm, but I also have a lot of experience.”

    “I think we’ve made some great progress,” Bray said.

    “I think I make good decisions on your behalf,” Moore said.

    Villano said he wants to boost the city’s infrastructure, complete the Greenway and improvement cooperation with ISU.

    Cooper said he wants to continue to be the conservative voice on the council.

    “I think everything should be questioned,” Cooper said.

    Orr said it’s time for change on the city council and he would bring his technical and international business experience to the city.

    “I’m not a politician,” Perry said. “People asked me to run.”