POCATELLO — The turnout was strong Tuesday evening at Portneuf Valley Brewing in Pocatello, where the Portneuf Rotary Club was hosting a candidates forum for those running for Chubbuck mayor and city council.

On hand were all three mayoral candidates, Craig Brainard, Kevin England and Brent Marshall, as well as the seven candidates vying for two Chubbuck City Council seats up for election this year. They included incumbent Josh Ellis and challengers Doug Collier, Glen Cranor, Ryan Lewis, Jeff Mansfield, Craig Parrish and Earl Phippen.

England, also a City Council member whose seat is up for election this year, opted to run for mayor instead of seeking re-election.

The forum featured four questions of each candidate. Each candidate was given two minutes to respond to the first and one minute apiece to answer each of the other three questions. The candidates were first asked what they believed was the most important challenge facing Chubbuck in the next five years.

Among the most frequently given responses was the future growth of Chubbuck, and the need to manage that growth.

But the mayoral candidates each moved in somewhat different directions. Marshall, who spoke first, said fiscal responsibility was key, and finding ways to do more with the money on hand.

“There are ways we can save money without raising taxes,” he said. “I know we can go about fixing the things we need to fix without having to put a bigger burden upon the citizens.”

He also said the repair of Chubbuck’s roads was a top priority for him, something that had to be done prior to bringing new business into the city.

England said the city has already recognized the need to focus on street repair, and that a plan that will call for spending

$13 million dollars in that area over the next eight years has already been put in place.

He said the city is poised to take advantage during a strong economic upturn.

“Chubbuck is in a place that when the economy turns, we have things to offer people,” he said. “One of the main important things we have to show them is we have brought businesses in and we take care of the businesses that come here, and we will be promoting that. When things turn, you will be seeing some wonderful things happening in our community.”

Brainard, a 32-year-old welder at Premier Technology in Blackfoot, said he has personally struggled to find work locally that will support his family, adding that he has often had to seek that work outside of the state.

“The biggest issue facing Chubbuck is employment,” he said. We need to get better paying jobs into our local community.”

Ellis described the biggest challenge facing Chubbuck, its future growth, as being relative to whom one is talking to, from the typical nuclear family that is hot to have the latest and greatest stores and restaurants within reach, to the retired couple, living on a fixed income, that probably doesn’t care if those things are readily available.

What it comes down to, he said, is providing that quality of life each Chubbuck resident seeks in what he called guaranteed future growth. He said he believes he has the vision and ability to manage that growth in a way that will suit the conflicting desires of the overall population.

“Chubbuck is going to experience significant growth,” he said. “My record shows that you can do more with less.”

Cranor said he agreed with Marshall, that budgetary concerns are primary, but also acknowledged growth is imminent. But he said that growth needs to be managed to ensure the quality of life that is expected in Chubbuck.

“We have to make sure our communities are developed in a process and a manner that is family friendly, where our children can run through the street and park and enjoy life,” he said.

Collier said he sees the scarcity of resources as a prime challenge moving forward.

“I see that the greatest challenge that the new mayor and the council will have will be to work together and gain the confidence in each other in order to allocate and use those resources to the best of their ability,” he said.

Parrish touched on future growth in terms of retention of family, of giving Chubbuck’s children a place where they will want to remain and raise their children.

“But my kids are not staying here and my grandkids will not be here if there is not something for them to have and to do,” he said, adding that managing the future growth to include those opportunities that might be sought by Chubbuck’s children in other metropolitan areas is vital.

Mansfield, put it simply, that those in Chubbuck need to decide if they are in favor of or against substantial future growth.

“If we are for growth, we need to be logical and sensible about it and we need to plan for it,” he said.

Phippen said that not only is future, “sustainable growth and economic development,” the top challenges facing Chubbuck, but that it’s important to be able to, “communicate the vision and the plan for this sustainable, measurable, growth to the population.”

Lewis said the two challenges he sees, future growth and giving citizens of Chubbuck a greater value for their tax dollars are interconnected.

“There is a great desire to, one, get more for your money, and also a great desire to have increased commercial growth in the area,” he said. “I think those two things can go hand in hand. If we grow our commercial enterprises, we will grow our tax base.”

That increased tax base, he said, will help handle the increased costs of maintaining the city infrastructure and services without additional burden to the citizens.