City and USD 383 candidates discuss tax policy, education

All candidates were invited, but only five attended.

“We’ve got some wonderful candidates who are running for USD 383 and Manhattan City Commission,” Riley County Democrats vice chair Brennan Walter said. “This is a non-partisan election, technically, but we all know that we as Democrats have to do a good job of voting good people to local office.”

McCulloh said she intends to focus on four areas of need in her campaign.

“Every time we go to a summit, chamber retreat or needs assessments we put all these stickers on the board, and we come up with the same four things: mental health, housing, childcare and transportation,” McCulloh said. “We are doing nothing to really make those things work.”

Knightley said he wants the city to invest more effectively if he were to serve.

“There is a lot of opportunity in Manhattan to make things a bit more efficient,” Knightley said. “What I’m going to say is the nerdy boring stuff. Dealing with accounting and financing is a key focus. How are we securing our financing? Where is it coming from? Do we need to adjust tax policy to accommodate that financing or do we need to adjust how we spend?”

Adamchak said she intends to help new residents and support organizations that rely on volunteers.

“I’m running because I saw what this community can do to support strangers coming into their community and to welcome strangers,” Adamchak said. “It also gave me a tapered look into those organizations that are operating on a shoestring and that the city commission thinks can do all their work on volunteer labor and donations from Grow Green.”

Rodriguez spoke about the importance of investing in clean and renewable energy.

“One of my main things is technology and infrastructure,” Rodriguez said. “I’m more focused on renewable energy, and that has been my thing for the last five years.”

Allen was the only school board candidate in attendance. She spoke about her background in education and how she should use that experience as a school board member.

“Manhattan schools are doing well with early learning, but we have opportunities to improve,” Allen said. “We need to change the perspective of ‘It’s just childcare,’ to ‘How can we bring in opportunities for kids to engage with their peers, to learn about colors and learn about numbers?’”