The city has become accountable, it has become user-friendly and it's become open to the public and accessible. Abercrombie said the city needs to attract more businesses in order to broaden its tax base. He thinks the entrances to the city need to be cleaned up so that the first impression of Atwater is a good one. Heated discussions are not a problem, but when you take to jabbing people personally, you're out of order. Decorum seems to be a big issue and the people I talk to are very concerned about the current council's conduct.
Billings believes economic development is a key issue facing the city.
We need to make sure someone will work on improving business. We need to develop what we have. With UC Merced coming soon, Billings believes the city should be focusing on attracting businesses for its students and staff. Merced has been doing that in the past couple years. An incumbent, Duddy wants to see the improvements made in the past four years kept in place.