But how are they different? Please be stark, a news media panelist asked them both at a forum at the Caras Park Pavilion on Thursday evening.
Thank you for asking, the candidates told the panelists and an audience of barely 50 people who attended the forum.
She also has almost 10 years on the City Council compared with Engen's almost four years. That means, she said, she has more experience in human relationships and in civic life, and she's learned what works and what doesn't.
"I want to bring a new day to City Hall," she said.
Engen had an answer for that.
"Lou Ann has 20 years on me, but I believe this election is about quality, not quantity," he said.
He has experience as a minimum-wage employee, as the manager of a 24-hour-a-day department of 40 people and as a business owner who's responsible for paying someone else before he pays himself. He's used to making hard decisions in situations that aren't popular.
"And I have an ethic of service," he said. "I believe that's what a leader does."
Crowley and Engen were the top two winners in a field of six candidates in the city primary election Sept. 13. Crowley's close win over third-place finisher Geoff Badenoch was affirmed last Friday in a recount.
Thursday's was the first forum since the field was narrowed to two. The two were cordial with each other but firm about their positions and light-hearted enough to make the audience laugh.
A panel of six people representing television, radio and newspaper news and the sponsoring Missoula Downtown Association board alternated with audience members asking questions for two hours. The event was moderated by Rod Austin of the MDA board.
One panelist asked the candidates what the most important, hot-button issue was for each.
Saving open space to look at, walk in, share and pass to our children, Engen said.
"I think the time is now to pass another open space bond," he said.
Giving a voice to people and involving them in decisions that affect them, Crowley said.
"The hot-button issue for me is to create an open and accessible government," she said.
Neither candidate favors combining the city police and county sheriff's departments in a new justice building on Mullan Road near the jail, though both favor cooperation between the two.
"We want the police to stay downtown," said Crowley, speaking for herself and her constituents in her Ward 3. "I do not favor their moving."
Engen agreed.
"There's a cultural reason, too," he said. "We want the police to interact with other parts of government. We don't want their headquarters to be an island."
However, he said, as the city grows, satellite police stations could help officers do their jobs more efficiently.
Both candidates said Missoula's recent violent incidents downtown at night and the perceived dangers of downtown at night will require immediate and multifaceted responses.
Downtown needs officers on foot, Crowley said. Citizens have to call and report problems. And the community has to work with schools and other agencies to identify and help young people who might grow violent.
"We can't just do one thing," she said.
The city added six new officers this year, Engen said, who are needed in the growing city.
"Our officers tell us the best way we can provide safe streets, safe parks, safe neighborhoods is to have officers on the street watching," he said.
Missoula has one of the most progressive police departments in the Northwest, he said. But the problem also requires neighbors working in partnership.
Neither candidate favors a panhandling or loitering ordinance for downtown. All that would do, Crowley said, is push people into other parts of the city. It wouldn't address their problems.
Such ordinances, Engen said, rarely hold up in court. He favors the Downtown Association program he worked on several years ago, Real Change Not Spare Change, in which people were encouraged to give money to agencies that help people with meals and shelter instead of giving money to panhandlers.
The approach to relieving Reserve Street traffic snarls will lie in alternative transportation, Crowley said.
"We need to develop other ways to get around Missoula," she said. "We need to lessen congestion by beefing up our options."
New subdivisions should be on the Mountain Line bus routes, she said. Missoula needs to try ideas like "zip cars," which are available at a central location, like a parking commission, for people who get to town in a van pool.
"We have to be innovative and creative about the way we approach transportation," she said.
That's all good, Engen said, "But we still have a lot of people who are going to make the trip in those cars."
Much of the answer will lie in fully developing the street grids throughout the city, not just near Reserve Street, he said. Missoula needs to move ahead with the Russell Street improvement project to make it a viable route.
"The worst thing we can do is just add another two lanes to Reserve Street," Engen said. "We'll just have two more lanes of bumper-to-bumper traffic."
Engen is owner of Engen Creative and co-owner of Wide World of Travel and represents Ward 1 on the City Council.
Crowley works for Adventure Cycling and represents Ward 3.
The general election will be held Nov. 8.
Reporter Ginny Merriam can be reached at 523-5251 or at gmerriam@missoulian.com
|
 |
 |
Add your comment now! Write your comment in the form below.
(Email address is for verification only. If you'd like to email a story, look for the link above)