Mayor Elaine Ko and challenger Marcus Bell spent much of Thursday night’s final debate on the one subject both say will define the next decade in Port Avalon: the harbour, and the billions of dollars it needs.
Ko defended her administration’s plan to fund dredging and new container berths through a public-private partnership with the Avalon Port Authority. “We have a partner willing to put in private capital so that taxpayers don’t carry it alone,” she said.
Bell, who chaired the harbour commission until last year, said the deal hands too much control to private operators. “When the profits are private and the risks are public, residents lose,” he said, drawing the loudest applause of the night from the audience at the Lowmarsh Community Center.
The two candidates were closer on housing, both promising to double the city’s affordable housing fund, though neither said precisely how they would pay for it.
An independent poll released Wednesday by Avalon State University showed the race within the margin of error.
