City Council District 3 Candidate Maurice Stanley Says Downtown Lubbock Should Focus On Renovating Current Buildings [AUDIO]

On the Tuesday edition of The Chad Hasty Show, Lubbock City Council candidate Maurice Stanley talked with Chad Hasty about his campaign for City Council District 3.

One of the big local issues many candidates are speaking about is downtown redevelopment. Several ideas have been brought up to "revitalize" downtown, including the idea of a monorail.

While he was opposed to the monorail, Stanley said he was in support of renovating downtown. However, he also stressed that the focus should be on maintaining the buildings that are already there as opposed to spending taxpayer money on new ones. Stanley explained that, as a business owner on 34th street, he has seen plenty of businesses and city projects deteriorate from a lack of maintenance and eventually go away altogether.

"That is on the top of my list, is to maintain the infrastructure that we have...I'm a product of 34th Street. My family bought a home in that neighborhood on 25th Street in 1968, so basically it's been in our backyard for a long time. And I sat there and watched it just kind of deteriorate. I watched the Godeke Library go away. I am watching, and you are watching, and all of us are watching the drawing near of the end of City Bank Auditorium & Coliseum. It will go away. If you're going to keep these things, you have to put money into them. You have to maintain them. You have to keep them updated."

Stanley added that he was not opposed to city growth in southwest Lubbock, as some believe. He said the only thing he's against is letting city buildings deteriorate away due to negligence. He also stated that he would support a tax increase if the revenue went to repairing buildings.

Stanley also gave his thoughts on a number of other local issues, such as tornado sirens and a city-wide smoking ban. Listen to the complete interview with Maurice Stanley here: