The April 8 election is fast approaching and candidates for Springfield City Council are continuing to campaign for voter support. In the General A council race, incumbent Heather Hardinger is being challenged by Eric Pauly.

Hardinger has held the General A seat since 2021. She works as the director of consumer experience at CoxHealth, where she was hired as chief diversity officer in 2021. Pauly has served as a Planning & Zoning Commissioner for the past three years. He is also the former president of the Phelps Grove Neighborhood Association.

Why Eric Pauly thinks voters should choose him

Pauly highlighted his experiences both as a neighborhood leader and P&Z commissioner as his biggest strengths. With a large portion of the items council reviews coming from P&Z, he said his years of experience evaluating zoning cases will provide beneficial insight.

"A lot of it comes down to experience and engagement — and the experience would be through working through the neighborhood association and neighbors, you know, trying to find consensus on different issues and making those things work for everybody," he said.

Why Heather Hardinger thinks voters should choose her

In an email, Hardinger said her approach to the elected position is both people-centered and policy-driven, combining commitment to the well-being of the community with experience navigating complex systems from health care to economic development.

"I’ve built a reputation for listening to diverse voices and working collaboratively to move us forward," she said. "Voters can trust that I show up, do the work, and never forget who I’m here to serve."

Where they stand on neighborhood, developer tensions

Conflict between neighborhoods and developers has frequently taken center stage in the recent controversies council has encountered. Some higher profile cases, including plans for the northwest corner of National Avenue and Sunshine Street in University Heights or the recent Chimney Rock subdivision in Galloway , have highlighted the tensions that surround certain proposals.

To ease these tensions and give way for more productive collaboration, Pauly said he'd like to see different stakeholders, particularly neighborhoods, be a part of the process earlier on to allow for agreement and negotiation before proposals head to a public hearing. Likewise, he said all neighborhoods should have a neighborhood plan that can better facilitate development.

Hardinger's ideas for improvement center on creating changes to the process to build more transparency and trust and invite collaboration instead of conflict. She also agreed that conversations need to happen earlier and with more intention by setting clearer expectations and grounding decisions in values like walkability, housing affordability, and quality of life.

"We need to stop treating this as an either/or situation — supporting neighborhoods and supporting growth are not mutually exclusive," she said.

Both Pauly and Hardinger voted against the most recent University Heights proposal. Pauly also voted against the Chimney Rock subdivision, while Hardinger, like most of her council colleagues, voted in support. Hardinger said in every decision she focuses on fairness and bringing people together and giving way for meaningful dialogue. She noted each proposal must be evaluated on its own merits, transparently to the public, and looked at through the lens of community impact and the comprehensive plan.

In weighing those decisions, Pauly said he considers if the proposal is meeting today's needs while also setting the city up for growth in the future.

"The whole idea of any particular candidate either being pro-development or anti-development, I think that's the wrong way to look at it," he said. "I think that what we need to keep in mind is that development is going to happen, but we have to be intelligent about it. We have to make sure that what we're doing today sets us up for success in the future as well."

Pauly noted his campaign is also focused on ensuring all voices can be equally heard, facilitating a conversation with all, regardless of their stance.

Marta Mieze covers local government at the News-Leader. Have feedback, tips or story ideas? Contact her at [email protected].