State Rep. Hopefuls Spar on Radio

State Rep 87th House District Candidate Forum
WBCH Radio 101.1 FM - July 6, 2006

This was done live as it happened and I’m a bad typist so please forgive spelling and grammatical mistakes, incoherant and unformed sentences. These are my interpretations of what was said and by no means meant to be a verbatim quote or transcript of the debate, but I tried to get the gist of what each was saying (or not saying). (Pol Watcher’s comments and snide remarks are inside parenthesis and belong solely to me and should not be confused for words or thoughts of politicians being paraphrased)

Introductions

I came in late so I missed the first minute or so...

Susan Vlietstra- says corporate & nonprofit and local economic development experience helps her.

Jim Bailey- brags on being respoonsible for taxpayer dollars (for what I think on that issue, see my previous post on Small Government Consultants when he was Chairman of the Barry County Board), wants to go to Lansing to emphasize jobs & economic development to make Michigan business-friendly environment and relieve tax burden through changes/elimination of single business & personal property

Doug Kahlbach- trade union member who has worked on 340 steel buildings. We do have good paying jobs in state. The problem is non-resident workers taking good jobs. He cites as example Barry County ethanol plant with out of state workers’ cars in parking lot. SBT not biggest issue with small business- INSURANCE!! kills working man. (He’s got that one right)

Wade Trombley- public service is honor and priviledge, is not part of political establishment, small business owner who runs business. Wants to change state economic focus from manufacturing to small business. Cites stat that says state ranks 46th in small business creation. Current reps have dropped ball. Election offers clear, distinct choice- let another politician whose for special interest do job or hire somebody who will fix mess.

Tom Lower- Christian, pro life, pro family, pro Michigan (as opposed to all the Anti-Michigan people in the race!), insurance one of biggest job killers (at he gets it on that issue), lifetime NRA member, farmer, pro-small business, also runs other businesses to pay bills, spent 13 years in state government, doesn’t need PAC or spec. interest money (wouldn’t get it anyway, but I admire him beating up on Calley).

Brian Reynolds- owns surveying company, encouraged to run by local Republicans, believe Gov. best run from middle of political spectrum not from ends. (Big awkward pause here- was he told time was up? I don’t know but he sure didn’t take advantage of opportunity here. He gave great answer about running from middle but then ceded mic to next guy)

Brian Calley- commercial banker most of last 11 yeears, makes loan to businesses. Issues are health care costs, energy, economy, shrinking markets (supposedly) caused by TAX policy and regulatory policy (Ugh. Ripped that anwer right from the Chamber of Commerce/Mackinac Center talking points). Michigan tax rate not different from neighboring states but type of tax is different. Tax policy rewards bad behavior, punishes good. SBT hurts by punishing companies who provide insurance
redefine govt., wants son to have same opportunity he’s had (Don’t we all! He sure doesn’t get it when it comes to SBT which surely could be tweaked to make it less of a jobs killer but like Dick DeVos he wants to kill it and do WHAT to replace it?)

Mark Doster- (he’s still running?) Lives on Doster Road in Doster, Michigan- pioneer family, plays piano, law degree from Cooley- public defender work gave him best idea of what problems are in county- drugs, sex abuse, etc. Saw underbelly of society and problems. (Then gives cute anecdote from political background but, as he often does in this debate, fails to really make any use of it besides showing a folksy charm)

First question on Unicameral (Is this the biggest issue in the race, Dave McIntyre?)

Bailey- goes first, against Unicameral, lived in Nebraska, says to compare Michigan would need another 100 legislators to have same representation percentage as Neb. Says term limits a mistake (will he do anything about it?), says Unicameral is part of same anger but not right way to send message (so WHAT is, Jim?).

Kahlnbach- Mentions outsourcing means less population (thought he was going to make a great point about GOP being for outsourcing workers but not themselves but he didn’t, instead I was just kind of confused by what he was trying to suggest). Says he was FOR but now can’t change (sounded like he wanted to but once again he confounded me- I think he was going for the Doster folksy charm vibe here).

Trombley- supports putting it on ballot, PRO debating it but not sure if for or against.

Lower- issues from citizens via ballot necessary- let them have voice not ruled by special interests, mentions work around House and Senate, would vote NO, need two chambers to balance out each other and kill bad bills.

Reynolds- strongly FOR due to cost savings and creating more transparency in government. Need to get rid of conference committees where real work gets done behind closed doors outside of public view but where lobbyists still get a say. (He has this totally spot on- conference committees are a democracy KILLER and people need to wake up and DO something)

Calley- Democracy good, this thing bad. Says bicameral system cuts down on more laws, if one chamber eliminated laws would be easier to pass. He wants govt. to be innefficient at passing new laws (unless they’re tax breaks or curbs on personal medical freedom in the form of abortion of family planning services).

Doster- not thrilled by Fire the Senate proposal, Founding Fathers set up two branches for a reason (I thought it the compromise to not piss off small states, but I’m not history major)- House as immediate short term reps with Senate protected by longer terms where they use own education and guidance to lead. Checks and balances important, would not save money, House would need more staff, better chance of corruption- big money could come in and buy 87th House seat (it hasn’t already? look acorss the table, Mark!), unfair to compare Michigan to Nebraska

Vlietstra- generally against- need to double size of House to compare to Nebraska, cites California and says it works well but then moves on (huh? If California works well with less reps per person then why not here?), against Fire the Senate due to fact it seeks to eliminate branch with longest term and institutional memory (does this mean she’s against term limits then?), likes consolidating services and make things lean but this is not the way.

McIntyre steps in to defend Bailey from Trombley charge but then moves on. Who’s side is Dave on? (I think we know)

Land use and farm question phrased very vaguely. Basically- should we pay farmers to not sell land to developers?

Kahlbach- has farm in Nashville but can’t afford to farm with gas prices but still sells little bit of hay, wants old developments fixed, Brownfields redone which creates jobs and doesn’t develop rural country (very good answer, Doug!), farmers need money and often have no choice but to sell little corner of weeds. Has union job to pay health ins. & retirement since farming doesn’t provide that.

Lower- He’s a farmer too. Beef and farm acreage. Farmers need retirement. Seen plans where farmer get MORE money ( is he for more subsidies? Isn’t he the Libertarian??!!!), Farmers need jobs- E85 plant is great and corn need from ethanol plant will help local farmers. From NO ZONING county- people have right to do as they wish but govt. needs to help so they don’t need money.

Reynolds- not in favor of new legislation to control development. Subdivision control act of 1969 compounded problem (finally someone cites law and has knowledge of issue and history!!! Who says this guy can’t or shouldn’t win? He’s the ONLY one who cited any previous law except Proposal A during the whole debate!). This law made defacto 10 acres as standard building site and didn’t control sprawl but fueled it. Legislation can backfire, regulation NOT answer (great answer!).

Calley- agrees with Reynolds (see, even he agrees). Legislative action by state govt. backfires. Best way to keep farm as farm can be market forces (Oh, God. Alan Greenspan is going to win this election). Energy security and food security are similar, intertwined (Hey, I agree with him on this one!). Most farmers would rather farm than to sell if they make decent living. Brownfield dev. awesome answer, cites exp. as banker BUT development is CHOICE. (Short version: development bad, government worse?)

Doster- served on Prairieville Twp. board of appeals, County planning & zoning boards- can be handled at LOCAL level, state isn’t smart enough to handle such a complex issue with competing issues- Detroit and suburbs need different answer (Good summation of problem addressing more legilation in my view). Went on farmland preservation tour out East. Property has to be assessed at highest and best use. Proposes differnt classes of agricultural land. LOWER taxes on farmland, give them a choice to put property in TRUE AG class where smallest lot is 40 or 80 acres and TAX at much lower rate. He suggests picking up revenue loss from large homes on lakes since taxes lowered must be raised elsewhere (He’s right, can we fax this to every member of the state GOP). Inheritance tax worst for farms (apparently he doesn’t know this only affects multi-millionaires, this bad answer pretty much negates the good answer he gave).

Vliestra- we do have local level working on issue here in Barry County, against special interest work to get law repealed, maintain rural environment in planning and zoning, from planning & zoning county (big smackdown to Ionia- that you No-Zoning Yahoos! Guess Vlietstra has written off your votes!)- NEED regional planning, put proper planning in place, cites Thornapple developer wanted to put in stuff at boundary needed too many services which was won in lawsuit by Twp., farmers need other options, local group of farming interests working on issue (Once again, she gave one of her best answers here- she seemed more informed on this than other issues).

Bailey- (“Jim” according to Dave McIntyre) Make farming profitable (They could grow hemp!). Still things to do. Concern with what govt. is doing. Mentions PDRs and TDRs- what happens to ground if not profitable- tax money used to reserve land that isn’t profitable and then not developable- what happens? Supports personal property rights, not anti-zoning (once again Ionia County gets disses), local county can be counter-productive in local zoning, cites previous mention size restrictions (fails to mention Reynolds- no hard feelings, eh Jim?).

Sales tax, TAXES & Prop A. Fewer dollars to schools. Solution to funding for schools.

Calley- school taxes predicated on economic growth (even if income or other tax), solution is how to get people back to work- which is to lift REGULATION (cough cough, more pollution), stop punishing business (SBT I think he means- more talking points from the Chamber of Commerce).

Doster- education probably #1 service state can provide and is currently underfunded probably due to Prop A although it was good to make taxes predictable but left schools short. Fairest tax in his opinion is sales tax (which overly affects poor but he says rich buy more so BOO HOO you poor suckers!). Sounds like he wants FOOD sales TAXED! (That will go ever real well!) Education eliminates crime (damn, right again, Mark)! Kids need good job prospects or they’ll break into your house. When children are left behind they have no future but crime. Better funding- sales tax- easiest and fairest way to do it.

Vlietstra- keep housing affordable. As local govt. official sees people needing hardship assistance due to prop. taxes. People buy new homes because realtors give them old tax figure but it gets uncapped, goes up and they can’t pay taxes. Don’t mess with property taxes- next gen can’t own houses which will hurt economy. Look for revenue- are we maximizing revenue- collecting all sales tax- Michigan is in middle of state sales tax and should not be raised, it’s tax on poor and middle class who buy STAPLES (take that, Doster). Has no solution but to look for more revenue. Make schools accountable for budgets (More pay to play!).

Bailey- (sounds like guy from fake ketchup commercicals on Prairie Home Companion- vote for the guy with lycopene!). Per student funding doubled in 10 years. He has lots (and lots... and lots) of kids so education is important. We are paying for world class education (shouldn’t we be? Huh?). How much more do we need? More spent on TRADES, less on ABCs. Must fix economy and that will fix other issues- roads, funding, etc.

Doug K- when we all make decent living wage we don’t mind taxes to pay for police, fire, programs for weak and defenseless. Can see where taxes go but not INSURANCE premiums. Tax breaks go to factories which STILL CLOSE and go to China. (GREAT ANSWER!)

Wade Trombley- system is broken, don’t tamper with Prop A or add auto-increase, cites Reagan: People aren’t taxed too little, gov spends too much. No accountability (I thought citiens voting for school board who hires administrators who hire teachers was our accountability- do we blame voters? Actually, I kind of do! How many people vote for school board?!). Sends daughter to private parochial school which spends 1/3rd what public schools spend (because they don’t have to take handicapped, special needs, non-English speaking immigrants, etc.). LOVES vouchers as cure for poor and underperforming schools (in fact it would kill them, Wade- that’s the whole point of vouchers). Schools still based on agrarian society which let kids out for summer- reform that (Actually, I agree here- summer vacation doesn’t make much sense to me unless it’s to save on cooling costs but are these much higher than costs of lights plus heat in winter?).

Lower- agrees with Wade and Bailey. School spending still increases as jobs decrease. Prop A GOOD and WORKING. Administration in schools- some of highest paid in local counties are administrators. Teachers union employees make more than teachers (bashing teachers union always a good move for the politician looking to score cheap points with public- my accountant makes more than me even though I’m “paying” him to work for me- I think the real point is anti-union which is part of same old same old crap that got us where we are).

Reynolds- PROP A doesn’t need to be altered, schools not collecting all entitled to under Prop A, resort property owners from out of state who claim homestead exemption when non entitled, find homestead exemption cheaters which will fund schools. (Once again, too short an answer- even if Reynolds thinks this is the cure to all our funding woes surely he could have rebutted some of the previous points with his time- then again, he might have been getting the wrap up sign from Dave since right after he cuts in to say time is running out).

Time almost up- Wrap up

Bailey- resident of Barry County, best interest and desire of district. Cites age and experience. (Short answer)

Kahlbach- farmer, union worker, biker, etc. Non residents not paying fair share, taking jobs in contruction of Charlotte hospital. Non residents pay 9 times more for deer permit, should pay 9 times more taxes. Businesses hiring non-citizens should pay 9 times more for unemployment insurance. (I may not like all his answers, but his populist spirit sure does score points with me!)

Trombley- Founding Fathers envisioned citizen reps., not special interests. He’s not a politician who will represent special interests. Clear choice for state rep- can elect politician or citizen.

Lower- Says that “this is a good room of people,” all represent 90% same consituents, voters needs to look at candidate who will rep them IN LANSING not special interests, go to website electtomlower.com and give money to support him.

Reynolds- Vote for me or at least just vote August 8 since primary is where action is. (Another short answer.)

Calley- brown noses candidates. system is broken due to negative partisian politics, two party discussions go through media, will break cycle of revenge and hatred, true statesmen like Bob Bender who work with other side (fails to mention Newell- distancing in progress?!). Look at how campaign is run- focus on merits of campaign (OUCH! Shot at Bailey!), won’t focus on negative or tear down others in literature (BLAM!), ads or paper. Special interests on his campaign like Farm Bureau, Right to Life PAC- proud to have help from them (easy to take high road when you’ve got ALL the money).

Doster- echo Reynolds: vote in PRIMARY not just general- primary is where vote is at for most offices locally. (Guess this explains the party switching- can’t blame him I guess)

Vlietstra- She’s an election official. Agrees with Mark on primaries. Normally 15-20% turnout in primary, ordered 75% ballots (Stuffing the box, Susan? Joking! Although, if someone wants to look into that...). Managed small business, works in local govt but just a citizen chosen by fellow citizens to manage local govt. Go to susan4rep.com and send email which she checks every day (along with cjecing to see what I had to say about her campaign that day?) or stop at office to see her. Whatever you do- VOTE.

Dave M. thanks candidates and asks people to vote August 8.
DEADLINE FOR REGISTERING FOR PRIMARY IS JULY 10!!!!!!!!