BY PAUL KAMPE
Clarkston News Staff Writer
The Clarkston News asked the candidates in the Aug. 8 primary election for their thoughts on issues that affect their potential constituents.
The following questions were asked: What is the biggest issue facing our community (your district) and what’s the solution? What are your views on our community’s growth and development and on large retailers moving to the area? What is your opinion on the K-16 Coalition for Michigan’s Future November ballot issue? Do you feel that the Single Business Tax (SBT) should or should not be repealed and why? What is the ideal role for community journalism?

The candidates for State Representative in the 44th District are Mark Venie, John Stakoe and Andrew Goss.

Mark Venie, 12445 Shaffer Road, Davisburg, is 51 has a family of five and is Democrat.
1. The biggest issue facing our community is job growth. That is why we need a democratic majority in the legislature to pass Governor Granholm’s ‘Jobs today, jobs tomorrow? program.
2.Our community’s growth and development depends on the success of locally owned businesses. Large retailers, such as Walmart, do more harm than good for the local economy. They put local retailers out of business, drain money away from the local economy, and they do not provide an increase in jobs for the community.
3.The K-16 ballot initiative should be passed to ensure that funding for education keeps pace with inflation.
4.The SBT should not be repealed. Michigan has the lowest business taxes in the Midwest. The SBT has been a very stable source of tax revenue for the state. The stability of the STB encourages business investment and helps make business planning and operating decisions easier. It is irresponsible (for) Republicans to repeal the SBT without a plan to replace the lost revenue. Essential services in education and health care will suffer severe cuts because of this.
5.The community journalist should inform on community activities, future development, and the impact of national and state events on the community.

John P. Stakoe, P.O. Box 763, Highland is 54, has a family of four and is a Republican. He has a bachelor of science degree and master of arts degree, both from Eastern Michigan University His politcal experience inlcudes: Elected Supervisor of The Charter Township of Highland in 1996 and re-elected in 2002; elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 2002 and re-elected in 2004; serving as Assistant Majority Floor Leader of the House and Chair of Local Government and Urban Policy; and serving on Judiciary, Tax Policy and Conservation.
1.Western Oakland County has undergone extensive growth over the past decade placing large demands on the local units to provide additional services and build new infrastructure. Add to the mix declining state revenue, forcing cuts to local revenue sharing, townships and cities find meeting the demands generated by growth are becoming increasingly difficult. We need to prioritize revenue sharing to return local dollars; maintaining a fiscally tight budget can do this. (The past two years the House has submitted budgets at or under the rate of inflation to the governor.) In addition, I passed legislation at the end of 2005 freeing up $40 million in available dollars to provide grants to local units for engineering and planning of projects. Also, continuing to one chance. The key is careful planning and providing a current and reasonable master plan. The unfortunate side however, is that the courts are now handling many of these decisions. That is why it paramount for a comprehensive and updated plan and adhering to the plan. I have been working with the State Planning Association and State Bar for the past year developing legislation to try to curb the contentious litigation.
3.There are many areas of the budget that have been severely limited over the past four years due to static revenues to the state. The Community Health budget is one of the fastest growing line items approaching 11 billion dollars. Should hospitals ask for greater increases in Medicaid reimbursements? Should townships place a proposal restoring the 33% cut in revenue sharing? That said, placing a proposal on the ballot that mandates spending is ill advised. It opens a dangerous door. The current budget increased K-12 spending by 300 million and the proposed next budget by $400 million.
4.The single business tax does everything you don’t want a tax to do. It must be paid when you lose money, you pay more when you hire personnel and you pay more for providing benefits. Get rid of the tax, it is hurting business in this state. The tax should be replaced, but also some relief must be provided to the business community. I do not subscribe to the administrations position that every dollar needs to be replaced. The Detroit Chamber of Commerce has a proposal that would base the tax on profits and would be capped. This is just one proposal, but it would replace 1.5 of the 1.9 billion in revenue. It is a good starting point for discussion.
5.It is impossible to make informed choices and decisions without available information. It is the responsibility of a community paper to make sure the constituencies they serve are provided with the facts and information affecting the area in which they live. The range of issues varies widely from school news to planning decisions. Local issues are the ones that touch all of us the most.

Andrew L. Goss, 4728 Alamo Avenue, Clarkston is 28, has a family of seven, is currently enrolled at Oakland Community College and is a Republican.
1.The entire state needs to stop the exodus of young talent and create an entrepreneurial environment that fosters small businesses. This state was once home to numerous innovators who redefined transportation. To get back to our destiny the state can start by becoming a right to work state and by streamlining the process of starting and maintaining a small business.
2.People choose to move to the region for specific reasons and many of them do so to ‘get away? from urbanized clutter. If residents choose to regulate growth and limit large retailers than I will support that.
3.Writing a guarantee into law that grants schools revenue increases not dependent on performance is stupid, dangerous and will only reinforce the socialistic entitlement beliefs that is crippling this state.
4.Repealing the SBT is a good first step in streamlining the process of starting and maintaining small businesses in this state.
5.In my ideal world every resident would read at least two or three news sources each day. My ideal role of community journalism is one of catalyzing a growth of quality of life through information. The role of community journalism is to focus specifically on local news items that residents care about or need to know. If a community has a large percentage of residents who work in the construction industry then a local paper should extend open invitations for press releases from groups in the construction industry. If I were a community journalist I would keep an active and updated list of small businesses in my circulation area and help them learn how to send me press releases about possible community stories.

The candidates for County Commissioner in the 4th District are Tom Middleton, Dan Kelly and Phillip Reid.

Tom Middleton, 6928 Tappon Drive, Clarkston, is 60, has a family of five, has a bachelors of science degree in agriculture and natural resources communication from Michigan State University and is a Republican.
Politcal experience includes: serving as County Commissioner from 2002’Present, vice chair of the personnel Committee, serving on the Building & Planning Committee, Public Services Committee, Oakland International Airport Committee, County Coordinating & Zoning Committee, and the Oakland Livingston Human Services Agency. Serving in the State House of Representatives from 1991?98, including serving on the Taxation Committee, Education Committee, Transportation Committee, Appropriations Committee, Agriculture Subcommittee (Chair), Natural Resources Subcommittee (Vice Chair) He was also a member of Oxford Area Community School Board from 1982?90, serving as president, vice president, and treasurer.
1.The biggest issue facing the fourth district that the county commission can address is relocation of the 52-2 District Court Facility. At the present facility, the area for holding prisoners awaiting trial is not large enough. With movement of prisoners at the present facility being very labor intensive, the situation is less than ideal and sometimes dangerous. Video arraignment should reduce the number of prisoners needing to come to the courthouse, but we will always need holding cells. The courthouse also needs to be designed for video arraignment.
I am on the planning committee that has narrowed new 52-2 building sites down to six locations in Independence Township. I will continue to push for a site that would accomodate a 52-2 courthouse large enough to handle current problems as well as those anticipated in the future. I wold also like to see a facility that could include a sheriff substation that could be used by Independence, Springfield and Brandon townships and also Holly, Rose, and Groveland ever lose state police coverage. A super substation could possibly enable these townships to receive more sheriff coverage for their tax dollar.
2. I am against the big box retailers moving into the district. Independence Township has Great Lakes Crossing on I-75 and Waterford Township has Home Depot, Lowe’s, Wal-Mart, Meijers on M-59. Because Independence Township’s goal was to have the Sashabaw corridor rather than Dixie Highway as a commercial center, they opened themselves up to attracting developers like Orco.
3. I am opposed to the K-16 Coalition for Michigan’s Future November ballot issue. The Michigan Constitution requires the State to have a balanced budget. The revenue of the state does not always come in at the same percentage as inflation. As an example, if Internet sales increased by 35% and Michigan was unable to collect the sales tax on those sales, this would reduce revenue to the state but would not affect the inflation rate. This ballot issue would dictate to the legislature that about 25% of the budget would have to get an inflation increase. The rest of the budget would have to be cut and then be cut again to make up for the effects of the ballot issue. Revenue sharing to local and county governments would be areas that would be hard hit with these cuts.
4.SBT should be repealed ? it’s (a) jobs killer. Michigan’s SBT is paid even if a company loses money that year. SBT is paid on wages and benefits. Why would anyone want to expand their business? It should be replaced with a corporate income tax like many other states.
5.In an age when people turn to the Internet and electronic media for national and world news, our community newspaper is the only source for the news that’s most important to us ? news that impacts our friends, neighbors and families.

Phillip Reid, 6050 Shappie Road, Clarkston is 53, has a family of four, a bachelor’s degree in business administration, a MBA from Wayne State University and is Democrat. Politcal experiencec includes serving as vice chairperson of the Oakland County Democratic Party and Chairperson of the Orion Area Democratic Club.
1.The biggest challenge facing Oakland County and the 4th District is the rising cost of health care. Health care costs have doubled since 2000 and are expected to double again by 2012. Many companies are significantly reducing or eliminating health care benefits. It is my understanding that DaimlerChrysler, for example, expects to spend $2.6 billion on health care in 2006 for active and retired Chrysler workers and their family members. That is $600 million more than the entire Single Business Tax revenue for Michigan! Access to adequate preventative health care, including prescription drugs, affects all people at places like hospital emergency rooms where waiting rooms are becoming filled and people of all incomes can wait for hours to receive treatment. Oakland County must partner at local, state, and federal levels to address this issue. This ‘hidden tax? should not be allowed to continue unabated, and not by withholding health care from those who can least afford it.
2.I’m opposed to developers like Orco Development seeking to change the character of our district with large ‘big box? retail outlets that don’t serve the interests of the community. Rather than develop a drug store or a bank at every major intersection, we should encourage townships like Independence to maintain their master plan for benefit of the overall community.
3.I am in complete agreement with the K-16 Coalition goal to fund public education in a manner that insures that Michigan can continue to graduate well-educated, high-tech-ready employees. However I’m concerned that mandating spending in this area, with the prospect of reduced revenue from business taxes and overall federal budget cuts could cause serious budget cuts in other important areas, like health care and public safety. Consequently, I don’t agree that this ballot proposal is in the best interests of the state.
4.Eliminating $2 billion in revenue without a plan to replace the revenue is irresponsible and reckless. As a potential County Commissioner, it is important to note that the Oakland County Executive apparently violated Michigan Election Law by using County resources to sponsor a ballot proposal that will likely transfer the tax burden from businesses to individual citizens. Business tax revenue funds critical services like education, police and fire departments, and health care. Michigan has cut more than $4 billion out of the budget in the last four years. Governor Granholm has signed more than 59 business tax cuts and currently only 12 states have lower state and local business taxes than Michigan, including Alabama, Arkansas, and Idaho. Like most people, I’m in favor of lower taxes, but I’m not in favor of a plan that would hurt citizens or critical services.
5.The ideal role for community journalism is to discuss national issues in a local context. For example, how has Medicare Plan D affected individuals in Independence and Waterford Townships? Will the Bush veto of Federal stem cell research affect medical researchers that live in Oakland County? How will the globalization of the automotive industry affect assembly and white collar workers in Independence and Waterford? There are dozens of similar issues that should be of interest to community readers. Each issue has important facts that can be interpreted in a variety of ways. Community journalism can shape the interpretation of facts by telling the story from the viewpoint of our neighbors and local leaders, hopefully with fairness, balance, and good humor, where appropriate.

Dan Kelly, 6372 Simler Drive, Clarkston is 45 and has a family of six. Education includes: University of Detroit (J.D., 1987), Western Michigan University (B.S., 1984), Graduate of Michigan State University’s fellowship in political leadership and political policy.
Political experience includes: serving a second term as Trustee on Independence Township Board of Trustees (for a total of five and a half years), serving on the Independence Township Planning Commission, serving as a LakeBoard member for Lake Oakland, Van Norman Lake, Mill Pond, Walters Lake, Waumegah Lake; membership in the Independence Township Joint Senior Citizen and Parks and Recreation Advisory Board; serving as an Independence Township contract negotiation representative, Ordinance Revision, and as a representative/member of Sashabaw Corridor Overlay Board.
1.The largest issue facing the 4th District in the upcoming years will be the economy. There is no qestion that given the overall economy in Michigan and immediate prospects into the future, entities such as Oakland County will for the first time begin to experience a significant financial downturn. We have already begun to see losses in property values and everyone is aware of the all-too familiar ‘for sale? signs throughout our neighborhoods. As a Commission, we must stop playing politics with non-binding resolutions having no direct affect on the operations of the County. If the Commissioners are paying attention to their local Districts, there are plenty of issues to discuss and resolve. The solution to a downturn in the economy is to make sure that government responds appropriately. If the tax base decreases, government must respond by reducing and/or limiting its own growth. Oakland County must continue to attract new industries in growing fields such as technology and health services. Diversifying our economy is essential.
2.The 4th District has a long history of controlled growth. As an Independence Township Trustee and past Planning Commission member, I have been called on numerous times to uphold the Township’s master plan in response to developments which seek to obtain variances or otherwise alter the community’s zoning plans. I am a strong believer that a community has the right to reasonably control developments so that it is organized, logical, and consistent with the infrastructure and services available. All property owners benefit from understanding what a community’s plan for the future is and their reliance upon that zoning when they chose to purchase a home or locate a business must be respected. For the past five and a half years on the Township Board, my record reflects my support of the community’s master plan and vision for the future, and I intend to continue that record at the County Commission for a larger area, which includes Waterford and Clarkston.
3.I am not in favor of governmental mandated spending, and thus, do not favor the K-16 Coalition for Michigan’s Future. By some estimates, the Proposal could mandate as much as $1 billion in state spending. Particularly with Michigan’s projections of economic growth, it is not responsible to guarantee any area of funding over all the rest. If the economy on the state level is as bad as projections seem to indicate, all areas of government will have to work together to create a solution. We cannot simply exclude such a large expenditure such as K-16 education from the process. Michigan has rightfully been generous in its support of K-16 funding and while modifications to Proposal A should be discussed and may be needed, a guaranteed spending mandate with inflationary increases is not the answer. The Proposal could jeopardize other areas of critical funding, such as police and fire services, and thus, all areas must be discussed openly should we come to a time for making cuts. Solutions to our problems will be reached by all areas of government contributing to the process.
4.I agree with the repeal of the SBT. Any vibrant and growing economy usually does so with the creation of new small businesses. Successful small businesses grow into successful big business. We are much more likely to have successful small businesses if we do not tax them out of existence at the beginning when they are small and vulnerable. We should be doing everything possible to encourage the success of small businesses and reducing their tax burden is one of the solutions. As with a lot of legislation that adversely affects citizens, such as the Tax Code, it is the amendments or ‘carve outs? which have created much of the problem with the SBT over the last 25 years. I agree its usefulness has been outgrown and particularly in these times when we are in search of new and growing businesses, we must create an environment that attracts and cultivates these businesses. Its repeal sends the right message.
5.In many ways, community journalism is faced with the toughest job in journalism. Unlike at the national or state level where various independent organizations or even special interest groups can be relied upon for information and analysis, at the local level a journalist is forced to do all of the leg work and analysis. The primary job, however, remains the same: keep the citizens informed and act as a watchdog.
Community journalism is at its best when it synthesizes complicated or large amounts of information for the community. Summarizing a governmental budget, explaining what can and cannot be done by a local board or the legislature or explaining in summary form the various aspects of a large community project is what I perceive as the ideal role for community journalism. Getting behind the scenes to inform voters of what governmental officials have done or said in the past is important for a knowledgeable citizenry. Particularly at times such as an election, it is often the community newspapers on which citizens rely to understand who is running for office and what they are about and the substance of the proposals at issue.