Q&A for me from The Lowell Ledger

I had a great opportunity to share some of what makes me tick when the Lowell Ledger asked me some questions the week after my appointment: 

Why did you want to be on the Lowell city council?  Seemed like the next logical step for me. I love me some Lowell and I believe that giving back to the community that supports our store is the right thing to do. I have been involved with the Chamber, the Marketing Committee, and have served on the DDA since 2014, but now that we live in Lowell I can be on the Council.  

What are some of your favorite things about Lowell?  How long of an answer do you want! The foundation of most of the things I love about Lowell are summed up in the word compassion. Great community that supports each other, in spite of our differences: Pink Arrow, FROM, Rotary, Gilda's Club, and a host of others. Our schools rock - we have great sports teams AND The Rock Fusion Orchestra. We have two rivers - TWO RIVERS! We embrace farmers and artists. Lowell Arts. Concerts. I love that at the same time $250,000 condos will be built on the Flat River, FROM will be working on some affordable housing on Main Street.  

How can Lowell be improved?  As the new guy, I am going to get the lay of the land a bit before I spout off. But I can say that many of our "problems" boil down to communication. For some reason, I get to hear from a lot of people about a lot of subjects in my store. (Guess everyone needs a watch battery now and then.) Some very well meaning people have said things that are just not true or are distorted from an actual event I have first hand knowledge about. City Council meets twice monthly and they make themselves available one Saturday morning a month - I want to see a room full of people at all of those things. I can think of two recent meetings I attended where I was pretty sure of my position on something, but then when I heard other people speak, I altered my viewpoint. Communication is two way. I love social media, but nothing is better than face to face.

Why should the Fairgrounds be converted to a campground? How could this be achieved?  Jim Hall lit this fire in me for the campground several years ago. I know there will be hurdles, but I am convinced that A) it can be done and B) it makes total sense for Lowell. We are the National HQ for the North Country Trail. We will soon be the hub of the 5th largest biking and hiking trail in the nation. Most of the infrastructure for a camp ground is already in place. Please take a look at our Campground In The Fairgrounds page on Facebook for the list of what we have in place. I believe we could start earning money from a campground and make it better as we go along.Because of the flooding, nothing can be built there, a Campground just makes sense.

Should more types of empty bottles also have a .10¢ deposit or should the .10¢ bottle deposit system be scrapped altogether? Absolutely all containers should have a deposit. Visit a state with no deposit laws and you will see way more litter than you do in Michigan. It is sad that taking care of Michigan's natural bounty has turned into a political issue. My mom was a conservative, life long Republican, but she taught me to recycle things 50 years ago. Good God - Nixon started the EPA, no some tree hugging lefty! It is common sense. We have 2 grand kids and one coming soon - I want them to enjoy the Flat River, the Grand River and everything Michigan has to offer. Stewardship of the environment takes laws - sorry if you don't agree, but we used to use the Grand River like a toxic toilet, it is in way better shape now then when I was a kid. That happened because laws were passed, not because factory owners woke up and turned off the spigot.

How does corporate money influence public policy? What should be done about this?  Totally out of control. Best example is Nestle getting Michigan water for nothing. The public spoke to Lansing, the numbers opposed to continuing that deal were something like 87% against and still Snyder renewed and even let them take more. Conservatives and liberals are scared spitless about Pipeline 5 in the Straights - and still a Canadian Oil Corporation was given priority over the clearly expressed wishes of voters FROM ALL PARTIES. This has to end. That is why I ran as a Green Party candidate - I used to be a Republican Precinct Delegate, until I realized the scope of Corporate money influence in Lansing. Greens take no Corporate or PAC money. None. That should be the rule, not the exception. 

Did the Lowell city council make the right decisions when they "opted in" to recreational marijuana but disallowed medical marijuana businesses? What would you have done differently?  Yes they did and I would have done the same. Their decision was based on the will of the voters. Proposition 1 passed by a margin just short of 60/40 in Lowell. Had they done anything else, then they would have been no better than the folks in Lansing who are ignoring the wishes of their constituents.   

Why is civility important in public discourse? Another one of my Lowell Favorite Things. I have been to many public meetings with people who are diametrically opposed to one another and they speak openly without name calling or getting upset. Two examples; the trails and medical marijuana. People with totally opposite views came together and expressed themselves politely. That is how it is supposed to work. Great things happen when we work together. 

What sort of tax incentives should professional sports teams receive when building their stadiums? Why? None. Do the research on the return on investment from this stuff. Look at Detroit. Promises made during the construction of the new Redwing Arena are already falling by the way side. Sports teams make millions, even billions, - they can pay for their own place to play. Our bridges are crumbling, the roads suck, and yet we have millions to help build a sports arena to create a bunch of part time jobs so billionaires can make more profit? Nah. Little Caesar is laughing all the way to the bank. The same pizza you can buy in Lowell for 7 bucks is twice or three times that at the Arena. You think any average people are realizing that profit? Not hardly. 

Should individuals who buy electric cars get the same percentage of tax incentives as large oil companies? I think it would be great if our State or Federal government would help EVs and Green Energy as a whole, but guess what? People are doing it anyway. I was riding my electric motorcycle out in the Alto area this fall and saw lots of solar panels popping up on farms. I know a guy who makes solar golf carts and solar pontoon boats. The family that bought his first E Pontoon boat had him wire it to their cottage - when the boat is parked, they are running their air conditioning from the sun. Common sense. I am so proud that Lowell had EV charging stations way ahead of the curve. The one behind my store gets used all the time.See any in Rockford? Ada? Cascade? We have them. 

Should some intersections in Lowell with stop signs be converted to traffic roundabouts? Why?  Roundabouts are genius. Thank you so much for asking. As a Council member, I am pledging to create one new roundabout per month. (Folks, this is a JOKE - I am merely trying to poke our current Mayor with a sharp, pointy stick.)