LWVKA 2010 Voter Guide

Provide biographical information including your qualifications for the office you are seeking and the reasons you are running. (100-word limit)
What are your state budget spending priorities and how would you adjust revenue and expenses to support those priorities? (100-word limit)
What are your top two other priorities, why did you select them, and what actions would you take regarding them? (100-word limit)

60th District
Townships: Cooper, Kalamazoo [precincts 1, 10-14]. City: Kalamazoo

Jeff Fernandez
Republican, www.electfernandez.com

My name is Jeff Fernandez and I am running for State Rep because I remember a time when MI was the best, and we can be the best again. I have been married to my wife Teresa for 14 years and have two kids. My son Riley is 10, my daughter Clara is 8 and I want them to remember what a great state this is too. I’m a pastor, not a politician, but MI has been down far too long. We are better than what we have become. I have concrete ideas to help MI be the best again.
Our state budget is in a shortfall again. We will balance the budget by bringing jobs back to Michigan to restart the economy, reforming areas of state labor expenses, and adding enhancements to some of our social benefit programs to eliminate fraud. This will help us focus on those who really need help to get back on their feet. I also support reforms in our state corrections system. We spend four times more on prisoners than on students. That is unacceptable. Education is too important for that. These reforms will help make MI the best again.
My top two priorities are jobs and jobs. MI has had the worst unemployment in the nation for four years. We must end the MI Business Tax that has been crippling our businesses and forces them to leave our state and take our jobs with them. With jobs back in Michigan, our economy will restart. We can also boost our economy with the Fair Tax system. This efficient family friendly, business friendly form of taxation will help MI to get back on its feet and be the best again!

Sean McCann
Democrat, www.seanamccann.com

I am a former five-term Kalamazoo City Commissioner (1999–2009) and currently a fundraising consultant. I was Director of Financial Development for the Greater Kalamazoo American Red Cross (2002–2009) and Executive Director of the Vine Neighborhood Association (1995–2002). I am a 20-year resident of Kalamazoo, hold a B.A. from WMU, am married to Priscilla Lambert, and have a 7-mo. old son. I am a member of Rotary, League of Women Voters Kalamazoo Area, Vine and Milwood Neighborhood Associations. I am running because I believe Michigan must return to being the state people seek out for education, prosperity and happiness.
I will: invest in education and ensure that we have a skilled, dedicated work force that motivates employers to seek out and retain Michigan workers for decades to come; lead in the development of clean energy and alternative energy technologies to create good-paying jobs and improve America’s security by reducing our dependence on foreign oil; support Life-Sciences development to enable Michigan to continue diversifying its economy, attract cutting-edge companies and bring new investment in smart-growth industries; take advantage of Michigan’s strong manufacturing heritage by re-training workers to build our new economy and reduce our reliance on any one industry.
(a) Education. The future of Michigan, as well as its quality of life, depends on an educated, skilled workforce. Funding cuts to education, pre-K through college, must be restored and future cuts prevented. Higher education must be affordable and accessible to all who want to attend and improve themselves. (b) Constituent Service. I will maintain and improve the 60th District Service Office, a non-partisan resource to help citizens with local and state issues. This office is a tradition going back decades and is called for now more than ever.

61st District
Townships: Alamo, Kalamazoo [precincts 2-9, 15], Oshtemo, Prairie Ronde, Texas. Cities: Parchment, Portage

Margaret E. O’Brien
Republican, www.margaretobrien.com

I have a passion to serve my community. For 7 years, I have served as a Portage City Councilwoman where we’ve balanced the budget, kept taxes low, worked with job creators and provided quality services. I will take this experience to Lansing, where it is sorely needed. I have a proven track record, am known for innovative solutions, and have a strong work ethic. As a businesswoman, I understand the challenges businesses face. As a mom, I deal with the daily struggles all families deal with. I am ready to take my community experience to fight for you in Lansing.
My budget priorities are public safety, infrastructure and education. We must reform government. Corrections—reduce-per-prisoner cost; Education—Bid out health care for savings. Wages/Benefits—move employees to defined contribution system. Welfare—stop providing services that exceed federal requirements. Evaluate Departments—prioritize core services. Job Creation can solve the majority of Michigan’s problems. Implement these key policies: Create a level playing field for businesses by eliminating the Michigan Business Tax & surcharge, eliminate the Personal Property Tax, repeal PA 198 tax breaks, create a simple and predictable business tax that everyone can understand; Eliminate burdensome regulations; Eliminate Unfunded Mandates.
My other priorities include creating a long-term vision for Michigan, where Michigan businesses and families can be successful. We must keep government small and lean; maintain low tax rates; provide quality services; and avoid unnecessary regulation. Additionally, Michigan must stop the practice of unfunded mandates, which drives up the cost of local government. If we stay focused on our budget priorities and job creation friendly policies, we can turn Michigan around together.

Thomas A. Batten
Democrat, www.votebatten.com

Thomas Batten is an entrepreneur who owns a tutoring business in Kalamazoo County. He has been a volunteer at Habitat for Humanity, Little League Baseball, and at various soup kitchens. Batten previously worked for the federal government and as a contractor in the defense industry. He has held the highest levels of a top secret clearance, including for special access programs. Thomas earned an M.B.A. from IESE Business School (Barcelona, Spain) and a B.S. Engineering degree from Kettering University. He graduated from Portage Central HS and KAMSC. Thomas is working to bring change to a broken Lansing.
We need to make sure that we invest in the future. The era of highly paid, low wage jobs is over in Michigan and we need to focus on educating our young people. The future jobs in Michigan will be functionally diverse and high tech in nature. Furthermore, we need to improve our infrastructure in Michigan. Counties are pulverizing roads back into dirt due to a complete lack of funds. Commerce needs a good backbone of quality roads, and we ought to find a way to pay for this.
Michigan has a jobs problem, and we need to work to diversify our economy and create jobs. We need to make sure that our tax policy provides the revenue to fund our public investments without penalizing business. Additionally, Michigan ought to continue to invest in education and our future. Michigan led the world for the last 100 years in manufacturing, and we can lead the world in the next century by making a state-wide decision to make education a top priority.

63rd District
Townships: Brady, Charleston, Climax, Comstock, Pavilion, Richland, Ross, Schoolcraft, Wakeshma. City: Galesburg.

James Bolger
Republican, www.electbolger.com
Did not respond in time for publication.

Dave Morgan
Democrat, www.WeWantMorgan.com

Dave Morgan is the proud father of his 3-year-old daughter, Jayden. Dave is a veteran of Operation Desert Storm and served 11 years in the Michigan Air National Guard. Dave’s educational background includes graduating from Pennfield High School, Kalamazoo Valley Community College, Kalamazoo Law Enforcement Academy, as well as the Michigan Real Estate Academy. Dave is currently employed by Amtrak where he has been a manager in the transportation department for over 13 years. Dave will fight to put people before politics in Lansing and end the grip special interest has on our representatives.
Public education tops my list. It is imperative we fully fund early, K-12, and adult education. Education is Michigan’s long term fix to many of the problems we are now facing. About 75 percent of America’s state prison inmates did not complete high school, according to the Alliance for Education. Michigan’s infrastructure is a mess to say the least and needs adequate funding in many areas. Our public transit system is one of the worst in the country. Our roads need repair and over 90% of Michigan’s 2581 dams will reach or exceed their design life by 2020.
We need to eliminate the grip special interest has on our elected officials. The single biggest problem we have in Lansing is the fact that almost all of our elected officials have lined their pockets with PAC (special interest) money in order to get elected and stay elected. I’m not accepting any PAC money or direct or in-direct contributions from lobbyists. I’ll work to bring new campaign finance laws which will put the people of Michigan’s interest ahead of special interest. I will also work to make Michigan a business friendly state by helping to eliminate the Michigan Business Tax.