What's in this Guide
U.S. Representative in Congress, 6th Districts
State Representative, 60th & 61st Districts
Kalamazoo County Commissioners, Districts 3, 6, 11, 12, 16
State House of Representatives
Two-year term. Vote for one.
- Provide biographical information, including your qualifications for this office and the reasons you are running. [100 words]
- What are your state budget spending priorities and how would you adjust revenue and expenses to support those priorities? [100 words]
- What are your top two other priority issues, why did you select them, and what actions would you take regarding them? [100 words]
60th District
Townships: Cooper, Kalamazoo [precincts 1, 10–14]. City: Kalamazoo.
Republican
Jeff Fernandez
Website: 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 and my daughter Clara is 8 and I want them to know remember what a great state this is too! I’m a pastor, not a politician, but MI has been down far too long, and I have real concrete ideas to help MI be the Best again!
- Our state budget is in a shortfall again. I will balance the budget by 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 the cost structure of our state corrections system. We spend 4 times more on prisoners than on students. That is an unacceptable ratio! Education is too important for that! These reforms will help make MI the Best again!
- Top 2 other priorities are jobs and the economy. MI has the worst unemployment in the nation for 4 years! I will end the MI Business Tax that has been crippling our businesses and has forced them to leave our state and take our jobs with them. MI will be open for business again! MI economy can be fixed with a 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!
Democrat
Dustin Harback
- I was born and raised in Kalamazoo. I am the father of two amazing children, a girl and a boy. I love this community and this state and I want to serve them both as a true representative of the 60th district. I will serve as a dedicated conduit that will bring the values, the ideas, and the ingenuity of the 60th district to Lansing every day. I will work to make the 60th district the most well informed district in the state, because I believe that the solutions to our problems are in our neighborhoods, not sitting in Lansing.
- As a state, we must strike a balance between paying for the sins of our past (corrections, poverty, etc...) and building a strong foundation for our future (education, infrastructure, sustainability). I believe that our balance should list toward the future, with education being the bedrock upon which we build. No honest person can guarantee that current education funding levels can be maintained for our public schools and universities without fixing the structural problems regarding state school aid revenues, but I will promise you that I will make every effort to ensure that education funding is cut last and cut least.
- “If we build it they will come.” We must, I believe reform our business, income and sales tax structures. I am interested in expanding the sales tax to most services and dropping the rate down to 5%, turning the MBT into a flat, fair, and inviting business tax structure, and building the political capital needed to shift toward a graduated personal income tax with rates around 2%, 4%, and 6%. The future is now when it comes to sustainable and alternative energy production, as a state we can and we must lead the way. Together, we can reinvent Michigan.
Sean McCann
Website: www.seanamccann.com
- Kalamazoo City Commissioner, five two-year terms, 1999–2009. Fund Raising Consultant, 2009–present. Financial Development Director, Greater Kalamazoo American Red Cross, 2002–2009. Executive Director, Vine Neighborhood Association, 1995–2002. Bachelor of Arts, WMU, 1993. Member, League of Women Voters Kalamazoo Area. Member, Vine and Milwood Neighborhood Associations. Resident of Kalamazoo since 1989. Married to Priscilla Lambert. Father of Alexander (5 months old). Michigan must return to being the state people seek out for education, prosperity and happiness. I have the experience, commitment, and motivation to work for the people of Michigan and help lead us to recovery.
- Invest in education and ensure that we have a skilled, dedicated work force motivating 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, enabling 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.
- (1) 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. (2) 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.
Chris Praedel
Website: www.ChrisForKzoo.com
- Chris Praedel, elementary teacher, was born, raised, and educated in Kalamazoo. A graduate of both K-Central and WMU, he earned a B.A. in Management and currently holds a M.A. in Teaching. Chris spent two years of national service as an educator in south Chicago, while maintaining residency in Kalamazoo. In 2007, Chris led a march at the capitol to demand and restore proposed cuts to education and created a state advocacy group. Chris is running to serve as an advocate for education, jobs, equity for all, and to restore serving the everyday people he grew up beside.
- My first priority is to restore the funding of education at all levels. Educating our citizenry from birth is a worthwhile investment for the future social and economic welfare of our state. Second, our well-educated workforce will need jobs. Michigan needs to focus on incubating and supporting small business through partnerships with universities, reducing the fluctuating and unstable nature of business tax code, and providing incentives for relocation or expansion. The state tax code needs to reflect the societal trends with tax revenue lost to on-line stores and the heavy shift in recent years to a service economy.
- My other top priorities would be to insure that health and public safety measures take on more proactive and innovative approaches that pay for things on the front-end rather than pay for something vastly more expensive and ineffective as an end result. We could use the funds we spend to incarcerate prisoners on reducing rates or recidivism, reducing class size, enhancing family after school programs, improving mental health and making college more affordable. We could guarantee every citizen an annual health screening and consultation or we could pay for weeks of hospitalization after disease has overcome a patient.
61st District
Townships: Alamo, Kalamazoo [precincts 2–9, 15], Oshtemo, Prairie Ronde, Texas. Cities: Parchment, Portage
Republican
Margaret E. O’Brien
Website: 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.
Democrat
Thomas A. Batten
Website: 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 MBA from IESE Business School (Barcelona, Spain) and a BS 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.
Democrat Write-in
Grant Taylor
Website: www.friendsofgranttaylor.com
- I am a life long resident of Southwest Michigan and grew up in Edwardsburg where I attended public schools. My parents instilled in me a strong foundation of core democratic values and a commitment to public service. My father and brother are both county commissioners, and my great uncle was a former President of Rotary International. I want to continue the family tradition of service and leadership as your next State Representative. I reside in Oshtemo, and I serve as the Treasurer of MAC House charities, a non-profit foundation that provides temporary housing to women in destructive domestic situations.
- We need to look at budgets not just on a yearly basis. Too often Lansing has used short-term fixes which have led to long-term problems. One-time monies should not be used to fund ongoing operational expenses, this only creates even larger structural deficits. We also need more accountability to taxpayers. A results-oriented approach with bench marks and desired goals needs to be declared before taxpayer dollars are spent. This will make government more effective and responsive to our citizens.
- Education and Jobs. It’s no secret Michigan’s economic climate is in shambles. If we are to rebound from this financial mess we need to invest in our state. We need a talented, well-educated workforce that can move us into a 21st Century economy and get Michigan working again. Cuts in our public schools and universities are counterproductive towards that goal. We must be fiscally responsible, when investing in our state’s future. I also support Hire Michigan First legislation to give tax incentives to businesses that hire Michigan citizens, rather than contracting outside of our state.