Candidates for House's 52nd District seat make final push before Tuesday's primary
Candidates competing for the state House’s 52nd District seat are making a final push to connect with their constituents before Tuesday's primary election.
Three Democrats, Christine Green, Jeffrey Lee, and Robert Wozniak, and a Republican, Mark Ouimet, are on the ballot to replace Pam Byrnes, who is term-limited and running for a spot in the state Senate.
The 52nd District includes Chelsea, Dexter, Manchester, Saline, parts of Ann Arbor and 13 townships on the west side of Washtenaw County.
In talking with voters, one issue continues to arise - the state’s economy, the candidates said.
“I think it’s clearly about jobs for the state of Michigan,” said Ouimet.
With Washtenaw County’s unemployment rate at 9.3 percent, the candidates see the economic strength of small businesses paramount to the economy’s reversal.
Christine Green
“To some extent, it’s a long-term process,” said Green, who has received endorsements from the AFL-CIO, the Fraternal Order of Police and the Sierra Club. “We’re in the process of diversifying the economy, and one of the things I’m concerned with is the small business owner.”
Green, a Scio Township resident and attorney for 25 years, is a member of the Scio Township Board of Trustees and a member of the Scio Township Planning Commission since 2006.
“When (small businesses) thrive, they can hire others,” she said. “We can provide them some incentives that are tied to the creation of jobs.”
Small business owners Green and Wozniak cite the Michigan Business Tax as the biggest threat to Michigan’s economic recovery..
Robert Wozniak
“We need to eliminate the Michigan Business Tax,” said Wozniak, a former member of the Hamtramck City Council (1996-2000).
“There’s a strong perception that’s keeping business away from Michigan. We can invest in infrastructure that will make the state more attractive to business.”
Wozniak, a resident of Manchester, works as a corporate governance consultant for Avro Canadianna, an Edmonton-based builder of cargo airships, locating to Washtenaw County.
Working with the Michigan Economic Development Corp., he was able to negotiate $37.8 million in tax credits for Avro’s move with potentially 1,700 jobs coming to the area, he said.
“We don’t have any incentives for small business,” Wozniak said. “We need to come up with fairer taxes for smaller business and not the business killer tax that’s out there now.”
Jeffrey Lee
If he's elected, Lee said he will work to foster more bipartisanship in Lansing.
“I really hope that voters understand that I’m looking at the long-term future of Michigan,” said Lee, a Dexter resident and former director of the nonprofit American Association of University Professors.
“We need to come up with a strategic plan to succeed in the future.”
Bridging the political divide is just the start of Lee’s mission.
“More than anything it comes to the broader issue of how do we afford what we do,” he said. “We need to find a way to make things more flexible to invest in what we want to grow in and parts of the state we want to improve.”
Ouimet cites his experience as Washtenaw County Commissioner since 2004, his five-year stint on the Ann Arbor City Council and his ability to bridge the private and public sectors successfully.
Mark Ouimet
Ouimet, a Scio Township resident, would also like to see the Michigan Business Tax repealed
“The key for the state of Michigan is to move forward,” he said. “We need to start sending people to Lansing that understood how to create jobs and how government can partner with private sector in order for economy to grow.”
Brian Vernellis is a reporter for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at 734-623-4617 or brianvernellis@annarbor.com.
Comments
ScioReader
Sat, Jul 31, 2010 : 4:25 p.m.
And to all those Dems who think Ouimet is a "nice guy" and has "done a good job" in the County post, I'd like to ask them if they really want a Republican to take this seat? Just who do you think Ouimet will vote with in Lansing? His conscience? For his consituents who are likely way more socially liberal than him? Not likely - he'll vote with the Republicans. That's were he will get his appoitments and his funding. And I'd really like to hear Ouimet make a definitive statement about his position on Choice. Seems the story changes according to the audience to whom he is speaking. Please realize another Republican in Lansing means another vote against a woman's right to choose. Is that who the 52nd District wants to send there?
Inside MI GOP
Sat, Jul 31, 2010 : 8:45 a.m.
From the AnnArbor.com article coverage, let's look at the question: Who would Mark Ouimet most likely want to run against. Mr. Lee quits a job in Lansing, to run for another job - in Lansing. His former job (prima facia) is as a lobbyist for an ultra liberal think tank comprised of humanities professors. At least this "choice" has the interesting spin of the lobbyist wanting to become the legislator. Mr. Lee wants to achieve "bi-partisanship" in Lansing. Spoken like a former lobbyist. If there is no "bi-partisanship" how can a lobbyist get their special "somethings" into legislation that will be passed and signed into law. Mrs. Green lists as part of her "community involvement" resume, having been a local board member of planned parenthood. The questions I would have for Mrs Green are: what are the racial, social and political demographics of women who have abortions; and how with that affect the voting rolls in 20 years? (Can a lawyer connect the dots between birth control/abortion and the cannibalization of the Democratic Party voting base.) Green mentions the Michigan Business tax as a problem. Good for her. Reminds me of my parents - liberals who could still feel their own ox being gored. But she isn't quoted as Wozniak is, calling for it's removal, instead she wants "incentives" for those small businesses that create jobs. I suggest a little research for Green - get on the internet and look up all of the Federal and State programs that are already out there offering substantial incentives to small businesses who create jobs. Then actually think about the time it will take to fill out the forms to apply for those incentives. Then try and find someone to fill that job. Firstly, the incentives mandate the hiring of someone who is unemployed. But then you have the problem of finding someone who will essentially work for free, because they could be getting 99 weeks of unemployment pay to not work. Then, there is the question if someone who is not still collecting unemployment is still eligible under the program guidelines. I'm really glad you are an employment law attorney, but to help small business, you don't need to legislate, but rather just help small businesses figure out the programs that is already out there....for a fee of course. Wozniak: family man living in Manchester and investing in a dollar store; consultant for international businesses. Why is he running in the Democratic Primary? Money: Lee should be able to raise an extra special amount of Lansing money from fellow lobbyists on his Blackberry. Green should receive an extra helping of green from the trial bar and organized, self loathing baby killers. Wozniak would attempt to pull in money from the same businesses and small businesses that Ouimet should be receiving support. Time/Contact: Wozniak won't have time, especially from way out there in Manchester to personally cover the district. Lee will have the time from right there in Dexter now that he is not commuting to Lansing. Green is probably known by the most people in the district. Ouimet would probably prefer an opponent that is most obviously different from him on the issues. That would be Lee or Green and between those two, probably Green due to her involvement in Planned Parenthood.
BobbyJohn
Sat, Jul 31, 2010 : 8:05 a.m.
I went w/ friends of mine to a Scio township planning commission w/ Christine Green present. T be frank about it, she shocked me w/ her rudeness to citizens appearing before the board. She was a poor listener and was close minded. I would say, vote for anybody else. She is not fit to represent citizens of western Washtenaw county.
InsideTheHall
Sat, Jul 31, 2010 : 6:14 a.m.
Christine Green a small business owner????? She is a trial lawyer who cost the taxpayers a ton of money when she represented a disgruntled UM employee in a frivilous law suit. Perhpas A2.com should ask UM how much it cost to defend themselves. Oh by the way, Green lost the case. We do not need the female Geoff Feiger in Lansing!