Candidates for House's 52nd District seat make final push before Tuesday's primary

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.

“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..

“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.”

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.

“What I hope (voters) understand is a lot of people like talk about jobs creation, but there are few people who’ve done it like myself,” said Ouimet, who has endorsements from the Small Business Association of Michigan, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and the Michigan Association of Realtors.

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.