Rounding Up The First Post-Primary State Rep Debate

     And then there were three.

     The candidates that will be fighting for Todd Courser's now-vacant office in less than a month are set, and the first debate since November's primary circus was held on Tuesday night. Gary Howell and Margaret Guerrero DeLuca were in attendance, of course, along with a third candidate, though not the one I was expecting. (Back during the primary, a local resident by the name of Ann Cowan threw her name into the ring as an independent, but has since deleted her campaign page and gone radio silent.) Tracy Spilker entered the race as a Libertarian, and also took part in the debate. The video from the debate can be found here, but in the interest of saving you a couple hours, I've once again broken it down here for your convenience.

     First, the candidates were asked which two issues they'd first address upon taking office. DeLuca touched on roads and education, bringing up the implementation of stricter weight limits and holding contractors accountable for their work on the roads. Howell chose job development and education, pointing out specifically vocational-training programs like the Lapeer County ISD's Ed-Tech center. He also brought up a theme he'd refer back to throughout the night: bureaucratic red-tape. He used the specific example of Kamax in Lapeer, which is attempting to expand its current Lapeer facility and move jobs there from their current Troy location, and has had said expansion halted by a drain that needs to be moved by 300 feet, which all the pertinent local officials have approved, but the Michigan DEQ and EPA have held up indefinitely. Spilker would hammer home a recurring theme of her own about eliminating government interference in free markets, and getting rid of state and federal involvement in education.

     Next, the topic of gravel mining at the old D-Bar-A Boy Scout camp east of Metamora came up. Howell owned this issue from the beginning, as he was quick to point out that he'd successfully fought a lawsuit brought against Metamora Township by a gravel mining company 25 years ago, and had just held a forum at the White Horse Inn the day before about that very issue. Spilker's take was that the company has the right to do whatever they want on their property, but should be held accountable if it effects surrounding areas. DeLuca's main point was that the mining company isn't concerned about the best interests of the surrounding environment, so voters need to elect officials that aren't bought and paid for.

     The next few questions focused on the Flint water crisis; namely, how much blame falls on the emergency manager, and what can be done to fix it. This is where Spilker went off the rails, with an odd call for free-market competition for water. If this sounds like it makes no sense, that's probably because it doesn't. While some cities have privatized their water services with varying results, to the knowledge of your humble correspondent, none have ever had two competing water services serving the same area. She would later go on to suggest that "we the people" can fix this problem. One can only assume she doesn't intend to have Flint residents tearing out lead piping themselves, but one can't be entirely certain of this.

     In regards to the EM law, DeLuca questioned why the legislature isn't held accountable for overturning the will of the people through referendum-proof legislation. As far as solving the problem, DeLuca returned to talk of accountability, asking why nobody at any level has lost their jobs over this, apart from a few resignations, while calling for the DOJ to investigate, as the "independent" investigators appointed by AG Bill Schuette are donors of Snyder's. She also slammed Snyder for his staged photo op/signing of the bill, surrounded by his smiling supporters: "He should have had his eyes crossed and been handing the check and looking in shame!"

     Howell said he'd look at the EM law, but that the situation in Flint is not necessarily an indictment of that law, but rather an indictment on all levels of government. Referring back to his earlier call for less governmental red tape, he pointed out that the current regulation "failed us miserably," and called for an independent committee to establish what went wrong, while pointing out that this isn't going to be  a cheap fix, and will require a great amount of spending on the fed and state level to fix the flawed infrastructure.

     Staying on the topic of Flint, candidates were also asked if they believed racism played any role in the water crisis. Spilker and DeLuca both agreed that it wasn't necessarily a race issue, but a class issue, with DeLuca pointing to an example of classism by State Senator Phil Pavlov in a recent exchange they'd had in regards to Detroit Public Schools, in which he essentially asked DeLuca why she should even care about another community. (More on Pavlov, and this particular issue, to come in this space next week.) Drawing attention to the fact that Lapeer is also considered an economically depressed county, she pondered whether Lapeer would get the same dismissive treatment if something like the Flint or DPS crises were to happen here. Howell had a somewhat different view, stating that "I am sick and tired of everything being made into a racial issue," and that he believes "we treat Americans equally in all cases." (As a side note: it took me a bit by surprise to hear Howell refer to Asians as "orientals" during his rant about racism. Seriously, this is still a thing?) Shockingly, this got applause from the all-white audience.

     Minimum wage was the next topic, with both Howell and Spilker against an increase (Spilker's take: "If people want to make more money, they need to go and learn more skills"), and DeLuca taking on the narrative that only high school kids work minimum wage jobs; of the 643,000 minimum wage employees in the state of Michigan, 80% of them are over the age of 21, and 70% of those over 21 are single mothers. On the topic of straight-ticket voting, all three candidates were against, with Howell referring to it as "a fundamentally bad practice" and DeLuca taking time out to rail against redistricting.

     Gun control was the next subject, and the one where the candidates' answers differed the most. DeLuca who supports a "common-sense" approach to gun ownership, started by producing a copy of the NRA's official questionnaire to the candidates and reading a few select points from them, including their claim that if candidates don't complete the survey, they will be assumed to be "hostile" towards the Second Amendment, and that their favored answers include repealing background checks and making it easier to transfer any gun to anybody at any time. Howell would consider restrictions placed before him for a vote, but noted he would be "very reluctant" to approve them, while calling for open-carry to be disallowed in schools, but for concealed-carry to be permitted. Spilker stood against any restrictions, but went on to talk about the need for mental health to be addressed.

     Later, they would be asked about guns in schools; Howell was in favor of concealed-carry, but not open-carry; DeLuca came down against open-carry as well, but expressed that teachers and parents should be asked what they'd be in favor of, while Spilker somewhat side-stepped the question, saying she can see both sides of the argument, but that more people should be trained on the safe use of guns.

     Investing in improvements and expansion for the Polly Ann Trail was the next topic. Howell noted that the trail has been successful, and that he would not be opposed to improvements where it exists, but it shouldn't be forced on governments where it hasn't been approved, noting concerns from private land owners in Arcadia Township over expansion there. Spilker seconded Howell's thoughts, while DeLuca pointed out that she's supported Polly Ann Trail since the beginning, had to push Imlay City to care for their section of the trail and since then has been working with Oakland County and advocate groups to maintain and expand it.

     On the subject of veterans' care, Spilker stated she believes the VA has abandoned veterans, but yet as a libertarian, she's against government involvement, and as such, would like to see non-profits and community members step up instead. DeLuca expressed that she's glad that incompetent employees at the VA are now being held accountable, but a better job still needs to be done of informing vets where to go for services. Howell, the lone veteran of the three, pointed out that while thankfully not all vets need these services, we owe it to those who do to get them the care they deserve. He admitted that he won't have much effect on the VA as a state rep, but believes that private providers would give better care anyway.

     Next was the issue of student loans, college debt, and college administrators' salaries. Howell started by pointing out that when he attended college, it only set him back $120 a semester, which he was able to finance through a summer job, but now believes that "higher education has gone off the rails in this country," and the reason is that public education has become too "top-heavy"; too many high-paid administrators, not enough professors in classrooms. His solution involves programs similar to the one implemented at Ed-Tech, where high school students can take college classes over a period of three years and obtain a two-year associate's degree free of charge to them. DeLuca agreed that students shouldn't have to endure 20 years of financial hardship to get a college education, and called for a salary cap to be set on public administrators proportional to the salaries of their professors. Spilker, as was the case throughout the evening, decried government interference in college loans and college presidents' salaries, and once again invoked the free market, claiming government involvement in student loans is causing the cost of tuition to rise.

     The controversial gas tax increase then came up, with all three candidates stating they'd like to see it repealed, but admitting that realistically this is unlikely to happen. Howell and DeLuca both noted that it won't be til 2021 that a single dime from the new taxes and fees will go towards road construction, Howell pointing out that most of that money will probably go to DPS and Flint first, and DeLuca adding that originally, House Republicans wanted to double the increase in the gas tax, while Spilker questioned why the roads couldn't be maintained on strictly the local level.

     From there, the topic turned to the state legislature's exemption from the Freedom of Information Act, with all three candidates decrying said exemption, and Howell and DeLuca promising to introduce legislature to remove it. All also opposed legislation introduced to reduce competition for public utilities. On term limits, DeLuca admitted she's not passionate on this issue, and would put it to the voters. Howell was in favor of them, adding "I probably wouldn't be here if not for term limits." Spilker agreed with DeLuca and Howell, but also wants more power in local government, and brought up her support for overhauling the electoral system though proportional representation or runoff voting.

    The next question concerned Senate Bill 571 (which I wrote about here last month). Howell referred to it as a poor bill, that nobody read or analyzed, that was changed at the last minute, adding that he believes there is room for legitimate neutral information to be promoted by local governments. Spilker called for legislation to prove that legislators understand the bill they're voting on (which I mentioned in that last writeup). DeLuca pointed out that Pavlov voted yes on the bill, and was not happy about her calling him out on it. All three agree this bill prevents municipalities from sharing information about a bill, and oversteps its bounds in doing so. However, it's rather disappointing that only the part of the bill mentioned was that prohibiting local officials from giving information about ballot proposals before an election; while that certainly appears blatantly unconstitutional, there were other similarly terrible provisions in this bill that apply to political donations.

     The current legislature's tactic of inserting appropriations into bills to shield them from public referendum also came up, and all three candidates stood strongly against. Spilker argued that there should never be a case where the public cannot have a referendum on an issue, DeLuca commented that "appropriations should never be attached to a bill. Period," adding that she would push to be placed on the appropriations committee, and that Imlay City had never had a line-item budget until she took office there. Howell agreed, declaring that "the denial of the right to vote on an issue is a misuse of the Michigan Constitution."

     Finally, all three were asked what would be the first bill they'd enact if elected. Spilker offered up her requirement that legislators prove they know the content of a bill they vote on; and a left-field proposal to remove professional licensing requirements. She gave as an example, an electrician who learned the trade from a parent shouldn't need to be licensed by state "as long as he is openly and honestly stating what his qualification to do that is." How one would verify that said person is indeed qualified to do the job, however, is anyone's guess. DeLuca vowed to attempt to lessen the negative impact in regards to the gas tax by instituting warranty contracts on work done by road contractors and stricter weight limits on semis. Howell stated he'd set absolute deadlines, similar to those enacted in Indiana, for state regulatory agencies to approve or deny permits, referring back to his Kamax example from earlier.

     Howell finished by stating he would not run for higher office if elected; "I'm willing to serve my seven years and come back to the farm in North Branch. Consequently, the lobbyists, the special interests, and the pressure groups, can kiss my ass."  DeLuca reminded the audience that she's a fighter and has the research and facts to back up her stances, adding "I'm not afraid to vote against my party if it hurts the people that I represent." Spilker finished reading her prepared opening statement, then went on to the need for more than two political parties and positions to be represented in government.

     Ultimately, Howell and DeLuca both had their high points over the course of the night; Howell owned the Metamora gravel mining issue, was able to point to the success of the Lapeer ISD's college credit program at Ed-Tech as a model for making higher education more attainable, and used the Kamax expansion to great effect to underscore his points about bureaucratic over-regulation. DeLuca successfully hammered home the theme of holding government accountable, from crumbling infrastructure to the state legislature, with her recent sparring with Sen. Pavlov being a good example of her willingness to demand accountability and get answers for her constituents. Spilker fell back on the free market as her primary talking point throughout the evening, not offering up much in the way of specifics. I often forget just how much faith the Libertarian platform puts in completely unregulated capitalism and the willingness of corporate entities to act in the public's best interest when that doesn't necessarily coincide with their shareholders' best interest, which might be the one thing I'm more skeptical of than the ability of government to act in the public's best interest; at least government officials can be removed from their positions when they fail to do so.

     There's one more debate to be held within the next few days, this one to focus mostly on education, a subject where both Howell and DeLuca are particularly well-versed. Of course, I'll have coverage of that debate later this week, as well as a few words on a state senator who may be running for a soon-to-be-vacated Congressional seat... just because the last state rep is gone doesn't mean there isn't plenty to write about.