Six candidates running for 105th House District

Due to term limits, Rep. Elsenheimer can't run again

BY BRIAN McGILLIVARY bmcgillivary@record-eagle.com

TRAVERSE CITY — Candidates in the crowded and hotly contested 105th House District are jockeying for support in a race in which the victor may claim only a quarter of voters.

Six candidates will vie for the open seat in the traditionally Republican district that includes Antrim, Charlevoix, Otsego, and most of Cheboygan counties. Term-limited state Rep. Kevin Elsenheimer won his first term with 27 percent of the vote and most candidates expect the winner will claim an even lower percentage in the Aug. 3 primary.

The current field has Tim Boyko and Barry Anderson from Charlevoix, Triston Cole and Greg MacMaster from Antrim County, Kenneth Glasser from Gaylord and Dennis Lennox from Cheboygan.

Anderson is retired teacher who works as director for Community Corrections in Charlevoix County. He could not be reached for comment.

The rest of the field advocates cutting taxes, downsizing government, and eliminating the Michigan Business Tax. Cole, Glasser, and Lennox support adoption of the Michigan Fair Tax, which would replace the business tax, state income tax, personal property taxes, and the 6 mill state school property tax with a 9.75 percent sales tax on all retail goods and services.

Boyko, 59, a businessman and former township supervisor, said he likes the simplicity of the "fair tax," but it needs more vetting to determine its impact on tourism, farming, seniors, and young families. He doesn't want to repeat the Legislature's rush to adopt the Michigan Business Tax that "made us look like fickle idiots."

"You just can't go with a leap of faith that it will be fair to everybody," he said.

It's not just taxes that businesses find repelling in Michigan, Boyko said. He cited unions and outdated, inflexible regulations as other examples of business-related problems.

He favors legislation to weaken unions and reduce regulatory burdens on businesses that have a track record of compliance. The state instead should beef up inspections against those that have a history of violations.

"Why do we inspect the high performer on the same schedule as the problem business," he said.

MacMaster, 48, a former television weatherman from Kewadin, said the fair tax is better than what the state has now, though he stopped short of a full endorsement of that concept.

Taxes and over-regulation drive people and business from the state, he said.

MacMaster cited as an example prosecution of Great Lakes Tissue in Cheboygan by the former Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

"They are continually harassed with additional permits and fines," he said.

The company agreed in 2008 after 11 years of compliance problems to correct violations for exceeding limits on air discharges, for uncovered on-site coal and ash piles, and for untreated waste and mercury discharged into the Cheboygan River.

MacMaster said the state needs environmental regulation, but the DEQ abused its rule-making authority under Gov. Jennifer Granholm and he wants that authority placed in the Legislature's hands.

"When you have a division that can do what they want, there's too many problems," he said. "It's that attitude of arrogance that needs to stop."

Lennox, 26, Cheboygan County's Drain Commissioner, said tax cuts alone aren't the answer to the state's economic woes.

"My main issue is reforming government, because government is the crux of all our problems," he said. "In Cheboygan County we have one elected official for every 166 people. That level of representation is absurd, outdated, and it doesn't reflect the reality of the 21st Century."

He proposes consolidating government at all levels and taking a close look at selling the state lottery and leasing out the Mackinac Bridge and highway rest areas to private companies.

"How much to you think McDonald's or Kentucky Fried Chicken would pay for exclusive rights to a rest area?" he said. "We need bold, innovative, outside-the-box solutions."

Glasser, an Otsego County Commissioner who owns a family insurance agency, said it's too late to reform government.

"We are simply going to have to cut," he said. "The real problem is an overbearing bureaucracy in Lansing and a tax burden driving jobs out of Michigan."

He said the state needs to privatize, combine, or eliminate jobs. Schools waste money on administrators, classroom aides, and other support personnel. Large portions of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Environment should be privatized, and public transit and school bus systems should be consolidated, Glasser contends.

He proposes a 30-day time limit to review all permits, and posting the state's budget line-by-line on the Internet so people can see where items should be cut.

Cole, 34, of Mancelona, is a truck driver for Bareman Dairy and owns Cole Farm LLC. He said voters are tired of retired businessmen running for office.

"People want to see some new blood, some new faces, and a new perspective on government in this state," he said. "People are fed up with the misuse of their dollars in Lansing and Washington."

He favors school vouchers and privatization of school support services and opposes lifetime health benefits and lifetime pensions for state workers.

"When you are no longer productive you are no longer entitled to tax dollars," he said.

He also opposes funding of programs that create "an entitlement mentality" and aren't properly supervised.

He objects that the state's bridge card, which replaced food stamps, allows people to purchase energy drinks.

"I don't see those as a necessity of life and that is a poor use of taxpayers dollars when we have poor people out their who are hungry and need nutritious food," Cole said.

The Republican primary winner will face Democrat Greg Dean, a business owner and developer from Elmira.

To follow our ongoing coverage of local races and issues, visit record-eagle.com/election.

Text Only