District 13 Commissioner Candidates Weigh in on Roads, DIA Millage, County Budget

Roads, the and the county budget were just a few of the topics Macomb Township candidates addressed at Macomb Township Republican Caucus’ first-ever Meet the Candidates forum last week.

Held at the Clinton-Macomb Public Library main branch, 14 of the 16 Republican candidates for supervisor, clerk, treasurer, trustee and District 13 commissioner were present to field policy and platform questions posed by local voters.

Patch reached out to the only Democratic contender for county commissioner, Jonathan Garstka, after the forum to ask his response to the questions answered by his opponents. 

Given the number of candidates and the wide range of topics covered, Patch has presented the answers from this forum in three installments: and District 13 county commissioners.

Roads

What is the county going to do to support road construction and improvements in Macomb Township?

Incumbent Commissioner Joe Sabatini: Collaboration is the answer to that question. Roads do not get fixed by a township, by a county. They get fixed by funds that come from the state into the county that we then distribute those funds to those municipalities. We have a number of municipalities that do not have the 60-40 split to contribute to the county, which makes it very difficult for Macomb County to pave a road when it does not have support from a municipality. Macomb Township has that surplus. When the new charter was enacted, the road commission became the Department of Roads in which there was a surplus of $9 million that came about with that consolidation. We then, including myself, went to our municipalities and tried to best decide where those funds should be spent in an equitable fashion. And that’s where my job as a county commissioner is to fight for my constituents for those infrastructure improvements.

Republican Kevin Karwowicz: Wow. We sit here and we talk about roads, we go back and forth. What we should look at is strategic planning. While we were building the houses, we knew we were developing. Water is the lifeblood of the community, farms, the people, it keeps the area going. Roads, you have to have roads to get places. I hear we have a $9 million surplus, but I can’t figure out where that came from. I’m looking at accountability of each and every person up here, we knew we were growing. W knew we brought 30,000 people in, but we didn’t build the infrastructure. All over the world they build the roads and then they build everything else. He said, she said, county, township, we need to be accountable. As county commissioners, our job is to suggest to the county executive and road commission, we can’t appropriate funds so when you see numbers, and see things like that, let’s be realistic. Let’s put the roads in and plan and move forward.

Democrat Jonathan Garstka: I believe that it is the county commissioners’ job along with the road commission to make sure that Macomb Township roads are safe to travel on. We need to look closely at the roads in question and find what solution would work best, whether it is just patching potholes and cracks to completely replacing the road. I also believe that the local commuters should be taken into much consideration. We need to make sure that whatever solution is chosen will not constrict traffic and make everyday drivers frustrated because of construction. By choosing the highest traffic roads that need work, we can work our way down to the less traveled roads and make sure that commuters are safe driving in Macomb Township.

DIA Millage

What is your position on the proposed ?

Sabatini: The arts are very important to our community, there is no question about that. However, based on the information that the DIA provided to me. I was the only, and am the only, member of the Michigan Association of CPAs that sits on the board of commissioners. I requested the audited financials from the DIA and reviewed those financials. When I reviewed those financials, the DIA has enough money to sustain their operations for the next five years in its current state, so there’s no reason why the residents of Macomb County should be taxed by an entity outside its borders and have no oversight over that tax. Because what happens with that millage is an authority is created and that authority has the power to do what it wants with that money. There is no oversight by any elected officials.

Karwowicz: There are two millages on the ballot. One allows the Detroit Institute of Arts to collect .2 mills or roughly $4.9 million over a 10-year span, annually. I do not support that at all. Now what I do support is to renew the veterans millage. For six years, it’s a .04 millage, that’s roughly $7 million annually. And to really be honest, I would like to see the veterans get more because they’re the ones that give us our freedoms right now. So I do not support the DIA and I am all for the veterans.

Garstka: I support the DIA millage. As a frequent visitor to the institute I see the ability it has in showing people a side of Detroit and the surrounding areas they haven’t seen before. Whether it be school field trips, a family outing or just a single person visiting there is something there for everyone. It provides educational enjoyment in the way of art that people can take home with them after their visit. Not only does it show a side of Detroit, it also brings the history of other nations through art to the fronts of our minds. Funding for the DIA should be taken care of by its patrons in neighboring counties so upcoming generations can take part in this cultural icon, especially if it means making it an experience that can be free of charge.

County Budget

What is your approach to the county’s budget, i.e. balance, deficit spending, how do you see your role in that?

Sabatini: My first term we had a $15 million deficit that needed to be fixed. I brought my financial experience and worked with our new finance director, Pete Provenzano, as being both accountants, we were able to think outside the box and take pieces and services and collaborate those and in doing so we cut that $15 million deficit. The big challenge now this time around is that we have a $30 million deficit to fix. Our tax revenues are down, our property values are down, so we have to figure out different ways, on top of what we’ve already done, and there’s been a number of things that we have done to cut that deficit. Our next challenge will be how are we going to do it twofold.  

Karwowicz: OK, this may surprise you. I’m a business guy, so we keep cutting, cutting, cutting, but I’m looking at marketing our community. We have a beautiful waterfront to work with. We have so much access to what our Macomb County needs to be. We need to market new business to come in. Let’s move forward and look at the positive things. We keep saying, ‘OK, it’s your fault, your fault, you got to do this,’ let’s move forward and bring people together who want to live in Macomb, are proud to live in Macomb. That is the thing we are missing here, you can talk about $30 million here, $15 million here, I can’t find any of those reports. I just look at the realistic thing of what built this country was hard work, determination and American dream and we have to instill that in our loved ones, build the roads, make it easy to get here, fill the vacant places that we have and take care of the people. Because rather than always cutting, cutting, cutting, that doesn’t seem to be working.

Garstka: You hear so many different numbers fly around about deficits, and balancing budgets you just don’t know what to believe. Over the past few years we have heard words like cutbacks, layoffs, and reallocation. We need to stop cutting and find areas that are being funded unnecessarily. I would work with financial advisors as well as the other commissioners to decipher the Rosetta Stone that is Macomb’s budget and compromise on the correct allocation of funds.

Relationship with the County Executive

What is your position on the role of the county executive and how you work with him?

Karwowicz: I support the county executive, Mark Hackel, because I look at the county as a business. We are a business and we need a leader because all successful companies have a CEO to make that business successful. We need that person to implement and talk to the different departments and work with people, but the most important thing is he’s about marketing. We talk about cutting this, cutting that well that’s great, but what are we bringing back? So, I support him, and he wants to Make Macomb Your Home, bring people back. We need to talk about the infrastructure that we have. For so long we had these manufacturing capabilities to do anything, and we’ve forgotten about that. I support the county executive and I look forward to the marketing of our community, not the cutting.

Sabatini: The (Office of County Executive) was enacted for the exposure of this county. Mark Hackel is our CEO. And he handles the operations of the county, however, the board of commissioners are the constituents’ voice for the county, that’s our job. We have to work together to get things done. There’s no question about that, however, in the voters’ adopted charter. There are a lot of limited powers that the county executive has and some of those powers include the transparency in government that the board of commissioners feels that we must have the checks and balances system so that we do not get into a situation like some of our neighboring counties that cannot control their spending without that type of oversight.

Garstka: I feel the county executive is a great way to maintain the checks and balances of Macomb. The county commissioners can be monitored to make sure their decisions are fair to the tax payers, and vice versa. After all, the reason people are elected is to make the area in which you live in a better place, not for personal gain of one elected individual. I will pledge to work closely with the county executive to make sure that money and resources are being allocated in a fair and responsible way.

In response to my republican counterparts, Macomb is not a business and should not be treated as such. People do business to make profits and make themselves better off than they were before. Being a public servant is about helping the whole, not the individual. If we keep treating the township and county as a business, then we will forget the entire reason that one is to be elected: to represent his constituents in a fair and honest way keeping their best interests in mind.

Health & Safety Improvements

As county commissioner, how do you plan to make health and safety a priority, and how will you act on this?

Karwowicz: In Macomb Township, I’d build the roads, I’d put the sidewalks in and I would make it safe so we could get to the beautiful parks that we built.

Sabatini: I currently vice chair of the Macomb County justice and Public Safety committee, where I believe one of our biggest assets in this county is keeping vital services for our residents. It’s very difficult today with the amount of money we are getting from the state, so my efforts to work with the sheriff and his department to try to find different grants out there that we can get money from the federal government to invest into our county and save the taxpayers’ money has always been my goal.

Garstka: There is no simple answer for this question. I will work with local law enforcement officials to make sure people of Macomb are safe and sound on a daily basis. Whether it be through the war on drugs, stricter penalties for driving while intoxicated, or things as simple as making sure there are enough crosswalks near schools. Even organizing more of a sophisticated neighborhood watch can help the community feel safer when in their own surroundings. As far as the health of Macomb goes, we need to make sure that appropriate funds are still being allocated to local health departments and clinics. With health insurance costs at what they are, we need to make available places for the not so wealthy to get themselves checked and healthy.

For more race coverage, visit our Election 2012 guide.