Manistee LWV Candidate Forum Part 1: 101st State House

by: AikoAdam

Sun Jun 22, 2008 at 14:00:00 PM EDT

I've decided for the most part to transcribe, in full, the answers to the questions here after seeing the coverage in the Manistee News Advocate, wherein they offer no reactions, chopped up sentences and misquoted candidates or only gave partial responses in an obvious effort to skew public perception of the event. Their reporting reads like the minutes of a county meeting for the most part and I find it to be some of the laziest journalism I have seen in some time. I would also like to note that they printed, as letters to the editor, a letter from Janice McCraner, basically giving her free advertising, and what I assume is a member of her campaign committee as well, on the same day.

What is most striking to me from the forum is that Dan Scripps is the only candidate that fully understands all of the issues in detail, has short and long term plans for anything asked and explains them. The Republican candidates do alot of talking and make generalized statements and go off on tangents. Janice McCraner often followed Dan Scripps in the questions and did a lot of parroting Dan, without knowing the issues. If I ever have to hear someone say "unintended consequences" again that many times I might scream. Ray Franz is so far to the neo-con right he fell right off the damn chart. McManus tries valiantly to sound folky and homespun and often hedges his answers to meet a crowd's approval. If his daughter is any measure, I think we know what we would be getting ourselves into with him. And Greg Ferguson....well we (Lisa and I have decided) that Greg Ferguson is pure comedy gold. Please be sure to read his responses for your daily dose of humor. Cut and paste them somewhere for reference, so you'll know, without a doubt, that the person you are speaking with or listening to, has absolutely no idea what he is talking about. It's that good.

The questions began as selected by the Manistee League of Women Voters. Candidates had three minutes to answer. Mr. Zaring and a time keeper did a very good job of keeping a strict time limit.

Should the 2008 state ballot proposal which seeks to mandate action to provide affordable health insurance  for all Michiganders pass, how would you address that?

Greg Ferguson:

"I need to hear that question one more time."

"Um...for starters I'm not familiar with the present ballot in depth, in detail. I do not know the history or have read any of the deliberation that took place to place this, this uh universal health care um ballot on the proposal. I question universal health care and it's application to.. umm.. the individuals in the state of Michigan. I think health care is a choice by right. I think health care is too expensive. Ummm...I think an individual's care for health is something an individual needs to work on themselves. We need to make healthcare more affordable through business avenues. We need to um..ahh..help businesses and help individuals but I..I do not know the information or can comment on that question at this time."

Mike McManus was next. He begins to answer the previous question and is cut off by the moderator.
McManus "Oh I get a new question?"
Zaring "Yes, a new question."
McManus "I didn't want to answer that one anyway."

What do you think the current public perception is of how government works in Lansing? What would you do to address that?

Mike McManus

"That's a complex question. I'll do my best to try to answer it. I think it varies from person to person in this state. You run across some people who say "Boy things are lousy in Lansing". You run across others who have had good constituency work and dealt with their state senator and representatives. Perception is 90% of it. We know that, that when people think there's a perception out there that things are not going well, that's not good. What I would do, is uh work very very hard to come to consensus with people. To reach across the aisle and work with the Democrats that are willing to work on common concerns that we all have. The number one concern in this state right now is the economy! And I'm hoping that the Democrats in the legislature will want to solve that problem as bad as I do. Alright? And so consequently I would seek those types out to do that. I think the problem is right here! It's not somebody else's problem it's our problem and we need to solve it. Enough said."

What is you position on the sale of pollution credits on seeking alternative energy resources and on mandatory, tougher air quality standards for new proposed coal fired power plants?

Dan Scripps

"The energy issue has been one that's at the top of the agenda in Lansing. There are no answers yet. I'll start by saying I'm a huge proponent of renewable energy. I think that our future energy  needs to be from sources that are renewable and sustainable. It also provides us with the opportunity in Manistee County and Northwest Michigan to really have an economic advantage. If we can create, invent and manufacture the renewable energy systems that are going to build that future  here in Northwest Michigan, that's jobs! There are companies that are looking at Manistee County right now, there are companies that are have announce an interest in Mason county, right now, that would bring jobs to this area. So it's not only doing the right thing from an environmental and energy standpoint, it's doing the right thing from an economic standpoint. But I do want to answer the question. I will say that there are concerns in terms of where we are in our ability in a base load perspective. Renewable energy is going to be the future but it's not today, yet. So we need to do a lot more there. But in terms of addressing the base load standards, if we are going to build new coal plants, or new nuclear plants, i want them to be the last plants that we ever build and I want them to be the cleanest plants that have ever been built. I am willing to entertain those things, I think it's irresponsible not to. But my focus as State Representative is how we get to that renewable future and that is something I will be working on everyday.

Do you think that splitting the DEQ from the DNR has had a positive or negative effect on protecting Michigan's environment?

Ray Franz

"There has been some..uh..minor improvements..uh in protection of the environment. But I think the cost to the overall department has degraded the impact. What they've done is created virtually two separate um.. administrations or bureaucracies. Any time you have that many more bureaucracies within the state level what you end up doing is spending more money and having duplication. I think a consolidation of those services and interests, because they are connected and over lapping would provide better service to the community er to the state at a more reasonable cost. I think it's important that we protect that environment, have that core cooperation, but still at the same time control the costs because at this time in our history controlling expenses is an extremely important part of bringing prosperity back to the state of Michigan."

Do you think Michigan needs campaign finance reform and increased scrutiny of lobbying activities?

Janice McCraner

"One short answer, yes. But let me elaborate just a little bit. If you look at the presidential election and you see the dollars that have been spent there think what we could be doing for our citizens at the federal and the state level. There's got to be more scrutiny and there's got to be more regulation. If we're going to run as candidates and continue the way we are funding campaigns right now, it's a very hard hard thing to accomplish. I'm sure my fellow candidates would agree with me. It's an expensive venture. very expensive. There's got to be changes there. If we don't make some changes, unfortunately people wont even think about running for some of these races, they will be intimidated by the amount of money they must raise. So it's important for us to look at those things. I've worked very hard a s a county commissioner to work with other entities to make sure that all the players come to the table and talk about these issues. this is one of those issues that all the players need to come to the table. All the stakeholders need to be there, they need to give their opinions and situations need to be looked at. And the most important thing is that we make sure that when we change these laws there aren't any unintended consequences. That's number one. So yes it's needs to be looked at and I would be an active participant in that."

The next portion gave them an opportunity to answer a question one of the others answered before.

Greg Ferguson chose #3.

"Umm. I support the development and the tax credits of all energy development. Wind energy, solar energy, uh..hydro energy, nucular(sp) energy uhh and particularly..coal. Umm there was a time not too long ago in this community when we had to address uh the decision of a coal powered, a coal burning power plant. umm and this community had an opportunity to uhh bring into the state of Michigan uhh a new way of of using fossil fuel coal. If we were to grant credits to those who wish to develop coal gasification plants, and there is a science between gasifying the fossil fuel of coal which eliminates 99 point some number of heavy metal contaminates. There of course are toxins and other pollutants that would be challenges, but the development of... of fossil fuels with best technology available is an avenue that this country and the state of Michigan must continue to develop. Umm. I think we need wind mills. I think solar panels, radiant heat, umm biodiesel, ethanol and every other avenue that we can extract energy to make our economy, the state the country go forward should be developed and if energy credits to build, and I have a fancy for coal gasification because I studied this thoroughly during the presentation of our sighting here was a win-win situation. I would encourage everyone to research those options and with that I'll say thank you."

Mike McManus

"Here's what I'm thinking. As I visited with folks this past year, they talk about the economy in Michigan. They talk about the mom and pop organizations and the manufacturers talk about taxes and how it's difficult for them to do business compared to other states. Then they talk about regulation. But then they get into this business of Michigan..uhh.. being this kind of a dead end uh state where trucking and uhh comes north and has to go back empty and we're kinda off the beaten track and what I'm getting at is the cost of energy in our state is a fundamental problem not only for the consumers, the home owners who are trying to heat their home and uh put fuel in their car but also for the businesses.  So it makes it difficult for Michigan businesses to compete because of the cost of energy. We need definitely to explore all the friendly alternative types of fuel possible. Uhh.. and and we need to, need to not rely on just one type of energy. We're in that, we're in that problem right now aren't we? I don't know about you folks but I don't like to send my money to Chavez and I don't like to send my money to the Arab sheiks over there in the Middle East. I'd rather be paying American people who are producing energy and have those dollars stay right here in this country and, and again help our economy. And so consequently that's where I'd come from on that."

Dan Scripps took #2

"I disagree that the public sort of thinks that everything is fine in Lansing. You're talking to people who are different than the people I am talking to I guess. (directed at McManus) The people I speak to are furious with Lansing. They're furious that since the first time since 1959 the legislature shut down the government last year. They're furious that the year before the legislature voted for a tax scheme that led the very next day for Wall Street rating analysts to downgrade Michigan's credit, making it more expensve to borrow money in Michigan and impedeing our economic growth. They're furious that after passing a tax plan the legislature did it so poorly that they had to go back and do it again which led to the surcharge on the Michigan business tax which I think we all agree was a mistake. Lansing is broken and we need somebody who can go down there and fix it. I serve as a founding champion, in fact I am the only founding champion running for state legislature in the state of either party, for The Center For Michigan's Defining Moment Campaign. This is a broad based Bi partisan effort involving people like Bill Milliken and Paul Hilligon, a former Republican Speaker of the House, Joe Schwartz, the former Republican Congressman from the Battle Creek area and a number of others from both sides of the aisle, in developing a common sense, grassroots agenda for Michigan's future. Lanisng is broken and it's going to take that kind of bipartisan cooperation where we have a specific vision of where we want to get to, that it's going to take to turn Lansing around, because it's just not working.

Ray Franz

"I would also like to address number three. Energy is key to our economy and it's critical to this state and I think uhh some of the things being discussed tonight as a little bit different than my approach. I am opposed to the renewable portfolio. I am opposed to the sale of pollution credits and the reason being, those are nothing more than cash transfers. They will drive up the cost of energy for this state. In fact the estimates we have out of the house uh party, er the house commission is that the renewable portfolio may add as much as 30% of the price to electricity over the long haul. That is not the way to bring prosperity and jobs to this state. No business will come to this state anticipating to spend an additional thirty percent on electricity. There is better solutions. Alternative energy in general has not proven to be as good of an opportunity as it's billed. Currently in this nation and in this state we run about six percent um of renewable energy. Of that, three percent is hydroelectric and that is off the table. We can no longer do that as renewable energy. Of the remaining three percent 2.9 percent is biofuel, which is nothing more than burning wood, or..uh.. garbage or manure or some of that. I think the idea is to get away from burning stuff. Given the fact that biofuel has about a quarter of the btu's as coal and some of the other sources, we'll end up burning more to get less. France has 59 nuclear power plants and is a major exporter of electricity to the rest of Europe. Their income is nine tril..uh billion dollars a year in sale. They do it safely, the do it cleanly and they do it affordably. France's cost for a kilowatt is 3cents a kilowatt. This state could be a manufacturer and exporter of energy for all over the Midwest. We have the resources, we have the facilities and we have the knowledge to do that. I think that is an answer. Nuclear power has ZERO pollution and with some of the new fast breeder reactors that are available and being used throughout the world, uh nuclear waste could be virtually eliminated. France is currently burning up it's nuclear waste from other plants in their fast breeder reactors. It can be done cleanly, safely and efficiently. That is the answer to the problems in this state. Think of what we could draw to this state with lower electric bills. That prosperity alone would make everything else possible."

Janice McCraner

"I'd like to address number two and start with we all know that it starts with our policy makers in Lansing and that Lansing is broken. Our government leaders need to start looking at opportunities to change the way we make our policies. One of the most important thing that we need to look at, alternative ways, and one way is a part time legislature. That needs to be discussed. We need to look at term limits. When I talk with people and I've talked with over 3000 people knocking on doors, they're so upset, as Dan said furious with what's going on in Lansing right now. All of these things that we've talked about, the opportunities for economic development, for education, for health insurance, for our environment, it all starts with our lawmakers. Lansing is broken, it's gotta be fixed, if you send me to Lansing on your behalf I'm going to work to make sure that those changes are made. I've done it as a county commissioner. I'm a proven leader. I'm a proven consensus builder and we've made some changes at the county level. This isn't rocket science folks.  We can change the state government and the way we do things. I wanna be that person to go to Lansing on your behalf, be a consensus builder and change the way we are making policies here in the state of Michigan."

The final portion took written questions from the audience with a two minute and then one minute time limit.

Do you favor selling off rights to the Great Lakes to other states in need of water? Would you support Michigan joining the Great Lakes water compact? And, Why do you think we haven't joined it yet?

Greg Ferguson

"Um... That's a tough question. I don't know what the situation would be for another state to come to the state of Michigan or the surrounding states around the Great Lakes and request a diversion of water that is so consequential that would harm umm our marine or aqua life and the lifestyle that those who live in the states that border the Great Lakes uhhh would be detrimental. Why the state has currently uhh signed up ahh I don't have that answer. I've not been privy to the deliberations that have taken place or any other conversations between those, those individuals or parties or committees. I was not invited to any of them. Maybe there are consequences, maybe there are challenges that haven't been addressed that the state of Michigan legislatures have to have an answer on before they make a commitment that ahh they, that, that, that holds the state of Michigan to a compact that may either harm or help. It's a good question and that's as good as I can answer it at this time."

Mike McManus

"To the first question, no. I would not support that. To the second question uhhh I lean toward supporting the pac (sp). And the third question, I would like to just say this in general. We need to use some common sense when it comes to the use of water in Michigan. I'd rather just deal with that part a little bit. Everywhere in Michigan we need water, especially on our farms and in our factories. And it's important that if we're gonna have a strong economy, that particular natural resource stays with the folks in Michigan."

Dan Scripps

"This is not a theoretical question. This is something that is before the legislature right now. There is a bill that has been voted on by the House, that would protect Michigan's water, that treats it as the resource that it is. The defining resource of our state. There is legislation that has been supported by the Senate that aloows diversion of up to 42% of the water out of the Betsie River, 25% out of the Manistee River. Allows fish kills three times as high as sort of signed off on by Trout Unlimited. This is not a theoretical question. This is something that is pending today. I support protecting Michigan's defining natural resource. I will be a legislative champion for our water. I thionk it is far past time to enact the Great Lakes Compact. We're one of only two states, Pennsylvania being the other in the Great Lakes basin, that have not acted onthis yet. And the reason is that there are different approaches. The house bill, the bill that would protect Michigan's water is currently pending in the Senate and if you are concerned about our water, if you are concerned that private companies or other states could come in and take 25% of the water out of the Manistee River, I would encourage you to write to your State Senator, Senator McManus, and ask that she vote for the house version and not the Senate version that she has previously supported."

Ray Franz

"I would be opposed obviously to selling any rights to other states. We want those people to come to this state if they want our water, thank you very much. However I don't think that that is the key issue at this time. There are federal protections against that and realistically Western states would stop at the Mississippi and take their water instead o coming all the way to the Great Lakes. But we do need the pac(sp). The reason the pac(sp) has not been signed I think is because we have tried to make it more complicated and more restrictive that the general pac(sp) that six of the uh other states. That pac(sp) ahs become so complicated and so restrictive that we're prohibiting farmers or restricting farmers to use less water than they need to grow crops for all of us. Umm I think it's important that we encourage agriculture and the rest of business and the rest of the water needs in this state. But that we keep it here. Currently the restrictions they're talking about is anything over 50 million gallons a day on average. Replenishment in this state with rain and uhh ummm flow in is about 160 billion gallons a day. The thought that we're gonna run out of water to me is ridiculous. There's over 4 trillion gallons a day goes over Niagara Falls and out to the ocean. Another trillion goes through Chicago and out to the Mississippi. This state has an abundance of the most vast renewable resource we have which is water. Unfortunately it is a natural resource. Not unfortunately uh fortunately it is. If we're to restrict the use, it no longer is a resource if we're not able to use it. It's only a resource if we can actually use it. And the numbers we're talking about here are such that we can benefit this state with prosperity, with farm production, we are the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables inthe nation. They need that water to be prosperous for these farmers. We also need it in manufacturing and we aslo need it for us to drink. We have it right here and we need it (holds up a glass of water) we pulled this out of the ground also. The replenishment is natural, it exists every day, and to think that we're running out of water, I'm sorry, is unrealistic to me."

Janice McCraner

"Well, you've heard alot of statistics, you've heard alot of quotes of water, where it's going how we're using it. I would not support selling off our water. It is the lifeblood of our state. We need to make sure that we protect that. Part number two, I think it's really important that Michigan moves slowly on this for a reason. We all know government moves slow, at a snail's pace. Sometimes that's a very good reason. We have to make sure that there aren't any unintended consequences when we sign this pact and that's important. We've all seen when government has moved too fast and there has been some huge, history proves it, unintended consequences. The Great Lakes pac(sp) the reason it hasn't passed, there isn't an agreement with the House and the Senate. That needs to be looked at very carefully and it needs to be a consensus building opportunity for us as Michiganders to sign that and make sure we don't have unintended consequences."

Large businesses leaving Michigan, small businesses struggling in Michigan, what is your plan to help business thrive?

Janice McCraner

"Deregulation. We are regulating ourselves to death with businesses.  No one want to come to do business in Michigan right now...the answer is deregulation, we have to become a user friendly state."

Ray Franz

"We must encourage business and prosperity to come back to this state and we do this with such things as right to work legislation."

Dan Scripps

"I've talked a little bit about building pools of capital so there is access to funds for business that want to grow and locate here. I also think we can do much more in building an entrepreneurial culture in Michigan and I think we're particularly positioned to do that here in Northern Michigan. I also think we need to move away from government by press release. It's what we often see happen and it's great for politicians to stand up and say this is the company that I brought into town, while ignoring the ones that were here before. A broad based competitive business climate and more transparency and predictability in both business taxes and regulation so that businesses who are looking at moving to Michigan at least know the obstacles they are facing."

Mike McManus

Talks in very general terms about people complaining about taxes and regulation and how it's better in Indiana.

Greg Ferguson

"I concur with everything that the prior four candidates have mentioned. There's, there's a plethora of avenues that we can go down to aid small and large businesses, um, I think we can draw upon the people here and look for their recommendations. It is they who we want to represent and legislature, but, umm yeah I do agree with everything we've just heard."

Update: 6/24 you can stream the audio from Interlochen Public Radio here.