Meet the Candidates for State Representative

Oct. 20, 2004

Who’s who in the race for the 101st, 104th and 107th districts

Dear readers: Last week’s Express profiled candidates Jim McKimmy and Kevin Elsenheimer in the race for State Representative for the 105th District. This week, we continue
with the same questions pertaining to the remaining districts in Northern Michigan.

State Representative race: 107th District, serving Cheboygan, Chippewa, Emmet and Mackinac counties

McDowell (D) Rudyard

NE: What is your background?
As a life-long resident of Northern Michigan and a county commissioner for 22 years, I am well aware of the issues and concerns of our district. Professionally, I have worked for over 20 years as co-owner and treasurer of McDowell Hay, Inc., a 1,000-acre hay farming and distribution company in Rudyard, which I own with my brothers. I have also served as a Chippewa County War Memorial Hospital Trustee for the past 16 years and am in my 17th year as a county Economic Development Corporation board member. I am also a volunteer EMT, and served on the county recycling committee and the Emergency 911 dispatch board.

NE: What key issues do you plan to address, if elected?
I believe the key issues for our area are protecting and creating good paying, year-round jobs for this area and bringing down the costs of health care and prescription drugs. Tourism is an important industry, but we need to expand the tourism season through effective marketing of our area. We also need to market our area to other industries, such as high tech companies which are able to do business virtually anywhere. As a hospital board member, I know the high cost of health care is also a serious concern. I would like to work to reduce the bureaucracy of the health care system, as well as work on more effective ways to purchase prescription drugs to bring down the costs. People should not have to choose between their meals and their medicine.

NE: What proposals would you offer to improve life in Northern Michigan?
I oppose the diversion of Great Lakes water and our groundwater. I would propose that we do an inventory of our water resources so we know what we resources we have before we think of selling it. I would propose ways that make it economically inefficient for out-of-state and Canadian waste haulers to bring trash into Michigan by increasing their dumping fees. I would like to review Proposal A and find a more equitable way to fund schools in the state. Our schools in northern Michigan have unique problems with declining enrollments, increased transportation costs and aging infrastructure, and they deserve more support.

NE: Why are you the best person for the office?
I have the energy, experience and knowledge of the issues in Northern Michigan to go to Lansing and fight for our district. I have visited over 5,000 homes around the district to talk with voters. People feel ignored by their government. They are hungry for a State Representative who actually listens to them. That’s what I’ve been doing in my campaign and will continue to do as representative. In over 25 years of public service, I have always been a person who is able to work with others to come up with a viable solution for community issues. I would like to continue to do that as State Representative.

Walter H. North (R), St. Ignace

NE: What is your background?
I am a graduate of Western Michigan University with a B.B.A. degree. I am a Korean War veteran, a former county commissioner, former controller for several companies, former administrator of the Mackinac Bridge, and a former State Senator (1995-2002). I am married to my high school sweetheart and have four grown sons and nine grandchildren.

NE: What key issues do you hope to address, if elected?
Improve the area’s economy by increasing the marketing of tourism by the state and increasing the efficiency of state government. Work to reduce health care costs. Continue to protect the environment.

NE: What proposals do you offer to improve life in Northern Michigan?
Focus on employment opportunities for residents. Work to improve access to health car eand quality education opportunities, both in K-12 and higher education.

NE: Why are you the best candidate?
Most of the state’s problems are financial, and from 1998 through 2002 I served on the Senate Appropriations Committee which makes me uniquely qualified to serve. As a past school board president, past president of a regional tourism association, hospital board member, medical clinic board member and board member of community foundations in three communities, I possess the background to effectively represent the 107th District.


State Representative race: 101st District, serving Benzie, Leelanau, Manistee and Mason counties.

Rick Gebhard (D), Manistee

NE: What is your background?
I grew up in Cadillac and worked in my family’s century-old small business. I graduated from Hope College and played football there until suffering a knee injury. Today, I teach English at Manistee High School and live in Manistee with my wife and two young children. I had never given much thought to running for office, but that changed when my opponent broke his campaign pledge and voted to take $360,000 away from the schools in this district. As a parent and a teacher, I know that those are the wrong priorities for our kids, our communities and our state.

NE: What key issues do you plan to address, if elected?
I will work for fully funded schools to keep class sizes low and ensure that schools have the latest technology to prepare our kids for a new and challenging economy. To create more jobs, we must work to expand our agricultural economy through renewable energies like wind farming, ethanol and biodiesel. We must protect our lakes, dunes, forests and rivers because we live in one of the most beautiful regions in Michigan and so much of our local economy is based on tourism. I strongly support the Water Legacy Act, which will protect the Great Lakes from water diversion schemes.

NE: What proposals would you offer to improve life in Northern Michigan?
First and foremost, we must make sure that our schools are adequately funded because good schools attract good jobs. I also support Governor Granholm’s “Cool Cities” proposals to help stimulate downtown business districts with new streets, lighting and preservation of historic buildings. In the State Legislature, I’ll work to pass tuition assistance for our Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and will fight to protect the rights of our sportsmen.

NE: Why are you the best person for the office?
As a father, a coach and a teacher, I believe I am the best person for the job because of my experience and my priorities. My experience is in the real world teaching kids to succeed, not shuffling paper for Lansing lobbyists. And as your State Representative, I will work to fully fund our schools, protect our environment and create new jobs in our region. Lansing has too many politicians who blindly follow special interests and a narrow partisan agenda. We deserve a representative who will stand up for our families and be an independent voice for all of us. That’s why I’m running for State Representative.


David Palsrok (R), Manistee

NE: What is your background?
A fifth generation family member from Manistee, David Palsrok was born on April 1, 1969. He has a BA from Michigan State University and is the incumbent State Rep for the 101st District. He has also served as a legislative aide in the State House, as chief of staff to Senate assistant majority leader Michael Bouchard, and as director of public policy for the Michigan Association of Realtors. In August 2003, he married Emily Gerkin. The couple lives in Manistee with their golden retriever, Drake.

NE: What key issues do you plan to address if elected?
We should continue to fight for every job in Michigan. We must provide incentives to retain and attract jobs, focus on economic recovery, and work to continue to streamline state government. A robust economy will allow us to meet our priorities of increased school funding, protecting seniors, and reform health care.

NE: What proposals would you offer to improve life in Northern Michigan?
I have introduced HB 4140, Rented Livery Liability, which would exempt owners of rented non-motorized watercrafts from liability from an injury or death that results from the inherent risks associated with the use of such a boat. This bill was passed out of the house and is currently being worked on in the Senate Judiciary Committee. I am also working on and will continue to support legislation that keeps jobs and families in Northern Michigan.

NE: Why are you the best person for the job?
When I was elected as a State Representative, I was effective on day one. I have worked to pass legislation that lowers taxes for small start up businesses, supported efforts to attract high tech, high paying jobs in health and science and provide tax credits to companies to locate and create jobs in Michigan.


State Representative race: 104th District, serving Grand Traverse and Kalkaska counties

Howard Walker (R) Traverse City

NE: What is your background?
I grew up in the Upper Peninsula, where I developed an interest in outdoor sports and natural resources. Subsequently, I received a BS degree in Forestry from Michigan Tech University in 1977 and later became a Professional Land Surveyor. I owned and operated Walker Land Surveying in Traverse City for 15 years.
I have been married to my wife Dianne, who teaches math in Traverse City Area Public Schools for 17 years. We have two sons, Josh & Chris, and a daughter, Shen, and have lived in Traverse City for 18 years. In addition to spending time with my business and family, I am a member of Rotary and First Congregational Church. I have also served on the Traverse City Area School Board in 1996, 1997 and 1998.

NE: What key issues do you plan to address?
I will continue to work on land use issues such as my farmland preservation bill (HB 5030) which has passed the House and which is now in the Senate. I also look forward to continuing our work on bringing jobs to our area. We need to keep our taxes low and create a business climate which attracts jobs to Michigan. Cutting red tape and reducing the time to acquire permits are two things we can do to make Michigan competitive with other States. We also need to continue to provide incentives for companies to invest in Michigan.

NE: What proposals would you offer to improve life in Northern Michigan?
I will again offer legislation which will eliminate the supplemental funding to the wealthiest school districts to allow our schools to be better funded. This supplemental funding was never part of Proposal A and now, because of it, we are not closing the gap with the wealthier school districts. I serve on the Community Health Appropriations Committee and I will offer proposals which will limit waste and abuse in our Medicaid system, so we can save money and elevate the Medicaid reimbursement to appropriate levels. This is critical as the current low reimbursement rates have a detrimental effect on the whole healthcare industry.

NE: Why are you the best person for
the office?
As your current State Representative, I have the experience to be an effective advocate for the 104th district. I serve on the distinguished Appropriation Committee and have fought hard to hold schools and healthcare harmless from budget cuts during this tough economic time. I will continue those priorities and will also join with other Northern Michigan Legislators to make sure our voice is heard in Lansing.


(Howard Walker’s opponent dropped out of the race and he is running unopposed. -- ed.)