Five candidates vying for two city council posts
Residents of the City of Rogers City will elect two city council members November 8 in the annual election. Five people ? one incumbent, a former councilwoman, and three newcomers ? are candidates for the posts. The new, four-year terms will take effect January 1. Incumbent mayor Beach Hall is running unopposed for a two-year term. There will be no ballot issues.
Eric Brege is a candidate for the first time. He works as an excavation contractor and is a graduate of Rogers City High School. He is married and has three children, ages 16, 12, and five.
Cassandra Bruning is a stay-at-home mom. She is a 2001 graduate of Rogers City High School and studied elementary education at Alpena Community College for one and a half years. She currently is serving as board president of Tots Aboard. She is married and has two children, ages three and one.
William A. Bruning is the owner of Hunter Concrete and has held no previous office. He is a graduate of Rogers City High School. He is married with two children ages seven and eight. Debra K. Greene is a former member of the city council, serving 14 years. She is a registered nurse at Rogers City Rehabilitation Hospital and has an associate of science degree, an associate degree nursing, and is presently attending Central Michigan University. She is married and has children ages 27, 23, and 19.
James L. Sinclair, who has served two four-year terms on the city council, is the lone incumbent candidate running for a seat. A retired Ford Motor Company employee of 29 years he attended Henry Ford Community College for two years. He has graduated to Level III of the Elected Officials Academy of the Michigan Municipal League. He has held offices in many civic and professional organizations. He is married and has children ages 42, 41, and 35.
All five candidates completed questionnaires for The Advance. What follows are their answers, edited for length: 1. What makes you qualified to serve on the board? Why do you want to serve? Brege: I was born and raised in Rogers City. I?m a city resident and want to try and make a change for the better. C. Bruning: I care deeply for Rogers City, and would be honored to play a more active role in its growth and development. I strongly believe that growth is needed. There are many qualities of Rogers City that must be preserved while focusing on expanding our community. W. Bruning: I have a lot of common sense. I am a very positive person and I like to help people. Greene: I am qualified to serve on the council because I am a registered nurse, wife and mother of three who is faced daily with the challenges of living in a small community. I also have 14 years experience being on the council. I have common sense and I believe I can make a positive difference in this town. My experiences in Rogers City show me that we can create a better place to live. Sometimes it is necessary to have a difference of opinion from a different perspective. Sinclair: I am qualified because I have served as councilman and currently mayor pro-tem for eight years. I have received 125 hours of classes from the Elected Officials Academy of Michigan Municipal League and attained Level III. My heart is with Rogers City and I want the best for this city and its citizens.
2. What is the most important issue to you and why? Brege: The way our money is spent. It is costing city residents too much money to live in our town. I would like to help in ways to change that. C. Bruning: While I feel that every issue presented by the community and its officials carries equal importance, I believe a weighted issue we are facing right now is economic growth. With a decline in school enrollment, it is evident that fewer people are choosing to raise their children here. Although Rogers City is a great retirement community it also is a great community to raise children in. If we were able to offer more jobs it may encourage more people of childbearing age to come or stay in Rogers City. W. Bruning: We need small businesses and we need to help people in the process of starting them. Greene: The most important issues we face are continuously increasing taxes and more jobs. To create jobs we need more people but people are not likely to live in a town that has outrageous taxes. We need to increase the tax base instead of increasing taxes. Sinclair: I would like to see jobs come to our city so our young people can stay here and raise their families. I want to see the city developed in a controlled fashion. I would like to see our city trail system extended to 40 Mile Point Lighthouse.
3. What is your opinion on the recent ordinance that bans outdoor wood burning furnaces? Brege: I don?t think they should have banned the wood burners as long as the chimneys would be as high as a regular house burning wood stove. C. Bruning: I disagree with the recent decision on banning outdoor wood burning furnaces. With the uncertainty of rising gas prices this coming winter, is it wise to take away what might be a more economic alternative to fuel from people in town? W. Bruning: I don?t see a problem in using outdoor wood burning furnaces in town as long as the owner/installer would have the chimney higher than the roof peak on the house. This would be no different than most inside wood burners that people in Rogers City use every day to heat their homes. Greene: After careful research, any ordinance should be based on what is optimum for the citizens to protect the majority and it must be enforceable. Sinclair: Our recent ordinance does ban outdoor wood burning furnaces. However, the planning commission is doing a study regarding these furnaces. Depending on the outcome of their study, we can revisit our ordinance.
4. What should be done about the snowmobile trail through town? Brege: Well, if it would benefit the town and we would have enough snow, maybe we should work something out. C. Bruning: I think the snowmobile trail is a great idea, and carries the possibility of bringing revenue to businesses in town during what is usually the ?slow? season. We should embrace the opportunity to help bring business to our grocery stores, gas stations
5. What is your opinion of the sidewalk study and plans for the city to pick up 10-percent of the cost? Is it too much or not enough? Brege: I think the city should do it all. Have the city employees fix them, not contract it out. If the city has money to fix up the beach in front of the mayor?s house and make this town look so good, we should fix our sidewalks too. C. Bruning: I think the sidewalk study and the plans for the city to aid in the repair of damaged sidewalks is a benefit to the property owners as well as the city. We pride ourselves in a maintained presentation of the city and this is simply a steppingstone in continuing the preservation of Rogers City?s beauty. I believe that 10 percent of the cost is fair and we owe the city a thank you for helping cover the cost for this upkeep of personal property. W. Bruning: I think the way to save everyone money in this concrete maintenance program would be to have the local DPW workers do the jobs as they have done in the past. They do a great job pouring concrete and have skilled workers in the trade of concrete and excavating, so people would be looking just at the cost of the concrete. Greene: I think the sidewalk program is great. Many of our sidewalks in town are in bad repair. I would like to see the three mills that were retired for our street debt put into the sidewalk repair program. This would be an ongoing program with the funds going back in to replenish the program so that we can continue on until all the sidewalks are repaired. I would especially like to see a sidewalk between Hilltop Manor and Glen?s Market. Since this would benefit the seniors and the high school students, I feel that the funding should be negotiated. Sinclair: I think it?s a good and fair plan. It is on a voluntary basis and our sidewalks need to be safe for our citizens. This is a homeowner?s prerogative and they will get help from the city.