Chelsea City Council Candidates Speak at Forum

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By Doug Marrin, STN Reporter

The Chelsea Area Chamber of Commerce hosted a public forum via Zoom Thursday, September 16, for residents to hear from the candidates running for City Council. In alphabetical order, the candidates are Tony Iannelli, Dave Keiser, Christine Mehuron, Bill Ruddock, Phil Sawacki, and Steve Wright.

The forum was moderated by Chelsea businessman Paul Schissler, who opened the meeting by saying that Council service “is not for the faint of heart or casual volunteer. It’s for thoughtful, intelligent, caring people who care about the City.”

Schissler explained that questions for the candidates were submitted anonymously through the Chamber website. Questions that were most relevant to Chelsea today were selected.

Would you describe a situation or issue in Chelsea that you feel is a top priority to address?

Tony Iannelli pointed first to getting more housing to meet the demand of Chelsea’s growth. Next, he listed civility. “Civility is very important. Civility means talking to each other, understanding each other, and making time to listen to each other and offer consideration for other ideas that don’t align with your own.”

Dave Keiser: “My priority is law enforcement. I think law enforcement is what it takes to keep the City safe and a desirable place to live. A lack of support for law enforcement and first responders can lead us to a toxic situation. This is concerning me and, I believe, a large part of our community.”

Christine Mehuron: “I’ve seen how important careful planning and balancing of our resources, our spaces, and our community development is. I fully throw myself behind the new Master Plan and updated Board of Appeal zoning ordinances.” She also expressed being a strong advocate for a community policing model focused on de-escalation of conflict, transparency, and collaboration with other behavioral professionals.

Bill Ruddock: “None of us can walk in there and say ‘This is our top priority.’ None of us will have that authority as a council member. What we can walk into is listen and understand what our citizens think of their top priorities, and then as a council, work towards strategies to address those concerns. My top priority would be to listen to our citizens and then work with other council members and administration to make those a reality.”

Phil Sawicki: “My top priority will be restoring respect for law enforcement. I think that the Council has taken an adversarial position with regard to our police, and that position needs to be reevaluated.” In facing all the coming changes in Chelsea’s growth, he also stated having a priority to “maintain the small town, friendly atmosphere we currently enjoy.”

Steven Wright pointed to the traffic coming through town on M52. “There's a limited amount of things that we can as a city do. But I believe that there needs to be some investigation to determine whether or not there's a better way of working with the state in order to be able to improve the traffic flow through our town.”

How could our community increase the number of affordable homes so that people who work in Chelsea could also afford to live in Chelsea?

Dave Keiser: “Everyone knows developers put their own price point on their housing. No local government can interfere. Well, in order to sponsor affordable housing, we would have to subsidize. And in order to subsidize, we would need to employ a Housing Authority, which means raising more tax. And I don't think any of us want that.”

Christine Mehuron: “The key to affordable housing is getting baked into your Master Plan and Zoning Ordinances a robust description of regulations and permissions for mixed-use development.” She added, “The onus really lies on this already very exciting collaboration that always goes on between City Council and its Planning Commission and its Zoning Board.”

Bill Ruddock: “It’s really through the Master Plan and the zoning and the variances that are offered from the City.” He adds, “I very much feel that we need in this community the ability for the people who work and support us in our restaurants, at the Jiffy Mix plant, they need to live here. They need to be part of our community.”

Phil Sawicki: “When I think of affordable housing, I think of two categories. Number one, what it costs builders to build houses because the land is not going down. The cost of materials is skyrocketing, and builders have to make a living. They have to make a profit. Based on that, our ability to create affordable housing is somewhat limited.” He then pointed to government help solving the dilemma, using tax breaks to lower contractors' prices.

Steven Wright: “There are certainly opportunities that can be provided within the framework of things that the City can do to provide some more housing opportunities to cities that would fall in the range of affordable.” He used as an example the City’s recent zoning changes allowing property owners to accessory dwellings.

Tony Iannelli pointed to the City Council’s housing committee as an effort to address the problem. “One of the things that we’ve done with the council is work together with developers as they are presenting us with plans.” He used as an example the development of the Rockwell Building into apartments instead of luxury condos.

What experience do you have implementing and formulating policies?

Christine Mehuron pointed to her extensive experience in university administration, where policies are frequently written and implemented. She has also served on the Dexter Township Planning Commission.

Bill Ruddock stated that his experience comes from his time serving on church boards.

Phil Sawicki explained that in his career as a policeman, his job was not to create policy but to enforce policy and gain the public’s cooperation.

Steve Wright pointed to his years of experience on the Huron River Watershed Council in its early days when the policies were first formed.

Tony Iannelli stated that his strength lies in reviewing and interpreting policies in his work on the City Council.

Dave Keiser explained that he had no experience writing policy. But, he believes creating policy lies in common sense.

How will you help guide and ensure the Council stays focused on the community and the City of Chelsea itself rather than become overcome with national political narratives?

Bill Ruddock: “I would really expect the rest of the Council to listen to the community. If a community member comes in and is uncivil, they’re trying to get something off their chest, that’s okay.” He adds, “We just really need to listen, do what’s right for the community and act like the leaders we’re supposed to be.”

Phil Sawicki: “I've always believed that government was intended to be a neutral body whose function was to deliver services. My belief is that people shouldn't even know what the personal views are of the people on council, that their only purpose is to deliver the services that are identified by the citizens in the community.”

Steven Wright: “Hopefully, we, as a council, are able to talk to each other and resolve our internal differences. We also will need to remember that people who are requesting things of the council don't always know what the Council can and cannot do and so that there are always constraints on the kinds of things that can actually be delivered.”

Tony Iannelli: “I think it's absolutely imperative that City Council members should be focused on the needs of their community, that community that votes for us, that community that chooses who they want to represent them in this city government to make the decisions that will affect them ultimately as residents of the City.”

Dave Keiser: “I believe we all need to listen, think before we speak, and respect others’ opinions in order to carry out a civil conversation in the hope that would result in outcome that everyone can agree with. I will use independent and objective judgment in my decision making.”

Christine Mehuron: “This question asks us to think about guiding the focus on community, rather than being overcome by national and political narratives.” She adds, “I really like our ethical principles that are posted on the city website for the government of the City of Chelsea. These ethical principles are if we adhere to them as city council members will indeed protect us from any harm that might come from speech that's national or political in origin.”

Chelsea’s election is November 2, and voters will decide which candidates to fill the three open seats.

The entire recording of the candidate forum with the candidate’s opening and closing remarks can be found on the City’s website.

Photo: Doug Marrin

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