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Laingsburg voters have many candidates this week
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Tuesday, November 3, 2009 10:05 AM EST
LAINGSBURG - Voters in the city of Laingsburg will be looking at a very crowded ballot for the Tuesday City Council election.
There are three four-year term Council seats open, along with the one mayor seat, which is also a four-year term.
Running for the position of mayor is incumbent Michael Culpepper and Randy Martin. Gunning for the Council seats are Ashley Dibble, Alan Ducastel, Karen Ducastel, incumbent Tim Leonard, Cynthia Parker-Martin, incumbent Jessica Bayer, Scott Roth, Todd Schocke and Michael Woodworth.
n Michael Culpepper, 54, said he is running for mayor again because he feels “there is still a lot of unfinished business in Laingsburg.”
“I felt there was still some things we need to accomplish and things I would like to see done,” he said. “It is my duty as a citizen to carry on.”
He is married with two children and is a Laingsburg High School graduate. He is now retired, but previously worked for General Motors as a community service representative.
He has been serving as the mayor for the past 6 1/2 years. But before then, he was a councilmember for six months and also has served on the Planning Commission.
Culpepper said his biggest concern is to maintain the status quo in the city, despite reduced funding from the state.
“It is going to be a challenge to maintain everything that we've had. We've been able to do that at this point,” he said.
He added that he would also like to see the park finished and the completion of a new library building.
n Randy Martin, 34, said he decided to run for mayor to give city residents more than one option when they head into the voting booth.
“I figured that people need to have a choice,” he said. “The only way for people to change what they don't like is to get involved with the community.”
Martin has lived in Laingsburg for the past nine years and is an Owosso High School graduate. He is married with five children and seven grandchildren. Currently, he works as a supervisor for Bohnett Construction.
He said he has no previous political experience, but has been on the Planning Commission for about six months. He said his people skills would help him if he were elected mayor.
“You've got to be able to talk to people and figure out what the people need and what they want,” Martin said.
n Tim Leonard, 50, said he has enjoyed his tenure on the Council and would like to finish everything that he has started.
“I'd really like to see us have a new library in town and continue the course that we are going down with putting as much money as we possibly can towards the infrastructure here in town,” Leonard said. “I wish we could do a lot more, but we don't have the money to do so.”
Leonard is a Laingsburg High School graduate and the previous owner of the local True Value Hardware, which he sold in 2000. He has served as a councilmember for a total of seven years. He has also worked with the Downtown Development Authority for approximately 15 years.
One major improvement Leonard said he would like to see is work done to the local roads, sidewalks and parks.
“I think we have really come a long way in the past eight years in turning the town around,” he said. “We have an excellent administration in place right now. ... We are chipping away. It takes time because we don't have the money.”
n Scott Roth, 18, said he is a staunch believer in community service and thought going for City Council would be a great avenue to continue his service.
“I have received the Presidential Call to Service Award, which is for finishing over 4,000 hours of community service throughout my life so far,” Roth said, adding that has also been given the Presidential Volunteerism Award, for completing 1,000 hours of community service in high school.
Roth recently graduated from Laingsburg High School, but also has received a certified nurse aid license and basic emergency medical technician license through Lansing Community College. He now works for the LSW Emergency services as a basic EMT, and is enrolled full-time at LCC.
He also said he is taking the Dale Carnegie Training program - which aims to improve one's leadership qualities - and also is on the LCC Leadership Academy. Roth said he hopes his leadership training would make him an asset to the Council.
n Alan Ducastel, 50, said he has run for City Council twice already, but is hoping that the third time is the charm.
He is married with five children. He has a bachelor's in history and economics from Michigan State University, a teaching certificate from Saginaw Valley State and is also a certified 7-12 social studies teacher. If elected, this would be the first elected position Ducastel has held.
One of the issues most pressing to Ducastel is that he feel the city's taxes are too high.
“If you live right outside of town, you basically get the same benefits and don't have to pay the taxes,” he said. “I would like to know where all this money is going.”
He added that he doesn't believe the current Council is acting fiscally responsible, citing how the Council recently bought property for a new library building. Also, he said another concern of his is the safety of the local park.
“We have had issues where we have had to walk out and talk to teenagers and tell them to go home because they were harassing young kids,” he said. “Rather than the police sitting on each side of town giving out speeding tickets, why don't they have somebody walk the park? It's a nice park, but it is not always safe.”
n Ashley Dibble, 19, said she hopes she could bring about some change in the city by running for Council.
Dibble just recently graduated from Laingsburg High School and is now attending Baker College of Owosso for a nursing degree. She has yet to hold any political position.
The poor quality of the roads is something Dibble said she would like to see improved, which she feels would be possible if the budget was tighter.
“There are some roads that it honestly feels like you are driving down a back road,” she said. “With as many people living within the city limits, it shouldn't be a problem to repair them.”
The aesthetics of the city is something she said the local government needs to consider more often.
“I want to help make the city look nice to help draw people in,” she said, “If the city doesn't look nice, people aren't going to want to come here and stay.”
n Karen Ducastel, 47, said she is running for Council because, in her opinion, if she is not willing to be a part of the solution then she has not right to complain.
She has a bachelor's in family and community services from Michigan State University and is married to fellow City Council candidate Alan Ducastel. Karen Ducastel said she is currently disabled, but used to work for the Department of Human Services as a Children's Protective Services field investigator. She has held no previous elected position.
Ducastel said, like her husband, she also is concerned about how the Council is spending taxpayer's money.
“We are getting a new library, which is a wonderful idea, but no one is really talking about how that is going to be funded,” she said. “The city bought the property and we already have a library. Yes, it is small. But we are very fortunate to even have a library at all.”
She also believes the local police force needs to keep a closer eye on the park.
“It has been a hangout for less-than-savory individuals,” she said. “The police need to keep a real close eye on the teenage element that is causing problems out there.”
n Cynthia Parker-Martin, 41, said she is running for Council so she can make some positive change for the city.
“I think the most important thing is to have a steady police force and steady police hours,” she said. “They do not get enough hours and there are some times when they really could be used.”
Parker-Martin has a bachelor's degree in social work and psychology, and is married to mayoral candidate Randy Martin. She is a stay-at-home mother.
While she has no previous political experience, Parker-Martin said she previously served as the chairperson of the Community Mental Health board.
“The city has the right goals in mind. It is just the getting there that is the issue,” she said.
n Jessica Bayer, 37, has served on the City Council for the past four years, but said she is hoping to continue all the work that has already begun.
“We are working on the parks and the library,” Bayer said, adding that keeping the budget balanced is also a concern of hers. “The budget is decreasing due to the state funds being cut - all the normal challenges.”
In addition to being on the Council, Bayer served on the Planning Commission for five years.
Bayer is married with two children and has an associate's degree in interior design from Baker College of Owosso. Currently, she works part-time as program manager for The Foundation for Investor Education and part-time as an interior designer.
She added that she hopes voters will look at the work she has done in the past four years when going into the voting booth.
“We are a good team and work together well. I want to continue on with that,” she said. “I think we are on the right track.”
n Michael Woodworth, 26, said he sees Laingsburg as a city “with great potential” and hopes to make it even better.
“I've got some ideas to propel Laingsburg to being not just a great town, but an awesome town,” Woodworth said.
He is married with one child, and is currently a graduate student at Central Michigan University studying business administration. He also has a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Western Michigan University.
Currently, he works as a customer service representative for Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan. If elected, this would be Woodworth's first political position.
Woodworth said he feels the high tax rate in Woodworth is something he would like to see addressed, and he would like to look at the budget to see if there are areas where the city could reduce the burden on residents.
He also said it is import to look at how the local government is marketing the city.
“We have three beautiful lakes here and a state park,” he said. “I think it is really important that we communicate that to outsiders to try to draw people in.”
n Todd Schocke, 51, said he is running because he feels he has more time to devote to public service since he retired from GM.
He is a Laingsburg High School graduate and has two children. He also owns and operates a farm in the city.
Schocke said he has had no previous political experience, but believes his experience as a farmer could make him an asset on the Council.
“I've owned my business by farming here for 30-some years. Times are hard and I've had to make a lot of rough changes in my life because of the economy,” he said. “Maybe I have some new ideas, so I'm throwing my hat in.”
He added that he believes the Council needs to find a way to improve the city's downtown.
“We have a lot of vacant buildings around and we need to get some livelihood back into the city,” he said.
Nichole wrote on Nov 3, 2009 7:14 PM: