MARQUETTE, Mich. (WZMQ) – Candidates for Negaunee City Council squared off in a public forum to give voters a better picture of who will run the city.
The League of Woman Voters held a candidate forum this evening for those wishing to win a seat on the city council. Several candidates couldn’t make it to the forum, however the four that did answered questions from the audience as well as those questions sent via the league’s website.
The questions put to the candidates covered a variety of topics, from future development, and protecting green spaces, to infrastructure maintenance and recreation. They even fielded questions about the geese at Teal Lake.
The forum did a good job of shining light on the issues that affect Negaunee residents.
The candidates taking part in the forum were Jon Becker, who sits on the planning commission, David Kangas, the current mayor of Negaunee, Jeff Plummer, a local business owner, and Amanda Ghanavati, a lifelong resident of Negaunee.
I asked each of the candidates 1 question, what is the most important issue facing the city?
Both Ghanavati and Plummer would like to see more transparency in civic government
“It’s the amount of citizen input that’s being fielded by the council and our city government. And a lot of people feel that maybe the public is not always being heard,” said Plummer.
There has been a lot of discontent in the public with big decisions being made,” said Ghanavati.
While Kangas says we need to build on the progress Negaunee is enjoying
Maintain the vision. As long as that vision is maintained, you’re always going to have a goal, direction, and purpose,” said Kangas.
And Jon Becker called for more qualified people to take part in the Negaunee government
“The significant issue is having people who know how government works,” said Becker. “And by and large, that probably means, if you like the direction that the city has been going, then vote for the people that got us here.”
There has been some division within the current city council due to differing opinions on development, infrastructure maintenance, and protecting the environment. Hopefully, this forum answered many questions about who will run the city.
