More than 150 persons turned out Tuesday in Glen Arbor for the biennial Cherry Pie Debate , sponsored by the Leelanau Enterprise, Interlochen Public Radio and the League of Women Voters Leelanau County.
Incumbent State Representative Betsy Coffia (D-Traverse City) was pitted against Republican challenger Lisa Trombley, and candidates for the Leelanau County Board of Commissioners had the opportunity to introduce themselves to the community. Leelanau Enterprise publisher and COO John Elchert and Interlochen Public Radio (IPR) News Director Ed Ronco moderated the debate and took turns asking the 103rd State House candidates questions.
Although the battle lines have been drawn for the 2024 elections, event organizers encouraged the candidates and county residents to get together and have “a good neighbor-to-neighbor conversation” — Elchert’s words — over Chimoski Bakery cherry pie, Leelanau Coffee Roasting Company drinks, and Cherry Republic ice cream. “The goal of tonight’s event is to allow candidates to clearly state why they should be elected to represent you. We expect everyone to be civil and respectful. Conversation is what we expect to rule the night; not confrontation,” Ronco said.
Twelve of the 14 candidates running for county commissioner seats accepted the invitation to speak at the Tuesday event. They were each given two minutes to explain why they were running for office. But most of the time was allotted to Coffia and Trombley, as the moderators asked for their positions on state and local issues and gave them time for rebuttals.
Coffia and Trombley are competing to represent Leelanau, Benzie, and Grand Traverse counties in the state House of Representatives. Moderators asked them about the Line 5 project, abortion rights, mental health services, government transparency, housing and short-term rentals, climate change, protecting Proposal 2, lowering the minimum wage, gun violence, and the struggling cherry industry.
On at least two occasions, Coffia summarized her approach as “pragmatic (and) bipartisan.” Meanwhile, Trombley said that she would cut spending and give people more of a voice in government. A full YouTube video of Coffia and Trombley’s debate can be viewed on the Leelanau Enterprise Facebook page.
“For the last two years, I’ve had the incredible honor of being your state representative,” Coffia said in her opening statement. “I was able to tackle a decades-old problem with our schools and equity funding and got a new formula into the state school aid fund with $125 million more for our rural school districts (and) we got $15 million for the Freshwater Research Innovation Center in Elmwood Township – the largest non-education- related expenditure in the state budget for Leelanau County that we are aware of.”
“Michigan – we have it all. We have legacy industries, we’ve got phenomenal educational institutions, we’ve got wonderful small businesses, and natural resources that every state envies. But we’re not being all we can be,” Trombley said. “The $20 billion (state) budget increase over the last two years is quite frankly unfathomable to me … this is not what northern Michigan wants.”
On a more local level, county board candidates appeared to rally around certain issues by party. For incumbent Democrat candidates Ty Wessell, Gwenne Allgaier, and Kama Ross – as well as returning candidates Lois Bahle and former Republican commissioner Rick Robbins – it was achievements by the board, which until recently had a Democrat majority.
These accomplishments included staffing the finance and human resources departments created by the previous board, laying fiber optic cable through contracts with Point Broadband and Spectrum, their employee benefits, passing a county-wide septic ordinance, and promoting clean and renewable energy.
For several of their Republican challengers –— especially Tim McCalley, Jim White, Alan Campbell, and Mark Roberts – the biggest issue was perceived excesses in government spending. As examples, they pointed to the failed search for administrator/ chief financial officer, the creation of new positions like facilities director, and the application for funding to build a solar array on the government center campus.
Following the debate, the candidates stayed at the township hall a while to chat with event attendees and further elaborate on their positions.
You weren’t able to make it? No worries.
The Cherry Pie Debate can be viewed on the Enterprise Facebook page or listen to IPR for a rebroadcast Friday at home.
