Candidate strives to create consensus

Election 2011

EDITOR'S NOTE

Traverse City voters on Nov. 8 will determine the city commission's makeup for the next two years. Two candidates are vying for mayor, while seven commission hopefuls are competing for three open seats.

The Record-Eagle will profile each candidate, available at Record-Eagle.com/election as they are published.

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Jeanine Easterday Record-Eagle/Keith King

October 15, 2011

BY ART BUKOWSKI abukowski@record-eagle.com The Record Eagle Mon Oct 17, 2011, 06:46 AM EDT

TRAVERSE CITY — Jeanine Easterday likes to bring people together.

Easterday, a former city planning commissioner, wants a spot on the city commission. Discussions at that level can be contentious, especially when different minds and philosophies clash. But she believes she's well-equipped to move talks in a positive direction.

"Consensus is a word that is bandied about and not taken seriously," she said. "But I really do believe I have the ability to organize in my brain those disparate opinions, bring people to consensus and not take it personally."

Seven candidates will vie for three commission seats during the Nov. 8 election. Citizens also will choose a new mayor in a separate vote.

Easterday, a registered nurse who manages about 30 other nurses at Munson Medical Center, served on the city's planning commission from 2005 to 2008 and the city's Board of Zoning Appeals from 1991 to 1999. She believes she's ready for a seat on the city's top governing board.

"My interest has always been in the community," she said. "Prior to this, however, I was raising a family and had a husband who was very ill, and I was really sort of limited in my ability to be involved in elected office. (Now), my life is in a place where I can devote that kind of energy."

Easterday said she doesn't have much she wants to change if elected to the commission.

"I think there could have been improved opportunities to listen and to be more open about the public process, but I wouldn't say that our city is in a terrible situation where I need to ride in on my white horse and save the world," she said.

She isn't opposed to public investment in private projects as long as they're worthwhile.

"We've made a decision as a society to collect money that's taxes for purposes that will come back to benefit the community," she said. "In this city ... we have very intelligent, very competent people in positions who know how to understand and leverage some of those tools that we've created on the public side to benefit the entire community."

But Easterday believes it's good idea to exercise "fiduciary responsibility" with taxpayer dollars.

"I think it's extremely important that when a person accepts the public trust — which is what I believe an election is — that they live up to that trust and they devote the energy and the time that it takes to make a good decision," she said. "When those decisions don't appear to be going well, it's also your responsibility to stop, back up, and look at things."

The city has two tax increment financing (TIF) districts that "capture" nearly $2 million in taxes each year. A portion of city, county and other local taxes on properties within the districts are captured and earmarked for improvements within those districts.

Much discussion in recent months has focused on the possibility of altering tax-capture districts, but Easterday doesn't believe that's a good idea.

"It's a process that's basically a contract, and that contract needs to be honored," she said.