Mayor candidate Estes wants to streamline

Election 2011

EDITOR'S NOTE

Editor's note: Traverse City voters will choose a new mayor to succeed Chris Bzdok on Nov. 8, and options include two city commission veterans: Michael Estes and Ralph Soffredine.

The new mayor will serve a two-year term. Traverse City's mayor has no more authority than other members of the seven-person commission, but some mayors historically have assumed more of a community leadership role than others.

Estes served as the city's mayor from 2007 to 2009, and Soffredine has been a city commissioner since 2003. They differ on many aspects of governing, evidenced by their comments in profile stories in today's Record-Eagle.

City voters separately will choose three new city commissioners from a slate of seven hopefuls.

More city commission candidate profiles can be found at Record-Eagle.com/election »

MICHAEL ESTES

Age: 61

Occupation: Retired investor, former state auditor and internal auditor and analyst at Ford Motor Co.

Experience: Traverse City mayor from 2007 to 2009; current Traverse City Light & Power board member.

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Michael Estes Record-Eagle/Jan-Michael Stump

October 16, 2011

BY ART BUKOWSKI abukowski@record-eagle.com The Record Eagle Mon Oct 17, 2011, 06:41 AM EDT

TRAVERSE CITY — Michael Estes wants another go-round.

The retired investor and auditor spent a single, two-year term as Traverse City's mayor from 2007 to 2009. He helped push key spending initiatives and significant development projects during that term, and he has more ideas up his sleeve.

"I feel as though a lot of what we started four years ago has not been completed," he said. "It all amounts to trying to take the revenue that the city has and allocate that revenue toward the most appropriate expenses, meaning what the residents really want done."

Estes will square off against current Commissioner Ralph Soffredine, who sat on the commission during Estes' first term. The winner will replace outgoing Mayor Chris Bzdok, who opted against another run.

The two have a "different philosophy," Estes said, in no small part because Soffredine isn't comfortable reducing city staffing levels, while Estes favors examining ways to further streamline government.

Estes said cuts can be made, and he doesn't believe cuts always impact city residents.

"No one's going to reduce any services," he said. "The process is reallocation of resources into the most pressing issues the city has."

Estes believes there are a "ton of opportunities" to reduce fire services costs. Fire department consolidation is a possibility that must be examined, he said, even though commissioners recently refused to formally request a contract proposal from the Grand Traverse Metro Fire Department.

"Absolutely look at it seriously," Estes said.

During his first term, Estes was a huge proponent of ramping up infrastructure spending. The commission under his leadership approved an initiative to spend at least $1 million per year on streets, sidewalks and other infrastructure improvements, up from only $100,000 or so in years prior.

But he doesn't think $1 million is enough. The city has a relatively healthy fund balance, he said, and more money could be allocated to neighborhood streets and sidewalks.

"I truly believe we can double the spending on infrastructure," he said.

Money for infrastructure could be found within Traverse City Light & Power -- of which Estes is a board member -- or other areas within the city, Estes believes, especially if the city works to trim expenses in those areas.

Light & Power is owned by the city, though its funds generally only are used for Light & Power purposes.

Estes is a supporter of taxpayer incentives for private development if the project in question is in the "public best interest." The Larry C. Hardy and Old Town parking decks both were built at city expense in exchange for private business development, which can add jobs and boost the city's tax base.

Those were "very positive developments," Estes said, and money should only be doled out if the project is thoroughly considered and is expected to benefit the public.

"The first question is: Does the city want the development? And do they want the development in that location?" he said. "Is the development beneficial to the city? ... We can't say yes to every single developer."

Estes also called the city "excessively bureaucratic" and "cumbersome," and said he'd like to find a way to remove some red tape.

"I believe very strongly that the city right now has too many little minor rules and regulations and ordinances, and we really need some type of committee made up of business people and developers to say: What can we do to ease this burden?" he said. "They're asking for this inspection and that. Is it really necessary?"

Soffredine serves on a host of community boards, spent 21 years as the city's police chief and two full terms as a city commissioner. He said he has far more government experience than Estes, though Estes sees things in a different light.

"If he wants to talk experience, out of the two of us, there's only one person who's been mayor," he said. "Experience is the difference. I've been there. I've done that. I've dealt with the one-on-ones, I've dealt with trying to lead the commission on votes."

Estes also believes he has the ability to balance and attend to diverse needs throughout the city.

"I understand the mix that you have to have between the business community and the residential community, between the downtown and the other business districts, between the neighborhoods and downtown," he said.