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CANDIDATES FOR GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY COMMISSION IN AUG. 3 REPUBLICAN PRIMARY:

-- Bruce Hooper, 54, farmer

-- Jason Gillman, 45, security camera business owner

-- Addison Wheelock Jr., 54, president of a welding company

-- David Fink, 56, security guard and reserve police officer

-- Herb Lemcool, 69, retired business owner

-- John R. Roth, 47, marina manager at Bowers Harbor Yacht Club

-- Dick Thomas, 74, retired builder

-- Ron Clous, 53, builder

-- Curtis Warnes, 30, steel products and home decor business owner

July 21, 2010

GT County commission race attracts nine candidates

Four spots are up for grabs on the county board

BY ART BUKOWSKI abukowski@record-eagle.com

TRAVERSE CITY — Fiscal responsibility and sound management are among the battle cries of those seeking election to the Grand Traverse County Board of Commissioners.

Nine Republican candidates will square off for a total of four spots on the county's governing body when voters go to the primary polls on Aug. 3.

Incumbent Bruce Hooper faces Jason Gillman in the 1st district, incumbent Addison Wheelock Jr. will compete against David Fink and John R. Roth for the 9th district spot, incumbent Dick Thomas will square off with Ron Clous in the 6th district and former Commissioner Herb Lemcool will contend with Curtis Warnes in the 4th district.

Gillman, of East Bay Township, runs a security camera business. He believes the current board isn't doing the best job at managing its priorities.

"Unfortunately, the local government can hurt you just as bad as the government far away from you, and the county is being mismanaged," he said.

He's particularly upset at the county's takeover this year of an American Legion-run baseball program.

"They took a 62-year-old tradition and turned it into a government program that loses money ... we have no business getting involved in stuff like that, and I'm going to make sure it doesn't happen."

Hooper, a Peninsula Township resident, wants to tackle and solve county budget issues and other items, including the notoriously troubled septage treatment plan.

"It's going, and I think we need to recognize that and get it fixed. It's a big problem, but I don't think it's insurmountable," he said.

In 2009, Hooper voted against a county probe intended to pinpoint what went wrong with the financially troubled septage plant's design, construction and oversight. The investigation Hooper opposed also was to determine if an engineering firm and county attorney who devised septage plant flow numbers failed in their duties.

"There are people's reputations at stake here, and there's the businesses that are being implicated here unjustly, and I'm really dubious about the quality of this investigation and what it's going after," Hooper said in 2009.

Hooper came out on the short side of that vote, and a subsequent investigation determined engineering firm Gourdie-Fraser, Inc. and ex-county attorney Michael Houlihan failed to use reasonable professional care when they planned the plant's size and financing.

Six-term commissioner Addison "Sonny" Wheelock Jr. said the county can use someone who's been there before. Wheelock, of Long Lake Township, is president of Wheelock & Sons Welding.

"I think I bring hands-on, practical experience," he said.

Fink, Wheelock's Grant Township-based challenger, is a security guard and reserve Traverse City Police officer who spent 25 years in the U.S. Army. He said he's tired of poor financial decisions.

"I don't have any pet projects, I just want to make sure taxpayers' money is getting spent in a wise and fiscally responsible manner."

John R. Roth, of Long Lake Township, threw his hat in the ring for similar reasons. He's the marina manager at Bowers Harbor Yacht Club on Old Mission Peninsula, and before that was the ticket and retail manager at Crystal Mountain Resort in Thompsonville.

He sees a "disregard" for taxpayer money among those on the county board, he said.

"I know what it takes to streamline when you have to, and we have to streamline right now," he said. "I've always been responsible for other people's money, and I've always taken that very seriously and know what a challenge that is."

Incumbent Dick Thomas, a commissioner since 1994 who previously served 16 years as Green Lake Township supervisor, wants back on the board to deal with unfinished business.

"I'd like to see the septage treatment plant resolved before I quit," he said.

Thomas, like Hooper, Wheelock and fellow Commissioner Larry Fleis, opposed the septage plant investigation in 2009.

Thomas also would like to see a move toward a new jail and a functional solid waste system, he said.

Challenger Ron Clous, of Green Lake Township, founded and owns Eastwood Custom Homes. He thinks it's time for a new face in Thomas' spot.

"He's served his time," Clous said. "I think a new set of eyes and ears looking at the issues" would be beneficial, he said.

Clous is the brother of Grand Traverse County-based developer Bill Clous. They founded Eastwood in 1977.

Herb Lemcool served 12 years on the board but lost in 2008 to Mike Stepka. He's running again, and he believes his prior experience will be useful as the county weighs tough budget decisions in the near future.

"I can see some cuts are going to have to be made, and we're going to have to have some knowledge as to where they're going to be," he said.

Curtis Warnes, of Garfield Township, runs steel-products and home-decor businesses. He wants to take an active role and improve county finances.

"I'm not doing this because I have a lot of free time; I'm doing this because I want to make a difference and contribute," he said.

Warnes believes he can tap his business experience if elected.

"The county has to be run like a business, and it hasn't been," he said. "They've been fiscally irresponsible as a whole."

For more election coverage, visit www.record-eagle.com/election.

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