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LWV of Marquette County hosts Marquette City Commission candidate forum

By ANNIE LIPPERT 7 min read

MARQUETTE -- On Wednesday night at the Lakeview Arena Citizen's Forum, the League of Women Voters of Marquette County hosted a candidate forum for those running for Marquette City Commission in November. Of the seven candidates running for the three available seats, Margaret Brumm, Mark Curran, Kevin Clegg, Ross Johnson, Marcella Krupski, Matthew Luttenberger and Paul Schloegel, all but Luttenberger attended the forum.

"The Marquette City Commission is the legislative branch of city government and consists of seven members elected in non-partisan, city-wide elections for three-year terms," said LWV member Sandy Meyskens. "They serve under the city of Marquette Charter using the city code. They elect the mayor and mayor pro tem from among their members. They directly employ the city manager and the city attorney. The commission supervises the public works; streets, fire, police, senior services, and garbage and recycling. They appoint advisory boards for wastewater treatment, parks and recreation, Peter White Public Library, housing, planning and brownfield redevelopment, among others. The commission's decisions affect our lives daily."

The forum took questions from the audience, and each candidate took turns answering questions, without responding to one another's comments or engaging in cross talk. Candidates began by each making opening statements.

Mark Curran spoke about his experience as owner of Curran and Company, a local landlord company which owns and manages approximately 425 units.

"I've built over a thousand housing units in Marquette," said Curran, whose opening statement focused largely on the issue of housing, and how his experience building and managing housing made him an ideal commission candidate.

Paul Schloegel, current mayor of the City of Marquette, spoke about his 25+ years experience on various city boards and commissions.

"I'm super passionate about this community," said Schloegel. "…I"m super excited about a lot of the stuff we've been working on the last three years."

Marcella Krupski, who works at Everyday Wines and as a musician, spoke about her previous political work at NMU and working for Congressman Bart Stupak.

"I have a front row seat to the changes that are happening in Marquette," said Krupski. "…I've just been watching this place grow and thrive and change, and truly all of the things that we need to tackle right now are just because this is such an amazing place to live." She finished her remarks by saying she wanted to focus on housing and transportation, if elected.

Ross Johnson spoke about his roots in Marquette,

"I'm running for city commission because I love this community," said Johnson. "I believe Marquette is at a critical turning point," he continued, referring to issues with housing and how to generate income in a tourism economy. He also spoke about his focus on transparency and accountability, if elected.

Kevin Clegg spoke about his four years of experience on the planning commission, including his work on the 2024 Community Master Plan. He also spoke about how, like many Marquette residents, he works multiple jobs -- at the Crib Coffeehouse, as well as a part-time position at NMU, as well as local volunteer work.

"My story is not unique," said Clegg. "Demographics show that our population cohort from 35-50 has decreased by 70% since 2010. Unaffordability in our city has gotten out of hand, and we are beginning to lose people to greener pastures."

Clegg concluded his statement by saying that his focus on the commission, if elected, would be making Marquette an easier and more affordable place to live.

Finally, Margaret Brumm spoke about her family's roots in Marquette, including her grandfather and uncle's previous positions on the city commission.

"I have a reputation of being able to get things done," said Brumm, who spoke about her cigarette butt recycling program that has taken off this year.

"Last year in the fall when the SNAP benefits were being cut and the desperation was thick and miserable in this town, I teamed up with Jilbert's for a milk giveaway program," said Brumm. "Three times we gave away milk, no questions asked."

The forum then moved on to the questions and answer portion of the evening, beginning with a question about what each candidate’s number one goal would be, if elected.

Schloegel said that over his time on the commission, he has learned that the role is more about taking care of the community's money and keeping the community solvent, and making sure that the infrastructure is taken care of.

Krupski said that her primary goal for the position would be to learn from the other commissioners and from her constituents, and advocate for sustainable tourism; especially advocating for those working in tourism and hospitality who cannot afford to live in the city.

Johnson said that his main goal would be to investigate backlogs and waste within the public works department, saying that he would use his experience in the private sector to run the city. He also said that he would bring more events to the city, especially concerts at Lakeview Arena.

Clegg said that his focus would be on responsible budgeting, such as an active transportation plan, but said that he did not have any "pet projects," and that he just wanted to see the city be more fiscally responsible and well-run.

Brumm said that her goal would be to show up for every meeting prepared. She also said that she would focus on getting information out to the public so that people could show up and make their voices heard.

Curran said that he couldn't nail down one primary goal, but that he was focused on housing for people making $20-$30 an hour. He also said that homelessness downtown would have to be addressed, saying the fix was going to have to be "ugly."

Next was a question on how to address the housing affordability crisis in Marquette.

"I would like to give credit to our current commission that has already done a lot of work on this," said Krupski, referring to the commission's work adjusting zoning and addressing changes within their power to make housing more affordable. She said she would continue to help through housing projects for middle-to-low-income housing.

"It's a complex issue, materials are expensive, profits are way up," said Johnson. He said that the city could go after grants for affordable housing, and said that he would listen to others.

"We've done a lot of work towards housing affordability and options," said Clegg, who said that he had spoken to the Land Bank Authority about the work that had been done, which included allowing duplexes and triplexes, and that our current code was working, it just needed more time and encouragement.

"The city does not create housing," said Brumm, who said that the number one thing the city could do to improve housing status would be encouraging light manufacturing to come back to Marquette, to bring back more high-wage jobs.

"I'm a workforce housing specialist," said Curran, who said that bureaucracy in Marquette added 30% in costs to new housing projects. He said that zoning needed to be simplified and fees needed to be reduced.

"The planning commission has done a lot of improvements to the process and they have made things a lot easier than in the past, despite what others might think," said Schloegel. He also said that collaboration with the state might be a possibility, as well as higher density housing options.

Other topics of conversation in the forum included how to improve the city's finances, sustainable and environmentally protective development, the city's unhoused population and how to support jobs, tourism and recreation.

Election day is Nov. 3.

Annie Lippert can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 550. Her email address is alippert@miningjournal.net.

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