Lowell City Council Candidate Profile: Jim Salzwedel

This is the fifth and final article in a series of profiles of the five candidates running for Lowell City Council in November. They have been published in alphabetical order according to the candidate’s last name.

 

Compared to some city council candidates who are life-long residents of Lowell, Jim Salzwedel is a relative newcomer. He moved to the community in 2006 although his wife, Lynette (Swan), was born and raised here.

However, being a transplant hasn’t stopped Salzwedel from being an enthusiastic supporter of the city. The 64-year has jumped into the community with both feet and has been involved in boards, commissions and events.

Now, he’s ready to take his participation to the next level. He’s hoping Lowell city voters will see him as the right choice for council this November. If elected, he promises to continue forward progress in the community, identify strategic goals and work to get others involved

From Career to Community Service

Salzwedel has spent 45 years in the security industry and is currently a director of sales for Midstate Security. “Luckily, I’m near the end of my career so I have time,” he says of filling the responsibilities of a city councilmember. Already, he has spent five years on the Planning Commission and is a year into a stint on the Lowell Light & Power board.

The experience on those boards has given Salzwedel an inside look at how the city government works and how it can be better. “On Planning Commission, it’s really been a group effort,” he says. That’s the same approach he wants to take to City Council. “It’s not just about me. It’s, how do you get other people involved?”

Known for being level-headed and having a deliberative approach to issues, Salzwedel seemed to be a logical first choice to fill the city council seat vacated by Alan Teelander earlier this year. Even Teelander seemed to expect that outcome as he shook Salzwedel’s hand after giving a departing speech to the council.

However, Salzwedel didn’t even apply for the position. “I really want to get it on his own,” he says. Rather than be appointed, he hopes voters will see the value he brings to the position and elect him based on those merits.

Looking for a Common Goal

Lowell is moving in the right direction, Salzwedel says, but the city needs to have a goal in mind for its future.

“Sometimes, I don’t think we know our own identity,” he reflects. Are we a town in the vein of Norman Rockwell, an old agricultural community or a city trying to be tech-driven? Salzwedel isn’t looking to answer that for residents, but he thinks the community needs to decide what the future will look like for Lowell.

To that end, he approached City Council several times last year to ask current members what goals or initiatives they had in mind. “I was disappointed that no one was able to answer that in the two or three times I asked,” he says.

When it comes to the more concrete issues, Salzwedel is quick to mention roads as an area to be addressed. “We know that the infrastructure is in terrible need,” he says. Plus, he’d like to take a more proactive approach to ordinance enforcement, rather than rely on the current complaint-driven system. “We shouldn’t have to wait for something to happen.”

However, in the end, Salzwedel isn’t running on an agenda of short-term projects. Instead, he is looking to the long-term. He wants to be strategic about the future and would like citizens to help craft community priorities. When asked why people should vote for him, Salzwedel says it’s simple: “They can count on me to do what is right for the citizens of Lowell.”

 

Below are the questions we asked each candidate and Jim’s response to each one.

Biodigester

Would you support restarting the biodigester either as an energy producing facility or a water treatment plant for Litehouse waste if you felt assured there would be no odor?

Right now, the biodigester is not operational and the City is not considering issuing a permit to begin operating it again.  The City and Lowell Light and Power are working with Litehouse to explore other options for wastewater treatment with possible solutions to be shared at a public meeting.  I would not want to subject our citizens to any such similar experience in the future and much discussion with our citizens would need to take place.  While I agree alternative methods of energy is an important topic and an area of environmental technology that needs to be explored, our first attempts to do so proved to fail, for a number of reasons.  At this time, I would not favor restarting the biodigester and do support the City’s present stand on the matter.

If not, what do you think should be done with the facility should the property be placed back in the hands of the city?

What to do with the facility if returned to the City would require much discussion on the part of city council, the public, and those most well versed in environmental matters, i.e., the safe removal of the biodigester.

Showboat

Do you support removing the name Robert E. Lee from the Showboat? If yes, what should the boat be named?

If it was felt by the City Manager that removing the name of Robert E. Lee from the Showboat was to protect other businesses and buildings from the threat of severe vandalism and destruction from outside groups, then the removal was done in good faith.

Should there have been a community discussion prior to removal before decommission of the current boat? Should the City Council have voted on the name change or was it an appropriate decision for the city manager to make independently?

However, entering into an open discussion between the City Council, the public and the City Manager would have provided a path for other’s viewpoints and solutions to the matter.  Perhaps placing the lettering in our museum, alongside other existing museum showboat memorabilia, with an explanation as to why the name was removed, could give that action more of an historical accounting to the name removal.  In this day and age, with so many special interest groups arising, it is important to look a little deeper as to their purpose and decide if those special interest groups are there for the purpose of true integration of rights and privileges for all or is it their attempt at segregation and to follow their own personal agenda.

Community Relations

How important is it for Lowell’s government to have a working relationship with Lowell Township and Vergennes Township? If so, what should that relationship look like?I

Combining the talent and resources of the City of Lowell, Lowell Township and Vergennes  Township  and forming a relationship between the three for the good of all businesses and citizens, instead of working as individual entities, should only strengthen the community as a whole.  A combined task force from each could be formed in order to pursue joint interests and common goals, which could consist of three to four people from each entity.

Economic Development

What role should the Lowell government have in fostering business development within the city?

As to what role the Lowell government should have in fostering businesses, they can look at this like a partnership, creating dialogue between the business community and the local government, to open up communication and the flow of information between the two and promote business opportunities and activities between the two.  Each can bring their strengths to the table to achieve common goals; businesses their expertise in access to finances, management efficiency and entrepreneurial spirit and government its expertise in policy statements, rules, regulations, ordinances, and special incentives such as tax-free/tax incentives, property leases.

Do you support allowing vacation rentals (such as those offered via websites like Airbnb) within the city limits?

Where supporting vacation rentals is concerned in the City of Lowell, I feel it is best to leave that responsibility to actual licensed businesses who are devoted to the travel and vacation industry and to providing such accommodations, as in the case of a local hotel or B&B.  That will assure that local laws and ordinances are upheld and will eliminate the rights of the neighboring property owner from being infringed upon.

Do you support passing an ordinance allowing for the sale of medical marijuana within city limits? If so which type of facility do you support?

I would support passing an ordinance allowing for the sale of medical marijuana within city limits under the Medical Marijuana Facilities Licensing Act and specifically a provisioning center where licensees purchase marijuana from a grower or processor and sell, supply or provide marijuana to patients, directly or to the patient’s caregiver.

Infrastructure

How should the City of Lowell address road maintenance and reconstruction? Would you support putting a millage proposal on the ballot to fund road repairs?

Road maintenance and reconstruction ideally would be handled through capital improvements. With this approach, a small but regular portion of the budget would go to infrastructure.  While you may only be able to repair smaller areas annually, over time it is a significant contribution to maintaining infrastructure.  Many cities have adopted this approach to construction and maintenance of roads and sidewalks.  You can build or repair sidewalks at a reduced cost during other construction activities such as sewers, underground utility work, road resurfacing, etc.  Unfortunately, this approach was not always applied in past years.  Now we are faced with a large road repair task, so a mileage proposal or increasing property taxes or I have heard recently some would consider a city income tax (a tax that would apply to Lowell residents and non-residents who work in the City of Lowell) may be the faster ways to solve our infrastructure problems, along with the annual capital improvement budget.  Of course, much discussion would be needed on the above.

Recreation

How should the city promote its recreation opportunities? Do you support creating a connector within city limits from the Fred Meijer Trail that runs from Saranac to the Lowell Area Trailway?

The city should continue to promote its recreational activities through the Parks and Recreation Department, through the use of the city website, various handouts, and perhaps creating a way for online contributions to be made to a particular activity, much the same way as we can now pay utility bills.  With regard to your question about creating a connector within city limits from the Fred Meijer Trail, running from Saranac to the Lowell Area Trailway, before I could comment I would need to become better informed on that.

Misc

Why should people vote for you in November?

I would want people to vote for me in November, because I hope and believe with my skills, knowledge, and experience I can promote Lowell’s quality of community, and I can help the City Council become more effective in doing its job, to the benefit of its citizens.  The City Council matters to Lowell’s future.

We need council members who will first represent citizen and business interests while being mindful of the needs of the City and who want to do the work involved and ask questions on behalf of those citizens and businesses.

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