We are currently in the process of updating this platform, it will be updated here in May.

BENZIE COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY
Platform
March 31, 2006

Preamble
The Benzie County Democratic Party believes that local government must lead efforts to build a strong, year-round economy that expands on our seasonal strengths and stimulates new business and employment opportunities while protecting our precious land and rural quality of life. To do this, the Party believes it is imperative that government provides consistently excellent, efficient, and transparent leadership, as well as comprehensive services to the county’s residents and businesses. Wise investments in the county’s economy, community life, and people will yield valuable dividends now and long into the future.

For each of these needed investments—economic, community, and human—the Benzie Democratic Party proposes the following objectives:

Community Investments
Benzie Democrats believe local government must be efficient, effective, and completely open as it invests in preserving our rural, small-town character and growing our economic opportunities.

The Party further believes that more diverse political representation at all levels of local government is crucial for encouraging more innovative, competent, and fair leadership.

Financial accountability and fairness along with quality, friendly service are hallmarks of the kind of government Democrats believe in and will establish in Benzie County. Major areas of concern include the professionalism and openness of local law enforcement, the constant improvement of school finances and performance, and strong and creative partnerships between local businesses and government that open doors to investment and innovation while holding firm to laws that protect people and the environment.

Local government serves the county’s businesses and residents best when it stands strong on our values of private property rights, environmental integrity, and a neighborly approach to problem solving. This approach to governance respects differences among people while uniting them around the common good.

Economic Investments
Governments in Benzie County must have strategies that further our tourism and agriculture economies while developing innovative policies that encourage new, year-round economic activity. That will allow our young people to stay here and persuade other people to build their businesses and families here.

The foundation for solid economic development in the 21st century is implementation of the county’s master plan, which is designed to respect both private and public property rights with planning that protects our beautiful surroundings, welcomes business development, and saves taxpayer money. To do this, local units of government must enact incentives called for in the plan that guide growth to areas best suited for it because of existing public infrastructure and private investments. Such incentives will preserve open space and strengthen village centers, which in turn helps the county retain and attract people and businesses. Developing prosperous town centers and preserving the open space in between are crucial to Benzie County’s economic future and rural quality of life.

Leadership in attracting new technologies, such as wireless Internet service and alternative energy sources like wind power, will both help the county retain existing residents who appreciate these services and attract economy-enhancing investments from new residents and cutting-edge businesses. Similarly, the county can enhance its economic opportunity by supporting the arts, historic preservation, and other cultural assets that can make Benzie County a desirable place for people to live, work , and invest in, year-round.

The county must also do much more to discover and leverage resources, including obtaining its fair share of revenues back from state government. The county must take better advantage, as well, of other state, federal, and private-sector money that helps local leaders better serve local businesses and people. Small business grants, for example, could come to Benzie County in greater numbers if we develop a more systematic and targeted way of working with homegrown businesses and other entrepreneurs to pursue those funds.

Local government must pursue creative and cost-effective solutions to such pressing issues as sewer and water services. Coordination, cooperation, and sharing of resources among units of government are essential, as is researching and using new, proven technologies. This will cut government’s costs while boosting its efficacy.

Attending to agriculture is particularly important because farm families are a core element of our rural economy and their farmland is of great value to our tourism and recreation sectors. Local government can help ensure that farms and farmland are here to stay by working to preserve the land and make the farms more profitable. Local farms can become more profitable, for example, by using more diverse growing practices and market outlets, such as raising and selling more products to area restaurants and other food retailers.

Local government can enhance the profitability of the county’s tourism and recreational sectors by working with the private sector to better promote our landscape and the many activities people can enjoy here. Paramount to successful promotion of our outdoor resources is preservation of public access to our public waters, strong enforcement of environmental and recreational rules, and proactive working relationships with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

Because it will help the local tourism economy to work better for all residents, including young people, we strongly applaud the recent raising the minimum wage to $6.95 per hour.

Human Investments
Benzie Democrats believe the most fundamental strategy for economic prosperity and community well-being is to invest in the ability of people to participate fully in their communities and lead healthy and productive lives. Local government now must take this on in a more committed and innovative way, given severe cuts to state and federal social services. The county can do this by providing leadership and partnering with the community’s broad range of civic, religious, and charitable organizations.

More innovative and aggressive workforce training and enrichment is vital to supporting business success, stimulating year-round economic activity, and building strong family prosperity. For example, supporting employer training programs with broader continuing education opportunities can cut employer costs and increase worker participation. Targeted assistance, such as the “Team Northwest” program to catch workers before they fall through common cracks in the system (i.e. car breakdowns, daycare problems), also can help both employer and employee become more successful. Strong basic education that includes the creative arts is also an important component of the county’s workforce and business development strategy.

A public transit system is a high priority in this count, which currently lacks regular bus service. More people want and need to get around without cars, including seniors, young people working their first jobs, and families who want and need transportation alternatives. The Party supports a pending millage proposal that would establish basic bus service, connect it to transit services in neighboring counties, and position Benzie County to grow a more dynamic public transportation system in the future.

Health care costs are a leading drain on working families’ finances, and Benzie County can keep its finances and future in shape by helping people reduce these costs. Local government should implement important health initiatives, such as the current effort to develop a community-based health plan for Benzie, Leelanau, and Grand Traverse Counties.  In addition, the county should lead the effort to establish more innovative programs by researching and learning from successful efforts elsewhere.

Housing that working families can afford is especially critical in Benzie County, where high real estate values, while beneficial in some ways, are pricing out people who have lived and worked here forever. Local government should pursue and support innovative approaches to affordable housing, such as incentives to developers for including quality, modest units in their projects; special financing approaches, such as proven programs that establish revolving loan funds for affordable housing; and zoning that allows for smaller units and higher density that complement existing development.

Investments in the county’s young people, particularly in their transition to adulthood through job training and mentoring, are essential to our community’s long-term success. The county can further facilitate that crucial growth process by providing young people with safe and engaging places to congregate, such as a community center. Making such programs and facilities available to all youth, and publicizing them well, are bound to move the community’s entire range of education efforts a new level of effectiveness. 

Conclusion
Recently, a lifelong Benzie resident who has been a chef in a local restaurant for 30 years observed how hard it was for his employer to keep the business open every winter. “It is very tough for them,” he said. “The only ones around are the locals, and they are all trying hard to save money just to make it through the cold months.”

The Benzie County Democratic Party believes that our community can and must do far better. The people of Benzie County can find innovative new ways for their businesses, service and educational institutions, churches, community organizations, and neighbors to work both together and with foundations, state and federal government, and other institutions to build our year-round economy.

But it is local government that must provide the leadership. It must bring people together, supply them with excellent educational and investment opportunities and tools, and coordinate public and private efforts. That requires careful, highly competent, completely transparent governance, public services, and law enforcement. Only then can we build a better Benzie County, one that retains its rural character, protects its environment, and contains prosperous communities and a shared commonwealth that life-long residents and visitors will cherish.