Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Portage Township Supervisor Bruce Petersen and Trustee John Ollila take part in a candidate forum put on by the League of Women Voters of the Copper Country at Houghton High School Friday night.

HOUGHTON — Candidates for the 110th District of the State House of Representatives and Portage Township board fielded written questions from residents at a League of Women Voters of the Copper Country forum Friday night.

Republican incumbent Greg Markkanen of Hancock and Democratic challenger Kim Corcoran of Ironwood are facing each other in the 110th race. Two Portage Township candidates showed up: Democratic incumbent Supervisor Bruce Petersen, who is running against Republican challenger Brandon Scholie, and Trustee John Ollila, who is running as a Democrat as one of seven candidates for four trustee positions.

A full recording of the event is available at lwvccmi.org, and at the LWVCC’s Facebook page.

Markkanen is running for his fourth term in the 110th. He touted his experience serving the large district, and his work on “pretty substantial committees that really benefit the 110th District.” He serves as Republican vice-chair on the House Committee on Military, Veterans, and Homeland Security, and is also a member of the insurance and financial services (DIFS), tax policy, and education committees.

Corcoran worked as a school principal in prisons across the Upper Peninsula. She has spent 15 years on Ironwood’s city council, the past seven as mayor.

Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette
Republican 110th District State Rep. Greg Markkanen and Democratic challenger Kim Corcoran take part in a candidate forum put on by the League of Women Voters of the Copper Country at Houghton High School Friday night.

Both candidates listed housing as the top issue facing the district. Corcoran said the “missing middle” problem spanned demographic groups, whether new families looking for a home or retirees looking to downsize.

“Any kind of help from the state, or incentives for new construction, incentives for different properties, new zoning, we need to address the housing,” Corcoran said. “It’s a matter of a way we can attract new businesses, attract new citizens.”

Markkanen said part of the problem is severe regulation by the state. He pointed to problems being faced by a new development in Portage Township which had to downscale its plans after not obtaining a variance from the state for remedies offered to mitigate high levels of uranium found in the water.

“It makes it very difficult to expand housing across the 110th when there’s so many regulations,” he said. “I think that we have excellent contractors throughout the 110th District, and we can meet the demand if it wasn’t so regulated.”

They also addressed the protests over corrections staffing issues at Baraga Maximum Correctional Facility and other prisons.

Markkanen expressed sympathy for the corrections officers and other employees, mentioning his time on the picket line in Baraga. He said he and his colleagues have introduced a number of bills to improve retirement benefits for the employees.

“I think that when the pension and the retirement health care were cut out of their benefit package before I was in the legislature, that was a big mistake,” he said. “These men and women across the U.P. do a very, very difficult job, and they should know that after the end of 20, 25, 30 years serving the state and protecting some prisoners across the U.P. and lower Michigan that they should have a benefit package waiting for them when they retire.”

Corcoran agreed with the need for the return of a pension, and also argued for higher starting wages to make the state competitive with Wisconsin. They also need a wage that’s higher on the seniority scale, which would allow them to retain experienced employees, she said.

“The job is very, very rewarding, but it is taxing and can be dangerous,” she said. “…I’ve been in the Department of Corrections for 26 years, and I have seen the wear and tear in my fellow workers. So it’s now that we really need to get to the folks who can make decisions to do something now.”

Other issues addressed in the forum included gun violence, ways the candidates would support pollution cleanup and how to improve public education.

After a break, the forum continued with the Portage Township panel. It had also been slated to feature Republican trustee candidate Dale Belanger, who did not attend. It is League of Women Voters policy not to conduct forums with candidates from only one party in a multi-party race; after some discussion Friday, the group elected to continue with that portion of the panel.

Ollila, who was first elected as trustee in 2008, is running for what he said will be his final term. He’s consistently sat on the personnel, recreation, road and cemetery committees. He also serves as zoning administrator, and is also working with the township Planning Commission to update and modernize the zoning ordinance.

“That would be my main task in continuing with the board, is to see the zoning ordinance is updated and rewritten and modernized,” he said.

Petersen has been serving as township supervisor since 2010. He previously worked with the Natural Resource Conservation District for 20 years, which he said has given him an expansive exposure to environmental and conservation problems in the area.

“I’m still energetic and enjoy doing what I do there,” he said. “It’s a very diverse job. Every day is different, which I find appealing. I even enjoy working with John here and the board in general. We have a good mix of people and it’s very pleasant to be able to get up in the morning and meet and greet those people and get projects completed.”

Questions on the panel included the best ways to allocate road funds, and how the urban north/rural south split affects the range of services the township provides.

For the biggest challenge facing the township, Ollila cited the conflicts between people paying the current taxable value on new construction or a recent purchase, and what might seem like disproportionately low values paid by people who have owned the same property for an extended period. Petersen named buried service lines for sewer and water that are degrading over time, such as a 60-inch cast iron line from 1938 along M-26; he said it is important to work closely with the township’s consulting engineers and write successful grants to agencies such as USDA Rural Development.

Both were also asked to name the decisions they’ve been proudest to make as trustee or supervisor.

Among recent decisions, Ollila cited the township’s victory in a lawsuit over the township’s approval of a development at the former Onagaming Yacht Club; he cited the strength of the township’s zoning ordinance as a factor. He also pointed to his role in making the motion to raise base water and sewer rates for Portage Township and Dakota Heights residents until the deficit in the fund is erased. The rates had been static for a number of years, even after Adams Township raised the rates on the water it sells to Portage.

“The cost of materials, salaries, pipes — all of this has gone up … my point of view has always been that the people who live rurally in Portage Township should not be subsidizing the water-sewer system for Hurontown, Dodgeville and No. 2 Location, so they have to pay their own cost,” he said.

Petersen agreed with Ollila’s point, also pointing to the township’s victory in a lawsuit regarding the Valley View Quarry early in his tenure. The township has a good track record administratively to which judges can refer, he said. He also praised the township’s record of staff selection, such as a new “tremendous” employee in the public works department.

“You get at least a good cross-section and at least a few good candidates, and if you select the right one, it makes you feel good, and it’s working out well,” he said.