Manistee County Commissioner (District 4)
4 Year Term, Vote for not more than 1County Commissioners represent their Districts on the Manistee County Board of Commissioners. They are responsible for the financial stability and management of Manistee County.
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Eric D Gustad
(Rep)
Describe your background, experience and qualifications for this office and the reasons you are running for it.
What priorities do you have for spending state and federal dollars that are allotted to local governments?
What policies do you support for ensuring quality drinking water and continued waste management in your locality?
What are the top 2 priority issues that this office should address and what actions would you take regarding each of them?
Educational background
BA Management Ferris State University
Occupation/Current Position
Community Affairs Manager - Consumers Energy
My family has been a part of this community for more than 50 years. I served on the city planning commission for 6 years, city council for 3 years, and now as county commissioner for almost 4 years. I serve on the Chamber Board, 3 Nonprofit Boards, Venture North Board, as well as the Land Bank of Manistee County. I am actively involved community activities like economic development, blight elimination, and growing housing stock. I am also an avid volunteer for the organizations in which I am involved.
I am part of the County Land Bank and we have secured over $3 million dollars in blight elimination, stabilization, and restoration grants for Manistee County. This money has been used to demolish the old Kennedy School Building for housing development. We have also secured dollars through this program to demolish Ringo Oil structure for housing. In addition these dollars will be used to stabilize the Hotel Northern on the northside, a cornerstone building in downtown, and remove almost a dozen blighted buildings and residential homes for redevelopment. We also are looking to maximize dollars from the state and feds to improve infrastructure within the county. This would include improving roads, water and sewer, and broadband.
I serve on the Green Team for Manistee County. We are working on waste management programs, recycling programs, and education programs to help reduce the amount of contamination and waste going into landfills. I am an outspoken advocate for prioritizing not only the protection of drinking water in our area but also the Great Lakes in general.
I believe that the housing shortage is a top priority for Manistee County. We constantly run into employers who have quality job openings with quality candidates but they can't find adequate housing. One of the ways we address this issue is using the tools we have available like the Land Bank, Brownfield Redevelopment Authority, and Collaborations with key stakeholders to attack this from all angles. We need all sorts of housing for all sorts of people. It will take an all hands-on deck approach to solve. Another priority for Manistee County is childcare. We do not have enough affordable childcare in this community to attract and retain young families. This is our next generation of workers and leaders.
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