Thursday, November 22, 2012
The state representative will transition out of the 52nd House District in January.
With my state House tenure concluding at the end of the year, I'd like to take this time to thank everyone for giving me the immense honor of representing them at the Michigan capitol. Voting on key issues on the state House floor is certainly a big part of the job, but more importantly to me was the ongoing role of helping local residents with their issues and concerns. I will forever cherish my interactions with the people of the 52nd House District, and how gratifying it was to be able to help them in some small way to improve their lives. I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting so many great people here in Washtenaw County during the last two years. I may have stopped by your door, or talked with you a local senior center or event, but I …
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Gretchen Driskell plans to keep campaign promise and restore education funding.
Saline Mayor Gretchen Driskell is now the newly elected state representative for Michigan's 52nd District. With 124 of the 169 precincts counted, Driskell had 17,460 votes and Mark Ouimet had 17,207, according to unofficial results from Washtenaw County. Driskell ran against incumbent Republican Ouimet of Scio Township. Driskell, who has been Saline mayor since 1999, was critical of the Republicans' cuts to revenue sharing payments to municipalities since announcing her campaign in March. "I don't want to cut any more revenues," she said. She said she plans to have a more detailed plan by January but she said her focus will be restoring education funding, a major platform of her campaign. "What really resonated when I went door to door …
Friday, November 2, 2012
Both candidates agree, however, that higher education needs to be affordable to Michigan residents.
A disagreement over education funding is the latest topic pitting Democrat Gretchen Driskell verses Republican Mark Ouimet in the hotly contested race for the 52nd District Michigan House of Representatives. Driskell, the current mayor of Saline, held a press conference Tuesday to highlight the issue. “I want every child in Washtenaw County to get a great education, but that will only happen if we invest in our schools,” Driskell said. State Rep. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) and Saline schools employee Kimberly Van Hoek attended the conference to support Driskell. Irwin, Hoek and Driskell agree that companies that create high-paying jobs want to locate in places that they can find well-educated workers. Driskell demanded the restoration of …
Friday, October 26, 2012
Candidates for Dexter Village Council and the Dexter Board of Education answered questions from the public Wednesday.
Dexter Village residents were able to gain some insight for the upcoming Nov. 6 election during a candidates forum Wednesday at Creekside Intermediate School. The event was hosted by the Dexter Area Chamber of Commerce and the Dexter Education Association and was divided into three mini forums. Up first were Board of Education candidates Larry Cobler, Bonnie Everdeen, Chris Gordon and Barbara Read. Read and Gordon are each running for a part-time seat on the board, while Cobler and Everdeen are both uncontested for a full six-year term. Education was the dominate focus of the forum, with topics ranging from student publication censorship to elective class choices and charter and cyber schools. "The school board serves three purposes - to …
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Candidates for the Village of Dexter and Dexter Community Schools Board of Education will address constituents at 6 p.m. Oct. 24.
As the final weeks of the election season approach, the Dexter Area Chamber of Commerce and the Dexter Education Association are hosting a candidate forum on Wednesday. The forum will take place beginning at 6 p.m. at Creekside Intermediate School and will feature candidates for the Dexter Community Schools Board of Education, Dexter Village Council, and Michigan's 52nd House of Representatives District. According to Chamber Director Abby Goldberg, there will be three separate mini forums moderated by representatives from the Dexter Education Association and the chamber. All candidates for each respective race will be in attendance. The public can submit questions for consideration by emailing info@dexterchamber.org. The forum is open to …
Saturday, October 13, 2012
The Saline mayor says the legislative package will spark job creation and strengthen small businesses.
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Saturday, October 13, 2012
Gretchen Driskell, Democratic candidate for Michigan's 52nd District in the Michigan House of Representatives, is calling on the Legislature to approve proposals to increase access to capital for small businesses and start-up companies. House Bills 5183, 5168 through 5173 have been introduced in the Legislature, but have been largely ignored, Driskell said. “As mayor of Saline and as a commercial realtor, I know the importance of small businesses to our communities,” she said. “Small businesses create new jobs and support our communities through local purchasing and local employment. Access to capital is one of the major barriers for small businesses and we need to minimize the barriers and maximize the opportunities for businesses to grow…
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Instead of finding creative ways to spend every last taxpayer dollar, the state needs to work to reduce taxes whenever possible.
Oct. 1 marks the start of a new fiscal year for the State of Michigan, and also represents the culmination of a new mindset in Lansing. For the first time in almost 10 years, Michigan taxpayers will begin to see a decrease on their personal income tax rate. The tax reductions are important because it represents a fundamental shift in how Lansing thinks about taxpayer dollars. In the past, every dollar that reached state coffers was spent, regardless of whether it was used effectively. Things are different now because we're measuring the effectiveness of those dollars spent. Why spend hard-earned taxpayer dollars if it's not actually helping anyone, right? Because of this shift in budgeting practices and an improved economy, the state had …
Friday, September 28, 2012
The new law closes loopholes for family members, according to state Rep. Mark Ouimet, who authored the legislation.
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Friday, September 28, 2012
Lt. Gov. Brian Calley signed into law legislation authored by Rep. Mark Ouimet that corrects a conflict regarding the estates of Michigan residents who died in 2010. Public Act 303 removes a conflict that occurred in 2010 when the Legislature was forced to enact a measure because there was no federal estate tax law at the time. Shortly after Michigan acted, the U.S. Congress changed its law, and made it retroactive to Jan. 1, 2010. "Michigan's laws regarding estates and trusts were unfortunately obsolete and not working properly for state residents," said Ouimet, R-Scio Township. "These reforms help fix the loopholes that were causing problems for surviving family members and trustees." Because the federal government had no estate tax law …
Monday, August 6, 2012
From Washtenaw County Commissioner to your U.S. senator, here are the names you'll see on the ballot this week.
Tuesday is Primary Day in Michigan. Here's a look at the candidates and issues that you will see on your ballot. District 52: Incumbent Mark Ouimet of Scio Township is the only Republican candidate for the post. Democrat Gretchen Driskell is also a candidate for the position, which represents most of western Washtenaw County. Both candidates are unopposed in the primary. Dexter Township Lima Township Webster Township Scio Township Dexter Patch will report election results as they come in on Tuesday night. Please follow us on Facebook or Twitter for the latest updates. Polls open at 7 a.m.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
A total of $50 million will be made available to schools and $35 million to municipalities under the proposed legislation.
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Saturday, July 21, 2012
Struggling Michigan school districts and municipal governments can receive low-interest emergency loans to help maintain their ability to provide services to students and residents under a legislative package approved by the state Legislature this week. State Rep. Mark Ouimet, chairman of the House Local, Intergovernmental and Regional Affairs Committee, shepherded the bills through the committee process and introduced one of the bills in the package. House Bills 5566-69 allow the state treasurer to make $85 million available to schools and governments in distress. "Michigan schools and municipal governments that are struggling due to limited funding must be able to continue services to local residents, especially when it comes to our …
John Locke
9:49 pm on Wednesday, December 12, 2012
The legacy of Mark Quimet is simple dicitated by the Repbulcian Caucus and the Koch brothers. Anti public education- raid the education fund and give it to big business Anti resident- eliminate the PPT for business and froce local governments to cut services or raise taxes Anti worker- vote to give the worker's boss the right to pay less Anti women- vote against women's rights to control their … more ›