Kalamazoo's Public Media Network sat down to talk with state Representative Jon Hoadley, who is running against Fred Upton for the U.S. House in 2020. Hoadley speaks in depth about his values, policy priorities, and record in this 50-minute interview. 

Published: April 29, 2019

The city of Portage is considering a nearly $85 million budget for the coming fiscal year, representing a more than 10 percent increase in spending from the previous year. The city commission received the proposed budget at its April 9 meeting. A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for May 7. The proposed budget of $84,986,870 is about $8.1 million more than last year’s budget, or a 10.57% increase, Portage City Manager Larry Shaffer said.

Published: April 29, 2019

A public hearing for the City of Kalamazoo 2019-2023 Consolidated Plan & 2019 Action Plan will take place at 7 p.m. on Monday May 6 in City Hall. To qualify for funding from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development, the City must have an approved Consolidated Plan and Action Plan. The Consolidated Plan identifies five-year goals for CDBG, HOME, and ESG funding and outlines the City’s strategy to address the housing and community development needs of its low and moderate income families and individuals. Read the plans at the link, below.

Published: April 29, 2019

Kalamazoo County has launched a new online tool designed to gather resident feedback on budget priorities for the upcoming 2020 budget process. The tool offers an interactive simulation of the County’s early revenue and expenditure projections for fiscal year 2020. Revenue and expenditure detail in the online simulation is broken down into categories such as recreation & culture, public safety, judicial and health & welfare. Embedded within each spending category are potential future budget requests. Residents are able to review those potential requests and provide feedback.

Published: April 29, 2019

At a special session on Monday, April 22, at 7pm, the Planning Commission will meet for an initial review of the plans for the Sisters of St. Joseph to demolish old buildings on the Gull Road Nazareth campus, in order to avoid the ongoing upkeep costs on unused buildings and create a deliberate natural environment on the property. The entire plan, with large site planning documents, is available in the committee agenda. It is, however, a very large document (24MB), so KNM has provided a screenshot of the summary, available at the "read more" link, below. 

Published: April 21, 2019

County government news this week includes major progress on the new county courthouse plan, a significant grant to expand pregnancy health resources, a decision about testing county employees for cannabis, and a new way to receive the weekly water quality report.

Published: April 20, 2019

This week, a city commissioner announced her resignation, while others were troubled to approve a re-zoning request for a discriminatory business. Penalties for disruptive parties have been increased, bridges for which the city will seek MDOT repair funding have been identified, and the city is working to help minority contractors participate in local construction projects.

Published: April 20, 2019

Plans to prevent developers from encroaching on natural features in Kalamazoo took a step forward this week, and were recommended for an additional public hearing and vote by the Kalamazoo City Commission in May. The city’s Planning Commission voted to recommend that the City Commission approve amendments to the city’s zoning ordinance to guide the development of land on or near areas identified as natural features. The new development standards are required by the city’s master plan, which defines natural features as “an area with existing natural features, including creeks, floodplains, stands of large trees, and slope that should be protected through such methods as conservation easements or land acquisition."

Published: April 15, 2019

Hoadley (D), the three-term State Representative of the Kalamazoo area, will challenge Upton (R) for his Federal House seat. Upton, who has served since 1986, narrowly defeated Matt Longjohn (D) in 2018 (about 5 points), and failed to win a majority of Kalamazoo County votes for the first time in two decades. Links below provide the MLive story and Hoadley’s campaign video.

Published: April 15, 2019

In this video, Chair Julie Rogers and Commissioner Christine Morse preview Tuesday’s agenda, which includes a presentation and resolution related to Texas Township flooding, a presentation on plans for spending the funds raised by last year’s Senior Millage, and discussions on the Raise the Age initiative and 131 Business interchange. The agenda link below includes access to the meetings live video feed as well.

Published: April 15, 2019

As of 7pm Friday, not a single agenda has been posted for upcoming City government meetings – April 8-12. If they appear, you'll find them at the link below, alongside the meeting calendar. Groups meeting are the Historic Preservation Commission, the Planning Commission, the Traffic Board, the Zoning Board of Appeals, and the Community Development Act Advisory Committee. 

Published: April 05, 2019

Democrats may have demographic and political redistricting in their favor. The population of Grand Rapids is growing and trending younger, with presumably more progressive voters. It builds off Democratic bases in Muskegon and Kalamazoo. Demographic shifts could have major implications as new state legislative and congressional districts are drawn based on 2020 Census data. At the same time, Michigan will have a new process for drawing these districts after the broad support for Proposal 2 in 2018, which created an independent commission to draw districts. Revue takes an in-depth look. 

Published: April 05, 2019

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Friday that Kalamazoo Mayor, Bobby Hopewell, is one of the 11 new members appointed to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation Executive Committee, per a statement released from her office. She said, "The MEDC is a tremendous partner in our mission to build a stronger economy and create more good-paying jobs across the state." MEDC has been criticized (by right and left) for its approach to tax breaks to lure business to Michigan. It also focuses on attracting tourists to Michigan and runs the "Pure Michigan" campaign.

Published: April 05, 2019

MiBiz sat down with Portage City Manager, Larry Shaffer, to discuss the Portage water system and PFAS. The city of Portage provides municipal water to 95 percent of its 48,500 residents. As such, City Manager Larry Shaffer said clean water is a fundamental aspect of keeping residents safe. Most of the up to 5 million gallons of water produced daily comes from groundwater. In 2018, the city found low levels of PFAS in its drinking water (that were below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s lifetime health advisory limit of 70 parts per trillion) and in response shut down three of its wells.

Published: April 05, 2019