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Candidates for Mayor of Kalamazoo Differ on Revenue, Cleanup

WMUK

Voters in Kalamazoo will elect seven members to the city commission next week. Under a new format, the vote for mayor is separate from the other six city commissioners. WMUK’s Gordon Evans spoke with both men running for Mayor of Kalamazoo

Bobby Hopewell was first elected Mayor of Kalamazoo in 2007. He has been re-elected every two years since then by winning the most votes of any candidate running for Kalamazoo City Commission.

But voters approved amendments to the city charter last year that change the election format, one of them allows for the mayor to be elected separately.

Hopewell is running for another two year term as mayor, saying that while much has been accomplished in the 12 years he’s been on the commission, there is still much work to do.

Credit WMUK
Kris Mbah

Kris Mbah is the only challenger on the ballot for mayor. He is CEO of Aviators, which he says helps design engagement strategies for people and businesses. Mbah says he wants to transform Kalamazoo, and bring more transparency and accountability to the city.

Mbah, who ran unsuccessfully for Kalamazoo School Board last year, has served on various boards, including the Allied Site Task Force.

The EPA has proposed a cleanup plan for the Superfund site similar to one put forward by the city earlier this year. It would cap and contain PCB material at the Allied Paper Landfill site. Mbah says that’s not good enough.

“We need to have a full and complete clean up removal. The EPA has stated that the resources available were not part of the decision making process. So why are we relegating back to a cover up solution I think the people have spoken, and the commission and the EPA are not listening”

Mbah says he stands by his original position that all PCB contamination should be removed from the superfund site. Hopewell says he also wanted all PCB contamination taken away. But he says the city needed to have a Plan B.

“This is the closest that we could get to where we wanted to be. Not what I’ve wanted from the beginning. Total removal was what I’ve wanted, what the community has wanted and voiced. But we also needed to have a Plan B in case that didn’t occur. And the Plan B certainly didn’t get us to Plan A, but it didn’t get us to the EPA’s Plan C which was just to cap”

Hopewell says that “Plan C” from the EPA would not have allowed for the redevelopment of any of the site. He says the city’s plan, now the proposal from the EPA, will allow for about 30 acres of the land at the Allied Paper Landfill site to be redeveloped.

Credit WMUK
Bobby Hopewell

Kalamazoo faces a budget shortfall estimated at nearly $3-million dollars for next year. That is expected to grow to $6-million a year by 2020. A blue-ribbon panel has been appointed to examine ways to bring in additional revenue to the city. Kris Mbah says the panel seems too focused on one idea.

“Why is a city income tax seemingly the best solution we have, that is not sustainable"

Mbah says he’s wants property that the city owns, but isn’t currently using, to be made available for redevelopment.

“I would like to see city-owned properties being put on the tax roll. We’re looking at generating revenue, but the only seemingly viable solution we’re hearing from this ‘blue ribbon panel’ as it’s called, is a city income tax."

Mbah says while he’s open to other ideas for raising revenue, he would not support a city income tax. But Bobby Hopewell says nothing should be considered off the table right now.

“You might find that with some of these decision it may be off the table for citizens. Because at the end of the day, a number of these options that they may bring forward will require a public vote. And so everyone will have the opportunity to have their voice heard potentially, even more so than me."

Hopewell says he won’t pre-judge the work of the committee before it comes to the city commission. He says that a city income tax is just one possibility under review. Hopewell expects city commissioners to have multiple options to consider from the revenue panel.

Kalamazoo voters will elect either Hopewell or Mbah a two year term.

In future years, three city commissioners will be elected every two years to serve four year terms. Since the changes were approved last year, this is a transition year to the new system. All Kalamazoo City Commission seats are up for election this year.

The top three finishers will get four year terms on the city commission, while the next three will get two year terms.

Gordon Evans became WMUK's Content Director in 2019 after more than 20 years as an anchor, host and reporter. A 1990 graduate of Michigan State, he began work at WMUK in 1996.
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