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Democrats Compete in Primary for Treasurer

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Voters in Kalamazoo County have two Democratic candidates to choose from in the August 2 primary for county treasurer. The incumbent is Mary Balkema, a Republican with no primary opponent.

James Jackson is one of the Democrats who would like to challenge Balkema in the fall. He once managed contributions to the American Medical Association’s political action committee.

Jackson says if he’s elected treasurer, he’ll work hard to keep people who are struggling to pay their property taxes in their homes.

“One way is setting up flexible payment plans. Another way is to steer them to such nonprofits as Step Forward Michigan, which will pay people’s back property taxes,” he says.

Jackson says the county might even be able to help homeowners who need to restructure their mortgage payments.

Jackson’s opponent is Battle Creek Deputy City Attorney Sunny Sahu. In the past he’s worked on anti-corruption cases involving large amounts of money.

Sahu says he also would work to help people avoid tax foreclosure. But he says his top priority would be doing what he could as treasurer to boost the county economically.

“Using the Land Bank and using the other investment resources at our disposal to make sure we’re focused on growth, on companies that fit the community that they’re in so that we have stable growth and sustainable growth,” he says.

Treasurer is one of several Kalamazoo County offices with primary challenges this year.

Sehvilla Mann joined WMUK’s news team in 2014 as a reporter on the local government and education beats. She covered those topics and more in eight years of reporting for the Station, before becoming news director in 2022.
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