Sunday, August 2, 2015

Steve King shares his ideas with hometownlife (Livonia Observer)

Excerpts from 16 Livonia City Council candidates share their views  (published 7/28/15) 
What is your specific plan to help bring more residents, especially young families, to the City of Livonia?  


King – Young families are most interested in vibrant neighborhoods and good schools. The city and school district must do a better job of working together. The city stood on the sidelines while the district closed schools and lost thousands of students. I believe the city could have played a stronger role in preventing this and must be more involved moving forward. I would like to start a program I call operation renovation that would purchase foreclosed and dilapidated homes turning them into showplaces. A downtown at Five Mile and Farmington similar to Kellogg Park in Plymouth could be the anchor for new family friendly development.

What can be done to continue business development in the city, especially along the industrial corridor along the railroad tracks, as well as Plymouth Road?

King – Livonia is not small business friendly and that needs to change. A culture of service has to permeate all departments in the city with the new mayor leading the charge. As a city we need to decide what industries we want and then actively pursue them. Oakland County went after technology and biomedical and is the most successful county in the country. That is what we need to emulate. We need to consider vertical farming, 3D manufacturing, bioengineering and alternative energy companies to enhance our current industrial base.

What do you think of the idea of creating one downtown or several smaller downtowns in Livonia? How would you go about doing that?

King – I spoke about a downtown during my last campaign and I think it sparked some interest that led to a field trip and fact-finding mission of sorts to a far away city that someone thought was like Livonia. I believe the outcome was, as it is with most government initiatives, a consultant would have to be hired and endless meetings would take place that would not result in much. That will not happen if I am elected. I will do the ground work to make sure it’s right and actually make it happen by getting our citizens engaged in the process.

What would you like to see changed about city government?

King – I would like to transition to an open-source government. That is that any idea from any source and anyone is given a hearing. I would like us to implement a mindset that every program or proposal have a technical and sustainability component. For instance doing things digitally as opposed to using paper. And always looking for a way to use less finite resources and energy. I think Dave Varga’s position as chief of staff or whatever it is called should be retooled to be an ombudsman. The first contact for any issue a citizen may have and the follow-up to make sure the problem has been solved.

Steve King reminds Livonia residents to vote this Tuesday, August 4th.  Vote Steve King!