Kent Intermediate says “Yes”

Today we received two more endorsements:

• Friends of Kent County Schools is the PAC for the Kent Intermediate School District,

• Michigan Association of School Administrators.

It means a lot to me that both a local and a state-wide group recognize our commitment. You can’t spend seven years on a school board without giving it your heart.

Their endorsement puts a lie to the idea you’ll hear from Democrats, that somehow Conservative Republicans can’t work with education. This Republican certainly does. A first class education should be the standard in our State, and not the exception. To get there will take the the lessons I’ve learned working with our administrators and teachers: how to handle conflict, how to be tough-minded and fair, how to work for the common good.

It takes time — experience — to learn those lessons. And that experience lets us look forward to putting conservative principles to work for our State. After all, the future we are building here in West Michigan — the future our State desperately needs to find — is a future built on strong schools. And we can do that, starting August 5.

Michigan Does the Right Thing

Used with permission. © Adam Hart-Davis

In Michigan, we take access to water as a given.

That’s why I was so glad that Michigan finally got on board with the Great Lakes Water Compact. Thursday’s signing is a milestone for our State. Together with the new water use laws, this solves one of the critical issues for Michigan’s economic future.

After all, our growing suburbs depend on clean water. Our industries count on water. And we can’t imagine a summer without time on the water.

But for farmers here in Kent County, the new water use rules are critical for our farmers. The new groundwater safeguards assure they can access the water they need.

Legislation like this takes a lot of work. Fortunately we had able Republicans to lead the way: Senator Patricia Birkholz, and Rep. Dave Robertson. Working with the Governor, they were able to forge the compromise. In our press release, Protecting Michigan’s Water we applaud their hard work.

Legislation like this is part of a bigger task: rebuilding the trust between our communities and Lansing. In the coming term, we will not only need to stand for our principles, we will need to forge effective working relationships with one another. And in our campaign we have a term for it: West Michigan Values