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Doug Bovin opposes ending special assessments

R.R. Branstrom Daily Press Former county commissioner, Gladstone mayor, and Michigan state representative Douglas R. Bovin expresses his opposition to the ballot proposal to eliminate special assessments at Monday’s Gladstone City Commission meeting.

GLADSTONE — During Monday’s regular meeting of the Gladstone City Commission, the last one before the election, former Commissioner, Mayor, and State Representative Douglas R. Bovin expressed his opposition to the ballot proposal to change the city charter.

A proposal following a citizen petition is appearing on the ballot before Gladstone residents. If it passes, the city’s power to conduct special assessments will be stripped away.

“It would be a disaster for the city if that passed,” said Bovin, who had attended the meeting unexpectedly to make a statement during public comment. “It would be an absolute disaster.”

An an example, he explained that soon after he bought a house in Gladstone in 1967, a project to put in a new sewer system, water line, and road slammed him with four special assessments that he had to pay for about 15 years.

Though it hurt, “I’m damn glad the city did it,” Bovin said. “Best investment we ever made.”

He explained that if the question had been put to a vote of all the citizens of the city — asking if they wanted to pay higher taxes to fix something that only benefited people on a certain street — they would have said no.

“You’re doing it the right way, and most cities do it the same way,” Bovin told the commission firmly. “We’re the ones that got those services down there; it was justified that they charged us a percentage of it.”

Though Bovin has been retired from public office for over a decade — most recently as city manager of Munising, after serving as Gladstone mayor three times, county commissioner for 22 years, and State Representative for the 108th District for three years — he understands that the citizens don’t see everything that goes into a decision. He said he hasn’t agreed with all the city’s actions, but “it’s unfair to judge you on just one portion of it,” he said.

Some people have only a piece of the picture and think that this will lower taxes, but “a little bit of knowledge is dangerous. This proposal is not going to lower your taxes,” Bovin said.

When he was in Munising, he explained, they had not had special assessments, and “it was really tricky to get that city moving. We basically rebuilt the whole city. We made some changes, and when we did that, we reduced the taxes by four and a half mills. It’s not magic. It’s just knowing what you’re doing.”

To the Gladstone City Commission: “I don’t know all of you, but I commend you for what you’ve been doing, and you need the special assessments,” Bovin concluded. “Thank you.”

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