Mike Lahti chats on the phone in his office at State Farm Insurance Co. in Hancock on Friday, June 20. Lahti is seeking re-election to his position as District 110 State Representative. He represents a large area of the western Upper Peninsula in the Michigan House of Representatives. (Photo © 2008 Michele Bourdieu)HANCOCK -- Jobs, education and natural resources are high on the list of priorities for District 110 State Representative Mike Lahti as he begins his campaign for re-election to the Michigan House of Representatives. From Big Bay to Copper Harbor to Ironwood, District 110 covers a large area of the Western Upper Peninsula and keeps him very busy in a schedule that includes driving to Lansing and back to Hancock every week.
All this commuting has not discouraged Lahti from seeking a second term. The following video clip, recorded by Keweenaw Now last Friday, June 20, is a message to his constituents. Here's Mike ...
In a June 20 interview with Keweenaw Now, Lahti outlined what he sees as the most important needs of his constituents. He said the major need in the Western U.P. reflects the major issue now facing the whole state of Michigan.
Jobs: number one priority
"The major issue is jobs," he noted. "Entrepreneurs and business people and developments create jobs, but it's up to the state to do what they can to make that a little easier for businesses."
Lahti said the state can offer incentives for businesses to come here, but the key is to make the red tape not so difficult so businesses can locate here and function.
Quality education trains for jobs, attracts new businesses
The next priority is education, he added. Quality education makes this a better place to live -- and one where businesses would want to locate. He cited the importance of both K-12 and higher education, including community colleges and universities in the area.
"You want to have your kids educated well so they can get a chance in today's society, so they can get a good job when they graduate or they can go on to college," Lahti said.
He pointed out that community colleges, such as Gogebic Community College in Ironwood, are training people for jobs that are already right here, in such fields as nursing and health care.
Lahti mentioned also the "No Worker Left Behind" program administered by Michigan Works, with support from both the state and the federal government.
"It really works with community schools (colleges)," Lahti said. "It works with employers so that people are trained. They get money to go to school."
Lahti said the advantage of the program is that it trains people -- not just for the sake of training, but for jobs that are available now in the area.
The local universities -- Michigan Tech, Northern Michigan and Finlandia -- also attract a good number of students from the U.P., Lahti noted.
"Where universities are, usually there's a better economy around that area," he added.
Lahti said we need to keep investing in these universities, which offer programs such as the Smart Zone -- a partnership of Michigan Tech, the Keweenaw Economic Development Alliance (KEDA, formerly the Keweenaw Industrial Council) and the cities of Hancock and Houghton. The Smart Zone is set up to attract new businesses that need personnel with university training, especially in high-tech and business fields.*
"Michigan Tech is active in providing good jobs here," Lahti said. "Entrepreneurs want to come here because (MTU offers) trained people that can work in their businesses."
Lahti also mentioned the state provides tuition grants for needy students who attend private schools. That amounts to about $58 million for private schools all over the state, or about $2100 a year for each student.
"So that really helps Finlandia," he said.
Lahti said it's important to invest in the local universities because they add to the quality of life.
Use and conserve Upper Peninsula's natural resources
Natural resources are an essential part of that quality of life as well, and Lahti sees them as the third priority in meeting the needs of his constituents.
"We spend less per capita (on natural resources) than any other state," Lahti said.
Of the $285 million budget for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), less than $25 million comes from the general fund, Lahti explained. The rest comes from fees, such as park fees or hunting and fishing fees.
"We don't spend much, but it's worth protecting our streams, our rivers and our Great Lakes," Lahti said. "It makes Michigan a good state to live in, and we have to protect it."
He mentioned the recent (state) House water bill, and a state Senate bill in progress, to protect the lakes against water diversion.
Lahti also emphasized the natural resources that provide jobs, such as the forests -- a sustainable, renewable resource.
The state of Michigan owns 20 percent of the forest land in Michigan.
"We provide a lot of timber for the timber industry, and we have to do a better job in marketing and selling our timber to help the lumbering industry and the logging infrastructure," Lahti said.
He said the state needs to do a better job working with the private lumbering industry to keep that logging infrastructure sustainable.
The Michigan Conservation Districts recently gave Lahti an award for his strong support of their natural resource management services, such as the forester program through which the Districts work with private landowners to help them conserve their land, but also work with them so they can harvest their timber and manage their land. He said despite the fact that the Governor vetoed the forester program, he is still working now to get it back into the (DNR) budget.
"I think it's still valuable for the state to help private landowners in land management," Lahti said.
New mining projects can provide jobs, Lahti says
Lahti then answered some questions Keweenaw Now had posed concerning his position on the proposed sulfide mine, Kennecott Minerals' Eagle Project near Marquette, and the additional mining exploration going on now in the Western U.P.
"We're rich in minerals," Lahti said. "I'm not against any mining business that comes here and follows the rules, gets the proper permits and does mining."
He said that includes the sulfide mine. He believes the state and federal governments are doing what they can with regulations to make sure there aren't any accidents -- or to make accidents less likely.
I'm not opposed to it, but I'm not opposed to keeping their feet to the fire to make sure they do it safely," Lahti said.
As for Kennecott's past record of mining, as in Wisconsin, where pollution from one of their mines led to a moratorium on sulfide mining by the state of Wisconsin, Lahti said we should look at what they're doing now and not what they did in the past.
Lahti said he had heard members of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community express opposition to the mine at a town meeting in L'Anse. He also met with residents of Big Bay (which is very near Kennecott's proposed Eagle Project sulfide mine site) earlier this year and said the feeling there was mixed. While Big Bay is within Lahti's 110th District, the actual site of the Eagle Mine is not.
"I got opinions on both sides," Lahti said of the meeting in Big Bay.
He said he believed Kennecott was working to put in a road (for the mining) that doesn't go through Big Bay or Marquette. If Kennecott follows the rules and does the mining safely, he added, other mines will open up in the area. Lahti said he felt that would lead to jobs for U.P. residents.
As for the local pollution from past mining in the Western U.P., Lahti noted that was a time when there were no controls on the mining companies.
"(In the past) they could do what they wanted with their waste. Now we have people who are concerned and we have people watching them and we have government that's watching them," he said.
Lahti said he believes the area has room for both mining and tourism.
"We have lots of land, lots of beautiful natural resources. We should protect them, but we still should capitalize on our resources," Lahti added, "so we can use the money that's derived from them for jobs as well as taxes -- and pay for our services."
On the local Hancock issue of Government Lot 5 and whether or not the mouth of Swedetown Creek should be preserved as a park or sold for residential housing and taxes, Lahti said it's up to the City of Hancock to decide; but he has enjoyed the sandy area at the mouth of the creek.
"I've been there many times, as a kid and even as a grownup," he said. "That little area -- to protect it would be fine."
Alternative energy, public transit good for future
Commenting on the future effects of the increasing cost of gas and energy, Lahti said he was familiar with some of the sustainability ideas being suggested by local citizens' groups -- community gardens, highway and street plans that encourage biking and walking, wind and solar energy projects and more public transportation.
"Those are good grass-roots ideas," he said.
Lahti said he was in favor of public transit such as Houghton's and Hancock's.
"There may be a lot of people staying in apartments," he noted, "because of being close to downtown -- for the walkability and being close to public transportation."
He believes more people will soon be making sure their houses are energy-efficient. Lahti said he thinks there is a future for solar and wind energy in the U.P. as well.
"I've started enjoying turbines on the horizon," he said of some wind turbines he observed near Sault Ste. Marie, Canada. "I think the turbines are fine. I think solar energy as an alternative is fine."
Lahti said he also liked what the Smurfit-Stone Container Co. of Ontonagon is doing with their waste sludge -- selling it as biomass for the Warden Station, a power plant in L'Anse. He said he also learned just recently that Mascoma is planning on putting the first biomass-to-ethanol plant in the state somewhere in northern Michigan.
Lahti supports Stupak, Obama
Lahti said he is supportive of Congressman Bart Stupak's campaign for re-election.
"I think he's a hard worker," Lahti said. "He's got a lot of years now. His seniority is good, and he can be even more effective for his district. He's a fighter for us."
He added he is also supportive of Barack Obama as Democratic candidate for U.S. President.
"I like his character," Lahti said. "He initially didn't throw his minister under a bus (didn't leave the minister's church) -- until his minister wouldn't shut up."
Lahti said he believes Obama is very thoughtful in his decisions.
"He doesn't fly off the handle, and he exudes confidence," Lahti said, "People feel confident in him. I think he'd do a good job for the country."
Lahti said he was not too familiar with the platform of his Republican opponent, John Larson, who is both pro-life and pro-gun rights. While Lahti is pro-life because of his opposition to abortion, he is not opposed to family planning. As a hunter, he supports gun rights. He's also a fisherman but, with his busy schedule, has too little time for fishing.
To learn more about State Representative Mike Lahti, visit his Web site at http://110.housedems.com/
To see a map of Michigan's District 110, click here.
You can contact Rep. Mike Lahti by calling him toll-free at 888-663-4031 or by emailing mikelahti@house.mi.gov.
Editor's Note:
* The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) administers the Smart Zone program. See http://mtecsmart.com/.
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