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> At-Large seats for Common Council, Doyle the only incumbent
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post Mar 24 2011, 09:38 AM
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http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2011/0...05553535882.txt

QUOTE
New faces vie for at-large council seats

By Matt Field
Staff Writer
Published: Wednesday, March 23, 2011 5:07 PM CDT
MICHIGAN CITY ­— Voters have a crop of mainly newcomers to choose among when they go to the polls on May 3 to elect Democratic nominees for the Common Council’s three at-large seats.

Joe Doyle is the only incumbent in the six person race for the three seats that Doyle and departing council members Angie Nelson and Bob McKee now occupy.

Recent interviews with the candidates are detailed bellow:

•Don Przybylinski, 56, said now that his children have gone off to college, he can follow in his father and brother’s footsteps, both of whom were on the council.

As city officials consider accepting the donation of a former YMCA building, Przybylinski said he’s for opening up a city recreational center.

“We talk about North End development, we talk about Westcott Park, we talk about South Shore railroad tracks, but what is there for the taxpayers of Michigan City, something they can personally enjoy and get something out of it,” he said.

Przybylinski is an environmental compliance manager at U.S. Steel.

•Bryant Dabney, 42, said he grew concerned when he learned that about half of the children his nephew, a Michigan City High School senior, began ninth grade with were still in school.

“Where did those kids go,” he said.

He said he wants to see expanded summer works programs funded with city money to employ youths.

He said the city shouldn’t have cut employee health benefits last year.

“We do have the casino here for a reason,” he said. “Maybe we could have stepped up and funded or subsidized that old insurance plan at least (to) give those guys a year to figure this out,” he said.

Dabney also said he wants the city to hire more police officers. The Fifth Ward resident said he sees and hears too much gun violence.

Dabney is associate director of admissions at Ivy Tech Community College.

•Tim Bietry, 65, a former Michigan City Area Chamber of Commerce president and high school principal, wants to make sure someone remains on the council to shepherd through elements of Mayor Chuck Oberlie’s agenda when Oberlie, who will not run again, is out of the picture.

“We could end up with a mayor who just feels 180 degrees different than Mayor Oberlie did and there’s too many important things out there that I want to see through to completion,” he said.

Bietry called the North End the heart of the city and said it’s important to revitalize the area which brings in most of the city’s tourism revenue.

“We have to focus there first because that’s where the lost opportunities are that we never capitalized on before,” he said.

Unlike some of the other candidates, Bietry suggested the city should not acquire the former Michigan City Family YMCA building, saying it will prove a “tremendous expense” for the park department.

•Joe Doyle, 72, said he wants focus on city spending while continuing to offer required services in what would be his Third Term. Doyle has been highly involved in the city’s Summer Festival over the years and in many matters involving the Park Department.

He said he’s excited to see projects the city has been working on, particularly on the North End, bare fruit.

“Hopefully we’ll have enough of the experienced council people that can make that happen,” he said.

Doyle emphasized his ability to communicate with others and his transparency

“I don’t have no secrets,” he said. “I think transparency in government is important.”

Doyle retired from Bethlehem Steel, now ArcelorMittal.

•Michael Mack, 48, said he doesn’t have a particular agenda he wants to push on the council, saying, rather, he wants to the city to accentuate the positive as it sells itself.

“My campaign is going to be about image, which is Michigan City’s image, getting it better and starting to speak positively,” he said.

Mack said he wants to hold whomever becomes the next mayor accountable for the statements he or she makes on the campaign trail.

“These mayoral candidates all have a lot of great ideas and I’m hoping to pick off some of those ideas as they announce them,” Mack said.

Mack works at ArcelorMittal.

•John Hendricks, 43, said he questions some of the decisions the council has made, particularly the decision to build Westcott Park for $1 million.

“It seems like they’re not asking the right questions,” he said.

An engineer by profession, Hendricks said he can bring a more analytical perspective to the council.

He said he’s most passionate about turning Franklin Square back into a normal street.

“I saw it get turned into a square when I was in grade school,” he said. “I saw all the businesses just leave.”

He wants to see Franklin Street connect to the beach at Lake Michigan.

Hendricks works at a La Porte engineering firm.

Although no Republicans have filed for candidacy in the at-large race, the party can still slate a candidate to run in the general election.


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