Meet the Candidate: Gary Sauer
The Blaine resident is running as a Republican for his 6th term as Benzie County District 7 commissioner. [10/24/24; terms are now four years, not two!]
Commissioner Sauer and I spoke by phone on an October afternoon. We started off talking briefly about how the Elberta post office, and POs in general, have changed since he retired from the postal service after 35 years. When we spoke he was in the midst of a series of campaign events and meet-and-greets, at Lucky Dog Bar & Grille, the Oliver Art Center, and various District 7 township halls. The following is a condensed, edited, but unfact-checked! version of our conversation.
“We’re all in this together, whether we like it or not. Which side of the fence you’re on doesn’t matter.”
—Gary Sauer
Wow. You’re busy. Well, I appreciate you giving me some time for this. Are you a lifelong Benzie County person, and where do you live?
I live in Blaine Township. My family, we're looking at the fifth generation coming through. So it’s not that I picked this place to live; my family did, and it's just where I stayed. My family are pretty much cherry farmers, and of course you always had to have another job to survive. But I do have a farm in Joyfield Township and our property here in Blaine.
Nice. How many acres do you have? Is it cherries still?
Yeah, about 27 acres of fruit trees, and the property's about a hundred total up there. The place we live on is 40 acres. It's been in the family and hopefully we can keep it in the family. I guess we’ll get into that, but that’s one of my concerns about taxes. I don’t want people to lose anything that they work so hard for.
We need to be looking at taxes very carefully.
Were you involved in any political or government work before the board of commissioners?
I was on the planning commission for Blaine. I couldn't really do anything until after I retired from the post office. You just don't have the time, and then you get involved when you retire; I commend anybody that can work a part-time or work a job and be able to help out, too, because we need all the voices we can get and we need everybody to weigh in and give us ideas. But for me it was easier to wait until I could commit more time to it. I've always been kind of civic-minded. So for me it was a good fit, and I have enjoyed being a commissioner.
— ON THE INTERNET —
What specific issues do you think we need to address? I mean, at the county level, the District 7 level, Elberta or all three.
Well, countywide, I feel we've got a good start on the fiberoptics. We just have to follow through and finish it up. Blaine Township, we’ve got Mercury Wireless, and we’ve had a difficult time getting them to come up here and start stuff. They've been working in Grand Rapids area and it's kind of like they got the bid, and we asked them to turn it over to somebody else, but they have until 2028 to get it done. Spectrum came in and did a lot of stuff around us, and the more we get done, the better. It's just the way of the future I guess. But we'd like to see Blaine get a little farther ahead too.
Some fiber was installed down Grace Road, but just, asking for a friend who lives on Paul Rose and still has Eclipse, he’s wondering when that service will start. Is that also Mercury, or?
I think it's Spectrum, but I think you can go on Spectrum's website and see. Of course if you call 'em, they'll tell you, Oh yeah, we'll be there sometime. Yeah, because Paul Rose Road, that's not too far off the main drag there. Our issue here is that fiber’s the only thing that's going to be effective and reliable, and we just got to get it there. I know they went down Nugent Road, and they went down Grace. Did they take it all the way into Elberta?
Well, Elberta already had service through Spectrum. I don't think they laid any fiber down M22 or anything recently, that I saw.
Merit, which is only allowed to do governmental stuff, actually runs down 31. And some of that is not underground but running with the power line. But that was set up so you could tie government entities together and then they could buy a couple strands and go off of there. And as I recall there was an issue with M22, that maybe you had to get MDOT to do it. I don't know.
Anyway, that's one of my big things. This area is hilly, so it's difficult to get line of sight for services like Eclipse. We have Eclipse, too, and I think it's worth a call to Spectrum or check their website and see where they're at. I know they went down Forester and they went down Nugent. Once you hit Blaine, it would be over by Swamp Road there somewhere and go to 22. That's when the other group [Mercury] was supposed to do it, but they haven't got here yet.
— ON THE ELBERTA WATERFRONT COMMUNITY CONSERVATION PROJECT —
And as far as Elberta goes, this is a concern on my side. I know you guys are going to handle it is concerned, this is a concern you can on my side—I know you guys are going to handle it fine—is the Conservancy buying that property and your ability to develop that one section.
They did come and talk to us the other day again, and they answered some of my questions. I see the Land Bank's supposed to help you. We're all volunteers, basically, and few of us have the expertise to develop a piece of property of that magnitude and that value. So it’s just a concern I have. I know you'll get there, and if you need help from me, I'll get what I can, but it sounds like the Conservancy has planned this out pretty good and is working with the Village to make things happen. I'd love to see that developed as the community wants.
I definitely am in awe of the responsibility of that. My main thing is we have to communicate well with our residents about what is actually happening and what the opportunities are for public input and participation, and try to keep everybody together on the issue. Everyone can be involved in this, when/if the time comes for that process to start.
That's really what you need, somebody with the expertise to help you develop it [the proposed 9 acres of community development]. I'm really excited to get the [Betsie Valley] trail through there. I've been on the Betsy Valley Trail Management Council almost as long as I've been on the Commission. We've always wanted it to go to Elberta Beach, so that would be pretty cool. I think there's funding set aside [for the trail extension] through the DNR, so I don't think money's going to be an issue. And luckily one of the guys on the management council [is affiliated with] the DNR and handles a lot of the grants and stuff. So that's where I'm getting my information. I wouldn't worry about funding to get the trail paved. I think that'll be a done deal.
That's great. Yeah, lots of dreams potentially coming true…
I know it's not my call, but I'd love to see a big marina on this side. I thought they [ELHC, the current property owners] had a spot picked out close to where the park is, but I'm not sure.
I think I heard at one point they had nixed that idea because they did some sort of study that showed that it was actually too deep there, or too volatile. But I could be totally wrong about that.
Didn't the brownfield grant clean a bunch of stuff out of there? Luedtkes?
They removed the old car ferry aprons, those structures. And parts of them were stored for some time at Luedtkes’ boneyard I believe. Those things were huge.
Guys like to fish out there.
Yes. People love to fish, especially further west. I think it would be cool to have a ferry that goes across, but I don’t know how feasible that would be.
You mean back to Wisconsin or what?
No, like to Frankfort, haha.
Oh, haha across to Frankfort. That'd be interesting.
Just a little one, back and forth. Just contract with somebody to run it.
I thought maybe a Lake Michigan cruise. It wouldn't be like going to Alaska or out of Seattle, but I suppose it'd be pretty cool.
— ON HOUSING —
Oh, little day cruises would be great. OK, so other than broadband internet, what other issues do you think are important right now?
Housing, which everybody is in agreement on. I don't know what the answer is, because nobody ever wants to sell their property for less. The new apartments there in Frankfort, for every apartment there were five applicants. We've got project with that same group working out at Crystal Mountain, and that finally is supposed to get started at the end of the airport in Thompsonville. It doesn't solve it all, but it's takes a little bite out of it. I did talk to FACLT, and they were asking if there was some property available in the Village. And I said, well, it never hurts to ask. So I think he's coming to see you. I see the Habitat houses in Thompsonville. They're good starter homes, but I like the ones FACLT built better. I think they fit into the community better.
I don't like subdivisions where everything is the same. That's just personal taste, we’re rural, and we're extremely scenic, and we need to maintain that and build homes that fit into the community and bring people into the community that otherwise couldn't get here. I'm all in favor of it. Government needs to help. We're not the answer for everything, but we need to be helpful.
That's a good point. What is the government's role in this? Is it just to make sure that rules are followed and that kind of thing?
I look at government as basically an assistance program—not a financial, we're not going to give you stuff but it's kind of like a helping hand, a hand up versus a handout. Because a lot of times that doesn't work too well; you look at some of the low-income homes that got put in. Thompsonville was one of the worst. They had an apartment complex put in and supposedly that's the big drug spot. It’s been hard to get people in and out of there. Low-income housing where people don’t have to pay much, they tend to not take care of the property. I like to have people have a stake in what they’re living in and have some sweat equity and financial equity that makes them take more responsibility.
Homeownership does make a difference. It at least makes you stressed out about maintenance.
Yeah, it does, because you take pride in what you have and you're basically portraying to the community: This is my place and I'm proud of it. And that should be how that goes.
— ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT —
Do you have thoughts about how what is happening in Benzie County or in our district relates to the wider world, either the state or the country? What's our role, or do we have similar problems, different problems?
Well, because I go to a lot of the MAC conferences, the Michigan Association of Counties, I think this is all local, to be honest with you. But when you go to the conferences, you find out everybody has had some of the same issues over time, and you find out how different groups or different commissioners have handled it, instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, you find out Hey, this worked, let's stick with it or find out more about it. And that access alone, it's helped me a lot. But as far as what commissioners and the county is responsible for, it's all local.
We're responsible for budgets, we're responsible for the financial welfare of the county. And to me, the financial stability doesn’t mean asking for more money, it's living within our means.
There's other commissioners that don't agree with me, but everything costs money. And I'm more concerned about the people paying taxes than the people spending it. Especially I watch you guys, and you're not the only ones, but the townships and the other villages, they're always concerned about where the money's going. Do we really need this? Is this something we need to have or got to have? And they make good decisions. We're not going to overspend, we're not going to overdo, we're going to make sure our services are there and things are going to get done. And that's what I want to see at the county, because it seems like the more money you get, the more you spend.
That is true.
It's OK if you're an individual and you're earning it. That's the trouble with government: They don't earn it, so they take it from the community. There's certain things we got to have: fire, police, roads.
— ON CODE ENFORCEMENT —
So, I don’t know if this should go on the record or not, but since you mentioned fire and police, it occurs to me that you might have an idea about this. If the Conservancy does acquire this large property and we eventually develop the southeast parcels, we’re going to need some additional manpower for maintenance but also for code enforcement. I’ve been concerned for a while about the fact that we don’t have any police coverage and the sheriff department doesn’t enforce our ordinances. I feel like it's a lot to put on an individual who’s not actually an officer of the law to enforce codes. Do you have an opinion about that?
The Village of Thompsonville has a code enforcement officer, and Weldon uses the same guy, and their approach is they go out and talk to the individual. Mainly it's picking up trash keeping things cleaned up or if somebody’s building without a permit or something like that. I think they give them two or three warnings and then write them a ticket and they have to go to civil court, I'm not sure, and maybe pay a fine. Usually the people that don't keep their place cleaned up aren't going to pay the fine either. So I don't know if that accomplishes anything. Have you had any real major issues?
Our major issues are probably not major-major. I get freaked out when people set off full-size fireworks in the middle of the street, with the houses so close together, an it’s horribly loud, and sparks are landing on roofs. But we do also have a nuisance ordinance that we’re working on, and a blight ordinance, and some other ordinances to do with ongoing issues that need to be spruced up a bit. But I’m more concerned that with this huge new property, it’s going to be hard to monitor what kind of nefarious hijinks people get up to. Are we calling the sheriff every time, or what?
Well, I would bug him. The Sheriff is an elected official—at the county level, but at any level, I guess, they're their own boss. That includes the clerk, the treasurer, registrar of deeds. The only ones that have any oversight are the department heads. And the oversight there would be the administrator, and the oversight for the administrator is the county board. I can’t tell a sheriff what to do. The fireworks, that’s a state law. That would be under his purview. I can’t force him to put anybody there. Thompsonville had the same issue, as far as getting people out there to monitor speed. It never hurts to call and ask for patrols. And they should. Especially now with the 24 hour road patrol. There are 4 officers and they’re working 12-hour shifts. They should drive through. Just the presence alone—we’ve had that concern with the Betsie Valley Trail on the site along Crystal Lake where there’s sometimes conflict between the trail users and residents. We’d love to get an officer on a bicycle once in a while to slow things down a little.
If you can get a code enforcement officer, I know it's difficult, and I wouldn't want the job. I don't know how you cure the fireworks thing. A lot of those folks are only here for that short period of time, and so they don't act too well, but keep after ’em, Emily.
And I'll report it when I do a report to the county board once in a while too, that we have some concerns. We'd like to see more police presence in these areas, and I don't know if it'll do any good, but it'll be on the record of some sort.
That would be great. Thank you! So OK, we’re getting toward the end here. What are some small changes that you think would make a big impact on people’s daily lives?
That's a tough one. One of my biggest things that I try to do, and that's why I try to go to almost every meeting I can, unless my son's getting married or something [we laugh; he did miss one meeting for that]. But I think a county commissioner needs to be available so he can hear from the residents. People call me and I appreciate that. I never turn down a call. I might not answer it right off the bat until I see I know who it is, but whether we agree or disagree, we need to talk and I need to be available. And I try to do that. That's important to me.
I think that's a good answer. And we do appreciate you being at our meetings, which are sometimes very long, and we do appreciate the fact that you show up for us. It's not really a small thing. It's kind of a big thing.
That's part of this job. You want somebody available. Another thing, with our current board, even though we don't all agree, we get along and we come up with a consensus that works. We're not in the paper every day being argumentative like some other county boards. I'm thinking of Ottawa and some of those, where all hell breaks loose. But actually we just came back from the MAC conference here in Traverse, and a guy I know from Emmett County, a bunch of people thought he wasn’t hard right enough. So they went after him and he got beat by two votes after a recount. And that's a shame. And you don't know what this person [the extreme candidate] is going to do once they get in there.
We're not going to change the world at the local level. We just want to run a county. And we want to make sure the people in our county get what they deserve and don’t get overtaxed. I don't understand that mentality. If you can't work together—thank God we've got a good board—you don't get anything done and nobody likes that. If there's stuff that needs to be done, and you guys are fighting about something else.
It's good to hear that you guys get along generally. Yeah, there's a lot of work to be done. Once you're in there, you got to do the work! Campaign's over.
And you don't want the extremes. And, to be honest with you, the less people know about you once you get elected, the less you show up in the paper? I guess that's what I'm trying to say, that you're not trying to make a name for yourself. I always thought it was good.
Show up at the meetings, not in the paper.
Right. Let people talk face-to-face.
— SOME WINS: COMMUNICATION TOWER, RECYCLING —
What are some challenges that you wish people knew more about and what are some positive things that you wish people knew more about?
Well, it's hard to toot your own horn, I guess, for the board, but there's been a lot of progress. And one of 'em is the tower that's going over in Frankfort. We got a huge grant for that communication tower, which should help Elberta too, because you guys are in that same hole. And this will help the fire department and the police departments and stuff get better communications. A lot of [transmissions] come from the control center in Benzonia, and a couple of times I've understood that nothing got through on the radios.
Oh gosh.
And we need to make sure that doesn't happen. That tower should be up pretty soon. I think they're working on it now. We just got an agreement with Frankfort for the lease of the property. We're also looking at a possible move of the recycling collection are in Frankfort because of the issue with the wind and trash blowing everywhere. If you remember where it used to be, at the Rineers’ place? [the large building and lot north of the Stormcloud Parkview Taproom].
The county and the City of Frankfort had a discussion with Mr. Rineer. The piece of property where they want to put the recycling center is on the opposite side of the road, and it's going to take a little while to get it ready, lay gravel, and it's partial wetland, I guess. So there are a couple of things that need to be ironed out, but Mr. Rineer is willing to allow them back on his property temporarily.
Nice.
I think it'll be good for everybody and it won't be permanent. I understand all the trouble he had before, so I'm happy about that.
And actually they were even talking about whether Elberta would have a place, for a couple of bins, but Frankfort's the busiest recycling place in the county.
The biggest problem is getting the dumpsters, but it's worth looking into. Got to make sure everything is kept clean. I was very happy with Jesse [Zylstra, the Solid Waste and Recycling Coordinator]. Now we're contracting that out. We'll see how it goes.
I met one of the recycling monitor people one day when I was there. He seemed like a really nice guy. I think that was a paid position?
I don't think they pay them much, but they do get paid. It's a good program. We just got to make sure things are kept clean. We got to educate the public not to throw the wrong stuff in there. I don't know if it gets worse in the summer with the summer folks here. I know it increases, but I mean, there was one picture they showed, where someone had thrown in a flat screen TV. We got to educate a little bit.
Well, Gary, thank you so much for your time.
I really appreciate the folks that elected me and I appreciate the opportunity to serve. It's an honor and a privilege, and I'll keep doing the best I can for you.