Councilman Heidemann appreciated experience on council

The four-year term of outgoing Rogers City councilman Karl Heidemann didn?t end Monday without some of his thoughts on the tough decisions that have been made during his tenure, what lies ahead in the future, and the importance of input from the public in the decision making process. If there are no further special city council meetings before the end of the year, Monday?s regular city council meeting was Heidemann?s last. He decided to not run for re-election in November. Incumbent councilman Jim Sinclair was re-elected to a third term, while former councilwoman Deb Greene beat out three newcomers to fill the seat Heidemann is vacating.

?IT HAS BEEN a wonderful experience, and I think all citizens should give it a shot, to really understand it a little more,? said Heidemann. ?You have a much better understanding of the decision making process.? He said the best part about living in the United States, or a community like Rogers City, is that there are differing opinions on a wide range of topics. ?And through that diversity of opinion, we sometimes think of things or come up with ideas that we normally wouldn?t have come up with,? Heidemann added. ?Suddenly, you?re confronted with, wait a minute, not everybody thinks this way about my way of thinking. So, you get that diversity.?

Heidemann said that if all that was needed of each decision was a rubber stamp, council members would have nice council meetings, but not necessarily the best decisions.

?ALTHOUGH SOMETIMES it is painful to be a part of that process, it?s the best way to run government, and that?s why this country is so great. If we get away from that, then that?s when we start having problems.? He also said the more open government is with the public, by having the meetings broadcast on cable television and having the press report on meetings, that, too, allows time for the public to respond, which in turn helps the council make the best possible decision on an issue. Some decisions have not been easy for the local businessman. ?It is always tough when you are making a decision that you know will have an adverse affect on someone you know, and you would like to do the right thing for that person, but you have to look at the community as whole when you think what is best for Rogers City,? said Heidemann. Some issues involving zoning have been among the toughest to vote on,

Heidemann said.

?PEOPLE WANT a particular thing that will help them and you think, yes, it will help them, but if you look at the whole picture, it?s not going to be good for the city, so you have to look at somebody you know, sometimes a friend of yours, and tell them ?no? on something,? said Heidemann. ?You have to be consistent. You can?t play favorites. As soon as you start playing favorites, then you don?t have a system anymore.? Looking ahead to the future, he said future city council members will have to wrangle over decisions such as raising taxes, or having to beg other government entities for funding.

?Everybody thinks how great it was for the national government and the state government to cut our taxes. Cut our taxes, but yet we still need services, and those services are generally provided at the local level. If you cut taxes at the federal and state level and that money is not coming back to the city ? that?s where it came from ? the people in this city paid those taxes. But, if we are not sending those taxes out there anymore, we need to have those taxes here. It?s an unfortunate thing, and council is going to have to wrestle with it over the next 10 years, but they are going to have to raise taxes at the local level.? Heidemann owns the Rogers City Theater, and is the husband of former County Development Commission director Mary Ann Heidemann.

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