Planet Detroit Candidate Survey
What are the three most pressing environmental issues facing the communities you seek to serve? Please rank them in order of priority and briefly explain why you chose each.
1. Data Centers — the long term impact of data centers
2. Air Quality — And cancer rates near factories in out community
3. preservation of our — preservation of our lakes and water ways
Michigan law requires utilities to reach 100% clean energy by 2040. If elected, would you support maintaining this law, or would you support revising or repealing it? Please explain your position.
Maintain the current law and timeline
More than two dozen Michigan communities are considering or have approved large-scale data center developments. These facilities can consume as much electricity as a small city and place significant demands on local water and energy infrastructure. What role should state government play in overseeing data center development, and what guardrails should the state legislature enact to protect communities where data centers are proposed?
Michigan has an opportunity to benefit from the growth of data centers, but we cannot allow working families and local communities to bear the costs while private companies reap the rewards.
The state should establish clear standards for energy use, water consumption, environmental impact, and community benefits before large scale data centers are approved. Local residents deserve transparency and a meaningful voice in the process.
I support requiring data centers to pay the true cost of the infrastructure and energy demands they create rather than shifting those costs onto ratepayers through higher utility bills. We should also require strong environmental protections, responsible water management, and investments in the local workforce through good paying union jobs and apprenticeship programs.
If a project is going to consume the resources of a community, it should also contribute to the long term prosperity of that community. Michigan should welcome innovation, but it must be done in a way that protects residents, strengthens infrastructure, and keeps utility costs affordable.
PFAS contamination has been detected in drinking water, groundwater, and surface water across Michigan. Cleanup efforts are underway, but many affected communities are still waiting for action. What is the single most important step the officeholder in this position should take on PFAS in the next term?
The single most important step is securing the funding necessary to accelerate PFAS cleanup and prevent further contamination. Families should not have to worry about whether the water coming from their tap is safe.
We need to hold polluters accountable, invest in modern water infrastructure, and ensure impacted communities receive timely testing, remediation, and public health support. Michigan should also invest in proven technologies that other countries are already using to remove and destroy PFAS in wastewater treatment systems rather than simply moving the contamination from one place to another.
In addition, we must stop spreading PFAS contaminated biosolids on farmland. Recycling these materials onto agricultural land only risks reintroducing PFAS into our soil, groundwater, crops, livestock, and food supply. We need policies that break the cycle of contamination, not ones that perpetuate it.
Michigan residents in some communities face disproportionate exposure to air pollution, contaminated water, and industrial waste. Do you support requiring Michigan regulators to assess cumulative environmental and health impacts on overburdened communities before approving new permits for polluting facilities?
Yes
I grew up in one of the most polluted communities in Michigan and was forced to move because my sister could not breathe the air. This is not a political position, it is personal or our family.
Utility rate cases directly affect what Michigan residents pay for electricity and gas. DTE and Consumers Energy have requested frequent significant rate increases in recent years. Should elected officials play a greater role in holding utility companies accountable for rate hikes and rising energy costs?
Yes. Michigan families are already struggling with the rising cost of groceries, housing, and everyday necessities, and they should not be forced to absorb endless utility rate increases while service reliability remains a concern. The Legislature should exercise greater oversight of utility companies and make full use of its advice and consent authority over appointments to the Michigan Public Service Commission. I also support moving toward an elected Public Service Commission, as states with elected utility regulators often have lower rates and greater public accountability. Utility companies should be required to justify rate increases with measurable improvements in reliability, affordability, and customer service before additional costs are passed on to ratepayers.
Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline runs through the Straits of Mackinac and carries crude oil and natural gas liquids between Wisconsin and Ontario. A proposed tunnel beneath the lakebed to house a replacement pipeline has faced legal and regulatory challenges for years. What is your position on the future of Line 5?
I support the replacement of Line 5 through the proposed tunnel project because Michigan depends on the energy and fuel it provides, and an abrupt shutdown would have significant economic consequences for families, workers, and businesses. At the same time, the Great Lakes are too important to gamble with, so the project must be subject to the highest environmental and engineering standards in the nation. Enbridge should be required to fund a substantial escrow account to cover future cleanup, environmental remediation, and emergency response costs before the project moves forward. Any documented negligence, safety violations, or failure to comply with environmental requirements should trigger severe financial penalties and, where warranted under the law, criminal liability for responsible decision makers. If a private company profits from using Michigan's natural resources, it must also bear full responsibility for protecting them.
Drinking water is becoming increasingly unaffordable for Michiganders in both rural and urban areas, leading to water shutoffs. Would you support legislation that caps water bills for low-income Michiganders and adds shutoff protections?
Yes, I lobbied for this bill package last session and held multiple town halls in support of the bill. Access to clean, safe water is a basic necessity, and no family should lose access to water simply because they are struggling to make ends meet. As a County Commissioner, I supported investments in water affordability programs, and I would support legislation that caps water costs for low income households and provides reasonable shutoff protections. We should also invest in infrastructure upgrades and hold systems accountable so that the cost of aging infrastructure is not placed entirely on working families. Water should be affordable, accessible, and reliable for every Michigander.
Michigan is home to more than 18,000 contaminated sites. Do you support or oppose legislation to hold polluters accountable for cleaning up these sites?
Support
Polluter should be held accountable for it is their problem in the first place. Polluter pay is a common sense piece of legislation .