FORMER CITY OFFICIAL WILL CHALLENGE DENISON IN NOVEMBER

By DEBRA HAIGHT

BCR Correspondent

BUCHANAN – Candidates have been set for this November’s recall election of Buchanan Mayor Sean Denison. Recall organizers submitted signatures in late April and were informed in early May that a recall election had been certified.

Former Buchanan City Commissioner Scott King has announced that he will challenge Denison in November. Buchanan City Clerk Kalla Langston said Monday that no one else met the filing deadline, so the ballot will only feature Denison and King’s names.

Berrien County Clerk Sharon Tyler certified the recall election after Denison recall organizers submitted more than the 380 signatures needed to force the election. Denison said late last week that he did nothing wrong; he will not withdraw his name from the November recall ballot.

King, a Buchanan native and 1979 graduate of Buchanan High School, served on the Buchanan City Commission from 1994-1998 and was Mayor Pro Tem. He currently runs an import/export business and works on special projects for other entities.

King said his philosophy is simple. “I approach things with two simple questions, is it good for Buchanan and is there a better way to do it,” he said. “Some people don’t like it when you ask questions, but that’s what the commission should be doing. The citizens have a lot of good ideas and if you listen to them, you may get ideas you hadn’t thought of.”

He also wants to stress transparency and accountability if he’s elected to the commission. “The commission should be focusing on how every penny of every tax dollar is being spent,” he said. “If we’re spending taxpayer dollars, there needs to be transparency and accountability that we’re spending money wisely.”

He said he plans to spend the weeks and months leading up to November going door to door in Buchanan neighborhoods and listening to residents’ thoughts and concerns and finding ways to make their lives better. “I love the people and I love the community; we can do better,” he said.

“We need to focus on infrastructure and public safety and making sure the neighborhoods where people live are safe,” King added. “I’m running because a lot of people called and asked me to run to bring common sense back to the commission.”

“They want someone with my experience in government and business, and they want somebody who will listen civilly and give people the right to express their views,” he went on. “People are dissatisfied with the commission’s current style of treating people uncivilly.”

In his talks with city residents, King has found that he’s not the only one who has had concerns brushed off and ignored by city officials. “City officials shouldn’t treat citizens like garbage and have disdain for citizens and be so arrogant that they don’t think the citizens matter,” he said.

“Not following the City Charter has led to a lot of chaos brought on by this commission,” he added. “It is important we all know the facts and can share our opinions without being attacked for it.”

With regard to infrastructure, he wants to see solutions found on current issues such as the sink hole on Days Avenue, the crumbling retaining wall on Front Street, and the lack of maintenance at Riverfront Park.

During his previous service on the City Commission, King served as Mayor Pro Tem and worked on fixing and funding infrastructure projects for decaying streets, flooding issues, and maintenance issues that dated back to the 1920s. He’s concerned that the city is again facing similar issues.

“I’ve gotten a lot of phone calls from people disgusted with all the unfinished projects and decay around town that has been allowed to fester by this commission,” King said. “A lot of people are upset with the reckless spending and debt incurred on new projects before old projects are fixed.”

King’s public service outside of government has been recognized by area organizations. He was the founder of the Friends of McCoy’s Creek, which won the 2014 Graham Woodhouse Intergovernmental Effort Award presented by the Southwest Michigan Planning Commission.

Individually, he was the winner in 2014 of the Friends of the St. Joseph River Al Smith Watershed Stewardship Award for his work on the St. Joseph River and McCoy’s Creek designated Trout Stream.

The November ballot will also feature the regular election for the two city commission seats currently held by Larry Money and Patrick Swem. Both are nearing the end of their first four year terms on the commission. Whoever wins the recall election between Denison and King will serve the remaining two years of Denison’s term through November 2026.