Eight of nine candidates for the St. Joseph City Commission who will appear on next week’s primary ballot took part in WSJM’s candidate forum Wednesday night. One question they were asked was how they believe the city’s future should look in terms of being a small town in which to raise a family versus being a tourist town. Candidate and restaurant owner Tom Jennings drew on his experience with business in New Buffalo.
“I like both towns, but St. Joe had year round business because we have residents that live here year round and so we weren’t dependent totally on the three months that the tourism season is,” Jennings said.
All candidates agreed there needs to be a balance between tourism and being a home town. Michael Sarola expressed that view.
“One of the things that I think I can bring to the table as somebody who has been here their entire life is honoring the history of St. Joe and understanding its best quality is its quaintness, and that’s why I think it draws families to this area to raise their kids,” Sarola said. “At the same time, we have to face the reality that tourism is going to be part of our future and probably needs to be part of our future.”
Tess Ulrey said it’s that balance that made her locate in St. Joe.
“I moved here because this is an amazing tourist destination, and that’s why I visited in the first place,” Ulrey said. “But hand in hand with me coming here to visit the beautiful lake, be a part of the awesome brewery scene when it was popping up, part of that was it seemed like a really vibrant place for me as a young person, me as a mother, to come and raise my children.”
Ben Rimes said keeping business thriving is important for the future.
“We’re a pretty vibrant city,” Rimes said. “We have industry. We have a working commercial harbor that we continually are fortunate to have support for, and I think it would be a shame to go all in on tourism and neglect those businesses that are here in town.”
Incumbent Michelle Binkley said it’s important to retain the city’s charm while keeping businesses going. Chris Lannert said a way to achieve balance is to better utilize natural resources and in connecting neighborhoods to the downtown. Elizabeth Thomas said a focus on events year round would keep families while also attracting visitors. Brook Thomas said everyone enjoys that St. Joe is a vibrant community, and a way to keep a balance is through ongoing conversations with residents and businesses.
You can hear the whole forum here at WSJM.com where it’s posted as a podcast. We’ll be airing stories throughout the next several days with positions from each candidate on different issues as the primary draws closer.
