Brian Moeller:

· AGE: 54 

·  RESIDENCE: 3900 Oak Hills Circle.

·  OCCUPATION: Senior regulation agent for the Michigan Department of Energy and Economic Growth, Unemployment Insurance Agency, Fraud Section; adjunct instructor at St. Clair County Community College in the areas of criminal justice and political science.

·  POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Port Huron City Council since November 2007; serving as mayor.

·  EDUCATION: Associate degree in law enforcement from St. Clair County Community College; bachelor's degree in criminal justice, minor in psychology, from Grand Valley State University; master's degree in liberal studies, concentration in police management and police administration, Eastern Michigan State University.

·  FAMILY: Wife, Diane; four children; four grandsons.  

"Do you favor a ‘Ward System’ or ‘At Large System’ for our city, and why?” Submitted by Mike McCarthy seconded by Chad Noetzel 10-19-09.

No Response

"What is your opinion of Port Huron's city income tax? Submitted by Alice O'Neil, seconded by Chad Noetzel 10-2-09."

No Response

"Do you feel it is necessary for a councilperson to read the sales agreement, prior to voting, when the city is buying or selling real estate?"    Submitted by Gerald Frendt seconded by Chad Noetzel 9-30-09. 

"Yes,

However Chad I think the real question should be, should a council member always vote the way his or her supporters want them to vote?  Should  candidates always vote the way the Good O' Boys, Good O' Girls, or the the want-a-bees or anyone else would want them to vote on every issue.  If so then they should run for council and vote the way they think things should be.  I for one have always voted the way I though was right and the best for the citizens of Port Huron.  However I still believe we should all be adults and still be able to agree to disagree and still support the people we think are doing what they think is right and who we agree with most of the time.

I haven't always agreed with my fellow council members, but I respect each and everyone of them for there decisions because I know I work on the council with six other members who put alot of thought into every vote they make just like I do."

"How do you like the work new city manager Bruce Brown is doing ? Please give examples of what you liked or disliked so far." Submitted by Mark Byrne 9-3-2009.

 

"A few months ago the City Council removed funding for the EDA and hired their own Economic Development director. Do you support the direction this council has taken?" Submitted by John Edison Palmer 8-27-2009.

No Response

During the pre-primary debate. A few of the challengers commented that too much time has been spent on "trivial matters." Specifically, over the past two years, what items up for council consideration have you considered "trivial?"  Submitted by Jim Fisher 8-26-2009.

"What is trivial to some may not be trivial to others.  As a representative of the people I must be cognizant of  everyone's concerns."

The current city council drastically reduced the pay for the new city manager compared to the previous city manager, would you favor reducing the pay  level for department heads and eliminating severance pay when they quit?  Submitted by Chad Noetzel 8-12-2009.

"The previous City Managers Salary and benefit package was $244,000 in a City where the average family earns $32,000 a year.  Per capita our City Manager was the highest paid City Manager in the State of Michigan per the Michigan Municipal League.  Leaving out the issue of population our City Manager was the fifth highest paid in the State.  The only cities that paid their City Manager more were Ann Arbor, West Bloomfield, East Lansing and I believe Troy.  I can be honest an say as much as I love Port Huron we are not in the same economic class as those cities.  (The $244,000 package was worked on by one of the candidates listed here)

 When we hired Mr. Brown his salary and benefit package was worked on by myself and Mayor Pro Tem Fisher and Mr. Brown was given the average package of cities in the State with populations of between 25,000 and 40,000.

 As to the Department Heads I have lead the charge as Mayor with the rest of this Council to reduce pay, or to keep it at the level of cities with similiar populations.  I also have lead the charge to do away with double pensions.   For instance a Department Head leaving the City with 25 years of service and making $90,000 a year would receive a pension of approximately $56,250 per year for the rest of there life and in the second pension a 457 (which is like a 401K), if they had the lowest match of only 3%, they would have an additional $67,500 put into their 457 over the 25 year period by the tax payers of Port Huron, while we continue to raise the tax payers water rates who make $32,000 a year.

 As to getting a servance package for quitting, give me a break, I have never heard of such a thing and was proud along with my other council members running for re-election to do away with such packages."

1.  What strategy should the city employ for economic development?

"The current economic plan developed by the City Council by a unanimous vote with the concurring city manager is probably the first and most complete economic plan ever developed by a City Council, at least in recent years.
The plan includes:· 

Teaming with the Blue Water Area Convention and Visitors Bureau and MainStreet to attract tourism and help lead the area in the scheduling of events throughout the city. A major step is to have one contact group for each area instead of having several different agencies going in their own direction. This is a positive step to centralize the activity.

·  Teaming with the chamber of commerce to develop new and to maintain current businesses in the city of Port Huron outside the downtown immediate area, this is a first for the city. Previous concentrations were on the downtown area and not on the city as a whole, as it should have been from day one.

·  Taking a leadership role in the direction of the (Downtown Development Authority) instead of just being observers. We suggested they be a part of the solution of McMorran Place by directing them to allocate $100,000 of their budget toward the complex. The businesses in downtown see McMorran as the cornerstone of the downtown, so the council took the initiative to direct the DDA to get involved in saving this most important commodity.

·  Large commercial property development in the city. This can be achieved by going out and recruiting new investors to come to the city to develop and change our reputation across the state and country of being a closed community for only locals to develop.

·  Lastly, by concentrating on the Industrial Park of Port Huron and getting the city taxpayers' money's worth in attracting and maintaining businesses in the city's industrial park. By providing this personal attention to our industrial neighbors, we hope to not only have a model industrial park to be proud of but one that again will be full with employees.

2. What should be done to pay the debt from the sewer separation project?

"Continue fiscal responsibility to make appropriate cuts in the budget. In the current economic times, it only would be disastrous to raise water rates for city residents and those in surrounding townships. Unlike the Times Herald Editorial Board, which praised council members who voted to raise water rates, I saw those votes as ways to make it possible for salary increases for employees. I voted not to give raises, which is a responsible way of paying for the sewer separation project.

I led the charge to eliminate the severance pay for employees quitting their jobs with the city and eliminating the double pension plans given to certain city employees. This is also a great way to assist in paying for the sewer separation project. These are long-term savings.
This year alone, we were able to save $3 million in the sewer separation project because of the bad economic times and having more companies bid with bids coming in under projections. Something we can't predict is the future.

Simply raising water rates is not the answer because every time we have raised rates, usage has declined, causing a shortfall in revenues. The best way to pay for the sewer separation project is by making our economic plan mentioned above work. By recruiting development we will increase water usage, bringing in more revenue."

3. After economic development, what is the biggest issue facing the city?

"Unity: too many bosses and not enough worker bees. We, as a council, have been working on this and will continue to work on this issue by having key groups and persons lead the charge for the city and report to the council quarterly to keep the council informed. Examples: The DDA being the group leading in the business area downtown and the chamber in the rest of the city. Blue Water Area Convention and Visitors Bureau in attracting tourists and Main Street in leading the charge for events in the city.
We need to have all groups working together for the betterment of the city and have members of the City Council be the leaders they were elected to be, not just a group of observers on the sideline."

4. What would you do with McMorran Place if you had the final say?

"I believe that we are going in the right direction with the new (McMorran) Authority, by cutting the subsidy $80,000 this year and by having the DDA give the authority $100,000. With these successes, we will continue to cut the subsidy and hopefully have a stand-alone, thriving convention center whether it continues to be run by the city, an authority of surrounding communities or by a private enterprise."