The Dexter Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
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Impressive lineup of candidates take on incumbents
Saline's Lielbriedis eager to run against Byrnes for State House seat
By Terry Jacoby, Heritage Newspapers
PUBLISHED: June 12, 2008
As a commercial real estate broker for EIV Management in Saline, Eric Lielbriedis has seen first hand the problems facing Michigan. His decision to run against Pam Byrnes, D-District 52, in the November election is his way of doing something about it.
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"Watching Michigan suffer through this never ending economic crisis and then seeing the politicians in Lansing raise taxes was what made me want to run," said Lielbriedis, a Republican from Saline. "Our current representative (Byrnes) voted for Gov. Jennifer Granholm's tax increases which were the highest in the history of Michigan. They protected government workers and made it more difficult for those whose taxes pay for state government to survive in our sliding and very competitive economy."
Lielbriedis said he was encouraged to run by both family and friends.
"Everyone is excited, including me," he said. "We want Michigan's economy to turn around as fast as possible. We want to get our state back on the right track. My family and friends know me, and they are sure that I can help."
What Lielbriedis would like to see in Lansing is more fiscal responsibility.
"Lansing needs people who understand how business, especially small business, works," said the 43-year-old Republican who has lived in Saline for about 10 years. "A business person such as myself, one with an MBA and years of experience earning a living in the competitive economy, can bring that responsibility to all the elected officials. We need to focus on the most important issues and not get lost in all the programs, spending and party politics.
"We get off track with all the political wrestling. We have to focus."
Lielbriedis points out that Michigan ranks No. 1 in state unemployment and in the top five in foreclosures, bankruptcies and declining property value. The state also ranks among the top three in loss of state residents.
"We had 20,000 students drop out of school last year and I have lost count the number of years with overall Michigan job loses," he said. "Worst of all Michigan has had one of the highest total tax burdens in the nation per capita. It hurts everyone. Few businesses will open here, few businesses will voluntarily choose to expand here and many are trying to find ways out of Michigan."
While there are many reasons for these hard economic times, Lielbriedis says "Lansing alone controls the tax rates."
"They need to change or completely revamp our tax structure in order to rebuild our small businesses, to attract the big plant and to increase property values," he said. "Indiana right next door is doing it. We need to make the change here and do it now."
Lielbriedis already has a game plan in place.
"I am certain that we will need to lower tax rates in order to encourage our tax base to grow, and I am certain that we will need to reduce state government spending in order to allow us to lower tax rates," he said.
"My initial moves would be to cut spending by cutting out overlaps between services and administration. We'll have to privatize where prudent -Lansing needs a full audit to show us where our state government costs are out of line.
"I don't have any illusions, though. We are not going to get the kind of spending reductions we need just by improving efficiency. We are going to have to rethink everything the state does, and how much it pays to have it done. This will not be easy."
And it won't be easy defeating Byrnes, an incumbent with plenty of experience and good will around her district.Lielbriedis said he will bring fresh ideas and energy to Lansing.
"It is going to be hard to make choices, but it is going to be much harder to explain these changes and convince people that they need to support them," he said. "That is going to require our legislators to get out of Lansing and go directly to the people, especially since every change we make will be met by special interest protests."
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