A Land Use Candidate for Governor?

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INTRO: Former Genesee County Treasurer Dan Kildee is running for governor as a democrat. He came to Lansing yesterday to file papers. He also came to speak to a familiar crowd. They held a luncheon on land use. That means fixing up cities, saving farmland and building transit. As Michigan Now’s Chris McCarus reports… land use would be Kildee’s main focus.

Dan Kildee says abandoned cities have hurt the economy. Flint, Detroit and Saginaw have lost half their populations and the majority of their jobs. 7 years ago Kildee started the country’s first land bank. It’s an office for tax collection, real estate and public works rolled into one.

“So we’ve got the ability to gain control of our own land assets in these weak places. What we need now, what Flint needs for sure is a design, a template, or a target for the reuse of that land that creates a city that is vibrant, walkable and connects public services to the people who need them.”

The land use policy wonks had a theme to talk about: Rightsizing Michigan. Kildee grew up in Flint, though he now lives in suburban Flushing. He says suburbanites can’t fool themselves any longer. If you’ve let your downtown rot, your own suburbs are going to rot too.

“If your community is next to or adjacent to that city, which is the abandoned house of the region, the value of your community goes down as well.”

Dan Kildee is 51. His uncle is Congressman Dale Kildee. Last year, Dan turned down a position in the Obama Administration. In December, foundation money helped him start a new organization called the Center for Community Progress. This has him shuttling between Flint and Washington, D.C.

Conan Smith followed Kildee at the podium. Smith runs a non-profit group in Ferndale called the Michigan Suburbs Alliance. They promote economic development in the oldest suburbs that ring Detroit.

“What we have done over generations is homogenized our communities to such extent that the township is not much different from the city any longer in many places, especially in southeast Michigan. We did that because that homogenization resulted in prosperity.”

Smith thinks cities should be urban and townships should be rural. Before 1945 they were. It was tough to even buy a car during World War 2. But then came the boom in auto production. University of Michigan real estate professor Chris Leinberger says real estate makes up one-third of the American economy. Last year, Leinberger came to Lansing to tell many of these same people:

“One third and so when you were seeing the USA in your Chevrolet you were making yourself wealthier.”

Conan Smith heard Leinberger and he speaks in similar language.

“By homogenizing place we also homogenized problems. So the things that are happening to cities now are inherently going to happen to townships. This is what we have done. You lose your Detroit based job and it impacts your Ann Arbor based home. You lose your Ann Arbor based job and it impacts your Chelsea, Ypsilanti Township, Scio based home.”

Smith says the answer is public transit and tightly packed neighborhoods with lots of people on the street. He says don’t look to state government to help make these changes.

“I would ignore this place,” Smith said.

“You’re gonna ignore me too?” Kildee says smiling.

“For another 8 months. (Laughs) 10 months.”

Kildee knows that Smith’s wife is a state representative. And his mother is Alma Wheeler Smith. She is running for the democratic nomination for governor just like Kildee.

“You know I have two family members that work across the street there. But I tell you. The Michigan legislature is one of the most dysfunctional entities. And we’re gonna have to do things on our own.”

So would the first land use governor be able to revitalize cities and keep crops on farmland instead of putting people on it? After the luncheon was over, Bill Rustem asked Kildee about filing papers for an exploratory committee. Kildee said and he did then Rustem asked, “You didn’t announce(did you)?”

“No because you gotta have a logo. That’s a rule for the school of politics.”

Rustem’s firm staffed the Governor’s Land Use Leadership Council of 2003. Most people in the room Tuesday believe the governor and the legislature blew their chance for the council to fix the economy. Now they want to give that chance to Dan Kildee.