HOLLAND, MI – The former mayor of Holland and a business owner are competing Aug. 2 in the Republican primary for the state House’s 86th District.
Former Holland Mayor Nancy DeBoer will face marketing agency owner Seth Getz in the Republican primary for the state House seat representing Holland as well as Park, Laketown and Holland townships.
The winner will go on to the November general election and face Democrat Larry D. Jackson, who is running uncontested in his primary Aug. 2.
DeBoer is a 14-year veteran of the Holland City Council, with 10 years served as councilmember at-large and four years as mayor. She lost her second reelection bid for mayor in November 2019.
DeBoer is the assistant director of She Leads Michigan and She Leads America, an organization that seeks to empower Christian women in areas of influence and offer support, encouragement and networking. She holds a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Calvin University.
Getz owns a consulting firm and marketing agency and attended the Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids. He has been featured three times previously in the Grand Rapids Business Journal’s Top 40 Business Leaders under 40.
MLive/The Grand Rapids Press partnered with the nonpartisan League of Women Voters of Michigan to provide candidate information for readers. Each candidate was asked to outline their stances on a variety of public policy issues listed below.
All responses in the voter guide were submitted directly by the candidate and have not been edited by the League of Women Voters, except for necessary cuts if a reply exceeded character limitations. Spelling and grammar were not corrected. Publication of candidate statements and opinions is solely in the interest of public service and should NOT be considered as an endorsement. The League never supports or opposes any candidates or political parties.
Information on other state, county and local primary races can be found at Vote411.org.
What should Michigan do, if anything, to 1) provide an equitable, quality public education for all students and 2) address the shortage of teachers?
Nancy DeBoer:
Equal funding must be a reality. Michigan needs to respect all involved in the education of the child, including the parents. When the adults surrounding a child work together, the child’s chances for success increase exponentially. Each child is unique and learns differently. Therefore, differentiation in education honors the child’s natural brain function and its ability to absorb information and process critical thinking. Giving a $1.000 bonus to teachers helped some stay. New Public Educators don’t get pensions, and salaries have not risen to compensate for the lost security. Offer $10k Bonus for teaching 5 yrs.
Seth Getz:
We need to reexamine the student funding model, A one size fits all approach to funding isn’t working. Our teachers are amazing but we need to provide support for them in the form of Mental health professionals as well social workers and counselors.
The typical free market approach to a shortage of workers is to raise their pay we should consider this with our teachers.
What policies do you support to help Michigan residents improve their economic positions?
Seth Getz:
Access to Education, good paying jobs or starting their own businesses, and housing, ideally home ownership are bedrocks of economic security. Beyond the basics of a quality K-12 system the state should be encouraging programs that teach skills applicable to the marketplace, these days many of those jobs are ones that are in the trades. Lack of access to high speed internet is holding back many of our rural areas of Michigan. In 30% of our townships over half the people do not have any options for broadband and this is an impediment to education as well as job growth. Housing growth provides a path to home ownership for many people.
Nancy DeBoer:
Offering education to diversify skills and/or retool for a changing marketplace is critical to helping people retain the dignity of a job and the self-respect of providing for their family. Training in home-based/online businesses can also help families with young children who would like to stay home to nurture them. Awarding fresh solutions in small business grows more creative ideas and hope. Income taxes need to be kept low.
What state policies do you support regarding Michigan elections, campaign funding and voting rights?
Nancy DeBoer:
I think we have to have at least three things to protect election integrity: Voter ID, No ballot harvesting, and No unsolicited mailing of absentee ballot applications. Communication between states is important as well so that people don’t vote twice because they moved or live part time in two states. Clerks should be given authority to remove deceased voters from the rolls in a timely manner. I believe campaign funding should be reported as it is and that every citizen should be able to vote.
Seth Getz:
Faith in the elections is a bedrock of our tradition of peaceful transfer of power. Any fraud found in the system needs to be prosecuted. Access to voting for any 18+ US citizens shouldn’t be hindered, we need more public engagement, not less. We need greater transparency in our campaign funding, in particular funding for PAC’s
What actions or policies do you support to protect Michigan’s water, air and land for current and future generations? What is your position on energy efficiency and renewable energy?
Seth Getz:
Our natural resources such as our lakes and waterways are a treasure that we need to protect and pass on to the next generation in better shape than we received them. We can address this by improving our infrastructure such as waste water treatment, oil and gas pipeline safety, and over time building out a combination of nuclear and renewable energy generation systems.
And being a business owner I am always looking for ways we can be more energy efficient.
Nancy DeBoer:
I believe we must be good stewards of creation by protecting the Great Lakes from invasive species like the Asian Carp, by protecting our air by continuing to lower our CO2 emissions, by monitoring our underground resources like water and natural gas, and by reforesting wherever possible. In determining energy policy, I believe it’s important to balance three considerations: protection of the environment, reasonable economics, and efficiency. Renewable energy is great and should be encouraged, but it is not storable yet, so brown-outs can occur. Our economy has to have a basic source of power that is dependable.
How would you address racial, economic, health and education inequities, including Michigan’s 23% of children and 17% of seniors living in poverty?
Nancy DeBoer:
I believe every individual is created in the image of perfection and therefore, deserves our respect and dignified treatment. We need to encourage partnerships between government and non-profits, including churches to fill the survival gap. Perhaps income tax deductions for donations would help incentivize support for those non-profits and churches. Children who haven’t learned to read at their current school should be able to move to another one. Mass transportation systems will need significant investment so people can get to jobs and healthcare without crippling fuel costs.
Seth Getz:
In general you address many of these issues through equal opportunity in education, housing, job and business growth. Those things are the bedrock for long term social justice.
In the more immediate term there are inequities out there that I may miss, my commitment is to seek these people out, hear them out and search for ways to right the injustices in the system.
What steps, if any, should be taken to curb gun violence in our communities?
Seth Getz
While I am a 2nd amendment supporter I see the need for us to address common sense gun safety reform. For instance when one has been convicted of domestic violence they shouldn’t be allowed to own guns. We can raise the age limit for purchasing firearms. We should consider having a delay in the purchasing of firearms to allow for background checks.
Nancy DeBoer:
We need to increase help for the mentally ill as soon as warning signs begin to appear. Ignoring deviant behavior has been costing society a lot. Metal detection devices are important for public meetings where emotions and the sheer number of people can run high.
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