Democratic nominee Virg Bernero and Republican counterpart Rick Snyder stated their stances Sunday on various issues, including the current state of the Michigan and job loss and creation during their only scheduled gubernatorial debate.
Snyder began the debate by discussing the “suffering” the state has endured.
“We’re in economic disaster,” he said. “We have a broken government. It’s not the time to talk about the problems or dwell on blame. The key is, what the solution is. It’s time to reinvent Michigan.”
If elected, Snyder said he plans to bring a “clear, positive vision, a concise plan and an attitude of action” to the state.
According to Snyder, Michigan needs to begin within by changing its “culture.”
“We need to stop being divisive …,” he said. “It’s time to be inclusive and win together. That’s the attitude we need. With this framework of vision, plan and action, and this new culture, we’ll create more and better jobs. We will keep our young people in the state, and we will be a great state again.”
Bernero’s opening statement focused on how state government is not working for “regular” people.
“The well-connected and the wealthy, they get taken care of, while regular folks are being left behind,” Bernero said. “People are hurting. Families across Michigan are struggling to make ends meet, struggling to make their mortgage payment, to hold onto their job and to get their kids a good education.”
Bernero argued he has a track record of job creation and said his opponent has a history of outsourcing jobs.
“We’ve secured half a billion dollars in new investment in my city—6,000 new jobs,” Bernero said. “But while I’m busy creating thousands of new jobs here, unfortunately my opponent has shipped thousands of jobs overseas to China in his role as chief executive outsourcer at Gateway.”
Bernero went on to say Snyder’s past is an indicator he will not create jobs because of “disturbing news” his campaign discovered.
“Mr. Snyder is the founder and board director of a company called Discera,” Bernero said. “That company just finished a new state-of-the-art jobs creating facility, but unfortunately that facility wasn’t built in Michigan, it wasn’t even built in America.
“That plant and those jobs landed in Shenzhen, China,” he said. “Here’s what Mr. Snyder’s chief technology officer told the press, ‘Discera is helping Chinese businesses compete and win in the global marketplace.’ Helping Chinese businesses to compete and win, yet you want to be our governor? What about Michigan workers?”
Snyder responded by saying Bernero’s claims were untrue and he also has created jobs.
“Discera does not have an operation in China,” he said. They’re based in San Jose, California, and they’re based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. They’re off doing cutting edge technology and they’re doing work all around the world to be successful at that… With respect to the Gateway one, those are also untrue. I mean, I’ve gone through this so many times. At Gateway I’m proud of my record; I’ve helped create 10,000 jobs.”
Bernero quickly asked for a rebuttal and claimed Snyder was not being honest with the public.
“Look, as far as Gateway, either he lied to the SEC or he’s lying here tonight,” Bernero said. “He signed off on 10-K forms to the SEC clearly approving and certifying the outsourcing that took place. As far as Discera, it’s on two websites that they are expanding in China.”
Alison Martin, an EMU student, watched the debate and said she wasn’t sure of whom to believe on the issue of outsourcing.
“I don’t want to just trust what either candidate said,” Martin said. “I want to be able to look this up for myself and see how true it is and make an informed decision for myself. If what Bernero said is true though, it would definitely sway me to his side because we need jobs here and I don’t know if Snyder would be the one to do it.”
David Herskovic, an Ypsilanti resident, said upon watching the debate, he immediately tried to see how true the accusations were.
“I’m still voting for Snyder,” he said. “I just think he’s the better candidate, and I do believe jobs will be created under his administration. I tried to look up the claims Bernero made and couldn’t find a single thing on it.”
One of the moderators of the debate, Nolan Finley of the Detroit News, asked the candidates how they would create jobs. Bernero said in order for them to be created, a table must first be set up for it.
“That’s what government does,” Bernero said. “That’s what I’ve been doing in Lansing. I have $500 million in new investments in my city. We’ve put out the welcome mat for business. That’s how government can be involved in
creating jobs.”
Snyder said job creation doesn’t lie solely with the government.
“Government doesn’t create jobs,” Snyder said. “Government creates an environment where jobs can flourish. I know what it takes to create jobs, I’ve done it many times, and I know what it takes during tough times to keep a company going. We have a closed for business sign up in Michigan right now. We need to be open for business.”
Stephen Henderson of the Detroit Free Press, the other moderator of the debate, asked both candidates what they plan to do to redirect more funds to higher education. According to Henderson, Michigan is one of a “handful” of states that spends more money on prisons than higher education.
Snyder said higher education is one of the “great assets” of the state and deserves to be invested in.
“I think we need to look at need-based assistance to our students,” he said. “Again, the Michigan Promise—it helped everything and was really noble— but in terms of priorities we need to help kids in the biggest need, and we need to define need more broadly.
“Because there are people in the middle that need an opportunity to get their kids to college,” Snyder said. “So let’s create an environment of success, and let them go ahead and have an opportunity to get a great education. I know what it’s like, I paid for my own. I worked my way through school. And today that would be very difficult, given the cost features that they face today.”
Bernero said one way he plans to help students out is by restoring the Michigan Promise Scholarship.
“My opponent is in the Detroit Free Press saying he’s opposed to that, I don’t know if that’s correct, Rick, but that’s what it says,” Bernero said. “Look, we need to arm our prisoners with education. We know that’s the common
denominator that a lot of them have dropped out of school.
“So let’s do a better job, and we’ll be able to put more money into education,” Bernero said. “And we’ve also got to convince the universities to keep tuition costs down, come on, share with us and tighten your belts, so that we can stop this constantly increasing tuition.”
Rachel Hollis, an Ypsilanti resident, has two children in Michigan’s higher education system. Hollis said she would have preferred if the candidates discussed more in detail how they plan to combat the rising costs of tuition.
“They didn’t nearly discuss that enough,” she said. “My husband and I were lucky to not lose our jobs, but we’re still struggling because of how expensive it is for students to obtain an education. Neither candidate said how they planned to fix this.”
Lamar Harris, an EMU student, said he still has no idea how he plans to vote Nov. 2.
“I don’t know,” Harris said. “I felt like they spent too much time attacking each other instead of addressing the problems. That was the only debate? That’s not much to go off of. My vote can really go either way at this point.”
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