KCDP Podcasts

KCDP Candidate Podcast #12 - John Nieuwenhuis with host Martin Burch

"Little John" won the office of County Commissioner in Oshtemo by just 145 votes in his first bid. His accomplishments in his first term of office were to reform the discourse of the commission meetings to enhance voter participation, and oversight of the Solar Gardens project which he found was failing and wasting taxpayer money. John grew up in the county and described the down-to-earth values he learned growing up on a farm in Kalamazoo. Nieuwenhuis went on to detail his platform on his signature issue this campaign, the unbelievable low number of on-duty officers available to respond to 911 calls in Kalamazoo County at night. Nieuwenhuis completed the interview with the dramatic story of his plight to uncover the problem of health care for the homeless and impoverished in the county who were being charged for services meant to be free.

KCDP Candidate Podcast #10 - Jack Urban with host Martin Burch

In this podcast Commissioner Jack Urban talks about the intricacies of the recent changes to the public transportation system in Kalamazoo County, including the millage proposal and some decription of the merger and expansion of public transportation services. Urban is also very concerned about indigent defense and he reports on the commission's efforts to address indigent defense in Kalamazoo County. 

KCDP Candidate Podcast #9 - Robert Jones with host Martin Burch

This is the longest podcast of ther series. We have tried to keep them at around 12 minutes long, but at every opportunity we thought we had to trim some out, he went and said something cool. In this podcast Robert Jones primarily discusses gas price and Michigan's economic development. He doesn't pull punches and comes right out of the corner swinging. 

KCDP Candidate Podcast #8 - Michael Seals with host Katie Houston

Michael discusses with us his bid for the 13th District County Commissioner. The 13th District includes Cooper Township, Alamo Township and Parchment. He's local to the community and is involved in a long list of community service organizations including the Kalamazoo River Cleanup Coalition where he was instrumental in preventing the EPA from dumping PCB's in Parchment. Seals is in support of capitalizing on the resources provided by the Kalamazoo river area and of renovation of the former paper mill sites. The redevelopment of the brownfield sites is pivotal to economic development in the community, according to Seals. He talked about adding camping along the Kalamazoo river and a US 131 ramp project, which are part of his plan for economic development. Seals tells us when and where the County commission meetings are, and when the best time to address the Commission -- 201 West Kalamazoo Ave. in the County Building, at 4:00 pm on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday, and a 7:00 pm is the meeting of the whole. For complete information you can visit www.kalcounty.com and Seals says that's where to find out about committees. He encourages everyone with particular interests in the community to join a committee.

KCDP Special Podcast #1 - Convention 08 with Mark Miller and host Martin Burch

Mark Miller reports from the convention in Denver the day of the acceptance speech by Barack Obama.

KCDP Special Podcast #1 - Convention 08 with Ron Crowell and host Martin Burch

Martin talks by phone with Ron Crowell who is in Denver at the Democratic National Convention. Ron talks about the sights at the convention, notably the level of police presence and the protesters. Martin asked Ron if he'd heard about the men captured who are suspected of plotting to shoot the presidential candidate, and he had, but didn't think the increased police presence was related. Ron talked about the grueling schedule with breakfast at 7:00 am and every night goes past midnight. We will be seeing a post from Ron on the KCDP web site as he blogs from the convention.

KCDP Candidate Podcast #2: Thomas Post with host Martin Burch

We discussed Disctrict 16 (it's the largest district by land, a quarter of the land area in Kalamazoo county,) Post's previous close race for the seat, Scott's Mill Park, Climax Crecent, Pride of Scotts, and how the corn steamed in an antique vertical boiler is a taste not to be missed.

KCDP Podcast Audio #1: Martin Burch with host Kevin Wixson

This week's guest: Martin Burch, Campiagn Coordinator for the Kalamazoo County Democratic Party

Discussed Martin's position as a support person for county Democratic candidates; important local races such as Don Cooney,  Julie Rogers, Phyllis Smith, Robert Jones, and others; the web site to use to find out if and where you are registered to vote, www.michigan.gov/vote; Martin's favorite voluteer opportunity, canvasing, and how walkers are hardly ever eaten by dogs anymore.