Over the last week I sat down twice with Ludington Mayor Candidate Bill Dustman at his modest residence on George Street for a little over two hours each time to discuss his candidacy and his background.  While not a classic question-answer interview, the meetings were a process of finding out about what drives him to seek the top spot, how he plans on doing things if he achieves that position, and why he is qualified to run the City of Ludington.  

Bill Dustman to this point has mostly been a 'stealth' candidate, in that none of the local media including the radio stations and alternative internet local websites have told us anything about him and his plans for Ludington.  When his opponent Steve Miller announced his candidacy, it was quite the opposite, the local newspaper splashing a front page story on April 10th, telling the public a substantial amount about him and his philosophy, while WMOM, Miller's employer, had him on the airwaves speaking about the topic. 

Two weeks later Dustman filed his petition without any fanfare, biographical data, positions, or political philosophy thrown out to the public.  Since then, candidate Steve Miller has created his own Facebook page and has his noticeable orange and black campaign yard signs throughout Ludington; candidate Dustman has no internet presence, no lawn presence, and is determined to keep it that way.  His plan is to get his message out via door-to-door campaigning, and cede Miller the glitzy marketing he has access to and proficiency at, as that is his job at WMOM.  

Miller and Dustman are polar opposites in much of their thinking.  Whereas, Miller spoke in front of county Democrats just after filing his petition and has repeatedly dodged the question of his political leanings there and on Facebook, he shares Democratic party news and memes and made this following post on the night of November 9, 2016 when the unthinkable happened, this was with a meme urging others to be gracious in defeat:

Dustman, on the other hand, is unashamedly Republican, repeatedly appearing at the County's Republican's meetings, placing conservative candidate placards on his lawn, and embracing a conservative philosophy.  The mayor position is non-partisan, but if party affiliation means something to you when you vote, you should consider how these underlying beliefs are aligned with yours, and which one would be best for the city's future.

Biographical Data

Dustman's biographical data is compelling.  He has spent most of his years in Kalamazoo County, coming up to Ludington in 2002 at his general retirement, and to get away from some of the oppressive big city politics, while finding that Ludington has more than its share when someone pays attention to detail.  

Education-wise,  He has an AS degree in both Architectural Design, Aircraft Tech and Auto Tech.  He has a BS degree in Industrial Engineering and a Masters in Mechanical Engineering.  

He has had several adventurous pursuits.  He has been a volunteer paramedic/firefighter for 27 years, and has been an airplane pilot, and even a race car driver, noting a time when he raced with two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Gordon Johncock.  He has served as a team leader for the Red Cross, as an instructor of first aid classes, and as a drug counselor.  

He has had varied career paths as a builder (buildings, streets, sidewalks), utilizing his degrees, and has delved into real estate and insurance.  Peripherally, he has been a volunteer for Feed America, H.E.L.P. and local soup kitchens.  He has served as a caretaker and driver for the infirm and less fortunate.  He was on the board of directors for Michigan Steelheads for 7 years.  He perhaps has been most visible locally as being the walking billboard for a local business.

Positions

Many of the reasons why Dustman is running for mayor is that he sees a lot of areas in city government which can be improved if a little attention to detail is applied.  He rattles off several of the city's most egregious potholes and how the City wastes a lot of resources in incorrectly cold-patching them.  He details how the street sweepers are manning their equipment improperly and leaving loads of sand and sediment on the streets rather than getting a clean sweep.  He advocates for a different way to handle snowplowing in an odd/even system like this.

Dustman has noted that ever since the nasty storm in late August that the downtown lights have been unsynchronized, in that they are on during the day and off most of the night.  Why doesn't that get corrected?  He wonders why they switched from the old 'yellow' lights to the new white LEDs, and how they could have saved money by just putting in yellow LEDs.  

Dustman isn't a fan of the West End Projects.  City leaders haven't realized that the beach south of the breakwall is superior to the main beach to the north of it in that it abuts a secure harbor, which makes the water calmer, safer, and warmer.  A beach walkway will take that away, as seawalls would be installed where the beach once was.

Nor does he like the placement of the proposed splash pad in Copeyon Park, stressing there is not enough room to use the park for anything else and the expected cost to the taxpayers once it's in.  He wonders why the Copeyon fishing dock would take $15,000 to repair, and why it hasn't and been put back.  He is saddened that the train depot off Madison is being considered for another crazy building complex (like the bowling alley block development) rather than using its historical status to its advantage as a potential tourist destination.  He would consider injunctions against future developments that use the same principles of public subsidization for funding.

More details?  He wonders what the bicycle-shaped structures downtown are for (when told they were places to lock bikes on, he noted that he has never seen them used for that).  He believes streets are being fixed poorly because there is no incentive for the contractor to install it properly.  He wonders of the dearth of ethics at city hall when the Community Development Director (Heather Tykoski) no-bid contracts with her husband's (former councilor Nick Tykoski) company all of the time for signs, decals, and other services.  All without declaring the connection and the savings (if any) to the city.

He would like to see public comment broadened so that one could talk indefinitely as long as it was on one topic.  He would like to investigate why some new homeowners are forced to pay the water/sewer bills of the previous owner before getting service.  He would like to see less oppressive zoning laws.  He hopes that he could provide impetus for making the elected positions of mayor and councilor more powerful.  He hopes to reform the city's code enforcement personnel, so that they will follow the law, rather than act in defiance of it.

Epilogue

To help people who forget his last name, he sang the old Lonnie Donnegan song "My Old Man's a Dustman", perhaps you might find it a good tune to sing along with as you enter your polling place in November in Ludington.  However, as we were parting the second time he mentioned talking with his opponent Steve Miller back in April just after he had filed his petition.  Miller contacted him in order to have Dustman sign a waiver, which would allow Miller to continue as a radio personality without having Dustman get 'equal time'.  

Miller was aware that had he broadcasted sports, reported the news, or even had his voice overs on advertisements on WMOM, Dustman would have the opportunity to claim the same amount of time on air in which he could broadcast a political message, to be run in the same general time period free of charge.  Miller's employer would not appreciate that, so he was likely given two options:  get the legal waiver or stay off the air for the duration of the election.  

Miller was hoping Dustman would go with him to city hall in order to have the women there witness and notarize the document, which would allow Miller to be on the radio without having to cede equal time to Dustman.  Dustman played along for awhile, but as he has throughout his life, he paid attention to the details and found them undesirable for his candidacy.  Miller, who had cajoled and pleaded with him, was none too happy because of it, and has been off the air ever since.

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Will there be a debate between the two mayoral candidates?  

Provided both show, you can see both at the LACA Candidate Forum at6 PM on October 23rd.  WMOM also intends to ask both candidates questions and air their answers towards the end of the month.  The two other contested races in town will also 'debate' at both places.  Each of those races are very interesting, as each has what I would call insider and outsider candidates.  

BIll Dustman is a breath of fresh air compared to the old stale crap the citizens have been putting up with. The fact that he's a Republican puts him miles above anyone running against him. Every election that comes up, I ask myself why would anybody want to be a Democrat and be associated with the new American Communist Party.Thanks X for the interview.

Thanks for the granting the interview Mr Dustman. I'm sure you have gained many votes for your stance on how the City should be run. Good luck.

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