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Meet candidate for Grand Rapids mayor Steve Owens

By: Julie Dunmire

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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — FOX 17 is spending time with each Grand Rapids candidate for mayor ahead of the August 6 election.

Steve Owens is a candidate who was born and raised in Grand Rapids and is a veteran.

His interview in full can be watched here:

Full interview with candidate for Grand Rapids mayor Steve Owens

Below is a transcript of our interview with Owens, which was conducted a few weeks ago.

What would you do if elected as mayor?

“Well, we want to plow the streets more frequently. We want to lower the threshold at which the streets get plowed from three inches to two and a half inches. We also want to stop all taxpayer money going towards the amphitheater, the soccer stadium or the aquarium. The premise that these projects are based on is flawed. We have a lot of issues with their assumptions.”

Can you go into that a little bit more? Because some people might say what’s proposed on the ballot right now is a hotel and lodging tax, which wouldn’t directly tax Grand Rapids residents, for things like the amphitheater or soccer stadium. What’s your response to that?

“Well I’m skeptical that the soccer stadium or amphitheater are going to drive much tourism to the area. I mean, why would these drive a lot of tourists to the area, with the Griffins games, or these Van Andel Arena concerts now drive the same kind of tourism? I think the hotel tax is going to end up being paid by the small businesses downtown, and it’s just going to lower their revenue, because they’re going to be spending money on taxes."

Aside from plowing, people bring up issues with me repeatedly about affordable housing. What are your thoughts on that?

“Build more houses. That’s all you gotta do.”

Yeah, is it that simple?

“It’s that simple. Build more houses.”

What made you want to run for mayor?

“I was really frustrated because there just wasn’t a lot of plowing going on in the city. Some of my friends’ neighborhoods would never get plowed. So it was really frustrating. So I started looking into some of the city’s budgets and I just realized that how much they were spending on the amphitheater and the soccer stadium. It just seemed like a bad deal, because they’re going to spend $82 million to move the maintenance facility, as the revenue from the amphitheater’s only expected to be $4.9 million."

You’re the lone candidate I want to say that is speaking out against these that I’ve spoken to so far that I’ve interviewed. Is that a tough position to be in, or do you feel like you have a lot of people on your side with that?

“I think I have a lot of people on my side with that. I also think there’s a lot of evidence to support my position. You know, study after study has shown that these types of study do nothing to increase the economic growth. They just relocate it from one area of the city to the next area of the city. If you really want to grow the economy, you have to invest in infrastructure, education and the court system."

Do you have any plans for education in Grand Rapids or any improvements like that?

“The mayor doesn’t really have a lot of policy control of the Grand Rapids Public Schools system. But I do think it would be beneficial to spend a lot more taxpayer money on education, whether that’s Grand Rapids Community College, Grand Valley State or GRPS. You could increase a lot of programming with computer programming programs: a lot of math, a lot of science, just things that are really beneficial that drive a lot of innovation."

A lot of people might say plowing only affects us half of the year. Why is it such an important issue to you?

“It really just makes everyone’s lives easier. Because it’s really frustrating when you’re snowed in. The roads aren’t as safe. A lot of accidents are caused in the winter. It does help the economy as well, because people can get to work, and people can get to school."

Have you had any experience working in local government?

“No, I don’t. But I don’t think that’s a flaw. I think not being experienced in saddling taxpayers with a lot of debt is beneficial."

Why do you feel that being inexperienced in local politics makes you a better option?

“Well, I have a skeptic's perspective on things. A lot of people will do what’s politically correct and not what’s right for the city. When I see a lot of taxpayer dollars being spent on projects that aren’t going to benefit the entire community, I’m able to take a step back and say, 'Maybe we should think about this.'”

These projects, is there any doubt in your mind that they could be good for the city, these major transformative projects? It’s hard, because the ball is already rolling on them.

“I am very skeptical, because they’re offering a $200 million tax break for luxury apartments. There’s just so many economic data that shows that these projects don’t do anything. They just relocate economic activity from one part of the city to the next."

It doesn’t make sense to you?

No, it doesn’t make sense to me.

Tell me a little about yourself. What are your hobbies? What do you like to do for fun? What do you like about Grand Rapids?

“I’m Steve Owens. I was born in Grand Rapids. I joined the Marine Corps in 2007. I got out. I graduated from Grand Valley State in 2016. Then I went to University of Tennessee, Knoxville, getting a master's degree in economics as well, graduated in 2017. I worked in the federal judiciary after that. And then I moved back to Grand Rapids. What I like about Grand Rapids, there are a lot of different things to do. We’re close to the water; you can do a lot of golfing. I like to golf. I like to hang out with my dog. Those are my hobbies, I guess."