By By JAN GRIFFEY / Niles Daily Star
NILES - Voters in Niles' Fourth Ward will go to the polls on Tuesday to choose a city council member.
That's the only contested item on the ballot. First Ward Councilmember Patricia Gallagher, Second Ward Councilmember Robert Durm and Third Ward Councilmember Bill Weimer are all running unopposed.
Only Cass County residents will vote on the Southwestern Michigan College millage request, she said.
However, in the Fourth Ward incumbent Scott Clark faces a challenge for his council seat from political newcomer Bob Burch.
Scott Clark
Clark said he's delighted to have another candidate on the ballot in his ward this election because that's not typically the case in any city council election.
Clark, 47, is certainly no newcomer to Niles or to serving the city and its residents. He has served eight years on the city council and is running for a third term in office.
Clark is a sixth-generation Niles resident, born here to Paul and Joan Clark. He graduated from Niles High School in 1976 and has owned his business, Clark's Service, for 23 years in Niles.
He and his wife, Jacque, have four grown children and seven grandchildren.
Clark ran for city council in 1997 because, “I wanted to make sure that people had a say-so in their community and got a fair chance to voice their opinions to someone who would listen and act on them and not just turn a deaf ear to them.”
Once considered a renegade by some of the more conservative, established members of city government, many were surprised when Clark quickly became a leader on the city council.
Niles Mayor Mike McCauslin is one of them.
Serving on the city council, “has been some of the best times of my life,” Clark said. “I have really gotten to do things for our community. I see how government works and we've actually been able to help people, whether it's been working with Dave Markel's group to get some land or helping people get no-interest, forgivable loans to fix up their houses or helping with negotiations with Indeck, which enabled us to have the money to do things like build a new fire station without taxpayer dollars.”
He also counts among his accomplishments the construction of the Niles Law Enforcement Complex, which was paid for with State of Michigan funds, as well as making significant progress in revitalizing downtown and helping the Veterans' Memorial group make its monument a reality, positioned in a prominent location in Riverfront Park.
Clark has also worked to champion the cause for small business people in Niles.
For example, service from home-owned businesses is often far superior than that which one would receive from the Big Box chain stores, he said.
If elected to another term, Clark's agenda includes seeking funds to finish renovation in downtown Niles, “moving up to the next block,” as well as “working with the bank that wants to come in at Fifth and Main, and getting something in the D&K Variety building.”
He said he will also work to help find a new owner for the now vacant building that once housed The Ready Theater, and wants to work with the new owners of the Four Flags Hotel to bring new life to that facility.”
Clark is the council's liaison on the housing commission and said he wants to continue working with that group.
He's also focused on selling the Southeast Berrien County Landfill.
Bob Burch
Bob Burch, 34, of 548 W. Main St., Niles, said he has a talent for taking people's problems and ideas to the proper authorities and stating their cases.
That's what he says he wants to do on the Niles City Council for Fourth Ward residents.
Burch, who is single and has no children, is a journeyman ironworker who belongs to Local 292 of the International Union of Ironworkers. He is the son of Robert and Laura Burch of Niles.
Burch grew up in the Madron Lake area of Buchanan, but moved to Niles with his parents in 1980. He's a 1990 graduate of Niles High School.
Burch also served three years in the U.S. Navy and is a Gulf War veteran.
He said he also used this skill as a union steward in the past.
Bob Smith of Niles, who at one time owned a business here, said Burch is energetic and excited about the opportunity to serve residents of the Fourth Ward.
Burch said his main interest, if elected, will be in finding out how Niles can better address the needs of its citizens.
Burch said he thinks Niles is heading in the right direction, “but we can't sit on our hands. We have to go and get the businesses people feel are right for the city. We can't expect them to look on a map and pick us. We've got to go find them and we need to listen to what the citizens want.