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Newcomer challenges Peterson for Montmorency board

ATLANTA — Residents in Montmorency County’s District 3 will have two candidates for the county board to choose from in the Nov. 6 election: incumbent Daryl Peterson and challenger Lloyd Peltier.

Peterson has been the county’s District 3 commissioner since 2010. He said he’s running for another two-year term because there are some things at the county level that have to be done in the next two years.

“Those may not be popular, but things have to be done in order to run a balanced budget,” Peterson said.

Peltier, who is a Republican but is running as an independent in the election because he filed after the deadline for the August primary, is running against Peterson because, now that Peterson is retired, he wants to stay active in and serve the community.

An issue Peterson sees in the county is limited funds with the county government. He said there are state mandates that the county has to keep up with without state funding.

He said there are problems with a lack of sheriff’s deputies. He said there are only 14 deputies trying to cover the whole county.

“We’re managing and the ones we have do a nice job,” Peterson said.

An issue Peltier sees is that young kids have nothing to do and there is no good job base for them in the area.

“I joined the Economic Development Committee to brainstorm, and, if I’m on a committee, we may go and interview different potential employers and see if we can bring them into Montmorency,” he said.

Peltier said he would like to see something in Hillman that would draw people to the area and helps business owners, but also help out the young people in Hillman.

“It would help them stay in the area and grow the community,” Peltier said.

Broadband is an issue in Montmorency County and Peterson said Presque Isle Electric & Gas — he sits on the utility’s board — is looking into a new fiber network. Allband has already started with updating broadband in the county. The News reported last month that three-fourths of Montmorency County homes lack high-speed internet access.

“The majority of people would like fiber into their homes,” Peterson said. “It’s limited, but it’s moving along slowly.”

Peltier said he would like to see more industry in the county. Because students are learning more about industry in schools, that would helpful for them.

If elected, Peltier said he would be open to working with the other county commissioners and building working relationships with them.

“If you work with people, you have to remove yourself personally out of some of the decision-making and you have to look at everything objectively and you have to be able to see their points of view and you have to be able to see what you need in the community and see if the two measure up,” Peltier said.

One of Peltier’s goals, if elected, would be to better the community. He said he likes living in the community since he moved to the area last year.

“The people are so friendly here,” he said. “I’m looking forward to working with people, getting to know people, brainstorming with people, and asking them what their ideas are.”

Peterson said he always does his best to answer any questions people ask him. He said he’s fair to everyone and looks toward the future to make sure things are in good shape.

If reelected, Peterson said he wants to keep a balanced budget within the county, to look at some alternatives for cooperating with county employees, and to make the county a better place to work and play for everyone.

“We try to keep the employees we have and keep people happy,” Peterson said. “I’m a very business-minded person.”

Julie Goldberg can be reached at jgoldberg@thealpenanews.com or 989-358-5688.

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