FeedsDecision 2006
Petitpren seeks return to Lansing
Vince Petitpren is proud of what he accomplished as a state representative from 1965-1970. Now he hopes to utilize those skills once again.
According to Petitpren, he decided to re-enter the world of politics, in part, as a form of protest.
“I’m making an issue of those councilmen (fellow candidates James Godbout and Richard LeBlanc) not serving the term they campaigned for,” he said.
However, he said that he was also motivated because he wanted to help bolster the leadership at the state level as the representative for the 18th District.
Petitpren received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Eastern Michigan University and later received his doctorate from Wayne State University and spent several years in education at both the high school and college levels. Petitpren spent several years as a teacher in the Detroit schools and six years as a teacher at Wayne Memorial High School. He worked as an instructor at Eastern Michigan University for four years and for nine years served on the Wayne-Westland School Board. He was also a Wayne State University administrator and he says this experience helped make education one of his primary concerns.
During his original term in office, Petitpren said, he managed to do a lot to foster education at all levels, including his involvement in the Community College Act that helped make colleges such as Wayne County Community College possible. Since then, however, he said that the situation has worsened and he wants to do something about it.
“Higher education is now only about 20 percent of what it was in 1970,” he said.
Although he said, “Our Wayne-Westland schools are fine,” Petitpren said that he would like to see something done to alleviate school funding concerns throughout the state. He would consider the matter further once in Lansing.
Tax issues are also a major concern for him. According to Petitpren, one of the first things he hopes to do if he returns to Lansing is to eliminate the Single Business Tax. The tax, he said, discourages businesses from settling in Michigan. He added that he believes that the revenue lost if the tax is discontinued could be recouped simply through the number of new businesses attracted to the state.
Petitpren said that he also hopes to improve both the state economy and the job market by offering tax breaks interested in moving to the region.
In addition to his prior experience in the House, Petitpren said he has other assets. Among other things, he has been a resident of Westland for the past 51 years, served as the chairman of the 15th Democratic Congressional District, and served in the Korean War, including a four-year tour of duty as a Navy medic.
Petitpren will challenge Godbout and LeBlanc for the Democratic nomination during the Aug. 8 primary election. The winner of that contest will face Republican Sam Durante in the Nov. 7 general election for a two-year term in the Michigan House of Representatives.
