FeedsDecision 2006
Leadership highlights Godbout’s campaign
For years, exposure to different viewpoints and a willingness to question all of the financial ramifications of a plan has helped shape the leadership skills of Jim Godbout.
Now, he hopes Westland voters will give him the opportunity to further utilize those skills as the new State Representative for the 18th District.
Godbout, who has been a member of the Westland City Council since 2000, said his time in office and his occupation as an account manager for Rockwell Automation have reinforced his profound respect for communication and learning from the experience.
“It gives you a perspective on what’s going on in other communities,” he said. “You get to exchange ideas and best practices.”
As a resident and a public official, he said that he has also been frustrated in the past by the short-sightedness of legislators in Lansing who approve bills with little or no consideration of the financial ramifications the plans will have on the communities and citizens.
That needs to change, he said, and he wants to be the one to change it. As the husband of a teacher, Godbout said that he has watched as the state subsidized education out of the general fund and relied on unfunded mandates to pass the responsibility—and cost—of some decisions on to the individual districts. He said that Michigan needs legislators who are ‘financially savvy’ and willing to consider all of consequences of the legislation they approve to prevent the citizens from suffering because of a lack of foresight.
After years of monitoring the ‘big picture’ and helping Westland grow the fund balance from $200,000 to $2 million, Godbout said that he is one of the people who can get the job done correctly.
Just as he hopes to help stabilize school funding, he said that he wants to take targeted action to revive the state economy. One of the keys, he said, would be the diversification of industry within the state. Instead of relying so heavily on the traditional automotive industry, for instance, Godbout said that he would be in favor of offering some tax credits and other incentives to other types of businesses suited to the region. For instance, he suggested that one potentially viable industry would be the life science companies who might be attracted by the qualified candidate pools provided by some of the colleges and universities within the state.
Godbout also suggested that legislators should to get behind proposals to make alternative fuel E85 a stronger industry in Michigan, calling it “a great opportunity for the state.”
He also questioned proposals to categorically eliminate the Single Business Tax, which generates about $2 billion, and said that before it is eliminated representatives must figure out exactly where they will make up the lost revenue—without increasing income taxes.
Godbout has been an active member of the community for more than 20 years. He is the chairman of the Westland Recycling Committee and vice-chair of the Nankin Transit Commission. He has received numerous endorsements, including the support of the Westland Police Officers Association, the Westland Professional Firefighters Association, and Michigan N.O.W. (National Organization of Women).
