By James Windell
Although Dave Flack is running unopposed in Ward 3 in the City of South Haven, the City Council races in Wards 1 and 2 are contested.
In Ward 1, Eddie Polk and Lisa Krupiarz are running against each other for the one soon-to-be vacant position.
Eddie Polk’s experience includes 45 years working for Consumers Energy and for Entergy at the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant. Although he retired in 2022, he was offered an opportunity to return to work in January, 2024 for Holtec, the current owners of the nuclear plant, and he returned to Palisades.
He served in various leadership positions with Consumers Energy and Entergy, and he says that these positions help him develop skills as a supervisor and instructor. “I can draw on all of that experience on the city council,” he says. “On the city council, I think I can be effective in helping build a better bridge as we solve issues.” In addition, he has served on the South Haven Planning Commission.
Polk says that he firmly believes that the South Haven City Council needs to regain public trust and public respect. “That’s vital to any organization and I think some of that has been lost,” he says. “My hope is that I can help the council become a lot more effective and regain that trust and respect from the community.”
Lisa Krupiarz and her husband moved to South Haven in 2017. “I was born in Kalamazoo and lived there until I was five, then we moved to Dearborn for my dad’s job. When I was a senior in high school, we moved to the Lansing area for my dad’s job.”
After graduating from high school, she attended Michigan State University where she got a degree in Foods. Following graduation, she got a job with the Michigan Department of Public Health and later was a food inspector with the Department of Agriculture for a couple of years. She was also a teacher in Arlington Heights Schools for 14 years.
Krupiarz says that the city’s priorities are her priorities. In addition to affordable housing for teachers, firefighters, and police officers, she is also concerned about short-term rentals and beach safety. Regarding short-term rentals, she says that “We definitely need a better job of enforcement of city ordinances.”
In general, Krupiarz indicates that she wants to speak for Ward 1 residents. “What’s important for me is what is important for Ward I residences,” she says.
In Ward 2, Tom Capps and Todd Heinrich are competing for the City Council position opening up there in January, 2026.
Tom Capps, who was born and raised in South Haven, says that he brings a business background to the City Council. His business background includes the 17 years he and his brother owned Maple Grove Tavern and several more years as a salesman for Stanz Food Service. “In business,” he says, “you have to get things done. That’s my mentality: Let’s do something.”
For the past 13 years, he has been in sales and finance at Walt Sicard Car Company building a reputation, he says, as an honest person who is a straight shooter.
Capps said that one of his priorities would be something that other candidates have not addressed. “My priority would be to expand our health care facilities in this town,” he says. “We don’t have an after-hours urgent care facility. If you have an emergency now, you have to go to the emergency room – usually at great cost and after a long wait.”
Another issue he feels strongly about is beach safety. “I would say that most of the people I have talked to say that South Haven has done more than enough to try to make it safe for people at the beach. Many residents are not in favor of a lifeguard program.” Capps says he is concerned that hiring lifeguards creates a whole new set of liabilities for the city.
Todd Heinrich and his wife Susan, a local family physician, have raised their two children here while living in South Haven for 35 years. He served for 12 years on the Planning Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals. In his career before retirement, he spent many years in sales, manufacturing, and property development and management.
Heinrich has served as past Board Chairman of the Michigan Maritime Museum, leading the Board during the construction of the Padnos building and during the Tall Ships Festival. He is an active member of the Rotary Club of South Haven, serving on various committees and currently a new board member.
He says that his goal is to faithfully represent the people who live in Ward 2. Although he recognizes the importance of tourism, he would like to see a thoughtful, responsible approach to tourism. “Our approach has to make sure that our residents come first,” he said.
In talking to people during his campaign, Heinrich says that he finds that the greatest concern of people is population decline and job decline. Both of those issues, he says, have come about because of STRs overrunning so many neighborhoods.
Residents he’s talked to also say that home affordability is a concern. “It’s not that we need more housing,” he said. “We don’t need more housing. Unfortunately, we’ve converted too many houses into commercial housing in our neighborhoods. In the past, we had enough houses to support a much larger population.”
The election for City Council members takes place on Tuesday, November 4, 2025. To register to vote, contact the City Clerk’s office at the South Haven City Hall, 539 Phoenix Street, South Haven.
