By James Windell
Kent Brindley wants to bring both transparency and civil discourse to the South Haven City Council. But he also loves South Haven. And he believes he can help keep South Haven great.
“I’m running for city council because I live this town,” he said in a recent interview. “I know what this community is capable of and I want to represent it.”
He also thinks there has been a lack of transparency in South Haven city government and he would like to change that. “Not only would I try to keep abreast of the issues in the community,” he said, but he would “continually check in with my constituents to see how they’re doing and ask them what the city could do better.”
Kent and his family have lived in South Haven since 1986. He attended St. Basil Catholic School for kindergarten, but then went into the South Haven Public School system, graduating from South Haven High School. After high school, he spent two years at Lake Michigan College, South Haven campus. Then he went on to Grand Valley State University, where he graduated in 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Writing.
He had always dreamed of writing books and in the past 15 years has published several novels. Besides writing, Brindley works at the Bronson Wellness Center and the Black River Tavern in downtown South Haven.
Although his number one priority as a city council member would be transparency, he is also concerned about affordable housing. While he notes that all of the candidates running for office this fall share the concern for affordable housing, he said that the important aspect of this issue is how the city can bring about more affordable housing. He doesn’t necessarily see short-term rentals as the culprit in the problem of bringing about more affordable housing.
“Short-term rentals are certainly helpful in a tourist economy in a tourist town,” he said. “They give our tourists a place to stay. The renters, for the most part, are good people, and the agents who represent owners of STRs are good people. If there is a problem, there are limitations and rules in place that we can look at.”
Brindley said that although he is new to running for public office, there is something that he wants voters to know. “I will do my best to represent the community well,” he said. “I want to bring out what is best in our community.”
