City Council president-elect Jerry Holland takes office July 1, following an election that saw him move past Council vice president Suzanne Jenkins into the top spot. Holland met with Daily Record staff writer Glenn Tschimpke this week to discuss the election, his goals as Council president and the AT&T cable mess he’s about to inherit.
Question: When you first decided to run for president, did you really think you would succeed?
Answer: Yes. I would not have run if I didn’t think I could do it. It was not just a protest. I thought, seriously, could I get 10 votes. I never ran to get 19 votes or 18. I ran to get 10 votes. I would not have run if I didn’t think I had a very good shot at it. On the opposite side of that, I was never so confident that I had it. There’s two kind of confidence: the confidence that if I run and I’ll be successful or the confidence that you really don’t have it until the vote. I was real cautious when people started congratulating me before the vote. That’s a different kind of confidence. I never thought I had it before the vote but I ran confident that I could do it.
Q: Do you think the election might have divided the Council?
A: They are all divisive. The question is how you handle the vote and how you also move on from there. I felt like I was very sincere in what I said [to Jenkins] the night I got the vote and I meant that. That was a little bit to bury the hatchet, in a sense, to say I respect the fact that she is a hard working Councilwoman. She is. She works very hard for her district. And also to recognize, too, that when you win something someone else doesn’t win something. There’s a lot of hard feelings about that and you have to respect that. You get jubilant inside and you realize someone’s dreams have been crushed for a period of time until they can do it again. It is divisive and you just try to bring it back together afterwards.
Q: Do you have anything in mind specifically to unite the Council?
A: I think part of it will be relationships. You can try to bring it back together in committees, but I don’t think that’s it totally. Normally, those who supported you, you give them positions they would like first. I don’t think it’s trying to mend fences by which committee someone’s on. You still want to accomplish something with the leadership that put you in. But back to what you said, How do you mend it? It’s the respect of when someone comes to you and says, ‘Can you help me?’ I’ve had this already come up. ‘Can you help me try to find funding? I’m short on this or that.’ Even though they didn’t, or weren’t, going to vote for you, you still say yes, why not? There’s nothing where you drag something beyond the vote and say I’m going to work against people just because they had a choice. That’s where I think I can try to mend it. I do believe you can’t mend it unless someone wants to mend. I can do everything in the world but if you’re upset with me and continue to be upset with me, there’s nothing I can do. That goes back to my theory if you want to build a bridge, it goes faster if you start from both sides. That’s the same with mending. If someone is stuck in a craw and they just don’t want to have a working relationship, there’s nothing I can do to have one. But I still will be professional and courteous. It works both ways.
Q: Does Vice President-elect Lad Daniels complement your style of leadership?
A: He’s Lad Daniels. He’s independent. He’s a very intelligent man. We come from similar backgrounds. We used to actually work together in the same building. It wasn’t the same company. But we had a working relationship years ago. He’s a professional. He’s got an in-depth knowledge on a lot of things when it comes to not just manufacturing but on international relationships and things I call broader than what you see on just the city level. In that sense, he complements me where maybe I don’t have that kind of international working flair that he’s got.
Q: Will you support the bills that have come out of the Task Force for Downtown Historic Preservation?
A: The real question came, obviously, with the first bill that was on the codes. [City Council recently approved a special building code matrix applicable only to historic buildings that facilitate affordable renovations while keeping the historical heritage.] That was not a reflection if I was for or against historical preservation. I have a real background as a general contractor with the codes. I felt the argument was being sold mostly that this is good for historical buildings and there is not a difference between the codes. There is a difference in the codes. Does it lower the bar of safety? No. But it does lower it. I wanted to at least let people know that it’s not exactly the same. That was my debate. I think it was sort of pulled in at the time that if I would debate that then I would be against all historical bills. That doesn’t mean any historical bill I won’t look at and see the merit in it. Some of them I’ve already signed on. Some of them I have not signed on.
Q: How do you feel about the Historic Trust Fund?
A: The Historic Trust Fund is going to be one of those things, that in theory, sounds like it may be beneficial. It’s going to be a little bit of, ‘What do we do with it and how will it be used?’ It’s sort of like a test project in a sense when you first step out there with it. Probably the real evaluation will come five years from now. Was it worth doing? Did it really make a difference? Was it the best use of taxpayer dollars? In theory right now, I support it.
Q: When will we hear about committees?
A: Wednesday [today]. I will tell you that two committees are changing in their assignment. One is PHS, which is Public Health and Safety, will become Public Health, Safety and Education. Education will be added to that. The reason for that is we pass a lot of bills that come through on after school programs, on summer camp programs. I want emphasis so the public understands how much we do address public education. Not the K- through-12 and not the time from the first bell to the last bell, but the other hours. That’s the purpose of putting education in with public health and safety. PSU will become Public Services, Technology and Utilities. The special committee we’ve had on technology, we will dissolve that committee into the PSTU. The purpose for that is the technology issues and the cable issues and fiber optics issues, that all falls into what PSU has also been studying with the cable issues. It will bring the technology issues that the committee has been working on to the forefront. It will also bring it into a standing committee. Any special projects they want to work on, they can work on as subcommittees underneath the new committee. If anything, they’ll add more responsibilities to them and give them greater importance.
Q: Will Jenkins play a role in committees under your presidency?
A: The way it’s figured right now, she’ll be on three committees.
Q: As a chair?
A: No. It’s not a disrespect. Your supporters are who you give opportunities to first. She’s been chair of other committees and did fine as chair, so it’s not a disrespect or anything.
Q: Will you try for two terms as Council president?
A: No. Read my lips...
Q: Why not? You went against convention when you bypassed the vice presidency to run for president.
A: That will be interesting if that ever happens. You talk about things that are surprising. Because of term limits, I would be surprised if one person ever repeats. That’s not to say if 18 people came to me and said, ‘Would you like to do it again?’ I’d say no.
Q: Are there any of current Council president Matt Carlucci’s initiatives that you want to dovetail?
A: Obviously, education. Everyone has carried that ball and I will continue to carry that.
Q:It’s a heavy ball to carry.
A: It’s one that doesn’t have a lot of answers. If I had the answer, I’d hold a press conference right now and say I can fix all our education problems. It’s just one that you have to continue to keep tweaking. Carlucci’s Historical Task Force, I think he’s kind of bringing that to the end. It timed out just right. There may be a need for an implementation task force to follow up.
Q: How will you approach the AT&T cable television situation?
A: It’s very ugly. It’s one of those things I was saying, in candor, I was sure hoping Matt would take care of before my year started. It is one, also, that I’ve made a point not to posture in any direction other than what the mayor and Matt have taken. I don’t want AT&T to think, come July 1, it will be a lot easier dealing with me than Matt. I’m in 100 percent support. To say anything more or less would take away from Matt. We have similar styles. Matt can come across strongly when he needs to. He can be a diplomat when he needs to be a diplomat. I think I’ll follow that same style.
Q: When is installation?
A: The installation is June 28 at the T-U Center.
Q: How long will it last?
A: I would hope, by the time they do presentations and everything, about an hour and a half.
Q: Do you have your guest list figured out?
A: No. Let me tell you, that’s hard. On this, you’re trying to hit everyone who ever showed an interest to do that, plus showed you interest. It takes some time to really get that and make sure you don’t miss anybody. But I know I’ll miss somebody and they’ll be like, ‘Why didn’t you send me an invitation?’