 ccrp poll a new senate office building   new poll overview over the last 25 years or so the billie s farnum building has been the home to michigan s state senators now term limited senate majority leader randy richardville is pushing for the sale of the building and the procurement of a new facility richardville has introduced a bill that would give the senate permission to sell the farnum building freeing up cash to move into newer office space twentytwo senators voted for it and 14 voted against including 6 of richardville s fellow republicans the bill sb 509 has passed in the senate and is in committee in the house richardville is working behind the scenes on soliciting bids from developers interested in providing a new senate headquarters richardville estimated the remodeling cost of the farnum building would be more than 25 million however according to governor snyder s administration officials the real cost to fixup the farnum is much cheaper and as low as 11464500 bids for the project are due back no later than august 15 when they will be opened and considered while richardville says he could have sole authority to pick the winning bid he ll likely seek out the opinions of others like his democratic counterpart senator gretchen whitmer whitmer feels the farnum building is just fine for a news story on the proposal to acquire a new senate office building click on the following link  http wwwwxyzcom news localnews investigations lameducksenatorpushingfornewofficesthatplentyoflaw  new poll question should the legislature approve the renovation of the farnum building or purchase of a new senate office building yes renovate the current office building yes sell the farnum building and acquire an new facility no the building is fine the way it is undecided to vote in this poll click on this link should the legislature approve the renovation of the farnum building or purchase of a new senate office building   to enter your comments click on add new comment after you vote previous poll question do michigan voters have the right to know where the governor stands on controversial issues in deciding who they vote for yes 82 no 18 undecided 0 one comment was made on this poll question comment 1 snyder s stands on issues imo governor snyder is trying to remain an executive rather than meddling with legislative issues i am guessing the controversial things he wishes to avoid are divisive issues like gay marriage obamacare abortion now integrally linked to obamacare all other issues involving intrusions between church and state most of us as conservative repubs would rather not have the entitlement systems enlarging as a result of gay marriage the side of the issue no one talks about but the side of the issue that impacts government budgets but may be failing to grasp that the us history of legislating morality currently with marijuana as with prohibition earlier with outlawing slavery has generally caused a great deal of social division and has even led to civil wars recent presidents have tried to weigh in on issues but we have a pattern of the national executive infringing on legislative responsibility which we have recently seen spun in favor of obama s overreaching executive orders and this may be leading us to expect the same from state governors i like the way snyder sticks to executing the laws that the legislature legislates this is the way it should be snyder seems more conscious of the dark sides of using the executive bully pulpit to push agendas and has avoided it more than he has embraced it as a citizen snyder is entitled to his personal opinions and everyone interested in politics and government has them but i see it as restraint rather than subterfuge for him to keep opinions on controversial issues to himself the more divisive subjects resolve themselves over the time it takes for the citizenry to make up their collective mind whenever we have tried to force them abolish slavery civil war which led to a loss of states rights in contradiction of the federal structure of the constitution agitate for prohibition the rise of gangsters and a period of flagrant violation of law the result has been disruptive i think a conservative should be a free market proemployment smaller government conservative on economic issues and ultimately it would be more consistent to be libertarian on social issues in our county as is true of so many areas we maintain christian religious principles that speak to moral issues being challenged in the secular society we have to recognize that the uncomfortable part of democracy is that people rarely agree on any issue that appears to pit the moral view against the individual freedom views the constitution protects thus we must have the personal integrity to demonstrate morality in our own lives and have the strength to resist meddling in the perceived lapse of morality in the lives of others who share the right of citizen thus minority rights are preserved where a voter consensus cannot at that moment in time be achieved maybe we should quit beating snyder up on these issues and give him credit for directing a near miraculous turnaround of the state s economy and economic direction guv jenny s socialist progressive economic priorities were creating a structural deficit government her radio programs to encourage refusal of any cuts were a classic demagoguery in favor of constantly raising taxes as the only option while her liberal embrace of alternative lifestyles was destroying the social fabric by comparison snyder orchestrated support for legislative redirection and has lived an examplary personal life agitating for nothing but normalcy and tolerance greg palen ovid township   all emails addresses  