The four trustee seats on the seven-member Grosse Ile Township Board of Trustees are up for election this year.
Three of the four individuals who currently fill those seats — Jeffrey Forrester, Walter Pociask and Rodger Marty Will — are running for re-election in the Aug. 5 primary.
Lee Wojewodzic, who has been a trustee since 1988, is not running again. That means that at least one newcomer will join the board after the general election in November.
Ten residents are competing with the three incumbents for the four available seats. They are Patricia Bingaman-Rieger, Pamela Frucci, Lynn Iverson, Ron Janowski, James Johnson Jr., Deborah Kacher, Peter Kantz, Erik Ranka, John Reilly and Robert Walters.
The other three seats on the board are supervisor, clerk and treasurer.
Following is biographical information about the 13 trustee candidates. This week, in the second part of a three-part series, information also will be presented about the race for the state House of Representatives' 23rd District seat.
In next week's Ile Camera, responses to questions about why the trustee candidates are running for office and their positions on various issues affecting Grosse Ile will be presented.
Also next week, information will be presented about the treasurer and clerk candidates and about the Aug. 5 primary election in general.
Patricia Bingaman-Rieger, 53, moved to Grosse Ile about 20 years ago, moved to Ohio about 1995 and moved back to Grosse Ile in 2000. Prior to living on the island, she lived in Anchorville, Chesterfield Township and West Bloomfield.
She graduated from Anchor Bay High School in 1973.
She received a bachelor of science in business management from Upper Iowa University in 1983.
She attended the university while working full time at Ford Motor Co.'s Sterling Axle Plant.
For the past eight years, she has worked for GMAC Financial Services in marketing/communications. She is in global marketing, associate manager, brand and advertising.
She is a past township clerk.
Now that her youngest child is an adult, she said she has the time to devote to her community. She said she and her husband enjoy the "Guys & Dolls" golf league at Water's Edge, especially dinner on the patio at Sharkey's afterward.
Bingaman-Rieger is married to Bruce Rieger. She has three grown children.
Jeffrey Forrester, 50, has lived on Grosse Ile for 16 years. He also has lived in Dearborn and Gibraltar. He is originally from St. Louis; Ford Motor Co. transferred him to Michigan about 20 years ago.
He graduated in 1976 from Roxana High School in Illinois.
He received a bachelor's degree from Southern Illinois University in 1987 and graduated from the Detroit College of Law at Michigan State University in 1999.
He has been an IT contract manager for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan for about a year. He was a buyout candidate in December 2006 from Ford after 30 years.
He has been a township trustee since 2004. He has been the Grosse Ile Township board liaison to the Cable Commission since that year.
Forrester is the fleet captain at the Elba Mar Boat Club and was the commodore in 2003. He was on the former board of directors for six years.
As fleet captain, he plans and executes club trips, and other participation in the club includes typical community governance issues, he said.
Forrester has a longtime girlfriend, Kasie Garside.
Pamela Frucci, 76, has lived on Grosse Ile all her life, except for when she taught in the Upper Peninsula for four years.
She graduated from Grosse Ile High School in 1950.
She graduated from Michigan State University in 1954 after majoring in physical education and minoring in French and English. She received a master's in education from the University of Michigan in 1959.
She was a teacher for 30 years, retiring in 1991.
In retirement, she was a general manager of the Southern Great Lakes Symphony for 11 years. She retired from that position in the spring of 2007.
She is active in the Grosse Ile Alliance for the Arts and the Mary/Martha Circle of the Presbyterian Church, where she sings in the adult choir. She also serves on the Island Beautification and Greenways and Open Space committees and is a founder of Friends of Westcroft Gardens.
With the GIAA, she said she organizes the Concerts on the Commons Summer Concert Series, teaches a young writers workshop and participates in the Chair-Arty event.
She was the first woman elected as a trustee of the township board in 1980 and was elected clerk in 1984. In 1988, she ran for trustee again and served until 1992. She then ran again in 1996 and finished in 2000, totaling 16 years on the township board.
Frucci and her husband, Jack, have been married for 47 years and have two grown children who graduated from Grosse Ile High School. They also have four grandchildren. The younger of their two sons lives on the island.
Lynn Iverson, 41, whose picture was not available, has lived on Grosse Ile for three years. She also has lived in Trenton and in Florida.
She graduated from Leelanau School in Glen Arbor in 1986.
She currently attends Madonna University.
She has been a stay-at-home mom for the past eight years. She and her husband ran their own business in Florida for five years. She was a software trainer in the medical field prior to her decision to stay at home with her children.
She is vice president of the Grosse Ile Parent and Teacher Booster Club and is a coordinator in the Safe Routes to School program.
As a member of PAT, she helps fund-raise to develop enrichment programs to support and enhance the island's elementary schools, she said.
As a safe-routes coordinator, she said she is actively involved in pursuing and writing the grant that is expected to bring funds for engineering, educating and encouraging children to walk and bike to school. She said she has been working closely with the school district and township to develop this program for the children.
She and her husband, Gary, have been married for 16 years. She has four children, ages 8, 13, 14 and 21.
Ron Janowski, 56, has lived on Grosse Ile for 23 years.
He graduated from Cody High School in Detroit in 1969.
He studied mechanical engineering at Henry Ford Community College and also worked at Excello Corp.
Afterward, he graduated from the Detroit Metropolitan Police Academy. While there, he was in the advanced tactical training program. He also had training with firearms and emergency response and was a member of the Special Weapons and Tactics team.
He said a highlight of his career was acquiring national security clearance to participate in security details concerning presidential visits to the Detroit area.
He is now retired from the police department.
He is under contract with a large international security and consulting corporation. He said it provides services to private individuals and corporations dealing with theft, corporate security and executive protection, as well as investigations.
Before that, he worked in the building trades, designing and installing small home improvement projects.
His wife's name is Diane, and he has two children.
James Johnson Jr., 42, has lived on Grosse Ile for eight years. He also has resided in Trenton, Brownstown Township, Canton, Traverse City, Flint and Roswell, Ga.
He graduated from Ainsworth High School in Flint in 1983.
He attended the University of Michigan and then Ferris State University and has a bachelor of science in business. He majored in marketing.
He is employed at the Grosse Ile Golf & Country Club as the general manager.
In the past, he was the head golf professional at West Shore Golf and Country Club for 14 years and at Grand Traverse Resort in Acme for three years.
He is a member of the Grosse Ile Airport advisory committee, the Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital golf outing committee, the Budd Lynch Celebrity Golf Classic for The Guidance Center committee, the Southern Wayne County Regional Chamber golf outing committee and the YMCA golf outing committee.
As a member of the advisory committee, he attends meetings and participates in discussion regarding issues, concerns, activities, future plans and policies involving the airport.
Pertaining to the golf outings, he attends monthly meetings with the four golf committees to discuss sponsorships, promotional efforts, event planning, fund-raising and logistical matters.
He and his wife of 18 years, Lori, have three children ages 10, 5 and 3 who attend Grosse Ile schools.
Deb Kacher, 48, has lived on Grosse Ile for about seven years. She was born on an Army base in Indiana and grew up in Farmington.
Her family lived in Dearborn Heights and Brownstown before moving to Grosse Ile.
She graduated from Farmington High School in 1976. She received a bachelor's degree in business administration from Western Michigan University in 1986 and received a master of science degree in administration from Madonna University in 1996.
She has worked for Ford Motor Co. for nearly 18 years. She is a planning coordinator for truck/sport utility vehicle production.
She previously managed salaried personnel in plant operations and marketing and sales groups as well as hourly personnel in parts operations. Her past experience also includes purchasing and inventory management.
She is co-chairwoman and founder of Grosse Ile Fun for Teens and a past assistant coach for the Grosse Ile Soccer Association.
She also has been involved in community service activities with Penrickton Center for Blind Children and the Coalition on Temporary Shelter.
Kacher also has been the Brownstown Dawnshire Subdivision Homeowner's Association secretary and beautification chairwoman.
In GIFT, she said she plans and provides activities that enhance the social, cultural, ethical and athletic development of the community's teens, while presenting organized school groups with growth opportunities.
GIFT has held teen dances, pool parties, volleyball and card tournaments and family night drive-in movie events, she said.
She added that she enjoyed assistant coaching the island's youth with GISA.
Kacher and her husband, Walt, have been married for 18 years. Their son will be a junior at Grosse Ile High School in the fall, and their daughter is approaching eighth grade at Grosse Ile Middle School.
Peter Kantz, 55, has lived on Grosse Ile for 25 years. He also has resided in Mound, Minn.; Lincoln Park; Allen Park; Detroit; Lewiston, N.Y.; Ashtabula, Ohio; Mentor, Ohio; Florence, Ala.; and Niagara Falls, N.Y.
He attended high school at St. John in Ashtabula, graduating in 1971.
He attended Niagara University from 1971 to 1973, and received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from University of Detroit in 1976. He then received a master of engineering degree from U of D in 1978.
He retired in July 2005 from Ford Motor as body engineering manager after having worked in the area of product development for Ford for 32 years.
He said he has been a manager of engineering and design departments with more than 150 employees and with annual budgets of more than $30 million. He also said he has been body engineering manager on programs as diverse as the Ford Econoline and the 2002 Thunderbird.
From May 1978 through June 1985, he also was a founding partner of Roman Gate Associates, an apartment complex owning and management company.
In the past, he has been involved in the Grosse Ile Soccer Association and the Grosse Ile Youth Recreation Association.
He is a member of the Grosse Ile Nature & Land Conservancy, of the Grosse Ile Airport Commerce Park Commission (since January 2006) and of the Grosse Ile Brownfield Authority (since April 2007).
He said he had coached for GISA for 12 seasons and GIYRA basketball for eight seasons. He said he also has championed the roads project for the Airport Commerce Park and the landscaping of the northwest corner of Groh and Meridian.
He said he also negotiated leases with Iverson Industries for buildings in Commerce Park and is an organizer of the 2008 Grosse Ile duathlon.
Kantz and his wife of 22 years, Elizabeth, have three grown children who all graduated from Grosse Ile High School, and a 15-year-old daughter enrolled at the school.
Walter Pociask, 61, has lived on Grosse Ile for 21 years. Prior to living on Grosse Ile, he lived in Romulus for 16 years and in Detroit for 24 years.
He graduated from Cass Technical High School in Detroit in 1965.
He graduated in 1970 with a bachelor's degree in industrial management from Lawrence Technological University and received a master's of business administration studies from Eastern Michigan University.
He is currently employed as a hazardous materials manager at Wayne State University and an adjunct professor at Monroe County Community College.
He also is an environmental, health, safety and transportation trainer and consultant for industrial, chemical, petrochemical and hazardous waste-related clients in the United States, Canada and Nigeria (private, for-hire business.)
His entire career has been in management and training of people in the environment, health, safety and transportation industries, he said.
He is a past chairman of the Grosse Ile roads committee, a position he held for 10 years.
He also was a chairman of the Grosse Ile natural resources committee for eight years.
In 2001, he was president of the Environmental Management Association.
He is the 2007-2008 grand knight of the Knights of Columbus' Sacred Heart Council 13475, and he is a past commander and current member of the Grosse Ile Power Squadron.
He said he joins organizations to learn more about activities he enjoys. He is not one who tends to sit around and watch things happen, or criticize and complain about how things seem to be; he gets involved, he said.
He said he has learned a lot from others in such associations, and it often has happened that those organizations have elected him to leadership positions.
He was elected in November 2003 to his first four-year term as township trustee.
Prior to this term, he said he had been actively involved for 15 years in several township commissions and committees as either a member or a chairman: recreation, roads, natural resources, Public Service Commission and Downtown Development Authority.
Pociask and his wife of 39 year, Susan, have one grown son who attended Grosse Ile schools, and one granddaughter.
Erik Ranka, 32, has lived on Grosse Ile for more than 28 years. Prior to living on the island, he lived in Ann Arbor and Louisville, Ky.
He graduated from Grosse Ile High School in 1994.
He received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering in 1999 and a master of science in product development (joint business and engineering) from University of Detroit Mercy in 2005.
He is a product manager at Engineered Custom Lubricants.
In the past, he was a product development engineer for Ford Motor and in the corporate management program at Budd Co.
Ranka is vice chairman of the Grosse Ile Planning Commission and is the chairman of the Grosse Ile Elected Officials Compensation Commission.
He also is a past area chairman of the Dearborn chapter and a current member of the Dearborn and Livonia chapters of Ducks Unlimited, a wetlands conservation organization.
He said his planning commission work includes strategic planning and project recommendations for multiple aspects of community development.
This included leading the subcommittee that created the Grosse Ile master plan and includes ensuring that the island's local ordinances are appropriate and reflect the changing needs of the island, he said.
He has been on the Planning Commission since 2000 and on the Compensation Commission since 2002.
He added that he restarted the Dearborn chapter of Ducks Unlimited, which has raised more than $90,000 since its re-founding, and he continues to volunteer with the organization.
Ranka and his wife of seven years have a 7-week-old son.
John Reilly, 62, has been an island resident for 35 years.
He graduated from Jesuit High School in New York.
He received a bachelor of science in business/industrial management from Canisius College in Buffalo, N.Y.
He received a law degree in 1976 from University of Detroit Law School. He also received a taxation law degree from Wayne State University in 1980.
He has worked as an attorney for 32 years.
He is a past chairman of Sacred Heart Catholic Church's administration and finance committee and past president of the Wayne County Treasurers' Association.
He has been a member of the Grosse Ile Public Services Commission for 16 years and is a member of the American and Michigan bar associations.
He was the Grosse Ile Township treasurer from 1984 to 1992. While treasurer, he said he acquired the sewer treatment plant from Wayne County, with board approval, in 1986. He said the result saved residents more than $400,000 per year in operating costs.
Over 22 years, that totals $8.8 million saved, he said.
He added that he then returned cash savings to island residents numerous times with abatement of water bills for entire periods.
Reilly has been married for 37 years, and both of his sons attended Grosse Ile schools.
Robert Walters, 72, has been a resident of Grosse Ile since 1971. He previously lived in the cities of Trenton and Gibraltar and Taylor Township.
He graduated from Lowrey High School in Dearborn n 1954.
He received a mechanical engineering technology degree from Lawrence Institute of Technology in Southfield in 1964.
He spent 34 years with National Steel Corp., in Ecorse. He started as an engineering clerk while attending college and continued to move up to field engineer, project engineer, superintendent of construction, and manager of maintenance and construction and environmental engineer before retiring in 1992.
He is self-employed and owns an engineering construction consultant firm, R.L. Walters and Associates.
Some of the major projects, working in conjunction with other construction firms, are construction management for the replacement of a damaged section of the Grosse Ile Toll Bridge in 1992 when it was hit by a freighter; construction management of Truck Modular Engine Plant in Windsor, Ontario, from 1993 to 1996; equipment procurement management and mechanical engineering for the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department water treatment plant from 1996 to 2001; and construction management for the upgrade of hot roll and cold roll facilities for National Steel Corp. from 2001 to 2003.
From 1954 to 1969, he was a commissioned warrant officer and served four years of active duty with the Marine Corps/Marine Corps Reserves, and is a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7310 on Grosse Ile.
He has been a member of the Knights of Columbus since 1958. Presently, he is the Archdiocese of Detroit membership/program director and area manager of district deputies for the Michigan State Council.
Since 1971, he has been a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church on Grosse Ile and has been involved as an usher and on the stewardship and hospitality committees.
Since 1974, he has been involved in the Grosse Ile volunteer fire and rescue department and has been a training and safety officer.
Walters and his wife, Myrna, just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary April 12. They have four grown children and eight grandchildren.
Rodger Marty Will, 41, has lived on Grosse Ile since 1976. He was born in Dearborn and resided in Wyandotte until moving to the island. While attending college, he lived in Chicago from 1984 to 1988.
He graduated from Grosse Ile High School in 1984.
He received a bachelor of arts in political science from the University of Chicago in 1988.
He is a manager of global telecommunications and wireless engineering for Ford Motor. He has worked for Ford since 1997 and previously was a consultant and software developer.
In his current assignment, his team is responsible for the design and overall architecture for all enterprise voice and wireless communications systems throughout the Ford Global Network, he said.
He said they are actively working on projects in the Americas, Europe and Asia/Pacific regions to support the business needs, be they cost reductions and business transportations in North America, or to support rapid growth in China, Russia and India.
He is a trustee for the Grosse Ile Music Boosters. In the past, he has served on ad hoc committees such as the Grosse Ile Township Schools master plan committee.
He also has served as chairman of the township's Cable Commission, which he said inspired him to pursue public service further.
He has served two four-year terms on the township board. He is board liaison to the Public Services and Planning commissions.
He said his charitable activities include participation with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and United Way.
He said the Music Boosters is a community group dedicated to assisting the Grosse Ile Schools music department with a wide variety of efforts, including fund-raising, chaperoning, scholarships and equipment acquisition.
Without the support of the boosters, he said children and teachers would have to make due with far fewer instructional and creative resources.
Will and his wife of nearly 19 years, Rubina, have two children who attend Grosse Ile schools.
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