Grand Rapids Mayor David LaGrand and his predecessor Rosalynn Bliss each asked former Kent County Commissioner Dave Bulkowski to enter the race to unseat the city’s current comptroller.
Bulkowski launched his campaign to unseat Grand Rapids Comptroller Max Frantz in June. He has since openly aligned with the Kent County Democratic Party and now boasts endorsements from Bliss and LaGrand among a slew of other West Michigan politicos.
In speaking to The Rapidian about his campaign, Bulkowski admitted he is seeking the role because LaGrand and Bliss directly asked him to do so.
“Your two probably questions that come to mind are first, who is David Bulkowski and what the [heck] is a comptroller?” Bulkowski said. “Everybody asks that question, including myself when I was asked by both Mayor LaGrand and former Mayor Rosalynn Bliss to run for this position.”
LaGrand did not return an email request from The Herald seeking information about his involvement in Bulkowski’s campaign.
Bulkowski’s admission is the second instance of a candidate pointing to LaGrand’s influence in nonpartisan city elections. Second Ward Commissioner Lisa Knight claimed in September that LaGrand was backing her challenger Bryan Cody after repeated disagreements with the mayor soured their relationship.
“[LaGrand] won’t say it publicly, but we all know he showed up at [Cody’s] campaign launch,” Knight said at the time. “He is supporting him from behind the scenes, and I have had multiple state leaders and people locally that came to me and told me ‘You know, he’s pushing this.’”
The City of Grand Rapids is increasingly at odds with Frantz over his lawsuit against the city which alleges it violated the City Charter by allocating aspects of his job under a division within the city manager’s office. That case is still being litigated.
Frantz, during an August meeting of the city Fiscal Committee, claimed the City Charter had been violated by the city’s use of his signature on its checks without his permission. Commissioner Milinda Ysasi, who chairs that committee, later admonished Frantz for the remark.
“That disagreement is currently being addressed by the courts, which I think is the appropriate place to resolve that disagreement,” she said. “I’m disappointed that we are up here, and my apologies that these comments keep coming in this body. I think the court is the appropriate venue.”
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