Benton Harbor business owners weigh in on Mayoral Election

BENTON HARBOR, Mich – Election Day is in the rearview mirror but the issues facing the city of Benton Harbor are still at the forefront of people in the community’s mind.

Voters told ABC57 News on Election Day that issues such as educations, public safety and jobs are the issues they care about.

Now that the election is over business owners are speaking out about what they believe will keep the city on the path of improvement.

“We’ve been here 16 years so we’ve seen before the Arts District was built up we came in right before so there’s been a lot of positive changes but they got to a certain point and it’s just stopped,” Charlie’s Piggin N Grinnin owner Virginia Kierstead said.  

Kierstead names public safety and snow removal in the Arts District as among the top of the issues that matter to the business community in the area.

Kierstead said her and the other business owners spend thousands of dollars every winter to remove snow from areas to free-up space for their customers to park.  

ABC57 is told by business owners in the area that they see small steps of positive improvements and the necessary actions to fix certain problems will keep the city on the right path.