Dirk Bloemendaal (Park Township Board of Trustees At-large, Michigan, candidate 2024)
From Ballotpedia
Ballotpedia does not currently maintain this page. Please contact us with any updates.
Dirk Bloemendaal (Republican Party) ran for election to the Park Township Board of Trustees At-large in Michigan. He was on the ballot in the Republican primary on August 6, 2024.[source]
Bloemendaal completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
[1]Biography
Dirk Bloemendaal provided the following biographical information via Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey on July 27, 2024:
- Birth date: February 20, 1954
- Birth place: Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri
- High school: West Ottawa High School
- Bachelor's: Hope College, 1976
- J.D.: Cooley Law School, 1981
- Gender: Male
- Religion: Christian Reformed
- Profession: Retired
- Incumbent officeholder: No
Elections
General election
General election for Park Township Board of Trustees At-large (4 seats)
Dave Kleinjans, Shar Clark, James Gerard, Bryan G. Jones, and Loran R. Serne ran in the general election for Park Township Board of Trustees At-large on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | ||
| Dave Kleinjans (D) | ||
| Shar Clark (R) | ||
| James Gerard (R) | ||
| Bryan G. Jones (R) | ||
| Loran R. Serne (R) | ||
| ||||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Park Township Board of Trustees At-large (4 seats)
Dave Kleinjans ran in the Democratic primary for Park Township Board of Trustees At-large on August 6, 2024.
Candidate | ||
| Dave Kleinjans | ||
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Park Township Board of Trustees At-large (4 seats)
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Park Township Board of Trustees At-large on August 6, 2024.
Candidate | ||
| Dirk Bloemendaal | ||
| Shar Clark | ||
| James Gerard | ||
| Jeff Hoekstra | ||
 | Matt Johnson | |
| Bryan G. Jones | ||
| Loran R. Serne | ||
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Election results
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Bloemendaal in this election.
Campaign themes
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Dirk Bloemendaal completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Bloemendaal's responses.
| Collapse all
I'm a long-time citizen of Park Township and love the township and the Holland area. I'm married, a retired attorney with two sons and grandchildren. I seek to give back to the township and area that has given me so much. I worked in public policy for many, many years and seek to bring those skills to the table. I'm a center-right conservative who seeks to achieve compromise when it can be reached.
- I'm devoted to making Park Township an even better place to live, work, worship and raise a family. The township continues to grow, and that growth must be managed smartly, with an eye towards the future.
- The township has a master plan that lays out the future for land use within its borders - this includes residential, commercial and agricultural. Further development of this plan must take into account future prospective challenges within the township. We must look ahead, over the horizon.
- The Township Board must continue to be transparent and open to input from its residents. The Township does a good job with this but it could always be improved. I'd like to see more involvement from the citizens on current and future issues, using our imagination to make it so.
I'm interested in ensuring that the Township and its staff and Board continue to run between the guardrails, not overstepping their bounds. They do a good job but we must always pay attention to this. A balance must always be achieved. We must continue to attract sharp candidates for positions within the township, both paid and volunteer. We cannot take for granted the continued need for high quality individuals stepping up the plate.
The trustee position is one that helps support township government from the bottom up. It helps provides the latticework for the full Board and staff to effectively do their jobs.
1. Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior
2. Winston Churchill, a prescient man with a spine of steel
2. Winston Churchill, a prescient man with a spine of steel
It starts with the U.S. Constitution, where the rights and responsibilities of citizens are laid out by the Founders. For me, my guiding light is the Bible, which tells us how to live, and how to treat others.
Honesty, transparency and integrity. And knowing what one's core values are and standing on them. Willing to compromise when needed for the good of the order.
I am devoted to the Township and her people. I work well with others, including people of all races, creeds and colors. I seek to bring people together to achieve common ends for the betterment of all. I am open to new ideas yet have a set of core values that give me strength and direction.
Diligence, openness and willing to listen and sift down to the core issues.
I'd like to leave the Township a better place, and when my name is mentioned after I've moved to the Great Beyond, I'd like for folks to smile.
John Glenn going up into space on my birthday when I was eight. I thought that was cool that they shot a man into space just for me!
Picked blueberries and did lawns as a lad, worked at Meijer during high school, worked at Holland State Park as a park ranger during college, taught high school after attending Hope, clerked in law school. Worked as an attorney for nearly forty years.
The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway. Papa was real.
Gandalf the White
"You can't always get what you want."
As I've grown, I've become less of a perfectionist and more of a conciliator.
I'd like to see more explanation to township residents as to the duties of the trustees. There is a large vacuum there, and if we are going to continue to attract good candidates, we must "tell the tale" effectively.
No. Knowledge of the U.S. system and a keen interest in public policy (and secondarily, politics) helps a great deal. Experience with public policy helps but should not be required.
Honesty, integrity, a keen interest in the welfare of others and a devotion to making the township an even better place.
A panda walks into a bar. He gobbles some beer nuts, pulls out a pistol, fires it into the air and heads for the door. "Hey," shouts the bartender, but the panda yells back, "I'm a panda, Google me!" Sure enough, the definition for a panda was: "A tree-climbing mammal with distinct black and white coloring. Eats shoots and leaves."
Steve Spoelhof, candidate for Park Township Supervisor
I believe in full transparency and full government accountability. The Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Acts, along with regular auditing of the township's books, must be closely followed.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
