Our recommendations for November ballot

Voters in Bloomfield Hills will be determining the fate of city commission candidates in the Tuesday, November 4, election, while voters in Birmingham will cast ballots for the city commission and the library board. At the same time, voters in the Bloomfield Hills Schools district are being asked to approve a sinking fund millage.

These elections are non-partisan.

Downtown Newsmagazine sent questionnaires to candidates in both communities, the answers to which appear in the Voter Guide presented in this issue and online at downtownpublications.com.

Candidate answers and other factors determined our endorsements appearing here.

BIRMINGHAM CITY COMMISSION

A field of five candidates, all respectable, are seeking three four-year terms on the Birmingham City Commission. Two current members of the commission – Katie Schafer and Jason Emerine – did not file for election this year.

The only incumbent in this race is ANDREW HAIG who has been on the commission since 2021. Although we have not always agreed with Haig on some issues, there is no denying his analytical approach to decisions facing officials is a benefit to the city. We support his position that cost sharing on the unimproved streets program is in need of review and we trust his concern about logical use of city resources. Although he has his detractors, we think his years of institutional knowledge will prove an asset and he should be given another term on the commission.

For the remaining two spots on the commission, we think voters would be best served by KEVIN KOZLOWSKI and DOUG WHITE. Both candidates are knowledgeable when it comes to what is facing the commission and both bring some current experience to the commission – Kozlowski on the Advisory Parking Committee and White from the Multi-Modal Transportation Board. Those positions at least give them both some insight into how the city operates as they begin serving terms on the commission.

BALDWIN PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD

Three four-year positions on the six-member library board for Birmingham will be decided in this election. Melissa Mark, currently on the board, did not file for election. She was part of the board, along with incumbents FRANK PISANO and DANIELLE RUMPLE, who helped guide the Baldwin Public Library through an impressive, multiple-stage redesign in recent years.

We think Pisano and Rumple have earned new terms on the library board. And we were especially impressed with Pisano’s position, now that the long-standing legal issue of the library board’s independence from the city has been finalized, that the board should be willing to work with the city in the interest of taxpayers if the library board exceeds its fund balance policy, and can afford to lower its millage at times.

For the remaining board position, we were truly torn between candidates Pamela Graham and OMAR ODEH, who had served on a library development committee. We liked what we heard from Odeh when it came to addressing the issue of possibly finding a new source for some of the services provided to the library by the city – making sure that there would be no lessening of benefits for staff at the library. Odeh would be a good addition to the board.

As a final side note, we asked each of the candidates whether they believed the results of 2020 presidential election were valid, which all five accepted. This question, posed to candidates in past elections, is our ongoing litmus test to make sure that a non-partisan board is not negatively impacted by hard-right contenders who might not buy into the concept of a library serving the entire community and will bring the Baldwin Public Library into current day culture wars.

BLOOMFIELD HILLS CITY COMMISSION

Six local residents formally filed by the deadline to run for five two-year terms on the city commission in Bloomfield Hills. Incumbent commissioner David Fisher did not file for another term.

Four incumbent commissioners – BRAD BAXTER, ALICE BUCKLEY, LAUREN FISHER and SUSAN MCCARTHY – are seeking new terms, and for voters this should be an easy decision. All four have earned an added term on the commission.

For the remaining open spot, two noted attorneys have filed for the commission. Although both could no doubt handle city business on behalf of residents, we think that ALAN ACKERMAN, with his past experience representing local municipalities, has an edge in this contest. For full disclosure, Ackerman twice in the last five years has made small donations to the Downtown Newsmagazine public funding drive which did not influence our endorsement.

BLOOMFIELD HILLS SCHOOLS MILLAGE

Taxpayers in the Bloomfield Hills Schools district first approved in 2005 what is commonly known as a sinking fund millage and have renewed it three times since then.

Sinking fund millage revenues are highly regulated by law and must be used for construction and/or repairs on school buildings, technology purchases, school security issues and acquisition and repair of student transportation vehicles. Such funds cannot be used for staff salaries.

If approved by voters, the sinking fund millage will be 1.5 mills annually, which equates to $1.50 for each thousand of taxable value on a home or business building. The ballot issue is being billed as a replacement for the current sinking fund tax last approved in 2023, and would be levied for 10 years, from 2026 to 2035.

We think school district officials have a good game plan for this sinking fund tax and we recommend a YES vote on the November ballot issue.