Voters to determine candidates, school millage

Voters in Bloomfield Hills will be deciding city commission members on the Tuesday, November 4, ballot, while in Birmingham voters will cast ballots for both the city commission and the library board, and residents of the Bloomfield Hills Schools district will determine the fate of a sinking millage request.

Five candidates filed by the Tuesday, July 22, deadline to seek three seats on the Birmingham City Commission while six candidates filed in Bloomfield Hills for five commission seats. For the Baldwin Public Library Board, four candidates will compete for three seats.

In Birmingham, incumbents Katie Schafer, along with Jason Emerine, who was just appointed last December to fill a vacancy, did not file for reelection. Five candidates filed for three seats. Those filing include incumbent Andrew Haig, along with newcomers Zachary Jennings, Bill Kolb, Kevin Kozlowski and Doug White. Those elected in the non-partisan November election to the seven-person board will serve four-year terms and receive pay of $5 per meeting which are usually held twice each month.

For the Birmingham Library Board, incumbent Melissa Mark did not file for election for another term. Incumbent board members Danielle Rumple and Frank Pisano filed to run again for two-year terms. Also seeking to join the six-member board are Pamela M. Graham and Omar Odeh. Three members of the board are elected every two years to the unpaid positions.

Voters in Bloomfield Hills will determine all members of the five-person board. Incumbent David Fisher is not seeking another term but incumbents Brad Baxter, Alice Buckley, Lauren Fisher and Susan McCarthy all filed for another two-year term. Also filing were Alan T. Ackerman and Anjail Prasad. Commissioners in Bloomfield Hills are paid $5 per meeting which are held once each month.

Voters living in the Bloomfield Hills Schools area will be asked to approve a tax that would replace a sinking fund millage first approved in 2023 that is schedule to expire in 2026. The new sinking fund millage would be 1.5 mills for 10 years. Revenue from the tax could be used, among other things, for school building construction and repair, school security measures, technology purchases and purchase of vehicles, including for student transportation.

Candidates who filed by the July 22 deadline have until this Friday afternoon to withdraw from the ballot.