Local Politics to the fore
VersagiVoice's editorial snippet last week described my support for term limits backed by making four years the minimum term for any elected office -- at all governmental levels from national to local. The national election is over, so the politically insatiable among Royal Oakers are already focusing on November 2009. One reason is renewed residents' interest in, or concern about, the tone of recent CITCOM meetings.

One direction that focus has turned is, "How long have Royal Oak mayors served?" Some who ask the question have interpreted my labeling Mayor Ellison "too nice" as a call for his replacement. Others interpret my recommendation for a 4-year minimum term for mayor as a desire to keep Ellison in office. Both groups and others simply wonder how many terms previous mayors have served.

I turned to the city's website to extract the following summary.
Each of our first three mayors (Dondero, Miller, Codling) served one term: Since then, we've had two more: Bangham (1937-38) and Urich (2001-2003). There have been numerous 2-term mayors. Among them: Storz, Hayward, Horn, Stocker, Hallman, Paruch. Among 3-term mayors we have Renton, Kelly, Potter, Cline, Lewis. The first 4-term mayor was Lloyd Clawson, 1929-37. The second and last 4-termer was Dennis Cowan, 1993-2001. -- FJV: 12 Nov 08

Who stays, who goes?
The count is already at four, of people -- so far, all young but mature guys who haven't run before -- who have told me they will probably vie for elective office in Royal Oak in 2009. They are from the left, from the right, and from nowhere. They like and respect, or not, different incumbents. They share the perceptions that (a) the mood at the commission table has turned ugly, and (b) personal animosities are too often and too obviously affecting votes, and (c) there is no likelihood of that mood improving among the incumbents so it is time to begin a "full house" change of players. Add those several previously unsuccessful candidates, male and female, who may choose to try again, and 2009 promises to be interesting.

Terms expire in 2009 for Ellison, Ginotti, Lelito, and Miller. The terms of Andrzejak, Drinkwine, and Semchena expire in 2011. -- 19 Nov 08

We need a break
In about one month, we have seen the Grand Sakwa debate and:

§  (1) some residents joining prospective candidates for elected office in suggesting that CITCOM incumbents have to go;

§  (2) a former commissioner making a similar suggestion about DDA members;

§ and (3) street talk calling for the dismissal of the DDA's volunteer leader.

Then we have:
§ Comments that Staff which serves on the DDA (Hoover, Thwing, McIntyre) should have prevented the Christmas Parade emcee fiasco. I'm not sure that's fair. Kalczynski seemed determined to plow ahead; Hoover properly denied DDA's request; McIntyre is too new to be able to buck the DDA board; and it was Drinkwine who added the matter to the agenda.

§ Peggy Goodwin's description of the history of selecting parade emcees has drawn praise and criticism, the latter including the suggestion that Peggy is doing the sour-grapes thing because she was let go by the DDA. [The record shows she chose not to renew her contract.]

§ At least one commissioner insists that, until a new policy is initiated, choosing the emcee remains "under the Authority of WROK."

§ It is almost impossible to find an upbeat comment about the emcee mess on local blogs. See Royal Oak Soundoff and Urbane.

We all need a break, guys. -- FJV: 20 Nov 08

CITCOM/DDA tensions not new
Long-time VersagiVoice readers are familiar with my frequent contention that "institutional culture" often takes over in civic as well as political bodies. People come and go, but the the group's mindset remains the same. So has it been concerning the less-than-cordial relationship between the City Commission and the Downtown Development Authority. And so it is that City Manager Tom Hoover found it useful,  two years ago, to say, "I can certainly understand why there may be some dissatisfaction among Commissioners with some of the programs funded by the DDA." The statement appears in a January 2007 Commission Memo.

Most voters don't know, don't care.
Sometimes, I wonder if it wouldn't make sense for elected local officials simply to ignore residents most of the time. Voters or not, residents are often uninformed or ill-informed, especially when they are emotional -- whether angry or enthusiastic. Consider:

54,614 people live in Royal Oak, in 30,282 dwelling units (homes, condos, and apartments.)*
48,187 are registered voters
15-18,000 -- 32-37% -- vote in typical off-year, local, elections. (36,669 -- 76%-- voted in the November 2008 Presidential election.)

and . . .a mere 600 have signed up to receive City Hall's weekly email alerts.

Scott Newman, Manager of Information Systems, reports that the podcasts of the ZBA, DDA, and Plan Commission meetings draw 20-30 hits per meeting. CITCOM averages 60-76, with a high of 170 for 03 March 2008. ('Twas a full agenda: liquor licenses, pension considerations, the Internet Filter/Library debate, etc. See the minutes on the city's website.) As is true of Community Media Network (CMNtv) Royal Oak's Public Access channel WROK does not have the capability of measuring how many people watch its broadcast of meetings, either live or as reruns. Let's take a guess and say that viewership is four times higher than email subscriptions. That gives us 2,400 active city hall watchers at most.

Newspapers are able to report only about a small percentage of what goes on at city meetings, and there is no realistic measurement of how many people locate and read such items among the many others in a given issue.

The reality is that only a small cadre of citizens can be expected to be knowledgeable, or at least familiar, with city business. For the most part, whatever the issue, major or minor, downtown development or location of a no-parking sign, people speaking or emailing for or against the issue don't have a lot of information and represent only a tiny minority of the population, of voters. That doesn't mean the uninformed shouldn't be listened to. NIMBY matters, of course. But so does the General Welfare. Elected officials, though, should feel free to judge most issues primarily on their merits.

*These data are from SEMCOG re Nov. 2008. Related numbers: 28,616 of the dwelling units are occupied. Residential vacancy rate in Nov 2008 was 5.5%, compared with 3.5$ in the 2005 Census. Total dwelling units in 2005 were 29,942, meaning we have more now than then, despite the drop in population.

More SEMCOG data: 8% of Royal Oak residents didn't graduate from High School . . . 23%  have a High School Diploma . . . 29% have an Associate Degree or have some College education . . . 40% have a Bachelor's Degree or higher.

§ The brick-for-Christmas Grandstanding Award goes to Comm. Mike Andrzejak for again trotting out his budget rant at the last CITCOM meeting of 2008.  He's quite sincere, but the golf course wasn't sold and a number of possibly useful things weren't done in the past. Like most politicians he'd like somebody else (Mr. Hoover?) to come up with proposals, so if the idea don't work blame doesn't stick, but these are dangerous times and the risk of getting to the point is needed more than ever.

Let's hear some fresh and specific budget-saving ideas in 2009, Mike. Allergic as you are to a millage increase, I think a plan that mixes half of Mr. Johnson wants (i.e.. 3 mils) with half of the cuts he doesn't want to suggest might be salable to voters

And Merry Christmas to all! -- Brendan Wehrung

What can we expect from CITCOM in 2009

Voters don't know, don't care

Many candidates for CITCOM?

How long have Royal Oak mayors served?

What can we expect from CITCOM in 2009?

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