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Royal Oak Civic & Political Affairs |
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Recent and past news and comment provide context for evaluating current events.
New business association in town? So VersagiVoice arranged to meet with David Baldwin, who by the time we met had visited almost all those groups. Also by the time we met, I had communicated with individuals who had either spoken with Baldwin or who had spoken to those whom he had visited. During our preliminary small talk, we briefly exchanged family information and touched on everything from how Northern newcomers are treated in the South, to the bad vibes permeating Royal Oak's civic/political dialogue. Sad, but doesn't deserve to be considered a high scandal, he agrees. I conveyed to David the impressions he is leaving around town. Summarized: "He's a nice guy, but he's not made clear what he's trying to accomplish." He is variously perceived as an event planner, a management consultant, a marketing development guy. "I'm a bit fuzzy about his focus," was one comment. To me, David Baldwin comes across as a young man (40-ish?) with a vision* of providing a new path on which businesses, mostly small, can improve their chances of surviving these trying times. Through a combination of joining his association and obtaining individual guidance as one of his clients, organizations can be helped with everything from increasing sales to dealing with government, he suggests. His literature stresses networking and "partnering" with businesses, the community, government. He mentioned a related association also under his management, BD Group. In effect, the Royal Oak Business Association strikes me as more like a business than a non-profit organization. It serves as a marketing tool to promote his services while offering some group benefits of membership. Confusion about the distinction between a Chamber-like organization and a company has been the primary cause of (1) the more than usual interest in the activities of a newcomer, and (2) the varied impressions about David which one hears in street talk. VersagiVoice readers who want more information about Baldwin's efforts can go to: www.royaloakbusiness.com and www.bdgrouponline.com. * I asked David to provide a brief mission statement outlining his vision. His response:
Dale
Carnegie sandwich -- In my days as an industry journalist, when I reached about 90,000 readers worldwide each week, the letters were longer and more pointed than today's emails but had the same "Dear Sir, you cur . . . " flavor. Then, as now, 95% of the missives were signed. Unsigned correspondence was/is almost always more emotional than rational. Anonymous comments to VersagiVoice display a subtler range of tone, probably because most of the writers know me personally, and most of them address issues, not personality. One unidentified reply to my suggestions about resolving Royal Oak's budget problems, for example, states simply, "Your plan for Royal Oak is not defensible." Personal criticism need not descend to personal abuse. It would be unreasonable of me, for example, to take offense when someone characterizes me as opinionated or assertive. I am both. Similarly it is not abuse when I chide this or that city commissioner about his or her debating style. Neither public officials nor publishers of vanity websites can function well if they have a thin skin. And it goes without saying that everyone should be free to disagree about issues, about the judgments and opinions of colleagues, citizens, fellow club members, elected officials, city employees. Yes,
Virginia, Royal Oak once had a deputy city manager And, yes, Virginia, Royal Oak has had at least one deputy city manager. Bruce Love, who replaced Shafter and served 1961-1965, was "assistant city manager" from 1956-1961. This information appears as notations on the back of old photographs being catalogued by the Royal Oak Historical Society. The society also found the 1949 Financial Report from which VersagiVoice is extracting interesting bits of history. [See] -- August 2005 Not in Royal Oak Given that Royal Oak is apparently named after a tree in merry old England, it is fun to read that a so-called "Anti-Social Behaviour Act in Great Britain enables "neighbours to involve their local council in disputes over the height of a hedge." People there plant fast-growing hedges as fences; the hedges provide a high green wall in little time. But because such a hedge can block a neighbor's view or cast shadows, chainsaws have been used, surreptitiously, to "correct" the problem. People have been fined or jailed. Now, hedge-owners will be fined up to $1,850 if their hedge is more than 2 meters tall; that's about 6½ feet. I thought "green is good!" -- FJV 16 June 2005 Schools matter more than city government? Talk of possible millages, dedicated or not, of income taxes, of sales of city parks, and sales of golf courses, has redirected attention, however, and now there are rumblings about "How did we get into this mess?" and "Isn't there some legal recourse against that so-called Finance Committee which messed up the water fund/general fund balance?" In between are questions like, "If they are talking about dedicated millage for 'essential services,' doesn't that mean that we are currently paying for 'unessential' services?" Irritation or resentment is intense enough that presumed members of that now-dissolved Finance Committee are being openly named and discussed: Cowan, Eva, Kondek, Doyle, respectively Royal Oak's former Mayor, Finance Director, Treasurer, and City Manager. The first two of several budget meetings have been held, and the real decision-making process is just beginning. Three important points have emerged so far:
Although several readers have told me that they have contacted city officials about this or that budget matter, VersagiVoice has not yet identified any focused support for or opposition to individual commissioners or other officials or to their proposals. Let's hope that residents are wisely avoiding early nit-picking and are willing to give our elected and appointed city officials the time and mental space they need to address these complex issues. -- FJV 26 May 05 |
Related Links Dale
Carnegie Sandwich: On Royal Oak, good fences do not good neighbors make. Schools matter more than city government? Downtown Development Authority news Civics 101
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