DOWNTOWN06.23

58 Municipal

Tenants' right ordinance tabled; parking pass rates increased; back to drawing board for dispensary ordinance; district superintendent resigns; new ownership for Big Rock restaurant; Greek island outdoor dining; plus more.

79 The Next Notebook

Birmingham Next Executive Director Cris Braun says Next is like Cheers, where everyone knows your name and they are glad you came.

81 Community House

William Seklar, the CEO/President of The Community House, writes about the future of the iconic facility, as well as upcoming events.

84 Metro Intelligencer

Gigi Nichols provides readers with quick takes on what is happening in the world of food and drink in the metro area..

90 Endnote

Our thoughts on taming the Woodward corridor so it is not just auto-centric and how the approach to choosing a new mayor in Birmingham needs to be changed.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines conundrum as an intricate and difficult problem which I have decided best captures the issue of development of a cannabis dispensary ordinance for the city of Birmingham by its legal counsel and city commission.

City commissioners in mid-February of this year started to address at a workshop session the issue of reversing the city's position of opting out of allowing cannabis-related businesses, a stance it formally adopted after recreational adult use in 2018 was approved on a state-wide basis when 55.89 percent of those going to the polls backed the idea. Locally, 58.87 percent of those at the polls in Oakland County approved the ballot issue and in Birmingham support was 60.21 percent.

Birmingham found itself in good company when it opted out as allowed in the ballot issue – 1,419 Michigan municipalities or 80 percent of communities said 'no thanks' when it came to issuing license to cannabis-related businesses.

No big deal. Enough neighboring communities, like Royal Oak, Ferndale, Waterford and Walled Lake issued dispensary licenses, so if that is your pleasure, cannabis products were just a short drive away. Better yet, flower, gummies and the like could be ordered up online for delivery to your door.

But the last several years have taught municipalities a valuable lesson. Whether local officials opted out or not, a community could still end up with cannabis operations – dispensaries, grow and processing operations, delivery businesses and the like – thanks to a provision in the law allowing for petitioners to place on the ballot ordinances that can overturn opt out stances taken by local leaders. And although we refer to these attempts as citizen initiatives, recent history has taught us that the term “citizen” can – and often will – include forces from outside the community.

On the 2022 November ballot alone, according to characteristically detailed legwork done by the news department at MLive.com prior to the vote, there were 32 cannabis-related proposals on the ballot across the state, 22 of which were designed to override local opt out positions. Of that group, many of the petition efforts were driven by what appeared to be a shadow organization that had an office in Livonia and a treasurer with an Oak Park address – hardly a local “citizen” initiative when it came to getting the signatures, as provided by the 2018 ballot proposal, equal to five percent of the local community votes cast in the last election for governor. In Oakland County alone, it would appear the same group was behind the attempt to overturn opt out positions in Clarkston, Addison Township, Royal Oak Township and Brandon Township.

To avoid such an effort here, Birmingham officials were advised that a pro-active approach would make sense – write your own ordinance rather than have someone else impose on the community their view of what was good for the city. Hence the city commission workshop and subsequent unveiling in April of a proposed ordinance written by the Birmingham City Attorney, albeit a less than ideal one that has now gone back to the drawing board. And just in time I might add, given the rumor that has been circulating since the start of this year that a petition effort, aided by a local law firm, could be underway at any moment.

The prevailing attitude of the commission, I am told, is to avoid an ordinance that would be besieged by a string of lawsuits like those that have hamstrung neighboring local communities. Of particular concern, as now written, Birmingham's ordinance would allow for one medical marijuana dispensary and one recreational cannabis dispensary, with a rating system for applicants and the final decision made by the city manager, the same issues that have prompted court challenges in other communities. Others have opted to have an appointed panel make the decision on who gets a license. The rating system approach has prompted a number of court challenges elsewhere, although the alternative, as one cannabis consulting firm told me recently, is to issue the licenses on a first come, first served basis. Somehow this latter approach seems inadequate, to say the least. I can't imagine applicants camped outside city hall the day after an ordinance is adopted as if this were a contest to see who could get tickets to a Taylor Swift concert.

Beyond the intricacies of the ordinance itself, there's the prohibitionist argument, which appears to possibly have the support of two city commissioners (both of whom are up for re-election this year), that the city should find some legal way to block any dispensaries in Birmingham. These two commissioners in an April meeting suggested that the ordinance provision prohibiting dispensaries within 1,000 feet of a park was an open invitation to create more pocket parks that essentially would block any cannabis outlets from operating here. Clearly a set up for another legal challenge.

Then there was the view offered by a local anti-substance abuse community group that allowing any dispensaries would drive up teen use of marijuana, a fear mongering position that we saw when voters in 2018 were considering recreational marijuana decriminalization. It's simply not supported by any number of studies around the country where legalized recreational cannabis has been allowed for years.

In Colorado and California, the first states to decriminalize marijuana, studies found that teen use of cannabis remained fairly constant or declined once dispensaries began opening. And in California, the most recent study found 100 percent compliance with its ID policy (21 or over) at dispensaries, which means that teens will still rely on the same black market dealer they have been using to purchase cannabis, despite the failed promise that the black market would be eliminated once a regulated cannabis industry was established.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse in 2022 found that “cannabis legalization is not associated with increased youth use.”A number of other government conducted or funded studies have basically dispelled the idea that opening dispensaries means higher teen use.

Those facts may not stop the attempt at a ballot issue to ban dispensaries entirely. One commissioner told me privately that it would make sense to alert PTA and other parent groups that they could put this on the ballot. But let's get real.

Cannabis has been legalized in the state of Michigan. The moderate, proactive approach by the city of Birmingham makes the most sense. The responsible path is to control and limit dispensaries here. But how to do it – that is the conundrum.

David Hohendorf Publisher DavidHohendorf@DowntownPublications.com

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City drainage concerns

Regarding a recent article on drainage problems in Bloomfield Hills (Downtown/April), Bloomfield Township is very good at enforcing their codes but Bloomfield Hills is very lax and lacks important codes.

For example, a neighbor on Harlan Drive tore out his driveway and put in a new one two houses from Quarton. Bloomfield Township requires a permit and looks to ensure the culverts don’t get blocked for proper drainage. Bloomfield Hills does not. Even when I pointed this out to the city manager, he refused to do anything about it. I showed him pictures of standing water and he said it would go down in a few days. The water went back to the house, making it musty.

Bloomfield Hills inspection is also a joke. I paid the roof inspector $250, but I had to inspect it. He stood on the driveway and looked up. He said he might hurt himself going on the roof or going in the attic. The contractor didn’t even replace the flashing where it leaked and he said that was fine.

Well, after a big rain it still leaked. Where? Around the flashing where it leaked before. I had to go in the attic and look. So I went to the city commission meeting and told them what transpired. Sarah McClure just smirked and said that’s how they do it in Florida. Really? That’s the response?

Well, that’s not how they do it in Bloomfield Township which apparently has higher standards.

I just thought everyone should know.

Name withheld on request Bloomfield Hills

Publisher’s

I just read David Hohendorf’s piece (From The Publisher) in the May Downtown Newsmagazine.

I agree with his opinion and applaud the courage it takes to see things the way they are and tell people how you feel.

I have new confidence in the voting public saying ‘no’ to bad public policy.

Tom Gideon Birmingham

Oakland Confidential is a periodic column of political gossip/news, gathered both on and off-the-record by staff members at Downtown Newsmagazine. We welcome possible items for this column which can be emailed to: OaklandConfidential@DowntownPublications.com. All sources are kept strictly confidential. The gossip column can be viewed at OaklandConfidential.com where you can sign up to receive updates via email.

NEXT STEPS: While former Republican Congressman David Trott of Birmingham is officially out of office, he’s kept his finger on the pulse of political activity, and definitely has an opinion on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, newly declared for a run for president in 2024. As Trott told Politico, the two sat right next to each other while serving on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and yet the fellow Republican never said a word to Trott. “He’s the wrong guy for the country,” Trott told Downtown. “He’s a bully. He’s using culture wars to start fights to pit groups of people against each other. If he becomes the 47th president, he’d be a divisive and acrimonious president. He’s a polarizing figure – and he does it with intent to energize his base.” Trott noted that DeSantis goes out of his way to get involved with business affairs – take his Disney obsession, which recently lost the state $1 billion of new business. “Is he (Senator) Elizabeth Warren? That’s not Reaganomics,” he said. Where Trott and other establishment Republican are turning their focus is towards the Common Sense Party, which he said is not a typical third party. “Third parties are futile endeavors, and there’s no reason to raise money,” Trott acknowledged. “If we are successful in getting fusion voting returned in Michigan –which we had until 1890, which is where with moderate candidates and moderate ideas, the Common Sense Party could interview both candidates running for a seat and pick the one who is less extreme.” He said voters would then see three choices on a ballot – a Republican, a Democrat and a Common Sense, and if the Common Sense and the Democrat are the same, with fusion, the total of the two would be added together to produce a winner. Trott and others see Independents and moderates from both parties endorsing this idea, and said it is different from the No Labels Party, which is seeking to nominate candidates. “It’s not intended to punish one party over the other but to choose moderate, mainstream candidates,” he said. That’s an idea we all could get behind.

DESANTIS BANDWAGON: Oakland County state Representative Donni Steele has joined 17 other GOP members of the state House in committing their support for RonDeSantis in the Republican race for president, according to a PAC supporting the Florida governor. Steele, who is considered a conservative based on her votes in Lansing since entering the House at the start of this year, represents Bloomfield Township and Bloomfield Hills, along with Auburn Hills, Oakland Township and Orion Township where she was treasurer prior to heading to Lansing.

THREAT TO DEMOCRAT CONTROL: State lawmakers are facing a possible shift in control of the legislative balance come the end of this year – at least on a temporary basis – depending on how fall elections turn out in two local Michigan communities. Democrats now hold a 56-54 majority in the state House but two representatives have filed to run for mayoral positions in Westland and Warren. Rep. Lori Stone (D-Warren) is seeking the top spot in the city of Warren which pays $195,925 in annual salary She is among seven candidates who filed for the post, including a county commissioner, member of the city council and a former member, as well as a city employee. Current mayor Jim Fouts was ruled by the state courts as ineligible to run again, thanks for term limits adopted by voters in 2020, so the field of contenders has been trimmed to six. Should Stone win the post she would take over as mayor in 2024. Over in Westland, state Rep. Kevin Coleman (D-Westland) is seeking to fill the post of mayor which pays $126,281 a year, in a field of six hopefuls. If successful, Coleman would assume the post immediately following the November vote because the city is operating now with an interim mayor after the post was vacated due to a resignation in January of 2023. Fear not, however, about the long-term balance of power in the House. Both legislative districts are considered Democrat strongholds, with Coleman having won his state legislative job with 63 percent of the vote while Stone took 67 percent of the vote when she ran in 2022. Special elections would be called to fill any vacancy in the state House.

POLITICS/ALCOHOL DON’T MIX: Just when we thought things could not get any weirder with the state Republican Party comes reports (Bridge Michigan) of a physical altercation between two county party officials at the Doherty Hotel in Clare the night before a state party leadership meeting was scheduled to take place this past April. Kalamazoo Republican Chair Kelly Sackett and Melissa Pehlis, secretary of the Macomb County GOP, were caught on video in an escalating argument attributed to a proxy battle over election deniers state GOP Chair Kristina Karamo and Matt DePerno, who failed in his run for attorney general in the 2022 and his failed attempt to be the state party chair. The skirmish reportedly centered on Sackett’s attempt to purge Karamo allies from the Kalamazoo GOP, which is now the subject of a state lawsuit. The pair can be seen taunting each other and then Sackett knocked a cell phone and cigarette from the hands of Pehlis who then “thrust an open hand at Sackett’s head.” Police were called and a report was turned over to the Clare County Prosecutor. No word at deadline on how the prosecutor will rule. You can watch the video – viewed by 110,000 users so far – for yourself at https://tinyurl.com/4acevc9n.

NO BIG TENT: It’s hard to believe that Michigan’s GOP could continue to shoot themselves in the foot, but the gun seems to be perennially loaded these days. The latest blunder was courtesy of the party’s new lawyer, Daniel Hartman, who during a recent online interview boldly stated that, “it was ‘crazy’ Christians allowed non-Christian voices into the marketplace of ideas.” Hartman, a personal injury attorney out of Petoskey, made the audacious remark while being interviewed on “The Inside Track” with Mark Forton, chairman of Macomb County Republican Party, and Lisa Mankiewicz, Forton’s vice chairwoman. Mankiewicz did counter by saying the Michigan Republican Party had room for people who “love the Lord,” and the party was more diverse than it was being portrayed. But Hartman responded, “It’s crazy, as Christians, that we’ve allowed any other voice but a Christian voice into the marketplace of ideas.” One Republican poobah noted that, in a state with many non-Christians, including Jews and Muslims, “guys like Hartman are why we are going to continue to lose elections.”

TAKE A SEAT: The number of those looking to fill the shoes, and the seat, of Senator Debbie Stabenow (D) are increasing, with former state Rep. Leslie Love (D-Detroit) announcing her intention to join Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin (D-Lansing), businessman Nasser Beydoun, lawyer and scientist Zack Burns of Ann Arbor, and state board of education chair Pamela Pugh in the primary. Word is actor

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Hill Harper, who moved to Detroit’s Boston-Edison district in 2018, is poised to announce his run, despite his continued presence on The Good Doctor, which films in Vancouver. At a recent event, Slotkin said the only fellow candidate she has a slight concern about is Harper, while questioning how he can actively campaign in Michigan while working in Canada. As for Republicans, Slotkin currently isn’t very worried about any of them, as the current crop of potential candidates – Nikki Snyder of Dexter, who has announced; Michael Hoover of Lainsburg, a former employee of Dow Chemical, who has announced; former Detroit police chief James Craig, former Bloomfield Township auto dealer Kevin Rinke – seem to hew to the MAGA state theme. As for Milford native John Tuttle, now vice chair of the New York Stock Exchange – “How I would love to go against a Wall Street guy!” she chuckled. The only possible note of worry is towards her friend and former fellow congressman Peter Meijer (R-Grand Rapids), who Slotkin noted voted to impeach former President Trump. However, she said, if he could get through the primary (an iffy possibility, all note), there are whisperings of a deal with Trump for him to not endorse or disparage Meijer. And then there’s all that family grocery money, which is formidable. However, Slotkin is known for her own fundraising prowess. Stay tuned.

FAILED SNIFF TEST: Muckraker extraordinaire and Detroit News columnist Charlie LeDuff got the goods on Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and a recent five-day Caribbean jaunt to the Turks and Caicos, the tab for which was reportedly picked up by the Traverse City law firm of Kelly Neumann, a substantial contributor to Nessel’s last run for state office. Think over $7,000. According to LeDuff, the AG and her spouse Alanna Maguire were part of a group that stayed at the $8,600-a-night penthouse digs at the Ritz Carlton Hotel and had yet to respond to his question of whether the costs were reimbursed by Nessel to the host. Legal experts say that no law was broken but the trip certainly calls into question the ethics of the situation. So much for transparency in this administration.

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GIGGIN’ AT HOME PLATE: Former state Rep. Mari Manoogian (DBirmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Bloomfield Township) has a new gig, as political director of The Next 50. According to Manoogian, it’s a national PAC which supports 50 Democrats under 50 years old in swing districts every two years and help build a network to invest in them and their communities, and have already endorsed Michigan Senate candidate Rep. Elissa Slotkin. On their leadership council is Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow. Manoogian, who was under consideration for a variety of other jobs, including in the Biden and Whitmer administrations, said she is excited for this job because it is remote, allowing her to stay local and help care for her mother, who is battling Alzheimer’s disease, and still find and identify candidates nationwide to support.

BETTER THAN REMEMBERED : Remember when former President Donald Trump claimed he had received Michigan’s “Man of the Year” award – but no one had ever heard of it because it had never existed? Seems the Oakland County Republican Party is preparing to make good by presenting Trump with a “Man of the Decade” award on June 25 when Trump appears at the party’s Lincoln Day dinner at the Suburban Collection in Novi. According to a post on the party’s Facebook page, “President Trump’s unparalleled leadership, unwavering dedication to conservative values, and relentless pursuit of American greatness have left an indelible mark on our country and the world.” So who gets the “Man of the Millennium” award?