Downtown newsmagazine | Birmingham/Bloomfield

SEPTEMBER 2019

BOTTLED

WATER N QUALITY? CAN WE COUNT O

PLUS

VOTING SECURITY

LOCAL PREPARATION

OAKLAND CONFIDENTIAL POLITICAL GOSSIP

METRO INTELLIGENCER SOCIETY NOTEBOOK

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DOWNTOWN09.19

38

Bottled water: Can consumers count on quality?

Bottled water consumption continues to grow but questions remain on whether bottled water is safer than tap water and whether consumers are provided sufficient information about the quality of the water, the same concerns that were raised nearly a decade ago.

LONGFORM

26

While in recent elections Michigan's voting system was not rated very highly in terms of security, state and local officials have made great strides to assure the sanctity of the process.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

14

The appointment process to name a replacement for L. Brooks Patterson looks more like a back-alley scrum for power rather than a consideration of what is truly best for Oakland County residents.

CRIME LOCATOR

19

A recap of select categories of crime occurring in the past month in Birmingham, Bloomfield Township and Bloomfield Hills, presented in map format.

OAKLAND CONFIDENTIAL

20

The woes of county commissioner Shelley Taub; possible Tom Barrett vs Elissa Slotkin showdown; special PAC money to flood state; the Ruth Johnson question; Tina Barton rules out 2020; plus more.

MUNICIPAL

53

Two ballot questions fail; court restraining order for Birmingham; Pierre Boutros candidacy questioned; Baldwin Library renovations; new city fire chief; township manager issue; plus more

THE COVER Cover design: Chris Grammer

CORRECTION In our story, "Flowing uphill: Great Lakes Water Authority report card after three years" (Downtown/August 2019), a paragraph which began "As drinking water capacity has increased," should have said "As drinking water demand has decreased."

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Carol Himelhoch

METRO INTELLIGENCER

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Writer/reporter Dana Casadei helps us provide quick takes on what is happening in the world of food and drink in the metro Detroit area.

SOCIETY NOTEBOOK

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Society Notebook reporter Gigi Nichols provides the latest news and snapshots from the society and non-profit circuit fundraising events.

ENDNOTE

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The post-election issues now facing Bloomfield Township; the lesson in Birmingham about the rights of citizens when it comes to commenting at public meetings.

FACES

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Pat Nagle Charles Green Lori Goldman Carol Himelhoch John Ivanko

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FROM THE PUBLISHER hose of us who have been around for a while all have our memorable stories to tell about interactions with L. Brooks Patterson during his four terms as county prosecutor and seven terms as Oakland County Executive – some more private in nature and others that have received public airing in the media, all involving his wit and acerbic observations, politically correct or not, about the world of politics and the players in that ongoing drama.

T

appointment meeting the morning of Patterson's funeral.

Board chair Gershenson cancels Thursday, August 15, meeting and calls for meeting of the board on Friday, August 16, where an “appointment may be considered.”

Oakland County Treasurer Meisner announces that he will not be submitting an application for the appointment, reaffirming his earlier stance that voters, not politicians, should be making the decision and that he will still be seeking the post in 2020.

The more private conversations will remain just that, out of respect for Patterson who died in early August after losing a battle with pancreatic cancer. But I will share one moment that took place in his office while Patterson was still Oakland County prosecutor just before he took a break from public service to reenter private law practice to raise money for his children's future education, only to return years later as county executive.

August 10, Saturday: Oakland County Republican Chairperson Rocky Raczkowski issues position missive to GOP county board members asking that Republicans not break rank and vote for a Democrat as an interim county exec. Among other position statements, Raczkowski defends cost of special election to determine the next interim county executive who would serve until the end of 2020, when a permanent county exec, chosen in the 2020 November general election, would take over. Two days later, the GOP county chair calls for the Michigan Attorney General, state lawmakers and the FBI to investigate alleged deals.

The conversation took place in his office at the county complex as we were comparing notes as to who he might hope would take over as prosecutor when he was going to leave office. Patterson's critique of potential suitors for the office was based not just on who had the necessary skill set for the office of prosecutor and the political wherewithal to win the office in a general election. Instead, he drew the conclusion that the first concern for that office, as well as the office of county executive, was whether the candidate had the ethics that were required to hold either office.

In rough recollection of how he phrased it, Patterson noted that when someone became either the prosecutor or county executive, the electorate had to be assured that once they navigated the labyrinth of corridors at the county complex and entered the physical office far removed from the residents that the office holder would have high ethical values to bring to bear on business conducted in the name of county citizens.

It was an interesting framing of what was the most important consideration, both then and today, as county commissioners grapple with how to fill the vacancy created by the passing of Patterson, which brings us full circle to the gamesmanship we’ve seen on display at the county complex in recent weeks.

What we see on display today in the appointment process is more like a back-alley scrum for power rather than a consideration of what is truly best for Oakland County and its citizens, with a county board that had a partisan split of 11 Democrats and 10 Republicans until county board chairperson (Democrat Dave Woodward) who resigned in order to be appointed as county executive prior to the 2020 scheduled election.

August 15, Thursday: Woodward reportedly is going to withdraw his application for appointment, one day after being interviewed for the job by a two-Dem committee (the GOP member walked out in protest over the makeup of the panel). And we are told Woodward is still on the commission because the board never acted on his resignation.

Oh, and let's not forget commissioner Shelley Taub (R-Birmingham/Bloomfield area) sending out an email to her caucus buddies telling them to delete any emails relative to the appointment just as a TV station was filing an FOIA request for the same.

In a few words: political drama that equals the best of daytime soap operas or evening reality television shows. A number of Oakland County appointments have been made in past years, but none have been this messy and disorganized. And none have involved the political intrigue that has engulfed this county board. The only thing missing is the clown car.

The unfortunate part of the current malaise – the impact on Oakland's future could be immense.

An interim county executive appointed by the board will more than likely be a Democrat. Holding the exec spot heading into the 2020 elections is expected to give any appointed incumbent a leg up when it comes to both a primary and general election next year.

Let's look at what has transpired since Patterson's death.

August 3, Saturday: L. Brooks Patterson passes at 5:30 a.m. Oakland County Chief Deputy Executive Gerald Poisson, as provided by state law, takes the oath of office to become interim Oakland County Executive. As also provided by county charter, the clock starts a 30-day period for the county board to appoint an executive or a special election would be scheduled to determine the next executive.

August 6, Tuesday: Board chair Woodward, a previously announced candidate for the executive spot in the 2020 election, calls a county board meeting for Thursday, August 8, to appoint a county executive. Oakland County Treasurer Andy Meisner (D), also a previously announced candidate for county executive in 2020, issues a press release calling for “voters, not politicians,” to “choose elected leaders.” Meisner adds that if an appointment is going to take place, it should be “an open and transparent process.”

August 7, Wednesday: Woodward resigns, no doubt in anticipation of being appointed by board members the following day as county executive thanks to rumored backroom agreements worked out with some members of the Republican members of the commission. Newly empowered board chairperson Marcia Gershenson (D-Bloomfield) announces that she has cancelled the Thursday, August 8, meeting and announces that applications will be taken from the public until noon on Tuesday, August 13. A new meeting for considering an appointment has been set for Thursday, August 15, at 9:30 a.m.

August 8, Thursday: Interim county executive Poisson's office issues a press release criticizing Gershenson for her suggestion that the county executive's office is vacant and the appointment must be rushed to create a county budget (already submitted by Poisson's office to the board). Patterson's family criticizes the board holding possible

On the flip side, appointing Woodward as interim executive would lead to a less than ideal transfer of power in Oakland County. Here's why. A great deal of Patterson's success in making Oakland a recognized powerhouse in the state and nation is the quality staff he assembled and nurtured.

These department heads and deputy executives will more than likely leave if Woodward takes the appointment and he more than likely will want to surround himself with his own personnel. So with just over one year left on the current executive term before the end of 2020, staff transitions will take place. Then, if Woodward runs and does not survive the 2020 elections for this post, the key staff positions will turn over once again. More transitions would be detrimental.

The best thing for Oakland County would be to let the current interim county executive continue until later in 2020 after voters have decided the next executive. Poisson, after all, has been at Patterson's side for a considerable length of time and there is a reason he held the key position of chief deputy executive. Patterson's team at the county would no doubt hang in with Poisson until the final decision in 2020, which would be a good thing.

Of course, the county board was scheduled at this writing to make a determination the day after this issue of Downtown newsmagazine went to press. Let's hope sensible heads prevailed and the board scrapped the idea of making a political appointment and appointed Poisson to finish out the term.

David Hohendorf Publisher DavidHohendorf@DowntownPublications.com

PUBLISHER David Hohendorf NEWS EDITOR Lisa Brody NEWS STAFF/CONTRIBUTORS Hillary Brody Anchill | Dana Casadei Kevin Elliott | Austen Hohendorf | Gigi Nichols Bill Seklar | Judith Harris Solomon PHOTOGRAPHY/CONTRIBUTORS Esme McClear | Laurie Tennent | Chris Ward Laurie Tennent Studio ADVERTISING DIRECTOR David Hohendorf ADVERTISING SALES Mark Grablowski GRAPHICS/IT MANAGER Chris Grammer OFFICE 124 W. Maple Birmingham MI 48009 248.792.6464 DISTRIBUTION/SUBSCRIPTIONS Mailed monthly at no charge to most homes in Birmingham, Bloomfield Township and Bloomfield Hills. Additional free copies distributed at high foot-traffic locations in Birmingham/Bloomfield.

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CRIME LOCATOR

NORTH

Map key

Sexual assault

Assault

Murder

Robbery

Breaking/entering

Larceny

Larceny from vehicle

Vehicle theft

Vandalism

Drug offenses

Arson

These are the crimes reported under select categories by police officials in Birmingham, Bloomfield Township and Bloomfield Hills through August 15, 2019.

Placement of codes is approximate.

OAKLAND CONFIDENTIAL 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: OaklndConfidential@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 each month via email.

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NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME: The forecast by a community leader after the passing of Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson on Saturday, August 3, that the jockeying for power was “going to be an absolute shit show,” has certainly come true. It seems the Democrats, who for the first time in over 40 years, had a majority on the county board of commissioners, don’t know what to do with their newfound power. First, as foretold in this column, board chair Dave Woodward (DRoyal Oak) resigned right after he called an emergency board meeting just five days after Patterson’s passing, a necessity by county law to allow him to be appointed executive, a long-stated goal. Insiders had told Downtown that prior to that planned Thursday, August 8, meeting, approximately a half-dozen Republicans had agreed to support Woodward for executive appointment – freezing out main Democratic opponent county treasurer Andy Meisner. Meisner quickly threw sand in that plan, lamenting the lack of transparency and calling for a vote of the public. Commissioners have 30 days to appoint a new exec, or must have a public vote, with Patterson’s chief deputy executive Gerald Poisson having been sworn in as interim exec – so there is someone running the county. New board chair Marcia Gershenson (D-Bloomfield) quickly cancelled that meeting, and said a bipartisan committee would take applications for exec, which she initially said would be made up of four Democrats and two Republicans, (but only consists of her, fellow Democrat Gwen Markham (Novi) and Clarkston Republican Tom Middleton). There could be a possible appointment Friday, August 16 (after initially setting the meeting for Thursday, August 15 – same day as Patterson’s funeral). The latest is Republican caucus chair Mike Gingell (R-Lake Orion) sent a memo to Gershenson demanding parity by adding Tom Kuhn (R-Troy) to the appointment committee, noting that “a balanced committee and a process that is fair and equitable is more important than the current arbitrary date of Friday, August 16.” As of the application deadline for appointment to the county executive post, 21 candidates, many unqualified or joking, applied, with Dave Woodward one of them. Then, Woodward dropped a bomb – he withdrew his application for exec on Thursday, August 15, and withdrew his resignation from the board, once again giving it an 11-10 Democratic majority. Word is the Dems will try to appoint Ferndale Mayor Dave Coulter to finish Patterson’s term. Oakland County GOP Chair Rocky Raczkowski sent out an emergency email entitled “Scam!” in which he said the party planned to ask the court for a restraining order to stop Woodward from rejoining the commission and making the appointment. All the maneuvering and backroom dealing won’t preclude a showdown between Woodward and Meisner in 2020.

EQUAL TIME: The Dems aren’t the only team looking amateurish – without their revered leader, Republicans are dropping the ball, too, as evidenced by longtime commissioner Shelley Taub (RBirmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Bloomfield Township) sending out an email to her fellow teammates to “Delete! Delete!

Delete! Now” all their emails related to possible exec appointment deals in response to a FOIA request from a local television station news department – though she claims she was talking about getting rid of “porn” and any negative comments on their computers. Others are now asking for her resignation, including Andy Meisner – who said there’s the “appearance of criminal wrongdoing” – something that needs an official investigation, even if he has to make the formal TAUB request to law enforcement. It would be a sad legacy for Taub, who is not running for another term.

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SPLIT SCREEN: You wouldn’t – and shouldn’t – call state Sen. Ruth Johnson (R-Holly) indecisive. Make it more torn between two loves. Johnson, who is a former county commissioner, Oakland County Clerk and Michigan Secretary of State, acknowledged that as soon as late Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson announced he would be stepping down in 2020, “people started speculating about me running for the post.” While the current shenanigans at the county board to appoint a temporary exec have folks on both sides of the aisle shaking their heads at the gamesmanship and attempted dealmaking, Johnson said she currently is concentrating on being the best senator she can be, focusing on the important work in front of her. But… “I love Oakland County, that’s for sure. It was an honor to be secretary of state, and tour the state.” But there’s no place like home. She said she’s not ruling anything out for 2020, noting she is still adjusting to being one of 38 senators “when you’re used to doing non-partisan work.

And I’m not making the decisions.” This will likely give the Oakland GOP hope in a county where nothing is as endangered a species as a white male Republican.

DOWNTOWN

09.19

BARRETT VS SLOTKIN? The rumor mill has it that Republicans are digging deep into their bench to find a hitter to take on first-term Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin (D-Rochester, Rochester Hills, northern Oakland, parts of Livingston and Ingham counties), who is racking up a sizable war chest, with over $1 million on hand for her 2020 re-election already – acknowledging she hopes it will intimidate potential opponents. GOP officials have their eye on state Sen. Tom Barrett (R-Potterville), who is in his first term representing the 24th Michigan Senate District, which covers parts of both Eaton and Ingham counties.

Pundits note he also grew up in Oakland County, and served in the military, which could hit two of Slotkin’s main bullet points. Candidates and members of Congress do not have to live in the district they are seeking/serving, BARRETT and Barrett’s current state district is just over the line from the 8th congressional district. He’s being cagey when asked if he is considering moving his family from Eaton to neighboring Lansing in Ingham County to run.

Barrett is one of the state Republicans who filed suit against the state’s new redistricting commission, which voters overwhelmingly approved last November in a move to halt gerrymandering by both parties.

NEW FREQUENCY: Tori Sachs, who took her years working different gigs for former Gov. Rick Snyder and transferred them to become Republican John James campaign manager in 2018, when he ran against Sen. Debbie Stabenow, isn’t running James’ current show – although she’s still lending him a helping hand as he runs against Democratic Sen. Gary Peters in 2020. Now an advocacy professional “with success working in politics and government” as president at Regina Strategies in Lansing, she’s heading up Better Future Michigan, an antiPeters 501(c)(4) group that is running a 15-second internet ad painting Peters as believing that “Medicare for All is the SACHS path forward.” Sachs has said this new endeavor is being funded by those who believe America needs “strong national security and increased economic and educational opportunities.”

TRUMPET TOOTING: Republican women in Michigan’s 11th Congressional District just can’t seem to get enough of President Trump, and the feeling is mutual. In July, the Trump campaign announced 11th District GOP Chair Meshawn Maddock will join its women’s outreach team.

Meshawn – who co-founded the Michigan Trump Republicans, which focuses on countering Trump opposition by focusing on engaging women – is the wife of Michigan House Rep. Matt “MadDog” Maddock (RHighland, Milford, Springfield, White Lake, Waterford), who recently blew up headlines by suggesting Michigan sell the Bluewater Bridge to help fix the state’s roads.

MADDOCK Meshawn will join the national “Women for Trump” coalition. The Tea Party Republican weighed in on Twitter during the Democratic debates, responding to New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s comment about her ability to explain white privilege to suburban mothers: “Gillibrand is a Racist,” Meshawn tweeted. The 11th Congressional District is currently held by Democrat Haley Stevens, who beat Republican challenger Lena Epstein for the seat in 2018. Epstein had co-chaired Trump’s 2016 Michigan campaign.

MONEY TALKS: There is more than a year before the 2020 general election, but some candidates for the Michigan state legislature aren’t waiting for the starting gun before leaving the running blocks. Case in point: 40th House District Rep. Mari Manoogian (DBirmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Bloomfield Township) raised $34,735 between November 27 and July 20. Manoogian, who spent $25,299 during the same time, ended the period with an ending balance of $32,646. Meanwhile, former Oakland County commissioner Dave Potts, who told us in June he hired a “big guns” consultant to help him win the seat for Republicans, has yet to form a candidate committee. Potts recently said he plans a formal announcement September 17. Other House candidates fundraising (and ending balance) totals of note for the pre-election period include: Ferndale Mayor Dave Coulter, $12,842 ($12,078), who is running for the Democratic nomination to the 27th House District, currently held by term-limited Democrat Robert Wittenberg (Huntington Woods, Ferndale, Berkley, Oak Park), who formally announced his run for county treasurer; Royal Oak Democrat and 26th District incumbent Jim Ellison, $9,550 ($4,671); Kyra Harris Bolden of the 35th District (D-Southfield, Beverly Hills, Franklin) $7,103 ($12,197); and 39th District incumbent Ryan Berman (R-West Bloomfield, Commerce Township, Wolverine Lake, Wixom) $19,500 ($27,673). downtownpublications.com

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ELECTION NO-GO: Those looking for Rochester Hills Clerk Tina Barton to ascend the ladder to Oakland County Clerk will have to wait another election cycle. Barton, a Republican, ran in the 2016 Republican primary for the position, but lost to former county clerk Bill Bullard – who then lost to Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown (D). While there have been rumors that Barton has aspirations of higher office – ones she has confirmed – she doesn’t think this is the right time for her, or any Republicans, in Oakland County, noting that it will be a tough road to hoe in 2020 for anyone from the GOP in Oakland County. “I feel I can have a real impact on elections where I am rather than running for office,” Barton said. “I’m happy where I am.”

BARTON

IMPEACH OR NOT: That is the question. And it’s rapidly being answered by more and more of the nation’s congressional Democrats, with the tide firmly turning on Friday August 2, when it was reported that, for the first time, a majority – over 118 – of House Democrats are now calling for an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, despite urges of caution by Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She has been worried it could jeopardize Democrats going into the 2020 election, but it appears the horse has left the barn, especially following not only Robert Mueller’s testimony to Congress that Trump lied in his responses to his questions, but continuing racist attacks by the president on Twitter towards Rep. Elijah Cummings. Michigan Rep. Andy Levin (D-Bloomfield Township, Franklin, Beverly Hills, Royal Oak, Huntington Woods, part of Macomb County), Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-Southfield, Waterford, Farmington Hills, West Bloomfield, Detroit), Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Flint), Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit, Dearborn Heights, Highland Park, Westland) – as well as former Republican, now Independent Rep. Justin Amash of Grand Rapids, have all called for impeachment inquiries to begin. While Reps. Elissa Slotkin (D-Rochester, Rochester Hills, northern Oakland, parts of Livingston and Ingham counties), Haley Stevens (D-Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Troy, western Oakland and Wayne counties) and Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, Allen Park, Taylor, Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti) officially are calling for further investigations, Slotkin told Downtown that impeachment investigations “have started,” and she’s supportive of what the House’s Judiciary Committee is doing. “They have to. It’s logical and they have to go about laying a case, if there is one.” Impeachment is when a legislative body charges an elective official – it does not mean removal from office, although it can.

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BIG PAC BUCKS: Since the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision Citizens United v FEC which permitted freewheeling campaign spending, the gloves have been off and wallets freed in election funding. Political action committees (PACs) now collect huge sums from donors and, wielding enormous clout of the wealthy, swing from the rafters on both sides of the fence. Recent reports are coming in that Priorities USA, a Democratic Super PAC, has plans to flood – as in Noah proportions – swing states before the 2020 elections, with as much as $100 million to boot President Trump from office. But don’t rush to turn off your TV. They’re not planning to spend on traditional advertising, as the PAC’s focus is on social media – by convincing voters that Trump’s economy isn’t working for them. “This should be covered by local news, but local news is dying,” according to Priorities USA Communication Director Josh Schwerin. The PAC plans to spend as much as $1 million a month, with the top targets in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Florida. They also intend to boost content from independent sources.

Schwerin also said they plan to put boots on the ground, with two-man teams in the battleground states, notably in cities like Detroit, Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids “which no longer have daily newspapers.” Hear that Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News?

CONGRESS, ACT TWO? With Rep. Paul Mitchell (R-Shelby Township, most of Macomb, Lapeer, Bay and St. Clair counties) announcing in late July that he would not be seeking a third term in Congress, the rumor mill is working overtime trying to figure out who will run for the perma-red seat. Mitchell, a former businessman who spent almost $3 million of his own money to capture the seat in 2016 – after throwing away $3.5 million in a losing primary in 2014 in an effort to capture the 4th District seat, to Rep. John Moolenaar (RMidland). Mitchell replaced former congresswoman and now Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller, who returned home to St. Clair Shores allegedly because her husband Don, a retired Macomb County judge, was ill. He died in January. Could Miller want to return to DC? She hasn’t said – but did publicly disparage Mitchell, who in his retirement announcement said he wanted to spend more time with his special needs son and from the House floor complained that “Rhetoric overwhelms policy and politics consumes much of the oxygen in this city.” “Rep. Mitchell’s comments on his departure from Congress leave something to be desired,” Miller said in a press statement. “The time is right now for a person to step forward who fully appreciates the opportunity and the responsibility that comes with serving as the ember of Congress from this great district and can truly represent the people of Michigan’s 10th.” State Sen. Pete Lucido (R-Shelby Township) would be a local Republican favorite if he ran, which odds-makers are giving as 50-50, and state Sen. Dan Lauwers, former state Sen. Phil Pavlov, Rep. Shane Hernandez and former Rep. Pete Lund are all contemplating the Republican nomination.

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Pat Nagle rofessional hockey player Pat Nagle grew up in Bloomfield Hills surrounded by the game, learning how to skate on Watkins Lake in Waterford with one of his best friends.

"My dad played growing up, and my neighbor at the time was Paul Woods, who does color commentary for the Red Wings and played for them. His son is one of my best buddies, and we grew up together," Nagle said. "It kind of went from there, playing in AAA for Belle Tire and Compuware.

"My father played and did the same stuff and stopped after college.

Hockey runs heavy in his blood, and he kept me interested and helped out by coaching when I was younger. He's still convinced that I became a goal tender so he couldn't yell at me. I always thought it was neat that they had a cool mask and had similarities to a catcher in baseball."

After graduating from Lahser High School, Nagle played for Ferris State University, then was signed to a contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning, playing professionally for the team's ECHL team, the Florida Everblades, helping the team win the league's Kelly Cup. He was then called up to the Lightning's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals, for their Calder Cup championship.

More recently, Nagle has played for the Detroit Red Wings affiliate teams the Grand Rapids Griffins, in the AHL, and the Toledo Walleye, in the ECHL, where he served as starting goal tender in the Kelly Cup finals.

Formerly known as the East Coast Hockey League, the ECHL is a midlevel minor league, while the AHL is the top-tier minor league. While both are competitive, some consider the AHL to focus more on development for the major league NHL teams. While it isn't uncommon for players to go back and forth between leagues, goal tenders are a little different breed.

"That happens often where each organization has different ways to going about things, and you get transferred, but more for goalies," Nagle said. "It happens with forwards and defensemen, too, but with goalies, one day you're starting in the AHL, and the next you're backing up in the EHCL. It's all part of the process."

In Toledo, Nagle is a veteran player who is key to the team's postseason success. The team, which has recently drawn higher crowds than the famed Toledo Mud Hens – the AAA affiliate of the Detroit Tigers – and has earned the best record in the conference for four seasons. He's also played three seasons for the Fort Wayne Komets, the team's top rival.

"It's always tough. I have buddies on both teams," Nagle said about being traded. "But for me, it was good to be back in the Detroit system.

It's funny how things work."

With both Red Wings affiliate teams within hours of metro Detroit, Nagle is able to stay relatively close to home, whether he's driving to Toledo or Grand Rapids.

"I'm married now and have a house here. As you get older in your career, you start to appreciate those things," he said. "For the first five years, I did a lot of bouncing around. It was fun when I was younger and single, and it's part of the process. But as you get older, it's nice to have a little more reliability and know where you're going to end up."

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Story: Kevin Elliott

SAFEGUARDING THE ELECTIONS: MICHIGAN NOW RANKED AS HAVING ONE OF THE MOST SECURE SYSTEMS

BY LISA BRODY

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ree and fair elections are a central pillar of our democracy. Voting is not only a right granted to citizens in the United States, but as we have seen around the world, a privilege many of us sometimes take for granted. Most of us have long assumed that we can show up at our local polling precinct, present our required identification, make our personal and private choices, and we're done, with the knowledge that our votes are safe, secure and reliably counted.

Then came the 2016 election, and doubts were seeded that maybe American elections weren't so secure after all.

To continue to have free and open elections in every future cycle, we all need to have confidence that our elections are safe, our voting machines are secure, and we are free from election manipulation and interference. The good news is that on the state and local level, Michigan election officials and county and local clerks are working overtime to achieve those goals, and by and large are succeeding. Nationally, efforts are underway to counter hacking and unscrupulous efforts to impact elections. National experts now view Michigan as a leader in election safety and security, having improved its vulnerability to security risks from as recently as the 2016 election.

As we now know, the 2016 Presidential Election Investigation Fast Facts explained and the Mueller Report confirmed, there were numerous hacking incidents and efforts to interfere with the 2016 presidential elections, from Russian hackers, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and the Russian government. Intelligence about these efforts was shared “with lawmakers suggesting Russia's purpose for meddling in the election was to sway voters towards Trump, rather than broadly undermining confidence in the system,�

Fast Facts noted. By September 2017, in a blog post, Facebook stated that more than 3,000 advertisements during the previous election cycle posted on their social network between June 2015 and May 2017 were linked to Russia.

The Washington Post reported the ads came from a Russian company called the Internet Research Agency.

It was reported that a number of the Russian-linked Facebook ads were geographically targeted to reach residents in Michigan and Wisconsin.

Further, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) notified certain selected states that hackers had targeted their election infrastructure before the November 8, 2016 vote. DHS stated that although vote counting systems were not impacted, computer networks containing voter information may have been scanned by Russian hackers.

Some states did report attempts to infiltrate their systems, although election officials in Michigan have said the state was not penetrated, largely because of Michigan's decentralized system of voting, where authority is held by county and local clerks, and not at the state level, making it more difficult to infiltrate with its numerous authorities and diffusions of control.

“There is no evidence voting machines in Michigan have been compromised or that votes have been changed,” stated Michael Doyle, Michigan Secretary of State communications office. “However, postelection audits are a critical safeguard to detect any attempt to compromise voting equipment. Every precinct uses paper ballots, which are retained and can be reviewed and recounted.” ichigan is one of eight states in the United States that administers elections on a local level. As Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson pointed out, “Involving 83 county clerks, 280 city clerks and 1,240 township clerks, Michigan's elections system is administered by 1,603 county and local election officials making it the most decentralized elections system in the nation.”

The United States does not have one electoral system, nor one organization or federal department that oversees elections throughout the country, which dates back to the creation of our federal government system. Unlike some other countries, such as Canada and Australia, which have parliamentary governments run by independent government electoral commissions, our federal system means that each state controls its own elections, with elections run by state and local governments.

The highly decentralized nature of Michigan's election system can be traced to the small town traditions of 17th century New England. In Michigan, it gives responsibility to 83 county clerks and numerous local clerks.

“The first organized local governments on the American continent, New England towns of the 17th century, gave rise to town meetings and the election of citizens to locally controlled offices and boards,” the secretary of state website said. “From New England, the concept of local self-governance spread south and west to a number of midAtlantic states and most of the midwest, including Michigan. The establishment of townships in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin is rooted in the county and township governments put in place in the region after the enactment of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. Today, Michigan is one of 20 states in the nation that maintains a township level of government.”

In Michigan, state election law designates the secretary of state as Michigan's "chief election officer" with supervisory control over local election officials in the performance of their election related duties.

The secretary of state oversees the board of state canvassers, bureau of elections, county clerks, county election commissions, board of county canvassers, city and township clerks, city and township election commissions and city and township boards of canvassers.

That does not mean that the secretary of state's office is capable of providing all of the funding for elections, whether they're a presidential election or a local contest. Most local municipalities shoulder much of the costs of elections, from training and staffing electoral staff to counts and audits. The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) said, “Elections are usually run at the county level, though in several New England and Midwestern states they are run at the city or township level. This means that there are more than 10,000 jurisdictions that have primary responsibility for running elections in the country.”

In Michigan, the state reimburses localities only for the actual costs of statewide special elections.

More of the financial burden, in the last 50 years, has been moved to states from local jurisdictions, NCSL said. “This transition began with the civil rights legislation of the 1960’s, but accelerated in the 1990’s and 2000’s.”

A big push began in 1933 with the National Voter Registration Act, which required state election offices to work with state departments of

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motor vehicles and other agencies to offer voter registration, leading to our voter registration rolls.

Yet, voting equipment, training and/or compensation for local election officials, certain types of elections, ballots, voter information dissemination, and statewide voter registration databases required by Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002, are costs that the state can chip in to offset county and locals costs.

“State and local election officials are on the front lines of a cyberwar with sophisticated nation-state rivals and other malevolent actors,” a paper, “Defending Elections: Federal Funding Needs for State Election Security” by the Brennan Center for Justice, stated. “It is not reasonable to expect each of these state and local election offices to independently defend against hostile nation-state actors.”

The Brennan Center paper pointed out that in 2016, Russian hackers penetrated computer networks in two counties in Florida, using information they had gleaned from a software vendor, and that same software vendor “may have opened a gap for hackers to alter the voter rolls in North Carolina… Episodes like these undermine faith in our democratic system, and steps must be taken to prevent them from occurring again.”

So how do we know our elections are safe and secure, and the votes we cast are true? A series of steps undertaken on all levels of government are working to ensure just that, from new voting machines purchased in 2017 in every single municipality in Michigan, utilizing paper ballots which then leave a paper trail, instituting audits, and working to combat cybersecurity infiltration and misinformation on social media.

“Nationally, the threat from foreign interference is real. Anyone in government who has looked at this, on both sides of the aisle, recognize the Russians definitely interfered with the 2016 election, and it's continuing for 2020, and maybe other bad actors will jump in as well,” said David Becker, executive director, Center for Election Innovation & Research. “The main goal isn't to change votes – that's really hard to do, and is even harder than in 2016. But the goal is to have voters in the U.S. and other countries lose confidence in elections and in their democracy – and we know they have been widely successful in that.” ecker, who also serves on Michigan's Election Assistance Commission (EAC), explained how that is being achieved. “We have seen candidates questioning election results and refusing to accept the results of elections – sometimes when they win; especially when the lose. They're using terms like 'the elections are rigged.' It's damaging to the fabric of democracy.”

“Elections are the foundation of our republic and our indirect democracy. It is the fundamental process that citizens engage in their democracy, and they're critical,” said David Dulio, director of the Center for Civic Engagement at Oakland University and a professor of political science. He said it's logical that Russia and other foreign governments would have an interest in who wins or loses in our elections.

“It's one thing for citizens and political junkies to engage in nefarious social media postings, but for Russian Facebook postings, which is what I understand they were, none of that is okay,” Dulio said.

“It is more of a problem when a foreign entity does it. What we want is a healthy and productive debate and anytime something leads us away from that, it's a problem.”

Becker concurred. “The goal is to undermine confidence in elections, and in this way Russia has been very successful,” he said.

“When nations like the United States are preoccupied with divisions and with results of elections, the autocrats win. Democracy is the threat to autocracy.”

“These kinds of activities have been seen in other parts of the world, in Eastern Europe, Russia,” Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin (DRochester, Rochester Hills) said. “As a CIA officer and at the Pentagon, I watched them fight tooth and nail to stop Montenegro from entering NATO (applied in December 2009; accepted June 2017). From what I read in the Mueller Report and assessment reports from intelligence, and now that I'm in Congress, in classified reports, it's just an amped

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up version of what we've seen the Russians do in other countries,” pointing out that in the Mueller Report, the third-highest ranking individual at Facebook reported the Russians paid for $100,000 worth of social media ads and disinformation in 2016, reaching $129 million worth of Americans. “It's incredible. That's a phenomenal return on investment.

“We know that Michigan and other swing states were particularly targeted,” Slotkin continued.

Slotkin, along with Republican colleague Rep. Mike Sherill of New Jersey, and five other freshman Democrats, in June 2018 created the Task Force Sentry, focused on crafting legislation to keep foreign adversaries from interfering with the U.S. political system. Each week, the seven freshman members of Congress meet in secret in a spare House conference room to hear a speaker, read reports, go over information or discuss a problem they feel their more senior colleagues haven't done enough to address – election security. Each of them come from a background in the military, CIA or technology field. “It's the first bipartisan response to Russian intervention in Congress,” Slotkin pointed out. “In Congress, most of the work is done by staffers. This is unusual because we're doing it.”

The task force wasn't meant to be small, or exclusive. “I opened it up to everyone,” she said, “but only freshman showed up.”

Recently, she said, the head of election security in Michigan presented to the task force. “We saw horrible, despicable ads and posts about Muslims and African Americans,” Slotkin said. “To me, no foreign entity, no foreign government should be able to influence our election, or be able to purchase an ad on social media. I felt it was a real gap in protecting us in 2020.”

In late July, Slotkin, along with Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL) and Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), introduced the FIRE (Foreign Influence Reporting in Elections) Act, a bill that would help prevent foreign interference in U.S. elections by requiring political campaigns to report attempts by foreigners to influence U.S. elections to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and FBI. The FIRE Act stipulates that any foreign nationals attempting to make campaign contributions or offer information or coordination must be reported to federal authorities within a week.

The bill would apply to all campaigns, from presidential to state to local races.

Slotkin said she has been working with Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), to get her bill to be an amendment to one of Lofgren's bills, “so it moves things along faster,” and not get bogged down in committee as a stand-alone bill. Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) has introduced a similar bill in the Senate. ne of her greatest concerns, Slotkin said, is the ability for someone to manipulate the results of an election. “What if Fox reported one set of results, and another channel reported another set – who do people believe? It would sow dissension and distrust,” she pointed out. “We have to be sure we're protecting every link in the chain. Everything needs to be checked and rechecked.”

On a more local level, when we go to vote in Michigan, work from two different successive secretary of states to county clerks and local municipal clerks are making our elections much more secure and impervious to potential manipulation and intrusion.

As recently as 2016, there were concerns about Michigan's elections and the safety and security of voting machines. At that time, Michigan received a “C” rating nationally on its machines by the Democracy and Government Reform at the Center for American Progress. Liz Kennedy, senior director at the center, said Michigan's paper ballots were a reassurance, but they were concerned about the lack of mandatory audits. Skip ahead just three years, and experts all over the country are pointing to Michigan as a state going about elections in the right way.

“The good news in Michigan is Michigan is ahead of the game,” Center for Election & Research's David Becker stated.

Key important steps are everyone in Michigan votes on paper ballots that are hand marked, then inserted into scannable machines.

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And absolutely nothing is connected to the internet, not even voter registration identification rolls, which if they are transmitted to election workers are done over secure networks similar to secured cellular phone lines. And Michigan has been a national pioneer in something called risk-limiting post election audits, where a percentage of scanned ballots are then rechecked for accuracy after the election for verification.

“Michigan has taken steps to keep our election system secure and will continue to make the necessary improvements in advance of upcoming elections,” Doyle, with the Michigan Secretary of State, said.

“The secretary of state and bureau of elections are building on several longstanding accuracy and integrity practices and are drawing on the expertise of local and national experts, including those who Secretary (Jocelyn) Benson has asked to serve on an Election Security Advisory Commission. Members are advising the department on the implementation of reforms and best practices. One of her first acts as secretary of state was to join the Electronic Registration Information Center, a multi-state partnership to ensure that voter rolls are as accurate as possible.”

He said Benson also plans to expand risk-limiting post election audits, to standardize poll worker training, and to work the state legislature and governor to enact tough penalties for election equipment tampering.

Election voter equipment and its technology was updated by Benson's predecessor, former Secretary of State, now state Sen. Ruth Johnson (R-Holly), in 2017 and 2018. Johnson was previously Oakland County Clerk for two terms, and currently chairs the state Senate's elections committee. ollowing the 2016 election, “the federal government mandated everyone get new machines,” Johnson said.

Over the years following the 2000 presidential election, and the debacle with Florida's “hanging chads,” lots of voting machines that were old and obsolete throughout the state had been upgraded, including in Oakland County and Detroit, and as she pointed out, there are a lot of election machines in the city of Detroit. “We had machines that were very good.

Detroit had gotten lots of new ones, and that's a lot of precincts. The feds just dropped a bomb on county clerks that they had to get new machines. “(As secretary of state), I was very concerned to make sure we had good machines that worked for our clerks,” she continued, noting that for 99 percent of the year, voting machines are stored away, they need to be kept clean and temperature controlled. “As we came around, I had saved a lot of federal money – about $30 million – from HAVA (Help America Vote Act). I went to Governor Snyder numerous times, and he became for it, and then the governor and legislature added $10 million, so I had $40 million. I didn't want some communities to have new machines and others not. So we got $40 million to give to all Michigan communities for new machines.

“The other machines were 10 years old, and technology had changed. Elections are too important to rely on old equipment,” Johnson said.

The equipment was first used in the 2018 primary elections.

The requirements of having paper ballots which can also print out more ballots, that are scannable, with built-in layers of security utilizing the latest technology narrowed the field to three national companies with equipment: Election Systems and Software (ES&S) of Omaha, Nebraska; Hart InterCivic of Austin, Texas; and Dominion Voting Systems of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Each county in Michigan could choose which machine system to go with for their local municipalities. If counties chose ES&S, which cost about $52 million, the state would pick up 100 percent of the cost of the new machines for the municipalities. If they chose, Dominion, the cost was about $70 million, with the state paying 82 percent of the cost. The most expensive machines were Hart InterCivic, at $82 million, with the state paying up to 72.6 percent of the costs. In addition, local communities had to pay between $1,000 and $2,000 per precinct for the new machines.

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The people have spoken and we have heard you.

On Tuesday, August 6 voters in Bloomfield Township rejected a proposed Public Safety Special Assessment District. This proposal was made to deal with a change in state law that requires us to significantly revise how the Township funds health care and retirement benefits for certain Township retirees.

The Township Board of Trustees could have implemented this without putting it on the ballot. But we wanted the people to have a voice in this. They have, and as I indicated, we have heard you.

Over the next few months we will be looking at all options available and making the choices that will be required to balance the budget. Our focus now is on the future. We look forward as a board and the community as a whole to move in the right direction.

Let’s all work together as neighbors and friends for the good of our home town. With your support the right choices will be made.

Leo Savoie Supervisor Paid for by Committee to Protect Our Police and Fire, PO Box 7799, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301

Bloomfield Township Clerk Jan Roncelli, who was on the selection committee for Oakland County, said while all the machines met the qualifications, Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown made the final decision to go with Hart. Roncelli and Rochester Hills Clerk Tina Barton both said they have been pleased with Hart, with the company regularly servicing and updating the machines and software.

Joe Rozell, director of elections, Oakland County, said they went with Hart because they are federally certified, while ES&S is not. While a majority of Michigan companies went with Dominion, Brown said they came equipped with only 2G, while Hart is upgraded to 3G. “We went through the state RFP certification process, and I sat on the committees with the key people at the state level, in IT with Department of Technology, Management and Budget and cybersecurity,” Rozell said.

“I negotiated better terms with Hart for the county, including that Hart had to open a county office in Oakland County,” Brown said. “I wanted to make sure we had support for our local clerks.” oyle, from Benson's Secretary of State's office, said all of the machines are next generation optical scan machines. “The machines have better technology, but, as before, still use paper ballots scanned through electronic tabulators and they aren't connected to the internet. Paper ballots are widely considered a best practice for election security.”

This summer, the Associated Press (AP) wrote that new voting machines by ES&S and Hart are running on old software that will be outdated and vulnerable to hackers – notably because they use Windows 7 operating systems that reach its “end of life” in early 2020 – before the 2020 primaries and national election.

“That's a red herring issue,” said Marian K. Schneider, president, Verified Voting, a non-partisan non-profit that advocates for legislation and regulation that promotes accuracy, transparency and verifiability of elections. “It doesn't matter which operating system or software it's using because it only matters if you can check and verify the voting.”

Hart sent out an email to all local clerks countering the AP's information, stating “Hart's Verity Voting devices do not run on Windows 7. Recent press coverage...misidentified Verity's actual operating system, Windows Embedded 7 (WES7). WES7 is a separate operating system from Windows 7...(and) is a customizable operating system that provides enhanced security.”

Hart assured officials that they will transition to a minimized, embedded version of Windows 10 years prior to WES7's projected end of life, and it is in the midst of partnering with Microsoft on ElectionGuard, an open-source software development kit and support tools to allow voting system vendors, like Hart, to implement verification within a voting system, which enables both election workers and members of the public to verify that an election was counted accurately.

Further removing concerns that voting machines are tainted is that they are not connected to the internet.

“Election workers never download anything,” Barton said. “Our IT people make sure all of the security measures are up-to-date on the electronic poll books. They strip them down and clean everything.

They also provide paper copies of everything, every poll book. At every precinct, if something were to be broken, we could carry on just like we used to.”

She said they are also in regular contact with the Department of Homeland Security, and she sits on the Michigan Election Assistance Commission with Matt Masterson from the Department of Homeland Security.

“This is a non-partisan issue. This is what we need to do as a country to safeguard our elections,” she said.

Cybersecurity threats and potential hacking concerns are a national and constant concern. Doyle said there is no evidence voting machines in Michigan have been compromised or that votes have been changed.

“Cybersecurity has become the major focus and emphasis for everyone. With election machines and software, there is no technology anywhere that is not unhackable,” said David Becker. “It's a

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continuum. You want to develop a system that can detect hacks, counteract them and mitigate the results. It's protect, defend and mitigate.

“Michigan has good practices because it has hand-marked ballots,” he continued. “The most important is best practices around audits. You want to protect your systems. Audits will detect that.”

He explained with a paperless vote – something that 16 states still have – there is only a digital record, which the public cannot see if a count needs to be confirmed, and it is more susceptible to manipulation.

“It's very hard to do a recount or audit in a transparent way with digital, and with cyber threats, I would not advocate that today,” Becker said.

Schneider, of Verified Voting, noted the importance of detecting if something goes wrong if it does happen.

“There are more safeguards in place than in 2016 and 2018,” she said. A critical issue is providing clerks with the resources they need to do their job. “So if we're counting ballots by computers, you have to make sure there is a verifiable process to assure that machine is reflecting your choice – so the machine is printing what they chose.”

As for remote voting, whether from laptops, smart phones or other devices – in today's world, it's not a secure option. Even military personnel who vote remotely must follow up with a mailed-in paper ballot.

“Any time voting is done over the internet you deal with interference and with the threat landscape because you open it up to greater possibilities,” Schneider said. “Cybersecurity experts agree there is no way to secure a vote over the internet, including sending it by email, fax or uploading to web portals or voting by phone or tablet. There's just too much risk, and there's no mechanism to detect if something has gone wrong and be able to recover it. The first has to do with being able to authenticate the user and permit that only one ballot is issued. You can't track back like you can with almost any other transaction online. The ballots are separated from the voter's identity, because they're secret ballots.” he last step to strong, safe elections is performing audits post-elections, which is being piloted in Michigan currently and a priority for Secretary of State Benson. Rochester Hills was one of the first localities to undergo a risk-limiting audit, in December 2018, taking a sample of ballots that provides a statistical balance that can then go back and verify machine to hand-marked ballot, to make sure they match.

If there is a hack, there would not be a match, and every single hand-marked ballot would then be hand-counted.

“Audits can pull for candidates, proposals, anything. If it matches statistically with the machine and ballots, it means the machine meets the threshold of confidence,” Rochester Hills' Barton said.

“I think Michigan is in a very strong position heading into the 2020 election,” said Liz Howard, counsel, Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan public policy and law institute that focuses on fundamental issues of democracy and justice. “We worked with election officials across the country to pilot risk-limiting audits. The first was conducted in Oakland County – Tina Barton was the first, and she has been terrific. For the first round of testing, we had officials from around the country come and observe what you were doing and testing. You have been a hub and a lab for these procedures.

“Michigan is one of the leaders in the country in risk-limiting audits,” Howard continued, noting that state law does not mandate it in Michigan – only Colorado, Nevada, Rhode Island and Virginia currently require them – “but election officials are doing this voluntarily, figuring out what to do to make elections more secure.

“No machine is 100 percent secure, but when you couple them with paper ballots and low voltage audits, it's resilient,” Howard said. “In the event of any interference, whether intentional or unintentional, it can reflect the voter's intent.”

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Charles Green hey say that good things come to those who wait – and that's especially true with nature photography.

"My friends tell me I have an incredible amount of patience. I think that's the most important part, other than how to put things together in composition," said photographer Charles Green, who took up the camera in 1996, after retiring from the U.S. Coast Guard. "Good photography is all about the effective use and management of light. The elements are the composition and using the right technique for exposure, and f-stop, and things like that."

Green's photos have been exhibited at the Bloomfield Township Public Library, and have been shown at The Community House, Beaumont Hospital and can be found in a number of private homes in the Birmingham-Bloomfield area.

Specializing in nature photography, patience is a key when waiting for lighting, animals and other parts of the picture to align just right. Likewise, staging a shot in a precarious spot with limited light can be both tedious and dangerous.

"I found my camera took me places," he said. "I've been in the mountains in Wyoming, the swamps in Florida, and I've blown out tendons in my right knee in Arches National Park near Moab, Utah. I had to use my tripod as a crutch."

The accident happened while Green was shooting the moon under a stone arch as the sun was rising. Despite the injury, he continued to shoot for three more days, sliding on the ground or using his tripod as a crutch to get in and out of where he wanted to shoot.

"I wasn't going to sit around for three days and feel sorry for myself, and go without getting images I knew I wanted," he said.

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In Yellowstone National Park, Green spent three hours photographing a wolf lioness before getting the shot that matched the one in his mind's eye.

"That's part of the creative process," he said. "If you throw enough spaghetti against the wall, something is going to stick."

Outside of shooting photos, Green competes in precision rifle shooting at the national level. The sport requires shooters to try to get five rounds in the same hole from 100 yards, in some cases landing shots less than a half-tenth of an inch away from each other.

As for photography, Green picked it up after retiring from the Coast Guard, which he served in from 1964 to 1996, retiring as a full commander. It was after that he saw a listing at The Birmingham Community House in Birmingham for a photo class with professional photographer Monte Nagler.

"He was an excellent teacher, and he kind of inspired me," he said.

After that, Green interned with another professional photographer who taught him more about lighting and how best to control it. Years later, Green helped form and coach a photography club with Birmingham Next.

While he enjoys traveling to far away places to photograph nature, he said there are plenty of places to take stunning photographs in the area.

"One place I've enjoyed was at the Cranbrook Gardens. A lot of people don't know they have a Japanese Garden in the corner with a bright red bridge that goes over the pond with a waterfall," he said. "I thought it would be spectacular in the snow, and that red bridge really popped against the snow... You can't go to Cranbrook and not see wonderful things."

Story: Kevin Elliott

Photo: Laurie Tennent

ore than seven out of 10 Americans – 72 percent – say bottled water is their most preferred non-alcoholic beverage, followed by coffee, 61 percent, and then soft drinks, 59 percent, according to a recent Harris Poll conducted on behalf of the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA). And that preference for bottled water is rising.

"The results of this poll are consistent with recent consumption figures that show, for a third year in a row, bottled water is the number one packaged beverage in the United States," said Jill Cullora, vice president of communications for the water association.

What's more, those who had negative views of bottled water are decreasing, from about 14 percent in 2017 to 10 percent in 2018. However, not everyone is on board the bottled water train.

"The issues of whether bottled water is generally safer than tap water, whether consumers are provided sufficient information about the quality of their bottled water, and whether the federal and state resources being expended are sufficient to ensure the safety and quality of bottled water, are just as relevant nearly a decade later, especially since bottled water consumption has doubled," Natural Resources Defense Council Attorney Mae Wu testified to a Senate committee in 2009, referencing a report on bottled water written by the council a decade prior. "In addition, over the past few years, awareness and concern has grown over the environmental and health implications of the enormous consumption of bottled water, including the contribution of solid waste to landfills from the bottles, the effect on water scarcity in some source areas, and the large amount of oil expended in the production and transport of bottled water across the country and around the world, including its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions."

The testimony, now more than a decade old, remains relevant, as little has changed in ways of federal or state regulation of bottled water. Unlike municipal tap water, which must undergo quality testing that is required to be shared with the public annually, information about the source and quality of bottled water is largely lacking. And, while Michigan is now addressing PFAS and lead contamination in tap water, recent issues around the country indicate bottled products aren't immune from contamination issues.

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he Massachusetts Department of Public Health in July issued a bottled water consumption advisory stating that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) were found in certain bottled water products containing spring water from the Spring Hill Farm Dairy, in Haverhill, Massachusetts. The chemicals were found at levels that the health department recommends not be consumed by people who are pregnant or breastfeeding, or by bottle-fed infants. The advisory follows a similar one in New Hampshire, where a spokesman for that state's environmental services department recommended the water not be used by anyone in the public. The bottled water products in that state tested between 61.6 parts per trillion and 68.6 parts per trillion, below the federal Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) limit of 70 parts per trillion.

PFAS are chemicals used extensively in industrial and consumer products to provide a non-stick surface resistant to water, grease or stains. They have also been used in some firefighting foams and cookware. In Michigan, PFAS has been found in more than 10,000 sites.

Exposure has been linked to various health issues, including cancer, liver, thyroid and pancreas problems, hormone disruption and other concerns.

Spring Hill Farm Dairy initially announced it would install new equipment that would filter out PFAS chemicals. However, the company, which provides water in Massachusetts to Whole Foods, CVS and other locations, has since announced it will cease all water bottling operations.

In response to the contamination, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (DConn.) urged the FDA to set a drinking water standard for PFAS in bottled water.

"Given the widespread persistence of PFAS in our environment and drinking water, many people have turned to bottled water to avoid adding toxins to their bodies," Blumenthal said in his letter. "In light of this, it's especially concerning that bottled water may contain PFAS in unsafe concentrations. My constituents, as well as many other Americans, continue to be exposed to these toxic substances. I urge the FDA to act expeditiously to tackle this national crisis in consultation with other federal agencies."

A federal limit on PFAS doesn't exist. While the EPA recommends drinking water to not have more than 70 ppt of PFAS, there's no specific requirement. Blumenthal asked the FDA to require products it oversees to have a level of no more than 70 ppt and limit to specific forms of PFAS to under 15 ppt.

The PFAS contamination issue followed high levels of arsenic discovered in June in bottled water brands owned by Whole Foods and Keurig Dr. Pepper.

In June, independent testing commissioned by the California-based Center for Environmental Health announced it found high levels of toxic arsenic in bottled water brands Starkey, owned by Whole Foods, and Penafiel, owned by Keurig Dr. Pepper and imported from Mexico.

The findings followed similar tests conducted in April by Consumer Reports, which found one of the products had arsenic levels nearly double that of the federal limit of 10 parts per billion. Consumer Reports said its scientists identified 11 brands that had detectable levels of arsenic, with six at levels of three parts per billion or more.

"Consumers are being needlessly exposed to arsenic without their knowledge or consent," said Michael Green, CEO and founder of the California-based Center for Environmental Health (CEH). "Customers typically purchase bottled water at exorbitantly high costs with the assumption that it is safer and healthier to drink than tap water, unaware that they are ingesting an extremely toxic metal linked to birth defects and cancer."

Despite knowledge of the presence of arsenic, the FDA didn't issue a recall for Penafiel's Unflavored Mineral Spring Water until June 21, 2019.

In terms of arsenic levels, Consumer Reports has recommended the FDA adopt a lower level limit of three ppb, opposed to the current 10 ppb.

Green, with the CEH, echoed concerns of scientists with Consumer Reports who are pushing for a lower arsenic level limit in bottled water. He said such reform is necessary, particularly in locations like Michigan where

residents are especially concerned, and in some cases dependent on bottled water, notably following the crisis in Flint.

"It's a really relevant problem, considering the travesty in Flint, and it isn't the only place where that has happened. It's a real thing," he said. "The majority of people in this country have safe water to drink. The fact that very large companies which have sales going down for sugary drinks have decided that they'll increase market share on a product that the majority of people can get for free, then charge them and package it in a plastic bottle – it's not to benefit people. It's to increase their sales.

"It's the responsibility of our society, and that lands with government, to get people the information they need to know their water is safe so they don't have to go to the store and buy it in a plastic bottle and wonder if there is arsenic in it. We are too affluent a country on a whole to have people wonder if the water they are drinking is safe, whether from the bottle or the tap."

Other contaminants have led to recalls among bottled water in the past.

In 2015, Pennsylvania-based Niagara Bottling, which at the time bottled for more than a dozen brands, issued a voluntary recall of products after one of its spring sources was found to be contaminated with E. coli. The company said E. coli contamination wasn't detected in the finished product or spring water delivered to the bottling facility.

A spokesman for the FDA said while bottlers are required to perform various tests on a scheduled basis, bottlers aren't required to share the findings of those tests directly with the public. Rather, that information must be kept by the companies for a minimum of two years and be made available to the FDA or its designee.

"The FDA does have oversight of bottling, and bottlers have a number of regulations they are responsible for meeting, including tests for pathogens, and that information is made available to the FDA," a spokesman for the FDA said.

The FDA said source water containing E. coli isn't permitted, and that any findings would preclude a bottler from selling that product. Bottlers are required to test for bacteria contamination every three months.

"The FDA has the ability to evaluate records and make sure they are in compliance with regulations," an FDA spokesman said. "In Michigan, the state has a contract to do that on behalf of the FDA." Despite tests being conducted, the FDA doesn't require that information be submitted for review, nor for it to be shared directly to the public. Rather, water sampling and testing data must only be available for review during FDA inspections, or by another agency working on behalf of the FDA. And, although many bottlers do provide water analysis data, the information is often hard to find and lacks a comprehensive analysis, as there is no single source that makes all water quality reports available. urther, a 2017 audit of bottle water regulations under the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD), and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, found MDARD didn't fully comply with its own policy to conduct routine inspections of water bottlers on a timely basis.

Nor did the department actively pursue the identification and enforcement of unregistered bottled water products sold in Michigan to ensure fee payment and compliance with regulatory requirements.

Under the state's agreement with the FDA, MDARD is responsible for registering and periodically inspecting water bottlers and water dispensing machines in Michigan. The DEQ's approval of the water source is needed to produce and sell bottled water in Michigan. As of April 2016, 52 in-state bottlers, 115 out-of-state bottlers and 28-out-of-country bottlers were registered with MDARD, according to an Auditor General's Report issued in January 2017.

Inspection work related to bottled water is mostly done as part of broader establishment visits made to ensure overall food safety at processing plants, warehouses and retail stores. When a food establishment is licensed, it is placed on an inspection frequency based on the level of risk of the food operations. For example, large beverage processing plants may be considered high risk and inspected every six months, whereas a small grocery store may be low risk and inspected every 18 months. Bottled water, as a stand-alone item, would typically be considered low risk and

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scheduled for an 18-month inspection frequency, according to MDARD. Auditors found MDARD didn't always conduct timely inspections of water bottlers and establishments with water dispensing machines. For instance, for the 2,643 inspections conducted by MDARD during the audit period, 587 (22 percent) were one or more routine inspections overdue.

The audit also found MDARD didn't pursue identification and enforcement of unregistered bottled water products sold in the state. For instance, auditors conducted visits to 71 establishments with bottled water products offered for sale and identified 20 unregistered bottled water products. uditors also looked at water samples and found one of 90 samples examined tested positive for coliforms, but E. coli wasn't found. One bottled water sample contained detectable levels of lead, but were below the federal maximum contaminant level (MCL) for the heavy metal.

Thirteen bottled water samples showed levels of nitrate, but those were also below the federal MCL. Two samples tested positive for nitrite, but were also below the MCL. A spokesperson for MDARD said she wasn't sure of the role MDARD plays in the bottled water process. The department failed to return a followup to questions prior to publication of this article.

Erik Olson, senior director of health and food at the non-profit Natural Resources Defense Council, said while most bottled water is of good quality, some contain contamination, so it shouldn't automatically be assumed that bottled water is purer or safer than most tap water.

"The main differences is the monitoring and disclosure requirements – there are none for bottled water, which we find very problematic," Olsen said. "If you're drinking tap water, they have to release an annual report.

That's supposed to be provided to every customer every year. There's no such requirement for bottled water. We tried to get one, and that was killed.

"The bottled water industry often puts a link or phone number on bottles. If you look at the reports they post, they aren't particularly informative. They usually include the total dissolved solids, but not always the contaminants that one might be worried about, and they don't use (samples) from each and every source, they use an average of each source.

We find it problematic, especially because you're often spending thousands of times more for bottled water than tap water."

Olson, who was the principal author of the NRDC's 1999 study "Bottled Water: Pure Drink or Pure Hype?" said the main issue with federal regulation of drinking water is a lack of overall resources available to regulators. He said the issue is worse for bottled water.

"At the state level, few states have any kind of program," Olson said.

"Most bottled water tracking is wrapped into the whole food program and is very low priority. Our survey was from 20 years ago, and most hasn't changed. Most have no program.

"We've seen Consumer Reports stories in the past year that show even when they stumble onto a problem of contamination, it's hit or miss if anything is done about it."

The NRDC report also looked at potential contamination due to plastic bottles. In general, Olson said most bottles don't contain harmful phthalates, but those that do may leach into water over long periods of time. Further, he said consumers should steer clear of bottles that have been stored in high heat or the sun.

"When looking at local gas station and they have cases of water stacked outside in the sun for weeks or months – that's not water I would want to buy," he said. "And any bacteria there could reproduce more easily."

While Olson conceded that most bottled water is probably high quality, the problem is that consumers have no real way of knowing.

"There's no guarantee that it's any safer or purer than tap water.

Although most water is high quality when we tested over 100 brands 20 years ago, there are a few that have had carcinogenic contamination, but generally, consumers have no way of knowing," he said. "It's almost impossible for a consumer to know if it's any better than tap water. We are pretty much relying on companies, and some are very responsible with investment in treatment, but just because it's in a bottle and costs hundreds of times more than tap water doesn't mean its any better."

Under FDA regulations for bottled water, a bottling plant must meet

specific construction and design, sanitary facilities and quality requirements for water before and after it's bottled. Water used in the bottling process, or "product water," must be from an approved source properly located, protected and operated. Approved source is any source – whether it's from a spring, artesian well, drilled well, municipal water supply or any other source – that has been inspected and the water sampled, analyzed and found to be of a safe and sanitary quality according to applicable laws and regulations.

Further, bottled water falls into one of several categories, each of which determine label requirements. Two of the most widely sold bottled water includes "purified" water and "spring" water. Other labels include "artesian" water, "mineral" water, "ground" water, "sparkling" and "well" water. In each case, the term refers to the source of the water and whether and how it is treated.

Under federal rules regulating bottled water, each classification of water is as follows: • Artesian water is water from a well tapping a confined aquifer in which the water level stands at some height above the top of the aquifer.

Artesian water, which is typically under natural pressure, may be collected with the assistance of an external force to enhance the natural underground pressure.

• Ground water is water from a subsurface saturated zone that is under a pressure equal to or greater than atmospheric pressure. Ground water can't be under the direct influence of surface water, under federal code.

• Mineral water is that containing not less than 250 parts per million (ppm) of total dissolved solids (TDS), coming from a source tapped at one or more bore holes or springs, originating from a geologically and physically protected underground water source. Mineral water is distinguished from other types of water by its constant level and relative proportions of minerals and trace elements at the point of emergence from the source. No minerals may be added to this water. Water with total dissolved solids less than 500 ppm can be considered "low mineral content," while those above 1,500 ppm may be sold as "high mineral content" water.

• Purified water is water that has been produced by distillation, deionization, reverse osmosis or other processes that meet the definition of purified water. Water that comes from a municipal source may be labeled as purified water if it undergoes any further purification processes. Water that comes from a community water system otherwise must note on the label that it comes "from a community water supply" or "from a municipal source." That notification must be displayed on the display panel and must immediately and conspicuously precede or follow the name of the food without obstructing written, printed or graphic material.

• Sparkling water is water that, after treatment and possible replacement of carbon dioxide, contains the same amount of carbon dioxide from the source that it had at emergence from the source.

• Spring water applies to water taken from an underground formation from which water flows naturally to the surface of the earth. Spring water may be collected only at the spring or through a bore hole tapping the underground formation feeding the spring. There must be a natural force causing the water to flow to the surface through a natural orifice. The location of the spring must be identified, and water collected with the use of an external force shall be from the same underground stratum and quality of the spring. The removal of water through an external force also mustn't inhibit the natural flow of water to the surface. nder the FDA regulations, the source of water used must be sampled and analyzed by the plant at least once each year for chemical contaminants, and once every four years for radiological contaminants.

Additionally, source water coming from a source other than a public water system must be sampled and analyzed for microbiological contaminants at least once a week. Exceptions exist for bottlers using a public water system as their source of drinking water, with the sampling done by the municipal or public system to substitute for its own testing.

Under FDA regulations, all treatment of water through distillation, ionexchanging, filtration, ultraviolet treatment, reverse osmosis carbonation, mineral addition or any other process must meet FDA standards set out in

the federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act. As such, a record of the type and date of physical inspections of equipment is required to include the condition and performance, with water samples taken after processing and prior to bottling by the plant.

Product water, or the final treated water that goes into bottles, is also required to be analyzed for bacteriological purposes, chemical and radiological purposes.

For bacteriological purposes, plants must take and analyze at least once a week a sample from a batch of continuous production run for each type of bottled drinking water produced during a day's production.

For chemical and radiological testing, plants are required to take and analyze samples at least annually, using a representative sample from a batch produced during a day's production. he plant must maintain sampling records for no less than two years. Plants should also retain, on file in the plant, current certificates or notifications of approval issued by the government agency or agencies approving the plant's source supply of product water and operations. While the records aren't required to be available to the public, all required documents must be available for official review.

Despite testing requirements, it's essentially up to consumers to seek out and find water quality information — a task that can be difficult.

A relatively quick search for water quality information reports by Downtown of the most commonly sold brands in Michigan found most bottlers provided information about the product, but not all.

For instance, water quality reports for Desani, Aquafina, Evian, Crystal Geyser, Ice Mountain, Poland Springs, Fiji, Perrier and VOSS water were available and relatively easy to locate on each company's website. Each report tended to include sample results for residual disinfectants and their byproducts, radionuclides, inorganic compounds and metals, microbiological contaminants, physical qualities, VOCs and semi-VOCs. However, other brands are harder to find or were unavailable. For example, a water quality report by Michigan-based Absopure wasn't located after an extensive search of the site, although a 2017 report was found by Consumer Reports, nor was information found about Deja Blue, which is owned by Dr. Pepper Snapple.

With limited information available on each brand's label, a company website (or informational phone number) listed on a bottle is often the only source of information available to consumers. Additionally, the International Water Bottlers Association maintains a list of member companies with links to water quality reports; however, not all companies provide water quality reports, and the list includes some non-functional links. Further, not all bottlers are members of the association. The list can be found at bottledwater.org/bottled-waterbrands. Consumer Reports also maintains a list of about 120 water quality reports at consumerreports.org/water-quality/find-out-whats-inyour-bottled-water-water-quality-reports/.

With the popularity of bottled water continuing to grow, many consumers no doubt have a preference for one brand over another.

While differences in taste are often subtle, depending on personal preference, the source, purification method and other factors all determine a flavor profile.

"Selling bottled water is more about marketing," said Francis Chapelle, a hydrologist with the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and author of "Wellsprings: A Natural History of Bottled Spring Waters."

In general, Chapelle said Americans prefer bottled water with very low levels of dissolved solids, while Europeans tend to favor brands with higher levels of dissolved solids.

"Dissolved solids are positively or negatively charged, and they have to balance," he said. "So, for a positive, like carbon, you have to add bicarbonate to go with it, so it's a combination. It can be bicarbonate or sulfate, or something else. They all taste a little different."

Chapelle pointed to the classic Coca-Cola vs Pepsi battle that now

continues with bottled water. Both Aquafina (Pepsi) and Desani (CocaCola) start with municipal-sourced water, then use reverse osmosis and other filtration processes to strip out contaminants and dissolved solids.

"Coke is all about secret formulas, and they put in a proprietary set of dissolved solids," Chapelle said. "I don't know what it is, but I could find out by analyzing it. But my daughter likes Desani – she doesn't like Aquafina, which is just water that undergoes reverse osmosis."

In terms of filtration and purification, Olson with the NRDC said carbon filtration removes most pharmaceutical contaminants, while it may leave some inorganic compounds. Carbon will also strip water of most PFAS, and virtually all pesticides, gasoline components and other contaminants. Those filters, he said, may be purchased for home use, as well.

Chapelle said geological variations provide significant differences in spring water. For instance, Poland Springs has historically had low dissolved solids, where Perrier has higher dissolved solids.

"It's in a glacial terrain with glacial sand and water percolates down to granite, and eventually to a spring," he said of Poland Springs. "It was done as medicine, originally, and the water got picked up by New England whale boat captains. They realized, for whatever reasons, that it didn't go sour in barrels like other water. That's because the pH is hovering around four, and it's basically rain water. That's how they started to have big business, and it was big business in the late 1800s."

Conversely, he said Perrier comes from a deep volcanic source rich in carbon dioxide, which provides a naturally carbonated sparkling water with higher levels of dissolved solids.

"I don't personally consume bottled water," Chapelle said. "I was interested when writing the book in answering why, in America, people have an unlimited quantity of safe drinking water, why go through the expense?

"Going through this, I realized from a historical point of view that people are very particular about what they consume. The perception that drinking certain waters that are from unique places, and people have an almost historical memory, that their water comes from a unique kind of spring and associated it with health. It appeals to people." rom a historical perspective, mineral water had medicinal properties and was prescribed to treat certain ailments. For instance, Saratoga Springs was an early bottler in the United States that had naturally occurring iodine that was prescribed to treat goiters. Water that was high in iron was prescribed for anemia. As such, bottled water was a popular beverage up until 1913 when municipal engineers in Philadelphia learned how to add chlorine to the public drinking water, eradicating typhoid, cholera and other public health epidemics.

"People thought it was great, and the bottled water industry crashed, and it stayed crashed through the 1930s and '40s, and devolved into water coolers in factories," Chapelle said. "Then in the 1960's, along comes Perrier with a radio campaign, spending about $5 million. They marketed to the affluent as an expression of good taste, and it caught on."

Poland Springs then followed suit and did its own radio campaign, asking "Why do you have to buy your water from France?"

It wasn't until the mid-1970s, that Chapelle, originally a native of northern Michigan, said he noticed bottled water as it was handed out during the Baltimore Marathon.

"That's was the first time I actually noticed it," he said, "'Now I've seen everything.'"

By the 1990s, the bottled water industry reached $5 billion a year, and is now near $12 billion. However, outside of safety aspects, much of the preference of bottled water may be associated with perception of the quality of water and the expectation of the consumer.

"You have objective criteria that the EPA and FDA use, and then you have subjective criteria of what people are expecting and what pleases them. If you're dying of thirst in a desert, you're going to have much different expectations."

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FACES Lori Goldman few years ago Lori Goldman would have been her own worst nightmare.

“Sometimes I didn’t vote,” said Goldman, the founder of Fems for Dems. “Sometimes I voted for Republicans or whoever somebody else was voting for. I wasn’t really a great citizen…Now, I’m trying to remedy to that.”

Goldman founded Fems for Dems – a Michigan-based independent political action committee with the goal to help get progressive candidates elected – in 2016, but before you ask, she started it in February of that year, long before the 2016 election results came in.

It began because Goldman was really that excited a women was a viable candidate for president. She wanted to see who of her friends would be interested in and excited like she was to support Hillary Clinton.

Goldman sent out an email to about 500 people she knew.

Initially, a group sat around the kitchen table in her Bloomfield Township home. It's grown to over 5,000, in Oakland, Wayne, Macomb, and Washtenaw counties, and they've even had people from out-of-state reach out.

How has it felt to watch this grow?

“At first, it feels like you’re something special, and then you realize what you knew all along - it’s not about me,” Goldman said. “Unless I can accomplish, unless I can deliver, unless I can motivate more and more people to stop letting other people make decisions for them, then I’m worse than I was before.”

Fems for Dems goal is to motivate fellow voters.

During the 2018 midterm elections, Fems for Dems hosted Speed Dating, an event where voters were given a map where they could find their address to see who was running in their area.

Guests could then pop in and out of discussion groups to get to know different candidates.

For 2020, they hope to increase voter turnout and make communities more aware of the new no reason absentee voter law in Michigan. They’ll be canvassing and hosting phone bank and postcard parties, among many other things.

Naturally, with so many Democrats running, Fems for Dems members have different opinions on who they would like to see get elected. But at the end of the day, they’ll support whoever gets the nomination.

“Whoever comes through the primaries we will work our asses off on behalf of,” Goldman said.

Fems for Dems – who also has a sister organization, Fems for Change, a non-partisan, non-profit that teaches people about government and how it works – hopes to increase their own numbers as well, with a goal of growing their community to 20,000 by the 2020 election.

Ultimately, Goldman hopes they go nationwide with Fems for Dems.

“I want to bring other women who are of the mindset that they don’t deserve to step out into the light and to lead and make this world a better place,” she said. “It’s not just about politics, it’s about empowerment for women in so many ways.”

As passionate as she is about politics, Goldman has no desire to run for office. At first, it was because she thought she wasn’t qualified. Now, she has a different answer.

“I would never do it because that would take away whatever power I have to change the world,” she said. “In my group, I can keep growing the numbers of women and men that we put out into the world stronger and more confident and more passionate to join in, to become a part of this process.”

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09.19

MUNICIPAL Township voters nix public safety tax

By Kevin Elliott

Bloomfield Township voters on Tuesday, August 6, overwhelmingly rejected a 2.3-mill, 15-year dedicated tax for public safety that would have helped pay for unfunded liabilities related to retiree benefits.

Unofficial results listed by the Oakland County Clerk's Election Division showed voters rejected the proposed special assessment district (SAD) by nearly 25 percent.

Unofficial results show about 6,678 votes (62.2 percent) against the proposed tax, with about 4,058 votes (37.8 percent) voting to approve the special assessment district (SAD).

The proposed SAD would have generated about $9 million a year for the next 15 years. Approval also would have required the township to terminate the final year of a 10-year millage approved in 2010, resulting in a net tax increase of 1.05 mills.

One mill is equal to $1 per every $1,000 of a home's taxable value, which is generally half as much as a home's market value. For instance, the average taxable value in the township is $215,234 ($430,468 market value), meaning the average homeowner would have paid about $226 per year for the SAD. Rejection of the proposed SAD likely means township administration will need to make significant cuts to services in order to close a $5 million to $7 million annual budget deficit related to unfunded liabilities related to other post-employment benefits (OPEB) and defined benefits contributions.

Proponents of the SAD had hoped the new tax would provide a dedicated funding stream for funding about $65 million of $164 million in unfunded OPEB liabilities, or about 40 percent of total liabilities.

While the proposed SAD would have been dedicated to public safety operations, the main factor in its proposal was to meet state funding requirements that were put into place in 2018.

Under the law, the township must ensure at least 40 percent of OPEB are funded within 30 years.

Previously, municipalities were permitted to pay OPEB costs as they came due. In addition to OPEB costs, the SAD would have allowed for the township's police and fire departments to pay for their share of the employee's defined benefit downtownpublications.com

Bloomfield gets mixed credit ratings

By Kevin Elliott

loomfield Township election results on Tuesday, August 6, may have had mixed results on the township's credit rating, as recently noted

by Moody's Investor Services and Standard and Poor's Rating Services.

Moody's in December 2018 gave the township a AAA negative rating based on $164 million in unfunded liabilities in Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB) being carried by the township. The AAA rating is near the top of the rating system, but it carried a negative outlook, based on unfunded liabilities. The agency on August 8 downgraded the township's rating to AA. Credit ratings corresponds to the rate the township can borrow.

Bloomfield Township Supervisor Leo Savoie said Moody's told the township it lowered the rating because of the amount of unfunded liabilities it was carrying, saying "no municipality with that much liability should have a AAA rating."

Moody's in December 2018 noted it maintained the AAA rating because of its willingness to tap into its base, with voter approval, to raise revenue and maintain its healthy financial balances. The agency adjusted the rating following failure of a proposed tax to address township liabilities.

Meanwhile, S&P upgraded the township's credit rating from AAA negative to AAA/Stable.

In upgrading the township's credit rating, S&P noted a very strong economy; strong management with good financial polices and practices under S&P's financial management assessment methodology; adequate budgetary performance; very strong budgetary flexibility; very strong liquidity; a weak debt and contingent liability position; and a strong institutional framework.

While S&P noted the township carries a large OPEB obligation, it said its low overall net debt of less than three percent of market value and rapid amortization, with 72.8 percent of debt scheduled to be retired in 10 years.

"Because the SAD did not pass, management will implement its plan to further reduce expenditures to maintain structural balance in its public safety fund," S&P said in its assessment. "Given that it is midway through fiscal 2020, the township expects it may have up to a $1 million decrease in fund balance across its general and public safety funds, but then will return to balanced operations in fiscal 2021. The township has a strong history of adjusting its budget when necessary, and as a result, we expect Bloomfield to maintain its reserves and cash on hand levels we consider very strong."

B

contributions on an annual basis.

With the tax plan being rejected by voters, township administration said they will need to look at cutting the existing budget to cover the added OPEB costs.

Township Supervisor Leo Savoie said those cuts will include cutting 10 police officers and eight firefighter positions through attrition, cutting about $1.4 million to $1.5 million from the township's road division, and other cuts.

Savoie and other trustees had said they refrained from making cuts in order to put the issue to a vote of the people. However, proponents of the proposed tax appear to have underestimated the opposition to the proposed tax.

Campaign finance records filed with the Oakland County Clerk's Office revealed those supporting the tax had outspent the opposition during the campaign. However, campaign contributions to the opponents suggested retirees and homemakers were among voters who rejected the tax.

Further, opponents taking to social media, particularly the social media platform "Nextdoor," also were able to garner support. While the township board of trustees had discussed the proposed tax for months, it wasn't until the issue gained a following on the social media platform that residents packed township hall in March to voice their concerns.

DOWNTOWN

Bond proposal goes down in landslide

By Lisa Brody

Birmingham residents overwhelmingly rejected a parking structure bond proposal in the amount of $57.4 million in order to secure financing for demolition and rebuilding of a new parking structure to replace the N. Old Woodward structure and an extension of Bates Street, by a vote of 3,956 to 1,842.

With a total vote of 5,798 votes cast, 68 percent of voters voted against the parking structure bond, while almost 32 percent voted to approve the measure. Voters turned the proposal down in every city precinct.

The vote was to ask voters to approve the issuance of a general obligation bond to demolish the current N. Old Woodward structure and rebuild it, providing approximately 450 more needed parking spots in the downtown. State law requires all municipalities to obtain approval of its residents when going for a general obligation bond because the full faith and credit of the community is being pledged. It was to have been the first phase of the Woodward Bates project, which would have also added a public plaza, a bridge to Booth Park, a fivestory building fronting Old Woodward which was slated to become an RH (Restoration Hardware) Gallery store with rooftop restaurant, a residential and commercial building on Willits Street, and a residential building along the rear of the four-acre parcel as part of a public-private partnership.

Birmingham had assured residents that the bonds would have been paid off with proceeds of the city's parking revenue fund, but concerns over the request for proposal, who the city commission awarded the project to, terms for the ground lease, that the city was leasing the property, even that RH might be in the center of downtown Birmingham eating up the parking, all planted seeds of doubt in enough voters' minds that they turned the proposal down.

The group backing the bond proposal, Birmingham YES, heavily outspent two citizen groups to the tune of about $121,000 in the failed effort to pass the parking proposal.

City officials have said the deal for the four-acre property, including providing more parking at this time in downtown Birmingham, would be 53

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MUNICIPAL dead if voters declined the bond proposal.

Birmingham City Manager Joe Valentine thanked everyone who took the time to vote.

“The city is going to continue to address the growing parking demands, and we'll have to implement parking mitigation plans until additional capacity can be obtained,” Valentine said.

Boutros ineligible for city election

By Lisa Brody

Birmingham City Commissioner Pierre Boutros is ineligible for reelection to the city commission in November under Michigan election law, according Joe Rozell, Oakland County Director of Elections, due to failure of the candidate to comply with campaign finance reporting requirements from a past election.

Rozell sent a letter to Birmingham City Clerk Cherilynn Mynsberge dated July 30 noting that his office was in receipt of Boutros' affidavit of identity for city commission but the elections division of the county clerk's office could not certify the city commissioner as a candidate for this November's election because of his failure to comply with campaign reporting law. Rozell said the problem had to do with candidate campaign finance reporting problems dating back to July 2015.

Downtown newsmagazine received a copy of Rozell's letter to the city clerk and ongoing correspondence about the campaign act violations via a Freedom of Information Act request.

Boutros was first elected to the Birmingham City Commission in November 2015, filing as a candidate in July 2015. He is completing his first four-year term and has filed to run for a second four-year term.

In investigating Boutros' campaign finance statements, his records are filled with filing errors and notices of failures to file, as well as notices of late filing fees. Downtown found 22 notices of error or omission notifications from the county election office, and three letters to the Michigan Attorney General from Rozell notifying that office of Boutros' failure to file required quarterly statements.

Rozell said certified letters had repeatedly been sent to Boutros, with Boutros' signed signatures for receipt.

All late filing fees were promptly paid, but other corrections or filings downtownpublications.com

Candidate filings for local city commissions ight candidates filed for four open city commission seats in Birmingham, and five candidates filed to fill five open city commission seats in Bloomfield Hills, both by the filing deadline on Tuesday, July 23, to run for election in November.

The Birmingham City Commission serves as the city’s legislative body, consisting of seven commissioners, one of whom serves as mayor. The commissioners represent the citizens, and formulate policy as the legislative and policy-making body of the municipal government. They are elected atlarge for four-year terms at non-partisan elections held in November of each odd-numbered year and are paid $5 per meeting. The city commission operates as a home rule charter city, with a council-manager form of government.

Bloomfield Hills has a similar legislative body and system, with five commissioners on its city commission who are elected every two years for two-year terms. A few years ago, a staggered system of electing commissioners was replaced with electing the entire board every two years.

In Birmingham, three of the four incumbents whose terms were expiring, Patty Bordman, Pierre Boutros and Carroll DeWeese, filed petitions to run for re-election for a second four-year term on the commission. Commissioner Andy Harris, first elected in 2015, along with Bordman, Boutros and DeWeese, sent a letter to city manager Joe Valentine on July 1, stating that with his obligations to “my family, law firm, the kids I coach, and to some extent, myself, I do not have the time nor the energy to satisfy the level of commitment this exemplary city deserves.”

Also filing to run for a seat on the commission were Clinton Baller, Jake German, Brad Host, Therese Longe and Matt Wilde.

Longe is chairperson of the city's parks and recreation committee; German is a member of the historic district study committee.

Baller and Host are both civic activists who were opposed to the city's proposed N. Old Woodward parking bond proposal. Baller, along with activist David Bloom, filed suit in federal court against the city of Birmingham on Monday, July 22, alleging their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights had been violated when they were prevented from speaking about the parking ballot issue at a recent meeting.

In Bloomfield Hills, three of the five current commissioners submitted petitions to run for another two-year term, William Hosler, Susan McCarthy and Sarah McClure. Mike Coakley and Stuart Sherr, both current commissioners, declined to run for re-election. Sherr was arrested on November 1, 2018, by Bloomfield Hills public safety officers for stealing the campaign signs of a Bloomfield Hills School board candidate, Anjali Prasad, after being caught on surveillance cameras. He pled not guilty, and will go on trial September 23 in Oakland County's 44th District Court in Royal Oak. Bradley Baxter and Alice Buckley submitted petitions to run for a seat on the Bloomfield Hills City Commission. They are both currently on the city's board of zoning appeals.

All five candidates will run unopposed in November.

Elections in both communities will be held on Tuesday, November 5.

E

were not addressed, Rozell said..

“After a review of our records, we have determined that Mr. Boutros failed to file a required amended 2016 Quarterly report. MCL 168.558(4) as amended states, 'An affidavit of identity must include a statement that as of the date of the affidavit, all statements, reports, late filing fees and fine required of the candidate...have been filed or paid,'” Rozell wrote in his letter to Mynsberge.

He further wrote, the statute states, “An officer shall not certify to

the board of election commissioners the name of a candidate who fails to comply with this section, or a name of a candidate who executes an affidavit of identity that contains a false statement...”

The statute, which was updated and took immediate effect December 28, 2018, states if the affidavit is inaccurate, it is considered perjury, which in Michigan is a felony and “is punishable by a fine up to $1,000 or imprisonment for up to five years, or both.”

Rozell informed Mynsberge to

DOWNTOWN

“consider this as notice to not certify Mr. Boutros as a candidate to your Board of City Election Commissioners.”

On Friday, August 9, Birmingham City Manager Joe Valentine said from the city's standpoint, all of the election petitions from candidates, including Boutros', had been certified because Birmingham statutory requirements had been followed, which are to make sure the heading is correctly filled out, the right number of signatures were collected and verified.

“That is what we have done.

Following campaign finance law is not under our jurisdiction,” Valentine said.

Valentine confirmed that on August 15, stating Mynsberge had reviewed the certification with city attorney Tim Currier, “and they believe they have met all statutory requirements. The city has the authority to certify.”

“The city has a legal requirement to fulfill their obligation to read and certify the affidavits as part of the full application,” Rozell said. “You can't just do part of the certification.”

Patrick D. Crandell, attorney for Boutros, responded in an August 8 letter to Mynsberge that according to Michigan law, Oakland County had four business days to provide Boutros with notice of any errors or omissions in his July 2016 and October 2016 quarterly statements, and they did not notify him of any errors during either of those period, waiting until March 2017. Crandell said if the county had notified Boutros in a timely manner, his campaign treasurer, Sharon Sibilla, would have responded to them.

However, a failure to file notice was sent to Boutros on October 26, 2016, for his October 2016 quarterly statement.

Boutros said he first became aware of an issue on July 30, when he was notified of the issue by Rozell.

“Why would they wait to alert me?

It's not my fault. There's no track of anyone seeing a certified letter,” he said.

Boutros said at that point he and Sibilla discovered misfiled notices and promptly filed amended statements.

Crandell said that while “Boutros did file amended quarterly statements after filing his affidavit, it doesn't mean his affidavit was falser or that he should be disqualified as a candidate.”

Crandell cited precedent where Michigan courts recognize that mistakes in affidavits can be timely 57

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corrected, in Berry v Garrett, (2016).

“I'm not a criminal,” Boutros asserted. “This is not what I deserve for not organizing correctly.”

Rozell said the county prints the ballots for the city and provides the ballots, but does not determine the content for municipal elections.

“I don't know if we would sue to have his name removed from the ballot,” Rozell said. “But a legal challenge would definitely stand up in court. There is definite precedence when it is a campaign finance law violation.”

Eight candidates filed for four commission seats that will be decided in the November 5 election.

The filing deadline for candidates was Tuesday, July 23, and candidates had until the end of the day on Friday, July 26, to withdraw from the race.

Three of the four incumbents whose terms were expiring, Patty Bordman, Pierre Boutros and Carroll DeWeese, filed petitions to run for reelection for a second four-year term on the commission. Commissioner Andy Harris, first elected in 2015, along with Bordman, Boutros and DeWeese, sent a letter to city manager Joe Valentine on July 1, stating that with his obligations to “my family, law firm, the kids I coach, and to some extent, myself, I do not have the time nor the energy

to satisfy the level of commitment this exemplary city deserves.”

Also filing to run for a seat on the commission were Clinton Baller, Jake German, Brad Host, Therese Longe and Matt Wilde.

Township organization to be topic of study

By Lisa Brody

Bad blood was aired Monday, August 12, between some members of the Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees as two members and dozens of residents called for the creation of a township superintendent position to supersede the current administration.

The measure, presented in a resolution by trustee David Buckley, calls for the creation of a township superintendent position that would effectively reduce the role of the elected township supervisor to that of a ceremonial position that oversees board meetings. The proposed superintendent would oversee the management and supervision of the township as directed by the board of trustees.

Functions of the superintendent, as proposed by Buckley, would include preparing and administering the township's annual budget; the administration of all departments, as

Darakjian lawsuit against Birmingham dismissed

By Lisa Brody

A

federal lawsuit filed by TIR Equities, a real estate development company, and its principal, Ara Darakjian, against the city of Birmingham, and two city officials, city manager Joe Valentine and city commissioner Mark Nickita, after its bid was rejected for the N. Old Woodward Bates project, was dismissed on Monday, July 29, by U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts.

Birmingham, joined by Woodward Bates Partners, comprising Victor Saroki of Saroki Architecture in Birmingham; Paul Robertson of Robertson Brothers Homes in Bloomfield Hills; and John Rakolta Jr. of Walbridge in Detroit and Ron Boji of Boji of Boji Group in Lansing, responded to the lawsuit denying TIR's allegations and requesting a jury trial, attorney costs and denial of damages to Darakjian.

In its order, the court stated it was granting Woodward Bates' motion to dismiss and the city of Birmingham's motion of judgment on the pleadings with prejudice.

Judge Roberts stated that Darakjian did not

well as serve as personnel director of all employees; and other related duties. The role would be like that of a city manager in a council-manager plan where a council has control over certain laws and appoints a city manager to run the city's day-to-day activities.

The proposal builds on the momentum of a landslide election on Tuesday, August 6, in which township voters overwhelmingly rejected a 2.3-mill special assessment district (SAD) for police and fire that would have been used in part to pay for unfunded liabilities related to police and fire retiree benefits. Under a new state law, the township must fund 40 percent of total other post employment benefits (OPEB) liabilities, leaving a $64 million shortfall and annual budget gap of $5 million to $7 million. The SAD proposal was supported by just 37.8 percent of voters in the election.

Township Supervisor Leo Savoie was harshly criticized by opponents of the SAD, including trustees Buckley and Dani Walsh, who claimed the township is being mismanaged.

"No matter what action the board takes on this proposal, the people of Bloomfield Township have spoken with profound displeasure as to the status quo in Township Hall," Buckley said on Monday, August 12.

"The culture, environment and

have standing as an individual or as a municipal taxpayer to bring a claim, and TIR fails legal the standing issue because “disappointed bidder ” does not give it legal standing. In the order, the court agreed with the defendants who noted that “Darakjian lacks standing as an individual because TIR submitted the bid – not him.” It also concurred that the city has the right, “at its sole discretion” to reject “any and all submittals, when, in its opinion, it is determined to be in the public interest to do so.”

Roberts ruled that Darakjian had not established “a claim which relief can be granted.”

Darakjian, representing TIR, filed the lawsuit in May 2019, asserting that by the city choosing Woodward Bates Partners they had been deprived of their constitutional right to due process.

TIR Equities was one of two finalists, along with Woodward Bates Partners, to redevelop the N. Old Woodward parking lot with more parking, an extension of Bates Street, a liner of retail along the new street, a mixed use building comprising residential and office space, and a park.

Following a lengthy process, in January 2018, both TIR Equities and Woodward Bates Partners submitted bids to the city's ad hoc parking development committee in response to an RFP. The committee recommended Woodward Bates

integrity of our Township Hall is in question and our residents expect action. The goodwill of this board of trustees that once existed with the residents has been squandered, and only positive action will restore some degree of credibility going forward.

From my vantage point, this proposal serves as a positive way forward for our community."

Buckley said the model proposed in the resolution has been discussed by the board for several years and shouldn't come as any surprise to the supervisor.

In addition to establishing the superintendent position, Buckley called for the township to return to a five-day work week (city offices are currently opened 40 hours a week, Monday through Thursday); a return of all personal vehicles issued by the township; and to require all employees to contribute 20 percent to healthcare.

Buckley's resolution called for applications for the proposed position be reviewed by October 14, with interviews to follow over the subsequent two weeks.

Walsh said the superintendent position could be paid for through "shared sacrifices," calling for trustees to give up all stipends and serve solely as volunteers; cutting 20 percent of the clerk's salary; making the treasurer position part-time and

Partners to the city commission, and the commission approved the recommendation on June 25, 2018.

After the court decision, Birmingham issued reaction from both the current mayor and the city manager.

Birmingham Mayor Patty Bordman responded to the dismissal of the lawsuit by stating: “The city was confident from the outset that there would be a favorable outcome in this matter. In fact, the court's dismissal of every aspect of this lawsuit shows that the city of Birmingham engaged in no wrongdoing, whatsoever.”

“I’m glad that this case has been decided and that the city can move forward. The city of Birmingham has always run a fair and transparent competitive bidding process,” said city manager Joseph A. Valentine.

The Woodward Bates group, through a spokesperson, put out a statement on the court decision and characterized the TIR Equities proposal as “a non-conforming and disproportionate sized building for the neighboring developments and proposed 2,000 underground parking spaces, which are both cost-prohibitive and unfeasible. City officials said the project didn’t meet the requirements laid out in the RFP.”

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MUNICIPAL cutting 50 percent of the position's salary; and making the supervisor's hours part-time and cutting 50 percent of the position's salary.

"That would give us more than enough money to hire someone with the qualifications that none of us have," Walsh said. "This isn't about just one person, it's about the entire board that's up here, and if you look at the qualifications of a superintendent, none of us have it."

Treasurer Brian Kepes said the concept of the resolution is simple, and is also "shortsighted and it's in a vacuum."

"You don't take one position and say that's how it's going to be without looking at the context of the whole organization, including departments and other areas that may have to pick up ... it does need to be looked at. This board has talked about it long before, and it probably is appropriate to do it now," Kepes said. "In terms of Dani's (Walsh) comments, I think you should speak for yourself. If you don't feel qualified, I would agree with you. But that's your issue, not mine."

Trustee Neil Barnett said he also

64

disagreed. "I think we do have the ability on this board to make the appropriate cuts," Barnett said. "Two of you wanted to address them before the SAD, and that's fine. That was your decision and it didn't pass.

"We got the message. That's something we need to work on, and what we need to work on quickly is make the appropriate cuts. I think that should be our mission right now."

Barnett suggested the board set a study session at a later time to discuss the proposal in the resolution.

Trustee Michael Schostak also said a study session would be appropriate, as there are several questions that need to be discussed as the board looks into the matter.

Township Supervisor Leo Savoie said he also supported looking into the matter, but suggested looking at all positions, not just the role of the supervisor.

"I applaud this. This is part of governance, it's part of good governance, but we should look at it from every specific position, whether it's supervisor, whether it's clerk,

whether it's treasurer," Savoie said.

"There are some very, very valid points that have been made, that some people may be more qualified, some may be less qualified. Coming in as supervisor, I found the three most important things that you can understand are the finances, the personnel and the real estate within a community. I think there are good qualified people out there and you put good qualifications out there."

Buckley initially rejected the suggestion of scheduling a study session to discuss the matter, insisting the board should move forward.

"I have usually yielded to the board for an opportunity to discuss this, but this is a major emergency," Buckley said. "You were tone deaf since last August on this issue, and we need to move forward."

A motion by Buckley to adopt the resolution failed as it garnered no support from other board members.

The board subsequently approved a motion to schedule a study session to discuss the resolution on or before September 12. That motion passed unanimously.

DOWNTOWN

Limited TRO granted against Birmingham

By Lisa Brody

Clinton Baller and David Bloom, two Birmingham residents who filed suit against the city of Birmingham, Patty Bordman, mayor of the city, and city attorney Timothy Currier in federal court, alleging their free speech rights had been violated when they were restricted from speaking out about the proposed N. Old Woodward project at two city commission meetings, had a temporary restraining order issued

by U.S. District Court Judge Victoria Roberts on Monday, August 5, prior to the commission meeting that evening.

The temporary restraining order, which the plaintiffs filed a motion for on Sunday, August 4, was limited in scope, and decided in a telephone conference call with each side's attorneys in attendance.

With both sides agreeing to the decision, at that night's meeting it was determined that the plaintiffs could not say â&#x20AC;&#x153;vote forâ&#x20AC;? or â&#x20AC;&#x153;vote

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MUNICIPAL against” the N. Old Woodward project, and had to comply with all decorum requirements. Defendants could not interrupt the cable broadcast during the open comment segment of the meeting.

In addition, defendants' response to the original suit is due to Roberts' court August 19; plaintiffs' response is due back August 26. A hearing was scheduled to hear arguments on the motion for Wednesday, September 4, at 10 a.m.

The vote for a bond to help finance a portion of the project was held Tuesday, August 6, and the issue was defeated.

Financial reports filed for elections Political committees spent large sums of money in the hopes of swaying election results for local ballot questions appearing on the August 6 election.

Committees were required to file pre-election financial statements by 5 p.m. on Friday, July 26.

Residents in Birmingham and Bloomfield Township were barraged by mailings and signs for the elections, in Birmingham for a proposed bond to replace a parking garage, and in Bloomfield Township a public safety millage, where large sums of money were raised by proponents of each election measure, with opponents raising much smaller amounts.

Both measures failed by large margins.

Birmingham Yes, the pro-bond vote political action committee, had $180,175 in contributions, almost solely from Woodward Bates Partners, the development group who would have developed and built a new N. Old Woodard parking garage and mixed-use buildings. It is comprised of Victor Saroki of Saroki Architecture in Birmingham; Paul Robertson of Robertson Brothers Homes in Bloomfield Hills; John Rakolta Jr., of Walbridge in Detroit, and Ron Boji of The Boji Group in Lansing.

Birmingham Yes spent $120,959 on consultants, mailings, advertising, printing and other expenses.

Residents objecting to the plan for the Woodward Bates project and its process used political action committees, Balance for Birmingham and Citizens for Responsible Government, to oppose the bond vote. downtownpublications.com

Pernoi receives bistro license from city

By Lisa Brody

irmingham city commissioners on Monday, July 22, unanimously approved a special land use permit and final site plan and design review to allow for the operation of a new bistro, Pernoi, by restaurateurs and chefs Luciano DelSignore and Takashi Yagihashi, in the former Cafe Via location.

“Every year, the city commission considers up to two applications for bistros,” said Birmingham planning director Jana Ecker. “There were none last fall, but two in April, for Pernoi and Brooklyn. Pernoi, for 310 E. Maple Road, is moving forward.”

Previously, Luciano DelSignore explained to the commission he has been the owner of the high-end Italian restaurant Bacco in Southfield, and Pernoi “ will be a contemporary, high-end refined food establishment.”

In its proposal for the bistro, “Pernoi will be an upscale French, Italian and Japanese restaurant located at 310 East Maple Road, in the space previously operated by Café Via. The concept is extremely contemporary and the menu will rotate frequently. This new and exciting concept will be operated by two award- winning chefs, Luciano DelSignore and Takashi Yagihashi. The focus will be on global contemporary cuisine, where Italian pastas will likely find themselves alongside Japanese noodles. This is unique to the city and the state.

Pernoi will offer dinner and will be open Tuesday through Saturday from 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. and will be open on Sundays and Mondays for special events.”

Ecker said they hope to stay open until midnight “so guests can stay outside and enjoy the ambiance.”

Ecker explained that in the past few months, the city had changed the definition of bistros, to permit no more than 65 seats inside and no more than 65 seats outside, and that the plastic Eisenglass enclosures for outdoor patios is no longer permitted.

In its application, she said Pernoi requested 58 seats inside plus seven seats at its bar, but only 26 exterior patio seats.

“They are still proposing outdoor dining and are using the same canopy as Cafe Via, the same fireplace and alley,” Ecker said, noting they are planning to keep the outdoor dining roof and canopy. The entrance to the restaurant and bar will remain the same as well, although the exterior on E. Maple “will have a cleaner look – they are cleaning the concrete. There will be a cherry-colored hard canopy over the entrance, and the Pernoi sign on the building. There are no other changes in the back or side,” she said.

Interior design changes are to be made, but nothing structural is planned, she said.

“This ownership group, Nuovo Holdings, has six other restaurants in metro Detroit, and has the ability to finance” this venture, Ecker stated.

B

Balance for Birmingham is administered by Birmingham resident Clinton Baller. Citizens for Responsible Government is administered by Birmingham resident Brad Host.

Balance for Birmingham had $1,560 in contributions and a previous balance of $6063.16, for a subtotal of $7,623.16. It had $2,922 in expenditures in the quarter, on printing and mailing and for Facebook ads, for an ending balance of $4,701.16.

Citizens for Responsible Government took in $9,430 in contributions; they had a previous balance of $761.30. They spent 1,085.30, primarily on signs.

Donations to each committee were primarily from residents of Birmingham, ranging from $25 to $1,500. Each gave to the other's committee – Host gave $250 to Balance for Birmingham, and Baller gave $250 to Citizens for Responsible Government. Host also gave $500 to his own committee.

DOWNTOWN

Voters in Bloomfield Township were asked to support a 2.3-mill tax over the next 15 years through a special assessment district (SAD) dedicated to public safety departments in the township. It also failed.

Financial statements filed on or before the July 26 deadline show the No SAD committee raised a total of $6,713 to mount an opposition campaign. The committee reported a total of 36 donations – the majority from local retirees and homemakers.

The largest donation, $1,700, came from resident Don Valente, with others ranging from $8 to $500.

Pre-election statements filed by the Committee to Protect our Police and Fire show the committee raised a total of $30,000 between June 20 to July 20. That total was reached with donations from just three donors: Kojaian Properties, James Bellinson, a Bloomfield Township businessman, and Mansour Companies of Birmingham. Each of the donors contributed $10,000.

The pro-SAD committee spent a total of $23,360 on promotions, yard signs, postage, consulting and production, printing, advertisements, as well as design and proofreading services. The No SAD committee spent a total of $6,687.09 on postage and printing for flyers.

Township library will undergo renovations The Bloomfield Township Public Library will be undergoing renovations in its lobby area in August and September, but will remain open to patrons.

The renovation work will be adjacent to the lobby, including the cafe, library shop and all library meeting rooms. Those portions of the library will be unavailable to library patrons while work is being done.

The remainder of the library will be open and available.

Library officials are advising patrons that some noise is anticipated while work is being done, particularly in the modified entrance area.

The library, which is located at 1099 Lone Pine Road, in Bloomfield Township, is open seven days a week.

67

FACES

Carol Himelhoch ll throughout Carol Himelhoch’s life, so many people have asked if she was connected to the department store, it became second nature for her.

It wasn’t for her husband though, who noticed the question being asked everywhere they went.

“It dawned on us, the brand is still alive. So we thought, given the wonderful energy that’s in Detroit and the renaissance, that it might be a good time to revive our legacy and to bring it back,” said Himelhoch, who grew up in Birmingham and graduated from Cranbrook Kingswood High School.

Which is how the duo found themselves planning to bring the iconic Detroit store back to life last summer, but not by opening a traditional brick-and-mortar incarnation.

Last November they brought Himelhoch’s – which opened its first Detroit store in 1907 before closing the doors in 1979 – to the internet, where they sell men’s and women’s fashions, fair trade coffee, as well as items for babies, kids, and homes.

“E-commerce has so much growth potential,” she said. “We thought this was an opportunity to provide the same type of high-touch customer service to people who shop online, who want some approachable, luxury items.”

The transition to online was relatively smooth for Himelhoch. She and her husband, Stephen Ball, have been college professors for over 30 years, including teaching online.

While the department store’s founders would probably be very confused by the entire internet – especially the Facebook Live videos they now do with designers – the heart of Himelhoch’s is still the same – providing excellent customer service and making sure guests can get items they wouldn’t find at just any department store.

“One of the things I’ve seen as a weakness over time, and even my dad used

A

to say this, is that if you walk into one department store after the next, all their merchandise is the same,” Himelhoch said. “It’s become very homogenized...so we wanted to be unique.”

They’re able to do that by continuing another tradition: working with designers who are building their brands and haven’t been discovered.

Those local designers they’re working with now are in good hands. Himelhoch’s helped launch the early careers of Calvin Klein and worked with Estée Lauder when she first began selling her cosmetics.

For this new adventure, Himelhoch said they worked with Design Core Detroit to get a list of local designers – the list included about 200 names – and now have 19 designers they’re working with through that partnership.

Plus, getting to work with a new generation is just plain fun for Himelhoch, who started working in the store at 16, but remembers going there her whole life.

“It just feels like that’s what we’re supposed to do,” Himelhoch said. “We’re supposed to be here – that’s one of our purposes. I feel that when I look back at the history of the store, that’s part of our DNA.” Even though they launched less than a year ago, Himelhoch hopes they become well-known all over the internet, and become a connection among the generations, both to the people who used to visit the department store and those who are discovering it for the first time online.

It seems they already have the support. Himelhoch said they’ve had an overwhelming sense of support from people – who are simply excited they are back – even those who are no longer here.

“In a sense I feel their presence with me all the time,” she said of prior generations. “I feel a responsibility to honor the legacy that they passed on to me."

Story: Dana Casadei

Photo: Laurie Tennent

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FACES John Ivanko aised in Oakland County and having attended Detroit Country Day School, John Ivanko entered the high-pressure, push business of advertising before leaving the field to rewrite the definition of success.

Today Ivanko is an accomplished author, entrepreneur, photographer and co-owner of the Inn Serendipity Bed & Breakfast, an award-winning inn in Browntown, Wisconsin, that's completely powered by wind and solar energy generated on site.

The Inn also features vegetarian cuisine with ingredients harvested mostly from its organic gardens. Ivanko and his wife, Lisa Kivirist, also operate Inn Serendipity Woods, a 30-acre wildlife sanctuary and rural cabin near Hillsboro, Wisconsin.

"I had a mid-life crisis at 25. I was looking at where I was going and what I was doing, and none of that aligned with the things I valued: family, food and the environment," Ivanko said. "I went on a self-imposed sabbatical. I called it a worldwide quest, making sense of what was going on both environmentally and socially, and what kind of business I wanted to be in, or what kind of enterprise I wanted to create. That trip exposed me to many walks of life and different ways of living life, and eating. My wife and I weren't married yet, but were traveling together, visiting farms in New Zealand. We saw a lot of what we wanted to create here, and here we are 23 years later."

The Inn is able to meet about 90 percent of its food needs through on-site farming, either through direct growing or trade with other farms. Being self-reliant for food and energy needs, the business isn't susceptible to larger financial trends.

"We had to start with baby steps, by switching light bulbs to larger projects, like the solar electric system that completely powers the farm," he said. "The expenses we used to have are gone, and that gives us resources to focus on other things that we think are important to us."

The success of the Inn led to several recognitions, as well as the development of several books. Together, Ivanko and Kivirist have written "Homemade for Sale," "Soil Sisters," ECOpreneuring," the "Farmstead Chef" cookbook, "Rural Renaissance," and "Edible Earth."

Additionally, Ivanko teamed up with Maya Ajmera to author several children's books, including six multicultural books that feature Ivanko's photography, "To Be a Kid," "Be My Neighbor," "To Be an Artist," "Back to School," "Come Out and Play, and "Animal Friends," all of which were featured on Oprah in 2007.

Ivanko's work also led him to national speaking engagements, with presentations and keynote appearances at workshops and venues. His writing has been published in Mother Earth News, Innovation and Tech Today, Urban Farm, Grit and other publications. He also covers technology for Techsocket.net and PC Lifeline.

In addition to successful innkeeping, writing and photography careers, Ivanko operates Flying Colors drone videography and photography.

In terms of his background, Ivanko said he and his wife had no background in farming, other than basic landscaping. Learning the process took time, and using the experience to provide description â&#x20AC;&#x201C; rather than prescriptive â&#x20AC;&#x201C; advice in their books.

"Life is too short to do the things you want to do once you're retired," he said. "Part of that is rethinking how we were living, and living beneath our means rather than above them. There's a financial aspect that comes along, but that's not the driver."

R

Story: Kevin Elliott

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PLACES TO EAT

Go To Our Website For

Outside Seating Available The Places To Eat for Downtown is a quick reference source to establishments offering a place for dining, either breakfast, lunch or dinner. The listings include nearly all dining establishments with seating in the Birmingham/Bloomfield area, and then some select restaurants outside the immediate area served by Downtown.

Birmingham/Bloomfield 220: American. Lunch & Dinner, MondaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 220 E. Merrill Street, Birmingham, 48009.

248.646.2220.

5th Tavern: American. Lunch & Dinner daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2262 S. Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Township, 48302. 248.481.9607.

Adachi: Asian. Lunch & Dinner daily. Liquor.

Reservations. 325 S. Old Woodward, Birmingham 48009. 248.540.5900.

Andiamo: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 6676 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Township, 48301.

248.865.9300.

Bangkok Thai Bistro: Thai. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 42805 Woodward Ave., Bloomfield Township, 48304. 248.499.6867.

Beau's: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

No reservations. Liquor. 4108 W. Maple, Bloomfield Hills, 48301.

248.626.2630.

Bella Piatti: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor.

167 Townsend Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.494.7110.

Beverly Hills Grill: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. Liquor. No reservations. 31471 Southfield Road, Beverly Hills, 48025. 248.642.2355.

Beyond Juice: Contemporary. Breakfast & Lunch daily; Dinner, Monday-Saturday.

No reservations. 270 West Maple Avenue, Birmingham, 48009.

248.594.7078.

Big Rock Chophouse: American. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations.

Liquor. 245 South Eton Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.647.7774.

Bill's: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, Daily. Reservations, lunch only.

Liquor. 39556 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304.

248.646.9000.

Birmingham Sushi Cafe: Japanese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor.

377 Hamilton Row, Birmingham, 48009. 248.593.8880.

Bistro Joe’s Kitchen: Global. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Sunday brunch. Liquor.

Reservations. 34244 Woodward Ave., Birmingham, 48009. 248.594.0984.

Bloomfield Deli: Deli. Breakfast & Lunch, Monday-Friday. No reservations. 71 W. Long Lake Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48304. 248.645.6879.

Brooklyn Pizza: Pizza. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 111 Henrietta Street, Birmingham, 48009.

248.258.6690.

Café ML: New American. Dinner, daily.

Liquor. Call ahead. 3607 W. Maple Road, Bloomfield Township. 248.642.4000.

China Village: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. 1655 Opdyke, Bloomfield Hills, 48304.

248.758.1221.

Churchill's Bistro & Cigar Bar: Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

116 S. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.647.4555.

Cityscape Deli: Deli. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. No reservations. Beer.

877 W. Long Lake Road, Bloomfield

downtownpublications.com

Hills, 48302. 248.540.7220.

Commonwealth: American. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. 300 Hamilton Row, Birmingham, 48009.

248.792.9766.

Dick O’Dow’s: Irish. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 160 West Maple Avenue, Birmingham, 48009.

248.642.1135.

Eddie Merlot's: Steak & seafood. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 37000 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304. 248.712.4095.

Einstein Bros. Bagels: Deli. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. 4089 West Maple Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48301. 248.258.9939.

Elie’s Mediterranean Cuisine: Mediterranean. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. No reservations.

Liquor. 263 Pierce Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.647.2420.

Embers Deli & Restaurant: Deli.

Breakfast & Lunch, daily. Dinner, Monday-Friday. No reservations. 3598 West Maple Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48301. 248.645.1033.

Flemings Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar: American. Dinner, daily. Reservations.

Liquor. 323 N. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.723.0134.

Forest: European. Dinner, MondaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 735 Forest Avenue, Birmingham 48009.

248.258.9400.

Greek Island Coney Restaurant: Greek.

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 221 Hamilton Row, Birmingham, 48009. 248.646.1222.

Griffin Claw Brewing Company: American.

Dinner, Tuesday-Friday, Lunch & Dinner, Saturday and Sunday. No Reservations.

Liquor. 575 S. Eton Street, Birmingham.

248.712.4050.

Honey Tree Grille: Greek/American.

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, daily. No reservations. 3633 W. Maple Rd, Bloomfield, MI 48301. 248.203.9111.

Hunter House Hamburgers: American.

Breakfast, Monday-Saturday; Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 35075 Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.646.7121.

Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse: American.

Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 201 S. Old Woodward, Birmingham, 48009.

248.594.4369.

IHOP: American. Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 2187 S. Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301. 248.333.7522.

Joe Muer Seafood: Seafood. Lunch & Dinner daily; Sunday brunch.

Reservations. Liquor. 39475 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304.

248.792.9609.

Kaku Sushi and Poke': Asian. Lunch & Dinner. Tuesday-Sunday. No reservations. No Liquor. 869 W. Long Lake Road, Bloomfield Township, 48302. 248.480.4785, and 126 S. Old Woodward, Birmingham, 48009.

248.885.8631.

Kerby’s Koney Island: American.

Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 2160 N. Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304.

248.333.1166.

La Marsa: Mediterranean. Lunch & Dinner daily. Reservations. 43259 Woodward Ave., Bloomfield Hills, 48302.

248.858.5800.

La Strada Dolci e Caffe: Italian.

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, TuesdaySunday. Reservations. Liquor. 243 E. Merrill Street, Birmingham, 48009.

248.480.0492.

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No digital coupons accepted. Excludes all other offers. With this coupon. Present coupon when ordering. Exp. 9/29/19.

6646 Telegraph at Maple Bloomfield Plaza 248.932.0800 | stevesdeli.com

Contact Jessie Miller Special Events Director | 586.944.8222 jemiller@aegpresents.com | www.romtlive.com 77

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Leo’s Coney Island: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

154 S. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.593.9707.

Also 6527 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48301. 248.646.8568.

Little Daddy’s Parthenon: American.

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 39500 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304.

248.647.3400.

Luxe Bar & Grill: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily; Late Night, 9 p.m.-closing.

No reservations. Liquor. 525 N. Old Woodward Ave., Birmingham, 48009.

248.792.6051.

Mad Hatter Cafe: Tea Room. Brunch, Lunch & Dinner. No reservations. Liquor.

185 N. Old Woodward, Birmingham, 48009. 248.540.0000 Mandaloun Bistro: Lebanese. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, Daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 30100 Telegraph Rd., Suite 130, Bingham Farms, 48025. 248.723.7960.

Market North End: Mediterranean. Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. No reservations. Liquor. 474 N. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.712.4953.

MEX Mexican Bistro & Tequila Bar: Mexican. Lunch, Monday-Friday, Dinner, daily. Liquor. 6675 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Township, 48301.

248.723.0800.

Nippon Sushi Bar: Japanese. Lunch & Dinner daily. No reservations. Liquor.

2079 S. Telegraph, Bloomfield Township, 48302. 248.481.9581.

Olga’s Kitchen: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 2075 S. Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48302. 248.451.0500.

Original Pancake House: American.

Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 33703 South Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009.

248.642.5775.

Panera Bread: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 100 North Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.203.7966.

Also 2125 S. Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48302. 248.253.9877.

Phoenicia: Middle Eastern. Lunch, Monday-Friday; Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 588 South Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.644.3122.

Pita Cafe: Middle Eastern. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 239 North Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.645.6999.

Qdoba: Mexican. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

No reservations. 795 East Maple Avenue, Birmingham, 48009.

248.988.8941. Also 42967 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Township, 48304.

248.874.1876 Red Olive: Middle Eastern/American.

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 42757 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Township, 48302.

248.481.7767.

Roadside B & G: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

1727 S. Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48302. 248.858.7270.

Rojo Mexican Bistro: Mexican. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 250 Merrill Street, Birmingham, 48009.

248.792.6200.

Salvatore Scallopini: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Beer & Wine. 505 North Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.644.8977.

Sidecar Slider Bar: Burgers. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

downtownpublications.com

280 E. Merrill Street, Birmingham 48009. 248.220.4167.

Social Kitchen & Bar: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations, parties of 5 or more. Liquor. 225 E. Maple Road, Birmingham, 48009. 248.594.4200.

Stacked Deli: Deli. Breakfast & Lunch, Monday-Saturday. Delivery available. No reservations. 233 North Old Woodward, Birmingham, 48009. 248.593.5300.

Steve’s Deli: Deli. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 6646 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield, 48301.

248.932.0800.

Streetside Seafood: Seafood. Lunch, Monday-Friday; Dinner, daily.

Reservations, Lunch only. Liquor. 273 Pierce Street, Birmingham, 48009.

248.645.9123.

Sushi Hana: Japanese. Lunch, MondayFriday; Dinner, Monday-Saturday.

Reservations. Liquor. 42656 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304.

248.333.3887.

Sy Thai Cafe: Thai. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

No reservations. 315 Hamilton Row, Birmingham, 48009. 248.258.9830.

Tallulah Wine Bar and Bistro: American.

Dinner. Monday-Saturday. Sunday brunch. Reservations. Liquor. 55 S. Bates Street, Birmingham, 48009.

248.731.7066.

The Franklin Grill: American. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations.

Liquor. 32760 Franklin Rd, Franklin, 48025. 248.865.6600.

The Gallery Restaurant: American.

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Beer & wine. 6683 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48301. 248.851.0313.

The Moose Preserve Bar & Grill: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2395 S. Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48302.

248.858.7688.

The Rugby Grille: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations.

Liquor. 100 Townsend Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.642.5999.

Toast: American. Breakfast & Lunch, daily; Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations.

Liquor. 203 Pierce Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.258.6278.

Tomatoes Apizza: Pizza. Lunch & Dinner daily. Carryout. 34200 Woodward Avenue, Birmingham 48009.

248.258.0500.

Touch of India: Indian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 297 E. Maple Road, Birmingham, 48009.

248.593.7881.

Townhouse: American. Brunch, Saturday, Sunday. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 180 Pierce Street, Birmingham, 48009.

248.792.5241.

Triple Nickel Restaurant and Bar: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Liquor.

Reservations. 555 S. Old Woodward, Birmingham 48009. 248.480.4951.

Vinotecca: European. Dinner, TuesdaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 210 S. Old Woodard, Birmingham, 48009.

248.203.6600.

Village Coney Island: American.

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 653 S. Adams.

Birmingham, 48009. 248.593.7964.

Whistle Stop Diner: American. Breakfast & Lunch, daily; No reservations. 501 S. Eton Street, Birmingham, 48009.

248.566.3566.

Zao Jun: Asian. Lunch Monday-Friday; Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 6608 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Township, 48301. 248.949.9999.

Royal Oak/Ferndale Ale Mary's: American. Weekend Brunch.

Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

Liquor. 316 South Main St., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.268.1917.

Anita’s Kitchen: Middle Eastern. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Beer & Wine. 22651 Woodward Ave., Ferndale, 48220. 248.548.0680.

Assaggi Bistro: Italian. Lunch, TuesdayFriday. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday.

Reservations. Liquor. 330 W. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale, 48220. 248.584.3499.

Bigalora: Italian. Weekend Brunch. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily. No Reservations. Liquor. 711 S. Main Street, Royal Oak, 48067.

Bistro 82: French. Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 401 S. Lafayette Ave., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.542.0082.

The Blue Nile: Ethiopian. Dinner, TuesdaySunday. Reservations. Liquor. 545 W. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale, 48220.

248.547.6699.

Cafe Muse: French. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday.

Reservations. Liquor. 418 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak, 48067.

248.544.4749.

Cork Wine Pub: American. Sunday Brunch. Dinner, Monday-Saturday.

Reservations. Liquor. 23810 Woodward Ave., Pleasant Ridge, 48069.

248.544.2675.

Due Venti: Italian. Sunday Brunch. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor.

220 S. Main St., Clawson, 48017.

248.288.0220.

The Fly Trap: Diner. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. Dinner, Monday-Friday. No reservations. 22950 Woodward Ave., 48220. 248.399.5150.

GreenSpace Cafe: Vegan. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. No reservations.

Liquor. 215. W. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale, 48220. 248.206.7510.

Howe’s Bayou: Cajun. Lunch, MondaySaturday. Dinner, daily. No reservations.

Liquor. 22949 Woodward Ave., Ferndale, 48220. 248.691.7145.

Inyo Restaurant Lounge: Asian Fusion.

Weekend Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

No reservations. Liquor. 22871 Woodward Ave., Ferndale, 48220.

248.543.9500.

KouZina: Greek. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 121 N. Main St., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.629.6500.

Kruse & Muer on Woodward: American.

Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations.

Liquor. 28028 Woodward Ave., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.965.2101.

Lily’s Seafood: Seafood. Weekend Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 410 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak, 48067.

248.591.5459.

Lockhart’s BBQ: Barbeque. Sunday Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, MondaySaturday. No reservations. Liquor. 202 E. Third St., Royal Oak, 48067.

248.584.4227.

Oak City Grille: American. Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 212 W. 6th St, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.556.0947.

One-Eyed Betty: American. Weekend Breakfast. Dinner, daily. No reservations.

Liquor. 175 W. Troy St., Ferndale, 48220. 248.808.6633.

Pronto!: American. Weekend Brunch.

Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

Liquor. 608 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.544.7900.

Public House: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 241 W. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale, 48220.

248.850.7420.

DOWNTOWN

Redcoat Tavern: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

31542 Woodward Ave., Royal Oak, 48073. 248.549.0300.

Ronin: Japanese. Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 326 W. 4th St., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.546.0888.

Royal Oak Brewery: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

215 E. 4th St., Royal Oak, 48067.

248.544.1141.

Strada: Italian. Dinner, Wednesday Sunday. Liquor. No reservations. 376 N. Main Street. Royal Oak, 48067.

248.607.3127.

Toast, A Breakfast and Lunch Joint: American. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. 23144 Woodward Ave., Ferndale, 48220. 248.398.0444.

Tom’s Oyster Bar: Seafood. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 318 S. Main St., Royal Oak, 48067.

248.541.1186.

Town Tavern: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 116 W. Fourth St., Royal Oak, 48067.

248.544.7300.

The Morrie: American. Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 511 S. Main St., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.216.1112.

Trattoria Da Luigi: Italian. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor.

415 S, Washington Ave., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.542.4444.

Twisted Tavern: American. Dinner, daily.

No reservations. Liquor. 22901 Woodward Ave., Ferndale, 48220.

248.545,6750.

Vinsetta Garage: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

27799 Woodward Ave., Berkley, 48072.

248.548.7711.

Troy/Rochester Capital Grille: Steak & Seafood. Lunch, Monday-Saturday. Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 2800 West Big Beaver Rd., Somerset Collection, Troy, 48084. 248.649.5300.

Cafe Sushi: Pan-Asian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1933 W. Maple Rd, Troy, 48084. 248.280.1831.

Cantoro Italian Trattoria: Italian. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1695 E. Big Beaver Road, Troy 48083.

248.817.2424.

CK Diggs: American & Italian. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations.

Liquor. 2010 W. Auburn Road, Rochester Hills, 48309.

248.853.6600.

O’Connor’s Irish Public House: Irish.

Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations.

Liquor. 324 S. Main St., Rochester, 48307. 248.608.2537.

Kona Grille: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 30 E. Big Beaver Rd., Troy, 48083.

248.619.9060.

Kruse & Muer on Main: American.

Sunday Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 327 S. Main St., Rochester, 48307. 248.652.9400.

Loccino Italian Grill and Bar: Italian.

Lunch, Monday-Friday, Dinner, daily.

Liquor. Reservations. 5600 Crooks Road, Troy, 48098. 248.813.0700.

McCormick & Schmick’s: Steak & Seafood. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. Somerset Collection, 2850 Coolidge Hwy., Troy, 48084. 248.637.6400.

The Meeting House: American. Weekend Brunch. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. No reservations. Liquor. 301 S. Main St, Rochester, 48307. 248.759.4825.

Miguel’s Cantina: Mexican. Lunch,

79

METRO INTELLIGENCER Metro Intelligencer is a monthly column devoted to news stories, tidbits and gossip items about what's happening on the restaurant scene in the metro Detroit area. Metro Intelligencer is reported/created each month by Dana Casadei who can be reached at DanaCasadei@DowntownPublications.com with news items or tips, on or off the record.

New Birmingham dining The much-anticipated restaurant, The Morrie Birmingham, finally opened its door for guests in August. Although they did a not-so-secret soft opening earlier in the month, the official opening happened August 15, with a grand opening and ribbon cutting planned for early September. “We’re bringing such a unique and different option to the community and we’re so happy to bring it to life,” said Aaron F. Belen of AFB Hospitality Group. Located at 260 N. Old Woodward, The Morrie Birmingham has a menu similar to their Royal Oak location – except plan to see their Nashville Hot Chicken sandwich and burger – with a few new features, such as more vegan and vegetarian options, including Kung Pao Cauliflower and a Greek Flatbread. As far as the space goes, Belen said guests won’t even recognize it from what it was before. Expect bands from their Royal Oak location to be rocking in Birmingham as well.

Breakfast destination Owner Micah Jenkins loves breakfast – it’s part of why she decided to open her restaurant, the Breakfast Loft. Located at 1440 Franklin Street, Detroit, they’ll serve brunch and breakfast seven-days-a-week come their grand opening on September 8. Since early May, they’ve done brunch buffets, with a few items already proving popular, like their seafood omelette and wafflebiscuits, which are sweeter than a regular one. “Everything is ridiculously good,” said Jenkins, who mentioned she eats about six of those wafflebiscuits every weekend. Jenkins – who was born and raised in Detroit – said their new full menu will be nearly triple the size of the brunch buffet, and include six different pancake options and eight omelettes, among loads of other options. There will also be plenty for vegans and vegetarians, such as their vegan skillet, blueberry oatmeal waffle, and avocado toast. The Breakfast Loft – described as an upscale plate in a comfortable place – will have a full bar and seasonal, speciality cocktails. Up first are their Rosé Sangria Float and Champagne Mule.

Worldly cuisine When trying to think of a name for their upcoming restaurant, those at Smith & Co. didn’t have to look very far, since they’re located inside the Smith Welding Supply & Equipment Company building at 664 Selden Street in Midtown Detroit. General Manager Dave Mammal said the name of the restaurant and building will also play a distinct role in its aesthetic, which he described as modern with an industrial style and natural elements, including sycamore tables and a green accent tile wall. As far as the food goes, Mammal said they’ll do new-age American style cuisine with global influences, which will leave a lot of room for Executive Chef Greg Antioho to experiment with flavors and cooking techniques. Mammal said he anticipates their menu will constantly be changing. Starting out, there are plans to have East Asian influences and Mexican empanadas on their menu come their early September opening. Smith and Co. will share the courtyard with Nain Rouge Brewery – which is shooting for a mid-October opening – with Smith & Co. selling their beer.

Poland meets Eastern Market For Erica Pietrzyk, knowing she’s about to open her brick-and-mortar is leaving her with mixed emotions. “It is the most exciting and terrifying feelings at the same time,” she said about the opening of Pietrzyk Pierogi, 1429 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit – a storefront inside Eastern Market. With plans for a mid-September opening – ideally the week of September 17-24 – the space will not only be a carryout restaurant, but retail space and production facility, giving her a permanent home after years of popular pop-ups. Pietrzyk said the takeout menu will constantly rotate – she does have over 90 different filling recipes – but there will always be three vegetarian options, three meat, and one vegan. The menu will not only have pierogi but salads, soups, and other traditional Polish dishes. When they open, Pietrzyk plans to offer the OG (her grandma’s recipe for potato and cheese), The Becky (jalapeño popper), The Spin Me Right (spinach and artichoke), Honey Trinity, Holy Gouda, and possibly the Goblin King, a shepherd’s pie filling with edible

Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 870 S. Rochester Rd, Rochester Hills, 48307.

248.453.5371.

Mon Jin Lau: Asian. Lunch, MondayFriday. Dinner, daily. Reservations.

Liquor. 1515 E. Maple Rd, Troy, 48083.

248.689.2332.

Morton’s, The Steakhouse: Steak & Seafood. Dinner, daily. Reservations.

Liquor. 888 W. Big Beaver Rd, Troy, 48084. 248.404.9845.

NM Café: American. Lunch, MondaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 2705 W. Big Beaver Rd, Troy, 48084.

248.816.3424.

Oceania Inn: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. The Village of Rochester Hills, 3176 Walton Blvd, Rochester Hills, 48309.

248.375.9200.

Ocean Prime: Steak & Seafood. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 2915 Coolidge Hwy., Troy, 48084. 248.458.0500.

Orchid Café: Thai. Lunch, Monday-Friday.

Dinner, daily. Reservations. 3303 Rochester Rd., Troy, 48085.

248.524.1944.

P.F. Chang’s China Bistro: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor.

Somerset Collection, 2801 W. Big Beaver Rd., Troy, 48084.

248.816.8000.

Recipes: American/Brunch. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

134 W. University Drive, Rochester, 48037. 248.659.8267. Also 2919 Crooks Road, Troy, 48084.

248.614.5390.

Rochester Chop House: Steak & Seafood. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 306 S. Main St., Rochester, 48307. 248.651.2266.

Ruth’s Chris Steak House: Steak & Seafood. Dinner, daily. Reservations.

Liquor. 755 W. Big Beaver Rd., Troy, 48084. 248.269.8424.

Silver Spoon: Italian. Dinner, MondaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 6830 N. Rochester Rd., Rochester, 48306.

248.652.4500.

Steelhouse Tavern: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1129 E. Long Lake Rd., Troy, 48085.

248.817.2980.

Too Ra Loo: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 139 S. Main St., Rochester, 48307.

248.453.5291.

West Bloomfield/Southfield Bacco: Italian. Lunch, Monday-Friday.

Dinner, Monday-Saturday.

Reservations. Liquor. 29410 Northwestern Highway, Southfield, 48034. 248.356.6600.

Beans and Cornbread: Southern. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor.

29508 Northwestern Highway, Southfield, 48034. 248.208.1680.

Bigalora: Italian. Weekend Brunch. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily. No Reservations. Liquor. 29110 Franklin Road, Southfield, 48034.

The Bombay Grille: Indian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. 29200 Orchard Lake Rd, Farmington Hills, 48334. 248.626.2982.

The Fiddler: Russian. Sunday Brunch.

Dinner, Thursday-Sunday. Reservations.

Liquor. 6676 Orchard Lake Rd, West Bloomfield Township, 48322.

248.851.8782.

Mene Sushi: Japanese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Beer & Wine.

6239 Orchard Lake Rd, West Bloomfield

Township, 48322. 248.538.7081.

Meriwether’s: Seafood. Lunch, MondaySaturday. Dinner, daily. Reservations.

Liquor. 25485 Telegraph Rd, Southfield, 48034. 248.358.1310.

Nonna Maria’s: Italian. Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 2080 Walnut Lake Road, West Bloomfield, 48323.

248.851.2500.

Pickles & Rye: Deli. Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 6724 Orchard Lake Rd, West Bloomfield Township, 48322. 248.737.3890.

Prime29 Steakhouse: Steak & Seafood.

Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 6545 Orchard Lake Rd., West Bloomfield, 48322. 248.737.7463.

Redcoat Tavern: American. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. No reservations. Liquor. 6745 Orchard Lake Rd., West Bloomfield Township, 48322.

248.865.0500.

Shangri-La: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. Orchard Mall Shopping Center, 6407 Orchard Lake Rd, West Bloomfield Township, 48322.

248.626.8585.

Sposita’s Ristorante: Italian. Friday Lunch. Dinner, daily. Reservations.

Liquor. 33210 W. Fourteen Mile Rd., West Bloomfield Township, 48322. 248.

538.8954.

Stage Deli: Deli. Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

6873 Orchard Lake Rd., West Bloomfield Township, 48322.

248.855.6622.

Yotsuba: Japanese. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 7365 Orchard Lake Rd, West Bloomfield, 48322.

248.737.8282.

West Oakland Gravity Bar & Grill: Mediterranean.

Monday – Friday, Lunch & Dinner, Saturday, Dinner. Reservations. Liquor.

340 N. Main Street, Milford, 48381.

248.684.4223.

It's A Matter of Taste: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 2323 Union Lake Road, Commerce, 48390.

248.360.4150.

The Root Restaurant & Bar: American.

Lunch & Dinner, Monday - Saturday.

Reservations. Liquor. 340 Town Center Blvd., White Lake, 48390.

248.698.2400.

Volare Ristorante: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor.

48992 Pontiac Trail, Wixom, 48393.

248.960.7771.

North Oakland Clarkston Union: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 54 S. Main St., Clarkston, 48346.

248.620.6100.

Holly Hotel: American. Afternoon Tea, Monday – Saturday, Brunch, Sunday, Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 110 Battle Alley, Holly, 48442.

248.634.5208.

Kruse's Deer Lake Inn: Seafood. Lunch & dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 7504 Dixie Highway, Clarkston, 48346.

248.795.2077.

The Fed: American. Lunch and Dinner daily, Brunch, Saturday and Sunday.

Liquor. 15 S. Main Street, Clarkston, 48346. 248.297.5833 Via Bologna: Italian. Dinner daily. No reservations. Liquor. 7071 Dixie Highway, Clarkston. 48346. 248.620.8500.

Union Woodshop: BBQ. Dinner, Monday – Friday, Lunch & Dinner, Saturday – Sunday. No reservations. Liquor. 18 S.

Main St., Clarkston, 48346.

248.625.5660

Detroit Bucharest Grill: Middle Eastern. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

2684 E. Jefferson, Detroit, 48207.

313.965.3111.

Cliff Bell’s: American. Sunday Brunch.

Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations.

Liquor. 2030 Park Ave., Detroit, 48226.

313.961.2543.

Craft Work: American. Sunday Brunch.

Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations.

Liquor. 8047 Agnes St., Detroit, 48214.

313.469.0976.

Cuisine: French. Dinner, TuesdaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 670 Lothrop Rd., Detroit, 48202.

313.872.5110.

The Detroit Seafood Market: Seafood.

Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations.

Liquor. 1435 Randolph St., Detroit, 48226. 313.962.4180.

El Barzon: Mexican. Lunch, TuesdayFriday. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday.

Reservations. Liquor. 3710 Junction St., Detroit, 48210. 313.894.2070.

Fishbone’s Rhythm Kitchen Café: Cajun. Breakfast, daily. Sunday Brunch. Lunch, Monday-Saturday.

Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

400 Monroe Street, Detroit, 48226.

313.965.4600.

Giovanni’s Ristorante: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations.

Liquor. 330 S. Oakwood Blvd., Detroit, 48217. 313.841.0122.

Green Dot Stables: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

2200 W. Lafayette, Detroit, 48216.

313.962.5588.

Jefferson House: American. Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily. Reservations.

Liquor. 2 Washington Blvd., Detroit, 48226. 313.782.4318.

Joe Muer Seafood: Seafood. Lunch, Monday- Friday, Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 400 Renaissance Center, Detroit, 48243. 313.567.6837.

Johnny Noodle King: Japanese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

2601 W. Fort St., Detroit, 48216.

313.309.7946.

Mario’s: Italian. Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 4222 2nd Ave., Detroit, 48201. 313.832.1616.

Midtown Shangri-la: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations.

Liquor. 4710 Cass Ave., Detroit, 48201.

313.974.7669.

Motor City Brewing Works: American.

Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

Beer & Wine. 470 W. Canfield St., Detroit, 48201. 313.832.2700.

1917 American Bistro: American. Sunday Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, MondaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 19416 Livernois Ave., Detroit, 48221.

313.863.1917.

Prism: Steak & Seafood. Dinner, TuesdaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 555 E. Lafayette St, Detroit, 48226.

313.309.2499.

Red Smoke Barbeque: Barbeque. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor.

Trappers Alley Shopping Center, 573 Monroe Ave., Detroit, 48226.

313.962.2100.

Russell Street Deli: Deli. Breakfast & Lunch, Monday-Saturday. No reservations. 2465 Russell St, Detroit, 48207. 313.567.2900.

Selden Standard: American. Weekend Brunch. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner,

daily. Liquor. Reservations. 3921 Second Ave., Detroit, 48201.

313.438.5055.

SheWolf Pastifico & Bar: Italian. Dinner, Tuesday through Sunday. Reservations.

Liquor. 438 Selden St, Detroit 48201.

313.315.3992.

Sinbad’s: Seafood. Sunday Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor.

100 St Clair St., Detroit, 48214.

313.822.8000.

Slows Bar BQ: Barbeque. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2138 Michigan Ave, Detroit, 48216.

313.962.9828.

Small Plates Detroit: American. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations.

Liquor. 1521 Broadway St., Detroit, 48226. 313.963.0702.

St. CeCe’s Pub: American. Sunday Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, MondaySaturday. No reservations. Liquor. 1426 Bagley Ave., Detroit, 48216.

313.962.2121.

Tap at MGM Grand: American. Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

Liquor. 1777 Third Street, Detroit, 48226. 313.465.1234.

Taqueria Nuestra Familia: Mexican.

Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 7620 Vernor Hwy., Detroit, 48209. 313.842.5668.

The Block: American. Sunday Brunch.

Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

Liquor. 3919 Woodward Ave, Detroit, 48201. 313.832.0892.

Tom’s Oyster Bar: Seafood. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, MondaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 519 East Jefferson Ave., Detroit, 48226.

313.964.4010.

Traffic Jam & Snug: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

511 W. Canfield, Detroit, 48201.

313.831.9470.

24grille: American. Sunday Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. The Westin Book Cadillac Detroit, 1114 Washington Blvd, Detroit, 48226.

313.964.3821.

Union Street: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 4145 Woodward Ave, Detroit, 48201.

313.831.3965.

Vince’s: Italian. Lunch, Tuesday-Friday.

Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations.

Liquor. 1341 Springwells St., Detroit, 48209. 313.842.4857.

Vivio’s Food & Spirits: American.

Saturday Breakfast. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2460 Market St., Detroit, 48207.

313.393.1711.

The Whitney: American. Breakfast, Lunch, & High Tea, Monday-Friday. Sunday Brunch. Dinner, daily. Liquor.

Reservations. 4421 Woodward Ave, Detroit, 48201. 313.832.5700.

Wolfgang Puck Pizzeria and Cucina: Italian. Dinner, Wednesday-Sunday.

Reservations. Liquor. 1777 Third St, Detroit, 48226. 313.465.1646.

Wolfgang Puck Steak: Steak & Seafood.

Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1777 Third St, Detroit, 48226.

313.465.1411.

Wright & Co.: American. Dinner, MondaySaturday. No reservations. Liquor. 1500 Woodward Ave Second Floor, Detroit, 48226. 313.962.7711.

glitter in homage to David Bowie. She plans to hire domestic abuse survivors and those with developmental disabilities to help her with production. “Being able to give the opportunity to other women who are trying to put their lives back together is important to me,” she said.

Great Greek gourmet Since their July opening, Lama Plyler, the general manager at Great Greek Mediterranean Grill, said things have been going tremendously. Located at 708 W. Big Beaver Road, Suite 6, in Troy, the new restaurant offers, well, Greek food. Notably, Plyler said, their menu is full of authentic recipes, like dolmades (stuffed grape leaves), spanakopita, gyros, and baklava. There’s also baklava ice cream, feta fries, and rice bowls if you’re feeling less traditional and a little more daring. “There’s lots of sit-down, dine-in options but we wanted to bring a more delicious, healthy concept of fast-casual,” Plyler said. The owners of this location of The Great Greek are a group of family and friends who, after trying the restaurant during annual trips to Las Vegas, where it originated, wanted to bring the concept back home. Plyler said they hope to open two more locations in the mitten next year.

Distinctive Latin dining The building at 4100 Third Avenue, Detroit, might currently be a shell with brick walls, but the owners of upcoming restaurant Vecino already know what the centerpiece will be: a long communal table. “That’s the idea behind the name Vecino, which means ‘neighbor’ in Spanish,” said attorney Luke Wietrzynski, who is developing the restaurant with his wife, Adriana Wietrzynski-Jimenez, and mother-in-law Eva Lopez-Jimenez, a former restaurant operator. “We’re hoping by kind of pushing everyone together at this communal table that you’ll sit next to someone else, spark a conversation…we want to be a cornerstone for the community.” They plan to have a revolving menu focused around Latin and South American flavors – starting with Peruvian, Mexican, and Brazilian – but have chef Francesco Tola use them in non-traditional ways. Like taking something found in a taco and putting it in a ravioli. When they open next year – hopefully late spring, early summer – there will be a full bar with spirits not often found, like mezcal. Vecino will also be incorporating a community garden down the street and use the produce in their own kitchen, donating excess to the community.

Donut delight If the smell of fresh doughnuts got you into 214 E. Grand River, Detroit, right

by Punch Bowl Social, you probably aren’t alone. Detroit Mini Donut – founded by Karen Hudson and Karla Willis – opened their brick-and-mortar back in July. “They’re tiny and hot and amazing,” Hudson said about their already-infamous doughnuts. While they’ve been running out of food trailers for almost a decade, this permanent location is a first for the duo. “It’s been a wonderful learning process,” Willis said. “We’re very happy now.” The menu is similar to what they’ve done for years, doughnuts (by the dozen or a bucket), lemonade, and Italian ice, with a few additions, like their custard shakes – currently in vanilla, chocolate, and peanut butter – which are topped with a mini doughnut. And for those worried the mobile element of their business is done, don’t worry, they still have plans to keep showing up at events and will continue to cater.

Healthy eats National Colorado-based chain, Rush Bowls, is getting its first Michigan location in Detroit, joining the Columbia Street development near the Fox Theatre, hopefully by early 2020. “If I’m not open by the beginning of next year I would be very disappointed,” said franchisee and BLUSH Enterprises, Inc. founder and president, Beth Lehman. So what is Rush Bowls? A healthy, fast-casual restaurant known for their meals in a bowl, which Lehman said are fruit-blended and healthy protein, and smoothies. Guests can try items like their yoga bowl – Lehman said it’s delicious – full of banana, mango, pineapple, matcha green tea, and topped with organic granola and honey.

Lehman thinks this will add an option for those looking for a healthy, nutritious meal in a timely fashion. This might be the first Rush Bowl in Michigan, but it won’t be the last, as there are plans to open four more throughout the state.

GILLIAN L AZAR , REALTOR DENISE ZUCKERMAN , REALTOR

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THE COMMUNITY HOUSE Throughout our 95-year history, The Community House has clearly demonstrated an unwavering commitment to Birmingham and to the region. Not only does the historic Community House meet its mission each year to “impact lives through exceptional educational, social and outreach experiences,” TCH also offers a “home” to eleven other non-profit or supported groups, providing bricks and mortar, discounted food and services, a platform from which they too can conduct their important business and deliver on their missions.

Our enduring legacy has been, and remains still today, to utilize the gifts entrusted to us by others to seek self-sufficiency. It remains a work in progress. The demands for our programs, services, and yes, too, our charity exceeds our precious resources. Yet, we persevere.

While not blessed by municipal support, tax dollars or any form of long-term, sustained, outside funding, The Community House has learned to be incredible stewards.

A successful fall event season can make all the difference. Please join us at one or more of our signature fundraising events or initiatives of the year.

Creating chemistry one home at a time.

TCH Estate Sale – Rare Opportunity One of a kind finds – once in a lifetime sale. Starting Thursday, September 5, through Saturday, September 7, The Community House will host an estate sale in the ballroom of The Community House. Through an act of Bill Seklar tremendous generosity, The Community House has come into possession of a Birmingham estate full of fine art, designer furniture and high-end furnishings curated by a renowned area interior designer. Basically, everything but the kitchen sink. Sale will be facilitated by Antiques on Main at aomestatesales.com.

Sale takes place 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Proceeds benefit The Community House.

2019 Birmingham House Tour The Community House Foundation will host its 32nd Annual Birmingham House Tour, presented by Hall & Hunter Realtors on Thursday, September 12, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. This year’s tour offers six spectacular private residential homes, in a variety of design styles and architecture. Co-chairs “extraordinaire” for this year’s event are Rose and Brian Bolyard. Sponsors to date include Presenting Sponsors Hall & Hunter Realtors, Equity Title Agency, Michael Willoughby & Associates, John Kelly Builders, MAISON Birmingham, Gorman’s Furniture, Birmingham Bloomfield Credit Union, Michael J. Dul & Associates, Ethan Allen, Bolyard Lumber and Detroit Home. For ticket information, contact 248-644-5832 or purchase tickets online at communityhouse.com.

2019 Oktoberfest – Beer, Burgers and Brats New – The First Annual Oktoberfest 2019 will be held at the historic Community House on Friday, September 20. Oktoberfest 2019 Beer, Burgers and Brats will bring together Bell’s Octoberfest craft beer, Zim’s Vodka seasonal craft cocktails and Germaninspired cuisine from area restaurants, live German music by John Orischak to celebrate Oktoberfest 2019 under tents at The Community House all for the benefit of the 210,000 children and adults served by The Community House. Tickets $39/person prior to the event: $45/person at the door. Sponsored by the Birmingham Shopping District, Roberts Family and Strategic Planning Concepts. Sponsorship and volunteer opportunities are still available.

Coming soon 2019 Health & Wellness Series – Informed Minds. Healthy Bodies.

New: A new Health and Wellness Series at The Community House A free four-part series of health & wellness talks brought to you by The Community House and St. Joseph Mercy Oakland Hospital. Topics will include: Heart & Stroke Health with Bill Proctor, Spine Health, Advancements in Prostate Screenings and Opioid Stewardship.

St. Joe’s team of expert medical professionals will share information and insights into some of today’s most pressing health & wellness challenges and concerns. By personalizing service, connecting with the community's needs and offering a health care experience that seeks to heal the patient's mind, body and spirit, SJMO retain its position as a leading health care organization and a vital community resource.

Fall Activities to Watch Join us this fall for Yoga with Sandra Krafsur, a professional, certified yoga instructor who has been teaching Hatha Yoga for over 40 years. Yoga is an ancient system of healing, toning and rejuvenating the body. In a non-competitive environment, enjoy the benefits of increased flexibility and strength while lowering stress and anxiety. With 13 classes offered six days a week, there are classes perfect for every ability.

For more information about these events, classes or other experiences at The Community House, please call 248.644.5832 or visit us online at communityhouse.com William D. Seklar is President & CEO of The Community House and The Community House Foundation in Birmingham.

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Wells Fargo Home Mortgage is a division of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. © 2017 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. All rights reserved.

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SOCIETY NOTEBOOK/GIGI NICHOLS

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Child Safe Legends of Tomorrow Gala

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Beatrice and Pierre Boutros along with SuSu Sosnick co-chaired the Child Safe Legends of Tomorrow Gala at the Townsend Hotel in Birmingham. Highlights of the evening included dinner, lively Brazilian music, an auction and a special VIP Parisian-themed afterglow in the Townsend’s Regency Room. Child Safe Michigan, an affiliate of the Judson Center, is a foster care, adoption and mentoring agency that works with abused, neglected and at-risk children. Thanks to the generosity of sponsors and 300 patrons, the event raised more than $520,000.

1. Norman and Solange Messalian of Bloomfield. 2. Bernardo and Tracy Rojas of Bloomfield.

3. Zeina Kaddoum of Birmingham, Nada Azouri of Grosse Pointe and Joelle Abood of Birmingham. 4. Betsy Reich and Tom Kuslits of Beverly Hills. 5. Actor Colin Egglesfield of Chicago and Wendy Silverman of Bloomfield. 6. Sonia Pomeroy of Birmingham and Sonia Elias, Miami FL. 7. Julie Adelson of W. Bloomfield and David Grossman of Franklin. 8. Co-chairs Beatrice and Pierre Boutros of Birmingham.

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Oakland Community College Garden Party

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The beautiful grounds of Meadow Brook Hall in Rochester provided a perfect backdrop for the 11th annual Garden Party. The requested attire was “garden chic.” Over 650 guests enjoyed fare from 30 of Michigan’s best restaurants paired with 100 fine wines. Proceeds from the event will provide scholarships and other support for students in OCC’s career and technical education programs, including automotive, culinary arts, firefighter tech, HVAC/R, law enforcement, machine tool tech, robotics, and welding. 1. David and Norma Stone of Grosse Pointe Farms and Syd and Elizabeth Ross of Bloomfield. 2. Marc Beshany and Kimberly Williams of Birmingham, Brandy Belcher and Patrick O’Dell of Farmington. 3. Kimberly Campanale of Orchard Lake, Renee Godin of Farmington Hills and Bonnie Foley of Bloomfield. 4. Lauren Medelson of Huntington Woods and Robin Rosen of Bloomfield. 5. Tom and Vicki Celani of Bloomfield. 6. Nicole Gopoian Wirick and Adam Wirick of Bloomfield. 7. Marla Fedor of Highland and Stephanie Schulcz of Bloomfield.

8. Ava Sand and Al Trombetta of Royal Oak, Cynthia Bass and Michael Scheid of Bloomfield.

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Cabaret 313, Summer Soiree

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Cabaret 313 is dedicated to bringing the art form of cabaret to Detroit while supporting and enhancing the increasing energy and vibrancy in the city. The non-profit’s Summer Soiree, an annual fundraising event supporting next year’s season, was staged at the Shinola Hotel in Detroit. Approximately 75 guests gathered in the Birdy Room to enjoy hors d'oeuvres and cocktails as well as a performance featuring three 2019 graduates of the University of Michigan's Musical Theatre Program. Summer Soiree patrons pledged or gave $1,500 (Sustainer), $2,500 (Producer) or $3,500 (Director). The event raised $96,000. 1. Bill Volz, Mary Kramer and President and Executive Director of Cabaret 313 Allan Nachman of Bloomfield. 2. Wayne and Mary Brown of Detroit and Joy and Allan Nachman of Bloomfield.

3. Bruce Kridler and Linda Hayman of Bloomfield and Alan Hayman of W. Bloomfield.

4. Beth and Jeff Davidson of Birmingham. 5. Paulette Koffron of Farmington Hills and Tom Ditkoff of Bloomfield. 6. Erica Peresman and David Jaffe of Birmingham. 7. Bridjet and Barton Morris of Birmingham. 8. Matthew and Daniel Ackerman of Bloomfield.

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Defeat the Label, Raising the Bar

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Defeat The Label is a 501(c)3 organization that creates critical awareness of bullying issues among students of all ages, empowering them with the skills and aptitudes to defeat the label. The non-profit organized a social event at Dick O’Dow's in Birmingham which featured judicial guest bartenders, including Supreme Court Justice Brian Zahra, Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein, Hon. Michael Riordan, Hon. Shalina Kumar, Hon. Victoria Valentine and Hon. Jake Cunningham. Funds raised will support Defeat The Label's in school anti-bullying programs. 1. Judge David Groner of Grosse Pointe and Richard Justice Bernstein of Birmingham. 2. Jennifer Lord of W. Bloomfield, Liz Luckenbach of Bloomfield, Clarence Dass of Bloomfield, Julie Kosovek of Rochester Hills and Dan Quick of Birmingham. 3. Jessica Weber of Redford, Amy Spilman of W. Bloomfield and Matt Catchick of Royal Oak. 4. Matthew Schwartz of Birmingham and co-founder Jeff Sakwa of Birmingham. 5. Mary and Larry Powe of Birmingham.

6. Chris McLogan of Bloomfield, Julie McDonald of Bloomfield and Liz Luckenbach of Bloomfield.

7. Judge Shalina Kumar of Birmingham. 8. Scott Ballerd of Waterford and Tim Currier of Troy.

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GigiNichols@downtownpublications.com 248.515.6105

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Project HOPE SOS Luncheon

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The Women’s Division of Project Hope (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere) hosted a nautical-themed luncheon at Bloomfield Hills Country Club. The event was chaired by Laurie Balian Aiello, Patty Ghesquiere, Bettina Gregg, Cheryl Hall Lindsay and Linda Juracek-Lipa. Guests enjoyed a deluxe beauty station by Dior, lipstick boutique by Glameselle, and seafaring musical entertainment. Project HOPE now staffs two naval hospital ships in 39 countries. Event proceeds are earmarked for support of victims of the Venezuelan crisis.

A Project HOPE donation program will increase the event’s total donation to $77,500. 1. Bonnie Foley, Patty Ghesquiere, and Annette Kolon of Bloomfield. 2. Rosemary Bannon of Beverly Hills and Diana Shoushanian of Farmington Hills. 3. Linda Juracek-Lipa of Birmingham, Linda Kaine of Bloomfield, Cheryl Hall Lindsay of W. Bloomfield and Laurie Balian Aiello of Birmingham. 4. Karen Pifer of Birmingham and Sherry Saginaw of Bloomfield. 5. Catherine Pikulas of Franklin and Anita Terry of Bloomfield. 6. Pattie Prowse of Bloomfield, Renee Godin of Farmington Hills and Marie Brigstock of Bloomfield. 7. Kaye Rittinger of W. Bloomfield and Barbara Woolf of Bloomfield. 8. Barbara McCarthy and Nora Hamill of Bloomfield.

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Franklin Garden Walk

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The Franklin branch of the Women's National Farm & Garden Association held its 34th annual Garden Walk. This popular event was attended by 800 people and showcased residential gardens in Franklin, Bloomfield and Lathrup Village. Garden Walk attendees were also invited to shop at local artisan boutiques at the Franklin Village Gazebo. The proceeds from the ticket sales will be used to support horticultural scholarships as well as environmental, horticultural and educational causes in southeastern Michigan and beyond. This year’s event raised $9,000.

1. Shelley Farkas and Gail Webster of Bloomfield. 2. Homeowners Bruce and Shelley Hoffman of Bloomfield. 3. Rita Kerr and Cynthia Amann of Bloomfield. 4. Patricia Ciagne of Bloomfield and Mary Sue Ewing of Franklin. 5. Suzy Farbman of Franklin and Linda Solomon of Farmington Hills.

6. President of the Franklin Garden Club Margaret and Stephen Bancroft of Franklin.

7. Cindy Juliano of Franklin and Anne Baldin of Bloomfield. 8. Homeowners Dan Gilleran and Ed Blondin of Lathrup Village.

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JVS Human Services’ Strictly Business Networking Luncheon

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Michigan Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein headlined the 22nd annual JVS Human Services’ Strictly Business networking event at Motor City Casino Hotel in Detroit. Bernstein inspired the crowd of almost 600 business and community leaders who were there to support JVS’ innovative employment practices for those with disabilities, as well as unemployed and underemployed workers and older job seekers. Awards were presented to Star Trax Events, Josh Gershonowicz, Kelly Flynn, Loukas Pallicaris and Sonya Terry. The event raised nearly $30,000. 1. Michigan Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein of Birmingham and George Stern, JVS Human Services board chair, of Birmingham. 2. Howard and Sharon Eisenshtadt of Bloomfield, Alison Baldonado of Farmington Hills and Brian Siegel of West Bloomfield. 3. Phillip Elkus of Bloomfield, Michael Simmons of Bloomfield, James Rosenfeld of Huntington Woods, Scott Eisenberg of Birmingham and Liz and David Elkus of Bloomfield. 4. Helene and Art Indianer of West Bloomfield. 5. Brian Siegel of West Bloomfield and Geoff Kretchmer of Huntington Woods. 6. Jeff and Heidi Budaj of West Bloomfield and Emil Raab of Farmington Hills.

7. Roz Blanck of Franklin, Sandy Schuster of Oak Park and Marie Sickon-Burke of West Bloomfield. 8. Alison Schwartz of West Bloomfield, Michigan Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein. Photo credit: Larry Peplin

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Shimmer on the River

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Shimmer on the River is the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy’s largest annual fundraiser. The VIP event honored founding Detroit Riverfront Conservancy board member Nettie Seabrooks for her role in the revitalization of the Detroit Riverfront. Shimmer on the River guests were treated to music from Motown legends The Four Tops, unlimited food at the Shimmer Food Truck Rally, refreshments, and access to the Adventure Park filled with games and rides for kids. The weather was wet but that did not stop the patrons from attending and enjoying the event, which raised $200,000. 1. Honoree Nettie Seabrooks of Detroit and Eugene Gargaro of Grosse Pointe.

2. Dick and Eleanore Gabrys and Chip McClure of Bloomfield. 3. Larry and Patti McLaughlin of Bloomfield. 4. Doug Rhodes of Clarkston and Rhonda Savige of Shelby Twp. 5. Cindy Pavicic and Paul Andrews of Royal Oak. 6. Katie Couyoumjian of Denver, Carl Couyoumjian of Ann Arbor, Sarah Couyoumjian of Detroit and Nan Couyoumjian of Ann Arbor. 7. Ruth Rattner of Bloomfield and Anne Parsons of Detroit. 8. Ingrid Tighe of Birmingham and Emily Remington of Beverly Hills.

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GigiNichols@downtownpublications.com 248.515.6105

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Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) Michigan Women of Valor Luncheon

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More than 300 women gathered for the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) Michigan Women of Valor Luncheon at Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills. The benefit featured a keynote speech from human rights attorney Gadi Ezra and honored Joan Chernoff Epstein. The event, co-chaired by Susie Pappas and Karen Weiss, raised nearly $500,000 to support the FIDF Impact! Scholarship Program, which grants four-year academic scholarships to Israel Defense Forces combat and combat-support soldiers from low socio-economic backgrounds. 1. Emily Gorge of Birmingham, Meredith Tepper of NYC, Alexandra Weitz of Bloomfield Hills. 2. FIDF Michigan Director Paula Lebowitz of W. Bloomfield, Event co-chair Susie Pappas of Bloomfield, event honoree Joan Chernoff Epstein of Birmingham, event co-chair Karen Weiss of Birmingham. 3. Robin Wine of Orchard Lake and Leslye Galperin Golding of Birmingham. 4. Linda Cole of W. Bloomfield and Julie Nelson-Klein of Bloomfield. 5. Gadi Ezra of Israel (center) with Elaine Robins of W. Bloomfield (left) and Pam Bloom of W. Bloomfield (right). 6. Sherry Haffner of W. Bloomfield, Cheryl Grand of W. Bloomfield, event honoree Joan Chernoff Epstein of Birmingham, Shari Rogers of Franklin.

7. Gadi Ezra of Israel and Mira Eisenberg of W. Bloomfield.

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MIU Men’s Health Foundation Run for the Ribbon

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Michigan Institute of Urology (MIU) Men’s Health Foundation is dedicated to men’s health advocacy and the awareness, education, research and treatment of prostate cancer and men’s health related issues. The 11th Annual Run for the Ribbon “Shine On” Gala was hosted at The Waterview Loft at Port Detroit. The gala featured breathtaking views of the Detroit River, live music by B House Productions, a constellation station, strolling dinner and silent auction. The night sky shone in honor of those affected by prostate cancer in a commemorative moment. The evening’s proceeds totaled just over $100,000. 1. Foundation President and Founder Dr. Michael Lutz and Kathryn Lutz of Birmingham. 2. Jacqui and Larry Elkus of W. Bloomfield. 3. Chris Stone of Royal Oak and Jordan Stonehouse of Royal Oak. 4. Betsy and Mitchell Hollander of Bloomfield. 5. Roma and Marko Gudziak of W. Bloomfield. 6. Katie Peterson of Farmington Hills, Kristin Stratton of Rochester Hills, Lia Palomino of Novi, Denise Bickett of Rochester and Tina Schaffner of Rochester. 7. Dana, Piper and Jeff Lutz of Birmingham. 8. Andrew Turnbull, Dora Romanell, Mark Schneider of Grosse Pointe.

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SOCIETY NOTEBOOK/GIGI NICHOLS

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Variety Kovan Golf Classic

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Variety the Children’s Charity presented the 30th annual Variety Kovan Golf Classic at Birmingham Country Club. Over 200 golfers enjoyed morning and afternoon rounds with breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as silent and live auctions. First place went to Nicole Ulrich, Richard Ulrich, Joe Safarian and Brad Peri. The event raised more than $174,000 with funds benefiting Variety the Children’s Charity, Friendship Circle and C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in memory of Dr. Bradley S. Kovan and Jonathan Kovan. Dr. Eric Kovan served as event chair. 1. Rhonda Sabatini of Bloomfield, Nancy Seavitt of Orchard Lake, Ruth Ortiz of Rochester Hills and Vicki Miller of Bloomfield. 2. Barry Leshman of Huntington Woods and Ed Shaw of Birmingham. 3. Bruce Benderoff of Bloomfield, Jeff Kovan of Okemos and Carol Benderoff of Bloomfield. 4. Jeffrey and David King of Birmingham. 5. Michael Feldman of Bloomfield and Adam Bornstein of Huntington Woods. 6. Eric Kovan of Franklin, Bruce Kovan of Bloomfield and Juliann Kovan of Atlanta.

7. Tim and Diane Hoerner of W. Bloomfield, Lori Toia of Plymouth and Sue Pitsenbarger of Northville. 8. Debbie Knowles of Birmingham and Pam Szmadzinski of Northville.

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Longtime DSO supporter and Detroit philanthropist Mort Harris was honored at the DSO’s annual Heroes Gala. Each year, the gala honors remarkable men and women who impact the vision, values, and success of the organization. The Heroes Gala Benefit Concert featured actor and singer Leslie Odom, Jr., best known for originating the role of Aaron Burr in the Broadway sensation Hamilton.

Proceeds from the event totaled over $1 million and will support the DSO’s commitment to transforming the lives of young people through music education. 1. Sally and Paola Orley of Bloomfield. 2. Linda and Dan Lutz of Birmingham and Lisa and Josh Cutler of Farmington Hills. 3. Mike and Kathie Yatsko and Kate and Larry Gladchun of Bloomfield. 4. J. and Lynn Ferron of Bloomfield. 5. Gail Danto of Birmingham and Beverly Wine of Bloomfield. 6. George Johnson of Detroit, Diana Weiss of Chicago, William Volz of Bloomfield and Mary Kramer of Detroit. 7. Jennifer and Scott Dulchavsky of W. Bloomfield and Joanne Danto and Arnold Weingarden of Birmingham. 8. Ed Levy of Birmingham, Ruth Rattner of Bloomfield and Linda Dresner of Birmingham.

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ENDNOTE

Get ready for cuts to township services he rejection of a 2.3-mill special assessment district (SAD) by Bloomfield Township voters that would have generated about $9 million per year for the next 15 years, designed to cover a shortfall in retiree benefits liabilities related to police and fire, means the board of trustees will need to make significant cuts to close an annual funding gap estimated to be between $5 million and $7 million.

Bloomfield Township Supervisor Leo Savoie said at a Monday, August 12, board of trustees meeting that he'll be meeting with department heads and others in the upcoming weeks to formulate a plan to make cuts to the township's budget, and the best way to minimize the impact of those cuts. A full plan of proposed cuts should be prepared and ready to discuss with the board by August 26.

While that plan is still in the works, prior to the election Savoie provided a preview of what to expect should the SAD fail to pass. Among those projections included the loss of about 10 police officers and eight firefighters; the elimination of an annual $1.4 million contribution to the township's road department from the general fund; elimination of the animal welfare department; elimination of the township's funding of a school liaison officer; the transfer of police officers to area joint task forces; elimination of electronic waste and household hazardous waste collections; and the institution of a one-percent administration fee for processing property tax collections.

Savoie already confirmed upcoming waste

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collections wouldn't go forward. Further, he said police and fire positions would be eliminated through attrition, meaning those cuts will take place over time by eliminating some personnel positions after they become vacant.

Opponents of the SAD were quick to claim that cuts to police and fire wouldn't happen if the proposed tax failed. They also claimed, and continue to claim today, that the current funding shortfall came about by mismanagement by Savoie and the current administration. Both those claims are demonstrably false.

First, in terms of police and fire positions, residents should be aware the township already has three vacant police officer and four open firefighter positions that won't be filled.

Additional positions aren't likely to be filled as they become vacant.

In terms of management, consider a recent Standard & Poor's Global Ratings assessment that upgraded the township's credit rating to AAA, despite the township's existing financial liability and rejection of the proposed SAD. The rating upgrade was based in part on the township's "strong management." Other factors included a strong economy, adequate budgetary performance, strong budgetary flexibility and other factors. Moody's subsequently downgraded the township's credit rating to AA, following the August 6 election due to the amount of unfunded liability – but not for poor management.

The S&P credit rating noted that the township has a strong history of adjusting its budget when necessary, and as a result, expects the township

to maintain reserves and cash on hand at levels they considered very strong.

Whatever budget cuts come forward, the majority of slashes to existing services aren't likely to take place until April of 2020, when the township's current budget and fiscal year expires. Gaps in the current budget were filled by using the township's existing fund balance.

We also feel confident the current township board and administration is capable of making the appropriate cuts to meet funding challenges into the future, while still maintaining an adequate fund balance. While services to residents will undoubtedly be cut, they will come at the direction of voters who rejected the proposed SAD and those that led them down that path.

Lastly, while the idea of studying the role and function of the administrative positions in the township – supervisor, treasurer, clerk – deserves merit – as has been casually discussed in the past – a recent resolution put forth to hire a township superintendent to oversee Savoie and strip him of all but ceremonial duties was done prematurely. By doing so, it's clear those pushing for immediate change are more interested in politics than responsible and measured leadership.

We, for one, believe the current board and administration are fully capable of putting those politics aside and making the tough decisions necessary based on what is best for township residents.

Free speech priority at public meetings t city commission and township board meetings, it is customary to have public comment, where members of the community come to the podium and after giving their name and address, can speak on a topic of their choice for a set time limit.

Or so it was until a commission meeting in Birmingham on July 8, at which the city attorney advised members of the public they couldn't speak about their views – in any way – regarding the August 6 election on the N. Old Woodward parking project. City attorney Tim Currier's reasoning was that a contract existing between the city and the Birmingham Area Cable Board “prohibits political speech.”

During public comment at that meeting, two Birmingham citizen activists, Clinton Baller and David Bloom, attempted to present their points of view opposing the N. Old Woodward project – with Currier telling them their comments were out of order, and mayor Patty Bordman, upon Currier's order, gaveling the meeting to a close.

Following the meeting, Baller and Bloom filed suit against the city of Birmingham, Bordman

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and Currier, alleging their free speech rights, as well as the state's Open Meetings Act, had been violated by the city. On August 5, U.S. District Court Judge Victoria Roberts issued a temporary restraining order for that night's commission meeting, stating that the plaintiffs could not advocate which way to vote on the upcoming vote, which ultimately failed at the polls the following day, they had to comply with decorum requirements, and the city could not stop them from speaking or cut the cable broadcast during the public comment period of the meeting.

Motion responses by both parties to the original lawsuit are upcoming.

Judge Roberts made a wise move, preserving the baby without throwing out the bathwater. It is imperative that commissions and boards respect the free speech rights of their citizens – as long as residents respect their elected officials and the legislative bodies, as well.

Free speech is protected in the Bill of Rights as the First Amendment because of its importance, and it cannot be abridged because board members don't like the attitudes of

residents, the views they espouse, or the topics they bring up. Likewise, the courts have consistently ruled that municipal contracts cannot negate free speech rights. Communities are made up of a variety of people, wide backgrounds and diversity, and perspectives and opinions – which is the exact reason individuals choose to live there. Instead of shutting down dissenting viewpoints, elected leaders should encourage citizen involvement to better hear the voices of their community – whether they like what they are saying or not.

For residents, it is imperative to mind time limits, which boards are right to set – without them, public comment and public hearings can get repetitive and out of control. In addition, every meeting demands mutual courtesy and respect – and audience members have no more right to speak out of turn or use disparaging or disrespectful language or physicality than an official would.

Let's return to respectful, open dialogues between communities and the boards who serve them. And let everyone freely speak their mind.

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