Birmingham/Bloomfield

GERAK: SOCIAL SCENE • J. MARCH: LA DULCE IN ROYAL OAK

THE INTERVIEW:

RUTH JOHNSON FROM OAKLAND COUNTY BOARD TO MICHIGAN SECRETARY OF STATE COURT BONDS: MAKING SURE THE DEFENDANTS SHOW UP LANDFILL UPDATE: TAKING OUT THE TRASH IN OAKLAND ECRWSS Postal Customer EDDM PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ROYAL OAK, MI 48068 PERMIT #792

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DOWNTOWN01.16

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Ruth Johnson: Secretary of State from Oakland County From county board, to state legislature, then county clerk and now secretary of state, Johnson talks about her role on a number of state issues and what the political future holds.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

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Law enforcement, and the public, will be negatively impacted by President Barak Obama's executive order forcing the return of some of the unused military equipment given to police agencies starting in the George W. Bush years.

CRIME LOCATOR

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

MUNICIPAL

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Road configuration on city ballot; underground gas tanks removed; township treasurer responds in circuit lawsuit; fire station design not well received; gourmet slider establishment coming; library project moving ahead; plus more.

FRONT/BACK

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The latest on what’s happening in the front and the back of the house in metro Detroit area restaurants with a series of short takes on the latest news and gossip for the industry.

AT THE TABLE

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The simple menu and Spanish roots, the beverage program and the individuality were pleasing, but Royal Oak's La Dulce needs some fine tuning, according to restaurant reviewer J. March.

THE COVER Harry D. Hoey Hall, named after the teacher/headmaster at Cranbrook Schools from 1926-1964. The building sits on the perimeter of what is commonly referred to as “The Quad” at the Upper School. Downtown photo.

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20 Update on landfills There has long been concern that Oakland County could run out of places to bury its trash, so we took a look at the landfill situation today.

39 The role of the bondsman Not everyone thinks the current commercial bond system is the answer for the criminal justice system and that role could be changing.

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Salvador Salort-Pons

THE COMMUNITY HOUSE

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William Seklar, President and CEO of The Community House, unveils the Bates Street Society to recognize significant contributions to TCH.

SOCIAL LIGHTS

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Society reporter Sally Gerak provides the latest news from the society and nonprofit circuit as she covers recent major events.

ENDNOTE

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Bloomfield Township officials must take specific action now to minimize any further damage to the community by treasurer Dan Devine, whose behavior becomes more bizarre by the day.

FACES

18 27 36 48 57 75 81

Alyssa Klash Andy Appleby Salvador Salort-Pons Katherine Rosman William Massie Michael and Adam Kazanowski Meryl Davis and Charlie White

ol is a o h c S y a ation ntry D c u u o d e C s t t i r o a iberal n, Detr l o i d t e a d v n o u n well-ro ry of in a o t s s i e d h i ens. a v z i o t r i c p l t a With a b h of glo ader t e n l o c i i t a m r e e 3 p.m. d n a e 1 c g a • t x n 0 e e 1 v n pro nuary to the a J , y a d n use Su o H n e p O Visit our 248.646.7717 www.dcds.edu LOWER SCHOOL

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PUBLISHER David Hohendorf NEWS EDITOR Lisa Brody NEWS STAFF/CONTRIBUTORS Allison Batdorff | Rachel Bechard | Hillary Brody Katie Deska | Kevin Elliott | Sally Gerak | Austen Hohendorf J. March | Kathleen Meisner | Bill Seklar PHOTOGRAPHY/CONTRIBUTORS Jean Lannen | Laurie Tennent Laurie Tennent Studio VIDEO PRODUCTION/CONTRIBUTOR Garrett Hohendorf Giant Slayer 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 downtown Birmingham.

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FROM THE PUBLISHER any months ago I had the opportunity to catch breakfast with Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard, which proved enlightening in terms of what modern day law enforcement officials were facing when it comes to providing the public with protection that we have all come to expect.

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The occasion followed a column of mine at the time which raised questions about the use by Bouchard's office of the Stingray, a suitcase-size surveillance device that mimics a cell tower and allows police to grab phone data from a targeted phone. My concern was that not much is known about Stingray and similar devices in use by local police departments, thanks to manufacturer/government nondisclosure agreements that keep both the cost and device specifics shrouded in secrecy. From what little anyone can gather, some of these devices automatically sweep up phone data from all cell phones within one mile or a greater area in some cases.

I am not sure I walked away from the breakfast with any less concern about possible loss of privacy rights on the part of the public. I approach any such infringement on the part of the government by erring on the side of the public's right to privacy.

I did leave the breakfast with a more thorough understanding of the new challenges facing law enforcement professionals in today's society against the backdrop of the threat of domestic and international terrorism that is high on the public radar screen.

Keep in mind that our get-together was coming off the heels of the 2014 shooting of African American Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, by a white police officer, so the topic on everyone's mind was the added fear about the over-militarization of local police departments, thanks in large part to the federal program started during the George W. Bush administration, which included giving away military equipment no longer needed for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Michigan public safety departments received, since 2006, about $40 million of surplus equipment, including tracked armored vehicles, grenade launchers – you name it.

Bouchard made a strong case for some of the equipment obtained by his department and neighboring county sheriffs who any day could be called on to deal with the threat of terrorism that we all know exists today. His most vivid example was the success his department had in employing an MRAP (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicle in a West Bloomfield gunman incident in West Bloomfield during which his department was able to safely evacuate hostages, if memory serves me correctly.

I also felt comfortable knowing that on large county events, like the Woodward Dream Cruise, for example, unbeknown to attendees, similar equipment is strategically located – but well out of sight – for quick response along the cruise route, should an immediate response be needed to a threatening situation.

There is a legitimate concern about the blurring of the fine line on what the public has long considered sacrosanct – a clear distinction between an organized military force and local police departments, but Bouchard has shown he is sensitive to these same concerns.

That is why it is with some disappointment that we are now watching the Obama administration overreacting to the national debate about over-militarization of local police departments with an executive order in the past year that requires some of the unused war items to be returned to the federal government. The order requires police departments in this state and nationwide to return tracked armored vehicles, weaponized aircraft, grenade launchers, bayonets and similar items to be given up by local departments.

It has always seemed over-the-top, if not dangerous, that local police departments would need items like grenade launchers and weaponized aircraft, but MRAP vehicles are another matter.

So I was at least heartened by a letter protesting the new policy to the current administration that was authored by Congressman David Trott (Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Rochester Hills), who was joined by Mike Bishop (Rochester, Rochester Hills) and four other GOP congress members from the Michigan delegation, attempting to reverse the mandatory equipment return policy.

Ignore the fact that as taxpayers we have already paid for this equipment no longer in use, or that Oakland can afford to purchase other similar vehicles. Be it Bouchard's department or other county/regional law enforcement agencies, more is being expected in terms of homeland security and response, and as residents we want to know that someone can provide it quickly when the situation arises. These departments are the first responders, our first line of defense/offense if a crisis develops like the recent massacre in San Bernardino, California, or Paris.

Without question there have been some abuses by a few departments across the country when it comes to employing the used military equipment, but unless a compromise can be struck, we will all be paying the price for the lack of readiness thanks to the loss of some of this equipment.

David Hohendorf Publisher DavidHohendorf@downtownpublications.com

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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 December 11, 2015.

Placement of codes is approximate.

FACES

Alyssa Klash s a student at Andover High School, Alyssa Klash could often be found designing and wearing her own creations. She never considered it to be a viable career option, however, until she met a representative from Parsons School of Design in New York City for a college visit, who described their Fashion Design Program. For the remainder of her time at Andover, Klash had her heart set on attending, taking art classes both at Andover and at the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center in order to build a portfolio that would gain her acceptance to the prestigious design school.

Her hard work paid off, and Alyssa and her mother headed out to New York City for her freshman year of college in 2006.

She recalls an obsession with getting herself to New York – ”there was no stopping me,” even if it meant having a parent follow her to the big city.

However, by the time she was finishing up her degree in 2011, and a brief stint working for fashion designer Betsey Johnson, the impetus was in place to return to Detroit’s burgeoning art scene. “My senior year at Parsons, I was really obsessed with coming back to Detroit. The art scene was buzzing. I really wanted to be a part of this.

“The thing about going to Parsons, I feel like I barely saw New York. I was working so hard all the time, pulling all nighters, it was just a crazy work experience.”

The past year for Klash has kept up with that relentless pace, having exhibited in Grand Rapid’s prestigious ArtPrize competition, and showing in galleries throughout Detroit, including in the Detroit Institute of Arts’ Ofrendas exhibit, an animation show at the Detroit Film Theatre, and at The Baltimore Gallery. “Just to get to ArtPrize,” Klash notes, was a huge goal of hers. Her mural Look Into My Eyes was a perfect fit for the competition’s goal of bringing more art into the community. It had previously been exhibited in Detroit on the corner of Woodward and Grand River avenues.

In the past year alone, Klash describes an evolution in her artistic style, one she has really honed working in Detroit. “I felt I had a bit of an illustration vocabulary [in school], but it wasn’t a full-on language. It wasn’t until last year that I grabbed some kind of style and niche that was really me. I look at the past couple of years, I was constantly working, putting on shows, and it shaped what I’m doing now.”

Her bold, illustrative style was one she says that they tried to lead her away from in school because it was too “cartoony.”

However, the heavy, dark lines allow her work to transition easily between digital renderings and acrylic and wood panels, providing several different mediums on which she can display her now trademark females. The graphic subjects at the centerpiece of her compositions often have tears gushing from their eyes, but one shouldn’t read this as an indication as to Klash’s mindset.

“The art scene has been thriving, and it’s been really great to feel like I have a place in the scene.”

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Story: Hillary Brody

Photo: Jean Lannen

BY LISA BRODY AND KATIE DESKA

THE STATUS OF OAKLAND COUNTY, CIRCA 2016

LANDFILLS

rash. It's typically a topic we don't think much about, beyond putting it out at the curb on the appointed night and bringing in the empty garbage cans and recycling bins the next day. For most of us, garbage is something we throw away and it's gone. Yet nothing is ever really gone when it comes to trash. Trash and recycled materials are managed, utilizing appropriate waste management mechanisms and developing technologies to lower the usage of landfill space, increase recycling, and use other technologies, such as incinerators, to maximize landfill potential.

That's why Oakland County officials, and their counterparts in the other 82 Michigan counties, have been grappling for decades with the issue of waste disposal and whether we have sufficient landfill space locally to handle our share of the 250 tons of trash, as of 2010, that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says was generated a year nationally, with more than half of that going to landfills.

Continued and effective solid waste management is a cooperate venture that involves mutual efforts on the part of federal, state, regional and local governmental entities.

In the United States, the EPA regulates household, industrial, manufacturing and commercial trash and hazardous wastes under the 1976 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, a modification of the Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965, which addressed, in a coordinated and concerted effort, how to safely dispose of large amounts of municipal and industrial wastes. The goal was to protect human health and the environment, to reduce wastes and to limit hazardous waste.

Amendments to the act were added in 1980 and 1984 to address hazardous and solid waste issues as they have evolved. Efforts to add other amendments, or to initiate other legislative regulations over waste and its disposal and transport, have been continuous, but not always successful. In 1988, a law was enacted to prohibit the dumping of all municipal sewage sludge and industrial waste in the ocean; that same year, the Medical Waste Tracking Act was passed.

While the EPA monitors overall waste management and interstate disbursal, in Michigan, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) deals with waste issues pertaining to solid waste, hazardous waste, hazardous and liquid industrial waste, medical waste, radiological protection, recycling, and scrap tires. In that capacity, they regulate and monitor landfills in the state.

A landfill is a large area of land used to dispose of refuse and other waste material by burying it and covering it over with soil, especially as a way to extend or fill in usable land.

“The landfills, by law, are required to pay the MDEQ solid waste fees that have to be deposited into a certain account,” said Steve Silver, assistant chief of waste management and radiological protection for MDEQ. According to the Environmental Research Foundation, landfills in Michigan must have a special liner at the bottom along with a leachate collection system to prevent decomposition and contacting wastes leaching into the groundwater; a cover to prevent leachate formation; and a natural hydrogeologic setting to prevent wastes from escaping.

“You want the geology to do two contradictory things for

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you. To prevent the wastes from escaping, you want rocks as tight (waterproof) as possible. Yet if leakage occurs, you want the geology to be as simple as possible so you can easily predict where the wastes will go. Then you can put down wells and capture the escaped wastes by pumping. Fractured bedrock is highly undesirable beneath a landfill because the wastes cannot be located if they escape. Mines and quarries should be avoided because they frequently contact the groundwater,” the Environmental Research Foundation said.

The foundation also noted that plastic bottom liners are not as advisable as a composite liner, where the plastic is joined with compacted soil. However, different landfill designs can be utilized for solid or household waste, construction waste or hazardous waste.

According to an EPA report, the number of municipal solid waste landfills across the country have dropped from 7,924 in 1988, to 1,754 in 2006.

Municipal landfills around the country were closed for numerous reasons. Some reached their maximum capacity, and had to be closed, with some being repurposed. Others were closed because they had been improperly set up and leached toxins into local groundwater. Others emitted toxic fumes.

A former Sanicem landfill in Auburn Hills, which was closed in 1978 due to improper maintenance, and is now repurposed into light industrial manufacturing on the 145acre site, has been undergoing testing over the last several months of 2015 by the MDEQ along with experts hired by the city of Auburn Hills, after methane gas was detected on the site. Methane, a greenhouse gas, is emitted by natural sources such as wetlands, as well as leakage from natural gas systems and landfills, and is colorless and odorless, and can be flammable. According to the EPA, methane is generated by landfills as waste decomposes, and is the third largest source of methane emissions. City officials have tested and monitored wells on the site, and while three wells have tested positive for methane, officials say they do not believe the public is at risk.

Waste management companies have also developed other ways to manage refuse so they do not have as much of a need for landfills, including a higher percentage of recycling, greater incinerator use, and finding ways to convert waste to other sources of energy.

In 2000, the Oakland County Board of Commissioners approved a solid waste plan that urged Oakland County municipalities to provide specialized solid waste services and recycling services, noting that there were only four sites at that time, that had dual waste processing and transfer station designations. There was the recognition at that time that “existing landfill disposal capacity within Oakland County may be depleted within the planning period...Oakland County in cooperation with other Michigan counties has access opportunities to more than a sufficient amount of landfill disposal capacity to meet its disposal needs for the five-year and ten-year planning periods...Uncertainty exists, however as it relates to the continuing availability of in-county landfill capacity...it is conceivable that Oakland County will be required to export 100 percent of its waste stream by the end of the next decade.”

At that time, there was also enormous concern from the public regarding taking in trash from Canada, and whether there would be enough capacity for all of our own waste.

An MDEQ report from September 2014, estimating

remaining capacity, volume and point of origin of the waste stream reported by each landfill, determined that today there is about a three-decade capacity in Oakland County.

“There's roughly about 22 to 23 percent of waste that's disposed of in Michigan landfills that is coming from out of state or Canada,” said MDEQ's Silver. “If you go back to the late '70s and early '80s, Michigan and other states were closing open dumps that threatened groundwater, and were problematic for a number of reasons, and we all passed laws that were consistent with federal law.

“In the late 1980s, there was a concern whether there was enough space to hold all the waste, so every county had to ensure they had a landfill available to dispose of their waste,” Silver continued, “Or an incinerator so we didn't have to worry about where the waste would go. All the counties did a good job. In Michigan, in every county, they ensured there was adequate disposal capacity.”

Silver said that today, there is about 25 to 26 years worth of landfill capacity statewide. “That's a lot,” he said.

But is that really a lot of capacity? Landfill owners today usually develop only a portion of their property for a landfill, and once that is full, they petition their local county board and then the local municipality to open a new “cell” to create an expanded landfill. oe Munem, director of government affairs and public relations for Rizzo Services, said that once a landfill is complete, “They can always come in to petition to open new cells. They dig a hole in the ground, put in liners, and that's called a cell. If they do that between the trash mountain to the adjacent space, then you go and line in the area in between, and that adds to the life span of these things considerably.”

While the land is waiting to be used, some companies, like Waste Management, have created wildlife habitat areas.

Tom Horton, media spokesperson for Waste Management of Houston, said they have wildlife habitats at three of their metro Detroit landfill facilities, including Eagle Valley in Orion Township. “Our wildlife habitat areas are certified by the Wildlife Habitat Council,” he said, noting that the company is committed to responsible environmental stewardship.

The Wildlife Habitat Council had a goal in 2007 to have 100 wildlife habitats at landfills by 2020; they reached that goal by 2010, and they stated they now protect 26,000 acres nationwide by landfills.

Munem acknowledged that some landfills, like Pine Tree Acres in Lenox Township, “are nearing the end of their serviceable life. Pine Tree Acres has less than 10 years – but they could petition for more.”

Our own waste is not the only thing filling our landfills.

Michigan is ranked as one of the top trash importer states, along with Pennsylvania, Virginia, Indiana, Wisconsin and Illinois, according to numbers from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. Michigan ranks third, taking municipal waste products from other states, both near and far, from states like Connecticut and New Jersey which are constrained by a lack of space. And currently, 17 percent of the trash in Michigan landfills comes from Canada, because “it is more economically

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efficient for Canadians to pay to transport their trash hundreds of miles than to dump trash in their own landfills,” according to the Michigan Policy Network. “Each year about 60,000 trucks carrying 2.25 million tons of trash enter Michigan from the north.”

In 2006, Michigan Senators Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin (D) pushed for approval of a U.S. House bill that would have blocked Canadian trash from coming into Michigan, but it died. They worked out a deal with Ontario to phase out all shipments of household trash from Toronto and other Ontario communities, but industrial and commercial waste continues to enter Michigan. That refuse is not monitored; nor is waste from other states. It is considered a commodity which is bought and sold for a price – and Michigan's landfills are cheap in comparison to other states. Called tipping fees, it is the charge levied upon an amount of waste at a waste processing facility, and is generally levied to offset the cost of running the landfill.

“The Senator, along with Senator Levin, was able to get an agreement with the Ontario government to phase out municipal waste,” said Stabenow spokesperson Matt Williams. Because of the Commerce Act and interstate treaties, industrial and commercial waste continues to enter Michigan.

“Michigan's tipping fees are very low,” Williams said.

“The legislature sets the fees. For better or worse, landfills economically better their communities.”

Michigan charges approximately $10 to $20 per ton less for waste than many other states, making the state a desirable destination for trash, especially Canada.

In 2011, Stabenow introduced the Stop Canadian Trash Act, “to stop the remaining Canadian private waste by changing the financial incentives that makes it cheaper for Canada to dump their waste in Michigan instead of their own landfills.” She said through Williams, “Canadian trash poses serious health, safety, and security threats to Michigan families and communities. Senator Levin and I were able to stop Ontario's city waste from being dumped in our backyard, but now it's time to stop the rest of the trash coming across the border.” However, the bill went nowhere.

The Trash Act, introduced in August 2015 by Sen. Robert Casey (D-PA), would amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to restrict interstate waste imports and impose a higher fee on out of state waste “requiring that waste imported from another state be only from states with equivalent or higher standards of waste handling and reduction..(with) imposition of higher fees on interstate waste imports.”

Rep. Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) said he sees some constitutional issues with the act, especially pertaining to the 10th Amendment, that must be addressed in this legislation before it moves forward. The 10th Amendment of the Constitution deals with the Commerce Clause, and the ability of the federal government to regulate interstate markets. Both he and Rep. Dave Trott (R-Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Rochester Hills) noted that so far, the legislation has only been proposed in the Senate.

Waste-related trade organizations are opposed to the interstate restrictions.

On the flipside, Michigan also exports some of its refuse back over the border. According to Michigan Policy Network, our state sends hazardous waste to Canada where there are more advanced treatment facilities, such as our old paint cans, pesticides, used batteries, televisions and other electronics, and yard waste, just as lawn clippings, which

surprisingly is considered hazardous waste because of its combustibility. urrently, Oakland County has just two landfills, Eagle Valley Recycling and Disposal Facility on W. Silverbell in Orion Township, and Oakland Heights Development on Brown Road in Auburn Hills. In a change in the model over the years, there are a number of transfer stations in the county, where waste management companies temporarily store the garbage they have collected, often just for the day. They sort and compact it and then transport it to their disposal endpoint. There are transfer stations throughout Oakland County, including the Advanced Disposal Transfer Station on Collier Road in Pontiac; Waste Management on W. Highwood in Pontiac; SOCCRA Transfer Station on Coolidge Highway in Troy, which also operates as a recycling center; SOCCRA on John R. in Madison Heights; Allied Waste Industries on W. Eight Mile Road in Southfield; FPT Pontiac Division on Collier Road, in Pontiac; and RRRASOC on W. Eight Mile Road in Southfield, for recyclables.

Horton of Waste Management, which owns 16 landfills in Michigan, including Eagle Valley landfill in Orion Township, said, “We don't handle hazardous waste, although there is a hazardous waste facility in Van Buren Township.” He said the MDEQ inspects all of the landfills four times a year, “and makes sure our operating license is in compliance. We have ongoing contact with MDEQ throughout the years, and look up licenses on operating standards and procedures, like leachate collection system that collects water, because we're required to treat any rainwater that falls on the site. We follow requirements on how water is maintained on the sites; there are air quality standards we have to comply with, and odor regulations, and groundwater monitoring, to make sure we're maintaining the landfill properly. It is up to us ensure the facility is protecting the environment during its operating period.”

Waste Management also owns Pine Tree Acres landfill in Macomb County, which is the largest landfill in the midwest. According to Rizzo's Munem, “Almost 80 percent of what it takes in is Canadian trash.”

Munem notes that while many communities in Oakland County have trash and recycling collection by Rizzo – including Bloomfield Township, Bloomfield Hills, Royal Oak, and West Bloomfield, they do not own any of their own landfills. “We've sent to landfills located outside of Oakland County; we've sent to Eagle Valley. We do things wherever to get the best price for our customers. The majority – more than 60 percent – of what we haul goes to the Detroit incinerator.

“We feel the incinerator is in many ways a more 'green' solution because those burners are filtered and also generate electricity, so you're getting something out of that,” he said.

“The really positive aspect of having the disposal capacity we have is plenty of time for some of the newer technologies that are being developed to manage waste,” said Horton, such as “gasification, where you have solid waste and you convert it to gas. You then have a gas product you can use as

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an energy product, and you can make other products out of it.”

He said in other parts of the country, such as at a plant in Philadelphia, “it converts solid waste to solid fuel that burns at temperatures similar to coal but with a much improved footprint. We have a gas-to-liquid facility in Oklahoma – it takes landfill gas and uses a process to convert it to diesel fuel. At Eagle Valley, we have gas wells that get captured, and we sell it to General Motors, right across the street for the Orion Assembly plant, and they use it for running their plant in lieu of burning coal. The goal is to extract value from the waste stream.”

“I think the challenge we face right now is that all our systems are waste-based systems, and we need to transition to a new way of thinking about and managing these materials,” said Karrin O'Brien, executive director of Michigan Recycling Coalition. “Landfills are built on large pieces of property, and those are ripe for landfill expansion, and the capacity they have to expand into more usable space that landfills already have – I've heard estimates it increases that capacity to an estimated 100 years. But it's better for our economy and our environment to get as much value out of that material as we can, versus when we have to pay to put it in the landfill, where we have to pay to monitor it, fix the problems, and if something catastrophic happens, we have to pay for that, too. Whereas we can turn it into something new, where it will become valuable again.”

Repurposing the land is another goal for some waste management companies when landfills are full. According to Waste Dive, there are approximately 10,000 shuttered landfills in the U.S., and there are many creative uses for repurposing the land, from subdivisions to ski resorts, nature preserves to golf courses. Michigan's environmental laws, along with the EPA and MDEQ, require the owner of a landfill to conduct post closure care of a site for at least 30 years after they close a landfill.

A golf course had been proposed, although never built, in Rochester Hills on the city's east side, to be called Avon Meadows Golf Course, for a former landfill owned by SOCCRA In a lawsuit filed by the city of Royal Oak against SOCCRA and decided in 2003, Royal Oak and other area municipalities claimed SOCCRA, which at that time had operated a solid waste landfill, decided to close it as it reached capacity and develop a nine-hole golf course on its surface. Royal Oak sued to permanently enjoin them from proceeding, arguing that they were not authorized to develop the land on top of the landfill. A Michigan law stated that a waste disposal authority like SOCCRA “may hold, manage, control, sell, exchange or lease such property.” The appeals court sided with SOCCRA, stating that “a golf course is a nationally recognized end use for completed landfills.”

Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan Barnett isn't sure why the project in his city never went forward. “Usually when people talk about reusing a landfill they're talking about the Suburban Softball site,” he said, of the approximately 100 acres of land off of M-59 at the intersection of Hamlin and Adams roads that used to hold softball diamonds, and which was a former landfill. He said the property is currently owned by the Schostak Brothers & Company.

“The challenge is it's a former landfill, so it will need some cleanup,” Barnett said. “We work with developers to find creative uses to bring it back into productive use. We just haven't found the right one yet.”

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FACES

Andy Appleby always wanted to be general manager of the Red Sox,” said entrepreneur Andy Appleby, CEO of General Sports & Entertainment (GSE). “I was very much a sports enthusiast. I learned to read (by) reading baseball cards.”

Appleby broke into the sports industry in 1986, when he accepted a job with Palace Sports & Entertainment, and moved from New England to Rochester, equipped with a master’s degree in Sports Management from Springfield College, “the birthplace of basketball and James Naismith,” he noted. “I could think of nothing better than working for a sports team. The best offer came from the Pistons.”

One of the perks of the job – easy access to tickets for events at the Palace and DTE Energy Music Theater – led Appleby to his wife, Kris.

“She was an art consultant, and called on the Palace. The day I asked her out, she turned me down like four times,” he recalled of the time he offered to take her to see Elton John on Wednesday, Eric Clapton on Thursday, or a riverboat ride on Friday. ‘No, no and no,’ she told him. “I had one other in my sleeve, Harry Connick, Jr., at Pine Knob, and she said yes!”

After putting in 12 years with Palace Sports & Entertainment, Appleby departed and set out to “try to start that next great company,” as he put it.

“I learned, working with the Pistons, that working at a high level of sports, relationships are easier because people want to be my friend.” Putting his connections to use, Appleby founded GSE in 1998.

The GSE portfolio includes owning the 133-year-old Derby County Football Club of the English Premier League, which Appleby described as

I

the “the super bowl of English soccer.” After eight years, Appleby recently sold his stake in the team, and said, “We’ve become gigantic county football fans. We think we care about the Lions, Tigers and Wings, but imagine if we had one team?”

From 1999 to 2006, GSE owned the Fort Wayne Wizards, a Minor League Baseball team affiliated with the San Diego Padres.

Building on this experience and his passion for sports, Appleby is in the process of launching the United Shore Professional Baseball League, an independent minor baseball league. “It’s the culmination of the first 29 years of my (career) life,” he said.

In June 2016, at the new Jimmy John’s Field, currently under construction in Utica, the three as-of-yet-unnamed professional teams will play ball. “I want it to be like a Disney experience.

“When we grew up, we came home when the streetlights came on, or when we got called for dinner. Today, we feel like we need a tether for kids playing in our own yard. Kids today have no autonomy,” said Appleby, father of four, ages nine through 18.

At the Utica ballpark, “we want kids to get their face painted, go to the wiffel ball field, and get Dippin’ Dots. We as parents yearn for that, and kids do as well,” said Appleby, who moved with his family to Bloomfield Hills in 2003, where he and his wife continue to raise them.

Story: Katie Deska

Photo: Laurie Tennent

RUTH MICHIGAN SECRETARY OF STATE

Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, from Oakland County’s Groveland Township, got her first taste of government as a young woman in the 1970s, when she battled as a citizen activist in the north part of the county against an internationally-owned waste disposal company that had bought 198 acres to fill a gravel pit right across from her home, which would have impacted the Marshall Formation Aquifer, a natural water supply provider to 300,000 people “that don’t have a secondary water supply, so if it became contaminated, it would have had a devastating impact on the state of Michigan,” as she recalls.

But challenges were nothing new for Johnson. She grew up in Waterford Township, the daughter of a widowed mother. Her first job, at 13, was as the first female paper carrier for the Pontiac Press, now the Oakland Press. She was accepted to Michigan State University, which she says was her “dream,” but when she figured out the finances, “there was just no way,” so she first attended Oakland Community College before she graduated from Oakland University. She holds a master’s degree in social work from Wayne State University.

Johnson’s first political office was as an Oakland County commissioner, from 1988 to 1998, at which time she was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives and was re-elected in 2000 and 2002. Term-limited, she next moved on to defeat incumbent Republican Oakland County Clerk “Doc” Caddell to take that office, the first female to ever be elected to that position.

Johnson, in 2006, was the lieutenant governor candidate on the statewide Dick DeVos gubernatorial ticket, which lost to Governor Jennifer Granholm. In 2010, she won the Republican party nomination to successfully run for the secretary of state office, to which she was then re-elected in 2014. Term limits prevents Johnson, married and the mother of a 16-year-old daughter, from running again for that office.

Downtown Publications News Editor Lisa Brody sat down with

Johnson to discuss her job as secretary of state, controversial decisions and her future in political office.

As secretary of state, you have streamlined wait times at branch offices; launched ExpressSOS.com, a website offering the full range of auto and driver license registration and renewal options; maintained a focus on transparency on campaign finance disclosure; boosted organ donor registration in the state and created a veterans’ license plate program benefitting veterans’ services. So what is the focus of your remaining three years in office?

Some of it is a continuation. Some (branches) you can actually call up and make an appointment. If there’s an hour wait, you’ll know. You can do whatever you want, whether it’s stay at work or go grocery shopping, do banking, whatever it is that you want to do, you can. You don’t have to stand in line. We did 10 branches that worked so well, we added eight more recently. We’re looking at even more as we go along. The whole idea is how do we have a system that people don’t have to waste their time standing in line.

The other thing is we started something called ExpressSOS.com. We only need to see you once every eight years to renew your license in person. If you don’t need a picture, which you do every eight years, you simply can go on the computer at ExpressSOS.com if you have a charge card and get everything done. And what people don’t know is print-and-go, we call it – if you print the receipt and put it in your wallet, you don’t have to have the tab yet.

As long as you have the receipt, you’re good to go. Some people think, ‘Oh I waited too long, and it’s going to take a week for them to mail it to me, so now I have to go stand in line.’ It’s not true as long as you carry the receipt with you. That’s a really good way to save a lot of time. It’s open 24/7. We’ve even had people on major holidays get their tabs. If you lose a title, lose a registration, if you want to renew a boat license, if you want to renew your driver’s license, or your state ID license on the fourth year, you don’t have to

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come in. We’ve tried to make this faster, easier, better for people.

The other thing is, we did a research project to look into fraud.

And what we found is we have a fair amount of fraud that’s under the secretary of state’s office. We’ve put resources and time into identifying, quantifying, and qualifying – what are our issues with fraud?

Where is the greatest amount of fraud?

Interestingly enough, we picked one day, and tried to see where people don’t have car insurance or bogus car insurance. There are a number of companies that are not reputable that sell you insurance and you find out you don’t have it when you have an accident or when you need it for some reason. We found somebody out in a parking lot with a laptop and a printer. People should know that’s not legitimate insurance. It’s a big problem that costs the rest of us $220 million a year to pay for the insurance for the uninsured. The rest of us are paying for that. Then there’s the catastrophic fund that we all have to pay into for the uninsured.

When we looked into where we had the most problems, we found that it was over half the 83 counties – it didn’t matter if it was Upper Peninsula, lower, east or west. Every part of Michigan, over half the counties. And we had, at that time, 16.1 percent of them were not valid. So we went to work on that, and cut that in half, but it’s still not enough.

Another point of fraud I’m very concerned about is someone who wants to buy a used car, either buys it in many different ways – it can be CraigsList, somebody selling it from their house, even sometimes from a car lot, which we’ve really cracked down on fraud. We’ve put on notice that their license is suspended. We’re investigating 114 different shops, which is unheard of. We’re going after chop shops; we’re going after places that are selling cars that have been in floods, that are supposed to be salvaged, but they put together fraudulent title and use it and then some unsuspecting person overpays and gets a car that has significant problems.

Whether it’s the Upper Peninsula or the Lower Peninsula, another problem is people can fraudulently put together a title to a car with all the electronics and photocopy machines and computers, that looks pretty convincing. We’re working on making all of that electronic so it can’t happen. I don’t know the exact numbers, because we don’t catch every one, but we know it’s a substantial problem, especially for someone who has probably given their life savings for a car, after they shopped around and everything looked okay but it wasn’t.

I’m going to work to continue the qualified voter file, because that is the foundation to integrity in our voter system.

One of your chief responsibilities as secretary of state is managing elections but you have hit bumps along the way.

You have had a disagreement with Governor Snyder over adding a check box to ballot application forms requiring voters to indicate whether they’re a citizen. You claimed in 2012 that 4,000 non-citizens vote in Michigan elections, but a state analysis suggested perhaps 54 ineligible voters out of a sample of 58,000 had voted. In actuality, reportedly of the 1.2 million people voting in that GOP primary, maybe four people may not have been citizens, and it’s been reported your office could only substantiate two. A Voting Rights Coalition filed suit in federal court on September 17, 2012, charging the citizen check box was “unconstitutional and in violation of federal and state law,” and Snyder vetoed legislation to put it on the ballot, yet you still put it on the 2012 ballots, which news reports indicate caused considerable confusion at the polls. In the face of one or two possible instances out of millions of voters, why would you do this?

Your information is not accurate, to begin with. I never said how many people voted that were non-citizens, ever. However, we did do a small sampling and out of that small sampling, counted 663

people that were non-citizens that were registered. I don’t have a comprehensive list of how many non-citizens that there are, but to me, it’s so important to make sure that the people who are voting are registered voters legally. You must be a U.S. citizen to vote.

Is this where your energies are best put forth, or is this just an example of a Republican trying to energize the Tea Party or radical GOP base by playing to an issue?

No. I think you have to look at how we clean up the qualified voter file. When I came into office, there was 102.45 percent of registered voters in Michigan. One hundred and two point four five percent.

So cleaning up the registered voter file is extremely important. We did a subscription with the Social Security Administration and found tens of thousands of dead people. We took those off. We joined a coalition with other states and found hundreds of thousands of people who don’t live in Michigan anymore and are registered in one or more states. And while we don’t have a system to check, we do know that some people have voted in more than one, or both, states. How many? I can’t quantify for you. But it’s a problem when you have people voting twice, it’s a problem when you have dead people voting, and it’s a problem when you have non-citizens voting – not just for the system. When a non-citizen votes, they commit a felony.

I’ll give you a quick example. A very nice man from Thailand in Kalamazoo owned a restaurant – his family is here, a job provider.

He was becoming a U.S. citizen. He was doing everything right. On his fifth year, he went back to Immigration to finalize that he would be a U.S. citizen, and he was so proud – and by the way, in Indonesia it’s compulsory to vote. They asked him, ‘Have you voted?’ And he said, ‘Yes, I did.’ And they said, ‘You’re being deported.’ Because it is wrong, it is a felony. It protects people, because when he came over, he didn’t speak English. This isn’t some kind of organized effort that I could find. It is simply that our offices across this nation were told you must ask everyone. And for good reason. But the right hand and the left hand didn’t know what each other were doing, so non-citizens were asked over and over, ‘Would you like to vote?’ They didn’t speak English; they registered, and then they got a card and they thought could vote. We know, just from the small group we’ve looked at, there were 663 noncitizens registered to vote. We’ve sent letters to all of them. I think it’s important to remember that every person in this country, that is qualified, is asked to register to vote. I’m very proud of our record.

We’re number one in the country in getting people registered to vote.

At the same time, you put a check box on the ballot against a veto by Governor Snyder.

I had a right to do that administratively, and did do that. We had two elections that worked just fine with that on there. And, by the way, many other states have that on there as well. But what we did is come to an agreement, and I believe it gives the protections that we need because I wasn’t asking anyone to bring in papers to share you are a U.S. citizen, but to protect them and the integrity of the elections, I want to make sure they are. Now, when you get your registration request, when you sign it, it says, “I am a U.S. citizen, 18, live in this district I am voting in” – we’ve had people vote in districts they are not. And we have made it so much easier. We have 600,000 or 700,000 people in this state who move, but they forget to change their voter registration. That just didn’t seem fair.

Michigan has the second most voting districts in the United States of America, but we have home rule. I think it’s good because it’s local. The more local it is, the more accountability there is.

You are on record for backing a bill, House Bill 4724, now stalled in committee, to expand absentee voting for any reason, which 27 states permit. Why is this important, and what is the likelihood this can be moved through the House and Senate?

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There’s nothing more important in America that making sure you’re a qualified voter that is registered. To encourage you, and then to make it secure, and yet as convenient as possible. I believe that as long as you have secure absentee voting, it encourages more participation.

You have generally been supportive of online voter registration.

You have also been part of a push to extend online delivery of ballots to servicemen and women outside of the country. Would you support online delivery of ballots and voting by the general population if it would help increase voter participation?

One way to do that is to make sure our voter file doesn’t have 102.45 percent registered voters, but does have qualified voters.

And it’s much easier, and the legislature has held off on that because when you look at that number, it makes you uncertain about the integrity and security of elections. We have two dozen elections that were decided by less than 100 votes. I’ve had people say, ‘Oh, so what’s 663 out of the thousands of votes? Could that number make the difference in the presidential election?’ I don’t look at it that way. Every vote counts. And if someone votes who shouldn’t, they nullify someone who should.

I was one of the five secretary of states chosen to go to the middle east, chosen to see how we can get our military to vote and how we can get participation. I do believe we can do absentee balloting in a way that is very secure, and we’re working with the legislature on that issue. We have cleaned up the voter file, and it makes it much more likely that we could get that passed.

I support secure absentee voting for our electorate. I think that’s very important to allow as many ways as we can for people to participate in this great system of one person, one vote. I continue to support that, and work with the legislature. One of my biggest challenges is to show how we’ve cleaned up the voter file so that I can convince the legislature that it is secure. I think we’re getting there.

To date, 33 states permit early voting, where a person may cast a ballot in person during a designated period prior to Election Day, without any excuse or justification. With less than 50 percent of Michigan’s population voting in the 2012 general presidential election, would it benefit the voting population at large to have greater flexibility in when they could vote?

If we’re able to get through no reason absentee, it would do exactly that, without lines. Michigan’s different, and I support home rule.

It’s very difficult, when I ran in Oakland County (for county clerk), I had to get 63 different rules on signs. Each community is different.

We have a very unique system that very few states in the nation have, and that is local home rule. Your local clerk conducts those elections. We have 399 local clerks. We have over 30,000 precinct workers. They work in churches, schools. It’s not like in other states where they have one county seat and everyone goes to the county building and you can have it open for a week or two. These are schools and churches and municipal buildings that allow us. When you look at how Michigan does it – as I look at it, who’s more accountable to you than your local clerk, rather than somebody in Lansing?

That’s why I’m so passionate about getting no reason absentee ballots, because it’s not early voting, because everything is tallied on election day, which is again, integrity and security. The other part is getting people registered and encouraging them to vote. It’s really two-fold.

We’ve met with many of the legislators to go over with what we’re doing, to make sure there’s integrity in the election. It’s a slow process. More than I’d like. But I really feel we’re getting there, and we’ll continue to push forward on it.

You are responsible for overseeing campaign finance disclosure and in 2013 you announced that you would amend some rules

to force disclosure of donors or dark-money donors for certain types of political advertising. The Republican House and Senate and governor responded by passing a law that prevented you from forcing disclosure. Does that effectively end your efforts in this area?

I’ll never stop pushing for better and more FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) laws; I’ll never stop pushing for disclosure. The more we know as citizens, and that’s how I got involved as a citizen activist, the better.

We did get many things passed that I thought were important, including more disclosure, for both the PACs and for the people who are disclosing, more electronic disclosure, robocall disclosure.

We got many things accomplished. But yes, we need more.

Although not much has been written about it, your office has reportedly combined various investigative positions to form a special unit within your office. One of the first accomplishments was a crackdown on used car dealers in Detroit and other communities who were circumventing state laws applying to car registrations. Is it possible this special investigative unit could be used to increase scrutiny of campaign election spending violations in the future?

I think we have a good system right now for doing that. Chris Thomas, I always tease him, he’s the director of elections, he’s survived four secretaries of state, he’s known as one of the best, if not the best, in the nation. I think the system that we use right now works very well, but we’re always looking for ways to make it look better.

Do you support the Senate legislation which has now moved to the House to eliminate straight party ticket voting on the general election ballot – a move that was opposed by a number of organizations, including the state association of municipal clerks?

I think it has some good points to it, and some not-so-good points.

If Michigan does pass that law, that will make us the 40th state in the nation to not allow straight party elections, where you just, in essence, pull a lever if you’re older. Now you just fill the oval. I was reading what’s happening around the United States, why we’d be number 40, in doing this. One of the reasons is that sometimes, people vote with just one oval. Some judges run partisan, some don’t. Some other folks, down the ballot, have fall off. When you do have any sort of partisan elections, there are some reasons it could make the lines longer, people may not know about the person they’re electing. People have to fill out all the ovals to vote for everyone they’re electing. And there’s always a drop off (down the ballot). President always gets way more votes than anyone else, and as you go down, there becomes less people who vote. It’s a lot of work.

I think the most work doesn’t come from going to the precinct, and I always loved going to my precinct and say hi to everyone and vote, but by far, the most work is doing all the research on the candidates. That takes hours and hours.

Well, you hear about the top of the ticket, but as you go down, people aren’t as aware. We try to provide information. But there aren’t a lot of venues to find out.

There’s not. And the hazard to having less media outlets that are written, that do in-depth, is that you might hear some sound bites or name recognition, as opposed to, do I feel this person, would they do a good job? I don’t care if I disagree with them on some issues. I want to know they’re doing the right things for the right reasons. And that’s sometimes difficult to know for some of the people on the ticket.

Your predecessor in the secretary of state office, Terry Lynn Land, allowed a transgender, with a supporting letter from a

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doctor, to change their gender on a driver license. When you came into office you changed that policy to require a changed birth certificate before a driver license could be changed. In May 2015, on behalf of six transgender plaintiffs, the ACLU filed a federal lawsuit against the Michigan Secretary of State’s office challenging its policy of requiring a birth certificate to change gender on a driver’s license, which they assert puts them at risk for harassment, discrimination and violence. In recent days, federal Judge Nancy Edmunds ruled the case will go forward, stating, “This is a claim affecting personhood in the most fundamental way: gender identity.” According to the National Transgender Discrimination Survey, only one-fifth of people who have transitioned have been able to update all of their IDs and records with their new gender, and one-third have updated none of their records. Whether we understand or approve of transgender issues is irrelevant – it’s a personal issue. Why fight this fight?

Right now, it is in court, so I am not at liberty to make any comments. I do not comment on anything in litigation.

So what is next for Ruth Johnson in terms of future political office? We have heard your name kicked around as a potential candidate for governor and our sources say you could be looking at a run for Oakland County Executive depending on what happens to Brooks Patterson. Would you consider taking on Brooks Patterson for the post of county executive?

(Laughter) Brooks does a great job.

Yes, but the next election will be for two years, according to pending changes.

I have never run for one office to run for another. I’m only in my first year (of my new term for) Secretary of State, which I signed up for three weeks before the deadline, which probably isn’t great strategy. I signed up for county clerk 10 minutes before the deadline.

But I’m sure you were thinking about it before you signed up.

Yes, I was thinking about it before I signed up. But I didn’t make a decision. And right now, there’s so much more to do in my office.

I’m really putting all my focus on how I can do a better job – how we can have better convenience as far at all our DMV, for anyone who needs a driver’s license or state ID. I want to make sure state elections have the integrity it needs but I also want to make sure that people are able to participate by having secure absentee voting, for people who would like to use it. And fraud is such a big issue, and I feel like often the people who are taken advantage of are the ones who have the least resources to fight it. If a woman gives her whole life savings, $5,000 for a car, (and is scammed), how does she hire an attorney? How does she ever get that money back? So many times the fraud hurts the people who can afford it the least.

When I grew up in Waterford, my dad did not have a high school degree. My mom did, she was a stay at home mom. My dad, unfortunately, had a massive heart attack very young, and my mom was left with three kids to raise and we lived under the poverty level. We all went and got jobs. I was the first woman to deliver the newspaper. It was called the Pontiac Press – but they made me use my best friend’s name, Kevin Hanson, who I took his place, because girls were not allowed to deliver the paper. I used a Honda 50 motorcycle. I have a motorcycle operator’s license to this day. I love motorcycles, I love kayaking.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, I just don’t know it until I’ve intellectually lived it. Where money is hard to come by. It’s tight.

People are trying to feed their families, trying to take care of their kids. Every time we do something that makes it too expensive for people and say, ‘Well, that’s just not a big deal.’ I had a commissioner once, who I liked very much, who said, ‘Well, that’s

nothing more than a Happy Meal a day.’ Well, a Happy Meal for a day would have been too much a lot of families.

I’m always concerned, always trying to make government more frugal, more accountable – and more transparent. How do citizens get involved and fight unless they know what’s going on? That’s what this country was built on.

Do you like it from the statewide viewpoint, or are you more of a home girl? You were county clerk, you were a commissioner. You’ve had a mix, also being state representative representing your district in Oakland County, and now secretary of state, you have a statewide perch. At which level of office do you find your voice resonates best?

As county commissioner, I started performance audits. My goal has always been the same. I’ve always worked for broadened FOIA, and that’s why I got involved. I did a lot of FOIA’s when we were trying to stop one of the largest corporations in the world from bringing this toxic waste facility in, and we found problem after problem, both at the county level and the state level, so whatever position I am in, I want to make government more accountable and more transparent. I really don’t know what my future holds.

And campaigns are expensive.

They’re very expensive. If you look at the amounts that were raised for statewides, I’m somewhere between ten-times less than everybody, and more. I’m very frugal.

Would it change your mind if (U.S. Congresswoman) Candace Miller enters the governor’s race?

She’d be an excellent candidate. She’s been very helpful when I need help with anything. She’s always been there for me, or her staff. People get us mixed up all the time. I’m called Candace more than Ruth when people see me. They’ll say, ‘I know you, don’t I?’ Like at Costco. I’ll say, yes, I’m your secretary of state.

‘Oh, how are you doing, Candace. You’re doing a great job.’ Oh, thank you very much.

We’ll have a lot of good candidates that will run for governor. It will be an exciting time. It will be an important time, because Michigan has gone from being one of the worst states in the nation. We’re the only state that had loss of population from one census to the next. We had some of the worst real estate. We were one of the worst states in the nation for corporations to come to, and now they’re coming here.

We’re the 10th best in the nation now. We’re not the best, but we’re in the ball game now. And we have a governor and lieutenant governor that never rest. They’re always looking to bring more job providers here. And when they do, I become the governor for that short time, which has been interesting. I’ve signed bills. There’s a certain protocol. And if there’s any kind of disaster, whether a natural disaster or manmade disaster, I’ve had to learn many new things. And I always find that very interesting.

Now we have five percent unemployment, which is below the national average. It was just a few years ago we had 14.7 percent – that’s people who can’t feed their families, people who can’t make their house payments, people who can’t make car payments, and they’re worried about their kids. It’s a horrible thing when people who want to work can’t get a job.

I’m very proud of the leadership in Michigan and what they’ve been able to accomplish in taking Michigan from one of the worst states in the nation to one of the Scan for audio Ruth Johnson very best in the nation, and I’m very proud to interview. be part of that team in my own little way.

FACES

Salvador Salort-Pons he concept of community is paramount for new Detroit Institute of Arts Director Salvador Salort-Pons. He calls the residents of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb County the museum’s “core visitors,” and as he analyzes the museum’s strengths and weaknesses in his first few months on the job, he is keeping his local audience at the fore.

“I’d like to know why they like to come to the DIA, what they do, and what they don’t do when they come. Understanding our audiences is going to give us the opportunity to refine our programs and exhibitions, and provide the counties and residents much better services.”

While Salort-Pons, along with his wife and daughter, will be moving to Detroit this spring (a stipulation of the job is that he must reside within the city of Detroit), they have lived in Bloomfield Hills since his family joined him in Michigan shortly after he first joined the DIA staff as a curator in 2008.

As someone who spends his days surrounded by priceless works of art, he points to the Cranbrook campus, where his daughter attends school, as “a very inspiring place.” During his regular jogs around Kingswood Lake, he notes the beauty of the buildings, “the effort of the founders,” and the fountains and architecture that helped to create a new style.

It is this appreciation to detail that only an art historian would notice while running. It is with that same eye that he describes his current favorite piece in a museum filled with thousands. “For an aesthetically beautiful moment, or a moment in which I connect with my heritage,” says the Madrid native, he visits Joan Miró’s “Self Portrait II,” which he says “reminds me of home and the Spanish Mediterranean.” He urges all museum visitors to find a piece they connect with on a personal level, whether it be the iconic Diego Rivera “Detroit Industry” frescoes, or a lesser known piece that speaks to one’s heritage.

Diversity and cultural awareness is an important mission for Salort-Pons and the DIA, but one he believes is already well underway at the museum. He points to recent exhibitions that have explored the art of the wide range of audiences to which the DIA hopes to attract, including Metro Detroit’s African-American, Latino and Asian-American communities.

Directing and being the face of a museum with an encyclopedic collection that has also spent a good deal of time in the news cycle lately may be at odds with someone who arrived in Detroit as a European Art curator, researching and planning art exhibitions about Rembrandt and Velázquez. But Salort-Pons believes that, “as a general rule of thumb, I always like to keep in mind my origins. I’m an art historian. I love art, and it’s an art museum. Any time I have to talk about art with whomever’s in the museum, I do it. I love it, that’s what reminds me of who I am.

But when I took the position of the director of the DIA, it opened another set of wonderful things. To help other people to set the vision of the museum, to gather a team, and to help them accomplish the projects that are going to benefit them and help the DIA. “It’s a different position, but that is what I love about this job.”

T

Story: Hillary Brody

Photo: Laurie Tennent

BAIL BONDS

CATERING TO DEFENDANTS, COURTS

BY KEVIN ELLIOTT

B

ail bondsmen are people whose business it is to cater to criminal defendants, pledging money or property as bail to guarantee their return appearance in court. Often bail bondsmen and their companies can secure their temporary release in just a matter of hours, usually for a non-refundable fee of 10 percent of the bail price. It's a legal practice, and it's a legitimate part of our court system.

Michigan's legislature is looking at setting up a second category of bonds to permit earlier release of some criminals and still ensure their return to court as necessary.

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01.16

The bonds, called post-conviction bonds, allow a judge to tie the release of a convicted person to a monetary bond, in which special conditions could be placed, such as the requirement to pay court fees or restitution, gain employment, undergo drug testing or other special conditions tied to the bond and/or parole or probation.

Those in favor of expanding the use of post-conviction bonds say they can help reduce jail populations by providing a financial incentive to those convicted of a crime to adhere to post-release conditions â&#x20AC;&#x201C; without any additional cost to taxpayers. Instead, commercial bail bondsmen provide the funds as they do in a traditional bonds situation and absorb the risk, by making sure those released from prison comply with court-mandated requirements.

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ssentially, a bond is used as a promise that a defendant will appear in court for criminal charges.

The higher the risk of the person running from authorities after being released, the higher the bond is typically set. The bond amount, which is set at each individual judge's discretion, is often higher for more serious crimes in which a defendant is likely to flee or fail to appear.

There are four types of bonds utilized by judges and magistrates, including a personal recognizance bond; a cash bond; a 10 percent bond; and a surety bond. A personal recognizance bond allows a defendant to be released after making a promise to return to court when required, without posting any money. Cash bonds require full bail to be paid in cash before a defendant can be released from jail. A 10 percent bond means the court will allow the defendant to pay 10 percent of the full bail amount. If the defendant doesn't pay, the court requires the remaining 90 percent to be paid. Lastly, the surety bond is a promise made by an approved bail agent, or bondsman, that the defendant will appear as required.

Bail agents work as independent contractors using a surety insurance company when posting an appearance bond for defendants. The surety company charges the bail agent a fee to use its financial standing and credit as security on bonds.

The bail agent then charges the defendant a fee for the service, which is typically 10 percent of the total bail amount.

The agent may also require additional collateral from the defendant.

In Oakland County, the Pretrial Services unit, under the county's community corrections division, has been screening the adult pretrial arrestee population for release suitability since 1987, in accordance with state law. The goal of the unit is to maximize defendant release rates at the earliest possible time after arrest, while minimizing the failure to appear and rearrest rates.

In making their determinations, Pretrial Services examines employment history, educational background, length of residence, criminal history, substance abuse, mental health and other factors. Conditions of pretrial release may require defendants to participate in special monitoring services or reporting requirements. There is no cost for pretrial services, but defendants are responsible for electronic monitoring fees, counseling fees, and drug or alcohol testing.

Commercial bail bondsmen, by the nature of their business, are often opposed to the use of 10 percent bonds and personal recognizance bonds. Referring to the services as "taxpayer

funded bail," Matthew Maddock of Milford, president of the Michigan Professional Bail Agents Association and owner of A1 Bail Bond, said experienced criminals take advantage of pretrial services, which he claims have a lower rate of appearance than surety bonds. Likewise, he has issues with 10 percent bonds for serious felony charges.

"I would like to see them stop using this 10 percent, phony bologna on serious felons," he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This was never to be used for felons. It was for first time, non-violent crimes and indigent people. Now they are using 10 percent for everything."

Maddock, who has more than a quarter century of experience in the bail bonds business in Oakland County, said he believes the use of pretrial services provides some needed programs to defendants, but does little to secure their appearance.

"In Detroit it's called 'the defendant screening unit,' and they are a subgroup of community corrections in Oakland County. In Houston, Texas, they are talking about putting pretrial services into the department of corrections annual budget. That's about $7 million, and the taxpayers pay for it. It really should be called taxpayer funded bail."

Maddock and other bondsmen claim the percentage of defendants who appear for court and other requirements are higher amongst those utilizing a commercial bondsman because the bondsmen will lose their own money if they don't ensure the defendant follows the rules.

"Our job is to guarantee appearance â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it's the courts job to punish," he said. "We abide by all bail conditions. Oftentimes when we bond someone out, their mom and dad co-sign, and the parents set their own conditions. If they don't meet them, mom and dad call us and say 'we want to put him back in jail.'

Sometimes that's the safest place for people to be."

There are about 170 registered bail bonds agents authorized to work in Oakland County, working for about 64 different bail bonds companies. Bail agents working in Oakland County must be licensed by the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services. In addition to maintaining the stateissued license, bail agents must gain approval from each county in which they wish to provide services.

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ndrea Miller, communications manager for the state's insurance department, said bail bondsmen post surety bonds, which are insurance policies, so bail bondsmen must be licensed producers under the insurance code. As such, the department requires a license as either a limited lines property and casualty producer, or a full property and casualty with a surety and fidelity appointment.

"If not licensed as a producer, the only other option is to qualify as a bail bond surety and fidelity insurance company themselves and meet net worth requirements," she said.

Those requirements are not less than $4.5 million, as well as not less than $3 million in current guarantees and security with respect to bail bonds issued by the insurer in states in which it is then authorized, Miller explained.

"This can be a problem where individuals are seeking to be appointed as bail bondsmen and are pledging real estate portfolios as collateral," she said. "Sometimes (they're) pledging the same portfolio in more than one county."

In addition to licensing bail bondsmen, the state insurance

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department conducts enforcement actions. Miller said the department can fine agents, revoke licenses, or take other actions.

"We have not had any enforcement actions referred to us against bail bondsmen over the past two years," she said, "but we can take enforcement action against a producer for any behavior deemed to be fraudulent, coercive, or dishonest or which demonstrates incompetence, untrustworthiness, or financial irresponsibility in the conduct of business in this state or elsewhere."

Michigan law provides a secondary form of regulation at the circuit court level, which is responsible for providing a list of authorized bail agents to each district court and county jail in its jurisdiction.

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akland County Circuit Court Administrator Kevin Oeffner said circuit court judges in each county of the state are required by law to prepare a list of authorized bail bondsmen on an annual basis. He said it's up to each individual circuit court to determine what standards will be applied to bail agents operating in each county.

Further, Oakland County updates the list twice annually, while state law only requires it be updated once a year.

"Our department does a criminal background report, and makes sure they are licensed and insured, and meets other requirements," Oeffner said. "The court says that if you've been convicted of a felony, you can't be on the list, but the state doesn't require that."

Despite the creation of such a list, mistakes or failure to fully understand the law can result in unapproved bail agents operating where they aren't permitted.

In October 2015, Saad Mehdi-Shaib Al-Asadi, 32, of Redford, was pulled over in Wolverine Lake Village on suspicion of driving on a suspended license. Police said at the time that AlAsadi was wanted on an unrelated probation violation in Wayne County, resulting in the 52-1 District Court magistrate setting a $75,000 cash or surety bond. On October 27, bail agent Joseph Szykula, of Motor City Bail Bonds, posted AlAsadi's bond; however, Szykula wasn't authorized to operate in Oakland County.

After being released, Al-Asadi failed to appear for a November 4 court hearing, and was later apprehended by authorities in Wayne County. His bond in the driving while suspended charge was increased to $500,000. He was subsequently charged with four counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver in connection to hundreds of prescription pills he allegedly had during the traffic stop in Wolverine Lake. He is now being held on a $2 million bond.

Alexandra Black, court administrator for the 52-1 district court, confirmed that Szykula posted Al-Asadi's original bond, but she said there was no mistake on the part of the court.

"We don't have to go off the list," Black said. "(Szykula) has certification and is licensed by the state, so it's legal. We prefer someone from the list. The list means they have been checked out."

Szykula, while operating under the name Liberty Bail Bonds, in 2010 was fined after being convicted in 2001 of two counts of criminal contempt in Macomb County 16th Judicial Circuit Court for posting fraudulent bail bonds. Szykula also failed to

notify the state's insurance office of the conviction, as required

by Michigan law. Szykula has somehow still maintained his state license, although he failed to gain approval to operate in Oakland County in 2015.

Karen Koshen, with the Oakland County Circuit Court Administrator's Office, said district courts and jails by law absolutely have to adhere to the circuit court approved list.

"They are the only people that can write a bond in Oakland County," Koshen said of the list of approved bond agents. "They have to be on that list."

Koshen, who coordinates the bail agent authorization process for the circuit court, said she typically receives more than 200 applications from bail agents each year. The authorization process begins in October and is finalized by the circuit court judges in December.

"I have about 40 that I didn't put on the list," Koshen said of the applications she received for the latest list of authorized bail agents. "There are a couple that we had questions about."

Koshen said bail agents applying to operate in the county must fill out a four-page application that must be notarized.

Koshen said applicants may be rejected for numerous reasons.

"Some didn't notarize it or sign it, and that takes them off the list right there," she said. "Some had an expired driver's license, and all these things are in the instructions. Each agent must have power of attorney from the insurance agency that shows what the bond is that they are permitted to bond up to, and also have a certificate of insurance showing the insurance agency is licensed to do business in the state. They also need to be licensed in the state for bail bonds. Judges also have guidelines on what is acceptable."

In addition to felony convictions, Koshen said the county dismisses applications from agents with some misdemeanor convictions, such as substance abuse, assault and battery, and other convictions.

"They aren't eligible until at least one year after a jail sentence or being discharged from probation, and court costs are paid in full," she said. "That includes pending cases. We had one of those denied."

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ow, licensed bail bondsmen could find their responsibilities greatly expanded. Earlier in 2015, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder called for a major overhaul of the state's criminal justice system, focusing on a "smarter use" of jails and prisons. State lawmakers have begun to work on legislation to accomplish reform, with some in the bonds industry believing an expansion in the use of bonds will assist in state corrections reform through the use of conditional early release bonds, also known as post-conviction bonds.

These special post-conviction bonds have become increasingly popular in Mississippi, where they have been permitted since 2007. Post-conviction bonds have also been used in South Dakota, and for a brief temporary two-year period, in Michigan. Several other states are working to limit the use of commercial bail bonds companies in favor of government managed pre-trial services departments, which have been criticized by bail bonds companies in Michigan, including Oakland County.

"The purpose of the post-conviction bond was to provide a method for the courts to have a judge be able to release someone and still have the financial security of a bond, so that

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if they fail to do whatever they are supposed to do, the bonding company can assure they appear in court," said Jackson County bondsman Jeff Kirkpatrick, who assisted in drafting legislation that allowed for the bonds to be used in Michigan.

Traditionally, if a person released from jail fails to meet the requirements of their probation, such as a person convicted of a drunken driving charge being required to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, the court's probation department issues a warrant for that person.

"That warrant gets entered into the law enforcement information network, and it sits there until one day they get stopped and a police officer runs their name and sees they have a warrant. There isn't enough staff to go out and pick up these people," Kirkpatrick said. "So, this was a very easy way to transfer the responsibility from the taxpayer to the private person to produce a person for court, which is what we do, and we do a very good job at that. It's our job to get them before the judge, and it gave them another tool to use."

Kirkpatrick, an active bondsman and vice president of a Michigan-based insurance company that insures bail bondsmen nationally, was able to get language approving the post-release bonds entered into the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) budget, which permitted the use of the special bonds for a year. The language was also approved in the 2010 budget, permitting the bonds through 2011.

Kirkpatrick said he was also responsible for the Michigan law that allows for GPS devices to be used for tracking defendants.

Under the previous Michigan law, post-conviction bonds were permitted as a condition of probation, community control, payment plan for the payment of a fine or restitution, or any other court ordered supervision. The law also allowed any court to order the posting of a bond to secure a defendant's appearance at any court proceeding.

While these bonds were permitted for two years, Kirkpatrick said they didn't catch on with many courts as scant information was made available to the courts. Because of this failure, Kirkpatrick said there wasn't a later push to pursue a permanent law. However, times have changed.

"We have had discussions about revisiting that," Kirkpatrick said. "As you know, the legislature is looking at sentencing reform. We think there is a place for this concept in the criminal justice system."

In May 2015, Gov. Snyder issued a special message to the legislature calling for reform in the criminal justice system, and said in his comments, it's unwise to send an individual to jail or prison when alternative sentences are available. Among the reforms he called upon the legislature to address are sentencing, probation and parole and pretrial reform.

A

ccording to the governor's statement, about 60 percent of all people housed in local county jails are awaiting trial and haven't yet been convicted of a crime. Those being held may not pose a serious risk of flight or public safety.

"As they sit in jail awaiting trail, they risk losing their jobs, their homes and even their veteran's benefits," Snyder said. "It's costly for the counties to house people in jail, and its costly for those individuals. There are steps we can take to identify those who don't need to be held in custody, saving money and achieving better results."

The state's bond association is now working to introduce legislation that would allow the state's parole board to utilize the special bonds.

In Mississippi, where post-conviction bonds have had a place in the criminal justice system since 2007, bail agent Gene Newman said pitching the special bonds to the court system has increased their use. The bonds, he said, are used primarily for "blue warrants," or misdemeanor violations of parole or probation.

In crafting Mississippi's legislation, Newman, who worked to get the state's legislation passed, said the state's bail bonds association worked with state courts, the attorney general's office and the department of corrections. He said they are now working with the state's parole board to expand the use of the bonds. The greatest pushback, he said of the bonds, typically comes from the corrections departments.

"Even when they can use this, they don't because they don't understand it," he said. "They think we are coming in and trying to take their jobs. We are just trying to help. I think that's the big thing. The objective is making people finish their sentence without incarceration."

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ewman said many post-conviction bond cases involve requirements on employment. The bonds, he said, are particularly effective because it's often those closest to the defendants who help come up with the money to posting for bonds, thus giving them a vested interest in the defendant's success.

"We are going out and getting family and friends, and giving financial handcuffs on them to go back to court," he said.

"Under this system, they could be called for a hearing and we would have to produce the defendant. It holds them accountable by having their family involved. If they are liable for him to do what he has to, they are much more likely to be involved."

Michigan state Senator Rick Jones (R-Grand Ledge ), who represents mid-Michigan's 24th Senate district and serves as chair of the Senate's judiciary committee, said post-conviction bond legislation has come up in the past couple years, but has been met with some opposition.

"There are a lot of objections, and I object if it's something that they are going to prison on," Jones said of conditional potential early release legislation. "I could care less if it's a 30day jail sentence, but if we are talking about someone going to prison, the likelihood of them running is high."

Back in Oakland County, A1 Bail Bonds owner Maddock said he would like to see the expansion of post-conviction bonds in Michigan.

"The foundation in the state statute exists for postconviction bond,â&#x20AC;? Maddock said. "Sometimes its called a probation bond. Typically, it's to guarantee the appearance or certain actions after conviction, like to guarantee drug testing or appearance at a probation hearing. There are some states that use it. It should be used."

Attempts to further regulate the commercial bail bonds industry in Michigan has gained little steam. The last attempt to introduce major regulations was done in 2009 by state Senator Bert Johnson (D-Highland Park). Johnson, a state representative at the time, introduced two bills that would have created new licensing regulations for bail bond agents, bail

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The bill, which failed to be voted out of committee at the time, would have required special licenses and training for agents, including classroom and field instruction.

Oakland County Circuit Court administrator Oeffner said the latest push at the state level has come from the state's court administrators to centralize the local approval process. With 57 different circuit courts operating in the state, he said some court administrators are requesting the Michigan Supreme Court to be responsible for administering the list.

"You've got bail bonds businesses working throughout the state, and there are different requirements from one county to another," he said.

"One county has different requirements, and another may have no such requirement. The thought is to have consistent requirements and a central application location process."

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Jumbo Service.

O

akland County Sheriff's Office Major Charles Snarey, with the department's corrections and court services unit, said judges already specify the conditions of release defendants are required to meet. Failure to do so, he said, results in violating the court's order, which can result in the defendant being returned to jail. He said the department's main concern with postconviction bonds would be that a person doesn't flee or commit another crime.

If a defendant fails to appear for a court appearance or violates terms of his or her bond, the bail agent is able to return the defendant to the criminal justice system. Failure to return the defendant can result in the bail bonds agent being liable to the court for the full bond amount. That's a powerful incentive to find the defendant and bring them to court.

While television shows like "Dog The Bounty Hunter" and many movies portray bail agents breaking down doors to return defendants to court, Maddock said about 80 percent of the job of a bail bondsman is actually spent behind a desk. And while bail agents are permitted by law to enter a home where a fugitive is believed to be occupying, he said agents must proceed with caution when tracking down defendants.

"We can go into someone's home, but there's a tremendous responsibility and liability. You have to know what you're doing," he said. "If you go after the wrong person, you have a problem. Nobody is perfect, but most of our recovery people are trained law enforcement people. I'm not going to risk my livelihood by hiring some idiot."

Yet it can happen, although it is rare.

Apprehending the wrong person was exactly what happened to a White Lake Township man who filed suit against Detroit-based You Walk Bail Bonds in January of 2015. In the case against the business, Justin Matteson claimed recovery agents arrested him at his home and accused him of multiple crimes, including possession of drugs, failure to appear in court and absconding. Agents held Matteson in his home in front of his wife and two-year-old child for nearly an hour, until they realized they had the wrong person and released him.

Despite instances such as the Matteson case, Oakland County Sheriff's Office Major Snarey said the department has very few problems involving bail bonds agents.

"Most of the bondsmen we deal with have been established for quite some time. They know our procedure and the court procedures, and we have very little problems," he said. "Occasionally, there is some paperwork that doesn't look copacetic to us, and we question it and verify. Usually, we get it worked out within minutes. By-and-large, we don't have problems."

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47

FACES

Katherine Rosman ew York Times Sunday Styles editor and columnist Katherine Rosman discovered at an early age that writing could lead her on a path to having both a career and a family, and God save anyone who might try to stand in her way.

"I always knew I wanted to be a writer," Rosman said, who lives in New York with her husband and two children. "I wasn't sure what that was going to mean, or what it did mean. I always wrote in a journal and was always writing."

Even before graduating from Andover High School in 1990, Rosman â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Katie to her friends â&#x20AC;&#x201C; devoured local newspapers. Splitting her week between her parents' homes, Rosman said her father, Bob, would quiz her on current events during the drive to his home in Birmingham. When topics struck a nerve, she would fire off a letter to the editor. But it was a Detroit News column, "Ms. Sleuth," that was her favorite.

"I had a lot of wonderful role models in my life, but the thought of what it would mean to have a career and a family, I didn't connect with a lot of examples of that growing up. That's why I connected with this column," Rosman said. "It was written by a mother of a friend. One time she named one of the characters in the column, Katie. That was a big deal."

Rosman has had more than a few big deal moments since moving to New York City in 1996, about two years after graduating from the University of Michigan, such as her conversation with Barack Obama at a 2003 party where he was mistaken for a waiter; and when she wrote about the experience in 2008 for the Wall Street Journal, where she worked as a features reporter for nearly a dozen years.

N

Her first big opportunity came when she was hired as an editorial assistant to Elaina Richardson, former Editor-In-Chief for Elle magazine.

Richardson would include Rosman in everything she did, from fetching coffee to taking notes during meetings, granting her a crash course in running a magazine. In 1998, Rosman left Elle and went to work for Brill's Content, a media watchdog publication. Rosman landed an interview for the job, which she described as a sort of "journalism bootcamp," after writing the publisher a letter every Friday for six months.

In 2010, Rosman's first book was published by HarperCollins. "If You Knew Suzy," is about Rosman's mother, who died in 2005 after battling lung cancer for two years.

"I wanted to get to learn who my mom was before she became my mom, and who she was after she became that person," Rosman said.

In addition to her book, Rosman spent four years working as a freelance writer, penning articles for The New Yorker, New York Magazine, Elle and others. It was after that she was offered a job at the Wall Street Journal, where she found a niche writing about technology and where it intersects with people's everyday lives.

"It's always difficult to be a feature reporter at a newspaper, especially if you're a woman. There's a presumption you are a lightweight," Rosman said. "Just because you are interested in reporting stories that are features doesn't mean you aren't reporting them aggressively and thoroughly. They play an important role in the life of readers."

Story: Kevin Elliott

Photo: Earl Wilson

Emily Day Realtor Senior Real Estate Specialist

248.229.0147 EDay@HallandHunter.com

New Year from HMyappyFamily to Yours!

A Sampling of

SALES

IN 2015

BERKLEY 2327 Cummings | $145,000

M AR KE T

BLOOMFIELD 1303 Indian Mound | $965,000 543 Overbrook | $642,000 5707 Sutters Lane | $309,700 5651 Sutters Lane | $280,800 5736 Kingsmill | $275,000 4627 Sunningdale | $3,800/month

TO

BIRMINGHAM 763 Old Woodward | $270,000

A heartfelt THANK YOU to my clients and friends for making 2015 spectacular. 2016 should be another wonderful year in Real Estate. My wish for you in the new year: Good health, happiness and success!

N EW

BEVERLY HILLS 16240 Locherbie | $330,000

CLAWSON 250 Manitou | $135,000 FARMINGTON 29374 Birchcrest | $411,000 ROYAL OAK 2921 Benjamin | $375,000 3521 Crooks | $88,000 WASHINGTON TWP. 6306 Baypoint | $880,000 WATERFORD TWP. 3300 Harbours | $343,000 WEST BLOOMFIELD 5525 Crispin Way | $315,000 2200 Uplong | $295,000

BIRMINGHAM 352 Baldwin Avenue | $725,000 Stunning 4 bedroom, 3 1/2 bath contemporary home within walking distance to shopping, dining and entertainment of downtown. Substantial renovations made in 2015 have added sophistication and elegance to this home. Features include a soaring foyer and elegant living and dining rooms. Extensive hardscape adorn a very deep yard. 3-car garage.

For more information, visit HallandHunter.com 442 South Old Woodward Avenue | Birmingham, Michigan 48009

Nanci J. Rands, Associate Broker Meredith Colburn, Associate Broker

BU ILD SIT E

The Real Difference in Real Estate

METAMORA 3211 Wilder Road | $1,850,000 3 Bedrooms 3 Full, 3 Half Baths 4,275 Square Feet MLS# 215053788

55-acre estate in the heart of Metamora Hunt Country.

Exquisite Frank Lloyd Wright inspired architecture. First floor master suite.

BLOOMFIELD HILLS 4710 Ardmore Drive | $1,950,000 2000-built soft contemporary on nearly 2 acres. Luxurious 1st floor master suite. Gourmet kitchen. Walkout lower level.

4-car garage. Generator.

Build Site 3.37 Acres MLS# 215106579

Fantastic opportunity to build the home of your dreams on this 3.37 acre site in the heart of Franklin Village.

Architectural plans available.

BEVERLY HILLS VILLAGE 18189 Saxon Drive | $449,500 4 Bedrooms 2 Full, 1 Half Baths 1,946 Square Feet MLS# 215112422

Fabulous updated Cape Cod in Beverly Hills Village.

Gorgeous master suite.

New all-seasons family room. Move-in perfect!

BIRMINGHAM 911 Brookwood Street | $2,075,000 4 Bedrooms 4 Full, 2 Half Baths 5,638 Square Feet MLS# 215126880

Phenomenal 2000-built Kojaian home. Tremendous quality and millwork throughout. Luxurious master suite. 3-car garage.

BIRMINGHAM 111 Willits Street, Unit #307 | $895,000 2 Bedrooms 2 Full, 1 Half Baths 1,537 Square Feet MLS# 215081486

Beautiful in-town Willits unit with quiet balcony.

Stone and wood floors.

Open kitchen. Spacious master suite. In-unit laundry.

VA CA NT LA ND

6 Bedrooms 5 Full, 2 Half Baths 9,446 Total Sq. Ft. MLS# 215085589

FRANKLIN VILLAGE 31600 Briarcliff Road | $895,000

CITY OF BLOOMFIELD HILLS 1650 Rathmor Road | $1,695,000 Exciting postmodern home overlooking Bloomfield Hills Country Club. 1st floor master suite. Gourmet kitchen with dining alcove.

6 Bedrooms 7 Full, 1 Half Baths 6,758 Square Feet MLS# 215106570

Estate property on 3.73 acres off Vaughan Road.

Pool, spa, tennis and allsports courts. 1500 sq. ft. guest house. 3-car garage.

FRANKLIN VILLAGE 27115 Wellington | $624,000-$649,000 2 Build Sites 1.1 acres/0.97 acres MLS# 215123895 MLS# 215123899

Outstanding opportunity to build in the heart of Franklin Village! Two acre parent parcel to be split into 2 buildable sites.

For more information, visit RandsColburn.com 442 South Old Woodward Avenue | Birmingham, Michigan 48009

-

4 Bedrooms 3 Full, 1 Half Baths 6,137 Square Feet MLS# 215084289

CITY OF BLOOMFIELD HILLS 675 Hillcrest Drive | $2,495,000

Nanci J. Rands

Meredith Colburn

Associate Broker

Associate Broker

248.701.9000

248.762.5319

NRands@HallandHunter.com

MColburn@HallandHunter.com

Just a few of our 2015 SALES

BLOOMFIELD VILLAGE 366 Waddington | $1,030,000

BIRMINGHAM 890 Redding Road | $589,000

BLOOMFIELD HILLS 1624 Apple Lane | $675,000

FRANKLIN VILLAGE 30706 Woodside Drive | $425,000

BIRMINGHAM 1016 Lake Park Drive | $2,600,000

BIRMINGHAM 698 Southfield Road | $779,000

BIRMINGHAM 627 Stanley Boulevard | $529,000

BLOOMFIELD 4772 Brafferton Drive | $325,000

BIRMINGHAM 1521 Stanley Boulevard | $775,000

Fairfax – Birmingham Sunnydale – Bloomfield Village Stuyvessant – Bloomfield Township Westmoor – Bloomfield Township Lincoln – Birmingham Cadieux – Grosse Pointe Pierce – Birmingham Dakota Circle – Bloomfield Township Franklin Court – Franklin

We look forward to assisting you in 2016!

Cheryl Riback Associate Broker, ABR, SRES

248.808.3112 CRiback@HallandHunter.com

Happy NewYear!

SO LD

SO LD

SO LD

SO LD

Thank you for a wonderful 2015!

657 Greenwood Street

SO LD

BIRMINGHAM

512 Rivenoak Street

SO LD

BIRMINGHAM

3162 Pine Lake Road

SO LD

WEST BLOOMFIELD

SO LD

BLOOMFIELD 1864 Long Lake Shore Drive

4293 Sawgrass Drive SO LD

BLOOMFIELD

1858 Pine Ridge Lane SO LD

BLOOMFIELD

897 Mohegan Street SO LD

BIRMINGHAM

22685 N. Nottingham Drive SO LD

BEVERLY HILLS VILLAGE

SO LD

SO LD

ROYAL OAK 101 Curry Avenue, Unit #528

SO LD

BLOOMFIELD 31291 Stonegate Court

SO LD

BLOOMFIELD 4840 Tullamore Drive

SO LD

BLOOMFIELD 1890 Pine Ridge Lane

WEST BLOOMFIELD

WEST BLOOMFIELD

WEST BLOOMFIELD

BLOOMFIELD

BIRMINGHAM

5229 Whispering Oak Lane

4388 Knights Bridge Lane

6664 Maple Lakes Drive

850 Trailwood Path

382 Willits Street

For more information, visit HallandHunter.com 442 South Old Woodward Avenue | Birmingham, Michigan 48009

Lynn Baker & Deby Gannes 248.379.3000 lbaker@hallandhunter.com

248.379.3003 dgannes@hallandhunter.com

WHAT DOES YOUR DREAM HOME LOOK LIKE?

BRUCE TOWNSHIP 6700 Bordman Road | $4,100,000 5 Bedrooms 5 Full, 3 Half Baths 11,783 Total Sq. Ft. MLS# 215028534

4 Bedrooms 3 Full Baths 3,814 Square Feet MLS# 215114545

WEST BLOOMFIELD 4711 Cove Road | $1,899,900

Private 100-acre estate with 5 Bedrooms groomed wooded trails, spring- 6 Full, 1 Half Baths fed pond, waterfall and a branch of the Clinton River. Home offers 8,294 Total Sq. Ft. features beyond compare!

MLS# 215123335

FRANKLIN VILLAGE 25301 Franklin Park Drive | $749,900 Estate section on wooded 1.33 acres surrounded by multimillion dollar homes.

Panoramic views. Upper level balcony. Greenhouse.

For cottages to castles, we are your hometown real estate experts...

Give us a call!

Gated 2.3 acres with 226â&#x20AC;&#x2122; of lake frontage & dock/beach on all-sports Walnut Lake. 1st floor master. Walkout LL with spa/ workout room and 2 BR/baths.

WEST BLOOMFIELD 3332 Pine Estates Drive | $569,900 3 Bedrooms 3 Full, 1 Half Baths 2,260 Square Feet MLS# 215095355

Quiet street with Pine lake access and dock at end of street. Volume ceilings for a lot of light. Updated kitchen and bathrooms. Finished LL.

OAKLAND TOWNSHIP 2755 Addison Circle S. | $1,399,900 Former model upgraded to perfection on private .88 acres.

Gourmet kitchen with hearth room. Finished daylight lower level with 5th bedroom.

4 Bedrooms 4 Full, 2 Half Baths 4,803 Square Feet MLS# 215090668

BLOOMFIELD 5699 Raven Road | $449,900 5 Bedrooms 3 Full, 1 Half Baths 3,317 Square Feet MLS# 215093179

Numerous 2015 updates! 5th bedroom could be an au pair suite or 2nd floor family room.

Renovated kitchen & newer baths. 3-season porch.

Visit LynnandDeby.com or Like Us on Facebook at Lynn and Deby - Hall & Hunter Realtors 442 South Old Woodward Avenue | Birmingham, Michigan 48009

Ginny Fisher Realtor

248.593.0518 GFisher@HallandHunter.com

BLOOMFIELD HILLS 1772 Heron Ridge Drive | $1,699,000 4 Bedrooms 4 Full, 2 Half Baths 7,385 Total Sq. Ft. MLS# 215005629

Pristine executive retreat in private gated enclave on gorgeous ravine setting. Renovated Millennium cherry kitchen opens to family room. Beautifully finished walkout lower level with possible 5th bedroom. Lower paver terraces and expansive decks. 4-car garage.

CITY OF BLOOMFIELD HILLS 245 Chestnut Circle | $777,000 3 Bedrooms 3 Full, 2 Half Baths 3,823 Square Feet MLS# 215109669

Classic Tudor on 3/4-acre elevated site in prestigious Chestnut Hills. Paneled library with fireplace and builtin bookcases. Expansive great room leads to back gardens. Island kitchen with dual cook tops. Spacious master suite. Lovely setting in desired neighborhood!

Best Wishes for a Happy & Healthy New Year!

CITY OF BLOOMFIELD HILLS 1000 Bretton Lane | $699,900 4 Bedrooms 4 Full Baths 5,994 Total Sq Ft. MLS# 215125143

California-styled custom contemporary on almost 2 private, wooded acres! Vaulted great room has expansive windows for gorgeous views. Walkout lower level features unique professional kitchen & possible 5th BR for entertaining/apartment area.

CITY OF BLOOMFIELD HILLS 1111 Kensington Road | $425,000 4 Bedrooms 2 Full, 1 Half Baths 2,754 Square Feet MLS# 215107960

Wooded, private 1-acre setting with amazing views from every room. Eat-in kitchen. Master with spacious walk-in closet & deck access. Lower level offers family room, office/library, full bath & 4th bedroom. Property would make great build siteâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;also listed as vacant land.

For more information, visit GinnyFisherHomes.com 442 South Old Woodward Avenue | Birmingham, Michigan 48009

442 South Old Woodward Avenue Birmingham, Michigan 48009

248.644.3500

Lynda Schrenk Realtor

Amy Zimmer & Tiffany Glime 248.469.6430

248.760.6026 LSchrenk@HallandHunter.com

AZimmer@HallandHunter.com

248.930.5656 TGlime@HallandHunter.com

FOR LEASE

BIRMINGHAM 825 Hazelwood Street | $999,000 4 Bedrooms 3 Full, 1 Half Baths 3,977 Square Feet MLS# 215104539

Newer-built Victorian in sought-after neighborhood.

Sweeping front porch & professionally landscaped yard. Open floor plan. Gourmet kitchen opens to family room & patio. Master suite with fireplace. LL has gym, steam shower, dry sauna, bar and family room.

BEVERLY HILLS VILLAGE | $2,200/month 16429 Birwood Ave. | 16429Birwood.epropertysites.com 3 Bedrooms 2 Full, 1 Half Bath 1,382 Square Feet MLS# 215130913

Convenience at your fingertips in this beautiful renovated Beverly Hills colonial with boxwoodlined walkway. Walking distance to downtown Birmingham. Finished lower level. Brand new kitchen and powder room. Immediate occupancy available.

NEW LISTING

BIRMINGHAM 1793 Melbourne Street | $775,000 4 Bedrooms 3 Full, 1 Half Baths 2,698 Square Feet MLS# 215124622

Completely renovated, like-new Smart Home one block to Quarton Elementary & playground. Gourmet kitchen with marble island opens to family room and informal dining room overlooking private fenced yard & patio. New roof, all new windows.

WATERFORD | $145,000 1301 Crystal Lane | 1301CrystalLane.epropertysites.com 2 Bedrooms 2 Full Baths 1,149 Square Feet MLS# 215124576

Delightful open-concept detached ranch condo in Crystal Villas! Cheery and bright. Airy living room with fireplace and high ceiling. Deck. Spacious common lawn. Updates include: New AC unit and garage door, freshly painted exterior trim (2015), Deck (2012).

For more information, visit HallandHunter.com 442 South Old Woodward Avenue | Birmingham, Michigan 48009

442 South Old Woodward Avenue Birmingham, Michigan 48009

248.644.3500 Julie & Frank Flynn

Gillian Lazar & Denise Zuckerman 248.613.3400

248.835.4222

GLazar@HallandHunter.com

JFlynn@HallandHunter.com

248.535.8226

248.835.4150

DZuckerman@HallandHunter.com

FFlynn@HallandHunter.com

PETOSKEY 981 Townline Road | $8,900,000 12+ acres total 4 contiguous parcels 600+ Ft. Frontage MLS# 214082127

Picturesque 5 bedroom Victorian home & separate carriage house within minutes of Charlevoix and Petoskey and adjacent to West Park & nearby Bay Harbor. Exclusive, spectacular views of Little Traverse Bay. Tremendous “up north” opportunity!

BLOOMFIELD 1121 Lone Pine Road | $1,175,000 4 Bedrooms 4 Full, 1 Half Baths 6,442 Square Feet MLS# 215098181

Peaceful estate on private, wooded 4.1 acres with pond, tennis court & Walnut Lake beach/boat privileges. 1st floor master suite with fireplace.

Finished LL. 4-car attached garage & additional 1500 sq. ft. car/storage/workspace out building.

NEW LISTING

BIRMINGHAM 2282 W. Lincoln Street | $899,900 4 Bedrooms 3 Full, 3 Half Baths 4,083 Square Feet MLS# 215073747

Elegant, open Colonial with striking curb appeal and exceptional finishes. Cherry inlay floors in living and dining rooms. Expansive family room with versatile living spaces. Kitchen with breakfast area. Large master suite. Cedar shingle roof & copper flashing.

BIRMINGHAM 1346 Washington Boulevard | $975,000 4 Bedrooms 4 Full, 1 Half Baths 3,507 Square Feet MLS# 215127786

Move-in ready newer build just a short walk to downtown. Open concept floor plan, scraped walnut floors & custom millwork. Cook’s kitchen opens to great room & and large dining room. Spacious master suite with fireplace. Finished lower level.

For more information, visit HallandHunter.com 442 South Old Woodward Avenue | Birmingham, Michigan 48009

FACES

William Massie nspired by the tennis grounds at Wimbledon, architect Bill Massie has built the Wessen Lawn Tennis Club in Pontiac, just one mile from the Bloomfield Hills border. For the first grass courts in the midwest, Pontiac may seem like an odd location, but to Massie, Architect-in-Residence at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, and head of the architecture department, he calls it a “very strange convergence of all the things I love, plus an urban renewal idea about Pontiac.”

Massie has worked at Cranbrook for more than 10 years. In addition to teaching the master’s students, he also takes on a few residential and urban design projects each year. But the development and design of the tennis club that opened officially last summer has been several years in the making, consuming his off hours and utilizing his students to help develop the innovative ideas and concepts for today’s design world.

The 1919 building that is now Wessen’s clubhouse was slated for demolition before Massie purchased it from the city of Pontiac. The building, and the blighted surrounding property, now holds 24 grass tennis courts and an indoor clubhouse with a bar and full catering kitchen that Massie believes will also be an avant garde wedding venue, calling the inside “slightly modern and funky.”

Massie grew up playing tennis, his wife played in college, and his son currently plays for the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. Needless to say, “It’s a big family sport.” However, as someone steeped in the design world, he is also quick to note that playing at Wessen is no ordinary tennis experience. “You’re outside, it’s beautiful, the smell and everything while you’re playing on grass, this gives people an aesthetic experience as well as just banging away at the tennis ball.”

I

His students were integrally involved with the adaptive reuse project, a hot topic for young designers. Many of those he had previously trained at Cranbrook, but who would then leave to work in New York City or Los Angeles, are staying upon graduation to work and contribute to Detroit, and it is this energy that helps fuel projects like the tennis club.

“Not only is there a lot going on now, in Detroit, but there’s the requirement for a lot going on. People have got to do something, and students and younger architects want to be a part of it.”

While most of the headlines discuss blight in Detroit, Massie sees all the same opportunities closer to Cranbrook in Pontiac, and his students received first-hand experience in the development stages of the tennis club. He hopes that by fixing up his area, and the development of places like the nearby M1 Concourse, Ultimate Soccer Arena, and Clinton River Trail, the economy will begin to turn. His five-year goal is to host a pro tournament similar to the golf tournaments held at Oakland Hills Country Club, which bring millions of dollars to the surrounding communities.

For now, though, as he spends the winter off-season finishing up some construction inside, Massie examines his project as a whole.

“We’re always slated with designing something, but at the exact same time, most people don’t realize we’re reimagining what something could be. That’s what I teach my students. They are learning architecture of course, but they’re trying to redefine what the possibilities of a certain project can be.”

Story: Hillary Brody

Photo: Laurie Tennent

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MUNICIPAL

Transferring funds to VEBA approved unds that had been collected in Bloomfield Township's water and sewer fund, but earmarked for retiree healthcare in a voluntary employee benefit association (VEBA) in 2009, were approved to be moved to the appropriate line item fund at the board of trustee's meeting on Monday, November 23, but not before township treasurer Dan Devine fought that it was not something he was aware of, nor felt it was appropriate accounting, despite finance director Jason Theis bringing it to his attention, and an outside auditor and attorneys affirming it was necessary and right.

“These are funds that have been collected in the water and sewer fund and need to be transferred into the retiree health care VEBA. It's a transfer of funds that should have been done administratively. These are benefits that state and local governments provide to retirees,” explained supervisor Leo Savoie. “We've been collecting these in the water and sewer funds since 2009, and by doing nothing, there is $693,534, that is projected to go up to $820,000.”

Theis said there is almost $2.8 million being held in a restricted fund, but it is not in the appropriate place, so it cannot be counted. By changing the accounting and moving the funds to the VEBA, “there will be a $600,000 savings to (township) water and sewer customers, which is about $40 per customer per year savings.”

“It's the right thing to do,” Savoie said. “It's been recommended by our finance director, our actuary, auditor and attorney. It's not a violation of Headlee, as was brought up before (at a previous meeting).

We looked at the best way to do it on an annual basis. I'd like to commend Jason on his work. He has worked on it for months, with about 150 hours in it. He brought it to the treasurer, and to the administration, and it should have been done administratively. In my opinion, this is government at its worst. Finally, Dan (Devine) received a report today from attorneys at Clark Hill commenting on the legality of this.”

“Theoretically, I'm fine with transferring the money, but you have to have a public discussion and can only put it in if it's in the budget,” Devine said.

“So, you're saying since 2009 that money has not been collected?”

Savoie asked.

Devine rambled, but seemed to say that he wasn't sure if it had been collected before 2014, when he noticed it as a line item in the budget. “We need to discuss it at a study session.”

Theis countered, “It's exactly as Leo said. We've had it as long as we've had retiree health care. I create funds all the time. I made the decision as finance director to have it's own line, and for the public.

It's a GASB (government accounting standards board) requirement since 2009. I don't think it would be right to have that money, and not use it for the purpose it was specified for. In 2014, when Dan noticed, it was because we had a large increase because of liabilities.”

Trustee Corinne Khederian, turned to Devine and asked, “As the township treasurer, for what, 15 years –why is this a surprise to you, Dan, that we are funding it? You're an attorney. If we don't, we're breaking the law. I'm very concerned about this whole conversation, that you think someone is fudging the numbers. Why are you making an issue of it now? You are the treasurer. You are the supervisor of the funds. Why is this an issue now? Why hasn't it been an issue since 2009? Did you think we had a legal obligation to set aside these funds? You were ignorant. Now, to say, 'Gee whiz, this happened,' and you're laying blame on Jason's shoulders.”

“I understand why Leo and Jason want to have more assets,” Devine said. “We created the VEBA in 2005, but we didn't have any way to fund it. To Leo's credit, when he took over, he funded the VEBA to $2.5 million. I would have been OK if he had taken me aside and discussed it with me. I don't prepare the budget. I only deal with the budget.”

“Because the money wasn't moved over in 2009, in 2010, etc., we lost a lot of interest. In meetings, you said it was in the appropriate accounts,” Savoie said to Devine. “We're trying to correct the problem, and now it will take a larger amount.”

Trustees approved a resolution to move the funds over to the appropriate fund, 5-2, with Devine and trustee Dave Buckley, opposing.

F

Investment concerns at forefront again

By Lisa Brody

Several Bloomfield Township trustees voiced concerns about treasurer Dan Devine's fiduciary abilities as the individual overseeing the township's investments at the board of trustees meeting on Monday, December 14, as trustees considered approval of a charter amendment to the retirees' Health Care Benefit Trust Water and Sewer Department subaccount, as well as how best to invest the $2.7 million from that account in the short term.

At the trustees' November 23 meeting, funds that had been collected in Bloomfield Township's water and sewer fund, but earmarked for retiree healthcare in a voluntary employee benefit association (VEBA) in 2009, were approved to be moved to the appropriate line item fund but not before Devine fought that it was not something he was aware of, nor felt it was appropriate accounting, despite finance director Jason Theis bringing it to his attention, and an outside auditor and attorneys affirming it was necessary and correct.

At that meeting, Theis pointed out that by changing the accounting and moving the funds to the VEBA, “there will be a $600,000 savings to (township) water and sewer customers, which is about $40 per customer per year savings.”

Devine initially objected, saying he wouldn't go to jail for the township's actions. Township attorney Bill Hampton, however, said it was a legal and necessary action.

Trustee Corinne Khederian had asked Devine on November 23, “As the township treasurer, for what, 15 years –why is this a surprise to you, Dan, that we are funding it? You're an attorney. If we don't, we're breaking the law. I'm very concerned about this whole conversation, that you think someone is fudging the numbers. Why are you making an issue of it now?

You are the treasurer. You are the supervisor of the funds. Why is this an issue now? Why hasn't it been an issue since 2009? Did you think we had a legal obligation to set aside these funds? You were ignorant. Now, to say, 'Gee whiz, this happened,' and you're laying blame on Jason's shoulders.”

At the December 14 meeting,

Devine stated he had checked with legal counsel at Clark Hill law firm and determined that moving the water and sewer funds to the VEBA account was legal, and asked trustees to open the Retired Employees' Health Care Benefit Trust retroactively, effective November 23, 2015.

“I wanted to make sure the trust could accommodate money from water and sewer and not commingle the funds,” Devine said.

Before trustees could vote on the amendment, trustee Brian Kepes said, “The treasurer included investments (in his report) from 2005, but to my understanding, it was amended by this board on December 14, 2009, so what you included in this report is not accurate. What concerns me is the delegation of who has the authority to make investments. The fiduciary is the treasurer. I think we should add one or two trustees as co-fiduciaries. I have trouble with our investment policies. Tonight, we should add more members to the fiduciary as trustees.

It also says this board will receive annual reviews of the investment.

Dan, I'm wondering when we can have that review.”

Hampton said to add trustees as fiduciaries could be done without amending the trust, in response to a question from clerk Jan Roncelli.

“That can be done as a motion at any time,” Hampton said.

“I act as an employee of this board and the township to invest and do this and act as a trustee,” Devine said. “It seems odd that I would be fired from this position with no notice other than a AAA bond rating.”

“Number one, you seem to have an issue whether you're an employee or an elected official,” Kepes said, referring to a whistleblower lawsuit Devine filed against Bloomfield Township and supervisor Leo Savoie, in which he alleges he is an employee of the township. “As to being fired, that's you. I was recommending adding another one or two people for transparency. Before, you talked about concerns with going to jail, and having another person looking at the investments with you would provide you with protection.”

“I think you're confused Dan. You're an elected official, so to straddle and say you're an official being told something – you're delusional,” said Khederian. “I'm very upset with you to get the status of an employee. We're very concerned about you, which is why this board, not you, you were

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against it, developed a financial sustainability board, to investigate and work with you.”

“I think this resolution should stand on it's own. But we should look at the trustee. It's a checks and balances, it's not a taking away. I have an elections board. We can take advantage of this because we can,” said Roncelli.

The board then unanimously, 7-0, voted to approve the resolution to amend the retirees' health care benefits trust.

However, Devine's recommendation to place the $2.7 million from the water and sewer fund in a short-term fund recommended by Ed Schwartz of Gregory Schwartz & Co., was knocked down, with the funds staying in a cash fund.

“I don't know why as a board we're voting on a investment vehicle. We have a trustee, and we have an investment company. However, the recommended fund, (a Wells Fargo fund), only has one basis point return (one percent), after 25 basis points and other fees to Schwartz,” said Kepes. “It's shocking that you're presenting this vehicle to the board.

I've asked you this many times – have you looked at anything besides what Schwartz & Co. gives you?” Kepes noted the township has other investment money in that fund.

“It's a short-term account,” Devine responded. “We brought this forward so the board could make the decision.

This is the recommendation from Schwartz & Co.” “You know of nothing else, for three years, that would give us a better return?” Kepes asked. “What do other communities do?”

“I tend to think other communities look to Bloomfield Township to see what we do,” Devine replied, noting the township has a AAA rating.

“I ask Mr. Supervisor to have Oakland County come in, which is a AAA rated county, and recommend to us investment options,” Kepes said.

“Of course, Schwartz & Co., which gets compensated from this fund, would recommend it.”

“I think that's a topic for another discussion, another time,” said Savoie.

“I think our choice is to leave it in cash, or put it in short term for right now. But it's a bond fund, so there's the possibility of a loss of principal.”

Ed Schwartz concurred, noting that he would recommend for the time being the $2.7 million be left in a money market account. downtownpublications.com

Devine lawsuit against township tossed

By Lisa Brody

lawsuit filed by Bloomfield Township Treasurer Dan Devine against Bloomfield Township and township supervisor Leo Savoie, alleging they had subjected him to retaliation because he reported to public authorities suspected violations of law, was dismissed by Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Leo Bowman on Wednesday, December 16, because it was determined Devine had no standing under the Whistleblower Act. The suit, filed September 10, 2015, alleged that Savoie “has engaged in an ongoing campaign to retaliate against Devine” and requested an unspecified money judgement in his favor for “loss of career opportunities, diminishment of business and personal reputation, emotional distress, and attorney fees and costs.” Devine sought monetary damages, the minimum of which are $25,000 under the Whistleblowers' Protection Act. Daniel D. Swanson of Sommers Schwartz P.C., representing Devine, said in September that under the Michigan Whistleblowers' Protection Act, an employer, which he claimed in this case was Bloomfield Township, “shall not discriminate or retaliate or threaten against an employee. Under the Whistleblowers' Act, the employer is Bloomfield Township because Devine has an employment contract. The supervisor, treasurer and clerk are elected officials, but they are employees of the township that serve at the pleasure of the people. The act also allows you to name individuals involved in unlawful activities.”

A key contention Devine made was that he was an employee of the township, rather than an elected official, and in a legal response, he cited a former health care benefit contract from 2011, since cancelled, which called him an “employee.” However, Devine has been the treasurer since being appointed to the position in 1999. He has been elected and re-elected several times since, and is in his 17th year.

Judge Leo Bowman read in a prepared statement that Devine had no standing to bring a case against Bloomfield Township or Savoie under the Whistleblower Act. “Essentially we argued that he was not an employee of the township, he was an elected official, and there was no adverse action against him to trigger the Whistleblower Act,” said Laura Amtbuechler of Johnson, Rosati, Schultz & Joppich P.C., the lawyer for Bloomfield Township. “The court agreed with us, finding there was no legal merit to his claims.”

“I am so relieved the judge ruled in favor of the township and Leo Savoie,” said clerk Jan Roncelli. “There is no doubt in my mind that Dan is an elected official for Bloomfield Township, and only an elected official, and that is exactly how the judge ruled. There was no factual evidence for him to bring a Whistleblower Act.” “I am glad the judge saw the merits of this frivolous lawsuit that has cost the community tens of thousands of dollars, and now we can get back to doing what the community expects us to do,” Savoie said. “I sincerely hope Dan gets the help he really needs.”

“I am appreciative that the judge spent the time to thoroughly read everything, everybody's argument and the law, and was very prepared,” Amtbuechler said.

Swanson and Devine could not be reached for comment.

Devine, who has 21 days to appeal the circuit court ruling, has been at the center of ongoing controversy in the township, including for his performance as the township treasurer, problems with investment returns for Bloomfield and a rather bizarre incident earlier this year when he suggested to local police that his daughter might have been kidnapped by the township supervisor, even though she was at work at the time. The township board in recent months issued a formal censure of Devine for a variety of issues.

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Treasurer responds to improper fund usage

By Lisa Brody

Bloomfield Township Treasurer Dan Devine responded to a “Notice or

Error or Omission” from the Secretary of State's office advising him that there were errors in how this year he had funded his legal defense fund, as well as how it comported with the requirements of a legal defense fund as he was the plaintiff in a lawsuit

DOWNTOWN

against the township and township supervisor Leo Savoie, although it is not clear if his explanation complies with the Secretary of State's explicit election requirements.

Fred Woodhams, spokesperson for Secretary of State Ruth Johnson's office, stated, “We’re reviewing what he sent in response to the error/omission notice. I’m not able to comment more at this time.”

The Legal Defense Fund Act (LDFA) was passed in 2008 to regulate and require reports for contributions and expenditures made to assist officials in defending themselves against a criminal, civil or administrative action arising directly out of the conduct of the elected official's governmental duties.

The website for the secretary of state expressly states that the “Michigan Campaign Finance Act limits the use of those (campaign) funds which does not include funding a legal defense fund.”

Devine changed his campaign fund to a legal defense fund with the Michigan Secretary of State on July 22, citing “legal action to defend against removal from public office and relating to action taken on July 13, 2015 by Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees in resolution to censure township trustee Devine for 'official misconduct.'”

A notice to Devine from Evelyn Quiroga in the Secretary of State's office on November 5 noted that expenditures are restricted, and “shall not make an expenditure to defend the elected or appointed official in a civil or criminal action or to pay legal costs.”

Devine responded on the due date of Friday, November 20, that “contribution” is defined “by the Legal Defense Fund Act as an expenditure or donation of money made for the purpose of defending an elected official in a criminal, civil or administrative action that arises directly out of the conduct of the elected official.”

He then stated, “On 7/13/15, the Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees ambushed me in a surprise attack administrative action by a Censure Proceeding at a Township Board meeting without prior notice or opportunity to defend myself against me culminating in the adjudication of guilt for 'Official Misconduct' and 'Willful Neglect of Duty.'...The only way to defend myself against these claims was to file an action in 61

Oakland County Circuit Court.”

However, under the Legal Defense Fund section on the Secretary of State's own website, it clearly asks and answers: “Can an elected official use his/her candidate committee funds? No. Section 21a of the Michigan Campaign Finance Act limits the use of those funds which does not include funding a Legal Defense Fund.”

According to filings with the Oakland County Elections Division, in setting up his Legal Defense Fund, Devine had only one contribution, $7,000, from “Vote Dan Devine for Bloomfield Township Treasurer,” his candidate campaign fund. An expenditure of $5,000 to Sommers Schwartz PC, the purpose of which was “retainer for law firm for legal representation,” was made on August 3.

However, Devine stated “the legal costs paid for by the use of the candidate campaign committee's donation to the Legal Defense Fund are for the defense of myself against false allegations made against me in an administrative action by the Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees and to prevent my removal from office.” His response does not address the act's prohibition against funding a legal defense funds with

candidate committee funds. The Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees has made no effort to remove Devine from office.

“The state Campaign Finance Act does not permit campaign funds (to be used). The money must be raised separately and paid back,” Woodhams said in November.

Shell station to become mini-mart While denied the opportunity to stay open 24-hours, the owner of the Village Shell gas station at Maple and Lahser roads in Bloomfield Township did receive approvals to renovate as a mini-mart with extended hours of 6 a.m. to midnight daily.

Scott Barbat, the new owner of the station, who also owns the BP station/Tim Horton's at Maple and Telegraph, which is a 24-hour operation, requested approval for a final site plan and special land use to convert and close off the service bays to add additional retail to the service station. His request also sought to extend the business hours before 7 a.m. and 9 p.m., permitted operational hours in the township.

“His request is for a 24-hour operation,” said Patti Voelker,

Leaking gas tanks removed from Maple/Lahser station

By Lisa Brody

he Shell gas station at Maple and Lahser roads in Bloomfield Township, which received approval from the township board of trustees on November 23 to renovate as a mini-mart, was suddenly shut down in early December when the current lessee of the station, Safeway, decided not to continue its lease, prompting immediate remediation of its underground storage tanks which have been on a state leaking storage tank list since 1989.

Kim Ethridge,with the Remediation and Redevelopment Division of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), said the station's closing “was quite a surprise, to us included. We are not aware of why the plans changed.”

However, she said, “It's state law to remove the tanks if they're not being used.”

Scott Barbat, who recently purchased the station, was not aware of the impending closure, according to Bloomfield Township Planner Patti Voelker. Barbat, she said, had not yet taken possession of the station. Barbat also owns the

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township director of planning, building and ordinance. She noted that in the B1 district, where the gas station is located, adjacent to the Village Knoll Shopping Center, gas stations are not a permitted use. She did note that Barbat is looking at exterior changes besides closing off the service bays, including repainting, new siding, new awnings, eliminating the garage doors for the bays, new windows and doors, updated landscaping and new gas pumps.

“The request for 24-hour operations went before the planning commission on Thursday, November 19, where they approved extending the hours from 6 a.m. to midnight versus 24 hours, given the businesses nearby, like Kroger, Starbucks and Little Caesar's had examples of extensions of hours beyond 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.,” Voelker said.

Michael Alberts, who lives on Lahser, across the street from the station, spoke during public comments. “We don't believe the station owner has any ability to control the noise between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. for a 24-hour convenience store,” he said.

“At the design review board, we said we didn't see what the benefit of being open 24-hours would be,”

BP station/Tim Horton's at Maple and Telegraph, as well a new Shell/Dunkin Donuts station on Woodward in Birmingham.

“There was an operator in there, a Shell dealer who had a lease, and the landlord decided to lease to another operator,” said Barbat. He said he takes possession of the property January 1, 2016.

A resident noted that the station was closed on Tuesday, December 1, and the underground storage tanks were emptied out, with a large excavator on site removing the tanks.

The site is number 2266 on the state's Leaking Underground Storage Tank list. Ethridge said its first release was in 1989. It can take one to 20 years, or more, for a release to migrate when there is groundwater, she said. In this case, there was groundwater.

“Since 1989, we've been working on monitoring the release, and now as the property was changing hands, it was a good time to arrive at closure,” she said of Safeway. “No one wants them to go on forever. This week, as the tanks were coming out, we wanted to make sure there wasn't a new release, which we didn't see.”

She said a major consideration in removal and remediation is seepage into groundwater, especially when there are wells in the area.

“Surprisingly, there are quite a handful in the

supervisor Leo Savoie said. “We look at the neighboring communities.”

“At the planning board, we felt the surrounding area is residential, versus Maple and Telegraph, which is more commercial, and felt these hours were more compatible with the neighboring businesses,” Voelker said.

There were questions regarding parking at the gas station, as well, although Voelker said they and the shopping center were in mutual compliance. “The reason it's so congested right now is because of the garage service,” said Barbat. “It's parked until the owner picks it up.

Converting the business from a garage to a retail store, what makes it profitable is depending on those evening hours. It's profitable now as a garage.”

“I don't have a problem with it open 'til midnight now. The Kroger is open until then,” said clerk Jan Roncelli.

Barbat said he owns a chain of stations, and “the only ones I've had problems with are the ones that close overnight. The ones that are open 24hour, we've not had any problems.”

Trustees voted 5-2, with treasurer Dan Devine and trustee Brian Kepes dissenting, to approve the mini-mart hours of 7 a.m. to midnight along with the improvements.

area that are on wells and not municipal water, such as Oakland Hills Country Club, which uses wells for irrigations,” Ethridge said. “One of the first things we see, is if they're on wells, if they're drinking the water, or if they're using it to water their gardens. My first priority is protecting human health.”

“About 20 years ago, Shell Oil owned their stations and tanks, and around 2000 they decided they didn't want to own their stations in Michigan anymore, and they divested them to the Safeway Michigan Corporation,” Ethridge said.

“This one, along with hundreds of others, is one I manage to make sure it is remediated and closed out, to make sure the release is capped.”

She said Shell Oil is the liable party for the remediation because the release was prior to 2000. “Shell Oil has a wonderful consulting crew.”

Barbat said he absolutely intends to put in new gas tanks underground and new pumps, and will do a complete renovation of the station into a mini-mart, beginning in January, with an anticipated re-opening in March.

“It will have full closure on the site and it will be clean,” Barbat emphasized. “All of the contamination will be removed before we backfill” and put in new tanks and pumps.

He said it will remain a Shell gas station.

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MUNICIPAL W. Maple petitions submitted to city

Baldwin Library to issue design proposal

By Lisa Brody

By Lisa Brody

Birmingham resident Jim Mirro turned in petitions with 1,426 signatures to Birmingham City Hall on Monday, November 30, requesting a city charter amendment on the March 8, 2016 election ballot to keep Maple Road a four-lane road.

Mirro, acting as a representative of The Neighborhood Organization, said in an e-mail, “This number of signatures was appropriately submitted prior to the December 1, 2015, ballot deadline for the next election and represents 70 percent more signatures than required by law (839). To put this signature count into perspective, it is about equal to the number of absentee ballots submitted in the last election (1,445) and more than one-half the number of votes placed at polling precincts in the last election (2.408). The Birmingham city clerk will spend the next month validating these signatures against the Voter Registration Database before placing the issue on the ballot for the March 8 Primary Election.”

The petition drive was begun in July, after Mirro and other residents were upset that city commissioners were going to restripe W. Maple Road between Southfield and Cranbrook roads in a trial as a three-lane road, one lane in each direction with a center turning lane. The goal was to see if traffic congestion could be improved, speeds could be lowered and accidents reduced, prior to W. Maple being repaved next summer.

City commissioners acted upon the advice of independent traffic engineers, despite neighborhood opposition.

The re-striping test began on Saturday, October 3, and since, “Overwhelmingly, people have been supportive of the change in the restriping of the road,” Birmingham City Manager Joe Valentine said.

The three-lane configuration, with W. Maple now one way in each direction with a center turn lane, is being done as a trial run now through next summer, prior to the road being resurfaced. According to Joellen Haines with the city of Birmingham, “This will allow for the comparison of data following the conversion in order to evaluate the effect of the change.

The data that will be evaluated will include average speeds, traffic downtownpublications.com

aldwin Public Library officials received unanimous approval from city commissioners to issue a request for proposal (RFP) for the renovation of the adult services section of the library, the first phase of their current proposed renovation plans.

Birmingham city commissioners approved the issuance of the RFP for the renovation plans, to be paid for out of funds from the library, at their meeting on Monday, December 7. Commissioners noted that there was no assurance, though, that funding to renovate the library would be allocated in the near future.

“Just because we're moving it forward does not mean we're going to fund it this year,” said commissioner Stuart Sherman. “Let's take a look at it and see if we can go forward. And, as we said at the October 12th meeting, we'd like to see phases two and three, too.”

The Baldwin Public Library in Birmingham, which sought but did not succeed in obtaining a $21.5 million bond for an extensive renovation and expansion in 2014. Library director Doug Koschik made a presentation to the city commission on Monday, October 12, along with the architectural firm Luckenbach/Ziegelman/Gardner (LZG), of conceptual plans that had been approved by the library board of directors in September. Koschik noted that the library board had heard the voters in May 2014, when they voted down the $21.5 million millage request. He said this renovation would be phase one of a proposed three-part renovation.

“Phase one will be for the adult services department, which is primarily on the main floor of the Birkerts addition,” Koschik said. “Next, we will proceed with phase 2 and 3, of the youth department, circulation department, add a small cafe and redo the main entrance. We would like it to interface with Shain Park and The Community House, which were points of concern to Andres Duany (urban planner and designer of Birmingham's 2016 Master Plan).”

Koschik said they would be bringing phase 2 and Phase 3 to the Birmingham Long Range Planning Meeting on Saturday, January 16. “It will be ready for the chosen architect to look at.”

“You're prepared to fund the construction drawings and not go forward at this point?” asked commissioner Mark Nickita. Koschik said he was.

“I have to reiterate that this is not the way I would do this, putting the cart before the horse, without seeing the larger picture,” Nickita said.

“There's a certain risk to that, as well as we have no clear certainty as to how we will fund that. I support this knowing it doesn't come with a guarantee.”

“The funding may be a stumbling block, but I am strongly supportive of getting these drawings done and getting phase one before the public so they can see what can be done,” said mayor Rackeline Hoff.

“I think the library is doing the right thing, doing phase one at a time,” said commissioner Andrew Harris.

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volumes, travel time comparisons and accident data.”

The impetus for the trial run first began when Birmingham's MultiModal Transportation Committee, which examines key streets for use by all users, whether car, pedestrian, bus or bicycle, examined W. Maple beginning in January 2015.

Resurfacing of W. Maple had been planned prior to discussions of lane changes.

Mirro, in his e-mail, disagreed, stating, “The Neighborhood Organization believes that the first two months of the three-lane Maple

Road test have shown that the positive benefits of a center, left-turn lane have been more than offset by the negative effects from cutting in half the number of through lanes of traffic from four to two. Cited by the Organization are persistent, quartermile backups of single-lane traffic behind each traffic light, increased travel times for commuters, more/faster side street cut-through traffic, more difficult turns onto Maple from side streets due to uninterrupted lines of single-lane traffic, church/business traffic delays due to ingress and egress issues, and

DOWNTOWN

increased accidents at Maple and Winchester Roads due to merging traffic...The Organization agrees that vehicle accidents between Winchester and Southfield Roads have decreased during the test, but points out that all accidents are of a minor nature (no fatalities on Maple Road in 50 years) and that congestion/other problems are not worth the decline in minor accidents like non-injury, rear-end collisions.”

While Mirro asserted in his e-mail the charter amendment “only ties the hands of commissioners for one year,” charter amendments must be made by a vote of the electorate, and can only be changed back again by a vote of the public.

If city clerk Laura Pierce certifies a minimum of 839 signatures are valid, the charter amendment will be placed on the March 8 primary ballot.

Birmingham settles class action lawsuit The city of Birmingham resolved a class action lawsuit during a closed session at their city commission meeting on Monday, November 23, through a $2.85 million settlement.

City commissioners will have to adopt an ordinance removing stormwater costs from sanitary sewer rates and charging it separately on water bills as an itemized statement sometime in 2016.

Birmingham residents who had paid the city of Birmingham for water and sanitary sewage disposal services since June 30, 2013, were included in the Oakland County Circuit County suit, Wolf v. City of Birmingham, which challenged Birmingham's imposition of sewer charges as a tax in excess of stormwater disposal services imposed

by Oakland County.

The plaintiff, Lawrence Wolf of Birmingham, contended in the lawsuit he is a water and sanitary sewer customer who had paid stormwater charges imposed by the city. In the suit, filed by the law firm Kickham Hanley, he asserted the stormwater charges were not proper user fees, but taxes wrongfully imposed by the city of Birmingham to raise revenue in violation of the Headlee Tax Limitation Amendment, and that he and others similarly charged had been harmed by the city's collection and retention of the stormwater charges.

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The Headlee Amendment, enacted

by Michigan voters in 1978, limits the amount of tax money local governments can increase without a vote of the people.

Of the settlement, city manager Joe Valentine said, “Given the circumstances of the lawsuit, this availed itself as a better alternative.”

Valentine said that effectively with the settlement, the city has until January 1, 2017, to change its ordinance on how stormwater costs are allocated.

“Currently, it was allocated as a portion of the water charge, as a usage charge,” he said. The city is looking at the exact details of how they need to change it, and will engage in a contract with Hubbell, Roth & Clark “to evaluate impervious surfaces on all parcels within the city that meets the new standards. Rather than being included in the sewer charge of the water bill, it will be itemized as an individual charge.”

Birmingham will charge stormwater costs to residents based on a proration of each property's contribution to stormwater, with determining factors including lot size and the percentage of pervious and impervious surfaces on the property.

Some residents may see an increase in their quarterly water bill, while others may see a decrease.

“Birmingham did not do anything different than any other community in Michigan since stormwater charges were allocated, and many other communities have been subjected to

the same lawsuits,” Valentine said.

The cities of Jackson, Ferndale, Royal Oak, Oak Park, Dearborn, Detroit and Oakland Township have also been similarly sued. At the end of February 2015, the city of Ferndale settled a suit Wolf filed against it for $4.5 million, with roughly 13,000 residents receiving a refund for user fees they had paid between January 2008 and December 2014.

“It's just unfortunate that methodology for charging for stormwater has come under attack and effectively everyone using it has come under attack with this lawsuit,” Valentine continued, noting Birmingham homeowners will not see property taxes increase due to the settlement.

Senior care facility approved for Rail A new assisted living facility with an adjacent memory care building will soon be built in Birmingham's Rail District, after receiving approval from Birmingham's city commission.

The Sheridan, to be built at 2400 2430 E. Lincoln Street, at the dead end of Lincoln past the Birmingham Ice Arena, will consist of a four-story assisted living facility with 83 units, and an adjacent one-story memory care facility with 39 units, for a total of 122 units. It will be built and run by Senior Lifestyles of Chicago, which owns and operates facilities in 27 states, with

Sidecar approved as new Birmingham dining spot idecar, a new restaurant concept from the owners of ROJO Mexican Bistro in Birmingham, offering gourmet sliders at a long bar, was approved to open in the spot next to ROJO on Merrill Street.

Dan Linnen, one of the owners of ROJO, explained to Birmingham city commissioners at their meeting on Monday, December 7, that the new restaurant, which will take the place of the defunct Custom Elegance gift and novelty store, will incorporate two different trends.

“The trend was two things, the space is very long and narrow, so the long bar works best. We want it to be comfortable. It's not a nightclub. If you've been to Green Dot Stables in Detroit, we're working on that concept, with gourmet sliders, like Ahi Tuna and tenderloin, everything,” Linnen said.

Birmingham Planner Matt Baka told commissioners ROJO and Sidecar would share one Class C liquor license under common

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most in the midwest and southeast.

This will be their first Michigan venture, which will be built in conjunction with Hughes Properties in Bingham Farms.

Birmingham Planner Jana Ecker explained to commissioners that the facility received final site plan approval from the city's planning board on Wednesday, December 9, and were at the city commission meeting on Monday, December 14, for approval for final use.

“It's basically a sign by you that it's a good use,” Ecker said, noting that since zoning ordinances where amended six or seven years ago, this was the first to apply. “There are no guidelines.”

She said the facility will offer assisted living care along with a community room, beauty salon, barber shop, exercise room, three meals a day, and assistance for dressing and other personal care. The Sheridan will provide a 24-hour emergency call system and up and about checks; physical, occupational, and speech therapy services; laundry and housekeeping services; and enrichment services.

Robert Gawronski, senior vice president for Senior Lifestyles, said they will provide on-site staffing 24/7, bringing in about 70 full-time jobs.

“Because of the frailties of our residents, few if any of our residents will be driving,” Gawronski said, noting that parking will primarily be utilized be visitors and staff. He said there will be scheduled transportation via a 14passenger bus for shopping, outings and doctor appointments, as well as an

ownership, with the establishment seeking a special land use permit to open the approximately 1,800-square foot slider bar. The two restaurants, he said, would be adjacent indoors. Sidecar, he said, would have 75 seats, with 17 seats at a long bar, and 16 additional outdoor dining seats on the sidewalk during the season, for a total of 91 seats. They would replace the business' windows with outdoor nano-window system, and replace the existing door, as well as adding an awning and valance for aesthetic reasons.

Commissioner Patty Bordman asked how many bar seats ROJO had, and Baka said about eight.

Linnen responded that they intend to have a 70 percent to 30 percent food to alcohol mix. “At ROJO, right now, we're at 74 percent food,” he said. “Our intention is to be a food-driven gourmet slider bar. It's not a bistro – it's under a Class C license. I know bistros that operate as bars, especially after 10 p.m. We've chosen to go with a cozy ambience. There's a lot of people who go out alone, and the bar is a communal dining experience. There is no two-deep

available Lincoln Town Car for personalized travel. He said the front entrance will be designed with a circular drive with a drop off area, and everyone entering will have to come in there and greet the receptionist.

Because of concerns over the broken up roadway on E. Lincoln, the company will repave the street and provide extra parking in the area. “It's been a free-for-all in parking right now,” he noted. “Our intent is to work with the community.”

Commissioner Pierre Boutros, a pharmacist who works with nursing homes and assisted living facilities, quizzed Gawronski on future expansion plans for a possible skilled nursing facility, which Gawronski said they do not have room for, nor any interest.

“Bob, why Birmingham?” Boutros asked.

“There's a lot of seniors in Birmingham,” he responded. “There's over 14,000 homes with seniors over the age of 75 within the primary market area. A great deal earn more than $65,000. We see this as a really good, strong market.”

Sean Havera, senior project manager with Hughes Properties, told commissioners they anticipate construction beginning in April of 2016, and taking about 14 months, with an opening scheduled for July or August of 2017.

Commissioners voted 6-0, with commissioner Stuart Sherman absent, to approve both the assisted living and memory care facilities of The Sheridan.

drinking space here. There's no room.”

Mayor Rackeline Hoff asked Linnen what his concept was for Sidecar.

“When I sit at the bar at Hyde Park (Steak House) at night and look down Merrill Street, it's dead, while Pierce Street is vibrant. I want to engage more people at night, and not to take any parking spaces. We want to engage people and create more vitality. We think it will be good for our business at ROJO, too.”

“Why not just expand ROJO?” Hoff asked.

“It's too one-dimensional,” Linnen responded.

“This allows us to cater to a different audience.

ROJO is a family-driven, value-driven venue.

We've stayed true to that. This is for when you want to go out without the kids.”

“I think this is a great concept. I think you have a good idea,” said mayor pro tem Mark Nickita. “It's not a place where we want to create a bar atmosphere. I see it as a small space like Streetside (Seafood) or Luxe.”

Commissioners voted 7-0 to approve the special land use permit and final site plan for Sidecar. Linnen has said he hopes to have it open sometime in January 2016.

Committee to study Rail District parking

By Lisa Brody

Birmingham city commissioners, unhappy with recommendations from the city's Multi-Modal Transportation Board for the S. Eton Road corridor, unanimously asked staff on Monday, November 22, to come back with a committee to study the parking capacity in the Rail District.

Birmingham Engineer Paul O'Meara noted that the topic went back to last February, when the commission approved an addition to Griffin Claw Brewery, “and several residents were concerned about the parking situation created by Griffin Claw Brewery. As part of the agreement, the commission asked the Multi-Modal Transportation Board to review the corridor, and see if there were more possibilities for parking on the street. The Multi-Modal Board did dive into it and looked at the master plan extensively, and came up with a plan the board recommends.”

Currently, parking is permitted on both sides of Eton Street between Lincoln and Villa. The master plan recommended removing all the parking from the west side of the street, a removal of 50 percent of the parking, and adding a buffered bike lane. The commission was looking for changes that would add more parking, such as angled parking on the northbound side, and the board determined that would not be beneficial, and to leave the parking situation as it currently is. It also recommended the use of sharrows, or the symbol of a bike rider with an arrow pointing in the direction of traffic, to remind drivers to share the road, rather than a buffered bike lane.

The board also said a demarcated parking lane, with a white painted line on the road, would be beneficial.

They also recommended bump outs at the intersections of Villa, Bowers and Cole.

“I don't have a handle for what the need is for parking in the Rail District, especially with the master plan recommendation for getting rid of parking on the west side of Eton,” said commissioner Stuart Sherman. “I'm also concerned we asked the MultiModal Board to do two conflicting things. We've asked them to find more parking, and to get rid of parking in the neighborhoods. I want to make sure we have all the data we need to 70

City retail leasing agent pact renewed etail leasing consultant Julie Fielder, who was first hired by the Birmingham Shopping District in 2009 to represent Birmingham in recruiting national and regional retailers and work with them to locate and establish retail operations within commercial space in downtown Birmingham, had her contract renewed for another year at the shopping district's monthly board meeting on Thursday, December 3.

Fielder's contract is set to expire on December 31, 2015. Executive director John Heiney informed the board that Fielder is currently working on several possible tenants, “and we are optimistic about the prospects for 2016 and beyond,” he wrote in a memo. “We are in agreement that Julie's work continues to be vital to our mission and objectives.”

Fielder was first hired on March 23, 2009, and her contracted has been extended and amended repeatedly since then. Her new contract commences January 1, 2016, for a one-year term with the same provisions as past contracts. She will be paid a monthly retainer of $4,000 plus reasonable expenses. Travel and related expenses must be approved by Heiney and city manager Joe Valentine in advance.

Fielder, a leasing expert with 25 years of experience with The Taubman Companies before she established her own leasing company, was first hired to assist the the shopping district association in acquiring quality national and regional retail establishments for downtown Birmingham so the retail base could improve and remain stable as the major recession hit Michigan.

She also works with local landlords in retaining their current merchants.

Fielder is responsible for bringing lululemon athletica, Alex and Ani, The Paper Source, J. McLaughlin, Francesca's, West Elm, Blue Mercury, The Daily Method exercise studio, and Found Objects men's and women's apparel store on S. Old Woodward to Birmingham.

The contract calls for her to provide a written report and status update for the board to review by the 15th of every month, which will include, at a minimum, contacts made, appointments scheduled and completed, visits scheduled and completed, property owner meetings scheduled and completed, and signed leases.

Fielder has often explained to the shopping district board that it can take up to 18 months or more from first contact to final lease for a national retailer. Fielder markets downtown Birmingham at regional and national retailing conventions, working to establish a strong tenant mix of small, locally-owned boutiques and national retailers.

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make a decision. I'd like to send this back to engineering and I'm not sure if it's staff or if we would appoint a small committee to figure out the needs of parking in the Rail District before we decide what to do in the Rail District.”

“One of the problems is it's not a plan that deals with capacity in the Rail District,” said commissioner Mark Nickita. “They're hindered by the limited amount of information, and capacity is one of the key components of this. Right now we have a Rail District plan that is 15 years old that does not address parking and capacity, and we have a Multi-Modal plan that does not address it either.”

Nickita noted that this is a question the planning department or the planning board should be leading on, rather than engineering.

Commissioners voted unanimously to have staff come back with a committee to study the parking capacity in the Rail District, including

zoning issues, shared parking and street parking in the district, as well as Multi-Modal issues and a bike lane.

Bicycle route for city needs more work A proposed bicycle route circling throughout Birmingham's neighborhoods with attendant signage was determined to still need more work at the city commission meeting on Monday, November 23, with city manager Joe Valentine saying he will bring it back when it has revisions.

Birmingham Engineer Paul O'Meara presented the first phase of a neighborhood connector route, to begin being implemented in the spring of 2016.

“The last couple of years we've made a great effort with our connector roads. Oak and Eton both have bike

DOWNTOWN

lanes,” he said. He presented a map of a loop encircling the city throughout neighborhoods.

He stated that Michael Surnow, the bike representative on the city's MultiModal Transportation Board, “suggested that instead of just arrows you would have on the route, and just install “Share the Road” signs. That was part of the board's collective recommendation, because he said the biking community uses their GPS and Internet for where they want to go before they get on the road, and that would save funds and clutter of extra signs on the streets.”

He said bike symbols without any words would also be used on signage.

Previously, the city had allocated $20,000 for the project, for paint and signage. He said he did not anticipate that much being used.

Commissioner Patty Bordman raised the question of approving Eton Street, when parking improvement recommendations had been returned to committees earlier in the evening.

“For purposes of discussion, we can say it's part of the route,” said Valentine. “If you're comfortable with the route, you can approve it subject to the parking. It's a longer term implementation. This is part of the master plan for the city.”

“What we are being asked to approve is in principle,” said commissioner Mark Nickita. “It is aligned with the master plan. We can still revise it before it goes into play.”

“Is it creating more sign clutter without any benefit, or are we better off just with paint on the road?” asked commissioner Stuart Sherman.

“There's more costs with the paint on the road each year,” Valentine said.

Mayor Rackeline Hoff pointed out that there are homes on both sides of the bike routes and they hadn't been noticed prior to the commission meeting.

Planning director Jana Ecker said, “We didn't notify them, but when we did the planning we did, and we had residents come out and say 'we want to have bike routes. We need to have a bike route that goes around.' That was in 2012, and we did have community input.”

Both Nickita and Sherman asked about having fewer signs and less clutter.

Valentine suggested having the bike route plan returned to staff to be revised, as well as having residents be noticed prior to a future meeting, and commissioners all agreed.

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PIANO

SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

PROGRAM (TUE 2/16: RACKHAM AUDITORIUM)

Haydn Haydn Bee thoven Beethoven M ozart Mozart Schubert

No. Major, Hob. Hob. XVI:50 Sonata N o. 60 in C Major, No. Major, Op. Op. 109 Sonata N o. 30 in E Major, No. Major, K. 545 Sonata N o. 16 in C Major, Sonata in c minor minor,, D. D. 958

PROGRAM (THU 2/18: RACKHAM AUDITORIUM)

Mozart M ozart Beethoven Bee thoven Haydn Haydn Schubert

No. o. 17 in B-flat Major, Major, K. 570 Sonata N No. o. 31 in A-flat A-flat Major, Major, Op. Op. 110 Sonata N No. o. 61 in D Major, Major, H Hob. ob. XVI:51 Sonata N Sonata in A M Major, D.. 959 ajor, D

PROGRAM (SA AT T 2/20: HILL AUDITORIUM)

Haydn H aydn Beethoven Bee thoven Mozart Mozart Schubert

Sonata No. Major, Hob. E-flat M ajor, H ob. XVI:52 No. 62 in E-flat Sonata No. minor,, Op. Op. 111 No. 32 in c minor Sonata No. Major, ajor, K. 576 No. 18 in D M Sonata in B-flat M Major, D.. 960 ajor, D

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FACES

Adam and Michael Kazanowski win brothers Adam and Michael Kazanowski used to cut class when they were attending Brother Rice High School in Bloomfield Township so they could go skiing in northern Michigan. Now, two years into starting their own vodka company, Gypsy Vodka, the free-spirited brothers rarely have a chance to hit the slopes.

"The American Dream is still alive, if you're willing to work for it," Michael said while talking about the beginnings of Gypsy Vodka.

For the 26-year-old brothers, that means spending their days marketing their new vodka brand to area retailers and hosting tavern and bar events on any given night of the week. The work is par for the course for the selfproclaimed ski bums, who ditched the 9-to-5 business world shortly after graduating from Michigan State University.

Michael, a pre-med graduate, and Adam, who studied finance and real estate, said they were working as consultants for a Wixom company when they decided to pack it in and head to the slopes in Breckenridge, Colorado. Michael went first, to couch surf and ski before finding a place to live through a Craigslist ad. Adam followed.

"I decided to go out there. Skiing is a passion," Michael said.

It wasn't long before the twins' parents began pressing them to tackle new adventures, like jobs. Taking their advice, sort of, the brothers met a vodka distiller one day while skiing in Breckenridge, who invited them to a tour of his distillery in Denver, and the twins knew instantly what their new jobs would be.

Plans to open their own distillery were dashed when financial reality set in.

"The banks pretty much laughed in our faces," Michael said. "We had no credit. I didn't even have a credit card at the time."

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The brothers then set out to find a distiller in Michigan who would work with them to produce their own brand. However, none of the Michigan producers they spoke with wanted to take on a new brand that wasn't their own. Looking back to their friend Paul Dunning in Colorado, the Kazanowskis finally convinced him to work with them. From there, they took distilling classes and began formulating their own vodka.

"We made some awful stuff," Adam said.

"It was straight poison," Michael said.

After 40 or more concoctions, including wheat and rye-based vodkas, they finally settled on a corn-based product. Using Michigan-grown corn, and reverse osmosis purified water, the brothers came up with a glutenfree version they believe captures their spirit and smoothness.

"We knew we were targeting a younger, female crowd, and corn is a little sweeter," Michael said.

The distinct bottle was created by a northern Michigan glass blower the brothers met at a music festival, and the bottle art was created by Birmingham artist Jen Frasco. With all the elements in place, the first bottle of Gypsy Vodka was delivered in July of 2015, and is available at numerous locations throughout southeast Michigan and the state.

The brothers say the name reflects their lifestyle, which has included following their passions and spreading love.

"We are young and passionate, and we worked to do it," Michael said.

"People respect that. We tell them we are the world's smallest vodka company. A lot of retailers say 'no,' but you have to be persistent and keep following up. We wanted to show everyone we could do it."

Story: Kevin Elliott

Photo: Laurie Tennent

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DINNER

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Three Course Seated Dinner, Wine and Cocktails, Live Entertainment, Inspirational Evening of Recognition Black Tie Optional, Valet Parking

For tickets or more information, visit tchserves.org or call 248.644.5832

2016 PILLAR INDUCTEES INCLUDE: C U LT U R E

E D U C AT I O N

PHILANTHROPY

WELLNESS

Alexander Zonjic Peter Leonard

Congressman David Trott Pat Rosen

Paul and Mary Glantz Norm and Bonnie LePage

Sandra Krafsur Dr. Frank McGeorge

The Bates Street Society was created in 2015 to recognize donors who make significant charitable contributions to support the work and mission of The Community House in Birmingham and to recognize The Community House’s annual Pillars of Vibrancy: Culture, Education, Philanthropy and Wellness.

Membership in the Bates Street Society is achieved when a donor’s cumulative giving totals $25,000 or more. The Bates Street Society will feature a number of major giving recognition levels, each offering graduated benefits and recognition.

TH HE SECRET SEC CRET IS S OUTT THE

DISC SC CO COVER BIRMING M NG GHAM’S G GHAM AM’S S MOSTT UNIQUE N Q CONCEPT NC NCEPT DISCOVER BIRMINGHAM’S STORE p in and discover Mills Pharmacy Phar y + Apothecary p yy. The same g great neighborhood ghborhood store you Stop Apothecary. h d and d expanded d class l beauty b have e known k for f over 65 years, y ars, rennovated xpanded p d d featuring g world products Apothecary gourmet h Apothecar A h k Epicure. prod ducts in the y and d a gour met convenience nience market,

NA FRAGRANCE A AN N LUXUR N CARE A M FRAGRANCE A ANCE PERSONAL LUXURY SKIN HOME PHARMA ACY PHARMACY U

COMPOUND DING LAB COMPOUNDING U

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EPICUR RE EPICURE

{248} 644.5060 644.5060 1744 WEST MAPLE ROAD BIRMINGHAM 48009 MILLSPHARMACY.COM MILLSPHARMACY .COM FB.COM/MILLSPHARMACY TWITTER: @MILLSPHARMACY

LOCAL + IMPORTED FOODS MG A CUSTOM GIFT BASKETS W N + SPIRITS WINE

M S PRODUCTS O C S TO O GO MILLS GO!

MON - FRI 9AM - 9PM SATURDAY SA ATURDA AY 9AM - 6PM SUNDAY SUNDA AY 10AM - 3PM

Check out our Facebook page for a list of upcoming special events and new products!

MILLS @DTW READY FOR TAKEOFF

McNamara Terminal. Concourse B NOW OPEN

Exceptional Service...Outstanding Results

2399 Oakshire - Berkley $379,900 To be built in 2016. 2370 sq ft, 3 bedrooms, 2.1 baths. Full basement and 2 car garage.

465 Haverhill Bloomfield Hills $810,000 Excellent opportunity to build in the Heart of Bloomfield Hills!!

1399 Haynes - Birmingham $449,900 Recently renovated with first floor master suite, close to town!

25101 Castlereigh Farmington Hills $242,000 Wonderful Colonial in the Heart of Lincolnshire Estates!

Call me for a complimentary marketing analysis.

Lisa Masters

248-212-4231 415 S. Old Woodward | Birmingham, MI 48009

lmasters@signaturesothebys.com

270 aspen

Birmingham

$2,395,000

Featured in Detroit Home Magazine and Spectacular Homes of Michigan, this home features stunning finishes and quality appointments throughout. Master suite has fireplace and his & her baths and wic's.

3 other en suites including a 3rd floor br suite with kitchenette.

2235 Quarton rd

Bloomfield hills

$720,000

Stately red brick colonial, built in the 20's, sitting on nearly one acre of beautiful grounds in Bloomfield Village. Newer kitchen with Wolf stove and Sub Zero fridge. Four bdrms, 2.2 baths. Two car side entry garage. Tremendous character and charm throughout.

455 aspen

Birmingham

$1,775,000

Wonderful newer build home designed by Ron Rea, with a spacious open floor plan and soaring two story living room with fireplace. Gorgeous eat-in kitchen includes large island, premium appls, and custom cabinetry. Spectacular master suite. Finished basement. 4 car garage.

1492 ruffner

Birmingham

$599,900

Newer built four bdrm 3.1 bath colonial, completed in 2012. Gorgeous kitchen with maple cabinets, granite counters, tiled backsplash and four chair island. Mud room with built ins. Wood floors throughout main level.

1 block from school and park.

D L O S

BLOOmfieLD, Birmingham anD BeverLy hiLLS - SOLD in 2015 880 N. Adams – Brmingham 85 Barrington – Bloomfield Hills 740 S. Bates – Birmingham 16275 Beechwood – Beverly Hills 575 Berwyn – Birmingham 18428 Beverly – Beverly Hills 469 Bonnie Brier – Birmingham 2795 Buckingham – Birmingham 4578 Coachmaker – Bloomfield Hills 755 Coolidge – Birmingham 1072 Davis – Birmingham 1379 Dorstone – Bloomfield Hills 18221 Dunblaine – Beverly Hills 1565 N. Glengarry – Bloomfield Hills 1025 N. Glenhurst – Birmingham

512 Graten – Birmingham 749 Henrietta – Birmingham 751 Humphrey – Birmingham 1291 Indian Mound – Bloomfield Hills 620 Lakeside – Birmingham 1912 Lakewind – Bloomfield Hills 537 Lewis – Birmingham 3815 Lincoln – Birmingham 1844 W. Lincoln – Bloomfield Hills 1496 Maryland – Birmingham 3136 Morningview Terrace – Bloomfield Hills 1003 N. Old Woodward – Birmingham 1113 N. Old Woodward – Birmingham 32657 Old Post – Beverly Hills 4156 Orchard Hill – Bloomfield Hills

715 Pilgrim – Birmingham 1201 Pilgrim – Birmingham 1340 Puritan – Birmingham 4961 Rands – Bloomfield Hills 600 Roanoke – Bloomfield Hills 1967 Sheffield – Birmingham 336 Suffield – Birmingham 4480 Tarry – Bloomfield Hills 902 Tartan Trail – Bloomfield Hills 20130 Village – Beverly Hills 4097 Waterwheel – Bloomfield Hills 1558 Webster – Birmingham 1133 Westwood – Birmingham 2361 Windemere – Birmingham 2280 Yorkshire – Birmingham

Over $40 miLLiOn CLOSeD in 2015

ChriS PerO Associate Broker

248.797.0784 cgpero@yahoo.com

275 S. Old Woodward Downtown Birmingham

FACES

Meryl Davis and Charlie White hen they won their first Olympic medal, a silver, at the 2010 Vancouver games in ice dancing, “That was incredible,” said Meryl Davis, who with her partner, Charlie White, won the sport's first U.S. Gold medal in 2014 in Sochi, Russia.

“An American team had never won ice dancing before, so we felt pressure, not from outside, but from ourselves,” Davis explained. “We wanted it so badly. When we won, it didn't register right away.”

“When we won in 2010, that was really crazy, because we had high expectations of ourselves, and we were just hoping to get a medal,” said White. “Then it was a great push towards getting a gold. Flash forward four years, and our dreams came true.”

Davis, who attended Groves High School, is in the process of moving to a house she bought in Birmingham, while White, who grew up in Bloomfield Township and attended The Roeper Schools and now lives in Ann Arbor with wife Tanith Belbin White, have found that life has not settled down since winning that coveted gold medal. They are both still finishing undergraduate degrees at the University of Michigan – she in anthropology; he in political science. And they spend a lot of time on the road, performing in ice shows.

“The opportunity to go out and show people what we do makes us feel good and connects us with the sport,” White said. “We'll always miss competing.”

“We love skating when we can skate without any pressure,” Davis said. “There's a lot of camaraderie with the other skaters, both domestic and international. We're a family. We've known them for decades. We have so much fun.”

They both had a blast after the Sochi Olympics competing on ABC's

W

“Dancing With The Stars,” which Davis won with professional dancing partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

“It was an amazing way to continue the celebration rather than going onto the ice again,” she said. “It was a more pure form of entertainment. It was one of the most wonderful times of my life.”

White agreed. “It was a great way to celebrate. It's dance, and we learned these new forms of dance,” he said. He said since they have brought new ways of moving to the ice.

And no, there was no romance between Davis and Chmerkovskiy. She actually has a boyfriend, she said. “He was in the skating world, but is not in the skating world at this time. It's wonderful to have someone who understands the skating world and what I'm going through.”

Davis and White are still uncertain as to whether or not they will compete in the 2018 Olympic games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

“We continue to ask ourselves,” White said. “We're on the same page. We know what it takes to compete and win. We're young and physically capable. It's a win-win.”

Right now, they are looking at what's next, putting into perspective the lessons they've learned and what they bring to the table. “We're looking forward to working on a book, a children's book, and on motivational speaking with skaters, or people who want to hear what we went through to achieve what we did,” White said.

Davis is also enjoying going to philanthropy summits, and has an idea for a non-profit.

They both agree, however, with Davis' statement, “Metro Detroit is home.”

Story: Lisa Brody

Photo: Disson Skating

NEAR COMPLETION

118 Waterfall - Quarton Lake Frontage - Offered at $4,995,000 Imagine owning your very own private, new construction, luxury resort, nestled on the only remaining lot in Quarton Lake with views of the waterfall, lake, park & river. Beyond the electric gated entrance with camera and alarm system, sits this exceptional private estate. Generous open floor plan. Stunning great room perfect for entertaining shares a dual sided fireplace with elegant study. Cooks kitchen with top of the line stainless steel appliances, rich exotic wood cabinetry, walk-in pantry and command center. Master suite features a fireplace and its own private patio, spacious spa like master bath with freestanding tub, walk-in shower and beautiful custom closet/dressing areas. Approximately 8000 sq ft of finished living space, walkout lower level with climate controlled wine room, full bar area and spa/sauna. Handcrafted mill work, impeccable materials and gorgeous architectural details throughout.

ld

So

All Star

Birmingham $1,799,000 Extraordinary New Construction Ready December 2015 4100 Sq Ft 4 BR 4.2 BA 3 Car Attached Garage

Birmingham $1,649,000 Exquisite New Construction in town Tudor 3500 Sq Ft 4 BR, 4.1 BA 2 Car Detached Garage

Troy $1,024,999 Luxurious Colonial on Corner Lot 5276 Sq Ft 4 BR 3.2 BA 3 Car Attached Garage co-listor Pat O'Neill

Troy $299,900 Detached Condo in desirable Manor Homes of Troy 1725 Sq Ft 3 BR, 3 BA 2 Car Attached Garage

Birmingham $3,249,000 Custom Luxury Home designed

by Alex Bogaearts 5276 Sq Ft 4 BR 5.3 baths Finished Lower Level.

Troy $949,000 Elegant & Sophisticated Premium Lot 4771 Sq Ft 4 BR, 4.3 BA 3 Car Attached Garage

Marketing a home requires unique skills, knowledge and resources that Signature Sotheby's International Realty offers its clients. I would welcome the opportunity to offer you a confidential marketing analysis.

Christine Drinkwater

Associate Broker

ld

So

248-318-4745

415 S. Old Woodward | Birmingham, MI 48009

cdrinkwater@signaturesothebys.com

BUSINESS MATTERS De Giulio moving De Giulio Kitchen & Bath, 724 N. Old Woodward Avenue, in Birmingham will be moving in late February or early March of 2016, after more than two decades at its current location. The new storefront will operate with a new name and location: De Giulio Kitchen Studio, 34222 Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, in the prior Massage Green location. The new location will open up into the Papa Joe’s market. Owner John De Giulio said the new location will feature working kitchen displays, including cabinetry, countertops and Miele appliances, and will offer design and installation services. De Giulio said the new location offers a more high profile location. “The synergy created by the working kitchens and the gourmet market should be fun and interesting, as we plan demonstrations using our Miele speed ovens, convection ovens, coffee systems, wine storage systems and induction surfaces,” De Giulio said of the new location.

Real estate services firm Birmingham-Bloomfield area real estate broker Emil Cherkasov has opened Forward Commercial Group, LLC., 1025 E. Maple Road, Suite B4, in Birmingham. Cherkasov has more than 15 years of experience in southeast Michigan, most recently with McNabnay & Associates, in Bloomfield Hills. Cherkasov, who immigrated to Michigan from the former Soviet Union with his family when he was 10-years-old, said the real estate business has allowed him to help others pursue their own “American Dream.” Originally focusing on leading office/medical space, Cherkasov expanded into retail space, property sales and acquisitions, private-client portfolio representation and receiverships.

Forward Commercial offers commercial real estate services, including sales, leasing, consulting and negotiating.

New knitting studio “It’s very vogue to knit now, and it’s cross-generational,” said Aviva Susser, owner of Woolly&Co. knit studio, 147 Pierce Street, Birmingham, which opened its doors on December 1. From loopy mango big loop yarn to fine silks, Wooly&Co. offers nearly every kind of knitting fabric and accessory imaginable, as well as personal instruction, classes and group sessions. Susser said her goal was to create a knitting studio downtownpublications.com

welcoming to knitters of all ages and levels that offers a warm and friendly atmosphere. Those entering the studio may first notice Susser’s fourlegged greeters, Caesar and Ginger, followed by the numerous comfortable couches, chairs and tables where folks can settle in and knit. The design gives the studio a homey feel, which is located just blocks from Susser’s own home. As a resident of Birmingham, she said she felt the need to work in her own city and contribute to the community while sharing her love for knitting at the same time. She said the studio offers a social outlet for people, as well. “It’s become a social activity where people come and want to get their knit on.”

Top hotel award The Townsend Hotel, 100 Townsend Street, Birmingham, was recently named as one of the Top 15 Hotels in the Midwest by Conde Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards. The hotel, which opened in 1988 and has earned a solid reputation as a premier luxury hotel, placed in the 11th spot on the readers’ choice list, and was only one of two Michigan hotels to be included. Readers’ choice picks are judged on a variety of criteria, including rooms, service amenities, and more. To receive an honor on the list, properties must receive a minimum number of responses to be eligible, and earn top scores based on a mean average of all ratings on a standard five-point scale from poor to excellent. “Accolades for the property based on traveler feedback are always the most rewarding because it confirms that guests are leaving The Townsend feeling happy and well cared for,” said Steven Kalczynski, managing director of the hotel. “It is our goal to deliver each and every guest unprecedented graciousness and personalized service, and that effort is reflected in readers’ choice rankings like these.”

Earlier this year, The Townsend Hotel was named to Travel + Leisure’s 2015 list of the World’s Best Hotels, determined by reader survey, as well as a four-star hotel rating by Forbes Travel Guide, and a AAA four-diamond luxury property.

Office relocation International marketing and communications agency, Centigrade, 135 N. Old Woodward in Birmingham, will be relocating in March of 2016. The new location will be 108 Willits, also in Birmingham,

where Centigrade will share space with the Frameworks agency. The move is the first for the agency since its founding in 2004, which was facilitated by the purchase of Furneaux Stewart, a London-based design and communications agency.

Julie Barnard, president of Centigrade’s North American operations, said the move will involve 10 full-time employees, plus contract staff. The move, she said, will allow the agency to build on more opportunities and support its 2016 growth plan.

Massage Green moves Spa and massage customers used to going to Massage Green Spa, 34222 Woodward Avenue, in Birmingham, next to Papa Joe’s Gourmet Market, should be advised the spa has moved to a new location at 34110 Woodward Avenue, in Birmingham, next to Batteries Plus Bulbs.

Launched in 2008, Massage Green Spa offers various types of massage therapies for wellness and relaxation, stress management, pain management, and functional mobility, including reflexology and light touch regenerative therapy.

Massage Green Spa has more than 470 locations in Michigan, Illinois, Florida, Texas, Colorado and California.

New massage locale A long-vacant Radio Shack location in Birmingham is in the process of being transformed into a new Massage Envy, 34256 Woodward Avenue, in Birmingham. Originally scheduled to be open in the fall of 2015, the location announced in November that it was seeking staff to join the Massage Envy Spa team’s location. An estimated opening date was unavailable, but was listed as “coming sooner than you think,” according to the spa’s Facebook page. The Birmingham Massage Envy will be the second in the Birmingham-Bloomfield area, with an existing location at 2141 S. Telegraph, in Bloomfield Township.

Massage Envy offers massages and Murad Healthy Skin facials. Founded in 2002, Massage Envy has more than 1,000 franchise locations in 49 states.

SIGN UP TODAY Get the latest news online from the leading news organization for the Birmingham and Bloomfield area.

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DOWNTOWN

P U B L I C A T I O N S 124 WeST MAPLe ROAd BIRMINghAM 48009

Business Matters for the Birmingham - Bloomfield area are reported by Kevin Elliott. Send items for consideration to KevinElliott@downtownpublications.com. Items should be received three weeks prior to publication.

dOWNTOWN

83

JAN. 25-29 & FEB. 1-5 LUNCH $15 • DINNER $30

Treat yourself to delicious menu items at discounted prices during Birmingham’s popular Restaurant Week event. Enjoy three-course lunches for $15 and threecourse dinners for $30!

Many of Birmingham’s ÄULZ[ YLZ[H\YHU[Z ^PSS IL participating. Bon appétit!

PARKING HAS NEVER BEEN EASIER IN BIRMINGHAM! First 2 Hours ALWAYS FREE in the parking decks.

PARKMOBILE TECHNOLOGY at ALL downtown parking meters!

Pay by cell phone or mobile app.

For more info and to register go to www.parkmobile.com

Birmingham Shopping District @BhamShopping

www.BirminghamRestaurantWeek.org

BBSO offers musical ensembles for all special occasions and events.

Call 248-352-BBSO (2276) for pricing and availability.

Photo: Jean Luc Fievet

BI R MIN G H AM BLOOMFI ELD SYMPHONY OR C HE S T R A

Music Director John Thomas Dodson

Upcoming Concerts Mozart in Glass: An All Mozart Evening Wednesday, April 6, 2016 – 8:00 pm Planterra, West Bloomfield Twp. Friday, April 8, 2016 – 8:00 pm Grosse Pointe War Memorial John Thomas Dodson, conductor Nancy Ambrose King, oboe Winds of Spring Friday, May 20, 2016 – 8:00 pm Christ Church Cranbrook, Bloomfield Hills John Thomas Dodson, conductor

FOR TICKETS: 248.352.BBSO 84

(2276)

www.BBSO.org DOWNTOWN

www.facebook.com/BBSO.LIVE Like us on 01.16

PLACES TO EAT 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. The complete Places To Eat is available at downtownpublications.com and in an optimized format for your smart phone (downtownpublications.com/mobile), where you can actually map out locations and automatically dial a restaurant from our Places To Eat.

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.

Andiamo: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

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

248.865.9300.

Arthur Avenue: Italian. Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 260 N. Old Woodward Ave., Birmingham, 48009.

248.480.0768.

Au Cochon: French. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 260 N. Old Woodward, Birmingham 48009.

248.792.7795.

Bagger Dave's Legendary Burger Tavern: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 6608 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Township, 48301.

248.792.3579.

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,

downtownpublications.com

Birmingham, 48009. 248.258.6690.

Café ML: New American. Dinner, daily.

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

248.642.4000.

Cafe Via: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 310 East Maple Avenue, Birmingham, 48009.

248.644.8800.

Cameron’s Steakhouse: American.

Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 115 Willits Street, Birmingham, 48009.

248.723.1700.

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 Hills, 48302. 248.540.7220.

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

248.792.9766.

Cosi: American. Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Beer & wine. 101 N. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.203.9200.

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. 176 South Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.594.9888. Also 4089 West Maple Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48301.

248.258.9939.

Elie’s Mediterranean Cuisine: Mediterranean. Lunch & Dinner, MondaySaturday. 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, Monday-Saturday.

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.

Hogan’s Restaurant: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 6450 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48301.

248.626.1800.

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.

Introducing Big Rock Pairings

3 Courses. 3 Choices.

Now Available for 4 Nights!

Join us for dinner this winter, January through April, Monday – Thursday, for our special price fixed menu featuring 3 appetizer selections, 3 entrees and 3 desserts to choose from off our signature dinner menu for $46.

Menu options will change weekly.

Save-the-Dates for the next two wine tasting events 1.12.16 & 1.26.16

Recipient of the 2014 A.C.F. Award of Excellence Executive Chef Matthew Fitchett, C.E.C. Executive Pastry Chef Eric Voigt 245 South Eton, Birmingham • 248.647.7774 • bigrockchophouse.com

Present this ad for

30% off your second entrée Not valid with any other offer

DOWNTOWN

LIVE JAZZ WEEKENDS HAPPY HOUR 3-6 1/2 OFF BOTTLES OF WINE MON-WED

PEABODY’S Dining & Spirits Est. 1975 34965 WOODWARD AVE BIRMINGHAM 248 644 5222 PEABODYSRESTAURANT.COM 85

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.

Ironwood Grill: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations, 6 or more. Liquor.

290 Hamilton Row, Birmingham, 48009.

248.385.0506.

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.

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.

Mitchell’s Fish Market: Seafood. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 117 Willits Street, Birmingham, 48009.

248.646.3663.

Mountain King: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 469 South Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009.

248.644.2913.

New Bangkok Thai Bistro: Thai. Breakfast, Monday-Thursday; Lunch, Monday-Friday; Dinner, daily. No reservations. 183 North Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.644.2181.

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

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

Nosh & Rye: Deli. Breakfast & Lunch, daily.

No reservations. 39495 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304.

248.646.7923.

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.

Peabody’s: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 34965 Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.644.5222.

Phoenicia: Middle Eastern. Lunch, Monday-

downtownpublications.com

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 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.

Sanders: American. Lunch, daily. No reservations. 167 N. Old Woodward, Birmingham, 48009. 248.594.3215.

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. 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 Corner Bar: American. Dinner.

Wednesday-Saturday. Reservations.

Liquor. 100 Townsend Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.647.2958.

The Bird & The Bread: Brasserie. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 210 S. Old Woodard, Birmingham, 48009.

248.203.6600.

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.

The Stand: Euro-American. Dinner, MondaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 34977 Woodward, Birmingham, 48009.

248.220.4237.

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

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

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

Not to b bee explained. exp explained . To be be experienced. exp

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DOWNTOWN

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Chef Stand Harvest Series Chef Paul will source local Ingredients and present 4 courses with two wine paired courses for $50.00. Chef Paul will take this welcomed opportunity to display local ingredients with his classic methods for a wonderful experience. Each week will feature a new menu.

6:00pm & 8:00pm seatings Friday & Saturday evenings.

Please call 248-220-4237 for your reservation.

34977 Woodward Ave, Birmingham

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87

FRONT/BACK Front/Back is a monthly column devoted to news stories, tidbits and gossip items about what's happening in both the front of the house and back of the house in the restaurants in the metro Detroit area.

Sidecar sliders Gourmet sliders are coming soon to Birmingham, at Sidecar, 280 E. Merrill Street. A new concept owned

by Dan Linnen, of ROJO Mexican Bistro, Sidecar will share a kitchen and liquor license with the familyfriendly Mexican restaurant.

Operating partner Steve Simon said Chef Andy Stevens, “Has travelled around different states to get recipes.

It’s all a la carte, you create your own meal.” The menu will have a handful of Angus beef sliders, including the breakfast slider and poutine slider.

“We’ll have specialty sliders everyday. We’re launching with the Ahi Tuna Sliders.” Another seafood choice is the oyster slider, “fried and topped with pickles and chipotle sauce,” said Simon. The brioche buns are made by Birmingham-based Great Harvest Bread Company, and include the cornbread bun, threecheese bun, and spinach and feta bun, among others. Stevens has been executive chef at ROJO since its opening in December 2013. When he moves to Sidecar, ROJO’s sous chef Gary Blessman will take the reins.

Homemade Italian Strada, Italian for “street,” is the latest restaurant to hit Royal Oak, at 376 N. Main Street, in the North Main Lofts. Executive chef Rachel Spaccarotelli, formerly of Bella Piatti and Tallulah, serves up handmade pasta, pizza, and small plate Italian dishes. A project of TYJ Hospitality, owned by the Mancini and DeAngelis families, Strada is “a good place to celebrate your birthday, go for date night, or have a really good glass of wine,” said general manager Erikah Powers. TYJ also owns and operates Hamlin Corner, adjacent to Strada, Pronto!, and Primo’s Pizza.

“We have comfort, classic dishes with a chic décor,” said Powers, who noted that Spaccarotelli’s favorite pasta dish is the Parpadelle, made with fennel sausage.

Townhouse changes Brennan Calnin, who opened Jeremy Sasson’s Townhouse Detroit six months ago at 500 Woodward Avenue in Detroit, has left his post as executive chef. Filling the vacancy is Townhouse Birmingham’s chef Michael Barrera, who now oversees both locations. “Chef Barrera will be

taking over as corporate executive chef of Townhouse, serving as head chef of both locations. At this time, there are no plans to bring on another chef to serve under Chef Barrera,” said Lauren Kramer, a representative of the restaurant.

BBQ expansion Owner Drew Ciora opened a second location of Lockhart’s BBQ at 37 E. Flint Street in Lake Orion, five years after he opened the popular Royal Oak restaurant. “We’re the only barbecue place in Michigan that uses 100 percent wood to heat and to smoke all of our smoked meats,” Ciora said. Named after the beloved barbecue capital of Texas, Lockhart’s pulls from various southern BBQ styles, and holds the sauce until the meat comes out of the pit. “No other person in the restaurant actually physically touches the meat,” said manager Scott Thompson of pitmaster Chris Staniek. “It’s a pride thing. That’s his passion.” The new Lake Orion location will feature two bars as well.

Modern Mideast food 2941 Street Food, the new fast casual Mediterranean restaurant at 87 W. Auburn Road in Rochester Hills, gets its name from the geographic coordinates for the Middle East and Mediterranean regions, 29 degrees North, 41 degrees East. Owner Jacques Von Standen partnered with restaurateur Joe Vicari, head of Joe Vicari Restaurant Group, which includes Andiamo, Joe Muer Seafood, and others, to offer diners what Von Standen called “a modern version of modern Mideast cuisine.” Von Standen grew up in South Africa and came to the states as a teenager with a chef’s ambition. In Washington D.C., Von Standen opened Café Au Lait, where he cooked for 17 years. “I had a Lebanese boss who inspired me to get into Lebanese and Mideast cuisine,” he said. “From ‘96 to ’97, I spent a year just eating Mideast food and studying. It was a lot of fun, eating hummus for 12 months!” In addition to salads and snacks, 2941 specializes in build-your-own dishes, which can be prepared as an Honest Bowl, Stuff It sandwich, Jar Chow – piled in a mason jar – or the Bazaar Meal, which allows diners to choose nine different dishes. On draft are Michigan craft brews, while the bottles come from Lebanon, Greece, Israel, and Turkey. The menu pulls from those countries as well as Egypt, Tunisia, Cyprus, and others.

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.

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.

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.

Andiamo Restaurants: Italian. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 129 S. Main St., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.582.0999.

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.

Bspot Burgers: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 310 S. Main St., Royal Oak, 48067.

248.268.1621.

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.

D’Amato’s: Italian. Sunday Brunch. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor.

222 Sherman Dr., Royal Oak, 48067.

248.584.7400.

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.

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

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

Inn Season Cafe: Vegetarian. Sunday Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, TuesdaySaturday. No reservations. 500 E. Fourth St., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.547.7916.

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.

Lily’s Seafood: Seafood. Weekend

Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 410 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak, 48067.

248.591.5459.

Local Kitchen and Bar: American.

Weekend Brunch. Lunch, Monday-Friday.

Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 344 W. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale, 48220.

248.291.5650.

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.

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.

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/ Trattoria Da Luigi: Italian. Dinner, TuesdaySunday. Reservations. Liquor. 415 S, Washington Ave., Royal Oak, 48067.

248.542.4444.

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

27799 Woodward Ave., Berkley, 48072.

248.548.7711.

Troy/Rochester Bspot Burgers: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 176 N. Adams Rd, Rochester Hills, 48309.

248.218.6001.

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.

Ganbei Chinese Restaurant and Bar: Chinese. Lunch, Monday-Saturday.

Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 227 S. Main St, Rochester, 48307.

248.266.6687.

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.

Lakes: Seafood. Lunch, Monday-Friday.

Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 5500 Crooks Rd., Troy, 48098.

248.646.7900.

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, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily.

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

248.453.5371.

Mon Jin Lau: Asian. Lunch, Monday-Friday.

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.

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.

Tre Monti Ristorante: Italian. Lunch, Thursdays. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday.

Reservations. Liquor. 1695 E. Big Beaver Road, Troy, 48083. 248.680.1100.

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.

Maria’s Restaurant: Italian. Dinner, daily.

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

248.851.2500.

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.

The Lark: American. Dinner, TuesdaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 6430 Farmington Rd, West Bloomfield Township, 48322. 248.661.4466.

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.

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.

Sweet Lorraine’s Café & Bar: American.

Weekend Breakfast. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 29101 Greenfield Rd., Southfield, 48076.

248.559.5985.

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.

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 Angelina Italian Bistro: Italian. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor.

1565 Broadway St., Detroit, 48226.

313.962.1355.

New Caucus Club Geoge Sboukis, the new owner of the reimagined Caucus Club, hopes to be opened by Mother’s Day in May. After a 60-year run, the legendary restaurant/bar closed in 2012, and Sboukis acknowledged, “It will be a balance of trying to bridge the past to the present, to make sure we’re very relevant to the downtown environment.” The Caucus Club is undergoing renovations in the Art Deco style to match its location in the Penobscot Building, at 150 W. Congress in Detroit. Sboukis, 44, has been part-owner of Louis’ Chop House in Chesterfield Township since 1996, before the restaurant opened its doors, and like Louis’, the Caucus Club will have a dry-aging room for beef on site. “The menu will lean heavily towards signature dishes of perhaps braised foods, pastas, and seafood. A little less heavy on the beef and chops, more of a brasserie-style menu, a French brasserie that hits the menu from all different angles,” said Sboukis, who admits he’s not a fan of small plates. “My father was an immigrant and began his restaurant career in Detroit on the west side. I’m excited to be going back to his roots and following in his footsteps,” A head chef has not yet been named.

Dinner and a movie Located next to the Emagine Theater in the Palladium Building, 209 Hamilton Row in Birmingham, the Ironwood Grill is an American restaurant and bar serving BBQ brisket, ribs and pulled pork, along with a pizza bar. Owned by Paul Glantz, CEO of Emagine Theaters, Jon Goldstein, Landon Garrett, and Dan Johnson, “The restaurant is a stand alone business,” said general manager Randall Froschheuser, “a great place to come even if you’re not going to see a show.” Executive Chef Jeremy Glober has worked for Emagine since 2011. Prior to that he cooked at Great Oaks County Club.

Sports fans will be happy to know that the Grill has all major sports packages for viewing.

Five eateries, two bars This summer, the Detroit Shipyard will unveil a pod of five eateries and two bars on 18,000 square feet at 474 Peterboro in the Cass Corridor of Detroit. An outdoor venue constructed out of recycled shipping containers, the shipyard is designed with drop down walls, making it suitable for year-round dining. “I’ve been gaining a lot of weight from this,” said coCEO Jon Hartzell, owner of Facilities

Management Group. “I’ve been going around, meeting people at restaurants, pop-ups, and seeing who can do what. Not only who can make good food, but who can work in a small space, and turn a ticket – who can produce.” Hartzell and partners James Therkalsen, a New York resident who works for Facebook, and Timothy Tharp, who owns Detroit’s Grand Trunk Pub and Checker Bar, are in the process of selecting the culinary team. “It’s sort of like the first year of Real World, if you don’t have great characters the first season, no one will come back for season two,” said Hartzell. Handling the engineering of the space is Three Squared, a company that specializes in the unique development of structures from shipping containers.

Hartzell hopes Detroit Shipyard will be open by July 21, so he can celebrate his 40th birthday there the following day.

New vegan café The Detroit Zen Center, 11464 Mitchell Street in Hamtramck, recently opened Living Zen Organics, a vegan, organic, and from-scratch restaurant.

“We’ve been selling to stores in metro Detroit for about five years, and we were doing so well, we decided to do a café,” said director of the Center Hilary Moga, who’s Korean name is Myungju. “We make sprouted falafel chickpea sandwiches, kale quinoa cranberry salad, mermaid stew – lentils, mung beans, sesame seeds, sunseeds, our homemade 12 spice blend, and seaweed.” The main chef, Erin Kanzig, works with six others in the kitchen. “We make an effort to give jobs to people in the local community.

One of our employees was formerly homeless, and now has an apartment across the street, and is (employed) full-time,” said Buddhist nun Myungju.

Openings Arthur Avenue, the casual Italian eatery, has opened in Birmingham at 260 N. Old Woodward. Huron Room, a hip fish and chips shop in Corktown, is open at 2547 Bagley Street. The vegetarian and vegan GreenSpace Café is open in Ferndale at 215 W. Nine Mile Road. Ann Arbor’s eve, a testament to the slow food movement, has re-opened at the Bell Tower Hotel, 300 S. Thayer Street.

Front/Back is reported each month by Katie Deska. KatieDeska@DowntownPublications.com. We welcome news items or tips, on or off the record, about what's happening in the front or back of the house at metro area restaurants.

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301 South Main Street Rochester 48307

248-759-4825

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Antietam: French. Sunday Brunch. Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor.

1428 Gratiot Ave., Detroit, 48207.

313.782.4378.

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

2040 Park Ave., Detroit, 48226.

313.965.3111.

Cliff Bell’s: American. Sunday Brunch.

Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations.

Liquor. 2030 Park Ave., Detroit, 48226.

313.961.2543.

Coach Insignia: Steak & Seafood. Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor.

100 Renaissance Center, Detroit, 48243.

313.567.2622.

Craft Work: American. Sunday Brunch.

Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations.

Liquor. 8047 Agnes St., Detroit, 48214.

313.469.0976.

Cuisine: French. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday.

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, Tuesday-Friday.

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.

Maccabees at Midtown: American.

Sunday Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor.

5057 Woodward Ave., Detroit, 48202.

313.831.9311.

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.

Roma Café: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor.

3401 Riopelle St., Detroit, 48207.

313.831.5940.

Russell Street Deli: Deli. Breakfast &

DOWNTOWN

Lunch, Monday-Saturday. No reservations. 2465 Russell St, Detroit, 48207. 313.567.2900.

Santorini Estiatorio: Greek. Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations.

Liquor. 501 Monroe Ave, Detroit, 48226. 313.962.9366.

Selden Standard: American. Weekend Brunch. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily. Liquor. Reservations. 3921 Second Ave., Detroit, 48201.

313.438.5055.

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.

Top of the Pontch: American. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservation. Liquor. 2 Washington Blvd, Detroit, 48226.

313.782.4313.

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.

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AT THE TABLE From food to décor, La Dulce distinctive but not well-tuned

By J. March

efore Detroit became The D, beards became cool and foodie was even a word, Royal Oak was the place to be. From Red Coat to Ronin and Café Muse to Comet Burger, downtown and the surrounding area boomed with options to dine, drink and mingle. Soon after, Ferndale became the spot and then the wave of celebrity chefs came and pounded the turf that is Detroit, taking a ton of the press with them. Though the fanfare is usually remiss, great restaurants continue to open in Royal Oak like Ale Mary’s, Bigalora and, most recently, La Dulce.

Brothers Luis Negrete Escobedo and Juan Carlos Negrete took over what once was a shoe store on Main Street and turned it into something unlike any other.

From food to décor it is distinctively individual and pleasantly so. Not only does the food differ from much of what's out there today, but the décor is most definitely rogue at a time where the idea of communal dining means shoving 75 tables in a dining room that should house 50.

The dining room is for the most part comprised of settees in small groups with a coffee table in the center. The idea is that, over small shared plates, you are afforded the lost art of eye-to-eye conversation.

Magnificent idea, I say, even if the settees should come with an extra pillow for your bottom, as the ply wood base becomes increasingly apparent by the time the churros come. The surroundings to this nonconventional dining room are eclectic and quirky, including a huge chandelier made of drinkware.

Though not my cup of tea, it certainly makes a statement and is in line with the imported treasures from France and Spain that adorn the dining room.

Though at first I thought the austere bar with its bare bones tile and metal design was grossly out of place, I later realized it was a much needed contrast from the busy dining space.

Ian Redmond, formerly the beverage manager at Torino, is the general manager and brains behind the booze. La Dulce offers the same smattering of craft cocktails that most places do, including a Mole Old Fashioned, Pisco Punch and House Made Sangria.

What's different are the choices of gin and house-made tonics that I've not seen on any other cocktail list.

While mixologists across the nation strive to incorporate 15 ingredients, from absinthe to xanthan gum into a six-ounce glass, Redmond has discovered the clean, simple beauty of juniper and tonic and I for one could not be happier. The fact that it was served in a snifter and quite generous in gin and tonic made me ecstatic. Along the lines of simplicity, Redmond also offers up a vast list of sherries – a spirit that has battled its purpose behind a bar for years and has sadly been degraded to kitchens and cooking only.

Though all of the sherries offered came with descriptions and pairing suggestions, I would have loved to have seen affordable flights to entice patrons to give sherry a chance without committing to an entire glass of something pricey and unfamiliar to most. Still, I say bravo to you, Mr. Redmond. Your choices are original, and not only was your bar staff knowledgeable, they were personable and welcoming.

Sadly bartenders have become the self-appointed stars

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Ensalada De Granos: grains, seasonal roasted vegetables, and mint. Downtown photo: Laurie Tennent

of the show and too often make you feel like you are there for them. Not the case at La Dulce, and as a regular solo bar diner, something I believe most definitely should be lauded.

Chef Juan Carlos Negrete's menu seamlessly follows the originality of Redmond's beverages. Dishes are comprised of three to four traditional Spanish ingredients yet some original preparations. Drawn to the cheese and charcuterie, I skipped it for two reasons. One, I can get it anywhere and two, I've never had chorizo or Manchego worth $30. Instead, I opted for the olives that were a great mixture and included pickled onions. My suggestion is to order these with a beer and enjoy them early as the vinegar is prevalent.

My server talked me into trying the Blood Sausage.

Admittedly, it’s something I've never had and can safely guess that most readers have not either as the whole “blood” part doesn’t exactly entice. However, after considering the number of rare porterhouses, ribeyes and filets I've consumed, I resigned myself to the fact that my body is okay with blood. The sausage was coined and surrounded by peanuts with bell pepper jam on country bread (think crostini). Whether or not blood makes a tastier sausage I still do not know as the sausage and peanuts were incredibly dry and the red pepper jam did little to help as it sunk into the bread, making it an bloody mess. I moved onto the Tapa de Langosta, two spoons laden with a saffron and cauliflower puree topped with lobster. The velvety puree was a great contrast for the chunky lobster.

Although texturally it was spot on, the lobster was grilled far too long and was tough and smoky with zero hint of sweet shellfish goodness. The entire dish was earthy and smoky, but completely lacking the oh so important element that is acid.

Adversely, the Tapa de Pulpo was perfection.

Octopus with a spicy, charred exterior served with crispy potatoes and shoshito peppers. All things cooked perfectly and a great dish from start to finish.

The Montadito de Pato is also a must have. Country bread, Duck Rillette and watercress. Though rillettes are popular on menus right now, this one was different. It was rich and creamy like most but it had a distinct herbal addition and a tiny bit of sweetness to it. Though I'm not sure if it was orange or vanilla, it was pleasantly different from most that I've had and

made me wish I had ordered a glass of sherry to go with it.

The restaurant has a most interesting churro machine behind the bar and is worth taking a look at. I opted for the beignets instead and almost shed a tear in my Amaro when they came out piping hot on the outside and ice cold on the inside. My suggestion is this, stick with the theme of simplicity and serve piping hot fresh beignets lightly sprinkled with some powdered sugar. The apple filling cheapens the beauty of what the French have provided and makes the classic pastry more Dunkin Donuts than Café Du Monde.

There are so many things to like about La Dulce.

It's individuality, the bartenders, the beverage program, the refreshingly simple menu and Spanish roots. I wanted so badly to love everything they put in front of me, but clearly I did not. So here we are again at that place where I put on my robe, strike the choir and ring the bells to preach the importance of execution and consistency.

To take all that time coming up with dishes and tasting and tweaking and re-tasting and re-tweaking so that flavors and ingredients are perfect only to have your culinary talents questioned because your prep cook was tired and missed an ingredient. Or your line cook forgot a pan and overcooked something. It's tragic. And that is the case at Le Dulce. Like a perfectly appointed symphony, the instruments and composition are there. It is then on the maestro to lead each individual player to a precise contribution for the music to shine. Whether Chef Negrete can make sweet music remains to be seen. Those missed notes aren’t anything a gin and tonic can fix.

La Dulce, 115 South Main Street, Royal Oak 48067.

Reservations can be made by calling 248.268.1719.

Hours are Tuesday through Thursday from 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; and Friday and Saturday from 11-midnight.

Sunday hours are 10 a.m.-3 p.m. with a rotating brunch menu. Prices range from $4-$30. Street and lot parking available. Handicap accessible.

J. March has 25 years experience in the restaurant industry in southeast Michigan, including certification as a sommelier.

THE COMMUNITY HOUSE “It is every man's obligation to put back into the world at least – Albert Einstein the equivalent of what he takes out of it” As we begin 2016, full of hope and optimism, all of us at The Community House have taken pause to reflect back on all of the people: individuals, corporations, foundations - kindnesses large and small, which have made a true and lasting difference at The Community House over these last 93 years.

As a 501(c)3 non-profit charitable organization, it is our duty and our obligation to remain ever mindful that good stewardship is an essential part of the fundraising cycle. It covers the entire relationship between donor and organization. Likewise, we must continually celebrate and honor the importance of selfless service and volunteerism. For without either, the work and missions of noble organizations such as The Community House would not be possible.

I read recently that, “Selfless service is absolutely fundamental, both from an individual perspective and from the perspective of the entire human race, without which there can be no true progression. Selfless service should be offered and provided out of a genuine and deep desire to help and be of service to others.”

Several years ago, The Community House created the three Pillars of Vibrancy, Education, Wellness and Culture. The purpose was to publicly recognize extraordinary individuals who have demonstrated selfless service and philanthropy toward others while helping to “Create More Vibrant Lives” in the community - selfless service offered and provided out of a genuine and deep desire to help and be of service to others.

Earlier this year, a fourth pillar was added: Philanthropy.

Bill Seklar

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THE BIRMINGHAM GROUP:

Over the last few years, twenty six pillars in our community have been recognized and inducted into TCH’s Pillars of Vibrancy. This year is no exception. Recently, The Community House announced its 2016 Pillars of Vibrancy – what an extraordinary and selfless group. They include:

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Pillars of Culture: Alexander Zonjic, Peter Leonard Pillars of Education: Congressman David Trott, Pat Rosen Pillars of Philanthropy: Norm and Bonnie LePage, Paul and Mary Glantz Pillars of Wellness: Sandra Krafsur, Dr. Frank McGeorge In an effort to also recognize individuals, corporations and foundations that have given extraordinary treasure; $25,000 or more cumulatively, or donors who make an irrevocable legacy gift of $25,000 or more to The Community House, TCH leadership decided to gather and recognize all of these key stakeholders: Pillars of Vibrancy and Major Donors, together, under one philanthropic umbrella, Bates Street Society.

Bates Street Society was established in 2015, to publicly recognize and induct members who have made significant charitable contributions to support the work and mission of The Community House in Birmingham. Members will be acknowledged annually at its Bates Street Society Dinner, a semi-formal event hosted by The Community House's Officers and Board of Directors. The first Bates Street Society Dinner, a three-course sit-down dinner, is scheduled for Saturday, January 30, 2016 in the Wallace Ballroom of The Community House.

Members of the community are not only welcome, but, encouraged to attend. This important dinner will offer guests a wonderful opportunity to publicly show enthusiastic support for the 2016 TCH Pillars of Vibrancy inductees, and to the scores of individuals, foundations and corporations whose contributions and kindness makes TCH’s work and mission possible. Tickets are now on sale by going online at tchserves.org or by calling The Community House at 248.644.5832.

Let the

Gentlem

Take Ca en Move rs re of Yo ur Move !

Special thanks to our founding presenting sponsor PNC Wealth Management – PNC Bank. Our thanks as well to The Bates Street Society’s other corporate sponsors, Raymond James, DBusiness and Parsonage Florist.

NEW 2016 Opportunities for Corporate Sponsorship or Individual Support SIP: Craft Cocktails, Contemporary Cuisine, Community Conscious.

The goal and vision of SIP is to create a world-class signature fundraising event that would bring together aficionados of fine cuisine and extraordinary craft cocktails who wanted to share their interests and good fortune with others in a first-class setting for the benefit of children and adults served by TCH. Save-the-Date: Saturday, March 12, 2016. Tickets on sale now!

William D. Seklar is President & CEO of The Community House in Birmingham. downtownpublications.com

DOWNTOWN

248-639-4748

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SOCIAL LIGHTS/SALLY GERAK Here is the update on the recent social scene. Many more photos from each event appear online each week at downtownpublications.com where readers can sign up for an e-mail notice when the latest social scene column is posted. Past columns and photos are also archived at the website for Downtown.

OUR Town Art Show & Sale

OUR Town Art Show & Sale Forty, early-arriving benefactors ($200, $300, $750, $1,250) were joined by 345 friends ($75) for the Opening Night Party that kicked off the 30th Sally Gerak Anniversary of the OUR TOWN Art Show & Sale chaired by Liz DuMouchelle and Janice Degen at The Community House. They were greeted at the entrance by honorary chairs Julie Dawson and Sally Gerak, who have a long history with the event. The show of 361 pieces of art that had been selected by artist Robert Dempster and DIA conservator Barbara Heller was accented for the party by models wearing fantastic fashions created of paper and plastic bags by designer Matthew Richmond, committee member Dana Sorensen’s idea. In addition to dining on the stroll and viewing and buying art, lots of socializing ensues at this annual event. People also applaud the winners of cash prizes determined by the jurors. At the end of the three-day show, 47 pieces of the art had been bought and the People’s Choice award was won by “Honfleur, Normandy France” by Alice Belfie. Liz DuMouchelle hosted a congenial wrap-up dinner for the committee.

Guest House’s Detroit Bishop’s Dinner The 57th Detroit Bishop’s Dinner attracted 340 ($250, $175, $150 tickets) supporters of the Guest House mission to the Somerset Inn. Many of the 340 guests had begun the evening with a Mass at the Academy of the Sacred Heart before the reception hour. Dinner, with a program emceed by WZYZ’s Brad Galli, followed. When Msgr. Patrick Halfpenny accepted his award, he recalled Cardinal Maida’s response some years earlier to his self-effacing “I don’t deserve (to be elevated to monsignor).” ”None of us do,” Maida replied. When Terry and Betty Desmond accepted their award from Mike and Colleen Monahan, the parents of six children with 17 grandchildren said, “Service is what it’s all about.” Then Bob Koval, new Guest House president/CEO, introduced the highlight of the evening – remarks by an alum of the GH program for clergy recovering from addictions. Fr. Tom Kopp’s remarks were laced with humor and pathos. He recalled being suicidal when he arrived and being hugged by nurse Jackie Lathers, who assured him he would be okay. He concluded by giving Koval a check for $11,680, which represented 10-cents per day for the 32 years he has been sober. He also said, “More will be coming in my will.” Additionally, the 57th annual event raised more than $76,000 for the Lake Orion substance abuse center for men and women of the clergy.

Project HOPE’s A Starry Night The Women’s Division Project HOPE’s soiree chaired by Linda Juracek-Lipa, one of the first charity events booked in the new rooftop addition to the Detroit Athletic Club, was a splendid success. Among the 100 in attendance were guests and former members who also brought guests. All savored the sumptuous hors d’oeuvres and buffet, live entertainment, view of the city, and stars and warm camaraderie. There was also happy applause when president Bettina Gregg announced that the WD has raised a total of $608,425 for Project HOPE’s global healthcare initiatives. This does not include the $3,000 netted by A Starry Night atop the DAC. BB Chamber Vine & Dine The 415 people ($75 tickets) who attended the Birmingham Bloomfield chamber’s 12th annual fundraiser at the Cranbrook Institute of Science were treated to sustenance for the body and spirit. The vittles and comestibles were provided by 20 food and wine purveyors. The spiritual nutrition was provided by Cranbrook alum Jordan Broder’s NuClassica musicians, as well as Axis Music Academy. Additionally, the chance auction raised $6,000 for Gleaners Community Food Bank.

Night of Angels Oktoberfest What started at the Country Club of Detroit in the mid-80s as a joyous but sedate auction and formal dinner party fundraiser changed its stripes big time downtownpublications.com

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1. Janice Degen (left) and Liz DuMouchelle of Bloomfield. 2. Kelsey Hogan of Birmingham.

3. Jim Fetter (left) of Bloomfield, jurors Barbara Heller of Birmingham and Robert Dempster of Bloomfield. 4. Julie Dawson (left) and Tom & Barbara Denomme of Birmingham. 5. Dana Sorenson (center) of Bloomfield, Alana Faltz (left) of Holly, Ali Restaino of Birmingham. 6. Jim & Lisa Stella of Bloomfield. 7. Laurie Mueller of Rochester Hills, Priscilla Phifer of Franklin.

8. Christine (left) & Dave Provost of Birmingham, Tory Smith Sawula of Bloomfield. 9. Steven & Marian Loginsky of Birmingham. 10. Barbara Porter & Victor Pytko of Birmingham.

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Guest House’s Detroit Bishop’s Dinner

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1. Terry (left) & Betty Desmond of Bloomfield, Msgr. Patrick Halfpenny of Grosse Pointe. 2. Patti (left) & Bob Koval of Troy, Gerry Carroll of Birmingham. 3. Marie & Bill Molnar of Bloomfield.

4. Lois Thornbury of Bloomfield, Fr. Tom Kopp of Qunicy, MA. 5. Pat (left) & Liz Haddad of Grosse Pointe, Bob Pliska of Bloomfield.

6. Joe (left) & Kay McGlynn and Kathy & Tom Strobl of Bloomfield.

7. David Crain (left) of Birmingham, Patricia Babinski of Centerline, Bob Babinski of Lake Orion.

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Project HOPE’s A Starry Night

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1. Camilla Kavanaugh (standing left) of Beverly Hills, Mary Putinta of Bloomfield, Bob (seated) & Maggie Allesee of Bloomfield, Linda Juracek-Lipa of Birmingham. 2. Judie Sherman (left) of Bloomfield, David & Cheryl Hall Lindsay of W. Bloomfield. 3. Irene Davis (center) of Beverly Hills, Sherry & Steve Saginaw of Bloomfield. 4. Donald & Bettina Gregg of Bloomfield

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SOCIAL LIGHTS/SALLY GERAK last month when Sarah Dodge’s Christ Child Society committee put a German spin on the annual Night of Angels. It was obviously an idea whose time had come as Night of Angels Oktoberfest attracted more than 500 ($125, $250, $500 tickets) to the Royal Oak Farmers Market on a Friday night. Many society members brought friends who were new to the organization that serves the needs of disadvantaged children in Detroit and Pontiac. Diversions included a silent and robust live auction, craft brewery stations, a cigar tent, a hearty buffet featuring German sausages, schnitzel and sauerkraut, and the music of Good Gravy. The festivities paused for Christ Child House executive director John Yablonky to be honored for his 20 years of exemplary service to the at-risk boys who reside there. The crowd included a number of two-generation families and 15 Junior Christ Child Society members on volunteer duty. Thanks also to generous sponsors, the society is counting record proceeds - $500,000.

BB Chamber Vine & Dine

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1. Dave Weir (left) and Bob Kupfer of Bloomfield, Linda Hatfield, Richard Astrein. 2. Monica Bisignano Zamler, Ed Bosse. 3. Lynn Wiand (left), Tim Smith, Liz Luckenbach, Chris McLogan. 4. Maria & Bill Roberts.

5. Monica Haider, Mark Berry and Cristin Lazzaro.

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Wine & Dine in the D Sid Moss hosted his fifth annual benefit for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation at the Westin Book Cadillac. For 150 guests, the evening started at a panel discussion with doctors from four different hospital groups and the foundation’s Joan Levy. The good news was that some important breakthroughs have resulted in remission status for many patients with MM, an incurable blood cancer which yearly claims the lives of more than 11,000.

Another 200 guests, including several old friends of the host who traveled from afar, arrived for the gourmet food and fine wine that star at the event and the Afterglow for sponsors an patrons. They sipped and supped while Ursula Walker and the Buddy Budson Quintet made music and paused to watch speed painter Dave Santia perform.

Someone paid $500 for his portrait of MSU’s Tom Izzo, but there were no bids for the Tigers’ Justin Verlander or Miggy Cabrera. Nevertheless, thanks also to sponsors the event raised approximately $60,000 to research a cure for MM.

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Night of Angels Oktoberfest

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1. Sarah Dodge, Laura Keziah and Pamela Hildebrand of Birmingham. 2. Tom Hardy (left) of Bloomfield with Chuck Hamill and Dave Cosgrove of Birmingham and Chris Proper of Ferndale. 3. Lisette Keil of Birmingham. 4. Graham (left) & Sara-Young Ritter (right) of Bloomfield, Dana Sherrod and Lance Keziah of Birmingham.

5. Maureen Wesley (left) and Madelon Ward of Bloomfield. 6. Julie (left) & John Hammity of Birmingham, Chris Schwartz and Betsy Heid of Bloomfield. 7. Noelle Schiffer (left) of Birmingham, Julie Gheen of Bloomfield, Kim Bryson of Troy.

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Wine & Dine in the D

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St. Hugo Altar Guild’s Ladies Night Karen Seitz and Mary DeBaisio chaired the St. Hugo Altar Guild’s Ladies Night Out at the Razzle Dazzle Club.

The party site was actually Oakland Hills Country Club, and more than 200 ($60, $160-benefactor) attended, including several mother-daughter duos. The “dazzle” was provided by decorations, committee member’s hats, and the blinking rings people got when they bought raffle tickets for a $1,000 Somerset Collection gift certificate. Lois Thornbury was the lucky winner. Guests did serious shopping at the 14 boutiques and relished fare from a yummy buffet. The event raised $20,000 for the Guild’s charities which include Rose Hill Center, Mother & Unborn Baby Care, CARE House and St. Stephen’s Baptist Ministry, to name a few.

Variety’s Lights Camera, Auction Leslie Miller and Robert Golding chaired Variety’s annual Lights, Camera, Auction that attracted more than 300 to Paul Glantz’s Novi Emagine Theatre. They savored fare from 27 generous restaurants, bid on silent auction items, previewed “Burnt” and raised $35,000 for Variety’s Bikes for Kids program.

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1. Sharon & Sid Moss of Bloomfield. 2. Sandra (left) & Jack Lennox and Marja Norris of Bloomfield. 3. Rochelle & Dr. Harold Margolis of W. Bloomfield. 4. Linda ShinkleRodney and Teddy Shinkle of Bloomfield. 5. Tammy Packer (left) of Orchard Lake, Kim Hicks of Rochester Hills. 6. Cathy Pikula (left) of Franklin, Anita Terry and Tina Prevas of Bloomfield.

DOWNTOWN

Alzheimer’s Association’s Chocolate Jubilee Why not celebrate New Year’s in October, reasoned Chocolate Jubilee chairs Mari and Ken Barnett and Mary Wilson. The ploy worked to perfection, drawing 550 guests ($200 and up tickets) to the MGM Grand to drink a champagne toast to the Alzheimer’s Association. Most 01.16

guests will not soon forget guest speaker John Wood’s account of getting his Alzheimer’s diagnosis a year ago at age 45. The much honored artist/teacher’s report of his hopes and fears of living with early onset Alzheimer’s earned him a standing ovation. It also confirmed the dedication of supporters like co-chairs Mary Wilson and Mari Barnett and Bill and Marlene Emerson to find a cure. The Wilson Foundation’s two $1 million grants to the Greater Michigan Chapter, which last year helped 12,000 people, were vigorously applauded. Guests also bought $10,000 in the Sweet Chances pull, savored confections presented by 18 vendors, and danced until closing to Mel Ball’s music.

Thanks also to sponsors, the event raised nearly $1.3 million. The 2016 event, to be chaired by Mari Barnett and Marlene Emerson, will be Oct. 29 at the MGM Grand.

Oakland Literacy Council’s Ex Libris Dinner The Oakland Literacy Council has delivered one-onone literacy tutoring to 12,000 adults since it was founded 31 years ago by Robert Gaylor. During the council’s annual benefit dinner a tutor and a student usually talk about their journey. This year the student, who currently works three jobs, was unable to attend.

But her tutor, Allison Beland’s, admiration for the 55year-old woman who read at a second grade level when they started was undeniable. “She’s an amazing woman,” Beland declared. The celebrity speaker at the event which attracted 90 to the Village Club was Dr. Jacques Bailly. He is the official pronouncer of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The University of Vermont professor detailed why English – a language in transition derived from many others – is the only language that could stage a spelling bee. The 26th annual event raised $35,500. According to board president Judy Lindstrom this brings its lifetime total to $435,500!. For volunteer information go to www.oaklandliteracy.com.

Panhellenic Enrichment Awards Benefit The Birmingham Area Panhellenic Association, which actually encompasses all of Oakland County, has 14 of the 26 National Panhellenic sorority members. Its annual luncheon, chaired by ADPi Carolyn Gatesman and ZTA Kelly Small, attracted 100 to Pine Lake Country Club to raise money for the enrichment awards it makes to local high school girls each year. They spent more than $1,000 on raffle tickets for the gift baskets assembled by each of the 14 member groups before settling in for lunch and the program emceed by BAPA president June Stillman, a 56-year member of AEPhi. The roll call revealed that the Pi Phis had the most members in attendance (22) and that 94-year-old Kappa Alpha Theta Lucille Jensen possessed the longest sorority membership (70 years). Delta Gamma Sarah Skoog then emceed a colorful show of Lilly Pullitzer fashions modeled by members, including her mother Staci Skoog, national president of Delta Gamma.

Career Dress Shopping Benefit Retailers Nina McLemore (quality clothes for executive women) and Karen Egren (creative jewelry and accessories) share a studio at 550 W. Merrill in Birmingham. It was an appropriate venue for the Ladies Night Out event supporting Career Dress. The allvolunteer program provides clothing for low/moderate income women seeking employment in SE Michigan.

Forty supporters accepted the hosts’ generous downtownpublications.com

St. Hugo Altar Guild’s Ladies Night

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1. Sandie Knollenberg (left) and Karen Seitz of Bloomfield. 2. Carolyn DeMattia (left) of Bloomfield, Mary DeBaisio of Royal Oak. 3. Janet Forgione (left) and her daughter Diane Roelant, Patty Roerge, Kim Thorsen, Sandy Hebert and Lisa Wilson of Bloomfield. 4. Carol Litka (left) of Troy, Marianne Boukamp of Birmingham, Kay Browne and Barbara Finn of Bloomfield. 5. Jane Juett (left) of Bloomfield, Kyle Brush of Birmingham. 6. Marilyn (left) and Stephanie Swintech and Kathleen Sullivan and Elizabeth Zennedjian of Bloomfield.

7. Peg Harber (left) of Birmingham, Judy Walby of Troy.

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Alzheimer’s Association’s Chocolate Jubilee

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1. Mary Wilson (left) of Grosse Pointe, Mary Owen of Birmingham. 2. Bill and Marlene Emerson of Bloomfield. 3. Mel (left) & Marilyn Barnett and Mari & Ken Barnett of Bloomfield. 4. Dr. Irwin (left) & Roberta Madorsky and Todd Peplinski of Bloomfield. 5. Bev Lopatin (left) and Dr. Paul & Ann Fecko of Bloomfield. 6. Peggy (left) & Mark Saffer and Larry & Jackie Kraft of Bloomfield. 7. Morton & Diane Scholnick of Birmingham. 8. Allan & Joy Nachman of Bloomfield, Sandy & Alan Schwartz of Franklin. 9. Estelle Elkus (center) of Bloomfield and Eleanor Zuppke (left) and Marilyn Rachland of W. Bloomfield. 10. Larry Walsh (left) and Bonnie Jobe of Bloomfield, Heidi Paterson of Rochester.

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SOCIAL LIGHTS/SALLY GERAK hospitality. It included comestibles by Annabel Cohen, sparkling and still wines, 15 percent of sales donation, and a gift raffle for those who brought clothing and accessories for the Career Dress closet.

The clothing rack was filled with donations and the kitty had $800 at the event’s end. Career Dress is now independent of Lighthouse and is in the process of renovating its new home at 55 W. Huron in downtown Pontiac. A grand opening will be held in January, 2016.

For information, contact judyzorn55@gmail.com or go to Career Dress on Facebook.

Oakland Literacy Council’s Ex Libris Dinner

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1. Barbara Van Dusen of Birmingham and Judy Lindstrom of Bloomfield.

2. Molly Beresford of Bloomfield and Dr. Jacques Bailly of Burlington, VT. 3. John (left) & Joan Reddy of Bloomfield, Robert Gaylor of Rochester Hills.

4. Shelly & Tim Meyer and Bernard & Eleanor Robertson of Bloomfield.

5. Jackie Brewer (left) of W. Bloomfield, Alison Beland of Rochester. 6. Don (left) & Camille Breen of Bloomfield, Mary Rosenbusch of Rochester, Barbara & Edward Klarman of Southfield. 7. Joan Allesee (center) of Troy, John & Pat Wireman of Rochester Hills.

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Panhellenic Enrichment Awards Benefit

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1. Carolyn Plsek (left) of Bloomfield, Carolyn Gatesman of Highland and Kelly Small of Farmington Hills. 2. Karen Seitz (left) of Bloomfield, Patti Phillips of Birmingham, June Stillman of W. Bloomfield, Barbara Prince of South Lyons. 3. Louise Simpson (left) of Birmingham and Lucille Jensen of Bloomfield. 4. Cindy Kozlowski of Rochester Hills and Mary Baumgarten (left) of Commerce. 5. Sharon Frost (left) of Bloomfield, Sarah & Staci Skoog of Royal Oak, Julie Goddard of Grosse Pointe. 6. Amanda Whiffing of Royal Oak and Devon Cook of Bloomfield. 7. Betty Curtiss (left) of Rochester Hills, Lil Bryant of Commerce, Judy Moslak of W. Bloomfield, Carola Alameddine of Canton.

Career Dress Shopping Benefit

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1. Judy Zorn (left), Karen Lockman and Cheryl Pancitia of Rochester Hills and Lucy Simone of Troy. 2. Carol Giles (left) of Troy, Missy Mark of Birmingham. 3. Lynn Gilllow (left) of Birmingham, Kathy Zanolli of Beverly Hills, Karen Egren of NYC.

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The Village Club Benefit Luncheon Someone wishing to make a well-vetted charitable donation need look no further than The Village Club Foundation. It’s Grants Committee of 30 savvy members rigorously studies, interviews and visits the applicant agencies before presenting recommendations to the full committee. For the most recently ended fiscal year, they awarded grants totaling $137,000 to 49 agencies. Grants ranged from $1,000 for Birmingham Youth Assistance to $6,500 for Rebuilding Together Oakland County. Additionally, they approved a special one-time award of $10,000 to support HAVEN’s new comprehensive facility. The Foundation’s Time, Treasure & Talent Luncheon, a mini-fundraiser chaired by Kay White Meyer, attracted 163 members and 40 guests from grant recipient agencies. After socializing and perusing a mini silent auction, they were welcomed by foundation board president Carol Litka. Three speakers from recipient agencies then gave a brief overview of their mission. The luncheon is expected to add nearly $20,000 to the foundation’s kitty. A larger fundraiser is staged in alternate years, but donations are the primary source of income to the foundation.

Judson Center Blues Gala When Social Lights first covered Judson Center’s fundraising auction in the late ‘70s, it was held at the San Marino Club in Troy and the tickets were $50. Then the ticket price was increased and the party moved to the Townsend, which it outgrew after many happy years there. This year for the first time, the event was held in Detroit, at the Westin Book Cadillac, and committee chair Joe Fisher and crew went with a Blues theme. Detroit’s Queen of Blues, Thornetta Davis, was the headliner and many of the women in the sold-out crowd of 500 ($250; $350-VIP) found elegant blue gowns for the occasion. The 200 VIPs convened early in the Venetian ballroom where champagne and premium cocktails flowed from a bar carved out of ice. All reconvened in the Woodward Ballroom for dinner and the program that featured powerful testimonials to two of Judson Center’s missions. Guests did not cry the blues when it came to spending. A raffle raised more than $6,000 and the silent auction raised nearly $50,000.

The live auction raised more than $20,000 and pledging raised another $60,000. Thanks also to generous sponsors, the event raised nearly $400,000.

And, because Judson Center is one of the auto show Charity Preview beneficiaries, supporters will be reconvening at Cobo on Jan. 15. For tickets, go to CharityPreview.com. Since opening its doors in 1924, Judson Center has grown to change the lives of 4,000 children, adults, and families each year.

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Sky Foundation’s Annual Luncheon “How this lunch has grown! You could have held the early events in a phone booth,” noted WDIV’s Rod Meloni. He was greeting the record-setting crowd of 374 SKY Foundation supporters in the MGM Grand ballroom. Instead of listening to updates on pancreatic cancer research as they did at past fundraisers, they watched the humorous Detroit Zoo commercial – See How the Stars Live – the late Ron Castorri made before he succumbed to pancreatic cancer a year ago. The moving tribute to Castorri was followed by another video that put an entertaining spin on pancreas education. It was introduced by foundation founder’s Sheila Kasselman’s two grandchildren, who came from their home in Illinois for the event. Then auctioneer Chris Aslanian got people to bid a total of $44,550 for 11 live auction items and to pledge another $75,000 for dedicated giving. Combined with a generous supporter’s challenge match, the seventh annual Sky Foundation benefit will probably net a record-setting $250,000 for research aimed at finding an early marker for pancreatic cancer. A nice side story: Dennis Declerk was astonished when, during lunch, an MGM employee gave him change from the $100 bill he had used to buy a drink during the reception. The bartender told her the guest was a large man who ordered a red wine and left without his change. She roamed among the tables until she found him. Declerk, unaware that he had left the bar without his change, was very grateful for the staff’s integrity.

Junior League Sustainers Cocktail Party Junior League of Birmingham members who have fulfilled their obligation as active members become Sustainer members.

Many nourish the friendships they formed as actives and 45 of them gathered at the annual sustainer social hosted by Meredith Carrell at her Birmingham home. It was chaired by Katie Marinelli, one of five past presidents in attendance.

In addition to playing catch up with one another’s lives they welcomed JLB president Shiela Jones, who noted the group’s current volunteer focus is combating human trafficking. Junior Leaguers and friends will again convene at the 2016 Signature Event – Casino Night which Jamilah Levens-Wright is chairing Saturday, April 16, at Birmingham Open Hunt. For tickets ($75,) go to www.jlbham.org/estore.

Cabaret 313

The second offering in Sandi Reitelman and Allan Nachman’s third season of bringing a quintessential New York experience to the Big D attracted rave reviews and capacity crowds (125) for each of the two performances by T. Oliver Reed downtownpublications.com

Judson Center Blues Gala

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1. Kyle Hauberg (left) of Bloomfield, Kevin Kennedy and Jeff Earll of Rochester. 2 Sally (left) & Jim Scapa of W. Bloomfield, Donna Zimmer of Bloomfield. 3. Dave Zimmer of Bloomfield with Ingrid & Tom Perring of Troy.

4. Julia (left) & Stephen Henes of Birmingham, Deborah & Mike Savoie of Bloomfield. 5. Brian Manoogian (left), Elizabeth Brazilian and Keith Pomery of Birmingham, Stephen Trudeaux of Huntington Woods. 6. Nancy (left) and John Carter and Nancy Lau of Bloomfield. 7. Aleisa Hauberg (left) of Bloomfield, Jamuna Kennedy and Sheila Earll of Rochester. 8. John (left) & Carol Aubrey of Birmingham, David Lau of Bloomfield. 9. Liz & Matt Russell of Birmingham. 10. Mary Murri (left) of Rochester Hills, Henry Lee and Nancy Kanat of W. Bloomfield.

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Sky Foundation’s Annual Luncheon

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1. Brooke Grace (left) of Birmingham, Sheila Sky Kasselman of W. Bloomfield, Bluma Schechter of Bloomfield. 2. Bill Powers (left) & Wendy Williams Powers and Rick Williams of Bloomfield. 3. Scott Klott of Rochester Hills, Niki Gallaudet of Beverly Hills. 4. Debbie Fellberg (left) and Janice Steinhardt of Birmingham. 5. Barbara (left) & Dennis Declerk of Bloomfield, committee member Kathy Calver of Waterford. 6. Bob (left) & Susan Blank, Lee & Pat Hochstein of Bloomfield. 7. Char Terry (center) of Bloomfield, Bill Beasley & Sara Hofman of Ferndale.

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SOCIAL LIGHTS/SALLY GERAK Junior League Sustainers Cocktail Party

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Santa Society Toys for Tots The good guys did it again. For the 23rd year they hosted Cause for Claus Gala Charity Ball. The price of admission was a contribution to the U.S. Marine’s Toys for Tots program. The Santa Society directors welcomed approximately 450 toy-toting guests to the Troy Marriott. The music of Jedi Mind Trip accented the socializing, sipping, supping and dancing as several Marines accepted and stacked some 500 toys they will distribute to needy kids. The directors foot the bill for the room, food and band. Directors are Jack Bourget, Ray Dallavecchia, Marty Apruzzese, Richard Bloom, Robert Bloom, Mark Boswell, Kevin Brown, Keith Butler, Lee Cabelof, Chas Chandler, Steven Dempsey, Rick DiBartolomeo, Bill Frantz, Tony Galbo, Hillary Heacock, Brandon Horrocks, Michael Obloy, Harry Radtke and founder Tim Turner.

5 1. Jennifer Raab (left) of Bloomfield, Meredith Carrel of Birmingham. 2. Linda Lessway (left) and Kim Prodden of Birmingham, Maggie Allesee of Bloomfield, Katie Marinelli of Royal Oak. 3. Suzy Osmer (left) of Beverly Hills, Kathy Walgren of Birmingham. 4. Keri Boyd (left) and Noelle Schiffer of Birmingham, Stephanie Smith of Northville. 5. Linda Underdown (left) and Sue Foley of Birmingham, Sis Wenger of Bloomfield, Karen DeKoker of Bingham Farms. 6. Gail Van Cleave (left) of Troy, Molly Saeli of Birmingham. 7. Alison Murphy (left) of Birmingham, Mary Linda Murphy and Jane Imerman of Bloomfield.

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Cabaret 313

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1. Christian Wholer (left) and Pamela Ayres of Bloomfield, Dale Hollandsworth of White Lake. 2. Elayne Greenspan (left) of Franklin, Dr. Martin Tessler of Bloomfield, Dr. Richard Bluford of Franklin. 3. Dr. David DiChiera (left) of Detroit, Linda Orlans & Gerry Padilla of Birmingham. 4. Linda Hayman (left) and Carole Slotkin of Bloomfield. 5. Nancy Liebler (left) and Dawn Rassel of Bloomfield. 6. Cabaret 313 founders Sandi Reitelman of Birmingham and Allan Nachman of Bloomfield with T.Oliver Reid (center). 7. Toby & Sam Haberman of Birmingham. (Event photos by Christine M.J. Hathaway).

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at the Carr Center. His vocal tour of the Harlem clubs of the 1930s included renditions of familiar classics as well as “Ill Wind” which he presented as a powerful statement about lynchings, another a reality of the day. The show was streamed live by DPTV and may be viewed at video.pbs.org/video/2365603616/. The next Cabaret 313 offering is the versatile Jason Graae on Saturday, Jan.23 in a tribute performance to “Hello Dolly!”, “Mame” and “La Cage Aux Folles” composer Jerry Herman. He will do two shows at the Black Box Theatre in the Detroit Opera House, 7 p.m. and at 10 p.m., with doors opening 45 minutes before. Light food and drink will be available for purchase. Ditto valet parking. For tickets and the remaining season line-up, go to cabaret313.org. Call 313.405.5061 with questions.

London Chop House Salvation Army Benefit Jazz vocalist Nicole New led the singing as more than 100 London Chop House diners ($250-ticket) participated in the revival of an old Detroit tradition – the sing-a-long luncheon benefiting the Salvation Army. For the third year, restaurant owners Ellena, Nico and Maria Gatzaros and Christos Moisides opened the iconic Detroit bistro just like the original restaurant did in the ‘70s and ‘80s.

The luncheon and the group singing on stage raised more than $60,000. Spotted among the generous diners were event cofounders Tom and Diane Schoenith, Sam and Katie Valenti, Lidija Grahovac, Valerie Straith and Sandy Duncan. To make a contribution toward The Salvation Army’s 2015 Red Kettle Campaign, go to salmich.org.

Send ideas for this column to Sally Gerak, 28 Barbour Lane, Bloomfield Hills, 48304; email samgerak@aol.com or call 248.646.6390.

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ENDNOTE

Limit further damage Devine can inflict e called five months ago for Bloomfield Township Treasurer Dan Devine to step down from his position in hopes of putting an end to a pattern of disruptive and, frankly, bizarre behavior. It now falls upon the township's board of trustees to take appropriate actions to limit how much more damage Devine can do to the community.

Problems in the township government have become increasingly problematic since 2011, when Leo Savoie, then a trustee, was appointed supervisor over Devine – who basically felt the job was his birthright. Efforts inside township hall to improve workplace relationships and foster teamwork have been met with resistance from Devine (when he shows up, which employees and elected officials assert is between 10 to 15 percent of the time), which has only served to worsen the situation.

First, there are Devine's attempts to discredit Savoie through a series of allegations made to local police, state elections officials, and through a lawsuit against Savoie and the township – which was dismissed on December 16, as unfounded.

Then there are repeated instances where we feel, as have many board members, that Devine has failed to fulfill his duties as treasurer. Further, attempts to rectify shortcomings on the treasurer's part have been met by resistance from Devine, who sees any encroachment to his position as a personal attack leading to allegations by him of retaliation.

Devine first attempted to discredit the supervisor by filing a complaint with state election officials claiming Savoie essentially accepted a bribe by taking an illegal campaign contribution from one of the township's contractor firms. The state dismissed the allegation, finding no supporting facts.

In May, Devine's allegations became far more ridiculous when he told police he believed Savoie may have been behind a plot to “kidnap” his adult daughter and "throw her in his trunk" when she failed to return Devine's phone calls for part of a day while she was actually at work as a substitute teacher. That, along with millions of dollars lost in investment income from retiree investment accounts, which Devine oversees, led the township board to publicly censure Devine.

While we hoped that Devine would have considered leaving office, or at least accepting responsibility for the part he has played in disrupting the government, he instead increased his antics, suing the township and Savoie. As trustee Neal Barnett plainly put it, "It's right out of the Dan Devine playbook. When you see you're being attacked, you attack. The real victim is Bloomfield Township."

In an attempt to ease tensions at township hall, the supervisor last summer hired a psychologist and consultant to meet with elected officials and

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department heads in an effort to facilitate teamwork and tackle challenges at township hall.

The doctor's verbal report: don't waste your money.

However, it's clear that Devine has and will continue to waste the township's money and attempt to besmirch the good name of its employees and officials in his attempt to deflect criticism. Take for instance Devine's comments at a November 9 board of trustees meeting, in which Devine accused township financial advisor Jason Theis of failing to properly vet firms bidding to review the township's defined benefit pension plan. At that meeting – in which he abstained from voting, despite state law that requires him as an elected treasurer in a charter township, to vote – Devine falsely accused Theis of not checking the bidders' references, although he had sufficiently followed directions from the township's financial sustainability committee.

The meeting is just one instance of Devine's attempts to obstruct the board's move to provide additional oversight on the investments since revelations in 2014 that the township may have been overpaying on investment fees related to retirement pension liabilities. The charges were presented to the board, not by Devine, but by several residents who work in the financial management field. When the supervisor hired an outside firm to review the fees, Devine, again, labeled it as part of a vendetta by Savoie.

More recently, Devine accused the township board of trying to fire him and indicated the board was attempting to send him to jail as its fiduciary, in its motion to approve an amendment to the township’s Health Care Benefit Trust, or VEBA. The motion, which involved the retiree's VEBA, under the township's water and sewerage department, was found to be both legal and necessary by township attorney Bill Hampton. Yet, Devine spent more of the township's money by hiring attorneys at Clark Hill to provide a report on the issue, even asking them to revise an ordinance trustees had already approved.

Devine spends much of his time telling everyone he is an attorney with a great deal of expertise, and a seasoned treasurer. If that's the case, one, how did he miss transferring the VEBA funds to the proper account; and two, why did he need an opinion from a law firm besides one the township has on retainer?

Interestingly, despite all of the treasurer's claims of wrongdoing by others, it's Devine who is in fact under scrutiny for not following the state's campaign finance law.

In July, Devine filed paperwork with the Michigan Secretary of State to change his campaign fund into a legal defense fund, citing legal action to defend against removal from public office, as well as his public censure on July 13, 2015. However, the secretary of state's office says the use of campaign contributions for a legal

defense fund is a violation of state law. The matter is still under investigation.

In light of Devine's continued attacks on the township, its employees and elected officials, as well as an utter lack of confidence in his ability to oversee township investments – and an inability to remove him through recall or the slim likelihood of the governor removing him from office – the township board must now take action to limit further damage Devine can cause to the township.

First, only one person should be able to seek out legal advice on behalf of the township or approve others to do so and that traditionally in most townships is the supervisor. Someone must be in charge of who can encumber the township with legal fees. The board should take swift and clear action to ensure such unauthorized legal expenditures by the treasurer don't occur again.

Additionally, the board of trustees and the township's financial sustainability committee should recommend how to prevent, or at least severely limit, Devine from handling township investments. There are trustees with investment knowledge, such as Brian Kepes, who have expressed interest in adding one or two trustees as co-fiduciaries, which we think would be an excellent oversight move. Further, the township board should also recognize the excellent qualifications Theis brings to the table, and consider how to maximize his value to the township by involving him in the investments of the township as its financial director, even if that means upping his pay somewhat for the additional responsibility. If allowed by law, cut Devine out completely. Period.

Lastly, it is imperative the board revisit the prospect of making the treasurer's seat a part-time position in future elections – a matter we believe must be done now in order to get qualified candidates to file for treasurer come the spring 2016 deadline.

Dan Devine has been Bloomfield Township Treasurer since 1999. It is safe to say he may have cost the community millions in lost investment revenue and thousands more to defend a frivolous lawsuit, when he sued the township and Savoie because he was publicly spanked – via a formal censure – for poor job performance and inappropriate behavior. At meetings, he is an obstructionist, and he often shows his lack of understanding of what needs to be done, even if the agenda item pertains to an area where he should have expertise. He has created a tense atmosphere in township hall for all employees. As one trustee said at a recent meeting, Devine is “delusional,” almost what one would expect from the classic village idiot, not the treasurer of a large urban township.

Bloomfield Township must be protected from future damage Devine can inflict upon it. The time to act is now.

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