Rochester/Rochester Hills

CASADEI: METRO INTELLIGENCER 42 • GERAK: SOCIAL LIGHTS 45

R O C H E S T E R

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R O C H E S T E R

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SEPTEMBER 2018

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OAKLAND CONFIDENTIAL POLITICAL NEWS AND GOSSIP

EPA SLOWDOWN ON CHEMICAL REPORT NOVEMBER MARIJUANA ELECTION QUESTION ENDNOTE: ELECTION BALLOT SHORTAGE ECRWSS Postal Customer EDDM

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ROCHESTER HILLS, $329,900. 3 bdrms., 2.5 baths on 2/3 acre treed setting. Wood laminate flooring throughout. 2 fireplaces.

Skylights & extensive windows. Vaulted ceilings. Neutral paint.

Home office, 4th bdrm., au pair or in-law suite with private entry.

Circular driveway & many updates.

ROYAL OAK, $249,900. 3 bdrms., 1.5 baths, 1242 sq. ft. Kit. w/granite counters, subway tile backsplash. Neutral paint.

Extensive hdwd. floors. Living rm. w/recessed lighting.

Updated bath w/dual sinks. Fin. bsmt. Covered deck. All appliances included.

STERLING HGHTS., $197,500. 3 bdrms., 2 baths, two car garage. Paver walkway & expansive deck. Spacious eat-in kitchen with all appliances. Kit. overlooks fam. rm. with fireplace. Updated baths. Neighborhood sidewalks. Fenced yard. Near all conveniences.

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ROCHESTER HILLS, $174,900. 2 bdrms., 2 baths, 1600 sq. ft.

Underground parking & one car garage. Open floor plan with great rm. & dining overlooking commons. Elevated view of setting. Gas fireplace. All appliances included. Laundry in unit. Master suite with walk-in closet, dual sinks, jetted tub & shower. Desirable location.

LAKE ORION, $327,500. Heart of downtown Lake Orion and walking distance to the lake. 4 units fully rented & never any vacancies. Two one-bdrm. units; Two 2-bdrm. units.

Mechanically updated & mtn. free exteriors. Instant cash flow & long-term returns. Totally desirable location.

ROCHESTER HILLS, $1250/MO. 2 bdrms., 2 baths, 1100 sq. ft. Great rm. open to kitchen with all appls. Dining rm. leading to balcony overlooking beautiful treed commons. Spacious bdrms. Laundry in unit. Assoc. inc. in mo. rent. Extensive parking and carport. Convenient location.

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HARRISON TWP., $799,900. 5000 sq. ft., built in 2001. Currently used as medical but flexible for any business usage. 5 offices, 4 exam rms. w/sinks, lunch rm., 25x23 lobby. 1140 additional sq. ft. loft for extra space or separate business. Also for lease.

ROCHESTER $449,900. Approx. 1500 sq. ft. with 5 private offices. Spacious reception area with vaulted ceiling. 2 baths, updated kitchen, updated mechanicals. Front and rear parking lots with 11 parking spaces.

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DOWNTOWN09.18

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The recreational marijuana ballot issue Voters will be deciding in the November election whether to allow recreational marijuana to be sold here, so Downtown takes a look at the proposal and what other states have experienced once they approved something similar.

LONGFORM

29

Slowdowns in the EPA under the current Trump administration appear to be holding up the most recent assessment of the health risks for humans from formaldehyde in our environment.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

12

There is a confluence of a variety of societal undertones at play this election year that have already surfaced with the increased number of voters who participated in the August election.

OAKLAND CONFIDENTIAL

15

The mud fight in the 8th congressional district starts; old DUI haunts Knollenberg; jumping the gun with Facebook victory; Bentivolio-Rocky match grinds on; Brooks’ dwindling impact; plus more.

CRIME LOCATOR

17

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

MUNICIPAL

34

Get ready for sewer/water rate increases in Rochester; landmark silver maple tree reprieve; Rochester Hills begins budgeting process; school election candidates; Rochester fee schedule; plus more.

THE COVER The Art & Apples Festival, presented by the Paint Creek Center for the Arts, which is scheduled this year for September 7-9. The annual festival is marked by art, food and fun for the entire family. Photo provided by the Paint Creek Center for the Arts.

SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER 77- - 99 ,, 2018 2018

3 DAYS OF ART, FOOD, FAMILY & FUN

280 JURIED FINE ART EXHIBITORS HELD IN ROCHESTER

FESTIVAL HOURS: FRIDAY: 4:00PM-7:30PM SATURDAY: 9:00AM-7:30PM SUNDAY: 9:00AM-4:00PM

#ARTANDAPPLES

* Free shuttle service from Rochester High School (RHS) to the Festival available on Saturday and Sunday *Parking is available for a fee at the parking deck

18

Timothy Lentz

METRO INTELLIGENCER

42

Writer/reporter Dana Casadei helps us bring back the popular feature – now called Metro Intelligencer – that provides quick takes on what is happening in the world of food and drink in the metro Detroit area.

SOCIAL LIGHTS

45

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

ENDNOTE

50

Rochester should revise its landmark tree ordinance; county clerk needs to improve on future elections.

FACES

18 33 39

Timothy Lentz Jennifer Buck Elizabeth Chilton

PUBLISHER David Hohendorf NEWS EDITOR Lisa Brody NEWS STAFF/CONTRIBUTORS Hillary Brody Anchill | Dana Casadei Kevin Elliott | Sally Gerak | Austen Hohendorf Bill Seklar | Judith Harris Solomon | Julie Yolles PHOTOGRAPHY/CONTRIBUTORS Jean Lannen | Laurie Tennent | Chris Ward 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 homes in Rochester, Rochester Hills and parts of Oakland Township. Additional free copies distributed at high foot-traffic locations in Rochester and Rochester Hills.

For those not receiving a free mail copy, paid subscriptions are available for a $12 annual charge. To secure a paid subscription, go to our website (downtownpublications.com) and click on “subscriptions” in the top index and place your order online or scan the QR Code here.

INCOMING/READER FEEDBACK We welcome feedback on both our publication and general issues of concern in the Rochester/Rochester Hills communities. The traditional “letters to the editor” in Downtown are published in our Incoming section and can include written letters or electronic communication.

Opinions can be sent via e-mail to news@downtownpublications.com or mailed to Downtown Publications, 124 W. Maple Road, Birmingham MI 48009.

If you are using the mail option, you must include a phone number for verification purposes.

WEBSITE downtownpublications.com

FACEBOOK facebook.com/downtownpublications TWITTER twitter.com/downtownpubs OAKLAND CONFIDENTIAL oaklandconfidential.com Member of Downtown Publications DOWNTOWN BIRMINGHAM/BLOOMFIELD DOWNTOWN ROCHESTER/ROCHESTER HILLS

Voters should choose their politicians not the other way around.

Politicians and lobbyists draw voting maps behind closed doors WKDW GLUHFWO\ EHQHĆ“W themselves, instead of putting the interests of voters or communities of Michigan Ć“UVW

Proposal 2 is F-I-T for Michigan!

FAIR - Voters—not lobbyists and politicians—will draw election maps that cannot give one party or candidate an unfair advantage

Voters Not Politicians is a nonpartisan, grassroots group that collected 425,000 SHWLWLRQ VLJQDWXUHV IURP 0LFKLJDQ YRWHUV WR Ć“[ the problem by putting Proposal 2 to create an Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission on the November 6, 2018 ballot!

IMPARTIAL - Maps will be drawn through compromise by Republicans, Democrats, and voters who GRQĹ?W DIĆ“OLDWH ZLWK either party and must follow strict criteria

More than 425,000 Michiganders signed the petition to put Proposal 2 on the ballot on 1RYHPEHU

TRANSPARENT - The process will happen in public meetings with input from Michiganders, not behind closed doors Everything used to draw the maps—including data and software—must be published publicly

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31st ANNUAL

Thursday, September 13, 2018 9:30am-3:30pm

Seven Exceptional Homes in Birmingham and Bloomfield neighborhoods Tickets: $40 in advance / $45 day of tour

Visit communityhouse.com or call 248.644.5832 2018 Event Co-Chairs Rose and Brian Bolyard Presenting Sponsor

Contributing Sponsors Invitation - Gorman’s Guest Bag - Ethan Allen Program Book & Map - Bolyard Lumber

INCOMING French Lady article Recently, when I arrived at Papa Joe's (in Rochester) for a wine tasting, I was greeted by other regulars from the place talking about your article (Business Matters/August).

They were all thrilled to read about me, and talked among themselves about The French Lady's catering business.

Of course, I loved what you wrote and they did too, and they keep sharing the link to your article, to share the information.

Thank you so much for your wonderful article. It's warming my heart.

Claude Pellerin Rochester

Great article Fantastic writing (Business Matters/August). Thank you much.

Hélène Fertal/Jean-Jacques Fertal Rochester Wine/Birmingham Wine Rochester Hills

Foster care article Thanks for taking the time to write the article regarding foster care (Downtown/August).

I was a member of the Binsfeld Commission on Adoption which reviewed the foster care process.

As the committee was disbanding, I was pushing for a continuation on its work over the years, but it fell on deaf ears.

Thanks for bringing this issue up.

Don Marengere Bloomfield Township

Consider Rosemary Bayer I read you, faithfully, and I am very disappointed that you would so quickly dismiss Rosemary Bayer, Democrat candidate for District 12, State Senate in favor of (Republican) Michael McCready (Endnote/July).

Rosemary has been endorsed by hundreds of progressive, smart, savvy individual leaders in our community; as well as at least 25 leading organizations because she is who she is – a community activist, entrepreneur, engineer, leader, wife/mother who has never accepted the status quo, when the status quo is clearly not helping Michigan citizens.

You, on the other hand, are endorsing a candidate who has had plenty of time in Lansing to make a difference, and hasn't. Really? downtownpublications.com

SPEAK OUT We welcome your opinion on issues facing the Rochester/Rochester Hills communities.

Although we do not have a fixed maximum length for letters sent to us, we recommend a maximum length of 175-200 words. We also reserve the right to edit letters for length if necessary.

Opinions can be sent via e-mail to news@downtownpublications.com or mailed to Downtown Publications, 124 West Maple Road, Birmingham MI 48009.

Perhaps it is time to rethink this?

Rosemary ran unopposed in the primary, but will be mounting a vigorous campaign for the general election. I would suggest you may want to re-think your position, based on her selfless track record and intelligence, vs. that of established politicians who had led little.

I am really disappointed in you, for the first time since I adopted Michigan, over 3 decades ago, and found you, quite a while ago.

Kathleen Norton-Schock Bloomfield Township (Publisher note: Downtown’s endorsements were for the primary election only. All candidates in the November election will be given equal consideration.)

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The right to endorse I commend Downtown for publishing candidates questionnaires.

It is just my opinion, but I feel your paper, and yours alone, earned the right to endorse.

The Detroit papers issuing questionnaires and then holding them tight to their chests, and endorsing, are really just exercising an editor power grab.

The Eccentric had an excellent questionnaire, but did not publish it.

Smacks of a profit driven, non-local owner using the locals as a revenue source. The Oakland Press did not even send out a questionnaire, and it has become incredibly expensive.

Paul Secrest Bloomfield Hills (Editor’s note: Paul Secrest was a GOP primary candidate for the congressional seat now held by David Trott).

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FROM THE PUBLISHER very election, including the recently concluded August 7 primary vote, provides a fix for political junkies.

Analyzing the results becomes a parlor game played by politicians, prognosticators of all stripes and political scientists, and the exercise starts the morning after as it did this year when the first calls started arriving as they always do.

E

County-wide in Oakland, as in other parts of the state, the turnout at the polls for a primary – always anemic when compared to a November general election – was a surprising 34 percent of registered voters, a considerable jump from the 20.61 percent of voters who cast ballots in the 2014 primary, also a year when no presidential race appeared on the ballot. Just over 33 percent of Republicans cast absentee ballots, while just over 35 percent of Democrats voted absentee.

Of equal interest is the fact there were more ballots cast by Democrats in the 2018 primary than Republicans, more evidence that Oakland County continues creeping toward the blue column with each passing election.

But my message this month won’t be tangled up in numbers. It’s more of an observation that somehow the populace woke up. Not sure I would call it a movement but there definitely is a confluence of a variety of societal undertones at play this election year that have already surfaced with the increased number of voters who participated in the August election.

In our part of Oakland County, there were a couple of open seats at the state and federal level that no doubt helped increase voter turnout at the polls. An open seat always draws considerable interest, especially when one or two of those stand a good chance of being flipped in terms of control, despite what the GOP has done in the past when creating safe districts for its followers.

We had Congressional District 11, which includes Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Rochester Hills, the western portion of the county and part of western Wayne County. With Republican David Trott retiring, a strong field of candidates filed in each party’s primary. This one could go to the Democrats in the fall, depending on turnout in both parties. Likewise, the retirement of Sandy Levin piqued some interest in Congressional District 9, which ‘leans Democrat’ thanks to the Macomb County portion that more than offsets the Bloomfield and south Oakland portion. And then there’s the 8th Congressional District, which includes Rochester and Rochester Hills, now held by Republican Mike Bishop, also rated as a possible flip come November given the skill and determination exhibited in the primary

by Democrat Elissa Slotkin.

For state offices from the local area, we also had an open seat in the 12th Michigan Senate and the 40th House district – both hotly contested and both no longer safe Republican districts like in the past.

At first blush it would be simple to write off the surge in primary voter turnout to the Trump factor – certainly an issue in Michigan and all states this year. The old adage that all politics is local is being undermined as we will see when it comes to voting returns this November. Reaction to what is

happening on the national stage – unconventional, to put it mildly – will drive higher numbers of citizens off the couch to participate this year. A good thing.

Add to that the energized women who took to the streets after Trump got elected and the high number of women candidates who filed and won in the primary here and across the country. All the makings of a likely a “pink tide” rather than just a “blue wave” come November.

The reaction to the daily drama we see unfolding in Washington D.C. is not the only factor driving increased participation, however. One only has to look around the country for examples of a broader feeling of angst and, yes, anger in the general population.

The most vivid demonstration of the undercurrent is what took place in states like West Virginia this year when teachers went on strike for two weeks to force the state to increase pay for not only those in the classroom but also more money for state workers in general. The organized effort there was similar in other red states like Oklahoma and Arizona. No matter what your political party, from afar I bet many observers were rooting for those on strike.

No political party or group was behind the push for better pay. The effort was the result of a threatened middle class simply saying they have had enough. The message: stop with the tax cuts for the wealthy and businesses on the backs of the working class. Put simply, stop governing like you are now.

And we certainly cannot forget the pent up frustration and the focused energy of the students who have organized nation-wide on the issue of gun control and safety in the schools.

Add to the mix the generally held sentiment that big money controls our politics, which may help explain the growing number of candidates eschewing PAC money this election and being rewarded with small private donations and votes.

All of these elements to some degree or another came into play in our local primary races and across the country. Despite predictions to the contrary, this undercurrent will likely not dissipate before the November 6 election which is only about 10 weeks away.

VOTER GUIDE: We have received some pretty positive reviews about our effort to produce a Voter Guide for the August primary election. Our plans include producing another Voter Guide for the November general election.

It will be included in our October issue which comes out in late September, along with our endorsements on candidates and ballot issues. Our timing in coming out this early is to reach those voting by absentee ballots, which will be mailed out by local clerks in early October. Take the time now to phone your local municipal clerk’s office and request an application so that you can vote in the convenience of your home.

David Hohendorf Publisher DavidHohendorf@DowntownPublications.com

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OAKLAND CONFIDENTIAL Oakland Confidential is a periodic column of political gossip/news, gathered both on and off-the-record by staff members at Downtown newsmagazine.

We welcome possible items for this column which can be emailed to: OaklndConfidential@DowntownPublications.com. All sources are kept strictly confidential. The gossip column can be viewed at OaklandConfidential.com.

PREPPING FOR 2020: Remember the 2010 DIA tax vote in Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties and the suggestion that it was a one-time levy to allow time to build up the institute’s endowment to cover future operating costs?

Surprise – the DIA is doing advance footwork for what could be a retake on the 10-year, .2 mill tax (scheduled to be last collected in 2021), based on a recent phone survey someone is running on behalf of the DIA. The phone poll asks a laundry list of questions. Among them, would you support a renewal of the tax. Then, if you were told that the original levy was to be a one-time event but now you were asked to support it again, would your answer change?

Interestingly, polling personnel also asked who you think would be a good frontman for the DIA renewal – among the names tossed out, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson. Stay tuned.

LIAR LIAR, PANTS ON FIRE: Oakland County Republican and former 11th Congressional District candidate Rocky Raczkowski is on the hot seat in Oakland County Circuit Court in a defamation suit filed by political opponent and former Congressman Kerry Bentivolio.

“Rocky Raczkowski is a liar, and we are going to prove that he is a liar,” said Bentivolio, who is seeking $10 million in damages.

“We made a case that he has a history of lying and telling mistruths, and we have enough evidence to proceed with a jury trial.” Bentivolio claims Raczkowski damaged his reputation RACZKOWSKI when Rocky accused him of lying about his military career and awards. Bentivolio is an army veteran with a Vietnam Service Medal and two Bronze Service Stars; a Combat Infantryman Badge; an Army Commendation Award; a Meritorious Service Medal; an Iraq Campaign Medal; a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and other awards.

Raczkowski is a retired U.S. Army Lt. Colonel who served two tours of duty overseas during the Global War on Terrorism, has been awarded the Bronze Star Medal, and claims Bentivolio lied about his record – claiming to have been awarded an additional Silver Star and three Purple Hearts. In late July, the circuit court denied Raczkowski’s motion for summary judgement, allowing BENTIVOLIO the case to proceed. “It’s a frivolous suit. We are going to move to dismiss it once we have a transcript of the tape where he talks about his alleged medals,” Raczkowski said. Both Bentivolio and Raczkowski lost their primary election bids for the 11th District seat to fellow Republican Lena Epstein, who has no previous political or military service experience, but was once photographed waving an American flag in the back of a pick-up for a campaign photo.

MUD FIGHT BEGINS: The dust had barely settled from the primary election in the 8th Congressional District and the general election battle started. Beleaguered GOP Congressman Mike Bishop took to the radio airways to slam Democrat Elissa Slotkin, accusing her of being a carpetbagger who moved here from Washington to run this race, even though she is the third generation of her family in the Holly area. Bishop’s radio bit also promotes his work on opioid legislation while in Congress and his sponsorship SLOTKIN of a bill regulating underground pipelines on the Great Lakes.

You can write this off either as strictly a smokescreen or we are witnessing a ‘Come to Jesus’ moment. Bishop’s history is marked by heavy donations from the drug companies. His voting record while in the Michigan Senate was prodrug industry. Then there’s the Slotkin-supplied list many weeks ago of antienvironmental votes by Bishop dating back to when he was top dog in the Senate (opposing efforts to ban drilling in the Great Lakes, for example) to his similar votes in Congress. Missing from her list – Bishop’s vote last year to roll back an Obama administration rule that prohibited coal mining operations from dumping waste into streams.

FACE OFF: Primary nights can get a little crazy, especially when the results are tight. State Rep. Jim Tedder (R- Clarkston) may have jumped the gun a bit on August 7, when in the 12th state Senate race, against Republican downtownpublications.com

opponents Rep. Mike McCready (R-Bloomfield), Terry Whitney and Vernon Molnar, he posted a live victory speech over his challengers on Facebook at 11 p.m. Problem was, all of the results weren’t in yet – notably from Bloomfield Township and Independence Township. McCready ended up pulling ahead of Tedder by a slim margin of 250 votes, and won the right to be the Republican candidate in November. Tedder pulled his Facebook post by 11:30 p.m. that night – but according to McCready, still MCCREADY hasn’t given McCready a call to congratulate him. He did hear from Whitney, though, who he thanked for likely pulling about 2,000 conservative votes from Tedder, leaving the path open for McCready to squeeze through. One Republican was surprised that McCready prevailed in the conservative-leaning district, which runs from Beverly Hills, Bingham Hills, Franklin, Bloomfield Township north to Clarkston, Orion Township, Independence, Addison and Oakland townships, but noted that BAYER “McCready and Tedder are both good guys. And they’re friends.”

Maybe not as friendly as they were before running against each other.

McCready faces Democrat Rosemary Bayer in November.

STIRRED, NOT SHAKEN: State Senator Marty Knollenberg (R-Birmingham, Bloomfield, Rochester, Rochester Hills) said he’s not shaken by an apparent push-poll attack against him which he said is trying to stir up dirt from alcohol-related mistakes of his youth. Knollenberg said he didn’t personally hear the phone call – but said he received calls from supporters who received a “nasty phone call” that mentioned a pair of DUI charges he received in the past. “The people who called me were offended and wanted to let me know,” he said. Knollenberg received the DUIs in 1985 and 1986 in Birmingham and Beverly Hills. He said he was told by callers KNOLLENBERG that the phone call failed to mention that the incidents occurred more than 30 years ago. “Thirty years ago, I made a couple of serious mistakes. While in college, I received a DUI. Shortly after college, I received a second DUI,” he said in a statement. “I learned from the mistakes of my youth from 30 years ago, and these lessons have made me a better person. I have since worked hard to lead a life focused on serving my family and community.” Michelle Pallas, campaign strategy manager for Knollenberg’s Democratic challenger Mallory McMorrow, said they haven’t conducted any polls and weren’t aware of the phone calls until they were notified by a MCMORROW reporter. “We’ve been committed since day one to running a clean campaign, and we are out talking to voters every single day,” she said.

“The McMorrow campaign hasn’t conducted any polls. I’m not sure who got the poll. I didn’t even know he had a DUI, and I don’t know if he really does.”

NAME GAME: Once upon a time, back in the 1980s, ‘90s, and even the early 2000 period, a political endorsement by Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson was heavily sought after and coveted. Today, maybe not so much.

Patterson – the man of many gaffes considered part of his shtick, and for many was funny and appealing. Less so lately, particularly his recent, “I’d rather join the Klan” than work with a group of top local executives for regional cooperation, which he quickly apologized for. Patterson’s endorsement certainly didn’t help state Sen. Mike Kowall (R-White Lake) in his bid for Congress in the 11th District, nor Birmingham’s Joe Zane for the 40th state House District. Fits the narrative of the growing school of thought that there is less value nowadays to party and party boss endorsements in terms of influencing voters.

UNHAPPY IN D.C.: Michigan insiders say that GOP national leadership is not pleased that Attorney General Bill Schuette, who carried the Trump endorsement in the recent primary for governor, selected Kent County Clerk Lisa Posthumus Lyons as his lieutenant governor running mate. Lyons, a former member of the state House, was in the spotlight after her 2016 quote criticizing the behavior toward women of Donald Trump, saying he has “not earned my respect or my vote.” In the House, Lyons – daughter of former Lieutenant Governor Dick Posthumus – would occasionally break Republican ranks on some legislative items, like no-reason absentee voting (she supported it). The rumor mill also has it that at least one of those on the advance list of possible female running mates (state Representative Laura Cox (R-Livonia) never even received a call from Schuette before his final decision.

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CRIME LOCATOR

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Sexual assault

Robbery

Larceny from vehicle

Drug offenses

Assault

Breaking/entering

Vehicle theft

Arson

Murder

Larceny

Vandalism

These are the crimes reported under select categories by police officials in Rochester and Rochester Hills through August 22, 2018.

Placement of codes is approximate.

FACES Timothy Lentz etired Rochester Community Schools teacher Timothy Lentz spent more than three decades sharing his love for music and theater, both with students at the district and at the Michigan Opera Theatre, where he serves as archivist and director of the Dance and Opera Resource Library for the Detroit Opera House.

As the vocal music director and theater coordinator for Rochester Adams High School, Lentz helped to start the district's summer music theater program and pushed for the construction of an auditorium at Stony Creek High School, where the program operates.

"My predecessor got the idea to do the summer program, and when I took over being director at Adams, it clicked," he said. "Adams didn't have an auditorium at the time, so we had to do it at Rochester High."

A bond issue to construct an auditorium at the high school failed. A second push to have one built at Stoney Creek also failed. Finally, after scaling back plans, the pitch was passed by the public by only three votes.

Founded by Lentz in 1973, the district's Summer Music Theater Program has served as a musical bootcamp of sorts for dozens of professional performers who went on to star on Broadway, off-Broadway and national touring productions. Lentz started the program while serving as the vocal music director and theatre coordinator at Adams High School.

"We have had some heavy hitters," he said. "Some of my former students are out there doing some special stuff. Hundreds are fine arts and performing arts teachers. John Rapson is performing off-Broadway in 'Sweeny Todd,' and Steve Czarnecki is the lead understudy in 'Les Miserables.'"

Among his teaching credits, Lentz has been a state finalist for the Michigan Teacher of the Year and was listed in the "Who's Who Among American's Teachers" seven times. He has been recognized by the Rochester Hills City Council, the Rochester Jaycees, the National Honor Roll, the Michigan School Vocal Music Association, and was supervisor of the East State Solo and Ensemble Festival for two years.

Outside of the district, Lentz has been a bass soloist at the Meadowbrook Congregational Church in Novi, and produced several productions at Wayne State University and for area dinner theaters, as well as played parts on his own.

Lentz holds advanced masters and PhD degrees in music from Wayne State University, however, it was his undergraduate studies in mathematics that landed him at the school district.

"My dad was an engineering type dude, and I was always involved in math and sciences. It was my junior year in high school that music caught my eye," he said. "Mechanical engineering seemed a natural at the time I was at Michigan State, but it was kind of gruesome... I got lousy grades in engineering, but an A in choir. By my junior year, I knew it wasn't for me."

In 2006, Lentz retired from teaching and accepted a position with the Michigan Opera Theatre, where he was tasked with starting the library for the Detroit Opera House from scratch. His knowledge of the theatre is evident, as his chronicling of its history and founder, David DiChiera, won a first place feature writing award from the Detroit chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

"Some great things were happening at the Opera House," he said. "In the summer of 2006, (DiChiera) brought me on here, and brought me in the library space that was an empty room... and so it began."

R

Story: Kevin Elliott

Photo: Laurie Tennent

ichigan voters in 2008 were presented with a ballot proposal to allow the compassionate use of medical marijuana for a variety of uses, from relief of the nausea from chemotherapy for cancer to glaucoma, Crohn's disease, ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, to severe and chronic pain, wasting syndrome, seizures, and severe and persistent muscle spasms. When voters went to the polls that November, throughout Michigan they approved the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act by an overwhelming 63 percent, including in Oakland County, where 62 percent of voters approved the measure.

At the time, then-Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Bill Schuette, who was also chairman of the opposition group Citizens Protecting Michigan's Kids, said he was disappointed with the outcome.

Schuette, currently Michigan's Attorney General and the 2018 Republican candidate for governor in November, is likely not happy with the latest ballot proposal, for Michigan voters will have the opportunity on November 6 to approve, or reject, a ballot initiative to legalize recreational

M

TO TOKE OR NOT TO TOKE THE BALLOT PROPOSAL TO LEGALIZE RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA

BY LISA BRODY

marijuana for adults over the age of 21.

Sponsored by the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, the proposal seeks to end the prohibition of marijuana in Michigan and establish a system in which marijuana is regulated and taxed similar to alcohol.

The ballot proposal was approved in July to go on the November ballot after backers submitted over 350,000 signatures, well beyond the necessary 252,000 required by the state to be considered. If approved, it will be called the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act, which would “allow under state law the personal possession and use of marihuana by persons 21 years of age or older to provide for the lawful cultivation and sale of marihuana and industrial hemp by persons 21 years of age or older; to permit the taxation of revenue derived from commercial marihuana facilities; to permit the promulgation of administrative rules; and to prescribe certain penalties for violations of this act.”

It would make Michigan the tenth state, and first in the midwest to “free the weed” if it passes. Backers term it “ending the prohibition on cannabis.”

Does that mean Michigan would just become a Reefer Madness playground?

Campaign organizers and legalization advocates are determined to make sure that Michigan does not become a free-

for-all state, and within the legislation are guidelines to provide for adequate law enforcement, taxation, local municipal control, and product quality control.

It would permit residents to possess up to 2.5 ounces of flower, which is the marijuana product that is smoked in joints, or 15 grams of concentrate, which is the resin from cannabis plants used in edibles, dabs, vaping and other products. A household could have up to 10 ounces of purchased marijuana. Marijuana could be used in the privacy of your own home, but not in public, nor on the grounds of a K-12 school, and would remain a felony on federal property, like a national park.

A household would be allowed to grow up to 12 plants in a secure and locked area that is not easily visible to the public. And marijuana could be gifted to another adult, as long as they are over the age of 21. But, you can't sell it to a friend unless you go through the complete licensing process, as well as pay taxes on it as a marijuana retailer, and go through the testing process to make sure it's pure and unadulterated. The provision provides for a seed-to-plant registry, as has been done with medical marijuana licensing, so that users know just what they are purchasing and consuming, much like what all states with legalized marijuana do.

According to Josh Hovey, spokesperson for the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, “We let the state set up the testing parameters once it's approved. Typically, they test for purity, so what they're buying is what they're getting. They're looking for harmful contaminants, like mold and mildew, and for pesticides that would be harmful and shouldn't be on the product.”

The proposed ballot language does not specify how much THC, the principal psychoactive ingredient in cannabis and different products, leaving it up to the state to determine and regulate. Hovey said state regulators have determined a maximum of 300 milligrams of THC per package for medical marijuana edibles.

Hovey also said the state requires certain labeling and packaging of marijuana products, which they have established for medical marijuana. He noted that the state has very specific regulations and controls over medical marijuana edibles and infused products to control them as food safety products and make sure there are no allergens.

“We don't mandate amount – we direct the state to set these requirements,” Hovey said.

The initiative provides for three different tiers of business licenses for marijuana growers, mirroring the current Medical Marijuana Facilities Licensing Act, while also allowing for marijuana microbusinseses, like microbreweries, which would allow for 150 plants, and could process, package and sell its crop to adults. This provision allows for small growers to participate in the business, as well as class A grower licenses, which allow for the cultivation of up to 100 plants.

Other license categories are Class B licenses, which allow for the cultivation of up to 500 plants; and Class C, where a grower can cultivate up to 2,000 plants. While a larger company can be a grower, processor and retailer, they cannot own a transportation company also – that must be owned by a separate licensee.

There are several restrictions in the proposal.

Municipalities can ban commercial pot operations in their communities, or place strong restrictions on marijuana businesses. Driving under the influence is forbidden. For underage drivers, it's a felony.

And employers can enforce their employee handbook as they see fit, and prohibit having high workers in the office or on a job site. Which means if they choose to drug test their employees, that's within their rights, and they can fire an employee for failing that drug test.

Business and safety rights trump individual freedoms in the workplace.

Just as landlords can forbid tenants from smoking cigarettes on their property, the proposal says they can also prohibit smoking of marijuana on their property. However, residents would be able to consume cannabis in other forms, such as edibles.

Yet, on the other end of the spectrum are equally fervent believers who assert that easier acquisition of marijuana will lead to a higher crime rate, greater drug abuse, further use – especially of edibles, cookies and candies – by teens and youths, and rather than a de-

The proposal addresses law enforcement, taxation and quality control of the product.

escalation of a black market, a larger black market as excess growth which has nowhere else to go gets sold unlawfully.

Which will it be? Will legalization of recreational marijuana lead to a mellow adult population, or one where drug use escalates among youth, and it leads to greater driving fatalities and worse drug abuse?

It all depends on who you talk to.

“Alcohol is more likely to cause reckless or violent behavior” than marijuana, said Matt Schweich, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), which played a leading role in drafting the proposal in Michigan, along with Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, ACLU of Michigan, Drug Policy Alliance, MILegalize, National Patient Rights, an advocacy group for medical marijuana patients, and MINorml. Schweich said MPP was also involved in crafting similar legislation approved in Colorado in 2012; Alaska in 2014; and Nevada, Maine and Massachusetts, all in 2016.

“We got a large group of stakeholders together to write an excellent piece of legislation.”

He said in drafting the legislation, similar to the process involved with the legalization effort in Massachusetts in 2016, they involved a large group of constituencies on both sides of the issue.

“It makes it difficult, but we want that challenge. That yields a wide-ranging public policy. This (Michigan's) was one of the broadest and most inclusive,” he said. The drafting of the legislation, he said, is governed by each state's rules, regulations and constraints, which have to be worked around.

Hovey, the spokesperson for the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, said, “We first got together in late '16, early '17, with several stakeholders to see if there was the will to get this on the ballot. Our drafting committee took this around the state to various groups to anyone who would be impacted and involved, and we sought input. We wanted it to be the best worded legislation, to include the best practices, and include the medical marijuana legislation (from the Michigan state legislature) that was done in 2016, because when you have vaguely worded legislation you have gray areas.”

The 2008 Michigan Medical Marijuana Act was vaguely worded, leading to legislative, regulatory and enforcement gray areas, and confusion, for eight years, until the Michigan

state legislature, despite their reticence to take it on, finally clarified where dispensaries can go, who can have grow operations, where people can smoke, how and where law enforcement can apply the law and how to prosecute.

There are currently 289,205 individuals in the state with medical marijuana cards, licensed through the state for a variety of maladies. The 2008 act allows licensed caregivers to grow up to 12 plants each for five patients and themselves, for a total of no more than 72 plants. They must be grown indoors in a locked facility, but the law did not specify how they could be dispensed, where dispensaries could go, how municipalities could zone for them, if patients could be on their medication at work, or while driving. There were a lot of gray areas, to say the least.

In September 2016, three laws were passed, and Governor Rick Snyder signed them into law, that created a licensing and regulatory framework for medical marijuana. The regulatory framework was finally implemented, and applications were first taken by the state Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), on December 15, 2017. On August 9, 2018, at the state's Medical Marijuana Licensing Board meeting, 15 businesses came up for prequalification and 10 for licensing, including two that would be the first testing facilities to receive licenses, one of which is Iron Laboratories in Walled Lake – ten years after voters approved the initial medical marijuana act. Six dispensaries were approved in July, four in Detroit, one in Jackson and one in Burton, as well as a processing facility that is attached to a Chesaning business that received four large grow licenses.

Many of the current 230 dispensary operators will have to cease their operations by September 15, under the new laws.

“This means we have a complete system now, so the licensees can actually begin operating,” said Andrew Brisbo, director of the state’s Bureau of Medical Marijuana Regulation.

Today, municipalities can opt out of dispensaries and grow operations, and to have a grow operation, the license application must be accompanied by a non-refundable $6,000 fee.

Small grow licenses are capped by statute at $10,000. Larger grow licenses, where transporting and provisioning are involved, could have assessments for license fees as low as $10,000, or as high as $57,000, according to LARA. Needless to say, it's not designed for the small time producer in their locked garage with some grow lights.

If recreational marijuana were to pass, dispensaries, grow operations and the like will definitely be a big business in Michigan, if states like Colorado and California are any indication.

The drafters of the proposal are banking on that, by creating a taxing component in the legislation.

Hovey said there will a six percent sales tax at the retail level plus a 10 percent excise tax on top, for 16 percent overall. “The six percent sales tax, like all sales tax, goes to the School Aid Fund,” he said. “The 10 percent would be split three ways, 35 percent to roads, 35 percent to public schools, to the School Aid Fund, and 15 percent to municipalities where marijuana

businesses are located, and 15 percent to counties where marijuana businesses are located, and those governments can use those funds however they want to.”

He pointed out the goal is to help local governments, public schools, and improve roads in the state as beneficiaries of a new legalization effort.

“We support the legalization of cannabis because it has been proven to be less dangerous and less addictive than either alcohol and tobacco, yet inexplicably, it stays illegal for adults 21 and older at the federal level,” Hovey said.

He acknowledged they cannot stop the state legislature from moving revenue around in the general fund, and not allocating as much to schools if there is a lot of money from legalized marijuana going to the School Aid Fund. “We can't legally restrict how the legislature does their job. The only thing we can do is determine where the tax revenue from the proposal would go. We're doing our job, and it's our hope the legislature would understand that their goal is to increase the money to roads and the School Aid Fund,” Hovey said.

Hovey said that in Colorado, where all of the tax revenue was specifically designated to go to schools, “it was almost too successful, and they had so much money for schools they decided to parse some revenue to other sources.”

Coloradans approved recreational use in 2012, with sales beginning January 1, 2014.

There have been 3,051 marijuana businesses licensed in the state, and more than 40,000 people certified to work in the industry, translating to approximately 20,000 full-time or full-time equivalent jobs working directly in marijuana businesses, and thousands more jobs supplying those businesses, according to state figures for the end of 2017.

Sales in 2014 were $683 million, and $1.5 billion in 2017.

Justin Dunaskiss of Dunaskiss Consulting, a government consulting agency working with many municipalities on medical marijuana, said they were not involved in the recreational marijuana legalization effort, although he stated, “We look on the policy side, and we think it's a pretty fair, well-written initiative, but like anything, it needs some tweaks to optimize it to set it up for the fabrics of Michigan municipalities.”

He noted that the tax is a little lower than other states, at 16 percent. In Colorado, recreational marijuana is taxed at 15 percent sales tax plus a 15 percent excise tax, for a 30 percent tax rate. In Washington state, users are taxed 37 percent. Oregon has a tax rate of 17 percent. Nevada has a sales tax of 10 percent and an excise tax of 15 percent, for 25 percent.

California has a 15 percent sales tax plus $9.25 an ounce for flowers and $2.75 an ounce for flowers or cultivation tax. Hawaii charges $50 an ounce. Massachusetts is lowest, with a sales tax of 10.75 percent.

“We don't put a charge, or an excise tax, at the production, growing, or refinement level, for either medical or the proposed recreational level,” Dunaskiss said. “There's only the 10 percent excise tax on a purchase. Other states and cities will put a five to 15 percent tax on top (of growing and production).

If approved by voters, three different tiers of business licenses for growers will be offered.

“If it's regulated properly, it's difficult for a small illicit operator to compete with someone operating a large scale operation,” he said. “It doesn't put the large scale operator at a disadvantage because like other states that have a 25 percent tax or higher, with a lower tax of 10 percent, users aren't being gouged at 10 percent taxes. They won't turn to the illicit market.”

Foes of legalization believe that low taxation rate will actually drive the illicit market, because it's not high enough for law enforcement to crack down on scofflaws.

“It's the lowest taxation rate of state. It's only 10 percent – so you wouldn't want to enforce the laws because it's too low of a rate of taxation,” said former state Sen. Randy Richardville (RMonroe), currently a spokesperson for the antilegalization group Healthy and Productive Michigan. “Law enforcement says, 'What about our cut (from taxation)?' There's not enough in it for them.”

But Oakland County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Paul Walton doesn't agree. He said they rarely see a possession of marijuana case currently.

“We've hardly had a possession case in years,” Walton said. “Police agencies are pushing away from prosecuting.”

He said the officers on the streets have the most say in the situation, not advocates or critics.

“I have seen countless car videos (from police cars), and I have spoken to many officers, where they do a stop for a rolling stop, or a broken taillight, and they see a joint in the car, and they're not writing it up,” Walton said. “For the most part, as long as it's not impairing their ability to operate, they just say, 'dump that out.'”

Matthew Abel, a Detroit attorney and founder of Cannabis Counsel who was on the committee which wrote the legislation, said, “People are ahead of the legislators. It will bring the law into compliance with societal norms. We've had medical marijuana for 10 years. The population is accustomed to this. The public's fear of cannabis is much reduced from where it was.

They sky hasn't fallen. In the last five years, we've gone from less than 50 percent support to more than 60 percent supporting adult use.”

Nationally, statistics bear that out. According to the Pew Center, in 1990 only 16 percent of the population approved of legalization. Today, more than 60 percent of Americans favor legalization.

What Walton would like is for there to be

legislation, both in Michigan and federally, that would tackle and clarify the law for those who possess and use marijuana, both medically and recreationally.

“We have this patchwork approach. It would be so helpful if the federal government would decriminalize or reclassify marijuana from a Schedule 1 narcotic to something more manageable,” he said. “Take that half-step, and take care of it.”

According to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Schedule 1 drugs, substances and chemicals are defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and have a high potential for abuse. Included as Schedule 1 drugs are heroin, LSD, ectsasy, methaqualone, peyote, and marijuana.

The inclusion of marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug of the Controlled Substance Act, the most tightly reserved category, occurred in 1972.

According to the DEA, “The abuse rate is a determinate factor in the scheduling of the drug; for example, Schedule I drugs have a high potential for abuse and the potential to create severe psychological and/or physical dependence. As the drug schedule changes – Schedule II, Schedule III, etc., so does the abuse potential – Schedule V drugs represents the least potential for abuse.”

However, many experts do not believe marijuana should remain a Schedule 1 substance, noting that it has acknowledged medical benefits for many afflictions. The process of rescheduling a drug from a category requires petitioning of the DEA – which first occurred in 1972 in order to be legally prescribed by physicians. The petition was ultimately denied by the DEA after 22 years of court challenges, although a synthetic form of the cannabis's psychoactive ingredient, THC, which comes in pill form, was rescheduled in 1986 as a Schedule II to allow for prescriptions. In 1999, petitions further allowed the pill form to be rescheduled as a Schedule III to permit prescriptions.

But further petitions, to allow clinical studies, were denied by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2001, 2002, 2011 and 2013.

Yet, in that time, 31 states, plus the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico, have come further than the DEA, approving the use of legal cannabis for medical purposes – in essence, nullifying that Schedule I classification.

An August 2017 Quinnipiac poll found that national support of medical marijuana was at 94 percent.

Hovey said that while writing the ballot legislation, they did not meet with any individual sheriffs or police chiefs, but they did meet with the police and sheriffs' associations.

“None were happy with it, but they all said they know legalization is coming, and said, just make sure it's enforceable and the rules are clear. They also want to make sure no one is driving under the influence.”

Blaine Koops, executive director of the Michigan Sheriffs Association, said they are not taking an official position on the upcoming ballot proposal. “We've been in contact with both sides,” Koops said. “Our legislative advocate has really worked hard to understand

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the issue, and we've been working on this for some time.”

He said the key is to be able to have, and to respond with, facts – “medical facts and societal facts.” It's so critical to him that on August 14, his organization co-sponsored an educational event in Lansing for law enforcement officers, prosecutors and educators, “to learn the pros and cons of recreational marijuana. Information, education, facts are the key,” he said. “We will do our communities a service by learning the facts.

“My generation, we're looking back to the '70s and '80s,” Koops said, noting there are lots of misconceptions out there, not just among the public, but among law enforcement. “The composition (of marijuana) is totally different than it was.” He said a cookie today could have the same concentration as several cookies decades ago.

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard is “not a fan because I've talked to others in other states. It increased the drunk/intoxicated driving incidents and the proliferation to younger users,” he said.

Abel challenged whether the intoxicated drivers on marijuana were also under the influence of alcohol and/or other narcotics, as “more people may be driving with cannabis in their system across the board, but not causing traffic accidents, nor the traffic fatalities.

Correlation is not causation. It's an independent factor. It's very rare to find a traffic fatality with cannabis without alcohol involved.”

The initiative by The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol firmly positions itself as an “adoption of smart adult-use marijuana laws by allowing adults 21 and older to possess and grow certain amounts of marijuana. Persons under 21 years of age are prohibited from possessing, cultivating, processing, purchasing, and/or selling marijuana products. This initiative does not allow marijuana to be used openly and publicly, so it will remain entirely illegal to consume marijuana on the street, on a sidewalk, or in a public park. Driving under the influence will also remain illegal. This initiative expressly prohibits people from operating a vehicle, motorboat, aircraft, ORV, or snowmobile while under the influence of marijuana.”

“It's the same as not driving under the influence of alcohol or prescription drugs,” said Hovey.

The difference, for law enforcement, is that, as the Prosecutor's Office's Walton pointed out, “Drunk driving nationally is .08. With this stuff, it's, oh my goodness. Colorado it's 5 nanograms (one billionth of a gram) or more. We don't have anything in place.”

In Colorado, it's illegal to use marijuana in cars, and all marijuana product must be in a sealed container if it's in a vehicle. A person can't drive if he or she has 5 nanograms or more of THC, the ingredient that makes them high, in their system, or they risk being charged with driving under the influence of drugs. It is tested and verified by a blood draw.

“Will the (state) legislature be willing to tackle the attendant laws if it passes?” Walton asked.

Hovey, spokesperson for The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, acknowledged the active ingredient in cannabis, THC, can be

Research elsewhere shows an initial spike in marijuana usage by underage users, and then a dip.

detected in the system for several weeks, versus an active high, which may last several hours.

“There still needs to be more research done,” he acknowledged. “The Michigan State Police is piloting a mouth swab test, not just for marijuana, but for a whole host of things, including opioids. As a campaign, we really hope that works out. We hope science continues their research.”

Los Angeles labor and employment attorney Michelle Lee Flores has been advising clients in California since January when legalization took effect.

“I've been helping clients manage the misconceptions. It's still illegal federally. Are you impaired in the workplace? Alcohol, pot, it's the same. Are you posing a safety threat to you or your co-workers? Because employers are tasked with providing a safe workplace,” Flores noted.

“It's not a 'get out of jail free' card. Do employers make accommodations for medical, or are they zero tolerance? An employer can still enforce a zero tolerance policy because it's illegal federally, and there's certain safety issues. It's like alcohol – this is not a free for all. For employers, educate yourself – what is impairment?”

Anti-recreational marijuana backer Richardson with Healthy and Productive Michigan said for him, “The biggest problem to me is the access to underage citizens. It's a problem as it is. This makes access easier than it is. This risk is significantly higher.”

Research in states where legalization has occurred show an initial spike in marijuana usage by underage users, and then a dip. A more significant increase in use has been seen among aging baby boomers, aged 55 and up.

Justin Dunaskiss pointed out that is the indication internationally. “I truly feel we would see an initial spike in underage use, but based on national and international data, such as in the Netherlands in how they've used cannabis, alcohol and other drugs, once you take away the forbidden fruit, the underage use dies down. We have decades of research on alcohol and on cannabis in the Netherlands and some in other states, that verifies this.”

According to the Pueblo Institute of Cannabis Impact Study of Colorado marijuana users, completed in November 2016, “legalization of recreational cannabis use and dispensaries has not greatly affected high school use and perceptions.”

To Oakland County's Sheriff Bouchard, abuse of the drug, along with black market crime, are overriding concerns for him.

“How many lives will be impacted negatively and we'll have to deal with the societal costs because of it, because of addictive personalities?

On any behavior, there's eight to 13 percent of the population that will have addictive behavior,” he said. “Then, they don't work, so they'll seek benefits, which leads to criminality.

“I see it with alcohol,” Bouchard continued.

“I'm not saying we need to go back and prohibit alcohol, but I have to say that there will be similar societal costs as alcohol when you deal with legalization.”

But isn't there already the scourge of drug abuse?

California attorney Flores said that marijuana legalization can actually help with the opioid addiction crisis, because it can provide pain relief similar to prescription drugs without the addictive qualities.

As for Bouchard, Richardville, and other opponents of legalization of a growing black market, Hovey said with legalization of cannabis, “The only one we're hoping to drive out of business is the criminal element. We want legitimate businesses to thrive, be part of communities, to pay their taxes and not waste the time and money of law enforcement, prosecutors and the courts.”

“If (legalization) is regulated properly, it will be difficult for a small, illicit operator to compete with someone operating a large scale legal operation,” Dunaskiss said.

Bouchard disagrees.

“There's a huge amount of excess out there already, and there will be way more. We're already an exporter of excess because of the very loose restrictions with the requirements for excesses of medical marijuana,” Bouchard said.

“It's an illegal activity, and it will increase the activity for law enforcement. It brings in cartels and drug dealers from other places to undercut the taxed product. There's always overages – and that's illegal if it's transmitted not in compliance with law enforcement.”

Another worry he has is that they are seeing adulterated marijuana with fentanyl, and he's concerned there will be more of it – “unless it's sealed and stamped from a regulated and approved dispensary,” Bouchard said.

Advocates emphasize that is the importance of repealing prohibition – to get rid of the toxic black market, to provide safe, unadulterated product for over-21 adults who choose to enjoy cannabis, no different than the repeal of prohibition of alcohol. Today, rather than dying from rotgut because of bad alcohol, imbibers can choose from craft cocktails, beer from microbreweries, and wine cultivated from around the world.

“A licensed business has a lot at stake.

They're not going to sell to minors. Your average drug dealer has no rules,” said MPP's executive director Schweich. “We've seen a steep decline in drug trafficking cases in states with legalization, which suggests that legalization displaces the unregulated market.”

Voters will be the ultimate arbiters, at the voting booth on Tuesday, November 6, when the vote yay or nay.

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SLOWDOWN AT EPA HOLDING UP REPORT ON ACCEPTABLE LEVELS OF CHEMICAL

BY KEVIN ELLIOTT There is a skirmish taking place in Washington over a draft report on the acceptable levels of formaldehyde that critics say illustrates how the Trump administration, through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is bending longestablished review procedures to benefit industry.

Formaldehyde is a colorless, flammable, strong smelling chemical. While best known for its use in embalming fluid and most widely used in industrial resins, it's commonly used as a precursor to other chemical compounds.

Formaldehyde is used in pressed-wood products, such as particleboard, plywood and fiberboard; glues and adhesives; permanent press fabrics; paper product coatings; and certain insulation materials.

Additionally, it's commonly used as an industrial fungicide, germicide and disinfectant.

The chemical's unique and versatile properties also give it broad roles in the economy, supporting about 963,000 jobs and $433 billion in sales in the United States, according to the American Chemistry Council. Formaldehyde's use in housing applications and the automotive industry make it particularly valuable to Michigan's economy. Dow Chemical, a producer of formaldehyde, is located in Midland, Michigan.

A 1997 report by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission found formaldehyde is normally present in both indoor and outdoor air at low levels, usually less than .03 parts per million of air.

However, materials containing formaldehyde can release formaldehyde gas or vapor into the air.

Formaldehyde is also a byproduct in combustion, including automobiles.

Industrial workers who produce formaldehyde or formaldehyde-containing products, laboratory technicians, certain health professions and mortuary employees may be exposed to higher levels of formaldehyde than the general public. Exposure occurs primarily by inhaling formaldehyde gas or vapor from the air or by absorbing liquids through the skin.

The American Chemistry Council, the industry's largest lobbying and trade organization, is taking

issue with the most recent assessment of the dangers of formaldehyde, claiming “the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 2010 draft Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) assessment proposed risk value would set an acceptable air concentration that is thousands of times below levels that naturally occur in the environment."

The assessment, which was conducted by the EPA's Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) and released in 2010, concluded formaldehyde causes respiratory cancers, leukemia and other health problems, including asthma.

"The truth is, formaldehyde is a natural part of our world and the illogical findings of IRIS are not," the 2018 publication goes on to state. "Formaldehyde is found in every living system – from plants to animals to humans – produced as part of our normal metabolic process. If a person inhales formaldehyde, the body breaks it down rapidly, just like when it is naturally produced in our bodies."

Health assessment conducted by the EPA's IRIS program are used to determine "acceptable levels" of exposure to specific chemicals. The assessments are simply findings, and don't serve as regulations themselves however, the assessments influence the EPA and other regulators to determine regulations.

But, according to some health and environmental groups, the response from the American Chemistry Council is more hot air in an effort to suppress the EPA's findings that could lead to tighter regulations on formaldehyde and open the industry up to expensive lawsuits.

Jennifer Sass, senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the EPA's draft assessment, which was released in 2010 and has since been re-assessed a second time, has already been reviewed a second time by the independent National Academy of Sciences but is being held up by the EPA due to industry pressure.

"Nancy Beck is holding it up," she said, referring to the EPA's deputy assistant administrator in the agency's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. "She's a political appointee that didn't go

through a confirmation hearing, and she was a former lobbyist for the American Chemistry Council. She went right from there as a lobbyist to heading up the toxics process at the EPA. She had been working on these issues and TSCA (Toxic Substances Control Act), and her office is overseeing the process."

A request from Downtown Publications to the EPA for comment or interview with Beck was not granted.

An EPA spokesperson said the agency's Office of Research and Development is currently "Developing a new approach of soliciting program input on current and future IRIS assessments to ensure IRIS assessments are focused on the highest priority needs." The EPA said the formaldehyde assessment will be included in that activity.

Kimberly White, an environmental toxicologist and senior director at the American Chemistry Council said, "Separately, it's produced for industrial uses. It's a basic building block in a lot of chemistry in automobile products, it's used as a resin and you hear about it a lot in composite materials. That's a high level picture."

A 2017 one-page publication by the council notes humans produce about 1.5 ounces of formaldehyde each day and that it's a "natural byproduct" from all combustion processes. The cartoonish infographic depicts everyday people exposed to formaldehyde. For instance, there is 3.95 mg/kg in coffee; 6 mg/kg in an apple; .0001 ppm in human breath; 11 mg/kg in fish; 10 ppm in car exhaust and other sources.

"Low levels of formaldehyde occur naturally in a variety of fruits and vegetables, including apples, carrots and bananas," the sheet states. "It does not accumulate in the environment or within plants and animals.�

"If you look at the EPA's 2010 draft, their value was set at .001part-per billion (ppb). If your body produces 1 (ppb), you're already three orders

assessment. Among the NAS's criticisms was that the assessment failed to support its conclusions.

"Overall, the committee found that the EPA's draft assessment wasn't prepared in a logically consistent fashion, lacks clear links to underlying conceptual framework and doesn't sufficiently document methods and criteria used to identify evidence for selecting and evaluating studies."

While the NAS review said the initial assessment didn't support the findings linking formaldehyde to leukemia and some other health problems, it did support the findings that link it to nasal cancers. Still, the IRIS program withdrew its initial assessment. A second draft assessment has been completed, but has not yet been made available to the public, making the current assessment within the EPA nearly 40 years old.

Sass said part of the problem with the initial review was that it failed to focus on science used to reach its conclusions, instead adding hundreds of pages to address industry criticisms.

"The NAS didn't challenge their conclusion, but they did hit the IRIS staff hard on their science communication," she said. "They basically said the staff failed to justify the science used in the assessment... they basically said 'you need a prewritten rational or framework, and it can't be a rebutting and selecting process.'"

The EPA's IRIS program is located in the agency's National Center for Environmental Assessment in the Office of Research and Development.

The placement of the program ensures IRIS can develop impartial toxicity information independent of its use by the EPA's program and regional offices to set national standards and clean up hazardous sites.

The criticism of the IRIS program applied not only to the

WITH THE UBIQUITOUS PRESENCE OF FORMALDEHYDE, ONE MIGHT BE LED TO BELIEVE THAT FORMALDEHYDE POSES NO THREAT TO HUMAN HEALTH. BUT JUST BECAUSE A CHEMICAL CAN BE NATURALLY OCCURRING OR METABOLIZED

BY THE BODY IN LOW AMOUNTS DOESN'T MEAN IT CAN'T BE A THREAT. above that magnitude just by exhaling. That's not really reasonable," she said. "As a state regulator, say in Michigan, how do they adjust to levels that you find in the background every day.

"That's one of the things, that we want the agency to do, is do a reality check. If you're setting values that aren't realistic or make sense, then you need to re-evaluate the process for setting those values."

With the ubiquitous presence of formaldehyde everywhere we turn, one might be led to believe that formaldehyde poses no threat to human health at all. But just because a chemical can be naturally occurring or metabolized by the body in low amounts doesn't mean it can't be a threat. For instance, apple seeds contain a cyanide and sugar compound that degrades into hydrogen cyanide when metabolized. In World War II, hydrogen cyanide was used in gas chambers and called Zyklon B. "Nobody is arguing whether it's a carcinogen. They are arguing on what kind of cancer," Sass said. "They are saying it wouldn't cause blood cancer because it doesn't get into blood. ... The industry argument is theoretical, but that fact is, you have half a dozen studies showing formaldehyde is linked to leukemia."

In reference to formaldehyde, White said the American Chemistry Council doesn't suggest that high levels of the chemical aren't harmful.

"Formaldehyde is considered a nasal carcinogen at very high doses," she said. "Those would be levels that you wouldn't find in the environment or in environmental exposures. At very high levels of exposure, scientific data supports that it is a nasal carcinogen."

An initial draft of the IRIS assessment on formaldehyde was released in 2010. The following year, the non-governmental, non-profit National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) reviewed the initial assessment and severely criticized the 1,000-plus page draft

formaldehyde assessment, but with what was viewed as longstanding problems in the program.

An EPA spokesperson said the agency has been responding to comments about the IRIS from the NAS and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) over the past year and a half. Changes include increased transparency and implementing review changes to create a clearer evaluation of underlying science. The EPA said those changes were deemed "substantial progress" by the NAS, and that the GAO noted significant improvements in their high-risk criteria ratings.

Sass, with the NRDC, said the issues have since been addressed, with the program being praised by the NAS in a 2014 assessment.

"That was a favorable review and the NAS said they were on the right track," Sass said.

While a second IRIS assessment of formaldehyde has apparently been completed, it has yet to be released for public review. Although the assessment hasn't been made public, the delay in its release suggests to some that the reassessment supports the findings of others in the scientific community that high exposure to formaldehyde may be linked to additional cancers.

"The reason industry cares about cancer classifications is because of liability of any litigation," Sass said. "If your workers have cancer associated with a specific site, it could lead to legal liability."

In August, U.S. Senator Edward Markey (D-Mass.) asked Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler about the release of IRIS assessment on formaldehyde and wasn't given a clear answer. "(Former) Administrator Pruitt committed to release the EPA's scientific report on the carcinogen formaldehyde but never did so. Will you commit to releasing this report?" Markey asked.

"I've not been briefed specifically on the IRIS formaldehyde report, but

I have sat down with our IRIS staff, and what I'm trying to do is provide more certainty to that process to make sure we know how the different assessments will be used in the regulatory programs, and it's my understanding that we still have a number of steps to complete on the formaldehyde assessment," Wheeler answered.

When pressed on when the assessment will be released, Wheeler didn't answer.

"The question I have put to our IRIS staff is 'what is the purpose of the assessment at this point, and whether or not that data they have used in the assessment is still current.' I know they started that before 2010," Wheeler said. "We will release it, but I need to make sure the science in the report is still accurate.

"What I've asked is for, not just that report, but everything we are doing on the IRIS program is to make sure we know the purpose of the assessment because we have a lot of chemicals that we should and could be assessing under the IRIS program, and I want to make sure that they are being used in our regulatory process because we have other chemicals that need to be assessed, as well. That is one of the questions that I've asked our program staff."

"Pruitt committed to releasing it, and I hope that you put it at the top of your list," Markey responded. "I expect you to, and to get it released so that the public can understand what those dangers are."

Markey followed up the exchange with a tweet on August 1: "EPA Admin Andrew Wheeler gave me an unacceptable answer today when I asked him if he would release the long-overdue study on the impacts of toxic #formaldehyde. The EPA should not continue to silence science that would protect public health and immediately release this report."

throat cancer, as well as respiratory problems. However, newer research suggests that it may be linked to leukemia.

A study by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), which is an arm of the National Institutes of Health, suggested professionals who are exposed to formaldehyde in their work, such as anatomists and embalmers, may have an increased risk of leukemia and brain cancer compared to the general population.

One study looked at funeral industry workers who died between 1960 and 1986, with researching comparing those who died from hematopoietic and lymphatic cancers and brain tumors with those who died from other causes. (Hematopoietic or hematologic cancers such as leukemia develop in the blood or bone marrow. Lymphatic cancers develop in tissues and organs that produce, store and carry white blood cells that fight infections and other diseases, according to the NCI.) The NCI analysis showed that those who performed the most embalming and those with the highest estimated formaldehyde exposure had the greatest risk of myeloid leukemia. There were no association with other cancers of the hematopoietic and lymphatic systems or with brain cancer.

Information provided by the NCI included another study that looked at 25,619 workers in industries with the potential for occupational formaldehyde exposure and estimated each worker's exposure to the chemical while at work. The results showed an increased risk of death due to leukemia, particularly myeloid leukemia, among workers exposed to formaldehyde.

The risk was associated with increasing peak and average levels of exposure, as well as with the duration of exposure, but it was not associated with cumulative exposure, according to the NCI.

IT APPEARS THE AGENCY MAY BE SUCCUMBING TO PRESSURE FROM INDUSTRY IN ITS ATTEMPT TO DELAY OR BLOCK PUBLICATION OF THE FORMALDEHYDE HEALTH ASSESSMENT. THIS IS EXCEPTIONALLY DISTURBING, AND LENDS FURTHER CREDENCE TO THE BELIEF‌THAT THE EPA HAS BEEN CAPTURED BY INDUSTRY. In May, Markey and senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) sent a letter to the EPA asking for the formaldehyde assessment to be released. The letter followed a statement by former administrator Pruitt in January in which he indicated the report was ready to be released.

"Unfortunately, it appears that the agency may be succumbing to the pressure from industry in its attempt to delay or block the publication of the formaldehyde health assessment," the senators said in the letter.

"This is exceptionally disturbing, and lends further credence to the belief, already widely held, that the EPA has been captured by industry.

We urge you to ensure there are not further efforts to delay or block the publication of this assessment that has serious implications for public health."

Nicholas Schroeck, director of clinical programs and associate law professor at University of Detroit Law School, and former director of the Transnational Law Clinic at Wayne State University Law School, said because formaldehyde is used for various industrial applications and is found in our air, water, foods, land and various consumer products, the EPA regulates it through the National Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, and the Toxic Substances Control Act. "If the EPA found that exposure at certain levels causes leukemia or nose and throat cancers, that's big," Schroeck said. "That would mean every state would potentially have to go back and look at all of their permitting, all the way down to manufacturing, and potentially homes and businesses that are off-gassing."

Schroeck said there's also likely to be litigation stemming from the assessment if it opens new classifications of cancer linked to formaldehyde, a move that has already been made by other agencies.

Research spanning decades has linked formaldehyde to nose and

An additional 10-years of data on the same workers were used in a follow-up study published in 2009. That analysis continued to show a possible link between formaldehyde exposure and cancers of the hematopoietic and lymphatic systems, particularly myeloid leukemia.

As in the initial study, the NCI said the risk was highest earlier in the follow-up period. Risks declined steadily over time, such the cumulative excess risk of myeloid leukemia was no longer statistically significant at the end of the follow-up period. The researchers noted that similar patterns of risk over time had been seen for other agents known to cause leukemia.

A study of 11,039 textile workers conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) found an association between the duration of exposure to formaldehyde and leukemia deaths.

However, the evidence remains mixed, as a similar study of 14,014 British industry workers found no association between formaldehyde exposure and leukemia deaths, the NCI said.

According to the National Institutes of Health, formaldehyde undergoes rapid chemical changes immediately after absorption.

Therefore, some scientist think that form is unlikely to have effects at sites other than the respiratory tract. However, some laboratory studies suggest that formaldehyde may affect the lymphatic and hematopoietic systems.

"Based on both the epidemiological data from cohort and case-control studies, and the experimental data from laboratory research, NCI investigators have concluded that exposure to formaldehyde may cause leukemia, particularly myeloid leukemia, in humans," the NCI said.

In 2011, the National Toxicology Program Report on Carcinogens changed the listing status of formaldehyde from "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen" to "known to be a human carcinogen."

The current EPA IRIS assessment of formaldehyde was completed in 1990. That assessment identified formaldehyde as "a probable human carcinogen," based on incidences of nasal squamous cell carcinomas.

As the EPA continues to contemplate its own assessment of formaldehyde risks, several protective measures are already in place.

In 1987, OSHA established a federal standard that reduced the amount of formaldehyde workers can be exposed to over an eight-hour workday, from 3 ppm to 1 ppm. That standard was reduced to .75 ppm in 1992.

Some private companies have also taken measures to reduce formaldehyde products for sale. For instance, in 2017, CVS Health announced it would phase the removal of the most prevalent formaldehyde-containing products from its CVS Health, Beauty 360, Essence of Beauty and Blade product lines. The phase out, which includes more than 600 products and will be complete by the end of 2019, also includes products containing parabens and phthalates.

Most recently, federal legislation was passed in 2010 and went into effect this year that regulates use of formaldehyde in hardwood plywood, particle board, fiberboard and other wood products. The Formaldehyde Standards for Composite Wood Products Act limits amount of formaldehyde emissions in those products.

Restrictions from the finalized rule of the act went into effect earlier this year, following a lawsuit against the EPA that claimed it had illegally delayed the rule. Under the finalized rule in 2016, wood products had to comply with the limits by December of 2017. However, the EPA had set out to extend the compliance deadline until December of 2018.

New Orleans-based A Community Voice, The Sierra Club and Earth

The lack of a federal legal limit of formaldehyde in wood products then led federal lawmakers to create the new act.

"There were some really weak limits before Katrina," she said.

"There's a lot of controversy over formaldehyde. But it's an air irritant and causes a lot of cancers, and as a contributor to asthma, it has been documented more recently."

The new standard as it relates to wood products, she said, is among the strongest in the world.

Goldman said the new limits are based on those already in place in California. She said the tactic to delay compliance deadlines isn't new to the Trump administration.

The first time it happened was when Reagan came in," she said. "His chief of staff did a memo that said to the Federal Registry that if a law wasn't in effect, then freeze it and you have to review it. That's happened with every administration change, particularly when you have a different political party coming in.

"What was different this time was that it went a lot further. Bush had done some without a comment period and it was invalidated. Trump almost uniformly was extending deadlines and kept extending. Then they got caught on that. It was almost a cottage industry to keep the rules from going into effect."

White, with the American Chemistry Council, said the council is supportive of the new rules regarding wood products.

"They basically mirror what has been in place in California for a number of years," she said. "The ACC is a proponent of getting those standards nationalized, and realistically, here in the United States, those standards have ben the de-facto standards."

White said the lack of quality assurances when FEMA trailers were

IF THE EPA FOUND THAT EXPOSURE AT CERTAIN LEVELS CAUSES LEUKEMIA OR NOSE AND THROAT CANCERS, THAT'S BIG. THAT WOULD MEAN EVERY STATE WOULD POTENTIALLY HAVE TO GO BACK AND LOOK AT ALL OF THEIR PERMITTING, ALL THE WAY DOWN TO MANUFACTURING, AND POTENTIALLY HOMES AND BUSINESSES‌ Justice filed suit against the EPA, challenging the delay in US District Court in Oakland, California. In February, the federal court ruled the delay was beyond the scope of the EPA's authority and not in accordance with the act.

"They are in effect, as of June 1," said Patti Goldman, managing attorney for Earth Justice. "They were adopted, and the Trump administration was delaying the compliance deadline. That's the pattern they use: delay, then try to change it and keep them from going into effect."

The new limits change how much formaldehyde can off-gas from wood products. Goldman said the act stems from off-gassing products used in trailers constructed for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) following Hurricane Katrina.

"People were housed in trailers and were sickened from formaldehyde," she said. "They were built so quickly, some described them as 'oozing' formaldehyde."

Following the Hurricane Katrina disaster, FEMA provided thousands of manufactured homes for displaced residents, both for hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Soon after victims took residence, complaints of headaches, nosebleeds and difficulty breathing were made in relation to formaldehyde resins used in the homes.

According to FEMA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2008 tested FEMA supplied trailers and mobile homes in Louisiana and Mississippi. The CDC found potentially hazardous levels of formaldehyde, with an average of .077 ppm, which the CDC said could be linked to increased risk of cancer for longterm exposure. The minimal risk level is .008, as prescribed by the Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry, a division of the CDC. Levels in FEMA trailers tested ranged from .003ppm to .59 ppm.

constructed led to the changes, as formaldehyde is a nasal carcinogen at high doses. She said it's with new classifications of cancer that the ACC doesn't believe science supports changes.

She said there are new "systematic review" changes to how the EPA conducts assessments for chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which don't immediately apply to the formaldehyde assessment, and are a positive step forward for the EPA. Those proposed changes in August were still out for public comment under the Federal Registry. However, the comment period was scheduled to be closed prior to publication of this article. White said the ACC was planning to submit comments before the deadline.

Meanwhile, Sass, with the NRDC, said the new review rules for TSCA chemicals are another effort to limit scientific evidence that can be considered in chemical reviews at the EPA. Specifically, she said the changes call for giving extra weight to good laboratory practices," or GLP standards, which she labels a code for industry-sponsored studies. At the same time, she said the proposed changes would solidify efforts to discount certain epidemioglocial studies, playing on an unformalized "Scientific Transparency Rule" that sought to limit certain studies from being included in reviews.

Reviews conducted under TSCA are chemical reviews used specifically by the EPA to regulate a variety of chemicals, including pesticides, PFAS and other toxic compounds.

"Beck has come up with her own systematic review, and it hasn't gone through any peer review. It's at odds with the updated IRIS systematic review process, but it has been praised," Sass said. "Every chemical under TSCA will go through the new process, if she gets her way. We will fight it.

"This is a systematic review that nobody has written about. It's really under the wire."

FACES

Jennifer Buck aised in the midwestern charm that focuses on neighbors and community, it was only natural that Jennifer Buck would seek to help her friend and fellow mother in a time of tragedy by forming a charitable organization to honor her daughter.

"We met through our children's preschool, and we were both pregnant with our third child," Buck said about her friend Joanne Tarling, who lost her five-month-old daughter, Charlotte, in 2007 to a rare and incurable brain disease called Alexander's Disease.

With their newborns just months apart and an already strong friendship that formed after Buck moved to the Rochester area in 1998, Buck began thinking of a way to do something to help her friend and her family.

"We were very close, and I felt I needed to do something special in her memory," Buck said. "It really rattled our community in Rochester and our group of friends."

For those who came into contact with Charlotte during her short life, there was an overwhelming sense of sadness and sense of helplessness from her suffering and loss. To cope, Buck worked with the family to create a way to honor Charlotte. They decided to donate hundreds of children's books to a local hospital in tribute of Charlotte, founding the non-profit Charlotte's Wings.

"It started with three partners who actually knew Charlotte," said Buck, who serves as executive director of the organization. Those assisting her included members of her own family, as well as Tarling's. "It's somewhat of a family affair, as well as for Charlotte's family. We also started a leadership council that gives an opportunity for high school students to get involved and donate service hours."

Over the past eight years, Charlotte's Wings has expanded from

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donations to one hospital, Royal Oak Beaumont, to working with more than 60 different partners. Today, the organization donates thousands of books to hospitals across Michigan for patients and families in hospitals and hospice care, during and beyond their stay. The organization also donates magazine subscriptions, journals and workbooks to specialist outpatient clinics and other organizations during a time of health challenge.

"For something so tragic, it's also been very fulfilling and comforting to know that there are people out there who want to help and do good things," Buck said. "Through this experience, we feel a strong sense of community, even though we support hospitals across the state. A lot of support comes from the communities in Rochester and Bloomfield."

Buck said what started as a few contacts made by her to some area hospitals has grown to dozens of partners. Now, she said, there are several clinics and hospitals that contact her on a regular basis asking if there are books available.

"That was a real surprise – most don't get funding for books," she said.

"Initially, donations were more recreational books, and a variety of books for a variety of ages for a distraction. Once we got more involved with hospitals, they started contacting us for different needs in different departments.

"We are asked for books about bereavement, as well as eating disorders and medical conditions, like diabetes," she said. "We will provide those, as long as it's in line with our mission and supports kids in some capacity, but the bereavement and grief are a big chunk of what we support."

Story: Kevin Elliott

Photo: Laurie Tennent

MUNICIPAL 150-year-old silver maple to stay for now

By Kevin Elliott

A request to remove a silver maple tree believed to be more than a century old from a property in the 100 block of Drace Avenue was rejected on Monday, August 13, by the Rochester City Council.

Rochester Hills residents Jim and Annette Dolot said they purchased the property at 151 Drace with the intent to build a new home on the property. However, the couple said three different arborists that had assessed the 59-inch wide tree all recommended removing the tree before building a new home on the property due to safety concerns.

Rochester Deputy City Manager Nik Banda, who is a registered forester, said the city's tree ordinance protects trees on public and private land that are greater than seven inches wide. The ordinance, he said, allows property owners to remove up to three trees each year from their property at their own cost without having to replace them, provided they obtain a free permit from the city to do so. However, trees that are wider than 24-inches may qualify as landmark trees and must be evaluated to determine whether they may be removed.

Potential landmark trees are evaluated for their condition, life expectancy, insects present, expected growth and other factors. Trees may score up to 30 points, with anything greater than 16 being considered a landmark tree. Once deemed a landmark tree, the property owner may only remove the tree with the approval of an ordinance variance from city council. Further, any work done, such as construction that could damage a tree's root system, is prohibited. Replacement fees may be charged by the city if such actions take place without the city's authorization.

The silver maple on the property scored a total of 23 points. Further, Banda said former property owners appeared to have taken great care to ensure the tree would survive, with no clear damage from storms or wind for many years. Banda estimates the tree is about 150 years old – a rarity for silver maples, which he said tend to rot and break before growing that old.

Jim Dolot said he and his wife have lived in Rochester Hills for about 20 years and recently purchased the property in Rochester with hopes of 34

New director joins Paint Creek Center he Paint Creek Center for the Arts (PCCA) Board of Directors has hired Elizabeth Chilton as its new executive director to replace current director Tami Salisbury, who will remain on staff as director of development for the center.

Chilton brings more than 20 years of experience working in the region's cultural sector. She has a decade of successful fundraising experience, including corporate, foundation and individual giving as director of development for both the Detroit Science Center and Mosaic Youth Theater of Detroit. Most recently, she served as manager of curatorial affairs for the Arab American National Museum. She also served as director of exhibit content for the Detroit Science Center and has collaboratively led the development, design, curation and installation of hundreds of exhibits.

"We have confidence that Elizabeth's background and enthusiasm will be a good fit for PCCA as we move into the future," said the center's president, Chris Tanana.

Chilton's experience includes strategic planning, managing multimillion dollar projects and cultivating relationships with key stakeholders and nationally-recognized artists. She is the founding director of the Exhibit Professionals Group and an active member of the board of directors for two national professional networks (museum exhibitors and curators) for the American Alliance of Museums.

Salisbury, who has served as executive director since 2014, will stay on until September to ensure a seamless transition through the center's signature event, the annual Art & Apples Festival.

"I am proud to have worked with PCCA Board, staff, local businesses and community members to return PCCA to a solid, stable financial footing," Salisbury said. "To ensure the organization's success going forward, I have agreed to remain on staff to assist with the transition.

Paint Creek Center for the Arts is an incredible asset in Rochester and I'm delighted it will be in good hands with Elizabeth."

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building a new home and living near the downtown area, parks and trails.

However, they were unaware that the tree was a landmark tree prior to purchasing the property.

"In each of the two homes we have owned, we have had numerous large, wonderful trees," Dolot said. "In Northville, we had five large black walnut trees – two in the front and three in the backyard. At our current house in Rochester Hills, we have 15 trees differing in sizes and types."

Despite their appreciation for trees, Dolot said part of the silver maple on the Drace Avenue property leans about 50 to 60 degrees to one side, and the location and size raises concerns about future property damage and harm to people were it to be damaged in a storm. Dolot said one of the neighbors has also had concerns that the tree could damage his house and garage, but wasn't permitted to remove significant branches.

Further, Dolot said he has had three different tree services evaluate the tree, all of which recommended removing the tree before beginning construction.

Councilman Dean Bevacqua said he would like for council to revisit the

tree ordinance to remove silver maple tree species from potential landmark trees.

"I'm a tree conservationist," he said, noting that he has a stateapproved tree conservation plan on 50 acres of land he owns in northern Michigan. "That said, I'm not a fan of silver maples. I had one next to my house that was over my bedroom and deck and had to cut it back. That tree also dropped a limb that barely missed my neighbor's house... I'm very concerned about these trees. I would be okay with the concept of removing this tree.

"I wonder if we should take silver maple off the landmark list. They don't usually get this large without rotting out. They are brittle and take on a lot of water, and when it gets really cold, they can freeze and break."

Councilman Ben Giovanelli noted that the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) noted that silver maples is one of the species that isn't recommended for planting in urban areas. He also said he would entertain the idea of removing the species from the landmark list.

Banda, who had recommended council allow the tree to stay under

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the ordinance, confirmed that the specific species isn't one that the city would plant in most areas, with the exception of a park area for educational purposes. He also agreed that the species tend to be brittle and rot before they reach the age of the particular tree in question. However, he said the tree has withstood the test of time through careful maintenance and there wasn't any reason to remove it under the city's ordinance.

"They are classified in many cities as weed trees. We didn't go that route," Banda said, who said the city has many silver maple trees. "This is the only landmark silver maple that I'm aware of. I haven't come across any that met the standard."

Council asked how long it would take to amend the city's ordinance to remove silver maple trees from the list of potential landmark trees.

Rochester City Manager Blaine Wing said an ordinance amendment could be before the city at its next meeting on August 27.

Councilwoman Ann Peterson questioned whether the city could potentially lose its Tree City USA designation if the tree was permitted to be removed.

Banda said the designation is based on tree canopy density and not the particular number of trees. He said removing the designation of a landmark tree would limit the city's ability to require the property owner of purchasing replacement trees if they provided a variance.

"We would be happy to do that and would like to put replacements on the property, or put the money in escrow or however you see fit," Dolot said.

"It sounds like we are going to rule to make an exception," Peterson said before making a motion to deny the request based on the city's tree ordinance.

The motion, however, failed to gain support from council members and failed to move forward.

The issue is expected to be taken up again at the council's August 27 meeting.

Rochester receives $$$ for Auburn plan The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments' (SEMCOG) Transportation Alternatives program has awarded Rochester Hills nearly a half million dollars to develop its Auburn Road Streetscape plan, as part of the city's Auburn Road Corridor redevelopment.

The funding, which totals 09.18

Contracts for Innovation Hills okayed

By Kevin Elliott

$481,318, is part of an overall $10 million project to revamp the corridor into a unique destination. Upgrades like wide sidewalks, benches, bike racks and street lighting will give the stretch of road, between Culbertson and Dequindre, a new "Main Street" spirit, Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan K. Barnett said.

"Our residents have provided a blueprint for a walkable, peopleoriented area," he said. "We look forward to creating a space where people can dine, shop and gather with friends in public spaces and we thank SEMCOG for investing in our community."

The vision for the improvements was inspired by feedback from residents in the area. The local engagement created a multi-phase plan that enhances the identity, history and brand of the area, known as the Brooklands neighborhood.

As the area is developed, the city will continue to seek public feedback, Barnett said. That includes an August 16 public meeting with city officials at the northwest corner of Auburn and Emmons, where officials will provide an update on progress and ideas for the proposed streetscape features.

Increases for water, sewer rates 2018 Water and sewer customers in Rochester will see an increase in their water and sewer bills for 2018-19 under rates approved on Monday, August 13,

by Rochester City Council members.

The increases, which will be about 4.2 percent for sewer services and between 2.6 percent and 4 percent for water customers, are mostly due to increased rates paid by the city to the Great Lakes Water Authority, through Shelby Township.

Rochester City Manager Blaine Wing said sewer services throughout the city are provided by the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA), with the system being billed by the Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner's Office (WRC).

"For the proposed pass through for the sewer component of the bill, the city received a 4.2 percent increase with the upcoming rates," Wing said.

Pass through fees are a term used for rate increases charged by the water and sewer utility that the city must pay. In turn, the city passes the increases directly to customers, rather than covering the cost for the customers and taking on additional expense.

Wing said the rates for industrial

waste control, which is charged based on meter size to nonresidential users, will decrease by about 37 percent. Both the residential increase and decrease in industrial sewer services are a pass through from rates charged by the GLWA and billed by the WRC. There are two different water systems serving the city of Rochester, with the GLWA serving the majority of homes on the east side of the city (roughly east of Letica), and a cityrun well system serving residents on the west side.

Customers who receive their water from the GLWA will see increases ranging from 2.6 percent to 3.1 percent, or between $4.43 and $12.83 per quarter, based on water use. Lowend users will see lower increases, with medium-end users seeing an increase of about 2.9 percent, or $7.23 per quarter.

Residents on the city's well-water system will see increases of about 2.8 percent, or $3.76 per quarter for lowend users, and 4 percent, or about $10.66 per quarter, for high-end users.

Medium-range users will see increases of about 3.4 percent, or roughly $6.06 per quarter.

Wing said increases in the city's well-water system are related to an 11.6 percent increase in variable rates that are associated with capital improvements in the city's water treatment plant. Those improvements are separate from about $12 million in city-wide capital improvements planned over the next 10 years, which are being funded by a lowinterest loan from the state, and which was approved in 2016.

For well customers, variable rates tied to capital improvements at the water treatment plant are blended with fixed rate prices, meaning the overall increase to well customers are between 2.8 percent and 4 percent.

City council members were also informed at the meeting that new statewide regulations tied to drinking water quality, including testing for PFAS/PFOS and lead, may impact rates in the future. However, those issues were not tied to the rate increases before council at the meeting on August 13.

Council voted 5-1 to approve the rate changes, with councilwoman Ann Peterson opposing the changes and Rochester Mayor Rob Ray absent.

"I sit up here and represent the taxpayer and residents, and their concerns," Peterson said, voicing her opposition to the fee increases. "They are not happy that we continually raise the rates every time we turn around."

ochester Hills City Council on Monday, July 30, approved construction and engineering contracts for more than $4 million in work toward a natural water features area at Innovation Hills.

The work includes about 10 acres of ponds, gathering areas and walkways, including a pond area, sundial mound and park, parking area, bioswale, trail extensions, landscaping, restorations and plantings. Council was presented with a $3.8 million contract with Michigan Lawn Maintenance, dba Sherman Nursery Farms, of Columbus, Michigan, and TR Pepercak, of China Township. Council also approved a $420,000 construction administration contract with Hubbell, Roth and Clark, of Bloomfield Hills, to oversee the construction project.

Partial funding for the project was included in the city's 2018 adopted budget, with the state of Michigan providing a grant in the amount of $500,000 toward the project. Additional funding is included in the 2019-2020 budgets, totaling $3.2 million to complete the project.

However, Rochester Hills Parks and Natural Resources Director Ken Elwert said the untimely death of a major donor led the department to request additional funds from the city.

"Because of the untimely death of Mr. (Steve) Stolaruk, a major parks supporter, we have lost expected donations for excavating and grading, resulting in the request you see tonight," Elwert said. "However, we have raised over $1.5 million in in-kind services, grants and donations in about the last year-and-a-half. We plan to be doubling down in the next year in pursuit of additional funds going forward."

Stolaruk, 91, an entrepreneur who started Stolaruk Asphalt, Star-Batt Inc and OnCorde Inn Hotels, had developed several commercial and residential projects throughout his career. He was also a long-time community supporter, offering $1 million of in-kind services in 2013 through the Steve and Vivian Stolaruk Foundation to the city to begin work on Innovation Hills. In-kind donations are donations of goods, services or time, instead of cash.

Rochester Hills City Council President Mark Tisdel said Mr. Stolaruk's donations included about $400,000 in excavating work that was done, leaving a shortage of about $600,000 in the project budget.

Rochester Hills chief financial officer Joe Snyder said the city would need to contribute a total of about $1.2 million to the project this year in order to keep the project whole. He said the city could fill the gap without reducing any fund balance, based on greater than expected revenues. Those revenues include about $700,000 in license and permit fees that weren't anticipated and about $300,000 more than expected in returns on investment. Additionally, he said expenditures are lower than anticipated.

Councilwoman Stephanie Morita said of the $3.8 million being spent on the first contract, about $600,000 is from non-city funds, such as donations and grants. She said over $3 million has already been budgeted by the city for the project.

Councilman Ryan Deel noted that the city received a $500,000 grant from the state of Michigan that is contingent on the work beginning in 2018. Elwert confirmed those funds would be lost if the project didn't move forward.

Council unanimously approved both contracts with councilman Dale Hetrick absent.

Councilman Jim Kubicina noted the contributions Stolaruk gave to the city, particularly toward Innovation Hills, which essentially started the fundraising and donation campaign for the park and allowed ground to be broken.

The city in February dedicated an entrance area at the park in Stolaruk's memory for his longtime support. Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan Barnett said at the time that Stolaruk was the first individual to believe in the park and "saw the vision when no one else could."

R

Rochester updates city fees ordinance

By Kevin Elliott

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

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Rochester City Council on Monday, August 13, approved an update to its ordinance overseeing service fees charged by the city's clerk's office, planning and building department, as well as associated fees.

City administration staff on July 9 first provided a proposed ordinance amendment and updated fee schedule for various fees that haven't been updated in several years, and for several decades for some fees. The fees, which are set by city ordinance, are to be reassessed and updated each year, under the modified ordinance.

City Manager Blaine Wing said updating the ordinance and fees started as a long-term project several years ago when he was hired by the city. The project will incorporate all of the city's fee schedules into one document that can be reviewed on an annual basis.

Council approved the second reading of the ordinance and the fee schedule related to those charged by the city's clerk's office and the planning and building department.

In reviewing the proposed changes, councilman Ben Giovanelli requested the annual review to include data showing the actual cost to the city in providing the specific services, and that the data include a breakdown of fees paid by residents and those by builders.

Rochester Finance Director Anthony Moggio said Public Act 245 was put in place in 1999 in regards to planning and building fees. The intent, he said, was to stop municipalities from using building-related fees to fund general fund operations. Under the law, a municipality must use money made from those fees for expenses related to costs incurred by the building department. The city also must be able to show those costs. Therefore, that data would be available for review each year for council to assess the appropriateness of the fees.

Giovanelli also took issue with imposing a $25 administration fee for permits charged by the building department when applied for by residents. The intent, staff said, is to cover the cost of processing permits, which takes an average of an hour.

However, Giovanelli said residents already pay for staff through their taxes to conduct those services. The fee, he claimed, is essentially charging residents twice.

Wing, in the course of discussions with council, proposed lowering the

administration service fee to $10 from the proposed $25. The proposed $10 fee would have provided the city with about $17,775 in 2018 had the fee been retroactive.

The second reading of the ordinance creating a master fee schedule was approved by a vote of 5-1, with councilwoman Ann Peterson opposing the ordinance amendment and Rochester Mayor Rob Ray absent.

Council approved the first reading of the fee schedules for the clerk's office and planning and building departments by 5-1, with Peterson opposing and Ray absent. The schedule will come before council at its August 27 meeting for final approval.

No opposition for school board seats Three incumbents will be running unopposed for the three open seats on the Rochester Community Schools' Board of Education during this year's general election on Tuesday, November 6.

Current board members Barbara Anness, Michelle Bueltel and Andrea Walker-Leidy were the only candidates to file to run by the deadline of Tuesday, July 24.

Each of the open seats are six-year terms, with current board member's Michelle Bueltel, Barbara Anness and Andrea Walker-Leidy serving terms that expire at the end of 2018.

Anness was selected by the board in July 2017 to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of former board secretary Beth Talbert. Bueltel was elected to the board of education in 2016 following an appointment.

Walker-Leidy was appointed to by the board in April to replace Pat Piskulich, who resigned prior to the completion of his term.

Voters living in the Rochester Community School District will choose these candidates in November.

City accepts green space donation About 4.7 acres of vacant, wooded land in the 3500 block of S. Livernois Road has been donated to the city of Rochester Hills to be dedicated for use as undeveloped green space.

Councilwoman Susan Bowyer said the city has been hoping to acquire the land behind 3514 S. Livernois for several months because it abuts green space owned by the city at 1380 Ruby.

The land is vacant and mostly wooded and includes some wetlands.

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The property owner, Mollie Mayer, recently agreed to donate about 4.7 acres of the roughly 6.8 acres she owns. The remainder of the land will be retained by Mayer, who maintains a home on the land.

The city in 2015 obtained about 9.48 acres of land at 1380 Ruby. That land had an estimated value of about $400,000 and included the value of an existing home that had been vacant for about five years at the time. The donation of the land will bring the city's total contiguous green space in the area to about 14.8 acres.

In 2005, voters approved a 10-year millage to acquire and preserve natural green space in Rochester Hills. Land purchased or donated as green space can't be developed, and structures and buildings are demolished as part of green space, which provides natural open areas for access by the public and area wildlife. Green spaces aren't considered parks and aren't used for recreation purposes.

Rochester Hills starts 2019-21 budget work Rochester Hills City Council on Monday, August 13, accepted the city's 2019-2021 comprehensive budget from city Mayor Bryan Barnett.

The acceptance of the budget, which has yet to be finalized as a proposed document, is the fist step in the annual budget process.

The initial three-year budget plan lays out a basic proposal for spending for the next three years and as well as projected revenues. The acceptance of the budget marks the beginning of a 60-day process in which council determines specific department budgets, capital improvements in road and infrastructure and other spending for the next year.

Under the proposed budget plan, the first budget workshop is scheduled for Monday, August 20. City council and staff will go through individual city department budgets, total revenues and expenditures. The budget also will include proposed budgets from the Older Persons Commission (OPC) and the Rochester Area Recreation Authority (RARA).

Following the first and subsequent budget workshops, the city will hold a public hearing on the proposed budget on Monday, September 10 at its regular city council meeting. The proposed budget must be published and made available to the public at least seven days prior to September 10.

Council unanimously accepted the budget and scheduled the first budget workshop and public hearing.

09.18

ELECTION

County clerk taking heat for ballot shortages

By Lisa Brody

Results from the August 7 primary

By Lisa Brody and Kevin Elliott

Primary election day 2018 is in the books, with a huge turnout of voters across Oakland County renewing a public transportation (SMART) millage, choosing party candidates to run for governor, congress and Oakland County and state House and Senate offices in November, and passing a Bloomfield Township safety path millage proposal.

Voter turnout was higher than expected throughout the county, with Oakland County reporting a 32.74 percent turnout, much higher than the 20.61 percent countywide of registered voters in the 2014 primary election. The turnout left numerous precincts short on ballots – and clerks scrambling to find sample or absentee ballots to avoid leaving voters without the opportunity to exercise their right to vote.

According to Bloomfield Township officials, precincts in Bloomfield Township, Birmingham, West Bloomfield, Farmington, Farmington Hills, Rochester Hills, Ferndale and Pontiac – and possibly others – were left without a sufficient number of ballots for primary voters.

According to sources, Oakland County Clerk Director of Elections Joe Rozell did not supply local clerks with the number of ballots each had requested. Local clerks said they have no control over how many ballots they are given.

In the hotly-contested 11th Congressional District to replace retiring Rep. David Trott (R-Birmingham), Republican Lena Epstein is the winner out of a pool of five Republican candidates. The sprawling district runs from the southwestern edge of Rochester Hills, Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Troy, Clawson, West Bloomfield, the Oakland County lakes area and into western Wayne County. With Oakland County numbers in, and Wayne County's website down, Epstein received 28.92 percent of the vote, with challengers former state Rep. Rocky Raczkowski receiving 22.54 percent and state Sen. Mike Kowall receiving 22.30 percent, state Rep. Klint Kesto, 16.47 percent, and former Rep. Kerry Bentivolio, 9.67 percent of Oakland County votes.

Calls to Epstein's campaign were not returned Tuesday night for comment.

Facing Epstein in November will be Democrat Haley Stevens, who beat out four other Democrats for the nomination.

With a majority of precincts in Oakland County reporting and having won Plymouth in Wayne County before the Wayne County website crashed, Stevens campaign was feeling good about the inclusive, districtwide campaign she had

run in the primary. Stevens received 27.05 percent of the Oakland County vote, setting up a battle of the women in November.

“It’s clear that Haley’s record as chief of staff to President Obama’s Auto Rescue resonated with voters looking for someone who understands the Motor City economy. She stood up in a time of crisis and helped save 200,000 Michigan jobs and will step up again in Congress to help lower healthcare costs and grow our economy,” said Jake Strassberger, spokesperson for the Haley Stevens campaign.

In the Democrat primary, Auburn Hills-based state Rep. Tim Greimel brought in 24.13 percent of Oakland County's tally, while Suneel Gupta received 20.87 percent. Fayrouz Saad had 17.23 percent, and Nancy Skinner, just 10.56 percent.

Congressman Mike Bishop of Rochester cruised back to the Republican nomination in the 8th Congressional District, fending off challenger Lokesh Kumar by a landslide, receiving 92 percent of the vote. “I am honored by the support of my fellow Michiganders. I look forward to discussing my record of helping families earn higher wages, protecting children, safeguarding the Great Lakes, and working to find common sense solutions to the challenges Michigan families face every day," said Bishop.

Bishop will face Democrat Elissa Slotkin of Holly in November. Slotkin, a former Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs and intelligence officer who served three tours of duty in Iraq, prevailed over fellow Democrat Chris Smith, a Michigan State University professor, 71.8 percent to 28.2 percent.

“I’m proud to have earned the votes of so many people today, and thankful to the amazing volunteers who came out to knock doors and make calls. Over the last year, I’ve heard one, clear message from Democrats, Republicans, and Independents across the district: Folks want new voices and a new generation in Washington who will be accountable to voters, not special interests,” Slotkin said. “I will bring my mission-focused approach that I learned serving my country in the intelligence community and at the Pentagon to Congress, and I will fight for the issues that matter to people here. I’m a firm believer that you can’t change Congress without changing who you send to Washington.”

Bloomfield Township Democrat Andy Levin is one step closer to filling his father Sandy Levin’s shoes in Congress, after winning the Democratic primary for the 9th District. Levin prevailed over Ellen Lipton of Huntington Woods and Martin Brook of Bloomfield Hills.

Lipton narrowly prevailed in Oakland

A

group of Oakland County municipal clerks issued a statement of apology on Thursday, August 9, for the difficulty many voters experienced on Tuesday, August 7, in the primary election due to a shortage of ballots in several precincts, while making it clear that the office of Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown was completely at fault.

Their statement, in part, read: “We, the city and township clerks of Oakland County, extend our sincerest apologies to all the voters in our municipalities who experienced difficulties in voting due to ballot shortages on August 7th… We could tell weeks before the election that our ballot orders would not be sufficient, however, we were not allowed to increase ballot quantities due to the fact that county clerks control ballot ordering for elections such as the August Primary. When the county did increase ballot quantities the week before the election, it was by a very small percentage and still not sufficient for most of our communities.”

Municipal clerks signing the letter included Bloomfield Township Clerk Jan Roncelli; Bloomfield Township Deputy Clerk Deena Mondock; Birmingham Clerk Cherilynn Mynsberge; Bloomfield Hills Clerk Amy Burton; Rochester Hills Clerk Tina Burton; Rochester Hills Deputy Clerk Leanne Scott, who is president of Oakland County Clerks Association; Rochester Clerk Lee Ann O'Connor; as well as Troy Clerk Aileen Dickson; West Bloomfield Clerk Debbie Binder; Pam Smith, clerk of Farmington Hills; and Cortney Hanson, clerk of Novi; plus several others.

On election evening, a number of municipalities reported ballot shortages at precincts in Bloomfield Township, Birmingham, West Bloomfield, Farmington, Farmington Hills, Rochester Hills, Ferndale and Pontiac, among other communities. David Wolkinson, Republican candidate in the 40th state House District, an eventual winner, said that Derby Middle School in Birmingham had well over an hour-and-a-half line when the polls closed at 8 p.m. because they had run out of ballots. While many people stayed to vote, he saw some people leave, stating they couldn't wait.

According to sources, Oakland County Clerk Director of Elections Joe Rozell provided each county municipality with considerably less of ballots than requested. Local clerks said they have no control over how many ballots they are given.

Rochester Hills Clerk Tina Barton told Downtown on election night the city had multiple precincts that had run out of ballots, many within a half hour of polls scheduled to close. Despite the lack of ballots, she said, "No voter in Oakland County will be turned away," as they were able to vote using ADA machines, although that added to the time it took to vote.

"Multiple large municipalities have been texting me," she said. "There are numerous (municipalities) in Oakland County where there's not enough."

Barton said they were also able to copy ballots if they didn't have enough, but with the city being 36 square miles, it was difficult to get them all out in time.

"I have had four people out for three hours taking out additional ballots," she said.

“I have no control over how many ballots I'm given,” Bloomfield Township Clerk Jan Roncelli said. “The county allocated the ballots.

However, this will never happen again.”

Barton said the number of ballots provided to each municipality was determined by the Oakland County Clerk's Office, and that requests for additional ballots prior to the election were denied, a request echoed by another local clerk. She stressed her frustration with the situation and noted that the shortage is not the fault of any local municipal clerks.

"I feel like none of this was necessary," she said. "If the Oakland County Clerk's Office would have ordered the number we requested, we wouldn't be in this situation."

County Clerk Lisa Brown and Rozell responded that they are equally as upset about the ballot shortages, and Brown said she is doing an internal investigation, including looking at emails Rozell received from clerks.

“We did do a supplemental order of ballots on July 31,” Brown said.

“Some of the local clerks did contact our office saying they needed more.”

She said the clerk's office does not need an independent investigation from the Secretary of State, “because we didn't do anything wrong. We

have a lot of laws which we have to follow in primaries. We went above and beyond.”

Rozell said the law told them to look at 2014 for a guide for turnout, and they went back to 2010, which previously had the highest primary turnout.

“We shattered records in Oakland County by seven points,” Rozell said.

“There were individual precincts that shattered it by 70 percent. Some had three times their normal turnout for a normal primary. They had general election (level) turnouts.”

“We don't have a crystal ball. We ordered more than our statutory requirement,” Brown said. She did say in many precincts there was a much higher than expected amount of spoiled ballots, which may indicate poor voter instruction.

In their letter, the clerks responded to Brown attempting to direct part of the blame on local clerks..

“The County Clerk’s statement that local clerks could have solved the ballot shortages by sending larger paper to the precincts is not accurate.

The machines attached to the printers have an important and specific purpose: to allow voters who request or require assistance to vote with necessary accommodations. These machines are not intended for mass production and the process of voting on the system takes five to eight minutes per ballot. That proposed solution would have only slightly lessened the impact. The only effective solution would have been a sufficient number of ballots.

“Additionally, the County Clerk’s assertion that local clerks were withholding ballots from precincts while crowds of voters demanded to vote is both disheartening and untrue. We want to assure all our voters that we did everything within our authority to make ballots available to all the precincts in our jurisdictions.”

Roncelli noted that, “There was heavy, heavy voting. The county never anticipated this kind of turnout.”

Municipal clerks had anticipated a heavier volume of voting based on an increase in requests for absentee ballots, and a higher than normal return of absentee ballots, both Roncelli and Barton said.

Voter turnout for the primary election was 34 percent in Oakland County.

In 2014, the midterm primary election turnout was 20.61 percent countywide of registered voters; in 2016, the turnout countywide for the presidential primary was 19.96 percent of registered voters. For 2016, In Bloomfield Township, turnout was 31.87 percent; Birmingham 17.81 percent; Bloomfield Hills, 20.74 percent; Rochester Hills, 18.44 percent; and Rochester, 13.13 percent.

“Whether the solution is a change in law or a financial agreement with the county, we will make sure that we have the final say on ballot quantities for future elections. Please know that we will not rest until we know that the shortages that occurred on August 7th will not happen again,” the clerks stated.

Brown and Rozell said they are committed to ensuring it never happens again, as well.

“There's hurt on both sides, but I know that every clerk in this county is dedicated to running fair elections, don't want to disenfranchise any voter,” Brown said. “We have excellent municipal clerks. I am committed to working together with local clerks.”

As for November's general election?

“We are required to print a ballot for every registered voter, for 100 percent,” Brown said.

Oakland County Board of Commissioners Chairman Mike Gingell has launched a bipartisan investigation looking into what occurred, and how it can be rectified before the November general election. Commissioners Marcia Gershenson (D-Bloomfield Township) and Adam Kochenderfer (RRochester Hills) are joining chairs Tom J. Berman (R-Keego Harbor) and Nancy Quarles (D-Southfield) to examine election infrastructure, seek public input and make recommendations for improvements.

“I am pleased to have been appointed to serve as co-chair of this ad hoc committee, which represents a bi-partisan effort to study Oakland County’s election system infrastructure,” said Berman. “The poor execution and challenges voters faced at the polls on Tuesday are inexcusable. I’m determined to thoroughly investigate the issues that arose, and to identify and implement solutions to ensure this ballot debacle never happens again.”

County – winning 47.91 percent, or 18,639 votes, to Levin's 47.06 percent, for 18,309 votes. But Levin had a huge night in Macomb County, winning 56.1 percent, or 46,677, of the votes, to prevail over Lipton, who received 38.6 percent (19,506) of Macomb's vote. Brook received just 5 percent of the vote, or 4,637 votes.

“I'm really happy. I'm excited and humbled to be chosen by the Democrats to be their candidate for Congress,” Levin said. “I think our message of raising the standard of living of working people of the district really resonated with voters. We were really able to connect with voters.”

Looking at results across the Democratic spectrum Tuesday night, Levin said he doesn't want to just win elections for himself, but to build coalitions to help Democrats win across the board.

He will face Republican Candius Stearns in November, who ran unopposed in the primary. The district is gerrymandered to favor Democrats, but Levin said he will “campaign like we're down 10 points in November.”

Bloomfield Township Republican Mike McCready pulled out a narrow victory in the race for the Republican candidate for the 12th District State Senate Seat, winning by a 1.04 percent margin.

McCready, who took a total of 12,512 votes on Tuesday, faced fellow Republicans Jim Tedder (12,224 votes), Terry Whitney (2,071 votes) and Vern Molnar (766 votes). McCready will advance to the November general election to face Democrat Rosemary Bayer, who ran unopposed in the primary.

"I'm ecstatic. Absolutely ecstatic," McCready said on Tuesday night. "We knew it was going to be tight. We knew it was going to be razor thin. I'm really thankful for the people that supported me. It's just unbelievable."

Both McCready and Tedder are currently serving their third, and final, terms, in the Michigan House of Representatives. McCready is consider a more moderate conservative compared to Tedder. McCready's win was also likely due in part to Whitney, a far-right conservative and also a resident of Clarkston, which assuredly syphoned off some 2,000 votes that would have gone to Tedder.

"It did help having the third candidate," McCready said, in reference to Whitney. "We worked really hard. It was just outstanding."

Birmingham Democrat Mari Manoogian will face off against fellow Birmingham resident and Republican candidate David Wolkinson in the November general election for the state's 40th House District seat held by outgoing Rep. Mike McCready (RBirmingham), who is term-limited.

Manoogian took 52.97 percent (8,877

votes) of the ballots cast, compared to Birmingham Democrat Nicole Bedi's 46.88 percent (7,856).

"I'm so thrilled about the way our team performed over the past few weeks," Manoogian said. "We turned up door knocking to reach all the voters in our district. We knocked on over 16,500 doors and reached thousands of voters.

I'm so incredibly proud. It's an honor to be the Democratic nominee."

Democratic tickets cast in the race totaled 16,759, compared to 11,713 for all Republican candidates in the race, suggesting a strong possibility the seat is ripe to flip to the Democratic column.

Wolkinson, who took the most Republican votes in the race with 3,359 (28.68 percent), was unavailable for comment on Tuesday night.

Wolkinson's total was followed by Joe Zane with 2,345 votes (20.02 percent); Mike Banerian with 1,874 votes (16 percent); Malissa Bossardet with 1,826 votes (15.59 percent); Paul Taros with 1,175 votes (10.03 percent); and Paul Secrest with 1,108 votes (9.46 percent).

In the 45th state House District, 9,144 votes were cast in the Democratic primary, with Kyle Cooper, a bartender and student, prevailing over retired physician Ted Golden. Cooper received 56.31 percent of the vote, with 5,149 votes, versus Golden's 43.3 percent and 3,959 votes. Cooper will now face current state Rep. Michael Webber (R) in the November general election.

“We realize we have a lot of work ahead of us,” Cooper said Tuesday evening. “Rochester and Rochester Hills haven't been blue in a long time, but a lot of people want to help teachers and students.

“Over 9,000 people voted in this election,” Cooper continued. “If turnout stays this high in the general election, we have a good chance. We're heading back to work, talking to people and having real conversation, tomorrow.”

In the only contested primary campaign for county commissioner in Downtown's coverage area, Thomas E. Kuhn won the Republican nomination for the 11th District over Glenn Clark. Kuhn received 62.24 percent of the vote compared to Clark's 37.29 percent. Kuhn will face Ann Erickson Gault in the general election.

Oakland County voters, by a wide margin, approved the public transportation (SMART) millage renewal, 77.28 percent voting for the tax with just 22.72 percent of voters not approving the renewal. Birmingham and Bloomfield Township are participating communities.

In Bloomfield Township, voters overwhelmingly approved a Safety Path Millage Renewal, with 71.09 percent approval, which will continue building and maintaining the safety path program in the township.

FACES

Elizabeth Chilton s the new executive director for the Paint Creek Center for the Arts, Elizabeth Chilton is hoping to build on success and expand its offerings in a meaningful way.

"I want to look back on my life and say that I made a positive change in my positions," Chilton said. "It's nice to be in the executive director positions where I have that agency."

Chilton has more than 20 years of experience in metro Detroit's cultural sector, specifically for non-profit agencies. She started out fundraising for the University of Michigan, then moving into non-profits at the Mosaic Youth Theater of Detroit, where she was able to double the organization's budget before being promoted to the director of development.

"I have worked in non-profits for virtually my whole career," Chilton said, noting that she entered the field after passing on a career in teaching.

"I was a really lousy English teacher," she said. "I loved the theory of education, and I like working with kids when I'm not in charge of teaching them, but I'm not great at classroom management."

It was at the youth theater where she found success and her ability to make positive changes. She later worked as director of exhibit content for the Detroit Science Center, and most recently as manager of curatorial affairs for the Arab American National Museum, in Dearborn.

"It's so important to me that I spend my life using the tools that I think I'm good with to make a difference," she said. "I want my position to have a small part in making the world a better place."

In terms of success, Chilton, who lives in the Grosse Pointe area, said it would be hard to make the Center's Art and Apples event much better

A

— the art festival was just named among the top 10 in the country by the Sunshine Artist. Still, she said there are other offerings that could impact the lives of those in the greater Rochester area that are near to her heart.

"I really want to work to expand and fill unmet needs in the community to work toward filling holes," she said. "We've already established partnerships with organizations to create programming for underserved populations."

For example, Chilton said she is seeking funding for art programs to help people with dementia and Alzheimer's, and trying to develop programs for individuals with low vision and hearing. She also hopes to expand programs to those on the autism spectrum. The latter is close to Chilton's heart, as her eldest son is on the autism spectrum.

"That personal experience is part of the reason I want to provide services," she said. "He gets so much enjoyment from art... he's been drawing trains and spaceships from a young age, now (at 25), he's doing anime and working full time, which is wonderful. He's buying computer software so he can do is own computer animation."

Additionally, Chilton hopes to expand on offerings to those who ant to pursue art as a career, as well as those who want to use art for a social element. Of course, all of those plans will require additional funds and space, the latter which is limited to its current location.

"I think Tammi (Salisbury) will be seen as the person who turned this organization around and put it on solid financial footing," Chilton said of the former director. "I'm hoping I will be seen as a positive influence on the organization, as well."

Story: Kevin Elliott

Photo: Laurie Tennent

BUSINESS MATTERS Holistic spa opening A refreshing and holistic approach to health and beauty is coming to downtown this September when Nourish Mind Body & Soul, 530 Pine Street, in Rochester opens. The new spa, which has no relation to the former downtown yoga studio with a similar name, will feature holistic and organic services, including a salt room, infrared sauna, ionic foot detox, natural body wraps, massage therapy, organic facials and more.

Co-owner Jill Berner said the location will also offer natural organic products. Berner and her business partner, Linda Skinner, decided to open Nourish to offer a way for people to relieve some of the stressors they are exposed to everyday in their environment. “I believe that there are stressors in the environment and we need a way of relaxing and getting rid of that stress because it can effect our immune system,” Berner said. As a cancer survivor, Berner said she began learning about holistic treatments after going through conventional treatment and looking for

40

alternatives with her second bout of cancer. Berner said Skinner also became interested in healthy alternatives after a family member was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis.

“We believe we have something really cool to offer the community,” Berner said. The location is expected to be open in mid-September, with a grand opening planned for October.

Community banking option Banking with small-town, personalized customer care and exceptional products and convenient services that are offered at bigger banks is the stated philosophy behind First State Bank, and one that the bank is bringing with its first location to Oakland County in 2019. First State Bank will open at 1575 S. Rochester Road in Rochester Hills next spring.

Bank spokeswoman Amy Persyn said the bank’s philosophy and the strong sense of community in Rochester Hills made for a great fit. “When looking at areas that were viable for expanding our branch network, the Rochester area stood out based on the vast array of opportunity to serve the needs of

the local neighborhoods, from a community bank perspective,” she said. “Culturally, as an organization, it appears that there is value that our team can add to this region by actively getting involved in local initiatives and using our ground-level involvement to enrich the community.” Rooted in Macomb County with 11 current branches there, the future Rochester location mark the bank’s first expansion outside of Macomb County and into Oakland County.

ABC Warehouse expansion Founded in 1963 by Gordon “Gordy” Hartunian, ABC Warehouse has grown from one location in Center Line to more than 40 stores. The business is now planning to expand with a new ABC Warehouse, 2062 S. Rochester Road, in Rochester Hills. A building permit for the address was filed with the city in July. A spokesman for ABC Warehouse wasn’t available for comment. The familyowned and operated chain is among the largest retailers in the Midwest, offering home appliances, electronics,

DOWNTOWN

mattresses, furniture and more. The company employs more than 1,000 people in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana.

Mortgage office opens Indiana-based Ruoff Home Mortgage has opened a new location near downtown Rochester with a new office at 400 Water Street, Suite 203, in Rochester. Based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Ruoff has 49 locations in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Florida and Kentucky, including those in Clarkston, Northville and Rochester.

The company has been ranked 65th in the top 100 mortgage companies in 2017 by Mortgage Executive Magazine, and was named among the fastest growing companies in America six times by Inc. 5,000 Fastest Growing Companies in America in 2018. The business was founded in 1984 and is licensed in 46 states.

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

09.18

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 Rochester area, and then some select restaurants outside the immediate area served by Downtown.

Rochester/Rochester Hills 112 Pizzeria Bistro: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. 2528 S. Adams Road, Rochester Hills, 48309.

248.289.6164.

2941 Street Food: Mediterranean. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Beer & Wine. 87 W. Auburn Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.606.4583.

Alex’s of Rochester: Italian, Greek, & American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.852.2288.

Antoniou’s Pizza: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 918 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, MI 48307. 248.650.2200.

Avery’s Tavern: American. Weekend Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 2086 Crooks Road, Rochester Hills, 48309.

248.270.4030.

Bangkok Cuisine: Thai. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. 727 N. Main Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.652.8841.

Bar Louie: American. Weekend Brunch.

Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations, 10 or more. Liquor. 1488 N. Rochester Road, Rochester, 48307.

248.218.5114.

Bean and Leaf Café: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

439 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307.

248.601.1411.

Bigalora Wood Fire Cucina: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations, parties of 8 or more. Liquor. 6810 N. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48306.

248.218.6230.

Big Boy: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No Reservations. 3756 S. Rochester Road., Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.852.5540. Also 90 E. Tienken Road, Rochester Hills, 48306.

248.601.7777.

Bologna Via Cucina: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

334 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307.

248.651.3300.

Buffalo Wild Wings: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

1234 Walton Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.651.3999.

Chadd’s Bistro: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No Reservations. 1838 E. Auburn Road, Rochester Hills, 48307.

248.293.0665.

Cheng’s Restaurant: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. 2666 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.299.9450.

Chicken Shack: BBQ. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 213 W. University Drive, Rochester, 48307.

248.656.1100.

Chili’s: Tex-Mex. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2735 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307.

248.299.5281.

Chipotle Mexican Grille: Mexican. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 2611 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.402.0047. Also The Village of Rochester Hills, 84 N. Adams Road, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.402.0047.

Chomp Deli & Grille: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

200 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307.

888.342.2497.

CJ Mahoney’s Sports Grille: American.

Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations.

downtownpublications.com

Liquor. 3260 S. Rochester Road, Rochester, 48307. 248.293.2800.

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

Liquor. 2010 W. Auburn Road, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.853.6600.

Clubhouse BFD (Beer-Food-Drink): American. Lunch, Saturday & Sunday.

Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations, 10 or more. Liquor. 2265 Crooks Road, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.289.6093.

Culver's: American. Lunch and Dinner, daily No reservations. 92 E. Auburn Rd., Rochester Hills, MI, 48307.

248.293.2200.

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit: Barbecue. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. 1418 N. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.266.6226.

Downtown Café: American. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. 606 N. Main, Rochester, 48307.

248.652.6680.

Einstein Bros. Bagels: Deli. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. 2972 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, MI 48307. 248.606.4519.

Five Guys Burgers & Fries: American, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

2544 S. Adams Road, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.299.3483.

Georgio’s Pizza & Pasta: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Italian.

117 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307.

248.601.2882.

Gold Star Family Restaurant: American & Greek. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. 650 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.652.2478.

Golden Eagle: American. Lunch, Sunday.

Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1447 N. Rochester Road, Rochester, 48307.

248.651.6606.

Grand Tavern: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 12 Marketplace Circle, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.289.1350.

Half Day Café: American. Breakfast & Lunch, Monday-Saturday. Reservations.

3134 Walton Boulevard, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.375.1330.

Hamlin Pub: American. Breakfast, Sundays. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 1988 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307.

248.656.7700.

Hibachi House Bar & Grill: Japanese Steakhouse. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 335 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307.

248.266.6055.

Honey Tree Grille: Mediterranean.

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 2949 Crooks Road, Rochester, 48309. 248.237.0200.

Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 1186 W. University Drive, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.651.3527.

Johnny Black Public House: American.

Weekend Brunch. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 1711 E. Auburn Road, Rochester Hills, 48307.

248.606.4479.

Kabin Kruser’s Oyster Bar: Seafood. No reservations. Lunch, Monday-Saturday.

Dinner, daily. 306 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.651.2266.

Kerby’s Koney Island: American.

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. 2552 S. Adams Road, Rochester Hills, 48309.

248.844.8900.

King Garden: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 1433 N. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.656.3333.

Krazy Greek Restaurant: Greek. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. 111 E. University Drive, Rochester, 48307.

248.652.0089.

Kruse & Muer In the Village: American.

DOWNTOWN

The Birmingham/Bloomfield area is filled with discriminating diners and an array of dining establishments. Make sure the message for your restaurant reaches the right market in the right publication—Downtown.

Contact Mark Grablowski for advertising rate information.

O: 248.792.6464 Ext. 601 MarkGrablowski@downtownpublications.com

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

Trending tacos Detroit Taco Company – located at 304 N. Main Street, Royal Oak – is about to expand to a second location, four-and-a-half miles up the road in Troy.

Owner Jeffrey Omtvedt said they are hoping for a soft opening in September, with a grand opening the following month at the Troy location, 2199 Crooks Road, between Maple and Big Beaver. While the new space is much smaller than the Royal Oak one – about 1,800-square-feet – the menu and what they strive for will be the same. “The whole point of Detroit Taco is to change the community one taco at a time,” Omtvedt said. “I believe the role of a small business is to take less of a percentage of profits and donate more of it back to the community that supports you.” They will continue to do this through their charity initiatives, like their Meaningful Monday Dining for Dollars initiative, which selects a charity each week, which receives a portion of the day’s proceeds. Within the next year, Omtvedt said they also have plans to open locations in Shelby Township and downtown Detroit.

New unique sushi Sushi may be an ancient delicacy, but business partners Bruce Cobb and Steve Campbell are hoping to make it a little more fun at Blu Bar Sushi, 31225 Southfield Road in Beverly Hills, slated to open in September. While they will offer more traditional rolls, their sushi doughnut – yes, sushi doughnut, an already popular item in Japan and California – will be one of their more unique menu items. Cobb said they will mold rice into the doughnut shape, stuff it with a protein, then cover it with multiple toppings, like cucumbers and yum yum sauce. “You can pick it up with your hands and eat it versus having to use chopsticks…you can get your hands dirty with it and just jump right in,” Cobb said. The 900-square-foot restaurant will also have a bar and liquor license. But back to the food. Not only will they have sushi doughnuts, but plan on them offering sushi doughnut holes, sold by the half dozen and dozen, as well as a sushi slider. In addition, they are also going to host classes on topics ranging from how to make sushi to the world of sake.

Dessert and coffee Some things are serendipitous, like the opening of Dessert Oasis Coffee Roasters’s Royal Oak location, following their popular Rochester and Detroit spots. They had originally planned on adding a third location further down the line but then they saw the space at 115 S. Main Street, and couldn’t say no when it became available. “We were thrilled to find it...we fell in love with it,” said Nathan Hamood, president/director of coffee. This space will actually be the company’s largest at almost 3,800-square-feet. As of press time, they planned to begin services August 7 and stay open until midnight most days of the week. The menu will be similar to their Detroit store, full of desserts and pastries. With multiple coffee shops already in the area, Hamood thinks they will bring something unique to the block, especially with their focus on sourcing coffee from small, quality driven farms around the world, and their overall business model, comparing their shop to those of the ‘60s.

“We do like to be able to have larger cafes where people can come in and sit and enjoy their coffee and dessert, and listen to live music,” he said. “I think Royal Oak will work really well for that.”

Moving on Brandon Zarb’s day-to-day is about to look a lot different. The former executive chef of Public House and Imperial in Ferndale started his new job at Rising Stars Academy in Centerline in August, leaving behind the kitchens he had spent the last three years in. “I was kind of looking for a change of pace,” Zarb said. “I really love the restaurants, and I’ve really enjoyed working with them, but I knew at some point I was going to want to get involved with something different.” After going on a tour of the academy, Zarb fell in love and wanted to be a part of it. “It’s hard to put into words but if you see it you’ll understand why,” he said. “I’ll put it this way, everyone I’ve ever taken there, or I’ve known that’s gone there, before you leave you’re already asking, ‘Ok, how can I get involved?’” Zarb’s involvement will be in

Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations.

Liquor. 134 N. Adams Road, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.375.2503.

Kruse & Muer on Main: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor.

327 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307.

248.652.9400.

Lebanese Grill: Lebanese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 2783 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.606.4651.

Lino’s Restaurant: Italian. Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 50 W. Tienken Road, Rochester Hills, 48306.

248.656.9002.

Lipuma’s Coney Island: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 621 N. Main Steet, Rochester, 48307.

248.652.9862.

Lucky’s Prime Time: American. Weekend Breakfast. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

Reservations, weekdays. Liquor. 1330 Walton Boulevard, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.656.8707.

Main Street Billiards: American. Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 215 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307.

248.652.8441.

Main Street Deli: Deli. Lunch, MondaySaturday. Dinner, Thursday, Friday. No reservations. 709 N. Main Street, Rochester, MI 48307. 248.656.5066.

Mamma Mia Tuscan Grille: Italian. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday, Sunday. Reservations.

Liquor. 543 N. Main Street, Suite 311, Rochester, 48307. 248.402.0234.

Mezza Mediterranean Grille: Mediterranean. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor at The Village location only. 1413 N. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.609.2121.

Also The Village of Rochester Hills, 188 N. Adams Road, Rochester Hills.

248.375.5999.

Miguel’s Cantina: Mexican. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily.

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

248.453.5371.

Mitchell’s Fish Market: Seafood. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 370 N. Adams Road, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.340.5900.

Mr. B’s Food and Spirits: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

423 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307.

248.651.6534.

Noodles & Company: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 184 N. Adams Road, Rochester Hills, 48309.

248.375.5000.

North Shack: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 990 E. Auburn Road, Rochester Hills, 48307.

248.853.3366.

O’Connor’s Public House: Irish Pub. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

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

Oceania Inn: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. The Village of Rochester Hills, 3176 Walton Boulevard, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.375.9200.

Olive Garden: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 2615 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.853.6960.

Paint Creek Tavern: American. Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday, Sunday.

Reservations. Liquor. 613 N. Main Street, Rochester, 48307.

248.759.4205.

Panda Express: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 3105 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.853.9880.

Panera Bread: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 37 S. Livernois Road, Rochester Hills, 48309.

248.601.2050. Also 2921 Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307.

248.853.5722. Also 2508 S. Adams Road, Rochester Hills, 48309.

248.853.7430.

Park 600 Bar & Kitchen: American.

Weekend Brunch. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor.

Royal Park Hotel, 600 E. University Drive, Rochester, 48307.

248.652.2600.

Paul’s on Main: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations.

Liquor. 630 N. Main Sreet., Rochester, 48307. 248.656.0066.

Pei Wei: Asian Fusion. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 1206 E. Walton Boulevard, Rochester, 48307.

248.601.1380.

Penn Station East Coast Subs: American.

Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations.

146. S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307.

248.601.4663.

Penny Black Grill & Tap: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor.

124 W. 4th Street, Rochester, 48307.

248.841.1522.

P.F. Chang's China Bistro: Asian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. The Village of Rochester Hills, 122 N. Adams Rd., Rochester Hills, 48309.

248.923.7030.

Pudthai & Sushi: Thai & Japanese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. 2964 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.299.6890.

Qdoba Mexican Grill: Mexican. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 1198 Walton Boulevard, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.608.2603. Also 3014 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.844.3668.

Ram’s Horn: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 1990 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.651.7900.

Recipes: American/Brunch. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 134 W. University Drive, Rochester, 48037.

248.659.8267.

Red Knapp’s Dairy Bar: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 304 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307.

248.651.4545.

Red Lobster: Seafood. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2825 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.299.8090.

Red Olive: Mediterranean & American.

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 1194 Walton Boulevard, Rochester, 48307. 248.656.0300.

Rochester Bistro: American-Continental.

Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday, Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 227 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307.

248.923.2724.

Rochester Brunch House: American.

Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. 301 Walnut Boulevard, Rochester, 48307. 248.656.1600.

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

248.651.2266.

Rochester Diner & Grill: American, Greek & Italian. Breakfast & Lunch, daily.

Dinner, Monday-Saturday. 1416 E. Walton Blvd., Rochester Hill, 48309.

248.652.6737.

Rochester Mills Beer Co.: American.

Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations.

Liquor. 400 Water Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.650.5080.

Rochester Tap Room: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 6870 N. Rochester Road, Rochester, 48306.

248.650.2500.

Seasons of India: Indian. Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor.

6866 N. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48306. 248.413.5742.

Shish Palace: Mediterranean. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, daily.

Reservations. 165 S. Livernois Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.453.5464.

Shogun: Japanese. Lunch, MondaySaturday. Dinner, daily. Reservations.

Liquor. 173 S. Livernois Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.453.5386.

Silver Spoon Ristorante: Italian. Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor.

6830 N. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48306. 248.652.4500.

Soho: Japanese. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 2943 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307.

248.289.1179.

Sumo Sushi & Seafood: Japanese & Korean. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

Reservations, 24 hours in advance.

Liquor. 418 N. Main Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.601.0104.

Tapper’s Pub: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 877 E. Auburn Road, Rochester Hills, 48307.

248.852.1983.

Tim Hortons: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 940 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.656.8292.

The Jagged Fork: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 188 N. Adams, Rochester Hills, 48306.

The Meeting House: American. Weekend Brunch. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday.

Reservations. Liquor. 301 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307.

248.759.4825.

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

248.453.5291.

Tropical Smoothie Café: American.

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 2913 Crooks Road, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.852.4800.

Val's Polish Kitchen: Polish. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday, Sunday. Reservations. 224 E. Auburn Rd., Rochester Hills, 48307.

248.293.2660.

Wayback Burgers: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 1256 Walton Boulevard, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.453.5746. Also 2595 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48307. 248.844.2717.

Willoughby’s Beyond Juice: American.

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 120 E. 4th Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.841.1670.

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

248.817.2424.

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.

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

248.619.9060.

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.

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

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

248.689.2332.

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

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

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

248.816.3424.

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

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

Orchid Café: Thai. Lunch, Monday-Friday.

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

248.524.1944.

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

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

248.816.8000.

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

2919 Crooks Road, Troy, 48084.

248.614.5390.

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

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

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

248.817.2980.

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

248.646.2220.

Andiamo: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

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

248.865.9300.

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

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.

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.

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

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

Café ML: New American. Dinner, daily.

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

248.642.4000.

Cameron’s Steakhouse: American.

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

248.723.1700.

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

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

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

the academy’s restaurant and lunch service, as well as classroom demonstrations ranging from knife to sanitation skills. As far as his association with the forthcoming restaurant Antihero, another restaurant being planned by Working Class Outlaws, the restaurant group behind Public House and Imperial, also on Nine Mile, Zarb said his understanding is that they’ve already begun the hiring process to replace him.

Not your typical beer When Lea and Kyle Hunt leased the entire building at 1454 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit, they knew they would eventually do something with the second floor.

Now that the restaurant on the first floor, Gather, is up and running, they are turning what they had been using as an Airbnb into a craft beer bar called Cøllect (the “øl” is Danish for beer) with the hopes of a late September opening. Kyle said the beers on their 14 taps will change based on the season, and while they love places like Bell’s and Founder’s, they plan on picking breweries not everyone has heard of. “There’s a lot of small, momand-pop interesting breweries from New York to California to Michigan,” he said. “We want to highlight some of those breweries.” The duo hope to create relationships with breweries and make collaboration beers. The latter they are already working with is Ferndale’s Urbanrest Brewing Company, which will have a beer at Cøllect that will only be available there.

Finally going vegan There’s been much anticipation and Chili Mustard Onions – Detroit’s first vegan coney island – has finally opened. Located at 3411 Brush Street, the restaurant opened August 1, according to their Facebook page and they have been kept busy. During their first two days of service, they had to close earlier than anticipated because they ran out of food. Seems the owners, Pete and Shellee LaCombe and their daughter Darla, aren’t the only ones who were craving vegan coney dogs. Not only does the 30-seat restaurant offer coney island classics, like coney dogs and chili cheese fries, but they add their twist to items like their “beetball” sub and “Big Mock.” Plus, there are a variety of fries and desserts also on the menu. They didn’t forget those going the gluten-free route either, as they offer gluten-free hot dog and burger buns.

Same faces, new roles Big Rock Chophouse of Birmingham owners Norman and Bonnie LePage recently announced Eric Voigt would be taking over as executive chef and Bill Morales will be their new executive sous chef. Both chefs have worked at the restaurant – located at 245 S. Eton Street – for years. Voigt joined the staff at Big Rock Chophouse in 2011, when he began as their executive pastry chef, while Morales joined in 2015 as a line cook before quickly making his way up the ladder. Bonnie LePage said in the press release that they were happy to promote both chefs and are excited to see what they do going forward with the menu.

Don’t get FOMO After purchasing the Como’s space at 22812 Woodward Avenue at Nine Mile Road in Ferndale, its new owners, the Peas and Carrots Hospitality Group, knew it would be a long time before they would be able to open the restaurant again. So they decided to start FOMO, a patio bar pop-up which began August 3. “We thought this would be a good opportunity to inject a little energy in to it, keep people talking about us, and also introduce ourselves to the community,” said Michael Gray, Peas & Carrots’ regional manager and Ferndale resident. The FOMO (slang for “fear of missing out”) events will take place Thursday-Saturday from 6 p.m. until 2 a.m. and have live music, outdoor games, and different non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages. Gray said they won’t be serving food and hope to continue this through the end of September.

Bites Legendary Detroit bar, Anchor Bar at 450 W. Fort Street was sold to Zaid Elia, who owns Birmingham’s 220 and Parc in Detroit, with a deal expected to close in late September. And another legendary Detroit bar, Cobo Joe’s at 422 W. Congress Sreet, closed permanently, serving its last drinks in July.

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

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

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

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

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

248.258.9400.

Griffin Claw Brewing Company: American.

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

Liquor. 575 S. Eton Street, Birmingham.

248.712.4050.

Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse: American.

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

248.594.4369.

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

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

248.792.9609.

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.

Mandaloun Bistro: Lebanese. Lunch, Monday-Friday. Dinner, Daily.

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

248.723.7960.

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

248.723.0800.

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

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

248.644.3122.

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

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

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

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

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

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

248.645.9123.

Tallulah Wine Bar and Bistro: American.

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

248.731.7066.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Townhouse: American. Brunch, Saturday, Sunday. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 180 Pierce Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.792.5241.

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

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

Vinotecca: European. Dinner, daily.

Reservations. Liquor. 210 S. Old Woodard, Birmingham, 48009.

248.203.6600.

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.

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.

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.v 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, Monday-Saturday. 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.

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

248.607.3127.

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

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

248.541.1186.

Town Tavern: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily.

No reservations. Liquor. 116 W. Fourth St., Royal Oak, 48067. 248.544.7300.

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

Trattoria Da Luigi: Italian. Dinner, 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.

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.

DOWNTOWN

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.

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.

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.

09.18

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.

Child Safe Legends of Tomorrow Gala

Sally Gerak

Child Safe Legends of Tomorrow Gala Board chair Keith Pomeroy called Child Safe’s affiliation with Judson Center “a perfect union” when he welcomed the 320 supporters ($300 & $500 tickets) to the annual gala at the Townsend Hotel. The evening was chaired by Susu Sosnick and Christine and David Colman whom he also praised for planning “amazing parties.” Amazing is also what this reporter thought about Judson’s foster care navigator Melissa Covell. And not just for the insight she shared about the children she places in loving homes “...to give them back their childhood.” But amazing because she has personally fostered 23 children. Her remarks earned a standing ovation and inspired very generous bidding in the live auction ($70,050) and dedicated giving ($77,000) conducted by Christopher Aslanian. Thanks also to a raffle ($10,400) won by Gerry Miserendino and sponsors , the annual soiree raised $480,000, which greatly please executive director Ashley Hudson, who gave birth to a healthy baby girl 11 days later.

The Garden Party More than 600 fashionable folks ($150 ticket) gathered at Meadow Brook Hall for the 10th annual Garden Party. Their path through the historic manse to the tent was lined with a nice touch – posters featuring 10 beneficiaries of previous party funds. At the first stop on the terrace, a volunteer poured sparkling dry white wine from L. Mawby Winery as Olivia Millerschin and her band made music. Twenty-two more wine stations were located throughout the tent offering more than 100 outstanding pours.

Twenty-five food purveyors, including the Oakland Community College Culinary Studies Institute, served small plates ranging from oysters to lobster-stuffed beef tenderloin to burgers. New-this-year picnic tables on the lawn adjacent to the vintage car display seemed to be always occupied as “first couple” Elizabeth and Syd Ross managed to greet personally most of the guests. The exceptional event raised $185,000 for scholarship assistance at Oakland Community College. This brings the 10-year total to approximately $1 million.

Rose Hill Foundation Golf Fundraiser Eight of the 115 golfers who played in the 27th annual Rose Hill Golf Tournament provided great cocktail hour entertainment when they participated in the $1-million Shootout. Four were chosen for being closest to a hole during the day’s play. Four more were randomly drawn from a raffle pool. From the terrace overlooking the par-three, ninth hole, guests cheered the golfers as each tried for a hole-in-one and the million dollars. No one holed his tee shot but Chris Allen won $2,500 for coming the closest. The highlight of the dinner program was a Q & A with two residents of the psychiatric treatment center and CEO / President Ben Robinson. Event chair Greg Schwartz thanked the sponsors and presented trophies to the top three teams. RH founder Dan Kelly noted that the past golf events have raised $1.5 million and the 2018 event added $108,00 for financial assistance at the center in Holly. All guests took home a rose plant grown by Rose Hill residents.

JVS Strictly Business More than 600 supporters ($150 & up tickets) of JVS’s employment services gathered at the MGM Grand for the annual fundraising luncheon. Devin Scillian emceed the program which had many highlights beginning with a moving video featuring the three Employee of the Year awardees – Blanca Fauble, Gabby downtownpublications.com

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3 1. Charlie (left) & Cathy Sosnick Schwartz and Bob Levenson & SuSu Sosnick of Birmingham. 2. Christine & David Colman of Birmingham. 3. Sonia Pomeroy (left) of Birmingham, Dr. Robert & Anabelle DiPilla of Bloomfield. 4. Keith Pomeroy and Brian Manoogian of Birmingham. 5. Katie (left) & Sam Valenti and Ashley Hudson of Bloomfield.

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The Garden Party

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1. Syd (left) & Elizabeth Ross of Bloomfield, Peter Provenzano of Macomb. 2. Nicole (left) & Norman Yatooma of Bloomfield and Doug & Jaime Turnbull of Grosse Pointe. 3. Jackie Ong of Bloomfield. 4. Jeremy & Melissa Garrett of Oakland. 5. Nicole & Adam Wirick of Bloomfield.

DOWNTOWN

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SOCIAL LIGHTS/SALLY GERAK Rose Hill Foundation Golf Fundraiser

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Gibson and Mark Linear. Both the Business Leadership and the Rising Entrepreneur awardees (Broder & Sachse Real Estate and Fuse 45’s Samantha Friedman) had JVS connections. B&S employs JVS workers and Fuse45 conducts 17 fitness classes for JVS clients with disabilities.

In the keynote speech, Honorary Chair GM’s Mark Reuss called the JVS video “unbelievable,” adding that GM and he shared the JVS education priority.

Citing GM’s re-entry program for older workers, Reuss concluded, “Like JVS, we are all in this together.” Thanks also to

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1. Ben Robinson (center) of Rochester Hills, Dan & Rosemary Kelly of Bloomfield. 2. Greg Schwartz, Jr, of Bloomfield, Gayle Flannigan of Rochester. 3. Mike Vojinov (left) of Birmingham, Mike Hansen of Lake Orion, John Tomas of Rochester. 4. Susan & Tim Lucken of Birmingham.

5. Mary Ann Cromwell (left) of Bloomfield, Chris Allen of Birmingham.

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generous sponsors, the 21st annual event raised $325,000 for programs to help people realize life’s potential.

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JVS Strictly Business

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1. Bob Canvasser (left) and Beth Gotthelf of Birmingham, Rich Broder of Bloomfield. 2. Karen Kelman (left) of W. Bloomfield, Samantha Friedman of Birmingham. 3. Ed (left) & Blanca Fauble of Bloomfield, Sherri James of Farmington Hills. 4. Jennifer Orcutt (left) of Birmingham and Natasha Ursuy of Oakland. 5. Andi Wolfe (left) of Bloomfield, Linda Kovan of W. Bloomfield, Keith Pomeroy of Birmingham.

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French American Chamber of Commerce

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2 1. Jon Block (left) and Robin & Greg Ornazian of Rochester. 2. Jennifer & Cedric Ballarin of Bloomfield, Stéphane Ormand of NYC. 3. Stephanie (left) & Peter Schwartz of Bloomfield, Arnaud & Katie Mangin of Birmingham. 4. Paul & Jan Hoge of Bloomfield. 5. Rami (left) & Carmen Fakhoury of Bloomfield, Alain Jablonowski of Ann Arbor, Xavier Mosquet of Birmingham, Felicia Molnar of Franklin.

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French American Chamber of Commerce When the 170 Francophiles ($170, $200 tickets) arrived at Orchard Lake Country Club, they saw three Cars with Wings displayed near the entrance. It was a salute to the honoree, Air FranceKLM USA’s Stéphane Ormand and his company’s role in connecting Detroit to the world. During the dinner program FACC president Cedric Ballerin remarked on France’s importance to Detroit’s future. The dinner followed champagne on the terrace and a silent wine and art auction benefiting ($10,000) Doctors Without Borders. The international non-profit was founded in 1971 by French physicians and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999 for its life saving medical care worldwide and the attention it brings to problems in countries where it serves. The organization’s Gilles de Gilles said it depends on individual donors for 90percent of its funding.

Franklin Garden Walk Most of the 798 ticket holders ($12, $15 tickets) toured the five exceptional gardens open for the 33rd annual Garden Walk lovingly presented by the Franklin garden club. The generous, talented gardeners included Jean Hansen, Anne Murray, Nancy Farber, Isabelle Ribando and Frank Venegas. Margaret Bancroft and Cynthia Amann chaired the event which also included a market offering garden-related products like sculptures, birdhouses and baskets.

Three days after the walk, Sharon Wolf hosted the wrap-up luncheon for club members at which Jane Davis and Ann Houston passed the copresidency to Peggy Default and Bancroft. Other luncheon business included news that the walk raised $8,000 for the club’s philanthropies and that Cindy Juliano and Kathy Lorencz are the 2019 Walk chairs.

09.18

Shimmer on the River Six kilted pipers heralded the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy program honoring Matt and Karen Cullen and saluted the honoree’s ethnic heritage.

The rousing opening was roundly applauded by the 650 VIPs ($250) gathered on the Rivard Plaza. They also applauded the deluge of tributes by speakers like Roger Penske, Terry Rhadigan, Mariam Noland, Faye Alexander Nelson and Carl Levin.

Without exception, all referenced the honorees’ exceptional leadership, vision and support for a first class walkway along the Detroit River. Emcee Will Smith (DRC CFO) even noted that Matt was the man who, 12 years ago, changed a too long, International Freedom Festival into the shorter GM River Days Festival, necessitating a really big change. “The man moved the fireworks,” he declared. Matt paid tribute to all the partners, like the late Bob Larson and David Page. Karen said the Riverfront is like their fourth child. DRC president Mark Wallace recognized Matt and Karen’s ongoing commitment, including a recent gift of $4 million, by unveiling a name change for the plaza. Waiters passed champagne and all toasted the Cullen Plaza. (It is home to a café, a large sand box, a playscape, the Cullen Family Carousel, a glass map of the St. Lawrence Seaway, reflecting water features, colorful landscaping and the Diamond Jack Boat Tours dock.)

Another 350 ($150) arrived for food truck cuisine, carnival rides, games and music by BeatleMania Live! Thanks also to generous sponsors, the evening raised $277,000 for the Conservancy. It also kicked off the 12th annual, two-day GM River Days that attracted 140,000.

Lighthouse Salute America Lighthouse of Oakland County’s 15th annual patriotic-themed fundraiser attracted 150 people ($150, $250 tickets) to Pontiac’s Lafayette Grande. The former Masonic Temple, built in 1923, was a great venue for the 1930s and 1940s-theme party which inspired some fashion choices. Both the honoree, Oakland County Treasurer Andy Meisner, and LOC CEO Rick David noted the building’s revival symbolizes Pontiac’s comeback. Emcee CBS 50’s Karen Carter introduced former Lighthouse client Shannon Smith, now a PATH staff member. The single mother got a standing ovation when her survival saga ended with an MA in Social Work. Silent and live auctions ($20,000), paddle raise pledging ($6,000) and generous sponsors combined to raise $70,000 for the comprehensive social service downtownpublications.com

Franklin Garden Walk

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1. Sue Leich (left) and Cynthia Amann of Bloomfield. 2. Shelley Farkas (left) of Bloomfield, Sue Ruby of Beverly Hills, Marge Johnston of Novi. 3. Pat Ciagne (left), Lynn Choudhury, Dorothy Nagy and Kae Gaskin of Bloomfield. 4. Diane Bert of Bloomfield.

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Shimmer on the River

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1. Kathy & Roger Penske of Birmingham.

2. Mitch Mondry (center) of Birmingham, Faye Nelson (left) of Grosse Pointe and Sarah McClure of Bloomfield. 3. Lori Wingerter (left) of Oakland Twp. and Terry Rhadigan of Novi. 4. Chip McClure (left) and Rusty & Larry Raymond of Bloomfield.

5. Richard Astrein (left) of Huntington Woods, Bob DeLaura of Birmingham, Tom DeLaura of Detroit.

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Lighthouse Salute America

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2 1. Jeannine (left) & Jim Lambrecht of Rochester and Pat & Rick David of Pontiac, Andy & Sara Meisner of Huntington Woods. 2. Laura & Harve Light of Rochester Hills. 3. Eileen & John Ball of Bloomfield. 4. Patty Ghesquiere (left) of Bloomfield, Noelle Schiffer of Birmingham, Anne Necha of Ferndale, Alyce Robelli of Birmingham. 5. Daniela Hamameh (left) of Rochester Hills, Tim Travis of Waterford, Stephanie Hubbs of Pontiac.

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SOCIAL LIGHTS/SALLY GERAK agency that David described as “...a pillar that helps to guide people home.”

The swing music of the Rhythm Society Orchestra kept the dance floor crowded with folks burning the comfort food calories.

DSO Heroes Gala

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1. Cindy McTee (left) & Leonard Slatkin of Bloomfield, Daniel Slatkin & Bridget Laifman of Los Angeles, CA. 2. Harold & Penny Blumenstein of Bloomfield. 3. Avern & Lois Cohn of Birmingham. 4. Anne Parsons (left) of Detroit, Mort Harris and Sandy Morrison of Bloomfield. 5. Missy & Tom Mark of Birmingham.

A House Party at Cranbrook

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1. Bruce Peterson (left) of Detroit, Beth Willoughby and Bonnie Larson of Bloomfield. 2. Tom Booth (left) of Birmingham, Emily Booth O’Toole of Traverse City, Kimberly Booth Jarzeml of Northville, Lois Booth of Birmingham. 3. Ginny Fox and Erin DiMarco of Bloomfield. 4. Greg Wittkopp (left) of Pleasant Ridge, Sandy Smith and Dom DiMarco of Bloomfield. 5. Katie Valenti (left) of Bloomfield, Suzy Farbman of Franklin, Anne Smith Towbes of Santa Barbara, CA.

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DSO Heroes Gala The eighth annual stellar symphony fundraiser was a bit like a love-in for philanthropists Penny and Harold Blumenstein and Leonard Slatkin, who is leaving the DSO after 10 years.

The 900 concert goers in Orchestra Hall enthusiastically applauded the warm and glowing tributes by cellist Wei Yu, DSO president Anne Parsons, board chair Mark Davidoff, and conductor Teddy Abrahams. They also gave standing ovations to: the orchestra; the Blumensteins, Slatkin, who quipped “...my heart attacked me seven weeks ago”; Slatkin’s son Daniel who wrote and conducted “In Fields” as a surprise tribute to his father; Slatkin’s wife/composer Cindy McTee; vocalist Storm Large’s exceptional Cole Porter renditions; and the Youth Orchestra musicians on stage. Slatkin’s encore – Carmen’s ‘Hoedown” – energized the 250 fans of the heroes ($1,000 & up tickets) for the splendid Gala dinner in the Cummings Cube. The extraordinary soiree raised nearly $1.2-million for the DSO’s commitment to transform the lives of area youth through music education.

A House Party at Cranbrook Six years ago, Cranbrook Educational Community organized the archives and tours of its historically significant resources into one entity – the Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research. And its very first fundraiser would have made HGTV envious. The event spotlighted remarkable residential architecture and attracted 190 guests ($375 & up tickets). Many of them first toured the 1920’s iconic Art Deco Saarinen House and the recently donated 1950 Frank Lloyd Wright Smith House before gathering at Cranbrook House – the 1908 Arts and Crafts home of Cranbrook founders George and Ellen Scripps Booth. Cocktail hour diversions on the tented North Terrace overlooking the extraordinary gardens included signature drinks and retro hors d’oeuvres. The program included remarks and expressions of gratitude by CEC CEO Dom DiMarco (who credited George and Ellen’s granddaughter Ginny Fox for convincing trustees that the center was essential), CCCR Director Greg Wittkopp, event chair Beth Willoughby, CCCR Subcommittee chair Sandi Smith and Anne Fuchs Smith Towbes, whose great uncle Albert Kahn 09.18

designed Cranbrook House. The latter’s two late husbands, Bob Smith and Michael Towbes, both shared her dream for the Smith House “...to be (part of) Cranbrook.”

Her family’s commitment earned a standing ovation and generated passion for the nine-item live auction conducted by Gregory Bator that raised nearly $75,000. After relishing a four-course, seated dinner set throughout Cranbrook House, guests returned to the terrace to dance. Here’s betting that George and Ellen Scripps Booth would be pleased the inaugural CCCR benefit raised $232,663 to preserve their legacy.

St. Hugo’s Altar Guild Garden Party When most women’s primary work was home-centered, the St. Hugo of the Hills Altar Guild’s annual charity luncheon was a sold-out affair and raised lots of money for the group’s community service projects. To accommodate working women, in recent years that luncheon evolved into a ladies-night-out at a country club with modest success. This year, thanks to the largess of philanthropist Jack Krasula whose Bloomfield Hills garden is legendary, the chairs – Joann Gordon, Sandie Knollenberg and Diane Roelant – staged a Garden Party there. On a Saturday evening. In mid-July. When many people, including one of the chairs, are Up North. They still welcomed 50 guests ($200 ticket), many of whom were intrigued by the hosts’ sports memorabilia collection and art, as well as the magnificent, park-like garden. The warm hospitality, wining, dining and conversation were all splendid. Proceeds will support the guild’s service projects.

Meadow Brook Theatre The fourth annual Meadow Brook Theatre summer fundraiser’s beach party theme attracted 500 fans to the Oakland University home of Michigan’s largest producing professional theatre.

They perused a silent auction and sipped and supped on the stroll before convening in the auditorium for a concert by The Drifters and a mini live auction energetically conducted by MBT Artistic Director Travis Walter. The group, whose origins stretch back to the ‘50s, also played hits like “Stand By Me,” “On Broadway” and “Up on the Roof” – musical memories for a generation that came of age with them. The lighthearted evening raised more than $30,000 to benefit the non-profit theatre.

Send ideas for this column to Sally Gerak, 28 Barbour Lane, Bloomfield Hills, 48304; email samgerak@aol.com or call 248.646.6390. downtownpublications.com

St. Hugo’s Altar Guild Garden Party

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1. Jack Krasula, and Sandie Knollenberg (left) and Diane Roelant of Bloomfield. 2. Dave (left) & Lisa Wilson and Maryann Cromwell of Bloomfield.

3. Cece Lipsky and John Roelant of Bloomfield. 4. Tony (left) & Suzanne Rea and Marilyn & Ken Way of Bloomfield. 5. Robert Wilson and Pam Good of Bloomfield.

Meadow Brook Theatre

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1. John & Anita Savior of Rochester Hills. 2. Peggy Gamble (left) of Rochester Hills, Lynn Oates of Rochester. 3. Maryann Foxlee (left) of Shelby Twp., Judy Dery of Detroit. 4. Chris & Peter DeSteiger of Rochester Hills. 5. Kathy Leonard (left) of Rochester Hills, Cheryl Marshall of Clarkston, Lucy Kollin of Troy.

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ENDNOTE

County clerk must accept responsibility pair of investigations into the shortage of precinct ballots available to Oakland County voters in the final hours of the Tuesday, August 7, primary election should tell us what we already know: the Oakland County Clerk's Office was responsible for the lack of adequate ballot numbers.

More than 27 local municipal clerks in Oakland County signed a statement apologizing to voters who experienced difficulties voting during the election, including clerks from Bloomfield Township, Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Rochester Hills and Rochester. The statement places the blame at the feet of Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown.

Reports of ballot shortages in several Oakland County communities started circulating hours before polls were closed at 8 p.m. on election day, with clerks telling Downtown newsmagazine that precincts had come close to running out or had completely run out of ballots.

Those who experienced problems had to use altered test ballots, request additional ballots from the county or have voters use machines intended for ADA voting and print their own ballots.

Brown said her office has launched an internal investigation. However, in responses to the claims against her and her office, she said the office "went above and beyond" what is required by law, while blaming higher than expected voter turnout, ballots spoiled by improper voting, and an unfounded claim that some clerks were withholding ballots while crowds demanded to vote.

However, it was voter turnout – more than 34 percent across Oakland County – that was higher than expected for the county clerk's office.

Rochester Hills Clerk Tina Barton said that city saw over 36 percent turnout. Some precincts

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had nearly 45 percent, with an overall increase of 14 percent from the last gubernatorial primary and five percent higher than that of eight years earlier. The countywide turnout for the nonpresidential year primary in 2014 was 20.61 percent of registered voters.

"We don't have a crystal ball," Brown said. "We ordered more than the our statutory requirement.”

While the county may not have a crystal ball, they have something more realistic and accurate: absentee ballots. With a 60 percent increase in absentee ballots cast prior to primary day, local clerks saw an early indicator that additional ballots were needed, and requested more from the clerk's office.

Barton said she sent her first email to the county on May 31 informing the clerk's office that their formula for issuing ballots wasn't going to be accurate. By mid-July, the city began witnessing a shortage of absentee ballots, forcing them to issue precinct ballots for absentee voting.

"We knew we were seeing incredible numbers," she said.

Yet requests from Barton, Bloomfield Township's Jan Roncelli and other clerks throughout the county for additional ballots weren't granted.

"When the county did increase ballot quantities the week before the election, it was by a very small percentage and still not sufficient for most of our communities," local clerks said in their statement. Brown confirmed her office did receive some requests for additional ballots.

Brown said her internal investigation will include looking into emails received by Oakland County Clerk Director of Elections Joe Rozell from municipal clerks.

The Oakland Board of Commissioners also

launched a bi-partisan investigation looking into what occurred.

While the investigations may help to show specifics of where mistakes were made in preparing for the primary, we are swayed by the statement of nearly 30 local clerks who say the county miscalculated on the number of ballots needed – and requests from clerks were dismissed.

We also find Brown's arguments for the shortages, and fixes she claims local clerks should have used, to be unacceptable – and a dodge of accountability.

Brown suggested clerks could have solved the ballot shortages by using ADA-compliant machines to allow voters to print ballots. While each precinct location is required to have such a machine, many precincts share one location, meaning several thousand voters would have needed to share one such machine, which is slower than regular machines. This is an inappropriate response from the clerk responsible for ensuring all registered voters have a chance to cast a ballot.

Further, we find it hard to swallow Brown's claims that local clerks would have turned away voters while still holding ballots at the precincts.

Rather, clerks Downtown spoke with while polling was still open indicated that voters wouldn't be turned away, ensuring all who showed up by 8 p.m. would be permitted to vote.

This was not an effort at voter disenfranchisement, but poor planning.

Fortunately this unfortunate situation won’t be repeated in the November general election – state election law requires the county to print ballots to cover all registered voters.

But we recommend the county clerk's office, and Brown in particular, use her energy to ensure proper voting, rather than blame shifting, in preparation for future elections.

Time to trim landmark tree ordinance rdinances designed to protect a community's natural tree canopy and save healthy trees from destruction in the name of progress should be commended and adhered to by local governing boards. However, it may be time for Rochester to revisit its landmark tree ordinance in order to ensure it is practical and appropriate.

Rochester has several ordinances regarding the removal of trees that are designed to maintain a natural tree canopy and provide a healthy, sustainable urban forestry program. Under those ordinances, before any regulated trees with a diameter of seven inches or greater are removed from public or private property, the city must be notified and consulted. In general, residents are permitted to remove three qualifying trees per year, provided they acquire a permit from the city, which may be obtained for free.

All trees in the city that are greater than 24 inches or of a greater and specific species that

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meet smaller size requirements may be protected under the city's landmark tree ordinance designation. Once a tree receives the designation, it may only be removed if city council grants an exception, or variance, to the ordinance.

To date, no city council has permitted removal of any landmark tree – a track record that should be a point of pride. However, a discussion on Monday, August 13, about trimming the city's landmark tree ordinance may have some merit.

The discussion stemmed from a resident's request to remove a 150-year-old silver maple tree from their property. Rochester Deputy City Manager Nik Banda, a professional forester, assessed the tree and recommended it not be removed, based on its protected status under the city's ordinance. However, several council members questioned whether silver maples and some other potentially problematic tree species should be included in the ordinance.

Silver maple trees are one of several species that the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) lists as "trees not recommended for planting," under its urban and community forestry program. Trees listed are done so primarily for tree health or nuisance reasons. Silver maples have weaker wood that is susceptible to storm damage and have invasive roots that may cause problems for sewers, structure and the tree itself.

Others species are prone to major insect damage, diseases or other issues.

While the city's current landmark tree ordinance doesn't exempt any trees by species, the city and council would be wise to utilize Banda's expert knowledge in determining whether such removals are necessary, and look at the pros and cons of potential changes. It's best for the city to be as well-prepared as possible as residents, and future residents, look to maximize their property.

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