BRIAN KEPES
august 4 primary election voter guide
from page 29B
with all board members and residents to place Bloomfield’s interests first. KEY ISSUES Key issues facing Bloomfield are as follows: First, continue to meet and exceed residents' expectations of a safe, secure, and stable community while balancing the limited revenues available, even in the face of these hopefully once in a lifetime catastrophic events. As such, we need to remain committed to fiscally conservative policies and keep our tax rates low for residents. Second, provide and support innovative solutions to our challenges that include road maintenance and/or provide opportunities for new roads and the essential maintenance and restoration of our aging water and sewer infrastructure. Furthermore, provide and improve the very best services to our residents while retaining and attracting top quality staff to perform these vital services like police, fire, and advanced life support. Third, we need a cohesive township board that can maintain the trust of the taxpayers and provide a local government we can all be proud of. WHY VOTE FOR YOU Why keep Brian Kepes your Bloomfield Treasure? My extensive experience in the private sector, as a CPA, founding successful businesses, and my lifetime active leadership of community nonprofit boards and organizations, has provided me the crucial ability to work with all types of people in all types of environments and build strength. When you write more checks to government than you receive, you gain a true respect for the value of every tax dollar and take seriously the responsibility of managing public funds. In my first term as your treasurer, I have enjoyed the opportunity to substantially reduce or eliminate every financial investment provider’s cost/fee and treasury staffing levels while simultaneously increasing the transparency, service and/or productivity providing significant value to Bloomfield taxpayers. Your treasury department has also continually provided enhancements to the treasury process to simplify and improve your experience. These advancements include allowing you the option of paperless water/sewer billing, online payments processes for all departments, and point of sale credit card use at the counter. We’ve only just begun… To date, we have eliminated approximately $1 million in annual perpetual treasury related costs and fees. I will maintain a laser focus on continued taxpayer cost reductions and value enhancements of the treasury services for the benefit of Bloomfield Township residents. 30B
BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP TRUSTEE/DEMOCRAT FINANCIAL KNOWLEDGE
STEPHANIE FAKIH
A great deal of time as trustee is spent going over the township's budget, finances, special assessment districts, and other economic and investment issues. What is your background, and what qualifications would you bring to the table that would be an asset on a sevenmember board?
Fakih earned her undergraduate degree at University of Michigan and her law degree at Fordham University. She is an attorney with First Rights Law and has not run for political office before. TRUSTEE RESPONSIBILITIES Unlike the full time positions of supervisor, clerk, and treasurer, trustees are part-time positions, one where you in essence stand in for your constituents, the residents of the township. What do you think is the role of trustee? What qualifications do you have to perform in this position? A township trustee has many roles. A trustee must oversee township operations and be a policymaker for the township. A trustee must be a leader for the township, familiar with the township and having a vision and solutions for the township. A trustee must work effectively with constituents and other elected township officials, listening closely to concerns and helping advance the needs of the township both effectively and ethically. I have the qualifications to fill all of these roles. As a criminal defense attorney, I routinely have to challenge and investigate policies and procedures to ensure both effectiveness and high moral integrity for the justice system. I work with legislative committees to help advance the interests of justice and am familiar with policy-making. I have the interpersonal skills to work with different stakeholders while advancing the interests of the township. I grew up in Bloomfield Township and chose to move back after graduating law school in New York City. I know what issues face the township and I have the ideas and skills to help solve those issues and keep the township a place we all love to live.
I started my law firm, Rights First Law PC in 2014. Over six years later, I have a thriving criminal defense practice in Birmingham. I know how to find solutions to problems, whether it is for a client or for my business. I can review and analyze data to help meet identified goals. I utilize available resources and critical thinking to find resolution. We live in a township full of resources, including our excellent township employees. As a trustee, I will work with township employees, elected township officials and other advisors to make sure every financial or investment decision bears in mind the best interests of the township and its residents. MASTER PLAN/ORDINANCES How familiar are you with your community's master plan and zoning ordinances? Is there a part of the master plan or an ordinance that you feel needs to change? Bloomfield Township has an extremely rich, long history and as such has many established homes and properties. It is different from other neighboring areas in that it has little development opportunity. There is not a part of the master plan or a township ordinance that needs to change, but the township needs to work to encourage homeowners to continue to invest in their properties creating more robust neighborhoods. The township should also continue to explore the possibility of creating a park space within the township. TOWNSHIP SUPERINTENDENT This past year, a township trustee introduced the concept of a township superintendent, who would supersede the supervisor and act similarly to a city manager in running the township. What are your thoughts on this idea, and why do you think it would, or would not, work for Bloomfield Township? I do not think hiring a township superintendent is necessary or appropriate for Bloomfield Township. A township superintendent signals a lack of confidence in the board of trustees. Bloomfield Township residents and those running for elected office in the
VOTER GUIDE/DOWNTOWN
township are sophisticated, well educated, highly regarded members of society. Residents should have confidence in their elected officials and should not require a township superintendent to oversee township operations. Bloomfield Township residents deserve to feel secure about the township’s future and have a board of trustees they can trust in and be proud of. PLATFORM ISSUES What is your vision of Bloomfield Township? If elected as trustee, do you see yourself working towards reforming one area, with a specific goal in mind? If so, what is it? If you have a platform issue, how do you expand your vision beyond your goal to understand and represent all of the residents of the township and their interests, which may not be the same as yours? My campaign slogan of Take Back the Township is about keeping Bloomfield Township a place we all love to live, something every Bloomfield Township resident can support. Bloomfield Township is a desirable community, but we must work to ensure the township continues to be a financially stable community with low taxes, excellent public services and a beautiful landscape to match. In recent years, Bloomfield Township has seen a lack of confidence in its elected officials. Whether misplaced or not, my goal is to unify the community and work to resolve the problems facing the township. REUNIFYING THE COMMUNITY There has been an increased lack of civility at township board meetings and social media postings, contributing to a divisiveness and lack of respect and cordiality. Given the very public struggles that have taken place in the township, what would be your plan to unify the community and the staff? It is important for Bloomfield Township residents to have a board of trustees that speaks with one voice, respectfully and ethically and acts only in the best interest of the township and the residents. It is unseemly for a township of the caliber of Bloomfield Township to be in the news for a lack of civility. If elected as Bloomfield Township Trustee, I will work with all elected officials and constituents to create a township that works for everyone. We all have the same goals for Bloomfield Township – keeping it a top-rated, one-of-a-kind place to raise families and grow old. The township has it all and when we remind people of the things that make this AUGUST 2020 PRIMARY
