My thoughts on the November 8, 2022 election

Hi everyone,

As promised, I’m reaching out to share additional information and my thoughts about the fire station and associated public safety facilities millage. I will also share my thoughts about the proposed charter amendment and candidates running for office.

In-person voting takes place on Tuesday, November 8. If you haven’t already, make a plan to vote. Absentee ballots have been mailed out this week. You can preview your ballot here: https://mvic.sos.state.mi.us/PublicBallot/Index. For additional information, see here: https://www.dextermi.gov/government/departments_and_services/elections.php

As always, please feel free to reach out to me with any questions, comments, or concerns. It’s a privilege and an honor to serve you.

Sincerely,

Jamie

Fire Station/Sheriff Substation and Proposed Public Safety Facilities Millage

This November’s ballot includes the following question:

Importantly, the millage monies are not tied to a specific action at a specific location. That is, if the millage is approved, it could be used to renovate or build a new fire station and/or sheriff substation at either the existing site (8140 Main Street) or the corner of Meadow View Drive and Dexter-Ann Arbor Road. That is a decision for a future Council to make. As far as I understand it, there is no action that the currently-seated Council could take to bind the actions of any future Council with respect to this decision.

I have heard some of you echo concerns about the recently-failed recreational millage proposed by the Dexter Community Schools—“No plan, no ma’am.” Although I didn’t follow that conversation terribly closely (I have my hands full with Council business!), I will say that the current Council has been working for a long time to develop and understand the various options for the fire station.

At the 9/26 Council meeting, we reviewed the latest renderings developed by our architect and interim fire chief. Council asked that these renderings meet the proposed budget constraint of approximately $9.5 million dollars (the $8.4 million generated by the proposed millage plus the $1 million of surplus general fund monies that Council just officially set aside for the project).

See below for renderings of both options. Notably, the costs are quite similar.

Renovate at 8140 Main Street

$9,526,000 for fire station alone + additional $465,000 to renovate Sheriff substation = $9,991,000

Build new at Meadow View Drive and Dexter-Ann Arbor Road

$9,049,000 for fire station alone as illustrated + additional $600,000 to add Sheriff substation at same site = $9,649,000

See here for the architect’s presentation of these two designs and Council’s subsequent discussion at the 9/26 Council meeting: https://youtu.be/0VZXTS_DGbI?t=4496

See pages 54-55 here for a draft of the informational flyer that will be distributed to the public shortly: https://cms9files1.revize.com/cityofdextermi/City_Council/2022/Packets/2022-09-26-CC-P.pdf

The date and time of a public forum to discuss this topic is still to be determined.

**UPDATE 9/30/2022: On Thursday, October 13th from 6 pm to 8pm, the Dexter City Council will host an informational meeting regarding the public safety facilities bond proposal on the November 8th ballot. This meeting will take place at the St. Andrew's Church Fellowship Hall, 7610 Ann Arbor St., Dexter, MI 48130. For additional information regarding this ballot proposal, please visit: https://dextermi.gov/government/public_safety_facilities_project.php.

My thoughts: I am in favor of building new at Meadow View Drive and Dexter-Ann Arbor Road. With every rendering I’ve seen of a proposed renovation at the existing site, I can’t help but think we’d be trying to fit a square peg into a round hole—and for approximately the same cost. Further, I see so much potential in future developments of Mill Creek Park North and re-uses of the existing building. Public parking could be improved. Access from Alpine Street down to the park could be improved (anyone else ever try to get a stroller from the library down to the park?!). Perhaps the winter farmer’s market could be moved into the building. Perhaps the public could rent out part of the building for events. Perhaps there’s room for a restaurant with patio seating. Of course, market forces are at play here. These types of businesses/organizations would need to want to relocate here and fund doing so and/or the public would need to support any upgrades or renovations if the property remains owned by the City. But, if we cram a fire station onto this site, none of these options will be a possibility.

What if the millage passes? If the millage passes, I would expect the next seated Council (with any new members elected in November) to select a location and final site plan and move the project forward. Perhaps it’s the location you want; perhaps it’s not the location you want. Does that matter to you? That’s for you to decide.

What if the millage doesn’t pass? If the millage doesn’t pass, I would expect the next seated Council (with any new members elected in November) to continue this conversation. Perhaps they would consider submitting a public safety facilities millage tied to a specific location/action at some future time. Perhaps they would scrap the prospect of any major expenditure entirely. I don’t know.

My worst fear, if the millage doesn’t pass, is that Council will fritter away another two years without making any final decision on this issue. Why is that my fear? The current Council has been working together for nearly two years (and four of the seven members for longer than that). And yet it took until the absolute last meeting possible to approve the bond language such that Council didn’t even have an opportunity to review the final revised draft language before it was submitted. And yet it took until the absolute last minute to finalize an informational flyer to send to the public. And yet the first public forum on the aforementioned proposal (date and time still TBD) will not take place until over 1,000 residents have received, and possibly filled out, their absentee ballots. I was prepared to act sooner and said as much at multiple meetings. I was also prepared to tie the proposed millage to a certain location and said as much at multiple meetings—so was Council Member (and Mayoral candidate) Zach Michels. The remaining members of Council (Arab, Fisher, Hubbard, and Mayor Keough; Cousins was absent) were not. After nearly two years of discussing the issue (longer for those who had been on Council previously) they still couldn’t or wouldn’t commit themselves to a location.

Mayor Keough and City Manager Justin Breyer prepare the agenda of business for regularly scheduled meetings. In addition, they are able to call special meetings. For example, a special meeting was called to expedite the purchase of 3515 Broad Street to relocate City Hall. Why haven’t our Mayor and City Manager encouraged swift and decisive action on this topic? If we’re capable of expediency on certain projects, like City Hall, why are we not capable of it on this one?

If you have suggestions as to how I might better use my position on Council to achieve expediency on this issue in the future, please feel free to share them.

Charter Amendment

This November’s ballot also includes the following Council-initiated Charter amendment:

The Charter amendment approved by residents in November 2020 restricted the City’s ability to sell any property (both real and personal). The rationale for the proposed amendment is to reinstate the City’s ability to auction off old equipment via a public auction site (e.g., GovDeals.com). The City has found that auctioning off equipment generally yields a greater return than trading in the equipment.

My thoughts: I support the proposed amendment. Sales of public real property (i.e., land and the structures on it) would still require a vote of the public.

Council Vacancies

City Council consists of seven members: one mayor (who is deemed a council member for all purposes) and six additional council members. Each member’s term is four years such that half the council plus the mayor is elected at one regular election and the other half of council is elected at the following regular election.

This November, there are four spots open: mayor and three council members (“council member at large”). Per the ballot preview available here (https://mvic.sos.state.mi.us/PublicBallot/Index): Mayor Keough is running for re-election and current council member Zach Michels is running against him. Sanam Arab is running to be elected to the seat she was appointed to in Spring 2021 to fill the vacancy left by Julie Knight when she resigned. Joe Semifero is also running for Council. Lastly, Dan Schlaff is running as a write-in candidate, so his name will not appear on the ballot—you will have to, as the name suggests, write it on the ballot yourself.

My thoughts: I enthusiastically support Zach Michels for Mayor. Even before I joined Council, he demonstrated a willingness to engage in meaningful, and sometimes difficult, conversations with members of the public—myself included. He has demonstrated a commitment to improving processes and procedures and proposed a Good Government Initiative awhile back. He supported the publishing of meeting recordings and the drafting of a robust conflict of interest ordinance (he is the one who noticed that the City did not have one although the Charter required one). He has spent a significant amount of his time, money, and energy researching fire station design. His background in city planning and administration make him a uniquely qualified candidate for the position. If you haven’t had an opportunity to chat with him, I know he will welcome the conversation. You can learn more about him here: http://zachfordexter.org/.

I enthusiastically support Dan Schlaff for council member at large. He recently retired from the City after spending more than 37 years doing all things related to public services. You can read more about that here: https://thesuntimesnews.com/g/chelsea-mi/n/110906/dan-schlaff-has-been-keeping-works-public-works-37-years. In my experience working with him, he is incredibly knowledgeable and patient and he genuinely wants to help. As I mentioned previously, you will have to write his name on your ballot, so perhaps bring a slip of paper with his name on it when you vote so you’ll be sure to spell it correctly!

As an aside, City of Dexter City Council positions are non-partisan. In these highly partisan and divided times, it might be easy to get caught up in whether a candidate for local office is on your “side” or not. Or whether the person endorsing a particular candidate is on your “side” or not. To be honest, I don’t know much about how either of the two above candidates think about the various topics that are so divisive these days. But I am confident that I don’t need to know that to know that they will serve the City of Dexter residents honorably and well.