Mayor Elected ....Most Unusual

Commisioners Pat Hardy. Michael  McCready, Sarah McClure, and Connie Salloum

The City  commission meeting of May 10^th 2011, was an important one in the history of Bloomfield Hills. A long standing informal tradition of rotating the position of mayor amongst the commissioners which had no basis in law, was  discarded. Instead  the commissioners nominated candidates and voted  as the City Charter required.  The meeting was televised in its entirety by Bloomfield Hills Cable (BCTV Channel 15). It  can be found on the City’s web site at Front Desk, Video on Demand City Commission May 10 2011.
The portion dealing with the election of the 2011-2012  mayor starts at the 14:30 mark and ends at 43:30. It is 29 minutes and 20 seconds long.  The length of the entire meeting  is two hours and twenty six minutes. You can however fast forward to key points.The purpose of the this post is to introduce you to  the participants and to provide fast forward points so you may zip to the highlights. For those who do not  have a high speed Internet access we will describe those scenes.

Background and the nomination of Pat Hardy

Prior to the meeting, city commissioner Pat Hardy, the next in line to be mayor  via the traditional rotation, was told that she did not have the support of the commission  for an automatic appointment to the position of  mayor. Instead the commission would elect  a mayor as the City Charter called for.  She  was entitled run for the position and have supporters at the commission meeting to speak for her. Pat Hardy, perhaps the most politically astute member of the commission, knew the person elected would not be her. Who is Pat Hardy ? Pat  Hardy has been on City Commission since 2003. In 2007 per the tradition of mayor rotation she became Mayor. Her crowning glory as mayor was the City's 75th anniversary celebration  held that year. She also became the first Commissioner in modern times to poll over 700 votes in a city election. Since then her vote totals have  declined in each election. In 2011 she  polled approximately  25% of the vote. The other three candidates Michael Zambricki, Connie Salloum and outgoing Mayor Micheal McCready  polled 75%  and disagree with Pat Hardy on almost every issue. Pat Hardy will be a city commissioner until 2013. As a commissioner she represents a unique point of view. How beneficial that unique point of view  which does not represent the views of 75% of  the electorate  would be as mayor was the  subject of debate. Her nominating speech,  in which she nominated herself,  occurs at the 16 minute mark of the video. She thanked the  audience and her supporters  and added ,"Maybe somebody will will tell Michael Zambricki what I had to say tonight.  It is an unusual evening for me. I see an unprecedented effort to set aside a historic tradition that spans thirty years. I've been doing some talking and this idea of rotating the mayoral position has been in effect for thirty years. It is not a recent idea by any means.There is no question  we are a unique city, a very prestigious city, and a  premier city,.We are unique. We are different. Because we are different, I believe we have a compelling need to remember our shared values and shared traditions that have served us so well all these years. There is indeed merit in honoring past precedent or a long standing practice such as a rotation of mayor. Of course there is a great need for showing respect for one another., because if you look at it, we are all neighbors. We are all friends. We are all giving of our time to make this city move forward in a positive direction. We have through all these years respectfully agreed to share the friendly honor of this wonderful office of Mayor of Bloomfield Hills. And with this because I know what I did in 2007 which was our anniversary and many of you here this evening made it a great event.Thank you for that. I know I did a great job in 2007 and I know I would do an excellent job in 2011. So with that, because we don't need a second I nominate myself.

  Public Comment

Bill: We have a tradition that allows
a certain correct way of doing things.

At the 31:30  minute mark, in section of the meeting devoted to public comments, a resident Mike Zuzenak asks outgoing Mayor McCready , "30 years of tradition. I would simply like an answer. Why do you want to change it. ?

Who is Michael McCready ? He is the outgoing city mayor who's term ended with  the election of Michael Zambricki. McCready  ran for city commission  in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 losing every year. In 2006 he lost by one vote. In 2007 he finally got elected. In 2009 he got highest vote count of any commission candidate  in the modern times. In 2009 and 2011 he was again  the top vote getter. His crowning glory, was, that after only three years on city commission, he  was able to manage  an a very popular administration that listened to the people, stressed financial responsibility, and provided open access to information. Almost all the facts in this blog come from the city's website and that material first began appearing  in the McCready administration. As did televised commission meetings.

McCready replies, "I will keep it short. After the election I had phone calls from all the different candiates and they were congratulating each other for our re-election. And it was always the same topic. They were concerned about the (mayor) rotation and Pat (Hardy) becoming mayor. And they told me they did not support Pat becoming mayor. And I said if you don't support Pat what do you want to do ?And they said  that our practice has been to appoint the best people capable. And I said  who is it. And they said they'd like to see Zambricki as Mayor and Sarah McClure as Mayor Pro tem."
Zuzenak interrupts at this point to ask who exactly "they"  were. McCready replies, "Sarah (McClure), Connie (Salloum) Mike Zambricki and Bob Toohey. So they decided to talk about going to 'best practice'. I said OK. I think we owe it to it to Pat to sit with with her and the commission and discuss this. So in an email last night that I sent out I suggested that we hold off on making a decision until we could meet as a group together in a work session and discuss this. But unfortunately our charter says we have to meet  the first Monday after the election. So we couldn't delay it. So we had to come forward and that's why were here tonight."

 Then at the 36 minute mark Sarah McClure who earlier in the evening had nominated Mike Zambricki sparred with Bill who said "with all do respect" that  she was  "the newest resident of  the city on the commission." Sarah McClure replied that she was 16 year resident of the city. Who is Sarah McClure ?
A second year year commissioner who is considered to be the financial wizard of the McCready administration. Her crowning glory  was that very early in game Mayor McCready had  her signing all the checks and making sure that all city expenses were on the QT. She is also a very popular resident getting 700 votes in her first run for office. Sarah and Pat Hardy are however like nails on the blackboard. Pat thinks the old accounting was just fine. Sarah disagreed. This writer professes to know very little about economics but I vaguely recall  a commission meeting where the old accounting firm was called in to explain how an anticipated short fall actually turned out to be a surplus.. I think (and maybe I'm wrong) that answer had something to do with accountants not being rocket scientist.


In supporting Zambricki as an continuation of the McCready administration, McClure said "the City, has made has huge progress in the past year, in adopting what I would call Best Practices and getting our financial house in order. We have cut three quarters of a million dollars out of our 8.5 million dollar budget and we haven't cut services or laid off people."

Bill however was not impressed. When Sarah mentioned a conversation  she  had with a Mayor of another community about always voting for your best people, .Bill said he had no interest in how other communities functioned."We have a tradition that allows a certain correct way of doing things". He also said that he did not " believe if you listen to what Mr.(Mayor) Dawkins says, you quite understand what it is we do here. It's (the mayors job)  is an honorary position. Mr Zambricki, who I have enormous respect for, will continue to lead this commission,but to come in here and in the face of everything else, and quite frankly in the dark of the night change a 30 year tradition is appalling, childish, immature, and ridiculous." Then he sat down to a round of applause.

The Dark of the Night

The dark of the night  began a long time ago. Commissioner Pat Hardy "after doing some talking" believes it was thirty years ago  but offers no further substantiation. Commissioner Sarah McClure after talking to a friend believes the "tradition " goes back but not all the way back."  So neither really know. There are no records ? No smoking gun form 1981 ? Nothing to indicate  how five city commissioners in the days of President Reagean (?)  decided to change the way the position of  Mayor of our city was determined without consulting the people. Changes that legally require a change in the City's  Charter  that can only be made when approved on  by a vote of the electorate. And for three decades  the residents of  the City of Bloomfield Hills knew nothing and did nothing ? Are we learning anything ? Do we know why we have Charter ?. Do we know what it says ? One one woman does. I heard only  the first name. It was Mary. Two  local publications that cover the city of  Bloomfield Hills municipal scene,  while emphasizing without substatiation,  the end of  a thirty year tradition , left Mary's comments on the cutting room floor. Mary speaking at the 40 minute mark, began by asking City Attorney, William Hampton to read what the City Charter says about the election of mayor. He obliged. You can see for yourself what the Charter  says  by reading this blog or by clicking on this link City Charter.

 Mary: What does the Charter say ?

The Charter is  on the left hand side. Chapter three  section five. Mary then addressed the commissioners," I would like to say we have elected  you five people who are here today to represent us . It is up to you to decide who to choose. That is what the charter says. It doesn't say anything about tradition or rotation. It may just be time to break with tradition and do what makes the most  sense for these times. For the commissioners to vote for who you believe will best lead you through the next year.

Abraham Lincoln said you call fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time. On May 10th 2011, "some of the the time" ended for the residents  of Bloomfield Hills. 

In a 3 to 0 vote (with Pat Hardy not voting), Michael Zambricki was elected Mayor of the City of Bloomfield Hills. He will serve a one year term. His first city commision meeting is the subject of our next post.