This is not an official blog of the City. It is the work of Mark Kapel who is solely responsible for content.

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Tuesday, October 9, 2012

10/9/12: City Commision Meeting.Agenda Items of Note That May Be Overlooked.


The Agenda for tonight’s meeting contains 22 items.  Almost all of them in various degrees are important. Hopefully that will be realized enough to warrant an attendance larger than what  can be counted one hand. 

 We have no doubt that the Mayor, and City Commission will dispatch 19 of the agenda items in a competent professional manner. Competency is not in our minds or probably in very many other resident’s minds the issue. 

Agenda items 9, 14, and 15 however deserve extra scrutiny. Competency by itself will not solve them or derive maximum benefit for the residents (if that is indeed the goal) from such items. The society George Orwell described in 1984 functioned competently.
By themselves Agenda items 9,14,and 15 by themselves are rather innocuous.


Recent events make them more significant.Last month our City Commission voted five to zero to replace an annual election with a bi-annual election which will occur in odd year years only. City Commission is the only elected office in the city. By reducing the power of the people to vote the commission reduced its power as well. All three of the agenda items on our list involve collateral damage from that decision which the majority of the residents had no say in.
When it occurs no one really knows what will happen. In the Bloomfield Hills School District none of the candidates can compete let alone be heard over County, State, and National candidates spending 10 to 100 times as much. One Candidate has said a May election would  be divine and more than one has said they were glad the school bond issue wasn’t thrown in to a fall presidential election vortex.
The School Board got the May Bond election by paying for it. Otherwise they had no choice since their elections are mandated by the state.
Our leaders chose a November election believing more people would vote in odd years in November and money would be saved. Maybe they were right. Maybe not.  There will be consequences. The City and its Government will change. And when it does the importance of the individual will change.  Pay attention to language. The debasement of said is usually the first indication. Orwell made that point in 1984 and Animal House. Read and listen carefully to everything.

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