This month enjoy Biggby Coffee and support the Baldwin Library

BIRMINGHAM, MI (June 3, 2013) – What would you think about getting your caffeine fix at Biggby Coffee and supporting the Baldwin Public Library at the same time?  Throughout the month of June, Biggby will donate $1 to Baldwin for every bag of 16 ounce coffee purchased using the order form found online at www.baldwinlib.org/biggby.  Pick up bags of coffee from Biggby Coffee of Birmingham (112 Old S. Woodward at Maple Road) or Biggby Coffee of Bloomfield Hills (1952 S. Telegraph at Carl's Golfland).

Representatives from Baldwin will be serving as guest baristas at Biggby in Birmingham on Saturday, June 22 from 1 pm to 4 pm. Purchase a beverage or bag of coffee during that time and Biggby will donate $1 per item to Baldwin.  Stop by Biggby Coffee of Birmingham (112 Old S. Woodward at Maple Road) to show your support!

“Baldwin is always looking for new ways to connect with the community.  We’re grateful to Rose and Joe at Biggby Coffee for this opportunity.  I encourage everyone to stop by Biggby Coffee in downtown Birmingham throughout the month of June to support the Library and a superb Michigan business,” said Matt Church, Associate Director.  

The Baldwin Public Library is located in downtown Birmingham at 300 W. Merrill Street and can be reached at 248-647-1700 or through the Library’s website at www.baldwinlib.org.  

The Chief Hunt and City Commission's Search for for a modern day Rumpelstiltskin.

Job interviews, court trials, first dates, and the seventh game of play off series are quirky things that were it not for the anticipated reward offered, would be avoided like the plague.Four fine candidates presented themselves  as the final four  in the selection process for a new Public Safety Director. Each brought special skill sets and attributes. What commission found most attractive was the modern day ability to spin straw into Gold.

You know the Story. The Brothers Grimm penned it, If not  allow us to refresh the details. A Miller brags to the King that his daughter is so clever she can spin straw into gold. The  king demands proof and the maiden is locked  in a room with straw and a spinning wheel.As luck would have it she is befriended by a curious visitor with an unlikely name who really can spin straw into gold.. In exchange for a trinkets he helps her out. 

Unfortunately that only whets the King's appetite for more and the girl moves to bigger and bigger and bigger rooms of straw to be spun into gold. Eventually the King hits her with a monster order. If she fulfills it he will marry her and make her queen.Sad but true the girl is now out trinkets to pay off her accomplice. So he asks for her first born if she becomes queen, and he reminds her that such an event may never happen. She agrees and when the event does occur  she despairs. In the spirit of generosity however her friendly gold spinner offers an out. If she can guess his name he will cancel the debt.

Fairy tale critics and financial advisors have observed  that Rumpelstiltskin and similar fables  follows a predictable pattern of greed,more greed, and still more greed until an apocalyptic end occurs.

The first candidate to be interviewed was Bruce Smith a Consultant to the Chesterfield Township Police Department and former Public Safety Director of Oak Park. He offered the City courage and said " Chief " was where the buck stopped, and tough decisions where made. Commissioner Zambricki asked for an example and Smith cited having to lay people off. Later Commissioner Stuart Sherr told Downtown Birmingham Magazine that he believed that,"Smith was better fit for the community (than  eventual hire David Hendrickson) "I am not saying anything against David Hendrickson and now that he is chosen I will absolutely support him. "

Commission Sherr is five months into the job a job he was appointed to,  has yet to work up the nerve to vote against his fellow commissioners  On the budget although he did not approve of the deficit he voted with everyone else in a unanimous decision. On matter of the Public Safety Director he dissented, abstained or ducked a chance to cast a vote for the man he believed would be best fit. So much for courage.

If that sounds harsh  I suppose it is. The saying goes there is nothing  worse than a reformed drunk. In the not so distant past I was told by one wiser than me that I was put on a board to make decisions not to equivocate  or "abstain."

Public Safety Director  candidate and acting Chief Terry McDonnell  offered the City Commission  plain speaking, familiarity with the community,  and a job well done. He offered no simple answers or platitudes. In Warren Michigan that approach might have played better than it did before the City Commission of Bloomfield Hills who prefered to be dazzled.

 He talked about Police force as semi military organization which it is and the chain of command. That chain of command starts with the people  of the City, then City Commission, then the City Manager, Public Safety Director and so forth and so on.

The commission  seemed  oblivious to this fact when grilling McDonnell on past indiscretions of the department.and the 2010  "save our dispatch from out sourcing campaign" some public safety officers  participated in. 

"Your name was there," Commissioner Pat Hardy said to McDonnell who agreed it was. He said was standing for fellow officers. What was not said or possibly remembered by either  was the fact that at the time  (prior to the 2010  City election)  while the Mayor, City Manager, and others discussed outsourcing with the Township, the only information the public had came from Public Safety. Had the City Commission or the Mayor been more forthright or consulted  with  public input the whole matter might have passed without incident.

In regards to the current outsourcing "exploration" McDonnell said he believed that the people who the bills (tax paying residents) should make the decisions. That kind of directness would have  produced  supportive snickers  in Warren a working person's lunch pail (or perhaps a lunch bag or  Subway  coupons) community of 135,000. Here people tend to be more trusting and less skeptical. 

The Commission did pay McDonnell the compliment of asking what his salary expectations were. He said they weren't particularly high. When pressed he said something to the effect of a "a smidge more money but not a lot" which is  the perfect patois for the City of Bloomfield Hills where talking about actual dollar amounts is considered extremely gauche. When that prompted blank looks on the face of the commissioners, McDonnell added he wasn't going to take a pay cut to be the chief.
 Again  ironic bluntness would have brought down the house in Warren but here it  went over the heads of our commissioners who seem to be very money conscience of late.

The third candidate to be interviewed was Canton Deputy Chief Bruce Kerr, a quiet thoughtful man who gave quiet thoughtful answers. Unfortunately the interview processes now in it's beginning it's third hour was losing a bit in thoughtfulness. One commissioner who was either appointed to be or just took the opportunity  to serve as the devil's advocate rattled off a list of presumably who's who in Canton and demanded "what would these people say about you ?".  That afforded Mr. Kerr the perfect squelch of the evening with "most of the names you mentioned wouldn't say anything because they are no longer there." The ones who were he presumed  would be most favorable.

On the subject of mentoring Kerr was  strong stating that he was proud to have mentored the current Chief. The DA did not like this and said, that mentored got the top job over the mentor. That did not concern the thoughtful Kerr who said  it fit with how long he wanted to stay in Canton and the commitments he wanted to make at that point in his career.

It has been said that our City Commission in it's quests  for answers looks for ones that agree with what they already think.  In that sense Warren Police Captain David Hendrickson was just what the Doctor ordered. A 26 year veteran of the Warren Police Department (the second largest department in the state. Warren is the Third largest city in the state.), Hendrickson is by far and away the best candidate on paper. Hiring him is quite a coup for a city of 3800. He is intelligent, articulate, and talented in a number of areas like dealing with unions,  City commissions  and a department of 236 police offices.

What is not to like ? Well there is still our City Commission and  it's desire to save money at all cost. Most of Captain Hendrickson's interview was spent talking not about Public Safety but about how the City could save money in the Department of Public Safety.

That is what the Commission wanted to hear  and that is what Candidate Hendrickson provided them. Nor was  David Hendrickson shy on self superlatives. That is the smart thing to do if you want the job. Of all the Candidates he was the best prepared.It was obvious he had done his home work.When asked if he liked the shift hours now in place  for Public Safety Officer Henrickson said something to the effect of not as rule but conceded they seemed to be working for us.

Recently  our City Commission slashed $300,000 of Police and Fire "nice to haves" from the 2013-14 budget to reduce the starting deficit from a negative $400,000 deficit to a mere $100,000 in the minus column. Among the items cut was a squad car and an  extraction devise know was the "Jaws of Life." We are told that in a recent traffic accident the police had to use a sawzall which is a less than a $100 power tool sold at Home Depot  to free an injured passenger. We are also told that the police lack entry devices and managed to get to an injured man in his home when a relative was found who knew where an external hide a key was kept.

During his interview process Hendrickson  impressed the commission  with his self described ability to write grants for necessary equipment like squad cars. 


One grey area that emerged  was that Hendricken had done some police work for private residents in with City Officer Noel Clawson. The Commissioner who raised the point asked if Hendrickson as Chief would see activity as a conflict of interest, Hendrickson said he would and such activities as would cease as Chief. 

What is interesting  is the fact that our city commission and our  Public Safety Department knew of  such moonlighting but did not oppose it which prompts another question. 

Why not ?

It would seem to be  a conflict of interest for any off  duty City of Bloomfield Hills Police Officer  to accept hire by a private citizen  thus implying that the Police Officer is acting an a  representative of City law enforcement  when in fact he is serving another master.

Through out the interview process of  prior candidates the accreditation of certain regulating boards and bodies was mentioned and discussed. Candidate Henrickson  dismissed them  by saying, "for one they cost money" He also thought  they are nor all that important. 

Captain Hendricson  is also a police officer as opposed to public safety officer meaning he is not trained in fire or EMS.  Henderson however pointed out that many communities in state are going to police run public Safety Departments.

New Police Chief on the Job. City Sub Committee on Dispatch Consolidation to meet with Birmingham and Township.

On Monday New Chief David Hendrickson will be begin his first day on the job. His salary has been confirmed at $95,500 dollars which is slightly higher in dollars than his predecessor. The over all pay out is about the same since he will be not taking the City's health insurance. That will come from Warren where he also continues to receive a pension.

On Tuesday at 9am it is expected that the Chief will accompany City Manager Cravens, Commissioner Dul and and Commissioner Sherr to a 9am meeting to hear  a proposal from the City of Birmingham Public Safety Department concerning consolidation of Dispatch services. On Thursday  they will meet with the Public Safety Department of Bloomfield Township to do the same.

Since these meetings will not be held in   the City, it is not  known if interested residents of the participating cities will be allowed able to attend. We intend on finding  out.

On May 14th when the Dispatch consolidation sub committee was approved City Manager Cravens stating that he had nothing to hide said the public would be part of the process.
He also said that the Committee  would consider the option of  maintaining the services it has now which seems to be the public favorite. Now apparently the sub committee will not meet with the public in an open meeting at all. Sub Committee member  Dul was quoted as saying "we would be remiss by not looking at the proposal (Dispatch Consolidation)." Sub Committee member  Sherr  said it would irresponsible not to gather more information. Regrettably  Commissioners Dul and Sherr

do not feel the responsibility to hear to  from their constituents.

A sure way to determine what the people want is to put the matter on the November 2013 ballot.That is not in the plans.

Mayor McClure in an email to our query wrote..
After the sub committee has done its homework the City will send out a letter to residents discussing its findings, ie the potential cost savings, how the key program could be handled, etc. The letter will invite residents to email comments or attend our Commission meeting. This letter will go out before the Commission votes on this issue. In this way the residents will have an opportunity to be aware of the issue and relay any concerns or opinion before the issue decided.  Again, this sub committee is only a fact finding group.  The City may or may not go forward with any of the this with the Township or Birmingham.

Sarah

City Manager Cravens copied in our query replied with 

Any decision by the City Commission will be done in public following input by residents. Mayor McClure has suggested a letter be sent out to all residents seeking their their input. I agree with that approach. The details of the letter will be formulated when we complete our meetings with Birmingham and Bloomfield Township and meet with the full City Commission.

Yipes! Stripes! The City of Bloomfield Hills Blog Is Three Years Old Today !

And we almost forgot ! When we remembered we had to look up the date to be sure. June 1st 2011 to June 1st 2013. To be exact.

As we see it our Birthday present is our readers. Google maintains good statistics in that regard. The number that appears on lower right hand corner of the blog in  little meter says in two year we have had 33,125 page visits for 389 postings. Google calculated that to be by 8301 people of which 3,748 are totally unique. That means they are counted but once and if Google is correct m more than half  have visited us more than once. The average person who visits looks at 2.87 pages and stays  on our site for slightly over 7 minutes .New readers  comprise 45% of our readership.

 24% of the readers are from "Bloomfield Hills" .That has not always been case. Initially Birmingham (16%) and Franklin (5%) led the parade. 

At one time we were all the rage in Keego Harbor (10%). A number of theories were advanced as to why this was so. Those four communities plus Clarkston (3%) round out the top five. West Bloomfield, Troy, Detroit, and Pontiac are also in the top ten but none has more than 1.7% of our readership.

If you count the top hundred cities world wide we have a number of International Cities that read us but not in any significant numbers unless an American presence (usually military or government)  is present. Domestically Bethesda Maryland tunes in occasionally.  100th on the list is Indianapolis Indiana with five readers who have spent a whopping  three and half minutes with us during the last two years.

The World Wide Map Shows

surprising penetration in South America and Africa. The latter is a fairly recent phenomena. Possibly as result of our Cairo (largest City on the continent) and Nairobi (largest Sub Sahara City) blog page link. The darker the blue the more visits. Very light shading  means no visits.

. We are told that we are asking too much for Google to  separate out the City of Bloomfield Hills and Bloomfield Township numbers . On the World, national, territory, and City stage Google does an amazing job of pinpointing. The City of Bloomfield Hills with 3800 people is probably coming  in a yet to be developed neighborhood stage.

If you are  curious our readership in any country except the United States is less than one percent. India ranks second  with 67 visits and looks like this...

By City 

The United Kingdom and Canada follow with 66 and 63 visit respectively. Below is  Canada.

In all probability, high numbers in Alberta are due a cable which brings Detroit Television broadcasts to the province.

The Bloomfield Bottom line ?

24 % of all visits  or  2024 are from Bloomfield Hills.  90 % or 1840  are returning visitors. Returning visitors spend an average of  14:66 minutes on site per visit and consult an average of 4.61 pages.

The tiny number of new visitors over a two year period is curious .  Usually on a monthly basis  the number is between 35 and 50 percent new visitors.

If we are doing our job right New Visitors quickly become returning visitors but over a two year period 184 did not become returning visitors. That is 10% of the 2024 total from Bloomfield Hills. You could say that is a 90% approval rating. 

The "new visitors only" did  however give us on an average two minutes of their time before moving on which is fair. 

That is something we will have to work to improve in year three. As they say onward and upward !