Train Wrecks or Triumphs! Out With the Old! In With the New as City and Planning Commission Discuss Intertwined Issues!

Agenda Packet for Today's 4pm Planning Commission Meeting 


Agenda Packet for Tonight's 7:30pm City Commission Meeting

Copy of June 11th Latest Tree Ordinance Revision

Every administration, be it presidential or otherwise, begins  by  inheriting  a number of crises from it's predecessor and  how it handles them will often determine it's success or failure. Sometimes, as in the war in Vietnam the mistakes of the old regime are simply compounded and carried on. Sometimes in the case of  Watergate, they are ignored, denied, or attributed to mean spirited critics until they explode. Sometimes in the case of  Nixon's pardon they are the result of misplaced loyalty which adds fuel  to the fire.

For the Chief It is not a matter of intelligence or even political savvy. Johnson and Nixon had plenty of the latter.  Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Herbert Hoover were brilliant men whose administration started promisingly   but were doomed   by a gross misreads. Wilson believed of that American people would embrace the League of Nations. Hoover believed the nation could and would  automatically right itself from the great depression.

Tonight in the City of Bloomfield Hills we begin the Administration of Mayor Sarah McClure. She inherits depending on your view point the train wreck or triumph of the tree ordinance which is now entering it's second year.She also inherits the ongoing  American Tower saga   presumably a  proposal for a "much needed communications tower"  which plagued by a series of seemingly random reappearances and disappearances is also approaching a one year in anniversary.

How these issues are resolved will be first test of the new administration.  While one  may argue that it is not  fair test that is just the way it is. On May 11th 2010 an overflow crowd of angry residents attended Mayor McCready's  very first meeting. They were upset by handouts  distributed by the Public Safety Department which told of discussions of possible outsourcing of the dispatch department at the  upcoming Commission Meeting. The minutes of that meeting contain no hint of the fury present. You can gain insight into that by the number of citizens listed as speakers. McCready completely defused the situation by listening to every one who wished to speak and asking intelligent questions. He would then go on to lead  a very successful administration which in many ways united a divided city. Shortly prior to his term's conclusion one area publication wrote , "As mayor, McCready has shown great respect for resident opinions, allowing them to express themselves at public hearings, listening to theirs  point of view and then responding in kind".


Some come to office with an agenda.Things promised or things one want to accomplish.. It often starts with good intentions (drain the swam) and ends with a crimony  (fighting off alligators). Some come to office with nothing more than a great smile and an attitude that says we'll figure it out when we get there.

What does Mayor Sarah McClure plan or want ? You can read her book which is the City Survey. The questions were per City Commission minutes were developed  by  her and City Manager Jay Cravens (expected to be a trusted  adviser in the new administration. They worked together on numerous projects last year). The survey questions were verbalized to the survey people who wrote the actual words that appear on the survey. A careful reading will divine motive in some of the questions.
 The results  of the survey and possibly implementing them is the first new order of new business for the new administration. The buzzword  used is "goals and objectives."

To learn more about the new Mayor and the new administration you may also observe them at Tonight's City and Planning Commission Meeting. All three pivotal topics will  factor, oddly enough in both meetings. For that reason we will  discuss both meetings by together by topic. The Agenda Package for both meetings is at the top of this page. The American Tower information is presented in great detail in the Planning Commission packet. The latest  June 11th revision of the Tree Ordinance is also provided.