City of Bloomfield Hills Commission To Paint Voters into a Corner on September 11th?

You may not believe it until the Commission actually does it but by then it will be too late. On September 11^th 2012 at the City Commission meeting, a decision will be made that night which will be by current state law final and irrevocable.

The City Commission will decide by a roll call vote to cancel our annual Month of May City Commission election and replace it with an election in the month of November which will occur in odd numbered years only. If the vote passes City residents will elect or reject City commissioners not annually but in odd years only thereby having their voting power cut in half.

By reducing the residents right to vote annually, it is said that money will be saved. Even more money would be saved if there were no elections.That has not as yet been suggested.

Finding voting inconvenient is a great way to become chopped liver for every millage or ordinance the City wants to pass. One's say in those matters starts with One's right to vote frequently (as opposed to infrequently) on the commissioners who make such decisions.

To make a November, odd years only election cycle work four year terms for City Commissioners are possibility. That would drastically change the balance of power in the City by allowing elected officials to serve twice as long while cutting the residents right to vote in half. The City Attorney (who is an employee of the City, not a resident) has argued strongly for 4 year terms because that is the only way you can have staggered terms in the odd November odd year only election cycle. Three commissioners have said they favor two year terms which in the November odd year only election cycle would mean electing all five commissioners every two years.

What nobody has said is that we are changing a system that works and has worked for 80 years and replacing it a Pandora’s box of unexpected pitfalls.The staggered terms the City Attorney wants, and the two year terms the three commissioners say they want, exists now in our current annual election cycle. In the November odd year only, election cycle the City must choose between staggered terms or two year everyone at once elections. Both have possibly drastic and dire consequences.

So why change what we have now?

That is a question you should ask your Mayor and City Commissioners On Tuesday September 11^th. You will have that opportunity in a Public Hearing, before the City Commission makes a decision. If they to opt for a November odd year only election cycle, that change by current state law is final. There is no going back. If Our City Commission keeps what we have now future options can always be reviewed.

So why decide now ? Why not discuss the matter further? Why not allow the people to decide how and when they vote?

Those are questions you should ask your Mayor and City Commission at the Public Hearing on September 11^th City Commission meeting.