Well, that is interesting, but knowing both Mr. Cravens (a non resident) and the City of Bloomfield Hills, as we do, we must correct the mistaken observations of the uninitiated.
Well healed entertainment and hospitality are mainstays of the City of Bloomfield Hills. Many families, inclined to such pursuits, hire Thursday and and Monday trash pick up, often from two separate companies. The more posh go the mini dumpster route.
So what Mr. Cravens thought he saw, in a presumed management by cruising around session, was neither sloth nor moral turpitude. Instead it was cleaning up on Thursday for the Saturday Gala, the remains of which are disposed of on Monday.
Believe it or not the residents of Bloomfield Hills are a clean and industrious lot. There are no scandals.
Even at City Hall where there is not so much as a vending machine.
That may change however. There is always temptation.
Two years ago in keeping with the spirit of the electronic office a commissioner suggested the City purchase I-pads for the Commissioners to use. That commissioner took offense when this publication, edited by an English as a "second language" student, wrote "Commissioners want City to buy them I Pads." No. No.No. The I pads would be property of the City for official use only. Un Huh. The issue was later dropped
In the City or Bloomfield Hills it is simply expected that if you need or want something like a suit of clothes to serve on a City Board or Commission you just go out and buy it. You do not finagle for it or worse pander.
If you wish to run for office it is expected that the money you spend (if you must) is your own. The City is proud of it's history of candidates elected and re-elected for decades who have not spent one red cent in that endeavour.
But times change.
In the election of 2013 one candidate received an unsolicited but modest donation from a commercial firm. So modest, in fact that the dollar amount donated would only admit one (with an argument) to a bare bones fundraiser. The candidate returned the check with "thanks but no thanks" explanation and e-mailed the other candidates asking if they too had received donations. No one had. When a fellow candidate expressed a naive sense of shock, the candidate was told it happens all the time. The right answer should have been, but not in the City of Bloomfield Hills.
The election of 2013 was praised as being a clean election but why in the City of Bloomfield Hills would it be anything else ?
The City of Birmingham is not so lucky. In the Library Bond election of last Spring issue PAC's from as far away as Idaho and Virginia involved themselves. To what extent may never be determined. There were robo calls and advertisements. All were rather crude but they were noticed by a chagrined Birmingham City Commission,and the editor of Downtown Publications who devoted a whole page to hand wringing about the new phenomena, threatening to take local out of elections.
And we are told by our City Manager, that his City of residence, Rochester Hills, is an example we should aspire to. That is because he believes our current system where every resident hires his own waste hauler is flawed. Perhaps, but by making waste hauling in the City of Bloomfield Hills, non political, it has virtue. That for a municipality is pretty darn good. You can find fault
with waste containers remaining at curbside or you can prowl through the Oakland Press on line archives and wonder what may become of your City.
Rochester Hills trash hauler donated to Mayor's PAC weeks before contract discussions began.
A political action committee representing a trash hauler seeking an extension of a city contract donated $1,000 to one of Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan Barnett’s campaign funds, weeks before a committee first met to review the contractor’s program, The Oakland Press has found.
It’s not unusual for communities to exercise optional extensions on contracts without a competitive bid process, municipal law experts said, as Rochester Hills did with the city’s single trash hauler Republic Services, if the program satisfies officials and residents.
But some have questioned the timing of an April 13 donation by a fund representing Republic to Barnett’s political action committee, The Barnett Leadership Fund.tThe city’s five-year contract with Republic, set to expire in March 2014, drew attention last month from a competitor, Sterling Heights-based Rizzo Environmental Services, after the firm learned Rochester Hills officials had no plans to offer a competitive bid process, and instead were likely to approve an optional five-year extension. The estimated cost of the contract is $25 million.
Rochester Hills City Council approved the extension in a 6-0 vote at its Sept. 30 meeting, after more than half a dozen residents and councilmembers spoke in favor of Republic’s service.
Republic responded, saying, “This spring the company supported an annual mayoral event with a contribution from its PAC,” said Darci McConnell, Republic spokeswoman. “Four years ago Republic won a competitive bid process in Rochester Hills, and we believe the city’s decision this week to extend the contract was based on Republic’s strong record of service and value.”
But the no-bid decision bothered Rizzo and Deborah Whyman of Citizens for Accountable Government, a Canton Township-based nonprofit political watchdog group.
Whyman told The Oakland Press her group paid for two rounds of robocalls to hundreds of homes the weekend before the vote. The calls — scorned by councilmembers at the Sept. 30 meeting as “misinformation” — made reference to Kevin Kendall, Republic Services’ municipal services senior manager for Michigan, as being a donor to The Barnett Leadership Fund.
Kendall donated $130 to the fund in April 2012, according to state records.
“Certainly, elected officials raise money from whatever source they can,” said Whyman, a former Michigan state representative. “But, here you have a vendor who lives in the community, who’s donating money.”
Kendall could not be reached for comment.
Patrick McCauley, a municipal law expert of the Farmington Hills law firm Gasiorek, Morgan, Greco & McCauley, said it’s not uncommon for communities to extend contracts through an optional provision, if service is adequate.
“The option is typically exercised at the discretion of the community,” he said. “That’s a call the elected officials have to make.”
But McCauley said the timing of the Republic donation to Barnett’s fund — about three weeks before the city’s Solid Waste Committee first met, which included Barnett, City Council President Greg Hooper and City Council Vice President Michael Webber — “certainly is an issue that needs to be raised. Whether it had any impact or not on anyone’s vote is problematic.”
The Solid Waste Committee was formed by the administration before the 2008 bidding process for a single trash hauler commenced, according to city records.
With a slightly different makeup — Webber sat in place of former Councilman Vern Pixley — the committee met May 9 and June 4 to review Republic’s program, city records showed.
The committee submitted a memo, dated Sept. 30, to the mayor and city council that detailed the review process — committee members met with an Ann Arbor-based Resource Recycling Systems Inc. consultant who helped review programs from other communities and assisted in weighing the options between re-negotiating the Republic contract or soliciting a new request for proposals.
About three weeks before the committee’s first meeting, on April 13, Phoenix-based Republic Services Inc. Employees for Better Government PAC donated $1,000 to Barnett’s fund, according to a review of a state records.
Barnett said it’s not unusual for companies who do business with cities to support elected officials, a point echoed by a Rizzo spokesperson.
“Often times when there’s a relationship, a good working relationship (with a company) they’ll come to events and support you,” Barnett said. “This is pretty much a continued technique from those folks who are disgruntled...unhappy that the city has a good working relationship with a company we’ve had the last few years.”
When businesses and individuals “have a chance to work with me and my administration, (they) appreciation what we do for the community and see the progress we’ve made,” Barnett said.
Barnett’s term expires in 2015, but the Rochester Hills City Charter would allow him to run as a write-in candidate in the next election.
Barnett said a political action committee representing another trash disposal company, Waste Management Inc., has donated to his fund in the past.
Since 2011, the WMI Pac of Michigan, which represents Waste Management, has donated $200 to The Barnett Leadership Fund, according to state records.
The majority of Barnett’s campaign funds have come from residents, Barnett said.
“It’s much more important to me on how these contracts impact the residents,” he said.
Republic’s fund did not donate to Hooper or Webber’s campaign funds, according to a review of finance reports filed with Oakland County.
Webber said he was unaware of Republic’s donation to Barnett’s fund.
“I only looked at the negotiated terms of the proposed contract and leaned on our consultant’s (Ann Arbor-based Resource Recycling Systems Inc.) recommendation based on his understanding of the industry,” Webber said by email. “I can confirm...that I have not gotten any donations from Republic in the past, and, again, that would not influence my decision.”
Hooper said he was also unaware of the Republic donation, “but I am sure the list contains many members of the Greater Rochester area.”
Under the renewed contract with Republic, residents will pay $15 a month — a roughly 13 percent price cut — for weekly pickups, city officials said.
Joe Munem, spokesman for Rizzo, said the company was seeking the contract by pushing for a competitive bid process, but contended the city could’ve landed bigger savings than what Republic offered.
And the company’s “aggressive” effort to have contracts bid out “doesn’t mean we’re going to get the contract,” he said.
“We never asked them to award the contract (to Rizzo),” Munem, a former political consultant to Whyman during some of her previous runs for office. “Quite frankly, Waste Management could’ve come in and underbid everyone.”
Munem said he contacted Whyman about the matter, but denied any further involvement in the watchdog group by Rizzo.
“It just doesn’t exist,” Munem said. “Our company agrees with the fact that things should be competitively bid.”
Whyman declined to comment on how her group is financed.
Munem said, “I don’t think necessarily that a contribution in itself is a problem,” after pointing out Rizzo has a similar committee that has made contributions to elected officials. “A lot of organizations have PACS and make contributions.”
“Our whole ambition was simply for this to be bid out,” he said.
Peter Letzmann, the former city attorney for Troy and an expert on municipal law, said optional extensions are commonly exercised, if the service satisfies the community.
If a municipality is considering an optional provision, and does “substantial and objective homework to make a true comparison” between the current contractor and competitors, then that would be justification to extend the contract, Letzmann said.
A bidding process could be extensive, detailed and time consuming for city staff, he said.
“The bottom line is that it is not unusual,” Letzmann said, but the timing of the Republic donation to Barnett’s fund “is terrible.”
Letzmann said, “I’d tell you, if I were the mayor — if the mayor would check with me — I would immediately send the money back...so there would be no accusations of taint or irregularities.”
Letzmann said, “I’d tell you, if I were the mayor — if the mayor would check with me — I would immediately send the money back...so there would be no accusations of taint or irregularities.”
Contact staff writer Ryan Felton at 248-745-4654 or ryan.felton@oakpress.com. Follow him on Twitter @ryanfelton13.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ryan Felton is a staff writer at The Oakland Press who covers Rochester, Rochester Hills, Oakland Township, transportation and technology. Blogging about Detroit at detroit.jalopnik.com. Reach the author atryan.felton@oakpress.com or follow Ryan on Twitter: @ryanfelton13.
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