Hi All,
ANOTHER USELESS E-NEWS...5/26/16 from the Bloomfield Township government and Mr. Kowalski. I attached the township website link to Mr. K. 's E-News at the end of this message, but the last one posted is from May 1 st.
I'm a "watchdog" blogger and I don't get a salary and a pension like Mr. K. Therefore, I add opinion when I write to my "HI ALL" list.... but I also give you a LOT OF FACTS....and news.
1.
There is an election on August 2, 2016.... with challengers for every electable position.
The people I listed below should be elected for a better township government. I have been attending meetings for years. Trust me... vote for these people ... Absentee ballots are out soon. Please... share this message with others ... BEFORE the absentee ballots arrive. Thanks.
Winners in August will be the next elected officials, as there are no Democratic challengers in the November 2016 election.
There is David Thomas for Supervisor
There is Susie Kern for Clerk
There is Dan Devine for Treasurer
AND THE FOUR TRUSTEES:
There is David Buckley for Trustees
There is Jeff Axt for Trustee
There is Kirk Brannock for Trustee
There is Dani Walsh for Trustee
2.
There are 2 Township millages on the ballot on August 2, 2016.
VOTE NO and NO on the two millages.....my opinion.
I didn't ask the candidates I mentioned above their OPINION of the millages.
Why? Because I want you to vote for THOSE people....even if they may end up differing with me on those issues. You may differ with me on the millage issues, too.
But please consider WHY I say NO NO:
There are millions of dollars in a dedicated RESERVE fund for both of those departments.... more than what could be spent for one year. Those RESERVE funds can ONLY be spent on police, fire and roads. The township is NOT spending those RESERVE funds... perhaps to keep the AAA rating? Money in the bank?
Meanwhile, the township keeps raising wages/ increasing pensions/ and asking for more and more money. Time to put on the brakes. Let new leadership evaluate the budget and the needs. Spend those hard earned dollars we sent to the township in previous years to fund the police, fire and roads that is now deposited in the reserve accounts. The township asked for the money via milages .. to pay for police, fire and roads.... so spend those previous dollars ... That is what we expected...paid services, not savings accounts.
Did you know that the current township leadership takes GENERAL FUND dollars and transfers it to Public Safety and Road Department even though there are millions of dollars in DEDICATED funds? Dedicated funds can only be spent for the department the millage money was collected for.
The leadership should ONLY supplement the public safety and road department , when needed, with the DEDICATED reserve millions instead of using General Fund money. But they don't. WHY? Answer... because they can do it and they get away with it...because no one is paying attention.
Taking General Fund dollars each year and transferring millions of dollars to Public Safety and Road Departments depletes that source of money that should be spent for other departments and general payments ie: pensions, etc. When the other departments don't get the money from the General Fund each year...... the FEES the township departments charge us and others ie: contractors we hire/etc...go up.
When the township says: ... if you don't vote for the millage, we will have to lay off the police and fire or the road department people. NO NO NO....they are lying to you. There are millions of dollars in RESERVE that can be spent ONLY on police and fire....and roads.... so spend it this time.... and let the new leadership review the books. 10 years is a LONG time... especially when the people you elect are only there for 4 years. New leadership hopefully will examine the entire structure of township government and right size it for our community. That means... voting NO now gives new leadership time to assess and review... and if needed... put millage requests on the next ballot opportunity.
That's my recommendation on the millages. Detailed blogs to come soon. Absentee ballots come soon, too.
Local Proposals – August 2, 2016 Primary Election
Renewal of Public Safety Millage one of 4 millages dedicated to public safety.... this is NOT the only one... there are 3 more plus extra transfers...
Renewal of Road Maintenance Millage a $4 million plus ANNUAL budget for ROADS... and those folks that bought into that township trap of paying for re-doing own roads... are having to PAY $ 5000 to $22,000 EACH to pay for those new subdivision roads. Are you nuts... vote NO on the road millage. Oakland County is responsible for our roads. We are the ONLY township in the entire state of Michigan to have our own road department. Should we do some of our own work on roads. Sure, but $4 million plus budget ? NO
3.
Financial Sustainability Committee
meeting coming up Wednesday, June 1, 2016 @ 11 am. This is a public
meeting and all are welcome to attend. I'm trying to get the $50,000
Graystone Report in a format I can put in my blog. Frankly, the
township should have put it in a board packet for the meeting.
The township paid $50,000 to Graystone Consulting for a very thin
written report and a 2 hour consultation at a public meeting.
On
Friday, May 20, 2016 @ 10 AM, Graystone Consulting gave a 2 hour
presentation of their findings. It was ended at noon, because
Supervisor Leo Savoie said it would. He was wearing a golf shirt...
guess he had a tee time? Didn't seem to matter that some at the meeting
seemed to have more questions and that deadline for the meeting to end @
noon rushed Graystone through their presentation. And you want to
know why I want Supervisor Savoie gone? Really.. not good!
You
can get a copy of the AUDIO of the meeting that was held on FRIDAY, May
20, 2016 @ 10 am ..... yes...a day that the township is normally
closed. That's another issue.
Cost for that audio recording: $
0.33 yes... cents. Cost used to be $40 for a CD of the meetings.
Thirty three cents is one good surprise at the township... but that came
about because of the new FOIA law. The Graystone Consulting/ Financial
Sustainability meeting was held in the township hall. Too bad the
cameras that are available were not rolling. Should have been
audio/video recorded and archived. Supervisor Savoie brags about
transparency in his re-elect literature. Not true.
4.
There is a Design Review Board meeting same day/ Wednesday, June 1, 2016 @ 2pm.
No one (as in the public) knows the agenda until 18 hours before the
meeting... which is so wrong.. obviously the people on the agenda know
about it before 18 hours.... why can't the taxpayers?
5.
Senior Center is CLOSED on Saturday, Sunday and Monday this weekend....Memorial Day.
Mr. Kowalski forgot to mention this in his "township closings"
paragraph. By the way, I was at the senior center this morning
working on the puzzle. I like doing that because I only think about
colors and shapes.... not what $#@! me off about the township. When I
arrived, a lady in exercise clothing walked past the sign-in desk. I
asked of the staff... do you just allow people to pass the desk and not
sign in? "Oh, non-residents don't have cards ! " So I said, so if
someone just walks by without signing in... you just assume that it is a
non-resident? You don't ask why they are here or where they are
going? They said, "well, THAT person signed up for a class." Which
by the way is only $10 more than a township resident would pay.
Difference is.... YOU PAY for a 10 year DEDICATED millage and YOU PAY
for the never ending Bond for the construction of this building... and
other buildings at the "campus" and YOU PAY to attend the same class.
Many of the classes should be FREE... we already paid.
FYI: The
Senior Services department... has NEVER (over 10 years now) submitted
an annual report like the other township departments. How many
NON-residents officially "joined" our tax paid government senior
services... for $10 extra a class..... and how does the staff MONITOR
their coming and going? Do they leave after the class or just stick
around and take advantage of other equipment or services? Just
asking.
My news and opinions... Enjoy the Memorial Day weekend. Remember why we celebrate.
Marcia
PS:
I think Greg Kowalski should resign or be fired. He didn't last at the Eccentric... and he was "given" this job as part of the "friends and family" hiring culture.
He
does NOT give us GOVERNMENT news in his E-News most of the time. When
he does, it is often just a recap of a meeting he never told you was
happening in the first place.
The BHSD can write their own school event articles. They are NOT part of township government.
The
Library has their own newsletter and website. The library is a
separate taxing authority and NOT part of township government.
The Dream Cruise can promote their own event. They are NOT part of township government.
The food "lesson" can be put on Cable TV with one of the cooking shows. WE pay big bucks $$$$ for cable.
FYI:
here is the township website link for the E-News... but it was last
updated May 1, 2016. This township is as useless as the newsletter.
Sorry, as of this date, you cannot see the message sent to township
residents. You didn't miss a thing.
http://www.bloomfieldtwp.org/EmailList/MailingListArchiveMessages.asp
Since
you can't read the useless E-news... watch the May 23, 2016 Board of
Trustees meeting especially concerning agenda # 7. Once you start the
video, drag the white rectangle to the time of 1:16:15 to go directly
to item # 7. Another reason why this township needs to vote for the
people I listed at the beginning of this blog. I commented several
times... the board did not like my comments... but they were true.
http://www.bloomfieldtwp.org/Services/cable/Videos/BoardOfTrusteeMeetings.asp
Agenda # 7 was a redo from May 9 agenda #6. I wrote a blog about it:
http://bloomfieldtwphappenings.blogspot.com/2016/05/savoie-and-gang-not-good-for-twp.html
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