Saturday, November 03, 2007

Chamber Q/A offers insight into candidates

The Birmingham-Bloomfield Chamber of Commerce has released its Q/A with candidates for City Commission. Candidates were questioned about the search for a new Birmingham city manager, the state and local economy, plans for Shain Park and Barnum Park, Birmingham politics and their attitudes toward growth.

The Q/A is in the form of a .pdf, and can be downloaded quickly and easily by clicking here. (To download to your computer, rather than within your browser, right-click the link and select "Save Target As..."

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Lawn signs betray hypocrisy of Antis

Our way to work often passes by the homes of a slew of Antis in central Birmingham, most notably that of Paul Marion Reagan.

We have to give Reagan credit where credit is due. He was one of the folks who motivated us to start the Buzz nearly six years ago.

Back then, Reagan was a mover and shaker within the political organization of former Commissioner Dante Lanzetta. Along with Peter Gough, he wrote the short-lived but memorable bEline email newsletter, which gave meaning to the word "truthiness" long before Stephen Colbert coined the term. He worked with George Dilgard every four years to re-elect the supremely arrogant Lanzetta, and along with a guy named Tim Bannister, founded the Presidents Council of Homeowners Associations, whose members for years have stood on soap boxes and falsely claimed to represent thousands of Birmingham taxpayers. Reagan also worked hand-in-hand with Gary Kulak, the former Planning Board chairman who successfully led an effort to stanch downtown development during the biggest economic boom in U.S. history. He is still the self-appointed president of the Central Birmingham Residents Association, a neighborhood group of his own creation.

Ultimately, Kulak was forcibly removed from office by the City Commission, Lanzetta (along with his protege Seth Chafetz) was forcibly removed from office by voters, Gough sold his side-by-side Mill Pond homes to developer Bryan Timlin and fled to Florida, and Bannister gave up on the Presidents Council and faded from public view. Only Dilgard, whose outward amiability contrasts sharply with the rest of the acidic and conspiratorial bunch, stayed in public view, as the gratuitous Anti appointment to the Planning Board. (Chafetz, too, having been elected with a couple hundred votes to the Library Board, but forget him.) Reagan, ever the angry little man, has lurked in the shadows, the Anti's Anti, Lanzetta's heir apparent.

So we find it perplexing to see, each day that we choose to pass by his home, the lawn signs of Mayor Tom McDaniel and Commissioner Scott Moore planted firmly beside those of Dilgard and Chafetz. We have noted this anomaly before, but we want to highlight it again, just in case one or two casual readers missed the point.

As you drive around town, note the lawns that carry the signs of McDaniel and Moore beside those of Dilgard and Chafetz. Then, knowing that McDaniel and Moore stand diametrically opposed to Dilgard and Chafetz on virtually every issue of importance to Birmingham voters, ponder the political calculus behind such open and pathetic displays of hypocrisy.

Commissioner endorses McDaniel, Moore, Rinschler, Weisberg

Our friend, Julie Plotnik, writes:

It has been my honor and pleasure to serve the residents and merchants of the City of Birmingham as one of its commissioners, and I thank you for putting your trust in me. I am proud that the city has made such progress over the last four years, including revitalizing our downtown with new investment, outside dining and bistro licenses, looking to our future with progress in the Rail and Triangle Districts, exciting developments in our park system (most notably Booth Park), and lowering the millage rate each of the last four years. I am especially proud that many of these developments took root during the term for which I was elected along with fellow commissioners Tom McDaniel, Scott Moore and Diane McKeon. We had a vision for Birmingham, and I am gratified that much of it has been realized.

Deciding not to seek re-election was a hard choice, but the needs of my family and my business took precedence. However, the overriding reason for my decision is that the political discourse in Birmingham is too often bitter and without substance, and I felt I needed to protect my children from it. While I believe it helpful to have truthful discussion about the positions and records of candidates, there are some who characterize such disclosure as negative campaigning. How soon those same people conveniently forget their own track record of dirty tricks, such as circulating an anti-semitic 2001 flyer claiming that I and the rest of my slate were supported by "Italian and Jewish developers," using a phony and misleading return address.

I urge the voters of Birmingham to beware of those who seek to limit what Birmingham is, and can become. I urge voters to support candidates who are honest and forthright about their positions. For these reasons, I am supporting Shelli Weisberg, Gordon Rinschler, Scott Moore and Tom McDaniel for city commission, and urge all who supported me in 2003 to join in voting for them.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

On Nov. 6, break your Tuesday routine

Today is Tuesday. For us, it's a routine day that includes coffee in the morning before shipping the kids off to school; a late-morning meeting followed by lunch and work in front of the computer, and, since the soccer season is over, dinner with the family, a book or TV show, then bed.

That's the routine we deliberately plan to interrupt on Tuesday, Nov. 6 -- Election Day.

Birmingham has around 20,000 residents, around 10,000 of whom are registered voters. A typical Election Day that doesn't include a presidential election might see 3,000 Birmingham voters go to the polls. That's less than one-third in a town that has among the highest education and income levels -- not to mention tax rates -- in the state, if not the nation.

Go figure: You have around 7,000 homeowners who invariably grouse about their tax bills but who don't bother to vote in the elections that decide who holds the public pursestrings.

If you're one of those 7,000, do yourself and the rest of our town a favor and break the routine Nov. 6. Get out and vote for the progressive slate of candidates who understand that encouraging sensible development is the way to increase Birmingham's commercial tax base and relieve the pressure on residents.

Tom McDaniel and Scott Moore were driving forces in getting the movement started. Along with Shelli Weisberg and Gordon Rinschler, who serve in advisory roles to the commission, they've improved parks, worked to shore up our infrastructure, restored common sense to downtown zoning regulations, paved the way for bistro liquor licenses, allowed more outdoor dining in our downtown, developed the Triangle District Master Plan and more. Tax rates are beginning to go down, but it takes time.

Opponents Seth Chafetz and George Dilgard have long records of hindering sensible development, pushing personal agendas that infringe on property rights (the tree and lighting ordinances) and ignoring, much to taxpayers detriment, the imperative of increasing our municipal tax base. Four years ago, voters booted from office Chafetz (who was mayor at the time) and Dante Lanzetta, who employed Dilgard as a lobbyist and campaign manager.

Chafetz and Dilgard, staunch Antis, threaten a return to the politics of arrogance. Their election will insure continued high tax bills.

McDaniel, Moore, Weisberg and Rinschler offer the promise of an even better Birmingham, one that is more attractive to residents and others, and one in which the tax burden is eased as more and more of it is shifted away from residents.

Right now, mark your calendar. On Nov. 6, break your Tuesday routine, go to the polls and cast your votes for McDaniel, Moore, Weisberg and Rinschler.

Friday, October 26, 2007

League voter guide, televised forum

Speaking of the League of Women Voters, the organization's voter guide is available by clicking here. You can also watch a replay of Tuesday's forum on Comcast Channel 18 on the following dates and times:

Monday, Oct. 29, 3:00 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 30, 10:00 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 31, 5:30 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 1, 2:30 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 2, 10:00 p.m.
Monday, Nov. 5, 3:00 p.m.

Conrad resigns League of Women Voters

Dorothy Conrad reportedly resigned from the League of Women Voters after the league barred her from managing its recent candidates forum in Birmingham. Conrad has managed the forum for years, but her staunch partisanship (this year she supports former Dante Lanzetta aide George Dilgard and Seth Chafetz), has been an embarrassment to the League.

Conrad, Bloom target Longe

Dorothy Conrad and David Bloom showed up at City Hall the other day to complain about Residents for Birmingham and Christopher Longe, the Birmingham architect (and Buzz contributing editor) who is leading the political action committee.

Conrad reportedly submitted an Ethics Board complaint against Longe, who sits on the Architectural Review Committee, but then withdrew it when she was told Longe would immediately receive a copy of the complaint. She reportedly said she'd resubmit it after the Nov. 6 election.

Bloom complained about Longe's use of photos of Seth Chafetz and George Dilgard in Residents for Birmingham mailings. He was told there's nothing the city can do about it, but that he should check with the police if he thought Longe's actions were criminal. Bloom filed no complaints with the police.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Bloom manages Chafetz campaign

Seth Chafetz has chosen as his campaign manager David Bloom, who distinguished himself earlier this year by flipping the bird at a fellow resident during a City Commission meeting. Bloom's horrendous judgment, caught on camera, appears to be exceeded only by Chafetz' bad judgment in appointing Bloom to run his campaign.

Enjoy the flick:

Volunteers needed to distribute literature

The Buzz is seeking volunteers to help distribute literature for City Commission candidates Shelli Weisberg and Gordon Rinschler. The work is simple, and it will get you out in the fresh air. We need you Friday-Monday, Nov. 2-5. If you can devote as little as an hour, please send an email to . Please include a phone number where you can be reached.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Negative campaigning, or regrettably negative truths?

We've heard some grumbling about the "negative" campaigning by Residents for Birmingham, a political action committee organized and run by Buzz contributing editor Christopher Longe.

Longe is a Birmingham architect whose contributions to the city are in plain sight. He has designed dozens of beautiful homes throughout the city, and downtown he is responsible for the renovated McCann Erickson building, the ongoing renovation and addition to the Briggs Building at Woodward and Maple, the gorgeous Schecter Building that replaced Alvin's Bridal across from City Hall, the Dakota on Booth Park, and the ongoing renovation to 250 Martin St., on Shain Park.

Residents for Birmingham is, like all of Longe's work, in plain sight. It is legally registered with election officials in Oakland County, and all its literature, no matter what you think of it, is clearly labeled. If you'd like to talk to him, you can call him at 248-258-6940, or you can write him at .

Some might think that Longe's recent mailings are negative. We think they are honest expressions of regrettably negative truths about two of the candidates for City Commission. The fact is, Seth Chafetz and George Dilgard have very little regard for either your property rights or your tax bills, and Longe's mailings are simply pointing that out.

Contrast Longe's honest expressions of fact and opinion with some of the shenanigans of the Antis in election campaigns of the past. Four years ago, for example, they sent out a derogatory anonymous (and illegal) mailing that purported to be from developers in support of progressive candidates falsely carrying the return address of current candidate Shelli Weisberg.

We can't wait to see what they'll do this time around. In the meantime, look for more above-board truth from Residents for Birmingham coming soon to a mailbox near you.

Bye-bye Barnum ad hoc committees

Cross your fingers, folks. We may have finally seen the end of Barnum ad hoc committees and their spendthrift influence on city policy. Unfortunately, before all is said and done, these one-sided committees, which never really seriously examined any cost-effective ways to develop Barnum, will have spent more than $20 million in taxpayer funds. That's what the bill will be after the $8.5 million cost of the land and the $1.5 million-plus in demolition and improvements are added to the interest expense over the next 20 years or so. Two weeks ago, the City Commission thankfully disbanded the fourth and (we hope) final committee, which made a last-gasp effort to remain in charge of the design process. That process was turned over to a consultant, M.C. Smith & Associates, and the community-at-large. And Monday night, the commission rejected a bid by Carroll DeWeese, an outspoken Barnum neighbor and member of the last committee, to join the Parks & Recreation Board. It appointed instead Ross Kaplan, who distinguished himself on the Booth Park project. The impressive redevelopment of Booth Park cost the city less than $1 million, and Kaplan was instrumental not only in mustering the community to help build the playground, but in helping to raise more than 15% of the cost from private sources.

News flash: Reagan endorses Weisberg, Rinschler

It is considered bad form for sitting commissioners to endorse candidates for commission, even when those sitting commissioners are running for re-election. That said, it's hard to ignore the affinity between incumbents Tom McDaniel and Scott Moore, and candidates Shelli Weisberg and Gordon Rinschler. The four consider one another friends and political allies, and attended a fundraiser in their honor last Thursday. Their signs can be seen together on lawns all over town.

But as politics makes strange bedfellows, and since the Antis have only two candidates on the ballot this go-around, signs for McDaniel and Moore can also be seen on lawns of some Antis -- perhaps most notably that of Paul Marion Reagan.

Reagan managed campaigns for former (and disgraced) Commissioner Dante Lanzetta (whose lawn on Southfield is strangely free of campaign signs) and he continues his nearly decade-old pretense in which he claims to represent thousands of Birmingham resident from self-appointed positions organizations of his own creation. The reality is that Reagan represents only the failed and discredited politics of his former patron and such other Lanzetta henchmen as Gary Kulak and George Dilgard.

Failing to muster four candidates, Reagan and his Antis have resorted to endorsing McDaniel and Moore, and the two incumbents are laughing all the way to the electoral bank.

Which brings us to our news flash headline. Logic only dictates that since Reagan supports McDaniel and Moore, and McDaniel and Moore support Weisberg and Rinschler, that Reagan supports Weisberg and Rinschler.

Candidates forum at library on Tuesday

A candidates forum has been scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 30, at 6:30 p.m. in the Rotary Room of Baldwin Public Library. "Come listen to the candidates who will work for all of us, not just the speculators," says the invitation, signed by Paul Marion Reagan, Jim Neuhard and Norman Fill. The sponsors have invited Mayor Tom McDaniel, Commissioner Scott Moore and challengers Seth Chafetz and George Dilgard, but Shelli Weisberg and Gordon Rinschler (the candidates who will work for just the speculators?) are expected to attend, too. Library Director Marti Custer says meetings at the library are open to all, and cannot be closed.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Buzz endorses McDaniel, Moore, Rinschler, Weisberg; opposes Chafetz, Dilgard

You're not angry, and that's got us worried.

Not that you should be angry. Things are certainly going better around here than they were four years ago.

Back then, Birmingham voters were fed up with the divisive and obstructionist politics of their leaders. Chief among the villains were longtime Commissioner Dante Lanzetta, Planning Board Chairman Gary Kulak, Lanzetta lapdog Seth Chafetz, and Lanzetta protege George Dilgard.

Lanzetta led the political party we dubbed the Antis, but Kulak, Chafetz and Dilgard did a lot of the dirty work. Birmingham sat out the largest economic boom in U.S. history as Lanzetta, Kulak, Chafetz and Dilgard chased investors (and even Boy Scouts) from town.

Paranoid about change and seeing the devil in every developer, they reduced allowable downtown building heights to a level that made commercially viable buildings impossible. They set the 2016 Master Plan back at least a decade, and lost numerous opportunities to increase Birmingham's tax base.

Meanwhile, they had no regard for personal property rights or Birmingham's scarce tax dollars. Their Tree Ordinance was only the most blatant attempted incursion on property rights. The $300,000 "sidewalk to nowhere" over the Adams St. Bridge showed utter disregard for taxpayers' hard-earned dollars. Both measures failed after intense public criticism.

The arrogance was typified by their response to the Michigan Department of Transportation, which offered several hundred thousand dollars to improve the dangerous intersection at S. Old Woodward and Lincoln. The City Manager approved. The Police Chief approved. The Traffic & Safety Board approved. But Paul Reagan, a loudmouth political wannabe who supports the Antis from his home a block from the intersection, disapproved, and so MDOT got the boot.

Even the Boy Scouts were not immune to the arrogance. When the Detroit Auto Dealers Association sought to sponsor a soap box derby for the scouts on N. Old Woodward, Lanzetta and Chafetz told them to take a hike.

Voters' response four years ago was reasonable and right. You booted the bad guys and elected four commissioners who promised to restore civility and reason to city government. And then you supported their forcible removal of Gary Kulak from the Planning Board.

The commission we elected four years ago has been largely successful in restoring civility and reason, and in attracting investment.

Reasonable downtown building heights have been restored, and numerous projects, public and private, are moving Birmingham forward again.

Voters seem pleased. They don't seem angry. And that's why we're worried.

We're worried because when voters in Birmingham get complacent, they stay away from the polls. And that presents a perfect opportunity for the Antis.

Chafetz and Dilgard are running because they see an opportunity to get back in the game. And if they are successful, the Antis will have scored big, because they, along with Commissioner Don Carney, will be very close to a majority on the commission.

But more on Chafetz and Dilgard later. First, our endorsements of the Good Guys.

The incumbents: Tom McDaniel and Scott Moore
Mayor Tom McDaniel and Commissioner Scott Moore are incumbents. We campaigned hard for them four years ago, and we still support them. We don't always agree with them (most notably on their decisions to evict Beaumont Hospital early and and tear down Barnum School), but most of the time they vote the way we would vote. We had to cajole them to reconsider an early decision against issuing new liquor licenses, and once the facts were clear, they and the rest of the commission and city staff realized the wisdom and safety in giving the go-ahead for bistro licenses. Most of all, McDaniel and Moore understand the need for Birmingham to move forward, enhance its environment, encourage investment and build its tax base. They supported the restoration of reasonable zoning regulations downtown, the redevelopment of Booth Park, a public/private partnership with the YMCA, the Triangle District master plan and numerous other projects aimed at making Birmingham more attractive to potential residents and businesses. And their work has shown results. Every year since they took office, Birmingham has cut its tax rate.

Shelli Weisberg
Shelli Weisberg is the only woman running for election to the commission, and since Julie Plotnik and Dianne McKeon are stepping down, if Weisberg is elected, she would be one of only two women (joining Rackeline Hoff) on the commission. If for no other reason, we would support Weisberg because she brings the necessary additional perspective of a woman to the commission. But there are many more reasons to support Weisberg. We have worked closely with her for more than six years, and she is one of the brightest people we know. She has served in a leadership role as a member of the Birmingham School Board for 10 years, and she is currently a member of two city advisory boards, the Historic District Committee and the Design Review Board. Her commitment to the community is unquestionable, and she brings pragmatism and experience to her candidacy. Like McDaniel and Moore, she brings an understanding of the need for Birmingham to move forward and build its tax base. She also brings 10 years of experience managing your school tax dollars. Weisberg may be the most qualified candidate for City Commission in many years.

Gordon Rinschler
Gordon Rinschler is chairman of the city's Historic District Committee and its Design Review Board. He's probably one of the only officials in town to have actually read and tried to understand the pending and beyond complex Lighting Ordinance, which was recently tabled by the commission at Rinschler's urging. But more on that later. Rinschler is a retired Chrysler vice president, and he brings an executive engineer's eye for detail and precision to all of the jobs he tackles. He is committed, he says, to "fiscal responsibility, balanced growth, investment in parks and infrastructure and preservation of Birmingham’s unique visual character." Maybe more important, Rinschler has demonstrated that, no matter where he stands (and we probably agree with him less often than we agree with the other candidates we support), he is civil, reasonable and inclusive. He practices a kind of politics that is foreign to the candidates we do not support in this election, most notably Seth Chafetz. Rinschler is someone capable of bringing more good people into the process. Our system "not only fails to reach out to residents and stakeholders, but actually disenfranchises many of them. How could this be? How could we routinely under-utilize the extraordinary talents right in our own backyard? Insufficient notice, limited education on the significance of issues, inconsistent procedures, making it up as you go along, and public comment practices that encourage confrontation rather that collaboration are just a few examples. These are all things that we can fix!" he says. Rinscher has the vision and leadership skills to make the process of governing more inclusive, more collaborative and more respectful of the talents of everyone in Birmingham.

We are not supporting Chafetz and Dilgard in this election, and will actively oppose them.

You don't have to look far below Chafetz' bizarre and disingenuous grin to see his anger. Chafetz' involvement in politics began several years ago after he complained to the city about a neighbor who stored building materials behind the neighbor's garage. Chafetz called it trash, and wanted it removed. The city told Chafetz that the neighbor was exercising something that Chafetz has since had a hard time understanding -- property rights. Chafetz channeled his anger into a successful campaign for commission. His most notable accomplishment as commissioner was no accomplishment at all -- his failed attempt to pass a Tree Ordinance. The ordinance had the noble intent of protecting trees, but at the cost of basic property rights. The ordinance would have forced property owners to obtain permits in order to trim trees on their own property. Chafetz was successful in forcing, for a time, city staff to obtain commission permission every time it wanted to cut down a tree on city property. After voters booted Chafetz from office four years ago, he was granted a position on the Parks & Recreation Board. His performance was such that the commission declined to reappoint him at the end of his term. Name recognition no doubt propelled him to success in a subsequent bid for election in 2005 to the city's Library Board. He won in spite of his outrageous claims of fiscal mismanagement at the library. He has been an irrational and divisive member of that board since.

Dilgard is a holdover from the Kulak Planning Board. Before he was appointed to the board, he worked behind the scenes as a researcher for Lanzetta and campaigned hard for him. He is frequently the odd man out in Planning Board decisions, but is rarely willing to accept those decisions. Rather, he arrogantly and independently takes his cases to the City Commission, where he gets a sympathetic ear from Commissioner Don Carney, whom he now serves much the way he served Lanzetta. His end-runs anger colleagues on the Planning Board, and often result in commission "compromises" that are irrational and please no one. That was the case when the commission considered residential garages. Dilgard has devoted many months to the so-called Lighting Ordinance, which reeks of the kind of incursion on personal property rights represented by the Tree Ordinance. The ordinance would, among other things, regulate even interior residential lighting, taking a regulatory sledgehammer to a problem that does not exist.

Birmingham is on the right track. The candidates we endorse will keep it there. The candidate we oppose will try to derail it.

The choice is simple: Sound management, respect for property rights, an increased tax base and reduced taxes.

Or arrogance, irrational fear of change, disregard for property rights and the increased tax bills that will come with short-sighted management.

On Nov. 6, vote for McDaniel, Moore, Rinscher and Weisberg.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Barnum design process needs YOU

The City of Birmingham has hired a designer for Barnum Park, and is now seeking community input on the design. It is important that the ENTIRE community is represented at these meetings. The city is spending more than $10 million of taxpayer money on Barnum, and neighborhood residents have largely driven the project so far. Many of those residents would be satisfied with nothing more than grass and trees for their backyard park, and will object to any amenities that draw traffic. Most Birmingham residents -- backed by the Parks & Recreation Board -- believe a community park with amenities that serve the entire community are appropriate at Barnum.

The schedule of meeting is as follows, and can be found on the city website here.

All meetings are at Barnum, 746 Purdy, unless otherwise noted.

Round Table Brain Storming
Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2007 at 6 p.m.

Visioning Workshop
Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2007 at 6 p.m.

Design Charrette or Conceptual Plan
Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2007 at 6 p.m.

Staff and Community Review
Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2007 at 1 p.m.
(Dept. of Public Services, S. Eton.)

Mark your calendar today and be heard. Voices from outside the immediate neighborhood will carry much weight in the process.