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.