Hello Residents of Eastpointe,

I took no pleasure in offering a motion to censure the Mayor at our City Council meeting yesterday. She called the Public Safety Director asking for a police presence, simply for feeling disrespected. And also, she threatened to remove a board member, and asked the City Manager to remove a board member (neither of which are the appropriate way to handle the situation). These abuses of power cannot be tolerated. All citizens in Eastpointe should have equal access to the police, and the Mayor and City Council should not be abusing their access to the police (the police department reports to the City Manager who reports to City Council). City Council members should be calling 911 or the non-emergency line if police resources are needed (I have done both). They should not be calling the Public Safety Director instead. Board members in the community, who volunteer their time, should not be subject to threats from the Mayor (or other City Council members).

Sturgis is our adopted parliamentary procedure, according to the City Council Bylaws (the Sturgis Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure has been renamed to The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure). For all seven years I have been on City Council, we have informally followed Sturgis parliamentary procedure. This has worked pretty well for us. But then I tried offering a minor amendment.

At our City Council meeting on Tuesday, we had Green for Life (GFL), our refuse contractor, at the meeting, to confront them about their employees throwing yard waste and recycling in with the trash. GFL promised to fix this issue. If you see this occur August 4, 2021, or later, please let me know. 

It is also true though that some residents have improperly combined recycling with garbage, or compost with garbage. This article is to help educate our community. Please check out the following:

• DPW's Refuse Information page: https://eastpointemi.gov/departments/public_works_and_divisions/dpw_department/refuse_information.php
• Direct Link to Refuse, Recycling, and Compost Information: https://cms9files.revize.com/eastpointemi/Refuse-Recycle-Compost.pdf

As we did last year, shown is the fiscal year 2021-2022 water bill explained. The rates have been updated. The combined water and sewer treatment rate increase is 2% from last year, based on usage. Originally, City Administration proposed a 4.5% increase, and we were able to work it down to 2%.

Learn how to save water!
https://www.epa.gov/watersense/start-saving

Sign up for auto-pay!
https://www.cardidemonaco.com/how-to-help/221-water-bill-direct-payment-and-emailed-bill

We are reconstructing Nine Mile... it's time to reimagine Eastpointe!

Wednesday, June 2 at 6pm we will be having a Special Meeting to brainstorm ideas for Nine Mile. Please come out and share your thoughts! Or, share them here!

Click here for the Special Meeting agenda, or view the fantastic presentation of survey results from our planning consultant McKenna.

At the February 2, 2021 City Council meeting, the City Council made the following motion that passed:

On Monday, annual campaign finance reports were due. Here is mine, for transparency.

The county maintains a list of committees with outstanding fees: https://macomb.mi.campaignfinance.us/iOutstandingLFFs.php

And on Wednesday, I gave blood! #DoubleReds

Our historic 2019 Ranked-Choice Voting City Council election was covered in this 28-minute film by documentary filmmaker Grace McNally.

P.S. Alysa and I make a few minor appearances ?

Recently, Governor Whitmer issued an Executive Order (EO) requiring individuals to wear maks in indoor spaces and crowded outdoor areas. The EO also requires businesses that are open to the public refuse entry/service to people not wearing a mask, with some exceptions. This is of course a change from the previous recommendation.

There are two ways to look at wearing a mask. One way is: the government requiring me to wear a mask is tyranny and overreach. The second, and better way is: of course I don't want to wear a mask, but I also do not want to be the one responsible for someone else getting COVID-19, and possibly dying. The most important reason for everyone to wear masks is so that healthy, asymptomatic folks are not unknowingly infecting others. Your "right" not to wear a mask does not outweigh the health and safety of anyone you come into contact with.