Brian Hunt's email to the Shores Residents
March/14/2010 00:01
Many of you may have received an email from Brian Hunt, proffering an explanation of why he resigned from the Shores Council in the face of the successful petition drive. Personally, I found his letter flawed and his excuse unsatisfactory. Here is Brian’s letter to the community, with his original comments in black type, followed by my annotations in blue type.
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BRIAN HUNT’S EMAIL TO SHORES RESIDENTS: ANNOTATED WITH COMMENTS BY DR. ROBERT LEE
Please read the attached letter about issues in our community and forward it to any interested parties. Thank you, Brian Hunt.
I was elected to the Grosse Pointe Shores Council five times, the last of which was less than 1 year ago. I had decided prior to the February 2009 election that it would be the last time I would seek re-election. I ran at that time for the purpose of assisting the transition to a new organizational structure as a city and to a new administration under the leadership of Manager Brian Vick. I have now chosen not to participate in another election in May. (It was the voters signing the recall petitions who selected you for participation, Brian. It is too bad you put your own sense of pride ahead of the democratic rights of the electorate. What would have been so hard about staying the course and fulfilling your commitment? Were you afraid to let the chips fall where they may when the voters make their decision in May? Or perhaps you quit in order to give your cronies the opportunity to continue the long Shores tradition of denying the voters the opportunity to choose the replacement council members?)
Looking back, I am proud of the work we have done over the past 10 years. We kept taxes in check in spite of rising employee health care and pension obligations. In fact, we even returned monies to the residents via a tax decrease in 2002. (Taxes in check? Returned money?? You mean the Shores took a tiny bit less out of the taxpayers’ pockets 8 years ago. Homeowners need to do the math based on their own home, as you can see I did for mine. Click on this link showing the 25% rise in Shores taxes on my home during that last 5 years of the Cooper regime.) The only time we raised the millage (1 mill) was in response to a common challenge (Common challenge? Common to whom? Did the City and the Farms raise their taxes?) faced by all Michigan communities following the steep fall in the stock market and the real estate market collapse. (And if there is no intent to raise taxes further why did you and your fellow incumbents INSIST on a clause in the new charter that raised the property tax limit from 12 to 20 mils?) This resulted in decreased home values and corresponding drops in revenue. A casual glance at local newspapers confirms that these circumstances were not caused by local governments but by regional conditions largely beyond their control. (The incumbents would have you believe this, but if you take more than Brian’s “casual glance”, it is clear that not all local governments are in the same boat. Why is the Shores the only Grosse Pointe community under fiscal watch by the state?) The 1 mill tax increase, dedicated to road improvements and to increase our fund balance, was, in my view, a reasonable response to this challenge. (The 1-mil tax increase was needed to cover the deficit spending from last year, when we ended up with a negative balance in the unrestricted general fund. In 2008 the Kenyon’s “golden parachute” total pay out of $356,000 alone cost about 1 mil of your tax revenue! And what roadwork has been done? Our roads are terrible and getting worse.) While some might have addressed the problem differently, it was by no means irresponsible or rash action that merits the recall of the remaining officials who voted in support of the increase. (When you have been a council member for ten years and are chairman of the Finance Committee but have never developed long-range fiscal plan, THAT IS IRRESPONSIBLE. When you fail to address the crushing employee legacy costs that have clearly been a mounting issue for years, and which are now in the range of $6.5 million for the pension plan, and $8 to 10 million for the unfunded health care liabilities, based on the city’s own documents THAT IS IRRESPONSIBLE.)
There is a group of residents that wants to take Grosse Pointe Shores in a direction that I, with good conscience, cannot endorse. (Brian, The fact that you do not endorse transparency and fiscal responsibility is readily apparent). I want Grosse Pointe Shores to remain a premier and independent community with the excellent amenities we have long enjoyed. Being a premier community has a price. Beyond the economic issues, this group’s complaints about “transparency” and “accountability” have been repeatedly addressed during the last year. Council meetings are now broadcast on cable TV. Extensive information is posted on the Village website. (Compare Grosse Pointe Shores website with www.shoresrecall.com. Which site has a better, in-depth presentation of the key source documents? The key data on the recall website comes directly from Grosse Pointe Shores. So if you claim the data is inaccurate, then it is the CITY that is not telling the truth. Since our key finance deliberations were moved to the Committee of the Whole, why are the Committee of the Whole meetings neither recorded nor televised? Is it transparent when Mayor Cooper and the incumbents vote to spend tax dollars to investigate the effects of a recall at a special meeting called for the specific purpose of revising boat well deposits?) Recall supporters have repeatedly indicated that two council members speak for their interests (Recall supporters have never said anybody on the council speaks for us, but do appreciate that Council members Kedzierski and Schulte have been steadfast in keeping their campaign promises about working for more fiscal responsibility and greater transparency.) and one of those individuals has now been appointed as Mayor Pro Tem and chair of the Finance Committee. (Ted should have been Mayor pro-tem from the start, Brian. Shores voters were promised a fresh start with our new city government, but you and the other incumbents failed to respect both the mandate of the voters and the spirit of the charter by engineering your own appointment to the position when Ted was the top vote getter. You could have spoken up then, but instead you chose to remain silent and accept the office you are now walking away from.) It is disingenuous to suggest that no one has responded to their suggestions or that their voices are not heard and listened to. (You missed the last city council meeting, Brian. But I hope you watch the reruns on cable channel 12 and see how rude and disparaging your incumbent colleagues were when Dan Schulte offered some thoughts on an equitable way to name your replacement.)
On behalf of our employees, I would like to remind residents of their dedication and devotion. Most deserve accolades, not public condemnation from a small group of individuals who are largely unfamiliar with their job performance or contribution to our community. (Another line of phony rhetoric, Brian. Nobody has been condemning the performance of our current civic employees. What is being questioned is how our city can survive without successfully dealing with the inflated salaries, unsustainable benefits, and the burden of enormous legacy costs: the flawed heritage of your tenure as finance chair that you now leave for the taxpayers to reckon with.) My best wishes go to them and to all of the individuals with whom I served throughout the years.
Finally, I urge all residents to get the facts and to vote against the upcoming recall. (I urge all voters to research the facts, and vote as their conscience dictates on the recall of each of the remaining incumbents.) The entire council and administration need our support as they deal with current economic realities. The recall campaign is particularly destructive insofar as the negative publicity it generates conveys the impression that we are a dysfunctional community. (It is the Cooper government and not the community that is dysfunctional. We have lived too long with lackadaisical oversight of what has been going on at city hall. Based on the positive changes already accomplished, the recall is one of the best things to ever happen in Grosse Pointe Shores politics. And from what side are the negative comments and publicity coming? Nothing can be more negative than a government that degrades its citizens for exercising their democratic rights.) It can only serve as an impediment to home sales, thereby further depressing real estate values in our community. (Thanks for providing a great example of the negativity you just mentioned, Brian! Yet another baseless threat designed to scare intimidate the voters. In reality, won’t achieving a higher level of fiscal accountability and working to lower our taxes make our community more desirable? BUT EXPECT MORE NEGATIVE TACTICS FROM THE INCUMBENTS IN THE WEEKS TO COME.)
Thank you for placing your confidence in me, and for allowing me the privilege of serving this community for the past 10 years. I wish you all the best and may God bless you and your families.
Sincerely,
Dr. Brian J. Hunt
Brian Hunt’s comments in BLACK
Dr. Robert Lee’s response in BLUE