It’s time for Mount Clemens to Adopt a Ward System
Posted: January 10, 2010 at 3:11 pm | Tags: bank, barb dempsey, Business, Car, cars, country, culture, economic growth, Economics, Election, elections, Fail, fraud, Government, map, master Plan, Mount Clemens, Nature, news, picture, Pictures, Politics, profiles, public, representation, school, School Board, Ward, warren, website, workWith a city government that is strapped for cash, has no idea how to spur economic development and has been given clown noses to wear at commission meetings, it’s no wonder Mount Clemens is in the mess that it is. There is no perfect solution for these (and the other issues facing the city), but if we do not start taking steps in the right direction soon, then the city will go downhill, and fast. Think South Warren fast. A big underlying issue is that the people are not represented in city government; they have no say in what happens.By switching out system from electing all city commissioners at large to a ward system that will allow for neighborhoods to be more represented, give the voters a better choice, and encourage more people to vote and to run for office.
A ward system, for those who don’t know, is where the city is divided up into parts, and each part is represented in government by an elected individual. If there are parts A, B, C, and D then people from Ward A can only vote for a candidate who lives in ward A, and so fourth. This is exactly what activist and former mayoral candidate Gloria Haller is proposing, thus far it has gotten public support from former school board member Joe Rheker and sitting board member Larry Humphrey, while getting opposition from Mayor Barb Dempsey.
Much of this is the fault of the people themselves. If you don’t vote, then you are held prisoner by those that do (of course, not voting because you have no candidate you want to vote for is completely different). And there are even less people who are willing to step up to the plate and run for political office.
This issue borderlines cronyism, where a section of the city breeds all the people who will run it. How bad is it? There is only one elected official in Mount Clemens who lives north of Cass Avenue: School Board President Earl Rickman.
This map shows where the Mayor, the City Commission, and the School Board members live.
The southern 2 neighborhoods control the whole city of Mount Clemens
This map is taken directly from the new Master Plan of Mount Clemens. This is the neighborhood map, and from what I can tell by itself, is very accurate. Neighborhoods 7 and 10 (which also correspond with current voting precincts 2 and 9) run the entire show.
Driving through these areas, it’s not hard to see where this is different from the rest of the city. These are the nicest neighborhoods in town, and the people that live there are likely to be the most successful, college educated and have a little extra cash in the bank. Others who live in these neighborhoods include long time Mount Clemens High School Principal Nelson Jackson, Charter Commission President Jake Femmineneo, and former Congressional Democratic Whip David Bonior.
Due to the nature of these ares, it’s not surprising that these people are more likely to vote and more likely to run for office themselves. Voter data all across the country will give similar stories: higher income and better education almost always lead to higher voter turnout.
Due to the small voter turnout in Commission and School Board elections, there is absolutely no need to run a city-wide campaign if you are seeking office. If you win precincts 2 and 9 (on election day and the absentee), you’ve just won the election. I know this first hand, I won 14 of 17 precincts last year when I ran for school board and still lost the election, having lost precincts 2 and 9 and tied in precinct 1. This means that when you run a campaign, knocking on doors all over the city means nothing.
We have a culture where only 2 neighborhoods elect the officials. With all these politicians in the same area, it’s no wonder that they breed more politicians from the same neighborhoods. And when your friends and neighbors are all running for something, you get to know them pretty well, even if you already didn’t.
When election time rolls around, someone from neighborhood 7 will see a name on the ballot he recognizes. Maybe it’s his friend or long-time neighbor. Maybe he’s knocked on your door to talk to you about the campaign or you’ve gotten something in the mail from his committee. Over the years you might have seen this candidate washing their car or doing their own landscaping, maybe even playing ball with the kids and the family dog on the front lawn.Maybe your kids are friends with theirs, and they walked to school together, or even dated! Either way, it’s a community within a community. And this is someone you know either through reputation or just because you’ve seen them out and about and know they’re a “good person”.
That same person in neighborhood 7 might also see another name on the ballot. Someone who knocked on their door once or twice during the campaign. You’ve never met them beforehand, and you don’t know what kind of person they are. They seem very nice and very well intentioned, but aside from a quick conversation and a little reading, you know nothing about this candidate’s character, how he conducts his life, or anything else other than what he wants you to know.
When election day comes, guess who is going to get the vote?
Meanwhile, why would someone from neighborhood 9 even consider voting on election day? They may see a handful of names on the ballot, where none of which have knocked on their door or given them any information. If they are an informed voter they may have read their profile in the C&G paper or Macomb Daily and seen their website if they have one, but that’s it. And odds are, they are someone from the other side of town, who lives in a very different part of Mount Clemens than you do. So different in fact, that if you were shown pictures of the different neighborhoods side by side, you would never know that it’s the same city. It’s easy for people to not vote when they don’t feel represented, and that’s exactly what happens.
For someone who wants to make a difference, running an election is difficult if you don’t live in the right neighborhood. The people that statistically always vote will be harder to win over when they don’t already know you. Especially when one of their neighbors in on the ballot. And when you see all of your neighbors putting up yard signs for the local guy, you start to think “well these guys are all like me, and this is who they like, so this candidate must be my kind of guy”.
The machine just generates more cogs. The candidates ignore the rest of the city, as they don’t have to answer to them. It matters not what they do as long as they appease their neighbors.
By putting the city into a ward system, we eliminate this. This will allow people from different neighborhoods to elect someone who they know, who they may have known for a long time. This will allow the candidate to take their message right to the people, instead of trying to impress folks from the “rich side of town” into voting for them over one of their neighbors. This will entice more people to run for commission as the campaigns will be easier to manage with a smaller geographical area and less expensive to run with a smaller voter base to work with.
At meetings, this will bring new, fresh perspectives to the table. Mount Clemens, despite being small, is not small the way that Armada, Romeo, or Oxford is small. We are one of the most diverse cities in Macomb County, with different ethnic groups, races, ages, incomes, lifestyles and viewpoints. Because of this, we are underrepresented across the board. And as the old saying goes, “No Taxation without Representation”.
This will also make sure that there is no cronyism in board appointments or replacements: people will be elected by their neighbors come special election or anything else. For example, take a look at the map again. Towards the bottom there are 2 shapes that overlap, one of those is a newly appointed school board member and the other is a siting elected board member. I am not making accusations against the qualifications of newly appointed school board member Laura Kropp. But I will say that it surprises me not one bit that despite being the voter’s 2nd choice to sit on the board last May, I was passed up for appointment that was given to a sitting board member. And while I have no evidence to support this theory, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit of she was “asked” by her neighbor to apply for the appointment, so the board could use the opportunity to pass me over.
Opponents of the Ward plan say that it will force the new commissioners to only serve their neighborhoods, as opposed to the city at large. This point is downright laughable. If the current commissioners are doing their best to work for Mount Clemens as a whole then the system needs obvious reform. Because right now, it isn’t working.
Let me say that again: the current system is NOT working. Businesses are closing up left and right, neighborhoods are in decline, and people are moving out. The current elected officials have failed us.
The more realistic story is that they are not serving the community at large, but their own little community within a community: Seminole Hills and the Wilson School Area. Precincts 2 and 9. Neighborhoods 7 and 10. Whatever you want to call it, it’s the southwest end of town and it runs the show.
Because of this, there is no accountability. All you have to do to win is be from that area and show your neighbors that you’re like they are. No matter what way you want to look at it, the city is suffering, the people are underrepresented, and the people have little say in anything that happens. Their cries at board meetings can be ignored, because the commissioners know that if the angry person behind the mic gets everyone he knows to vote against you, you still have a strong base.
The one thing about the Haller Ward Plan that I do not like is the raising of pay for the elected officials. People are driven to public service for things other than the pay, and the better campaign platforms that can be developed as well as the chance of knowing that they can win an election will be more than enough to get more people to seek public office. The other small thing would be that the school board should be included in this as well.
With that being said, it’s time for a change. A Ward system would give better accountability, different viewpoints at the table, and allow government to be what it was meant to be: of the people, by the people, and for the people. Instead of a few elite neighborhoods that have power over the rest of the city with no accountability overall for their actions.
Let’s take this step to save our city and bring responsible government to Mount Clemens.
