Click on a headline from the archive or scroll down through the stories below it.

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Friday, July 18, 2008
Reality-based? Not this Almost Daily editorial

Sunday, July 13, 2008
Is seeing a sensible, progressive use of land
Mission Impossible for Green Oak Township?

There's enormous potential in Mission Hills property

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Friday, March 28, 2008
New project targeting seniors would alter downtown Brighton

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Thursday, October 9, 2008
Trustee seeks re-election as write-in
John Beckett, Opinion Artillery
(Transparency alert: George Kilpatrick is a friend of the author.)

Green Oak Township Trustee George Kilpatrick was disappointed but not entirely surprised when he failed to win re-nomination in the Republican primary election. After all, he had gone against the GOP powers-that-be a number of times. But he was surprised when people kept telling him that he had lost partly because many voters thought he was related to disgraced Detroit ex-mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. So George Kilpatrick is running again as a write-in choice.

Here are George Kilpatrick's positions, as suppled by him to Opinion Artillery:
 
What do you consider the most important issues that need to be addressed?

There are many.  Continuing to demand internal oversight to assist with the fiscal responsibility that I have been charged with by the residents of the township; how to maintain services provided with potentially decreasing revenues.  To aid the Board in promoting good sound judgment on topics and issues brought before the Board. Continuing to push this Board forward to establish absolute transparency and openness within our Township government. To be an advocate for the future of the Township and to not simply govern for the "now".  We need to think outside the box and be pro-active rather than reactive.  Ethical, responsible, accountable government is a priority.   

What makes you uniquely qualified for the position?

Over the past four years, I have not let my position as Trustee change my basic philosophies and principles.  I am honest and forthright.  I do not take my charge to do what I feel is in the best interest of the Township lightly.  I have not, nor will not make decisions based on friendships and or/pressure from corporate deep pockets or other pressure.  I will stay true to my word and my ethical nature. This may not get me back in office but I must be true to my beliefs.

Sometimes people can lose sight of who elected them and why they were elected.  They get caught up in the power and struggle for control.  This has no place in Green Oak Township government and if I am fortunate enough to be re-elected to the Board, I will continue to fight to ferret out dishonest and unethical behavior of anyone that may have lost sight of why they were elected to office.  I will continue to demand accountability!

What else do you want voters to know about you?

Some 33 years ago, I received my Eagle Scout Award through the Boy Scouts of America.  To this day, I try to use these basic fundamental principles to live my life.  Over 18 years ago, my family and I moved into Green Oak Township from the City of Troy. Do I need to say more! We live here because it is a wonderful community with much to offer.  My wife Pam and I have raised our four children here.  They have each attended the Brighton Area Schools.  The three eldest are in college and the youngest attends Brighton H.S. 

Bryan has attended CMU and is currently taking courses at WCCC with plans to save enough money to head back to Central in the spring of "09".  Bryan is considering Seminary after he graduates in a couple of years.  Jessica is a junior at CMU and has aspirations of becoming a Recreation Coordinator after graduation.  Carly is a freshman at MSU and is considering a career in social work.  Eric is a junior at BHS and is a three-letter, scholar-athlete. Pam has been the secretary at Hilton Elementary School for about eight years and is my rock.  So when you ask; "What else do you want voters to know about you?"  I have to tell you these things about my family as they are my life and what I am most proud of.


Friday, October 3, 2008
Hartland resident: Biden is class act

Dear Editor:

 

I watched the VP debate last night and I think that Senator Joe Biden exhibited the skills and knowledge and character to be a good Vice President and the ability to step in as President if the need should arise.

 

Gov. Sarah Palin, by her own admission, has only been entertaining the idea of being a VP for 5 weeks. The lack of depth of reasoning (she doesn't care about the causes of global warming, let's just move forward) is remarkable. She exhibited the ability to remain confident and entertain even as she didn't answer the questions asked but repeated snippets of a canned speech. Viewing Palin's performance, I am reminded of HUB-TV's notice to viewers of it's political coverage in Liv. Cty:

 

"NOTE TO VIEWERS: HUBTV is not affiliated with any party. Any views expressed within these videos are entirely those of the interviewees - not necessarily those of the interviewers.

Additionally, these videos are intended for entertainment purposes only. HUBTV encourages interested viewers to  research the interview topics further if they wish to obtain a more comprehensive view of the issues addressed."

Gov. Palin is not ready for the job of VP let alone the job of President.  She can relate to Joe Six-Pack just as President Bush was said to be the one that most Americans would like to have a beer with.  She is in her element in Alaska and as she said: "..an outsider in Washington,"  unfortunately for her, that is where the job is located, and I for one, don't want it moved to Alaska. 

 

I want a VP and President that will inspire everyday Americans to embrace once again the values of kindness, fairness, and equality. I also want a leader that is intelligent, articulate, respectful and will work to restore America's  relationships around the world.

 

Let Sarah (can I call you, Joe?) Palin get back to governing Alaska.

Thank you Senator Biden for being a class act that will play not just in all 50 States but around the World.

 

Sincerely,

 

Mares Hirchert
Hartland

Friday, September 5, 2008
County paper unfriendly to dissenting voices

John Beckett, Opinion Artillery
As faithful fans of Opinion Artillery know, I have my share of complaints about the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus, a newspaper so devoted to accuracy that its very name doesn't mesh with the fact that it is published six, not seven, times a week.

You may also know that I'm not the only one. Kevin Shopshire -- who, like me, once worked for the Almost Daily -- regularly skewers it at his blog, The Conservative Media. (For a good example of Kevin's well-placed criticism, see his recent post County paper dispels liberal media myth.)

Now it appears that the Almost Daily is also holding a grudge against Hartland activist Mares Hirchert, a great friend of Opinion Artillery. I suspect this friendship may be a reason why Mares, who used to make occasional appearances in the Almost Daily's Letters to the Editor, now seems to be persona non grata. Which is rather funny, considering that I first became acquainted with Mares after reading one of those letters.

At any rate, here are copies of Mares' most recent missives to that esteemed publication.  Read them here, because I have a hunch you won't be seeing them in the paper:  


August 7, 2008

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Sunday, August 24, 2008

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She's everywhere!
By John Beckett -- Hartland's Mares Hirchert is what
you might call an activist. Since I first became acquainted with her a couple of months ago, she has provided invaluable feedback on the       development of this website. She has given me useful contacts, interesting videos, and solid suggestions. Sometimes, in fact, it seems as if Mares is everywhere, knowledgeable about everything, and ... well ... not quite omnipotent. The latest example: Last weekend I ran across Democracy Now! TV. I was instantly impressed, and earlier this week I proudly added it to Opinion Artillery. A couple of days later, Mares sent me an e-mail. In it she mentioned, almost incidentally, "Did I ever show you the picture of (Democracy                    Mares Hirchert with Amy Goodman
Now anchor) Amy Goodman and me?" It turns out that Mares had it taken in May at the Michigan Policy Summit 2008 - Rebuilding Michigan. To me, this picture says a couple of things about Mares Hirchert and, I suspect, many Opinion Artillery regulars. One is that you're smart and involved people. Another is that you may not be smarter than me, but you're certainly quicker. And one other thing: Mares really is everywhere.

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Thursday, August 21, 2008

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Laughs never end in Grim Joke Township

By John Beckett -- Green Oak Township Trustee George Kilpatrick was surprised to hear, in the wake of his defeat in the recent primary election, that there were voters who didn’t support him because they thought he was related to Kwame Kilpatrick, the besieged Detroit mayor. “After all,” George Kilpatrick deadpanned, “he’s much taller and heavier than I am.”

He’s also black, and George Kilpatrick is white.

Maybe George shouldn’t have been surprised. But then he didn’t live in Green Oak during the 1970s and early 1980s, when it was earning its nickname “Grim Joke Township.” This was a time of lawsuits and controversy, but it was even more than that. It was an era when one longtime Republican trustee failed to win re-election, resigned at the very next board meeting – and then resumed his seat a few moments later, when he was appointed to fill the unexpired term of a Democrat trustee who had just surprisingly resigned. By letter. From Colorado, where he had helped cook up the whole plan by telephone. 

Based on my casual observation of the township over the last decade or so, things seem to have improved in Green Oak. Recalls and lawsuits are way down, and the township can take pride in how Green Oak Village Place and nearby commercial developments have turned out. Even our worst fear – that a dizzy place like Green Oak was the last place to put a traffic roundabout, let alone three of them – has turned out to be groundless.

But Green Oak Township has always had a touch of the different about it. Bob Seger, the MC5, and other hippie musicians used to gather at a house not far from what is now Green Oak Village Place. It was rented by Teegarden and VanWinkle (remember “God, Love and Rock & Roll”?) Art Penhallow, afternoon drive disc jockey for WRIF Radio (Baby!”) lived just down the road from the township hall. Not too far, as the crow flies, from the Village Place lifestyle mall, a different lifestyle was practiced in the Seventies, when many of the visitors to an abandoned gravel pit wore fewer clothes than swimmers do now that it’s part of the Island Lake State Recreation Area.

Green Oak was every bit as liberal politically, at least in comparison to the rest of Livingston County. Which is to say, Democrats not only appeared on the ballot with regularity, but actually won some township offices fairly consistently. But it was never another, say, Ann Arbor.

In the 1990s, the Ann Arbor News ran a story based on census findings, a sort of “by the numbers” guide that included a demographic breakdown of Livingston’s 16 townships. It revealed that Green Oak had the highest percentage of black residents in the county. Which many residents found of great interest. They phoned the township hall wanting to know where these people of color lived. Perhaps they wanted to welcome them. They were told where these minorities could be found: Maxey Boys Training School.

For George Kilpatrick to lose votes because people thought he was related to Kwame Kilpatrick is no great surprise in Green Oak Township. It’s that kind of place. And this doesn’t mean that Green Oak voters are racists. Maybe they just figured, in the grand tradition of the American electorate, that there already were enough crook’s relatives on the job. It does seem far-fetched to think anybody would vote against Kilpatrick just because he had the same last name as the Detroit mayor, but as a wise man once said, you won’t go broke by under-estimating the intelligence of the American public. And Green Oak is as American as it gets.

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Friday, August 15, 2008

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What's in a name? Trustee has to wonder
By John Beckett -- TRANSPARENCY ALERT: George Kilpatrick and I are friends.

In the recent primary election, George Kilpatrick accomplished the nearly impossible for a Livingston County candidate: He lost a re-election bid even though he was running as an incumbent Republican.

The loss was a bit of a surprise. Kilpatrick, a Green Oak Township trustee, was endorsed by the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus and had the advantage of incumbency. But the Republic Michigander blog noted, "I'm not sure why (he lost), since I haven't heard anything particulary negative about him. George Kilpatrick. Then it dawned on me. Did he lose because of an unfortunate last name, sharing it with the
George Kilpatrick     Detroit mayor?"

Meanwhile, Kilpatrick was hearing that yes, at least some people hadn't voted for him because they thought he was related to Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who has had his share of problems lately. So, is George Kilpatrick disappointed by this turn of events? Or disenchanted, or disbelieving?

Here's what he has to say:
Kwame Kilpatrick

I can't believe that some voters in Green Oak Township actually thought that I, George Kilpatrick, was related to the Mayor of the City of Detroit!  You're kidding right?  We don't look anything alike.  He's much taller and heavier than I am.

I had the recent pleasure of running in the Primary for re-election of Green Oak Township Trustee.  I was not fortunate enough to have secured the nomination.  If you didn't vote for me because you don't want transparency in local government, you don't like my "in your face" nature; you don't like all of the questions that I demand of the Executive electeds, you don't agree with my optimistic plan and ideology for the future of the Township, or if my desire to promote real positive growth is not a concern for you ... I understand why you wouldn't have voted for me.  But to hear that there were actually people that didn't vote for me because they thought I was related to The "Dis"honorable, his Excellency, Kwame Kilpatrick, is simply unbelievable. 

I would like to thank the people that did vote for me and would like to congratulate the nominees that were selected.  I may decide to run as a write-in at the general election and would really appreciate your support ... unless of course you still think I'm related to the Mayor of Detroit ... then I really don't want your vote anyhow.

Remember in November ... George Kilpatrick ... NOT RELATED TO KWAME!

I'm George Kilpatrick, current Green Oak Township Trustee and I wrote and approve this message!

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Thursday, August 14, 2008

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Howell home-school high school is a bad idea
By John Beckett – Livingston County journalists are lucky. Even during the dog days of August, we can always count on having something to write about because we can always count on the Howell schools to do something stupid. Case in point: Howell is thinking about offering classes to home-schoolers in the Parker High School, which the district can’t afford to open for its real students.

Not knowing all the fine print of state education regulations, I can’t say for sure where the definition of a home-schooled child ends. But common sense would seem to place it where the public school door opens. In other words, home-schoolers don’t attend public schools, even for the occasional class, any more than public school students take some of their classes at home.

To me, it seems as clear as the old saw about childbearing: There is no such thing as a little bit pregnant. Neither are there degrees of home-schooling. People who choose to home-school their kids are people who are rejecting public education. So why would you offer them classes in a public school building?

As it so often is, the reason is simple: for money. Someone in Howell had the idea that the district could make some extra money by offering such classes. So Howell administrators have been studying the possibility. According to the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus, they’ve determined that the district could make about $1,000 for each 55-minute class attended by a minimum of 25 students.

Howell school board president Ed Literski said Monday, “Based on what I see, it doesn’t seem economically feasible.” But new Superintendent Theodore Gardella said the district shouldn’t abandon the idea until it holds a public forum to determine how much interest exists within the home-schooling community. “We’ve done the work. We need to hear from our customer base,” he said.

I guess I have news for the new super: You’ve already heard from your customer base, and these people aren’t part of it. If they were, they’d already be planning on attending your schools, full-time, and you’d be getting full state aid for them.

It’s not that I don’t have sympathy for the Howell schools, and all the other school districts that face money woes. Between the economy sagging, healthcare costs rising, and our state Legislature being unable to come up with an equitable school financing plan, things are tough for public schools. They’re especially tough in Howell, which built the new Parker High a few years ago based on what then seemed like entirely reasonable projections of continued growth, only to see the bottom fall out of the booming LivCo housing market.

But blurring the lines between public and private isn’t the answer. Howell, and some other districts in the state, have already engaged in such shenanigans with poor results. They have laid off some administrators and then hired them back as private contractors, saving money because they don’t have to pay healthcare and retirement costs for private contractors. But by law, someone has to pay that cost for educators. So the expense merely becomes another burden on the state – the same state that already can’t find enough money for education.

There are other problems with this “home-schooling” idea, and a raft of questions I haven’t yet seen answered in Press & Argus stories about the issue:

Who would teach these classes? The proposal is that Howell could offer classes at Parker at not only the high school level, but elementary and middle-school as well. Does the district actually have teachers at each level with such light schedules that they could leave their base schools and drive to and from Parker to teach a class or two? That possibility seems both unlikely and unwieldy. Or would such classes be offered in the evenings? If so, would the district have to pay teachers extra for teaching extra classes? Or hire more teachers?

What does the union think of this idea? What does the state think?

What happens if something happens in one of these classes? It could be a disruptive student, a concerned parent, or a teacher doing something inappropriate – or being accused of doing something. Which administrator is responsible for oversight? Who do people report and/or complain to? These are not unimportant questions in a district where it took months for the last superintendent to either learn of, or acknowledge, a sexual assault incident on an elementary school bus.

By the way, whose insurance would cover these students while they’re at Parker – their parents’ or the school district’s?

How about high school students who are home-schooled but take a couple of classes at Parker? What happens when one of them wants to suit up for a Highlanders’ sports team? Will he or she be allowed to? When the school district says no, because the state Court of Appeals ruled that home-schoolers aren’t entitled to play high school sports, what happens when a parent sues, saying this is different? Will the Howell school district be saddled with legal expenses, defending itself against a home-schooler it was so eager to help educate?

And what would happen if a court ruled that high schoolers could qualify for sports teams by taking a mixture of classes – some at home, some at school? “Pssst ... Hey, Coach. You know that right tackle you’ve been having trouble keeping eligible? Here’s how to do it.” There’s nobody better at – or more willing to – exploit loopholes than coaches and parents. Believe me, I know. I’ve been both.

Two home-schooled students in the Grayling area petitioned the Crawford AuSable School Board to allow them to play on Grayling High School's sports teams. The lawsuit that led to the Appeals Court ruling involved seven families who sued the MHSAA, Kenowa Hills Public Schools, Ypsilanti Public School District, Caro Community Schools, Grandville Public School District, Pinckney Community Schools and the Tuscola Intermediate School District.

It seems that proponents of the Howell plan actually view it as more of a marketing tool than anything else. They hope that once they get these home-schoolers inside Parker, at least some of them will want to start attending Howell schools full-time.

That might happen. But there are better ways to advertise.





Friday, July 18, 2008

Reality-based? Not this Almost Daily editorial 

The editorial page of the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus, which despite its name is published six days a week, was in high dudgeon this morning. The focus of its anger? Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm’s suggestion that the state Legislature should consider lowering freeway speed limits from 70 to 55 miles per hour to reduce gas consumption and expenses. The editorial called that proposal “more a gimmick than any kind of substantive policy change.”  

Editorials are expressions of opinion, and the Almost Daily certainly has the right to its view. It might be nice, however, if that view were based on reality.

In 1974, in response to the Arab oil embargo, the national speed limit was lowered to 55. Studies show that saved 167,000 barrels of oil a day. As Virginia Senator John Warner, who supports lowering the national speed limit to 55 or 60, wrote in a letter to Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, “Given the significant increase in the number of vehicles on America's highway system from 1974 to 2008, one could assume that the amount of fuel that could be conserved today is far greater.”

As you may know, conserving fuel has two results: It reduces both pollution and demand for gas. As you may also know, reducing demand then tends to reduce gas prices. “However,” as CBS News noted in an editorial of its own, “oil and money were not the only things saved (by the lower speed limit).”

Another effect of the slower speeds was that traffic-related deaths fell by an average of 4,000 per year. Which was why, after the oil crisis ended in the mid-1970s, the national 55 mph speed limit was retained – for nearly 20 years, until 1995.

Apparently it was a pretty effective gimmick.

The Nearly Daily editorial also had this to say:

“The governor also thinks we should slow down while driving. As her press release put it, ‘Watch your speed – high speed creates high wind resistance. Driving faster than 60 miles per hour can cost an additional 30 cents per gallon for every 5 miles-per-hour increase.’ (How’s that again?)”

Well, since you asked: According to the CBS editorial, “Fuel efficiency decreases rapidly at rates higher than 60 mph. Every additional 5 mph above 60 is estimated to cost motorists essentially another 30 cents per gallon.”

Sunday, July 13, 2008
Is seeing a sensible, progressive use of land
Mission Impossible for Green Oak Township?

What will become of the Mission Hills property in Green Oak Township? Probably not what should happen, unless the Green Oak Township Board changes its thinking.

Michigan’s dire economic straits put the board in position to acquire an extremely desirable piece of property that could be used for many progressive purposes. But instead of exercising the kind of creative thinking that is so badly needed in these troubled times, the board hunkered into the bunker mentality that is just the opposite.  

The 286-acre Mission Hills parcel is located adjacent to US-23 where Silver Lake and Winans Lake roads meet Whitmore Lake Road. Just south of Brighton and only 15 miles north of Ann Arbor, it is a prime location, especially considering its proximity to the freeway.

If the economy were even halfway decent, Green Oak Township would have two chances of acquiring this land: zero and none.

But in June the township board voted against purchasing the property – or placing a proposal on the November ballot to let township residents decide the issue.   

Both decisions were bad.

Consider a few arguments
for buying the land:


* TownshipSupervisor
Mark St. Charles says the
township needs someday to
acquire 75 acres for recreation
space, a senior center and post                             BKM'S latest sales plans advertise "a large
office, and other possible uses.                              mixed use development opportunity" including
It’s hard to imagine 75 acres that would                  80 acres of planned commercial property 
be better than Mission Hills, located                       and 600 residential units.
behind a Green Oak fire station and just
across the expressway from township offices.

* Proposed development of the property – which is zoned for up to 2,400 units of apartments and condos – has attracted much opposition in Green Oak. Some residents have urged the township to purchase the land with an eye toward keeping it as green space, developing parks there, and/or using it as a site for a future school building. Jim Craig, Brighton school superintendent, in May wrote to the Green Oak board saying the location is ideal for a new school. Public hearings on the issue have been packed with opponents of large-scale development of the land.

* Many residents are especially opposed to more commercial development in the area – which is being considered for 80 acres even though it would require a re-zoning – because of its proximity to Green Oak Village Place lifestyle mall, with its 50 stores and restaurants, and the smaller Shoppes at Green Oak, only a couple of miles north of Mission Hills.

* There are also concerns about nearby wetlands and traffic congestion. In fact, the idea of adding 2,400 vehicles at Mission Hills brings nightmarish visions to anyone familiar with existing traffic in the area.


Now consider the arguments against buying the land. But make it argument, singular, because there is only one:

* It would cost too much.

When Green Oak board members voted 6-1 against buying the property, their consensus was that the land isn’t worth the asking price, and that in the current economy it would be unfair to ask for a tax increase to finance the purchase.

“The hardship that would be put on people in this community would be great,” St. Charles said.

That’s debatable, and that fact alone should have been enough to make the board place the issue before voters. Yes, buying the land would result in higher taxes. But many residents might well think that paying an extra $35 or $60 or even $100 a year would be worth it to keep more retail development away, especially if the land were put to some productive uses. 

Another concern was the cost of putting the issue on the ballot. That concern should have been allayed by the owners’ offer to pay up to $35,000 for such expenses. Or if the board thought such a payment inappropriate, by the fact that the actual cost would probably be only one-tenth (or less) of that amount. With an annual budget of $6 million, Green Oak should be able to afford that to let taxpayers have their say.

But the board voted it down, 6-1. Only Trustee George Kilpatrick, who cast the lone dissenting vote, had a sensible view of the issue. “Why should the seven township board members make the decision when we can let everyone in the township have a say?” he said.

One can only wonder, considering the weakness of their one argument, if the majority of the board is less concerned about its responsibility to its constituents than it is with negotiating with BKM Green Oak LLC, which owns the property.

Perhaps these board members think that if they hold out, BKM will lower its price. Perhaps it will. Strange things happen every day. On the other hand, maybe BKM will sell off the land in parcels, different companies will develop different parcels, and the result will be a hodge-podge of condos, apartments, and strip-malls. If board members are waiting to snatch up Mission Hills at bargain-basement prices, it is a risky strategy.

Considering that BKM bought the land for $16 million and paid approximately $2 million in sewer tap-in fees, its asking price of $18 million for all 286 acres is a little high in today’s market. But its offer to sell about half of it  – including the proposed retail area – for $9 million seems worthy of serious consideration. By all the people of Green Oak Township.

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Thursday, June 5, 2008

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Liberal media? Not (Almost) Daily Press&Argus 

One of the greatest things about America is its free press – or in today’s terms, its free media. Except that some are more free than others.

I recently wrote a letter to the editor of the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus, which I puckishly enjoy referring to as the Almost Daily both because it’s more accurate for a newspaper that publishes six days a week, and because I used to work there and enjoy teasing my friends who still do.

The paper published my letter – except for one sentence, which said that a longer version of the letter could be read at my website, www.opinionartillery.org.

Now, I can understand that it is foolish to expect a newspaper – or any other medium – to provide free publicity to its competitors. And I’ll readily admit that free publicity was what I was seeking. But to see me as a competitor is far too flattering. I haven’t even been able to get listed on any Internet search engines yet. It’s not as if the Almost Daily has never printed any web addresses. And if it has a policy of printing web addresses of only non-profits, believe me, I qualify.

At least Livingston County’s only (almost) daily newspaper is consistent. A day or two after cutting the web address from my letter, it ran a story about how liberal media views are detrimental to Americans.

Of course, it wasn’t the Almost Daily decrying the liberal media. It was merely reporting the remarks of talk show host Larry Elder at Cleary College. Then again, the Almost Daily helped sponsor Elder’s comments, just as it helped sponsor last fall’s appearance by liberal-bashing pundit Ann Coulter. I have to laugh when some letter-writer occasionally chides the Press&Argus for joining the liberal media.

I know, what do I expect? Livingston County is a conservative county. If I want to live in a liberal environment I should move to the People’s Republic of Ann Arbor.

But there’s an argument to be made that the Almost Daily should in fact do more to publicize liberal views precisely because it does serve a county that is predominantly conservative. As H.L. Mencken once observed, a newspaper’s duty is to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” Newspapers should tilt against the establishment, at least some of the time, if for no other reason than to keep the establishment on its toes.

It might also be suggested that the Almost Daily and Cleary College would provide a valuable service to the county if they just once sponsored a speaker somewhere – anywhere – to the left of Strom Thurmond.        

Instead, they bring us people like Elder. Who, as the Press&Argus described, is not really a conservative but a libertarian. Which is roughly akin to being not Cro-Magnon but Neanderthal, since the logical result of conservatism is still fairly civilized while the logical result of libertarianism is anarchy.

Since I didn’t attend Elder’s speech, I don’t know exactly what he told the audience. I must depend on the Press&Argus. To which I subscribe, by the way, and which is certainly better than most newspapers in towns the size of Howell.

According to it, he “criticized the media and academia for imposing liberal, misguided views on America.” Elder explained that he opposes affirmative action (although he is black) and criticized colleges for hiring too many left-leaning professors.

As an example he used Brown University where in 2001, according to Elder, leftist history and sociology professors outnumbered right-leaning profs 25-0. I’m no expert but I’m guessing that more liberals gravitate toward teaching history and sociology in the first place, and that statistics from the business department would lean far the opposite way, but whatever.

The Web told me more about Elder and his views. He’s not backing Barack Obama not only because he’s a registered Republican but because of Obama’s opposition to the Iraq war. And in an interview with wordpress.com, Elder called for eliminating the Departments of Education, Energy, and Housing and Urban Development – oh, and Social Security, too.

This is not conservatism. It is nonsense. The Press & Argus and Cleary College can do better. Certainly, the people of our county deserve it. 

Meanwhile, I'll submit this article to the good folks at the LCADP&A just to see what happens. Darn, it's kind of long. They might have to cut something.

Informed Comment Read the award-winning blog of Juan Cole, professor at the University of Michigan, author, and expert on the Middle East.

TomDispatch Insightful articles by Tom Engelhardt and a wide array of guest authors.

Foreign Policy In Focus Connecting the work of more than 600 scholars, advocates, and activists seeking to make the United States a more responsible global partner.

Friday, March 28, 2008

New project targeting seniors

would alter downtown Brighton

Is it the graying of Brighton or is it more like the salt-and-pepper around the temples that people always insist looks distinguished, not old?

Either way, a newly submitted development targeting the mature crowd could have a profound impact on the look and feel of downtown.

Barton-Katzman developers are proposing a residential-commercial project that would take up about half of the central downtown block bordered by Main Street, Grand River Avenue, North Street and West Street. It would replace the now-vacant Country Squire fireplace shop on Grand River and three houses on North Street with two- and three-story apartment buildings, retail space, a restaurant and parking.

The centerpiece of the development would be approximately 40 apartment units that would be marketed toward "what are called 'active adults'," said Matthew Modrack, Brighton planning and community development director. "These would be people with the vitality to take advantage of their proximity to downtown."

Modrack said developers have had good success with similar projects in suburban Chicago and St. Louis.

A website for such developments emphasizes locations that afford "easy access to the many shops, restaurants, banks, churches, services, and cultural activities" and environments that encourage "a healthy lifestyle, having fun places to walk to with family and friends."
 
These developments also tout features such as transportation, housecleaning, building security, emergency call services, planned events, and optional meal programs at reduced prices in the attached public restaurants.

Barton-Katzman have submitted an application to the city for site plan review. Modrack said it probably will be two or three weeks before action is taken on that application.

Meanwhile, another company is proposing to construct 110 units of more traditional senio