… the Current City Administrator Search

Regarding the latest Lathrup Village debacle - hiring a City Administrator, which I believe and have now heard from multiple residents who agree, was another embarrassment to the city. First of all, this is how the majority of decisions have been made under Mayor Garrett's leadership. As has been the case for 6 years, the process was flawed and dysfunctional. Garett and Mayor Pro-Tem Kantor behave as if they know everything and there is no willingness to let others have input. Seemingly both of their egos are too big to allow any discourse or discussion. So we end up with this.

Click to read more details about the City Administrator Search process.

I have tried to affect change by asking questions when I see policies, practices and procedures being ignored or violated. Despite claims otherwise, I have not focused on attacking people –  just their choices and decisions that have negatively impacted our community. I ask those questions based on my knowledge and years of experience – not because “I haven't had MML training or because of personal feelings.” Unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to bring many new ideas forward, as I have been focused on the fact that the foundation of our City is crumbling and I feel that adding more weight will only lead to a total collapse.   

The responsibility for the last City Administrator search that resulted in an expensive mismatch for Lathrup Village, as well as this latest unprofessional, embarrassing situation lies solely on Mayor Garrett's shoulders. Garrett and Kantor continue to mismanage our City and exhibit arrogance beyond belief. Neither are fit to lead and Garrett's 12 year run on Council needs to be put to an end.

… Self-Dealing

Nothing I have ever done for the cities of Lathrup Village or Southfield over the course of my service in the last 35+ years have been for personal power or gain – and any claims otherwise are absurd. 

Some people have claimed that my involvement with Michigan First Credit Union as a real estate agent, my profession for which I am paid, when I was serving as a volunteer on the Planning Commission (which is only responsible for making recommendations to Council, the decision-making body) were deemed unethical. See the attached timeline for the story about my involvement with Michigan First Credit Union. I was entirely transparent about both roles to all parties involved in those transactions, in any discussions and votes, including several conversations with the City Attorney - including at an 11-24-15 public hearing where he reiterated there was no conflict of interest and told me I was not able to recuse myself from voting. At the time, I trusted that guidance and acted accordingly. I had - and still have - nothing to hide as it relates to this matter. See 11-24-15 Meeting Minutes.  

I do find it incredibly ironic that these accusations are being made against me when, for the last several years, Mayor Garrett has filled our boards, commissions, foundation and committees with friends and donors to the multiple political campaigns she has launched for other elected positions while claiming to want to be our Mayor. She wanted those other positions so much - Oakland County Commissioner and U.S. House Representative - that she spent a total of $294,000 of her own money to run, according to her Federal and State campaign finance statements. Garrett was unsuccessful in those bids for “higher” office. And she continues to plaster her name, her title (which is appointed by fellow Council members and not elected by residents) and her headshot anywhere the opportunity presents itself, as a “committed” servant to Lathrup Village residents. She is the definition of a self-promoting ego-centric politician, rather than a public servant. And by her side for the last 6 years, Mayor Pro-Tem Kantor operates in a similar manner (see “Infrastructure” and “Cannabis” sections).

Garrett has also given preferential treatment and access to our precious and limited community resources to a few chosen organizations, although it is never clear how one is allowed to be part of that chosen few. Last year, at a DDA meeting, I asked what an organization needs to do to be the sponsor of a City event. I wondered what was required of a business or organization to have their logo included on City communications. This seemed like a relatively straightforward question. Why wouldn’t we have clear guidelines about access to such promotional value? I NEVER received an answer. This is disturbing, as it would only be fair that these opportunities be made available to all of our community. But they are not.

Of note, LOGOS Church - a church Garrett has supported financially - used OUR City Hall as their place of business for several years. During that time, they received discounts on rental rates to use our facilities for weekly church services and received free marketing and promotion from the DDA for their events. Both the Mayor and Councilman Jennings have been featured as “special guests” at many of these events, which in and of itself would be fine if they weren’t then plastered on promotional and recap materials, using their titles and City positions to further that promotion and visibility. In addition, Garrett helped the church obtain a building with a land contract in LV that they now use for services, but they are still using City Hall for events such as “Friends and Family Day” coming in November. Once LOGOS had access to the new building, they were then given a Special Land Use permit to use the building as a house of worship, which means they are a business exempt from paying taxes. Charlotte Jones, Pastor of LOGOS, was recommended by Garrett and appointed to the DDA Board of Directors - a board that Garrett also holds a voting seat on. Last month, LOGOS Church received a grant from the LV DDA toward a new sign for the building – somehow, the DDA Board didn’t require Garrett to abstain from voting.

How is this not a conflict of interest? Being elected to Council does not grant you the power to empower your friends and donors - in fact, it’s the opposite, as we are expected to remain objective and able to evaluate what’s best for the City and its residents. And that is my commitment to you. 

…Fiscal Responsibility

Claims that I unnecessarily cost the city $100K are ridiculous!

Regarding money spent on an election attorney: Going into the 2021 LV City Council election, one of the Council candidates didn’t file the required paperwork to allow him to be put on the ballot. Instead of disqualifying him and allowing him to file as a write-in candidate, City Attorney Baker created an Affidavit of Intent to skirt the rules and put the candidate on the ballot. Barb Kenez and I contested this with City Attorney Baker, citing Michigan Election Law violations. Not only were we ignored, instead we were told that there were “questions about every candidate’s paperwork” (which seemed like an attempt to deflect our concerns) and that Garrett had supposedly received “lots of calls, e-mails and texts from people with concerns.”  As a result, City Attorney Baker recommended hiring Butzel Long, who he referred to as “election experts.”  $28,000 later, Butzel Long came to the same conclusion as Kenez and I had – that the candidate should have been disqualified and allowed to file as a write-in candidate. City Attorney Baker and Council hired Butzel Long to cover their own actions, not because of anything Kenez or I did, other than call them out and force visibility on the issue. Click here for the 2021 Lathrup Village City Council Election Timeline.  

In reference to issues raised on the propaganda website regarding former City Administrator Sheryl Mitchell: In January of 2020, Mitchell let it be known that she thought my questions regarding the almost $19,000 spent on the Caribbean Fest were racially motivated, which was totally baseless slander. In March of 2020, Mitchell publicly claimed I was “against everything Black.” I reached out to City Attorney Baker (see e-mail) and said I was putting the problem in his hands and that if the slander against me didn’t stop, I would bring charges. He did nothing. Unfortunately Mitchell continued to spread these stories as things shut down during the pandemic. I wanted to address my concerns about Mitchell’s behavior, as well as the irresponsible spending on the Caribbean Fest and related conflicts of interest I found to be extremely disturbing for the long-term well-being of the City, directly with Council in person, but their meetings continued to be held via Zoom. On December 30, 2020, I sent the attached letter to the homes of all of the Council members. Though Garrett states very often that she always gets back with residents, I never heard a word, even though Council minutes show that my letter was discussed among Council members.  

Mitchell, along with Garrett, caused strife and division in our beloved Lathrup Village. Her resignation gave me hope that we could again unite as a community.

The bottom line? As I have done during my time on Council thus far, I will continue to thoroughly review budget reports and disbursements (line by line as necessary when I notice discrepancies or unexplained expenditures), study audit reports and ask questions regarding how your tax dollars are being spent. I remain committed to fiscal responsibility and being a good steward of your money.

… the “Backyard Incident”

First of all, the implication in the Defeat Karen Miller propaganda that there has been more than ONE investigation that I have been involved in is simply not true. To be clear, I was NEVER charged with anything or asked by the police to write a statement in relation to the “backyard” incident in August 2022. I happen to agree that the entire situation was unfortunate and the fact this was covered on FOX2 unnecessarily brought negative attention to our City. That said, the accounts of what happened have been mischaracterized lies that have been blown out of proportion.

Click here to read the rest of the story.

Although my attorney has consistently advised that I not bother to justify these accusations with a detailed account of what occurred, in light of the continued misinformation being spread, including by current Council candidate Jason Hammond, (Click here for the entire 1-18-22 e-mail thread - only a portion is posted on the propaganda website.) I feel it necessary to lay out exactly what happened that evening to put these rumors to rest once and for all and clarify that this was no “random group of concerned citizens.”  Click here to read the rest of the story about what actually happened in August 2022.

… Roads

Just to clarify any claims otherwise, the only road projects I have voted “no” on involved paving Meadowbrook Way and Eldorado Place – both dirt roads. All other road paving recommendations – including paving both of the streets that come together on the corner of where Mayor Garrett’s home sits – were voted on by Council before I was elected.  

As for the repaving of Glenwood, my own street - in July 2023, the City had to replace a water main on my block. Due to the work done to replace the water main, the street went from pavement to torn up rocks and dirt, which became a hazard to anyone driving on it. The repaving was necessary to fix the damage done. In fact, I previously argued that my block didn’t need to be paved when it was originally placed on the eligible roads list.

Below, I’ve provided further context to back up my votes against paving Meadowbrook Way and Eldorado Place, including the underhanded manipulation tactics by Kantor and once again, complicit unawareness of Garrett. 

After the first road millage failed by over 65% when residents voted on it, and although multiple residents including me and members of the Infrastructure Committee asked that the Committee be expanded, the Committee members remained exactly the same. In e-mails I have obtained via F.O.I.A. request, Garrett said the Committee should remain intact because “it was just their first shot.” I cannot fathom the thinking behind this justification or why no one questioned that at the time.

In the first road millage proposal, the Infrastructure Committee/Study Group (i.e. Kantor - see “...Infrastructure” section) wanted to “touch every road in Lathrup Village.” That included paving all of the dirt roads. It’s no coincidence, despite his claims otherwise, that Kantor’s wife, Cora Morgan, shared on the Villagers Facebook page (of note, she is also one of the Admins of this page, regularly censoring residents who are critical of Council and/or Kantor and Garrett) her dislike for dirt roads, particularly the one she drove on daily - Meadowbrook Way. She stated that she didn’t like her car getting dirty and was embarrassed by the dirt roads in Lathrup. Many residents living on dirt roads didn’t want their roads paved so when Kantor developed the second road millage proposal, he said that only a small portion of dirt roads would be paved. He said that the road/s chosen would be “major thoroughfares.” Conveniently, he began calling Meadowbrook Way and Eldorado Place “major thoroughfares.” He was very intentional to include both roads while campaigning in support of that millage. The second road millage proposal passed in November of 2020 and Kantor then began to build his case for paving Meadowbrook Way. While the actual ballot proposal language didn’t include any words directly about dirt roads, Kantor continued to say that dirt roads were part of the package that residents approved.

For context, the precedent in Lathrup Village had always been that if residents who lived on a dirt road wished to have that road paved, those residents had to collectively agree to split the cost of paving between themselves. I opposed going against that precedent. My votes; the F.O.I.A. I filed in order to get documentation of how the Infrastructure Committee made their decisions  and why they were not required to comply with the Open Meetings Act or held to any oversight whatsoever; as well as the complaint I filed in Circuit Court as a last resort to try to delay the paving of Meadowbrook Way until I received the F.O.I.A. info, all reflected that belief. 

Over a 2 year period I watched Kantor manipulate the process; expend City resources; and outright lie until he managed to have Meadowbrook Way paved at taxpayer’s expense. All with the blessing of Garrett - probably because her streets were at the top of the paving lists for 2021 and 2022 - and even though the Giffels Webster engineer recommended paving Eldorado Place over Meadowbrook Way because more people lived there, something I did not find out until after the fact.

When Meadowbrook Way was chosen to be paved, many Eldorado Place residents felt they had been tricked. They voted for the millage because they believed their road would be paved. They came to Council to express their displeasure and I shared that Kantor chose Meadowbrook Way over Eldorado Place. After that meeting, behind the scenes and without the knowledge of all council members , Kantor then reached out to the group and he again manipulated the process using City resources, by creating the Eldorado Place SAD (Special Assessment District). The SAD had the City paying for the paving of Eldorado Place upfront and Eldorado Place residents paying back one half of the cost over ten years. Kantor was bizarrely intent on making it his personal mission to pave both of these roads. I have to believe it was largely in part because that is what his wife wanted. 

This year, again behind the scenes and without the knowledge of all Council members, Kantor tried to do the same thing with part of Saratoga. Using City resources, he created pricing estimates for the project, put together a petition and offered to go door-to-door to get signatures in support of this initiative, when he presented to a group of residents at a private meeting in the home of a resident. Neighboring residents were barred from attending the meeting. The plan was to develop another SAD for Saratoga with the City paying for the paving upfront and residents paying back one half of the cost over ten years. Luckily his plan was interrupted when Councilwoman Kenez started asking questions about the process, and City Attorney Baker said his offer to go door-to-door was inappropriate. 

If the City is going to pay for ½ of the paving of dirt roads, why hasn’t this been offered to all dirt road residents? Why were traffic studies only done on certain roads? Where is the money to pay the upfront costs coming from? Where is the money to absorb ½ of the paving costs coming from?

Given budget constraints, the City does not have the money to pay for these things, and I do not believe that lone Council members should be orchestrating these types of plans on the side that have direct budget implications for the City and every other resident.