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. See map of Garrett’s house and work done.

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 acceptance by 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. Her roads hadn’t been paved yet, though.

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 FOIA 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 the City Attorney 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. 

3-31-22 Infrastructure Committee/Study Group F.O.I.A.

Circuit Court Complaint

Map of Improvements - Garrett’s House