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A
SSOCIATED
N
EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
6
May 24, 2012
There is no truth to the rumor
that alien life forms have invaded
the city and are overtly managing
Inkster CityHall.
That is absolutely not true.
The assertion that the Friends of
the Rouge are a militant organiza-
tion intent on the destruction of our
natural resources in an attempt to
overthrow the state by infecting us
all with rare cases of waterborne
botulismis also a false statement.
There are no members of the
Wayne City Council currently mar-
ried to the mayor of Garden City. It
just isn't so. I checked.
And nowhere in Canton
Township, nowhere, does a giant
field of marijuana grow, unknown
to all except the ring of Burmese
immigrants who are harvesting and
selling the crop to fund an invasion.
Those are only a few of the news
tips received here on an almost
weekly basis. Nobody would bother
to call if there were, say, a triple
bank robbery committed by an ax-
wielding naked giant at high noon.
But if, heaven forbid, it looked like
a local township employee was tak-
ing excessively long lunches, three
people would be on the phone,
fighting formy attention.
No matter what you may think,
AmTrak is not attempting to collect
credit card numbers and informa-
tion to raid passengers' bank
accounts. Nor is the local cable
company inserting spy cameras
into your converter box in an effort
to see you in your underpants.
Trust me on that one. Nobody
wants to seemost of us in that state.
Get the idea here? Concerned
citizens have some very strange
ideas about what is going on in
their respective governments and
neighborhoods. Some stranger than
others, but still.
There is no arm of the Ku Klux
Klan meeting in a church base-
ment in Belleville. It just isn't true.
And nomatter howmany times you
call me, I will never believe that
Elvis is slinging donuts at the
Biggby in Westland or that Jimmy
Hoffa is under the water tower in
Plymouth.
Yeah, I know. I'm way too harsh,
but it is really getting wearing on
my poor, frazzled nerves. Because,
honestly, separating the truth from
delusions is get-
ting more and
more difficult
the older I get
and the longer I do this.
None of these people come into
my office with a tin-foil hat or
drooling scopolamine or chewing
lithium. They are usually well-
groomed, ordinary looking and
sounding folks who are absolutely
convinced that what they have “dis-
covered” is a major news flash and
needs public attention. Most of
them aren't even looking for any
self-aggrandizement with their
major news items, just want to let
other people know, say for instance,
that there is a coven of witches that
meets regularly in Northville, plan-
ning war against an infestation of
evil fairies.
That one, I suspect, was prompt-
ed by those beautiful fairy doors
Residents in Plymouth, Romulus, Van Buren Township,
and throughout the area, got a rude and expensive awaken-
ing when they attempted to purchase their home insurance
this year.
Literally hundreds of area homes have been re-catego-
rized by the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) throughout the region and across the country. They
have been placed in flood plains as designated by newFlood
Insurance Rate Maps created, apparently, based on old and
approximated information. Structures placed in flood plains
are at best, expensive to insure and at worst, uninsurable.
Quotes for some homeowners who have lived in the same
home for decades without a flooding incident have doubled,
an expense that only adds to the current economic mael-
stromthat our area faces.
InRomulus, the city went so far as to pay for an independ-
ent engineering study which found that half the properties
were not in any existing floodplain. FEMA has accepted the
study, but has not taken steps to correct the flood plain maps
reflecting the new information.
In Van Buren Township, a meeting is planned to provide
information to concerned and affected residents and attempt
to see if any help can be provided. As residents becomemore
aware of the problem, and the new insurance rates begin to
affect other municipalities, we expect they, too, will seek
some remedial or corrective action to attempt to help resi-
dents.
We think the communities like Romulus, where such cor-
rective measures have already been taken, and the others
where the problem is just beginning, deserve a great deal of
gratitude and recognition. The residents in the community
had a problem, took in to city hall and their local officials,
and got action. City officials took the concerns and problems
of those they were elected to serve seriously and then
attempted to help them. They assigned professionals to
research the situation and in Romulus, even paid for a new
study, to find a solution for residents.
These residents weren't dismissed or their problems trivi-
alized. They were taken seriously and then the problem
investigated to see if there actually was an error or some way
tomediate their concerns.
That, to us, is what local officials and government should
be doing. In these difficult economic times, and when times
are flourishing, residents have every right to look to those
they elected for help. Often, we know, there is nothing to be
done and the concerns are too parochial or without basis.
But more often than not, there is something that can be done
tohelp, as some of our local officials are proving.
We cannot help but compare this situation to some com-
munities where residents are looked at as nothingmore than
commodities and officials have become somewhat jaded in
their dealings with the public. Calling somemunicipal offices
with a problem is not only an effort in futility, it is almost
guaranteed to result in a peremptory dismissal before the
gist of the problem ever reaches anyone who could actually
take remedial action.
Citizens are not commodities, nor should they be reduced
to votes. They are the people to whom officials owe courtesy,
respect, honesty anddiligence.
We are proud to see that so many in our area continue to
understand that philosophy and conduct themselves in that
manner.
Wayne
citizens
are heard
”
Residents receive well-deserved municipal help
Citizens are not commodities, nor should
they be reduced to votes. They are the people
to whom officials owe courtesy,
respect, honesty and diligence.
Hundreds of Wayne taxpayers
attended a meeting last week to
learn more about a recent city-
wide assessment for street lighting.
It wasn't pretty.
Resident after resident spoke to
the city council members, protest-
ing the assessment, saying they
didn't understand it and couldn't
afford to pay any more for city
services after approving repeated
millage requests fromthe city.
At the end of the session, the
council tabled the issue, meaning,
we suspect, they will vote and
approve a resolution of necessity
when there aren't 200 people
screaming at themnot to do so.
We fully understand the citizens'
point of view. A formula we aren't
confident we understand deter-
mined how much each resident
would pay for street lighting and
how much each business would
pay. One local property owner will
be paying $1,600 while his nearest
neighbor is assessed about $670, or
so we're told. While he admits he
owns a lot of property in Wayne,
one taxpayer said the new assess-
ment takes his annual expense to
more than $60,000. Some assess-
ments are $30 for the year, and
many of the loudest protests were
prompted by these relatively low
amounts.
Many in the audience, protest-
ing the tax, seemed unaware that
the amount would continue for 10
years and increase by 3 percent
each of those years. As we said, the
meeting got ugly.
Many did not understand how
they could be paying more annual
taxes on a home with the same
equalized value as one in
Plymouth or Cantonwhere proper-
ty values and amenities seemhigh-
er and where Ford Motor Co. isn't
paying a hefty portion of the annu-
al general fundbudget.
We really sympathize with these
residents and fully understand
their frustration and their resent-
ment. They watch, almost monthly,
as their property values continue
to decline with more and more
homes in Wayne abandoned and
foreclosed as job losses and the
economy take a toll.
What is difficult for residents in
Wayne to comprehend is that the
very same 30 percent drop inhome
values they face caused the lack of
tax revenue in the city. Homes
have lost about 30 percent of their
value, on average, in the city in one
year. That is reflected in the
amount of tax revenue the city
receives, lower equalized values
mean lower tax revenue which
means to generate the same
amount of money, the city has to
collect a higher rate from a fewer
number of residents, if they can.
The city is already operating at
See
Stories,
page 7
There is no arm
of the Ku Klux Klan meeting
in a church basement in Belleville.
It just isn't true.
See
Meeting,
page 7
”
This ‘enquiring mind’ can’t take any more
Letters
Legislation is criticized
To the editor:
The government of the State of
North Carolina amended the con-
stitution of that state to include
wording they believe outlaws
same-sexmarriage for once and for
all.
The definition of domestic is: of
or pertaining to one's own or a par-
ticular country as apart from other
countries.
The North Carolina amend-
ment: “Marriage between one man
and one woman is the only domes-
tic legal union that shall be valid or
recognized in this State. This sec-
tion does not prohibit a private
party from entering into contracts
with another private party; nor
does this section prohibit courts
from adjudicating the rights of pri-
vate parties pursuant to such con-
tracts.”
Whether read “broadly” or “nar-
rowly”, left, right or up or down -
the Amendment clearly attempts to
limit anywhere within the confines
of the United States any legal
union between one man and one
woman tomarriage.
Read it this way: a man may not
work for a woman. A woman may
not work for a man. If a man and a
woman want to form a union, they
must marry but prostitution is
allowed. (See part about contract-
ing betweenprivate parties).
See
Letters,
page 7