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EWSPAPERS OF
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ICHIGAN
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AGE
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July 26, 2012
C
ANTON
-P
LYMOUTH
Board candidates speak out on local issues
Controlling costs in the short
term and the long term and main-
taining services in an age of declin-
ing revenuewere hot issues among
the candidates vying for a seat on
the Canton Township Board of
Trustees.
Six of the seven candidates
attended a League of Women
Voters forum last Thursday. There
are four seats up for election,
including the seat being vacated by
Trustee Syed Taj, who is running
forU.S. Congress.
They are: incumbents John
Anthony, Greg Demopoulos and
Pat Williams; along with retired
supervisor Tom Yack, former State
Rep. Deborah Whyman, Joseph
Cafarelli and former school board
president StevenSneideman.
Whyman did not attend the
forum.
Anthony, a 39-year resident of
the community is a retired FBI
agent, who said he wants to contin-
ue the work he started in his first
term.
“My goal is to keep Canton,
Canton,” he said.
Demopoulos, an attorney who
was appointed to the board last
year to fill an unexpired term, said
his top issues are trying to control
legacy costs and general finances
as well as improve roadways and
keepwater ratesmanageable.
Williams, an account manager
for a Tier I automotive supplier,
said he wants to ensure Canton
stays on solid financial ground and
push for improvements along Ford
Road that would increase the safe-
ty there.
“We've been doing a lot of good
things, but we've got a lot of work to
do,” said Williams, who is running
for his second term on the board.
“We've done well, but we need to
do better.”
Yack has been active in the com-
munity since he retired from the
top spot in the township. He said
he thinks his experience will be
beneficial to the board. Finances
are his top issue.
“It's been a major challenge for
all governments,” he said.
Cafarelli is retired from AT&T.
He said his goals are to find ways
to reduce water rates, align retire-
ment plans to those of the private
sector and to improve traffic pat-
terns along Ford Road. He said he
wanted to bring money into the
township by proposing corporate
sponsorships of parks and develop-
ing a water tower that would also
serve as a cell tower.
“We can bringmoremoney back
into the township without raising
taxes,” he said.
Sneideman is the lone
Democrat running for office. The
former school board member said
his experience on that board
would serve him on the Canton
board because they dealt with sim-
ilar financial issues.
“I would work to ensure that
state funding won't go away from
our community,” he said.
The candidates all agreed that
something needed to be done
about the Ford Road I-275 inter-
change, as well as the traffic pat-
terns that extend a few miles west,
identified as one of the most dan-
gerous sections of road in the state.
The township has tried unsuccess-
fully to secure federal funding for
improvements and need to contin-
ue to push for those funds.
They also agreed that finances
are a day-to-day concern. Williams
said revenues are not projected to
reach pre-2008 levels until 2024.
Even so, the township has been fis-
cally stable through smart spend-
ing, employee concessions and
more.
“We need to plan the work and
work the plan,” he said. “We need
to keep grinding until everything is
aligned.”
Cafarelli also suggested addi-
tional business incentives to bring
in more commerce as well as pri-
vatizing the golf courses.
“Golf courses shouldn't cost us
any money at all in the township-
and they do,” he said.
Anthony said the township has
made significant strides in reduc-
ing costs
“We've got to work with what we
have,” he said. “The board contin-
ues to exercise fiscal restraint. We
look under every rock every day.”
“We have to focus on economic
development in Canton,” said
Yack. “Economic development
means we have to maintain our
quality of life. People choose
Canton because of all the services
we offer.”
The four top Republican vote
getters next Tuesday will be on the
ballot in November, along with
Sneideman.
2 are killed in crash
Two women were reported killed early
Tuesday morning in a two-car crash at
Michigan Avenue and Belleville Road in
CantonTownship.
According to early reports of the inci-
dent, a yellow Chevrolet Cavalier travel-
ing southbound on Canton Center Road
was struck by a white Chevrolet Monte
Carlo traveling eastbound on Michigan
Avenue at about 2:10 a.m. Two passengers
in the Cavalier, 18-year-old Brooke
Kennedy and 19-year-old Danielle
Beavers, were pronounced dead at the
scene by Canton medical technicians.
Kennedy was a recent graduate of
Belleville High School and Beavers was
also from Belleville, according to police
reports. Both women were employees at
the Ruby Tuesday on Michigan Avenue in
Canton and were close friends, according
tounconfirmed reports of the incident.
The male driver of the Cavalier, tenta-
tively identified at Jevarias Snowden, 24,
of Whittaker. He was transported from the
scene to St. JosephMercy Hospital in Ann
Arbor and is expected to recover, initial
reports said. The driver of the Monte
Carlo, a 21-year-old man from Westland,
was treated at a local hospital for injuries
and released the samemorning.
Plymouth paving continues
Motorists in Plymouth will have a few
more obstacles to face as the Summer Road
PavingProgramcontinues in the city.
Crews are currently working on removing
the road way on Sutherland Street between
McKinley and Main Street. Sutherland is
now open to resident local traffic only.
Crews areworking onHarvey Street andwill
remove pavement on Harvey from Wing
Street to Sutherland. Traffic on Harvey will
be closed from Wing to Sutherland and only
local residents living on the street should
have access to this area.
Construction on these two streets is antici-
pated to continue through the next few
months. As always construction schedules
are subject to significant changes as a result
of equipment, crews, site conditions, weath-
er and other factors that may affect the over-
all work schedule, officials fromthe city said.
A new water main has been installed on
Sutherland from McKinley to Harvey Street
and construction is continuing in this area.
The contractor anticipates starting required
tests on the new water main over the next
week, a city spokesman said. Residents can
expect to have new water services tied into
the water main after it passes the required
State ofMichigan testing, he added.
Newwater services in this area are antici-
pated to be installed during the last week of
July and first week of August.
Crews were expected to begin removal of
sidewalk on the east side of Harvey Street
from Wing to near Linden last week. This
sidewalk removal is required to prep the
area for new water mains to be installed in
this area.
As always; construction schedules are
subject to changes as a result of weather,
equipment, crew scheduling, materials, sup-
plies and other factors that will significantly
affect the contractor's work methods and
schedules, according to the city spokesman.
impeach the county executive.
Convertino, an attorney with a Plymouth
practice, started a recall effort against County
Executive Bob Ficano. He said the commis-
sion needs to provide more oversight into
county issues.
“The County Commission has operated as
a rubber stamp for the county executive too
often, too many times across the board,” he
said.
Fiems, a property assessor for Wayne
County, has volunteered for organizations
like theFriends of theRouge and theFriends
of the I-275 pathway. He said roads were his
passion. He said he wants to bring more road
funding to Canton and restore the fiscal
responsibility of the county government.
Amar, a retired labor mediation supervi-
sor, said he has extensive experience in gov-
ernment and in labor relations that would be
a benefit to the commission.
All candidates said controlling costs was a
major issue.
“We have a revenue problem; we also
have a spending problem,” said Fiems.
“What we need to do is take some radical
steps to bring down our costs.” He suggested
combining departments, such as the clerk
and registrar of deeds.
Price said one way to reduce costs was to
reduce the number of political appointees
Ficano names. The attorney general has five
political appointees, he said, while the coun-
ty executive hasmore than a hundred.
“That's a good place to start,” he said,
adding that placing the budget online would
help inform citizens of where the money is
being spent.
Convertino said it was important to
reduce the legacy costs and also advocated
for finding newrevenue sources.
County
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