A
SSOCIATED
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EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
2
A
UGUST
25, 2011
C
ANTON
- N
ORTHVILLE
- P
LYMOUTH
16 file for board seats
Voters in the Plymouth-Canton school dis-
trict won't suffer fromany lack of choicewhen
they choose four school board members in
theNov. 8. election.
By the Aug. 16 filing deadline, all four
incumbents and 12 other hopefuls had sub-
mittednominating petitions.
Incumbents John Jackson, who is now the
president of the board, Dianne Gonzalez, who
is currently the vice-president, and trustees
Nancy Eggenberger and Steven Sneideman
will all seek re-election to the board.
Canton Township residents Mark Horvath
andMikeMaloney, both past presidents of the
school board, will also campaign for a return
to the board.
John Barrett, Stephanie Goecke and
Sheila Paton, all of Plymouth will also vie for
terms on the board.
The remaining candidates are all Canton
residents. The field includes: Mike Andro,
Matt Dame, Adullateef Muhiuddin, John
Nichols, Clifton Nealy, Michael Redman and
AngieWilliamChehmani.
increase if the proposal were on the
November ballot. The poll, she said, was con-
ducted in April, and 200 likely voters were
contacted. The poll has a 6.9 percent margin
of error, she said.
Mann maintains that township officials
are trying tomislead the public regarding the
special tax assessment “The township clerk
has until Aug. 30 to validate the signatures
and put the assessment onto the ballot. We
hope the township will not undermine the
will of the citizens and deny them the right to
vote to maintain their current fire and EMS
services.”
“The township calls the Advanced Life
Support issue a red herring by the fire
department. Taxpayers spent more than $1
million to train and certify the firefighters in
ALS. It's not a red herring, it could mean my
life,”Howard said.
Township officials and Cronin did not
return calls prior to deadline.
Anita Bartschat and Scott Craig are pretty
confident they will be the new members of
the Northville Public Schools Board of
Education after the votes are countedNov. 8.
They are the only two candidates who filed
nominating petitions by the deadline last
week for the two open seats up for election.
Neither of the incumbents, Libby Smith
andMarilynPrice, will seek re-election.
Incumbent City of Northville Mayor
Christopher Johnson will seek re-election
and Northville City Councilwoman Nancy
Darga also filed nominating petitions to
retainher seat.
Also seeking election to the two expiring
terms on city council will be Robert Grant
andRyanMcKindles.
All petition signatures must be verified by
the clerk's office before the candidates' peti-
tions are deemed valid.
Runners will be chasing a good cause dur-
ing the second annual 5KRun for the Rouge
set to begin at 9 a.m. Sept. 17.
Friends of the Rouge will host the
run/walk along the Rouge River for runners,
walkers and anyone who cares about the
river and wants to get some exercise. The
trail run is 3/1 miles through Canton
Township. The event is a fundraiser for the
Friends of the Rouge group and proceeds
will be used to further their efforts to protect
and revitalize thewaterway. Groupmembers
organize cleanups and restoration projects,
conduct volunteer monitoring, coordinate a
school-based monitoring program, and edu-
cate people about the river and how to
improve it, a spokesman said.
Registration is available on the Friends of
the Rouge website at www.therouge.org.
Volunteers are also needed to help support
the runners andwalkers.
Registration begins at 8 a.m. at
Connection Church, 3855 South Sheldon
Road in Canton for the 9 a.m. start. The run
is timed and prizes will be awarded to the
top female and male finishers and the most
pledges. Participants will be entered into a
post-run raffle (must be present to win) and
are eligible to enter the lottery for the
MackinacBridgeLaborDayRun.
The Run route follows a scenic trail along
the lower branchof theRougeRiver.
positions eliminated back in May and pro-
vide our studentsmore reasonable class sizes
thanwewouldhave been able to offer for this
school yearwithout a contract agreement.
“At the same time, we are sad to acknowl-
edge the greater sacrifice made by those
teachers who will lose their jobs. This is a
loss for them, for their families, for our stu-
dents and for their colleagues. School fami-
lies and community members are well aware
of the financial challenges our school district
has faced over these past several years due to
severe cuts in school funding and cost
increases from the state. We continue to look
for ways to reduce costs in order to focus
more support on the learning taking place in
our classrooms.”
In addition, the contract agreement main-
tains a school calendar of 180 days of student
attendance, while also calling for changes
including half-days for students and teachers
on the first and last days of school (Sept. 6,
and June 14, 2012) and four early-release
days for students to accommodate additional
teacher professional development hours.
“Even as we continue to work hard with
the hand we have been dealt by the state, we
need to remain focused on the big picture
and champion investment in education,”
Wadsworth added.
Contract negotiations with the other
employee groups in the district are continu-
ing.
Contract
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Firefighters
FROM PAGE 1
2 unchallenged in Northville
Annual Run for Rouge set
Green thumbs
Members of Girl Scout Troop 40473, who
will be fifth graders at Silver Springs
Elementary School and Amerman
Elementary School in September, planted
a vegetable garden at Silver Springs
Elementary this spring that was featured
in a national blog for Michelle Obama's
"Lets Move" campaign. Working as a team
the girls identified a need and developed
an action plan to make a difference in
their community by harvesting and donat-
ing the vegetables to Northville Civic
Concern, a food bank that helps local
families in need. The troop partnered
with the Northville Health Awareness
Society. Through a grant from the Youth
Service America, provided by United
Health, the girls received funding for soil,
seeds and other gardening materials.