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Sheriff Evans' administration,” Dickerson
said, “we thrived at providing outstanding
services to the 43 Wayne County communi-
ties and always did so with a pulse on the
budget - and by doing so, we were always
within 5 percent of our overall allotted
budget.”
Dickerson is a graduate of the FBI
National Academy and completed a one-
year leadership fellowship at Michigan
State University. He also was namedWayne
County employee of the year in 2005 for
developing, coordinating and leading the
Sheriff's Office Hurricane Katrina
ResponseTeaminNewOrleans.
“I picked him as my Chief of Staff and
Integrator because of his strong administra-
tive skills and background,” Burcroff said.
“We're setting goals and making everyone
accountable in meeting the goals. The chief
of staff/integrator ensures the goals and
objectives are on track to get accomplished.
How we deliver services to the community
is crucial. We must provide the exceptional
services that people expect at a cost they
can afford, andwemust ensurewe have the
right people inplace to carry out the tasks.”
Burcroff said Dickerson's years in the
Sheriff'sDepartment and as a former public
safety director make him a perfect candi-
date for the new position since he has
extensive hands-on experience and knowl-
edge in public safety, public services, budg-
et and finance, multi-tasking, community
outreach, leadership abilities and commu-
nications.
Dickerson supports the mayor's idea of
taking on a new task as “carrying a rock.”
“The 'rock theory' is simply that when
you're assigned a new task or initiative,
you're assigned a 'rock,'” he said. “For exam-
ple, if we want to open a closed park, the
park project gets assigned to a staff person
as a 'rock.' Together, we develop a plan and
timeframe for the completion. It will be up
to me to ensure the person assigned the
'rock' gets the project completed, and ulti-
mately turned back in, for a new 'rock' / proj-
ect. Some 'rocks' are short-term projects,
some longer.”
In the end, it is the residents and busi-
nesses - also known as the taxpayers - that
will benefit.
“Wewant to improve customer service in
all departments,” Burcroff said.
“Government is no different than the busi-
ness community. Residents are our cus-
tomers and we want to make sure we are
meeting their needs and expectations, and
doing it in a professional manner, at a cost
we can all afford.”
Burcroff said he has combined a busi-
ness style and leadership skills he devel-
oped during more than 30 years as a vice-
president of successful Michigan-based
industrial distributor Bearing Service with
16 years as a city councilman with his
knowledge of his hometownRomulus.
He said he is putting together a team of
city appointees and employees and direct-
ing them toward a goal of providing high-
quality customer service to residents and
business people.
His focus, he added, is on improving
planning and economic development that
will attract more business, industry and res-
idential development towhat he calls “busi-
ness-friendlyRomulus.”
And, Burcroff says, the positive changes
will take place within the city budget that
was approved last summer for the 2013-
2014 fiscal year.
“I voted on the budget as a councilmem-
ber and I am not going to be asking for any
budget amendments to buildmy profession-
al team,” the Burcroff said. “We will work
within the budget and staywithinbudget.”
A
SSOCIATED
N
EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
5
December 5, 2013
CHARTER TOWNSHIP OF CANTON
INVITATION TO BID
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Charter Township of Canton, 1150 Canton Center S, Canton, Michigan will accept sealed bids
at the Office of the Clerk up to 3:00 p.m. Thursday, December 19, 2013 for the following:
DEMOLITION SERVICE
Bids may be picked up at the Finance and Budget Department, on our website at www.canton-mi.org, or you may contact Mike
Sheppard at: 734/394-5225. All bids must be submitted in a sealed envelope clearly marked with the proposal name, company name,
address and telephone number and date and time of bid opening. The Township reserves the right to accept or reject any or all propos-
als. The Township does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age or disability in employment or the
provision of services.
TERRY G. BENNETT, CLERK
Publish 12/05/2013
EC120513-0848 2.5 x 2.086
CHARTER TOWNSHIP OF CANTON
ACCESS TO PUBLIC MEETINGS
The Charter Township of Canton will provide necessary reasonable auxiliary aids and services, such as signers for the hearing impaired
and audio tapes of printed materials being considered at the meeting, to individuals with disabilities at the meeting/hearing upon two
weeks notice to the Charter Township of Canton. Individuals with disabilities requiring auxiliary aids or services should contact the
Charter Township of Canton by writing or calling the following:
Gwyn Belcher, ADA Coordinator
Charter Township of Canton, 1150 S. Canton Center Road
Canton, MI 48188
(734) 394-5260
Published: December 5, 2013
EC120513-0847 2.5 x 1.557
R
OMULUS
Memberships and overall use
are up, but it was still a difficult
year for the Romulus Athletic
Center (RAC).
An increase in maintenance
costs and a decrease in city and
Tax Increment FinancingAuthority
(TIFA) subsidies to the RAC have
caused it to fall out of compliance
with the Deficit Elimination Plan
filedwith the state in 2009.
The center is projected to lose
about $572,000 this year, according
to Frank Audia from the auditing
firm Plante & Moran. The bulk of
that came frommore than $130,000
in maintenance and repair bills,
saidMayor LeroyBurcroff.
“Those were not projected,”
said Burcroff, who sat on the city
council when the RAC opened in
2008. “We had planned to replace
some treadmills and other equip-
ment, but no one would have
thought we'd have $132,000 in
repair andmaintenance costs.”
After the RAC showed a rev-
enue shortfall in the first year, the
city filed the Deficit Elimination
Plan that saw it climbing into the
black by the end of fiscal year 2014.
Through a combination of
increased memberships, increased
corporate sponsorships and addi-
tional day pass and other revenue,
city officials hoped to wean the
center from payments received by
the city general fund and the TIFA
fund.
Audia said city officials knew it
wouldbe a slowgo, at first.
“It was really like starting a new
business,” he said. “It was like
opening a new fitness center.”
The city had projected about
4,300 memberships by the end of
2013, and they are on pace to have
about 3,039. Still, membership has
grown by between 6 and 12 percent
since 2008.
“It is a positive trend,” said
Stacy Reece, also of Plante Moran.
“It is a bit short, but it is growing at
a significant clip.”
The deficit had been dropping
by about $50,000 per year until
2013, according toAudia. He said in
addition to the increase in mainte-
nance costs this year, the RAC also
saw reduced payments from TIFA
and the city-previously, the city gen-
eral fund had reimbursed the RAC
for parks and recreation programs
run through it. Those programs are
no longer offered, so neither was
the subsidy.
Other revenue sources have
been improving. The RAC has seen
additional $30,000 in revenue from
memberships and rental fees, as
well as an additional $58,000 from
day passes. All in all, the RAC
brings in more than 5,000 people
fromoutside the city to use the cen-
ter.
The city is still required to elimi-
nate the deficit by the end of fiscal
year 2014, and plans to do that
through a general fund transfer of
$350,000 this year and next year.
Finance Director Debbie Hoffman
said the funds are available. The
city will also do additional market-
ing for the facility in hopes of
increasing memberships and cor-
porate sponsorships as well as
overall use.
“It's our goal to be profitable in
2014,”Hoffman said.
Councilman William Wadsworth
said any of the funds transferred
that are not needed would go back
into the general fund.
“In a perfect world, this is rev-
enue that will come back to us,” he
said.
Burcroff agreed. He said the city
would also look at ways to reduce
costswhere possible, too.
“Continuing to grow our mem-
berships and increase marketing is
one thing, but we still have things to
address on the expense side,” he
said.
Patrolman Ryan Damico, the
newest police officer in the City of
Romulus, has wanted to serve
and protect since he could
remember.
Damico, who said he has
“always liked helping people,” fol-
lows in the footsteps of his uncle
SteveHarper - a 30-year Michigan
State Trooper, retired post com-
mander and the current police
chief inWaylandTownship.
“This has been his goal since
he was a little guy,” said Harper,
who was on hand for Damico's
swearing in last month. “We've
talked about it over different
occasions. He's committed. I call it
his 'calling.' He's wanted to do this
so long and he worked toward it
in school, in the police academy.”
Damico, a native of Livonia,
was a member of the Westland
Explorers, a volunteer program
for young people interested in law
enforcement. He also served as a
Westland police service aid for
more than a year. He graduated
from the Wayne County Regional
Police Academy at Schoolcraft
College.
Damico, 21, was introduced to
the city by Deputy Chief John
Leacher and sworn in by City
Clerk Ellen Craig-Bragg. City offi-
cials, other police officers and
familymemberswere onhand.
Leacher said Damico was a
teamplayer, honest and ethical.
“We're glad to have him on
board,” Leacher said. “It was evi-
dent from his background that
integrity is one of his strong
points. He's a go-getter and has
respect for others. We know he
will treat everybody with respect
and compassion. Those are some
of the keyswe look for here.”
Damico said his goal was to
work for a police department in
MetroDetroit.
“I think Romulus is a great city,
especially the police depart-
ment,” he said. “I can tell it's a
place I can do well in. Officers in
the academy had only good things
to say about the department. It's
well structured like a family.
That's what I was looking for. I'm
very pleased to be given the
opportunity to work here and I
plan to domy best.”
Continuing to grow our memberships
and increase marketing is one thing,
but we still have things to address
on the expense side.
”
Romulus Athletic Center suffers difficult year
City welcomes new police officer to department
Patrolman Ryan Damico, center, the newest police officer in the City of Romulus, was formally welcomed to the
force by fellow officers last month.
Mayor
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