As you know we have a new mayor, Sue Wylie. Congrats, Sue! (And thanks to the city council for their unanimous vote in Sue’s favor.) Scott Meyland had also expressed an interest in the mayor’s spot, but the council voted on Sue’s candidacy first, so he wasn’t considered. If Mr. Meyland’s name is familiar to you, it’s probably because he also ran against former mayor Eric Haven in November 2022 – and lost.
On Monday, the city council is going to choose a replacement for Ms. Wylie’s now-vacant spot on the city council (as well as appointing someone to fill the opening on the Historic District Commission [HDC] created by Jim Meloche’s resignation). There won’t be a special election to fill the city council opening. Whether you like that or not, it’s the city council’s prerogative under the city charter to fill the opening themselves, and it’s due in part to the timing of Haven’s resignation. Whomever the council selects for the city council spot on Monday will hold that office until November 2024.
The information in the city council packet indicates that Peg Roth and Scott Meyland have expressed an interest in the vacant city council seat, and both have submitted information about their backgrounds. I must confess I was not thrilled about the idea of Scott Meyland for mayor – either in the November 2022 election or as an alternative to Sue Wylie – and I feel the same way about choosing him for city council. I’ll discuss that later – after I explain why Peg Roth is an outstanding candidate for city council and why the city would be fortunate to have her serve.
When I learned Peg Roth was interested in tossing her hat into the ring for the council position, I wanted to know more. Peg served on the city council during the time I was oblivious to city government, and she was not part of city government when it was trying to destroy my husband and me during the transparency lawsuits. Peg regularly comes to city council meetings, and my impression of her has always been positive. Her comments are polite, well-informed, and usually pertain to one of the many wonderful things she’s working on for the city.
I honestly didn’t realize how much Peg Roth has done for the city and surrounding area until I saw the summary she prepared. I vaguely recalled she was on city council at one point, but I didn’t realize she was a city council member for seven years from 2007-2014, making her a good choice experience-wise. Since council terms are only two years, that also means she won several elections, demonstrating that she had community support.
I’m sure that if you come to Monday’s city council meeting, watch the recording, or read her materials in the city council packet, you’ll hear about Peg’s accomplishments, but here are some highlights of her amazing work (and trust me, there’s so much more):
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- She’s done tons of charitable fundraising work for groups that help people in need, such as Lighthouse North and Blessings in a Backpack; groups that work with veterans, such as Stiggy’s Dogs (providing service dogs), the Oakland County Veterans Treatment Court, provided support to our troops who are serving in areas of combat, sponsored a book project for an Afghanistan veteran (enabling school children to learn what it was like to cope with and heal from severe combat injuries), and helped organize and host a suicide prevention presentation for the American Legion; she raised funds for women’s health groups, such as Sisters & Sisters (providing free mammograms to those in need) and McLaren Breast Center; she is a member of the Clarkston Optimist Club and served one term on their Board of Directors; she’s scheduled and hosted Red Cross blood drives; and she co-chaired a fund-raiser benefitting Easter Seals.
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- Peg has supported local businesses as well. You may have seen the My Clarkston ❤️ Buy Clarkston logo – that comes from a Clarkston Retailers Group, co-founded by Peg. She’s held responsible positions on the Clarkston Chamber of Commerce for 12 years (Executive Committee, Board of Directors, and President).
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- In addition to her seven years on Clarkston city council, Peg has also been a member of the 4th of July parade committee for twelve years – and haven’t they done a fabulous job? And do you remember the Inside/Out program several years ago, where we had fine art replicas displayed throughout Clarkston? That was Peg again, working with the Detroit Institute of Arts to make that possible.
Peg has received multiple awards for all her hard work, and she’s provided reference letters from the business and residential communities. In addition to their support, our state representative, Mike Harris, is also aware of Peg’s contributions. He wrote a glowing letter of recommendation in support of her appointment to the city council that is part of the city council packet, and I’ve linked to it here. You should never underestimate how important having friends in Lansing can be when the city needs help.
Many years ago, I remember a council member saying he liked being on council because he enjoyed going to the meetings. I’d prefer someone like Peg. She’s a doer, someone who works her butt off to do good things for the city residents as well as city business owners. And when I say city business owners, I mean all city business owners, not just one particular restaurant owner giving the rest of the business owners short shrift as has happened in the past.
I was also glad to hear that Peg is keenly aware that if she ever were to have a conflict of interest, she would recuse herself from voting on whatever the subject is. I specifically asked about it because that’s an important issue in a small city like ours. When our infamous Clarkston restaurant owner’s mother sat on city council, she refused to recuse herself and insisted on voting on parking issues that obviously benefited her son, even though she sat on the board of one of his companies that benefitted from favorable parking decisions. I wrote about that here and here. I’m glad that’s not going to be an issue with Peg.
I guess Scott Meyland has pivoted to wanting the city council opening as his second choice after losing out on the mayor’s spot – twice. He has a lot of support from people close to that infamous Clarkston restaurant owner, and they signed his nominating petition when he ran for mayor in November 2022. The signatures included that restaurant owner’s sister, his sister’s former partner, his mother, his niece, and his business partner. Seeing that prompted me to vote for former mayor Eric Haven, something I never imagined doing. I supported Haven because I’m sick and tired of this one business owner always getting preferential treatment, including a yearlong, rent-free lease of the end of a taxpayer-owned city block during COVID (remember that huge ugly tent?).
Mr. Meyland was also written up for a historic preservation and property maintenance violation in October 2021. Given our overactive code enforcement officer, that’s not something I would normally even mention, but the July 2023 cumulative code enforcement report noted his response as a “fail.” That means he didn’t correct the violation, even though most people do that right away. I suppose if the council appoints Mr. Meyland, then everyone else can ignore warning letters too – and if the city ever tries to take formal action for a code enforcement violation, then it will be forced to defend the preferential treatment given to a fellow council member.
The city council opening should not be a consolation prize. If it is a choice between Peg Roth and Scott Meyland, the choice is an easy one – Peg Roth. It’s not even close.
I also wanted to mention the Historic District Commission (HDC) appointment created by Jim Meloche’s resignation, because Cara Catallo has apparently expressed an interest in getting reappointed to the HDC at the Monday city council meeting, as has as Nancy Moon. Ms. Catallo was the HDC chair at one time, and it’s not clear how she expressed her interest since she apparently didn’t take the time to write a letter to the city council (as Ms. Moon, Ms. Roth, and Mr. Meyland did).
Ms. Catallo can’t seem to control her tongue when speaking at city council meetings. That should be disqualifying in and of itself. Many of us feel the HDC is out of control as it is, and people forced to come before the HDC shouldn’t be subjected to ill treatment.
Ms. Catallo’s request for an HDC appointment should be rejected because the problem with her candidacy goes beyond her conduct in public meetings. In 2015, while Ms. Catallo was HDC chair, she abused the HDC’s administrative process by obtaining a “stop work” order to prevent the property owners at Waldon and Main from cutting down trees on their own property – even though city officials admitted that the owners had obtained all proper permits to remove the trees. Why? Because Ms. Catallo believed the property owners should have gone through the HDC before cutting the trees down.
Let me say that again – Ms. Catallo believes the tentacles of the HDC should extend to tree cutting on lots that contain no historical structures. Apparently, property owners are just supposed shut up, pay thousands in taxes every year, and let the HDC decide whether and to what extent they can use their property for the residential purposes for which it has been zoned. The HDC’s inappropriate interference in the tree cutting under Ms. Catallo’s leadership resulted in $15,000 in legal fees for the property owners and $3,100 in legal fees for Clarkston taxpayers, and when a settlement agreement was finally reached, Ms. Catallo refused to even sign it.
If the city council appoints Ms. Catallo to the HDC, that’s a clear message they don’t care about resident abuse. Our recourse is to change the charter to reign in the HDC, within the confines of state law, but should we really be forced to do that because the HDC as a whole doesn’t know its proper place?
The outgoing HDC chair recommended Lisa Patercsak as his replacement, not Ms. Catallo. There isn’t anything in the packet indicating Ms. Patercsak has expressed any interest in the position, but Nancy Moon has. I don’t know much about Ms. Moon other than the fact she’s the chair of the historic district study committee and has appeared before the city council to politely discuss her extensive efforts. Honestly, given Ms. Catallo’s record, Ms. Moon is the better choice.
If you have an opinion about who should fill the city council and HDC vacancy, you should email your city council member and share your thoughts:
Sue Wylie (Mayor) – WylieS@VillageofClarkston.org
Laura Rodgers (Mayor Pro Tem) – RodgersL@VillageofClarkston.org
Gary Casey – CaseyG@VillageofClarkston.org
Amanda Forte – ForteA@VillageofClarkston.org
Mark Lamphier – LamphierM@VillageofClarkston.org
Ted Quisenberry – QuisenberryT@VillageofClarkston.org