Like many of you, I signed up for the weekly updates from City Manager Jonathan Smith. I know that I could probably see the same thing by reading Smith’s twice monthly report to the city council, but this email comes out once a week, I’ve found it to be informative and interesting, and I think that Smith is doing a good job with it.
This evening, Smith’s email came with an attachment from Eric Haven oddly titled “Bringing People Together.” I have no flipping clue why Haven used that title or what he’s referring to in his letter, but he used an awful lot of words telling us how wonderful he thinks he is – and the letter had nothing to do with bringing people together. For some reason, Haven seems to be bothered by people following rules, or not following rules, and these rules somehow relate to something that wasn’t made clear. And, I must say, when Haven talks about “the subtleties of our culture,” I was left wondering what that means. It certainly could be construed in multiple ways, some of them not very laudatory or appropriate.
As part of patting himself on the back for the great job he’s doing, Haven mentioned a “conservative balanced budget.” Is he flipping kidding? We’re required by law to have a balanced budget. Our budget is conservative because Haven and the rest of council spent money that we don’t have on stuff we don’t need and now we don’t have any damned money.
If there were any money to spend on an extra, Haven would be the first one voting for it because he’s never met an opportunity to spend tax dollars that he didn’t like. For example, he sent an email to his fellow council members suggesting that he supported spending up to $600,000(!!!) on city hall, though we ended up spending around $400,000 (and counting) when the expenses are added up. In the meantime, taxpayers get to live with crumbling streets and sidewalks while the city takes years and years and years and years to pay for the “new and improved” city hall with money that the city has been shifting around between the sewer and the water funds to pay for (money that we put there for sewer and water issues, not for Haven’s pet projects). But gosh, Haven has a nice place to park his butt during the twice monthly city council meetings – so it must be totally worth it. (Are you enjoying that extra charge on your monthly sewer bill? We didn’t have the money we needed for actual sewer repair because of our new and improved city hall, but I’m sure you don’t mind paying extra.)
Haven claims he’s got some mandate to “lead” because he was elected mayor. He might want to revisit the charter. He gets to chair city council meetings. The rest of his duties are mostly symbolic. And he wasn’t above trying to get on the ballot by running a secret campaign in violation of the charter the first time he ran for mayor. Once it was discovered, and after an election complaint was filed, he was forced to collect his petition signatures again. To avoid being caught by that “rule” in the future, Haven enlisted his friends to draft language to change the charter. I guess Haven’s concerns about people following “rules” apply to everyone except, well, Eric Haven. (If you want the details about Haven’s secret campaign, I wrote about them here: https://www.clarkstonsecrets.com/november-2018-election/).
There have been other “rules” violations. For example, former council member Jason Kniesc’s position has not yet been filled, even though the charter requires it. I spent five years in court because the city refused to respond to a FOIA request. They’re not doing much better now, as they still haven’t properly responded to a June FOIA request that I sent. And, last but not least, the city has the dubious distinction of getting a warning letter from the Oakland County Prosecutor for violating the Open Meetings Act. The one constant in all of this? Eric Haven.
Haven also says that he doesn’t want to see our charm lost for “individual considerations,” whatever that means. I wonder . . . does that include giving Curt Catallo a rent-free lease of the end of a city block to run his restaurant business, disadvantaging all the other businesses in the city? That tent at the end of the street was, as they say, uglier than homemade sin, and it certainly didn’t add to the city’s “charm” in any way.
If I sound irked, it’s because I am. When I invited Clarkston government into my personal email box, it was because I wanted to hear from the city manager about city issues. That authorization was never intended to be expanded to include a personal letter from Haven telling me how wonderful he is and nattering on about rules relating to some undisclosed thing or things and the “subtleties of our culture.”
An official letter would have been written on Clarkston letterhead, signed with the title of the government official, and would have included the official’s office telephone number and government email address. This was not an official letter. It was signed simply “Eric Haven,” with no title, and included Haven’s personal telephone number and personal email address.
If I want to waste my time reading bizarre musings from Eric Haven, I’ll ask for them. Until then, this personal letter doesn’t belong in my personal email box – or anyone else’s.
Yes the “not to exceed” approved cost of $300,000 for the city hall renovations was more like $400,000 but the mayor and council don’t talk about that or that spending above the council approved budget is just normal business.
Then while Mr. Haven goes on and on about maintaining the historic charm, residential areas and being against commercial of any kind, he fails to recognize that the zoning he praises does not allow much of what he wants to somehow maintain and neither the Planning Commission or the Historic District Commission know how to do it or follow the rules that govern such things.
Rule following is not the strong point of the city as state law, city charter and local ordinances are routinely ignored.
Why not a personal letter from the mayor, although not technically from the mayor? I guess anyone can now send their thoughts to the city manager and he will use his time and city resources to forward it with his unauthorized weekly summary of events, ignoring any of the problems and controversy in the the Village of Clarkston because it is better for everyone if they don’t know how much trouble the city is in. That is what the city council does at every meeting. Better to discuss how to hold jello on the wall, or something like that.