City of Davison, Michigan

How come it takes so long to develop a municipal center? Why don’t you just go for a millage and do a design build concept, I hear it’s a lot cheaper? Let the court system build their own building, and let the library go somewhere else (then theoretically we would have enough space for city hall and the police department without building anything new).

The first two are great questions I have received by different people. Both questions play into our process of developing the new municipal center. The other comments that I have heard from multiple sources make sense on the surface, but city council has looked beyond the surface to find that it is not the best scenario for our community.

I would like to address the first two questions as one issue and show a comparison in government action.

What we are doing is program driven. We are looking at functions, efficiencies, and long term impact to develop a successful operation. This has been a good process and is not yet completed, but getting closer every day.

We have looked at functions and services provided and developed a building that could house at least five different businesses in the most efficient way (Police, Library, Museum, District Court, and City Hall). From the beginning all of the entities were informed that as a part of this process, we were looking to share any common space that we could. We were not looking to have a lot of duplicated space.

From this process we are developing a building that not only fits the operational needs to provide our community with the services that the public wants, but is also efficient to operate and maintain well into the future.

As this plan has solidified, we have begun to explain the process and the results. This information will remain public and city council wants the citizens of the City of Davison to vote on the project.

This is why this process is program driven. We have developed a program. People who want to know about it can find out information of what they are voting for. This is in comparison to the dollar driven model that some agencies use.

Here in Genesee County the best dollar driven model that I can think of that is currently on the radar is the .07 Senior Citizens Millage that was just passed by a wide margin of county voters. This tax levy will generate over seven million dollars per year for “seniors”. Did I mention this passed overwhelmingly in the county?

Since being voted in last year you should see the frenzy across the county to get their hands on this “free money”. There was not a plan in place on how this money would be spent. There were several different stories on how it would be redistributed, but none of them have come to fruition yet. This is the dollar driven model. We need about this much money to provide XYZ.
In our view, we would rather do the leg work up front and then explain what our program is and not just ask the people to give us $$$.

How much are our taxes going to go up? We don’t have the answer to that yet, but are getting closer. Our goal is to not raise taxes for this project, but in reality we do not know if that is possible. In the last five years we have been able to lower the city millage rate by 3 mills.

Yes, we are currently asking for 1.35 mills to help pay for the Federal and State mandate Inflow/Infiltration project.

We have found a long term financial mechanism to help save money with a 4% interest rate over 40 years. Now we have to break down cost per function in the building and see what the impact will be for the city tax payers.

I know this is a longer blog than my normal, but the impact on tax payers answers the other statements about letting the court and library go build somewhere else. Each of those entities would not add tax value to the city (they don’t pay property tax). So, by taking more parcels off the tax roll (the property they buy and build on) this adds to the financial burden of the existing tax payers. Therefore, it does make economic sense to build together , on a parcel that is already off of the tax roll.

Sometimes things happen for a reason and we may not know why.

This week one of our daughters had an ear ache. Anyone with young children knows how fun this experience can be. Well, my wife couldn’t get our daughter into the regular pediatrician and had to go to walk in clinic. We split duties, she took the one with the ear infection and I stayed home with the other child.

When Jennifer came home she brought me up to speed with the status of daughter #3. Then she started to tell me about the Doctor she spoke with. “He was a foreign Doctor with an accent.” Great, my mind races ahead, you know the stereotyped you can not understand him because he does not speak English well.

Jennifer continued “He was really nice, and tried to get Tessia to laugh, but the really neat thing is what I read in the lobby as I waited for the prescription. There was a short biography on this guy.”

Talk about a story. Talk about a life. Talk about making a difference. My wife told me about this guy and then went to the web site where his story is (Page 7 on the link).

On November 29, 2006, Dr. Shukri testified regarding the health of Kurdish refugees fleeing the Anfal Campaign in 1988. His testimony aided the Iraqi court in determining the role Saddam Hussein and six other defendants had in attacks against Kurds in Iraq.

Then I felt bad for racing ahead of my wife with the stereotypical “foreign doctor” stereotype. How many times do we make judgment about others we don’t know? Here is a man who has actually faced an evil Dictator and had the backbone to testify against him in a region of the world where most people would never speak for fear of death or worse.

In government work, we get a lot of stereotypes thrown at us. It could be the “cops and doughnuts”, or my current favorite “trips to Cancun from cement contractors”.

I would like to think that we could all keep learning from these chance encounters and not judge a book by its cover. Some people face a lot more adversity to get to where they are at and they still keep on giving.

Thanks Doc; for treating my daughter, for standing up against evil, for helping those in need around the world, and help keeping me to be humble.

Everyone knows how proud I am of our community. Everywhere I go I tout what we have been able to accomplish and the plans we have on the books to allow our community to thrive and not just survive.

We try to highlight all our joint ventures that we do for the betterment of all. We attempt to let people know how much our schools offer our community. The outstanding achievement academically, in the sports arena and dominance in the Robotics field.

Our Senior Center is second to none in our county (facilities, programming and services offered).

We help supply eleven percent of the fire coverage for our county with dedicated professional on call firefighters.

Our Police departments work hand in hand not only in responding to calls but public education and crime prevention also.

Well, I get the honor of tooting our own horn again.

Every year Michigan Rural Water Association (MRWA) recognizes outstanding members at the annual Management & Technical Conference. We just received notice that we will be recognized on Thursday evening March 22, 2007 at the Conference banquet located at the Grand Traverse Resort in Traverse City Michigan.

Actually, we will be more than recognized and the City of Davison will be honored with three awards

MICHIGAN WATER OPERATOR OF THE YEAR:

Matt Sytek

MICHIGAN WATER UTILITY OF THE YEAR: (UNDER 15,000)

City of Davison

WOMAN OF THE YEAR MRWA:

Andrea Schroeder
These awards are great for the men and women who work for the City of Davison. Recognition for a job well done is always appreciated.

It also lets business’ or companies who are looking for a place to locate which communities offer quality services and who keep investing in themselves in order to have a bright future.

Congratulations to our City Clerk Andrea, to Matt and Brian in the Water Department, the employees in the city of Davison you hard work and dedication has paid off.

Also hats off to the city council for their foresight and leadership and the citizens for recognizing the improvements that we had to make.

What does the number 23 mean?

In Mathematics: Twenty-three is the ninth prime number, the smallest odd prime that is not a twin prime. Twenty-three is also the fifth factorial prime, the second Woodall prime, and the second Smarandache-Wellin prime. It is an Eisenstein prime with no imaginary part and real part of the form 3n − 1.

In Science: The number of chromosomes in a human germline cell

In Religion: Psalm 23 (”The Lord is my shepherd…”) is possibly the most quoted and best known psalm.

In Sports:
Willie Horton’s number was 23 when he played for the Detroit Tigers. His number was later retired.

Michael Jordan’s jersey number, with the exception of a short period of time when he played for the Chicago Bulls basketball team as well as the Washington Wizards. The number now has special significance throughout sports, especially in basketball.

Nothing that significant here in Davison, but as we compile information to submit for funding with the Federal Government about our new municipal center we have found that we have had discussions on the project at 23 different city council meetings since August of 2005.

I am sure there will be many more meetings, but just found it interesting how much our city council has done to keep this project in the public eye.

Why all the whining about State Shared Revenues?

I have blogged before about the State Shared Revenue cuts from the State of Michigan and how these continuing slices into our operating funds hurt local government operations.

The Michigan Municipal League (MML) has put out a DVD that explains the situation. You can view it at this link.

Obviously I haven’t mastered this technology to be able to load a video stream right on the blog, but I am sure the day is coming

Do you know that due to State Share Revenue cuts there are actually 1,600 fewer police officers on the road today that prior to September 11, 2001?

Remember, a small city like Davison loses approximately $150,000 per year that the State had committed to us. Since the year 2000 that would add up to over a million dollars that we have done without, and are still attempting to provide the same services.

When you call for police, fire or DPW they respond from Davison, not Lansing.

What are you doing this week?

This is a common question I get as people attempt to get a meeting scheduled. Each week varies, but normally the week is full of meetings and appointments. As the week progresses the open spots have a way of filling in.

To give you an example here is what this week is looking like as of Monday morning:

Monday
Staff Meeting
Meeting with Resident about concerns
Local Development Finance Authority Meeting
Brownfield Redevelopment Meeting
Meeting with Architects about Municipal Center Project

Tuesday
Kiwanis Meeting as presenter of the Municipal Center Project
Attend McDonald’s Grand Re-Opening
Council Packets must be prepared

Wednesday
Genesee County Water & Waste Advisory Board Meeting
Countywide Storm Water Task Force Meeting
Davison Community Fund Meeting

Thursday
IMA & DCER meeting
Office Rearrangement Day

Friday
M-15 Heritage Route Meeting

One of the features I would like to add to this blog is a link to my schedule. It is a common question that I maybe able to find with a click of the mouse.

Yesterday we spoke about our budget process. One of the early steps is setting the goals for the city to help keep us focused. The City of Davison sets two different types of benchmarks.

The City Council sets sights on long term Goals. These are strategic in nature and could take several years to obtain or even be on going.

The second set of benchmarks we call Objectives. These are what we think we can accomplish in the next year and they should get us closer to our Goals.

Here are the Goals and Objectives that City Council has for 2007:

I. Continued Review of City Charter
The Charter Review Task Force should continue to review our charter compare it to changing State and Federal laws and regulations as well as keeping the Charter updated so that the document does not come obsolete.

II. Updated Municipal Center
City Council should find ways to keep moving this ambitious endeavor of a new one-stop Municipal Center moving forward to best serve the community.

III. Continued Intergovernmental Relationships
The City Council should continue positive relationships with Davison and Richfield Townships as well as the Davison Area School District, Chamber of Commerce and other local civic minded organizations.

IV. Plan Integration & Education
City Council should take the leadership position to champion all of the City’s plans (Master Plan, Recreation Plan, Downtown Blueprints, Streetscape Plan) and work towards cross pollination and integration of these plans. City Council should also continue to educate their committees and the general public about where and how these plans improve the City of Davison.

V. Infrastructure updated
The City Council should keep in focus the improvements that we need to do to our infrastructure.

VI. Economic Development
City Council has to encourage the climate in the city to attract businesses that would create more jobs/employment with in the City of Davison.

VII. Innovative Budget Restraint
Keeping with City Council’s fiscal responsibility, the council should continue to maintain tight reigns on spending while looking for creative revenue or other vehicles for funding programs and equipment.

2007-2008 OBJECTIVES FOR CITY COUNCIL

The roman numerals in the parenthesis relate to Strategic Goals of City Council.

o Master Plan Review (I, III, IV)

o City Manager to become Active in a civic organization (III, VI)

o Stay on top of cable franchise & Right of Way Issue

o Address Nepotism and city council

o Left Turn issue Flint Street and M-15

o 35 MPH on M-15 throughout the City of Davison

o Flint Street traffic plan

The next step is each Department within the city has Goals that help get us to where City Council wants to go and the corresponding Objectives to accomplish in the year.

Since the City of Davison in on a July to June fiscal budget it is now Budget Season.

Budget is not something that just happens. It is a process that consumes a lot of energy. Here is what our normal budget time line looks like.

The budget process is normally a year round function of your city manager. Direction and feedback from City Council is a year round process that is juggled, massaged and intertwined in future planning and budgeting.

The City of Davison runs on a June 1 to July 31-budget year.

January
Normally, around January, Department Heads start the process of budget forecasting. This process requires forecasting the known or estimated yearly revenues and expenses for their departments. Also, in late January the City Council holds a Goals and Objectives Retreat to discuss the long-term vision for the City; as well as reachable goals, projects and services the Council wishes to complete within the year. During this process we also look back over the previous year to rate the progress or status of previous objectives.

This year’s Goals and Objectives Workshop was held at City Hall in Davison on Saturday, January 13th.

February
Goals and Objectives lay the framework for policy for the upcoming year. Department Heads then take the information and mesh it with their on going operations to format the original budget numbers.

Staff meets with City Council to review projects and policies, and fine-tunes the numbers at the direction of City Council during workshops.

March
Treasurer prepares current year-to-date financials and estimates revenue numbers.

Workshops continue to keep City Council informed on budget progress.

April
Department Heads turn in their final budget requests to the City Manager.

City Manager and City Treasurer work through the budget with Department Heads and make final determinations of appropriations for final budget preparation.

City Manager and City Treasurer prepare final budget.
Intergovernmental Agreement Task Force meets to review value of joint ventures.

May
City Manager presents City of Davison Budget to City Council.

June
City Council holds Public Hearing on Budget
City Council adopts City Budget
City Council sets the millage rate for 2006/2007-budget year

As you may see, it takes a staff and city councli working together over 6 months to develop our budget.

Economic Development is something most cities don’t have a lot of success with. There is good reason for this. For a long time it has been easy. Build the infrastructure and they will come. Municipalities are good at setting up rules and following rules. We are not that good at being creative or marketing.

We often don’t think or get our communities to think as a united team. We also don’t normally think of our community as a product, but those communities that have already shifted to be more creative and market what they have to offer are a step ahead of the rest of us.

In my weekend reading I came across something from Bob Ady, with Ady International in Chicago and often considered the founding father of the site selection industry.

“When site location consultants visit a city, we are looking for reasons to eliminate you!”

As we look at ways to grow our economy, how often do we look at ourselves through other’s eyes? Would I want to move my company (jobs) to a community that is divided and bickering?

Sometimes what we do locally seems small in the big picture, but in reality not working forward together could have major ramifications for our community’s future.

“What is Davison?” I was asked.

That is a great question. If you had to market Davison as a product, what would our Brand be? What is the Davison product?

What it takes to succeed sometimes is an understanding of our strengths and our weakness and a willingness to challenge ourselves to improve on our weaknesses and make them strengths.

Let’s not let a consultant have an easy job eliminating us.

In a few weeks the Davison area Relay for Life kicks off. The kick off is scheduled for Monday February 19,2007 at St. John’s family Center at the corner of North Dayton and W. Flint Street.

For those that don’t remember, this is a large event that is in late June, but there is a lot of work that needs to be done for another successful event.

This annual event not only raises awareness of cancer but raises funds to help fight against cancer and support those dealing with this life altering disease.

If you are curious what this is all about I would recommend contacting Sue Csutoras at sue@cbhomeandhearth.com or 810.658.8008.

This group knows how to have fun.

Last year I think they had 27 teams. Wouldn’t it be great to add 10 teams to that?

If you remember, the first year this group worked with people from the Burton to do a joint event. That was a good event but the Davison area participation dwarfed that of our neighboring city. Last year we were able to host our own event at the new football stadium.

WOW…what a great event.

I can only wait and see what is in store. More later I am sure.