UPDATED: Berkley, Huntington Woods Vote

Shortly after 10 p.m.: Berkley voters approved a 3-mill Headlee Override, with 69 percent of the 4,467 voters who went to the polls Tuesday voting yes and 31 percent voting no.

Stay tuned for more information!

8 p.m.: The polls have closed.

7:45 p.m.: Ted Bratta, a 57-year resident of Berkley and an opponent of the city's millage increase proposal, said he'd been talking with voters outside Precinct 5 at  since 7 a.m.

"I don't know which way it's gonna go," he said.

"It's a good school system and it's a nice community," he said. "But the thing that's been a tragedy is people all around me – on the four points of the compass – people have lost their jobs. It just tugs at my heart strings. So, I have a real concern."

Bratta said he thinks the city should do more to help residents avoid losing their homes to foreclosure before asking for a millage increase.

"Will the elderly and others on limited incomes be a big influence (on the election)? I don't know," said Bratta, who added that the opposition didn't have a budget for fliers and a big campaign. "But, the point of it all is: It's about the people. They have to choose.

"My own feeling was the Headlee Amendment was put there for a purpose – to protect the people," Bratta said. "Opening the barn door isn't the answer."

Bratta also made an observation about the people he saw headed to the polls Tuesday.

"I'd say 80 percent of the people who voted were women," he said. "Very few people who voted were males. I don't know what the outcome will be with that."

7:35 p.m.: Tim Gaudet, chairman Taxpayers for Berkley's Future, a pro-millage group, sat in a lawn chair chatting with voters outside Precinct 5 at as Election Day came to a close.

"It's been really busy," said Gaudet, who had been campaigning at precincts throughout the Berkley since 6 a.m. "I am encouraged, but we'll see shortly."

Gaudet sat a short distance away from a representative for the opposition and described their interaction as "cordial."

"My interaction with them here and at other precincts has been really respectfu, just differing opinions," he said. "I think that's what this election is about – community.

"This is what Berkley's about," Gaudet said. "You can have people with strong, differing opinions that can still be passionate about the city and they're passionate just as I'm passionate."

However, he said, "an extremely small minority" of the opposition has been "rambunctious." 

7:11 p.m.: "We've had a pretty steady stream (of voters) most of the day," Huntington Woods City Clerk Joy Solanskey said. "It seemed like we were having a pretty good turnout."

After the polls close at 8 p.m., Solanskey said, election workers will bring to City Hall the ballots in a container that gets sealed up, documentation from each precinct, and a memory card with results that will be sent to the county.

4:10 p.m.: "This morning, I called my colleague friend Craig Covey and wished him well and thanked him for running a positive campaign like we discussed (see 11:50 a.m. post)," said County Commissioner Helaine Zack of Huntington Woods, who is running against the incumbent Democrat from Ferndale.

"It's been a really horrible, unfortunate experience," having to compete with each other, Zack said by phone. "But, we're two very different people with very different choices. It's in the voters' hands now."

Approximately 2 p.m.: All was quiet on the campaign front outside Precinct 1 at , but the stream of voters entering and leaving the building was steady.

First-time Berkley voter Josh Casto, who has only lived in the city for a couple years, said he took half an hour off of work to vote.

"I just wanted to take part in the whole process," Casto said.

Patrick Batcheller, who said he was voter 290 at 2:05 p.m., came out to vote in the Senate and Congressional races and on the DIA and city millage issues.

"Those are the important ones," he said.

1:31 p.m.: Weather has historically been a factor in election turnout, but it seemed unlikely to keep folks away from the polls Tuesday.

The National Weather Service forecast a high of 90 degrees with sunny skies.

"We're enjoying the heck out of it," County Commission candidate Craig Covey said earlier (see 11:50 a.m. post). "We're really happy the weather is pleasant. At least it's not raining or 104 degrees. Although, some rain would be nice in the garden."

12:07 p.m.: First-time voter Anthony Nickele of Huntington Woods was well-prepared as he headed into Burton Elementary School where Precincts 2 and 4 were located.

"I'm feeling pretty good because I actually did research about the candidates beforehand," said the 19-year-old, who is in the nursing program at Seton Hall University. "I go to school in New Jersey, but I feel it's more important to vote in a swing state."

Nickele said the SMART bus millage request was of particular interest to him.

"I think it's really important for the elderly and anybody who doesn't have a means of transportation," said Nickele, who added that he used to ride the bus along Woodward Avenue as he completed service work.

He also said the Circuit Court judge race was significant to him.

"It's important to have experience with families and not just be some patent lawyer," Nickele said. "The fact of the matter is, those judges really decide the outcome of every family that goes through that court."

Nickele said he was "pretty stoked" to be voting for the first time and guessed that four out of 10 of his peers would be heading to the polls.

"I think the November election will draw much more of a voting population, especially with young people," because it is more national in scope, he said.

11:50 a.m.: Oakland County Commission candidate Craig Covey campaigned with several volunteers outside Precincts 2 and 4 at in Huntington Woods.

Covey said he also had volunteers stationed in Hazel Park, Ferndale and Royal Oak Township but wanted to come to Huntington Woods and greet voters personally.

"I've walked most of the city," he said. "The people in this town are very gracious, very friendly. Even the people who might not vote for me are very polite."

, with whom he said he has a good relationship.

"We both told each other at the very beginning that neither of us would engage in any negativity," he said. "She used the word 'icky.' I used the word 'unfortunate.' "

Covey and Zack currently serve on the commission but, due to redistricting, are competing to represent the new 18th district, which includes Huntington Woods, Hazel Park, Oak Park, Royal Oak Township and Ferndale.

"We should not have to run against each other," Covey said. "My opponent is not the bad guy here. ... At the eleventh hour – more like 11:45 – the Republicans in Oakland County under (Executive L. Brooks Patterson) and (Clerk Bill Bullard) got with their henchmen up in Lansing and redrew the lines to get rid of two Democrats."

Covey noted that the county has been Republican-controlled for decades, but said Democrats "try to have relevance and impact."

Steven Zimberg of Huntington Woods is running for the commission on the Republican side of the ballot.

11:45 a.m.: Huntington Woods residents Paul Kotula and Robert Hensleigh, who campaigned outside Precinct 5 at the for the DIA millage request, said they had received a positive response.

The men were distributing literature on the proposal and showing voters where the question was located on a sample ballot.

"Art changes life," said Kotula, a potter who owns the Paul Kotula Projects gallery in Ferndale and is an assistant professor at Michigan State University. "One of the fondest memories I have is taking a trip to the DIA in high school.

"To see art at that level, it was changing for me," he said, noting the museum ranks sixth in the nation. "I'm hoping that this millage will pass so all children will have an opportunity like this."

10:25 a.m.: "I'm surprised," Huntington Woods Zoning Administrator Hank Berry said as he entered City Hall. "When I voted this morning (at Precinct 2 at ), there was a line."

10:17 a.m.: "I always vote," Anne Osmer said after leaving the ballot box at Precinct 3 at Huntington Woods City Hall. "I especially was urging people to come out and vote to create the Art Institute Authority to support the DIA.

"It's a good deal if you go to the museum and live in the tri-county area," Osmer said. "If you go even once a year – for an average homeowner – it costs less than the membership."

The millage request will be on ballots in Oakland, Wayne and Macomb counties and Osmer said she was concerned about its potential for passage in the latter.

"It's just important to keep an institution like that thriving if we're going to attract young people, new businesses and new people to the area," she said. "If (Republican Oakland County Executive) L. Brooks Patterson supports it from a business point of view, you as a business-minded person should support it, too.

"That's my nonpartisan statement," laughed Osmer, who voted Democrat and said she struggled with the County Commission race between incumbents Craig Covey and Helaine Zack.

"For me, it was a little bit tough," she said. "I know both of them and I like both of them."

She said she appreciates that Zack is from Huntington Woods and has advocated for people with mental illnesses and other vulnerable members of society, but also also thinks Covey did a good job as mayor of Ferndale.

"I won't say who I voted for," Osmer said.

10:15 a.m.: Bobbie Borkin said she was voter 88 at approximately 10:10 a.m. at Precinct 3 at Huntington Woods City Hall where she came out to vote and "just do my civic duty."

"That's not too bad for a primary," she said. "And, it's early."

10:10 a.m.: "We've had a very steady turnout, surprisingly," Huntington Woods City Clerk/Treasurer Joy Solanskey said at Precinct 3 at . "I think it's probably because of the DIA and the County Commission race."

Solanskey said she expects a turnout of approximately 50 to 55 percent, based on past primary elections in the city.

8:25 a.m.: Berkley City Clerk Cheryl Printz stopped by Precinct 4 at the and said "so far, (voting's) been consistent, constant."

"Things are going smoothly," she said.

Printz said she expects a turnout of approximately 40 percent based on past elections in which a local issue was on the ballot.

8:20 a.m.: Board of Education President Paul Ellison said he was voter number 55 at 8:06 a.m. at Precinct 4 at the .

"I voted yes on the city millage. They've cut as much as they possibly can and they need help," he said. "What I've told Mayor Phil O'Dwyer is: Great schools need a great city."

Ellison said he also voted yes on SMART (Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation) and Oakland County Art Institute Authority millage proposals. The latter introduces .

"The arts are extremely important," he said. "We push for them really hard in the schools, so it would be a shame to see the art institute continue to struggle."

Ellison said he also voted for incumbents state Rep. Ellen Cogen Lipton and Oakland County Treasurer Andy Meisner, both of Huntington Woods. The candidates have been strong supporters of the schools during their political careers, he said.

8:10 a.m.: Scott Zuchlewski, who was a member of the Citizens Advisory Committee that recommended the request in Berkley, campaigned outside Precinct 4 at the .

"I had the opportunity to sit and listen to the different department heads and ... what the city said that they needed," Zuchlewski said. "As a resident – my wife and I have been here about 5 years – we love the city, we love the people and we'd like to see the city continue on its course and not lose any of the services.

"I'm just here, really, to greet residents and just to remind folks to vote for Berkley," he said, noting that the millage question will appear on the back of voters' ballots.

8:00 a.m.: Gayle Bade and her granddaughter Alyssa Crossley began campaigning at outside Precinct 4 at the at approximately 6:50 a.m.

"I feel that there's a lot of issues in Berkley," Bade said. "Obviously, it's difficult to balance a budget. But, I have to stay within my budget and there's a lot of us that believe (the city) needs to do the same."

Bade said she doesn't think the burden of the city's tax loss from foreclosures should fall on residents.

"The people I associate with believe enough is enough," said Bade, who added that she and other millage increase opponents rallied Monday night at the corner of Woodward Avenue and 12 Mile Road.

Despite her opposition to the millage request, Bade shared small talk with supporter Scott Zuchlewski, who began campaigning at Precinct 4 at approximately 7 a.m.

"We have talked about everything except this issue," Bade said. "We have respected each other. We're all Berkley people."

12:07 a.m.: The polls open at 7 a.m. Tuesday – primary Election Day – and Berkley Patch will provide updates throughout the day, as well as results on a host of races and ballot issues after the polls close at 8 p.m.

• If you want the scoop on who from Berkley and Huntington Woods is running for office or what kind of ballot language you can expect, check out our
• If you'd like to view a sample ballot, use this handy tool:
• If you would like to read news and opinion pieces about millage requests for the city of Berkley or the Detroit Institute of Arts, visit our millage information page.

Send news tips to Berkley Patch Editor Leslie Ellis at leslie.ellis@patch.com.