Citizen Committees Form to Review Police, Fire Millage Increases; Residents Invited to Apply

Residents looking to weigh in on the future of public safety in Clinton Township can now apply for two citizen committees charged with gathering data to make recommendations on police and fire staff levels and funding over the next 10 years.

During his State of the Township address Jan. 25, Supervisor Bob Cannon called for the creation of these committees to consider the benefits of a millage that would support Jan. 1, 2012 staff levels in police and fire for the next decade.

The township board approved the committees Monday and by Wednesday, Cannon said his office had already received eight or nine applications from interested residents.

However, both the selection process and overall mandate have already come under fire by Clinton Township resident Simon Haddad. Having joined campaigns to restore Chippewa Valley bus service to St. Thecla students and check the Detroit Institute of Arts’ “free admission” promise, Haddad is no stranger to challenging institutions.

In the case of the citizen committees, Haddad said he is not opposed to residents taking an active role in their government, but rather the process by which these committees will form, which he says is “secretive” and much too selective.

“At the very least this process needs to be open and accessible to all taxpayers, not just a handpicked few,” Haddad said.

Per the township selection process, a panel of six community leaders will review residents’ applications and recommend an unspecified number to be interviewed by a second group.

To Haddad’s comments on the “secretive nature” in which these committees will operate, Cannon stressed that as this group is composed of citizens and it not a decision-making group, it cannot be held to the Open Meetings Act, which would mandate all meetings be open to the public and minutes publicly posted.

“This is just a fact-gathering group,” Cannon said. “If you allow meetings like this to be open and allow anyone to participate you could have utter chaos. I have promised Mr. Haddad that his voice will be heard and I believe that strongly.”

Despite this assurance, Haddad said he would continue to push the township to at least tape the meetings and broadcast them on Clinton Township’s cable station. However, should the township deny this request, Haddad said he intends to form another advisory board independent from the township committees. 

“As long as the township is planning to create this panel and keep it from the public view I have every intention of creating a fair and open advisory board where any resident can participate,” he said, directing residents to email info@affordablepublicservice.com for further information.

Residents interested in serving on the township committees should submit a letter of interest with some type of resume or biography highlighting their experience to the Supervisor’s Office. There is no deadline at this time to submit applications.

“The charge of these committees is to gather information on where the police and fire are today, where they were, where it would be beneficial to be and how much that is going to cost,” Cannon said. “If they believe we need additional tax dollars, they can recommend a millage. If they don’t, we won’t do it.”

According to township estimates, Jan. 1, 2012 staffing levels could be maintained with a 1-mill increase for the police department and a 1.25-mills increase for the fire department.

Clinton Township currently levies 5 mills for police protection and 4 mills for fire service. These millages are the sole funding source for police and fire operations.