Northville Township Trustee Announces Election Bid for Township Treasurer

Northville Township trustee Marjorie Banner has announced her candidacy for township Treasurer.

Banner was appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2000, and has since been re-elected twice, in 2004 and in 2008. According to a press release announcing her decision, current treasurer Richard Henningsen will not be seeking re-election.

Here's more from the press release:

Banner, and her husband, Mark, have lived in the township for 27 years, after moving here from New York. A native of Iowa, Banner graduated from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.

Banner was appointed to the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) in 1994, and currently serves as the township board liaison to the ZBA, the Economic Development Commission/Brownfield Authority, and the Historic District Commission. She chaired the Seven Mile Property Committee after the 2009 millage which provided funds to purchase the site. Banner has also served as liaison to the Northville Youth Assistance. Her extensive experience serving on most of the township’s commissions, as well as her service on the board, has provided her with broad insight as to the workings of township government. Banner has been a director and past President of the Lakes of Northville Homeowner’s Association since the early 1990s, and currently co-chairs Michigan High School Figure Skating, which includes 65 schools across the state and 425 high school athletes.

Banner comments, “My public service to the Township has been a privilege and honor. I have met the most dedicated of volunteers in my efforts, and am in awe of the unique abilities of my fellow commissioners. It has been a pleasure to serve with them. My experiences have kept me engaged, excited, and an active participant in our community. I feel the economic path the Township has taken during Mark Abbo’s tenure has been the right one. That path has kept us fiscally strong in the winds of fierce economic upheaval; we have embraced the challenges of annexation and millages, and now face the very unique opportunity of fostering the development of the Seven Mile property. We are a thriving and strong community and it is my commitment that it will grow ever stronger in the future. I believe the Township will need to look at maintaining services while keeping costs down, and at the same time strive to create business growth to expand property values. I look forward to the challenges that lie ahead and feel strongly that my experiences on this Board and my own personal business experience provide the basis for being Northville Township’s next Treasurer. I will have very large footsteps to fill in following retiring Treasurer Dick Henningson, a long-experienced and well-respected member of our board.”

Banner’s unique experiences have included chairing the Seven Mile Property committee, as well as serving on the committee which chose the master planner for the site. She also chairs the Friends of Thayer’s Corner Nature Area and handles its finances. She has been a part of the Historic District Commission (HDC) since its creation in 2006, and assisted with the four historic seminars presented by that commission, as well as creation of its first historic district. The HDC is in the process of obtaining the old Thayer’s Corner Schoolhouse in order to preserve and protect it (including recent removal and transport of the four-legged critters that made it their home). She organizes and operates the community gardens for Thayer’s Corner. The project has exploded in the last four years and the gardens have “sold out” every year since they have been offered. The Economic Development Commission/Brownfield Development Authority is looking forward to the upcoming sale of Scott Correctional Facility, and the unique economic development corridor slated along Five Mile Road to create more diversity and stability for the township. Banner supports intergovernmental relationships and consolidations where it makes sense, and believes strongly in partnerships the Township has with the City of Northville - its shared services and public dispatch - and Plymouth Township, Wayne County, and the State of Michigan to create the new high tech industrial corridor along Five Mile Road.

Banner and her husband Mark have three daughters all of whom graduated both from Northville Public Schools and Michigan universities. Banner is self-employed as a legal writer. She has operated her business since 1986, as its chief journalist, book-keeper, and tax preparer. She and her husband coincidentally ran their own concession business for six years, for which she served as the business manager, purchasing agent, and tax preparer, and she provides similar services for Mark’s new and successful business.

“This Township has provided our family with a wonderful way of life and we appreciate the opportunities it has presented.” says Banner. “Communication with our residents is basic in setting and reaching goals for our Township, and I am committed to providing information and opportunities for residents to engage with us for that purpose. I am convinced that we make our best decisions as a community when we are fully informed and everyone is ‘welcomed at the table’.”

For more information see her website at: www.banner4treasurer.com, or contact her at marjoriebanner@gmail.com.