en. Marks, the new mayor
of Farmington Hills,
strides through the cor-
ridors of city hall and
stops suddenly in front of
a gallery of portraits of past
mayors.
After studying the photos for a
moment, he says aloud, "It really
gives me a One day when
my granddaughter sees my face on
a plaque here, I can tell.her that I
was around when the city was con-
ceived, born and bar mitzvahed."
Marks, 63, a builder and de-
veloper, cut his first political teeth
pushing to incorporate the city in
1973.
Three years ago he won on
election to a vacant council seat by
a single vote in a recount. He was
handily re-elected and then became
mayor pro tem, helped into that
spot by former Mayor Joe Alkateeb,
with whom he has shared a long
political relationship. On Jan. 1,
they switched posts, with Alkateeb
taking over Marks' title as pro tern,
and Marks becoming mayor.
Farmington Hills has a
council-manager form of govern-
ment. The seven-member nonparti-
san council is elected in a general
election. The council, in turn, elects
the mayor. Much of the city's
power, however, lies in the hands
of City Manager William' Costick
who runs the day-to-day affairs of
Farmington Hills.
Among Marks' top priorities as
mayor is to work to unsnarl traffic
Despite their differences;
both Ben Marks and Joe Alkateeb
are equally committed to
Farmington Hills
Ben•Marks and Joe Alliateeb see traffic congestion as a major problem.
LEN FINK
Special to The Jewish News
congestion that makes commuting
to and from this northwest suburb
of '70,000 people a veritable night-
mare.
He says he wants to see the
zoning board of appeals show more
flexibility in helping undo some of
the bottlenecks that inter-suburban
committees have gotten into while
trying to ease traffic problems. He
hopes to see construction started on
a Drake Road exit at 1-696 before
his term expires in two years.
It was Alkateeb, ironically,
who ended up casting the tie-
breaking vote which made Marks
pro tem. The two were on opposite
ends of the city's mid-rise debate,
with Marks arguing, unsuc-
cessfully, that municipal zoning
laws should be amended to accom-
modate buildings of up to six
stories.
"I voted for Ben," says Al-
kateeb' in his Ferndale office, "be-
cause I wanted to make a state-
ment. I wanted to show how former
opponents on mid-rise and how
people from different ethnic back-
grounds can get along working for
the city's good."
Alkateeb, a Christian and a
naturalized citizen, was born in
Lebanon and moved to this area in
the '50s. His close working rela-
tionship with Marks has stirred
media interest.
Recently. Marks and Alkateeb
drew additional media scrutiny
when brawls broke out among Arab
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