This Week
West Bloomfield
All township offices will be
filled by election this November.
BILL CARROLL
Special to the Jewish News
ownships were created in Michigan through an ordinance passed in
1787, and West Bloomfield Township was formed in 1833. That's a
long time ago, and the state's township election laws are just as archaic.
Worse yet, West Bloomfield, a thriving, modern community of 61,000
people and growing rapidly, is stuck with them.
While candidates for office in the Nov. 7 election recognize the foibles of the
election system, they're determined to get on with their political lives, and they're
campaigning hard for votes.
The township supervisor and clerk have opposition, the treasurer is unopposed
and four incumbent trustees — two of them Jewish — face three challengers, all
of them Jewish. There also are five challengers to three incumbents for the Parks
T
Township Supervisor
Annual salary: approxi-
mately $86,600
• Township Supervisor
Jeddy Hood, Republican
— The veteran Hood, 57,
citing her "track record of
leadership and involvement
in the community" is seeking her third
term as supervisor and serves on numer-
ous civic board and committees. A 32-
year resident of the township, she is
divorced and the mother of four daugh-
ters. She is a past president of the West
Bloomfield School Board and is now
president of the Greater West
Bloomfield Chamber of Commerce.
Saying she is "proud to serve such a
multicultural community" Hood
received the 1997 Judah L. Magnes
Award for outstanding leadership from
the American Friends of Hebrew
University and the 1998 Chaldean
Federation Chairman's Award.
• David Flaisher,
Democrat — Flaisher, 49,
has been a West
Bloomfield resident for
12 years and a certified
public accountant for 18
years, mainly in manage-
ment positions in the automotive-sup-
plier industry and the municipal-gov-
ernment sector. Active in his home-
owners' association and local school
activities, this is his first try for elective
office. A graduate of Wayne State
University, he and his wife, Enid, have
one daughter and belong to Adat
Shalom Synagogue.
Flaisher charged that Hood "is out
10/6
2000
28
of touch with the needs of the com-
munity . . . critical issues are being
ignored, and there is a lack of leader-
ship and professionalism." He asserted
that Hood was "rude" to residents who
attended a recent rezoning hearing,
telling them that "if they didn't like it
here, they should move out of town."
Hood denied saying this.
Flaisher said he "promises to deal with
critical infrastructure (basic municipal
facilities) issues that relate to the rapid
development in the township . . . road
improvements, drainage and sewers, and
township services are a priority" He
added that "failure of the current admin-
istration to handle these critical issues,
and attempts to play down the prob-
lems, have aggravated the situation."
Hood countered that major progress
made through the township's develop-
ment plans "reflects my leadership abili-
ties." She added that developers and
builders now are required to help the
infrastructure by paying for utilities,
sewers, road work, etc., before approval
is granted for new subdivisions.
Township Clerk
Annual salary: approxi-
mately $84,116
• Township Clerk
Sharon Law, incumbent
Republican — Clerk
since 1988, Law, 56, has lived in West
Bloomfield for 28 years with her hus-
band, Torn, who is an attorney and
Oakland County commissioner for
District 13. They have two children.
Her previous job experiences gave her
"heavy exposure to the legal, judicial,
and Recreation Commission, and two newcomers vying against six incumbents
for Library Board. All positions are for four-year terms.
Among the election laws from the "dark ages" is one that requires everyone on the
seven-person Township Board to run for re-election at the same time. The board isn't
split up into overlapping terms. If all, or most, are swept out of office at one election,
it leaves very little continuity in carrying out township business.
Another oddity is that Supervisor Jeddy Hood, Clerk Sharon Law and Treasurer
Denise Hammond all are members of the voting board, while holding their own
salaried positions. And, unlike non-partisan mayor and council races in cities, the
township candidates vie against each other along Democrat and Republican lines,
accompanied by the usual political rancor prevalent in partisan races.
One way to bring the election procedure into the 21st century is for West -
Bloomfield to incorporate its 31 square miles into a city, requiring a vote of the
residents. But don't look for that to happen any time soon. As a charter township,
West Bloomfield can levy up to only five mills of taxes for municipal purposes; a
city can go far beyond that and the populace probably wouldn't approve city status
knowing a tax increase would be in the offing.
Many of the candidates would like to see some of these changes. But, for now,
the overriding, recurring issue on everyone's minds is the development of the
township and the problems that go along with it. Otherwise, there apparently
are no other "hot-button issues" in West Bloomfield.
The Jewish News talked to the candidates to learn more about them and
get their views.
insurance, management, industrial,
bookkeeping and purchasing fields .. .
the necessary background skills to run
an efficient clerk's office," she said.
Law assists with the fiscal adminis-
tration of the township's $22.2 million
budget, and was the first Oakland
County clerk to implement the elec-
tronic scanning system for elections,
helping to get the system installed in
the county and state.
• Ruth Bornstein,
Democrat — Bornstein,
76, a widow, recalls her
days as an active support-
er of Adlai Stevenson in
his two unsuccessful bids
for the presidency against
Gen. Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s
as she makes her first run for the
clerk's office. A West Bloomfield resi-
dent for 10 years, she has a master's
degree and a doctorate from the
University of Michigan and Wayne
State University, respectively. She has
been a teacher and administrator in
public and parochial schools for 34
years, including a stint as principal of
the English school of Yeshivat Akiva in
Southfield. She is a member of the
Jewish Community Council of
Metropolitan Detroit and
Congregation Shaarey Zedek.
Bornstein said she has "nothing
against Sharon Law and no ax to
grind" about issues in the clerk's office.
"I want to be elected clerk so I can get
the public to register and vote and
participate in every election," she said.
"Residents must get more interested in
government and better informed
about matters affecting them. I con-
sider myself to be very patriotic and
I've voted in every election."
Township Treasurer
Annual salary: approximately $84,116
• Township Treasurer Denise
Hammond, incumbent Republican
— Hammond, 53 and single, is unop-
posed on the ballot. She is seeking her
fourth term and has lived in West
Bloomfield for 28 years.
Township Trustee
Compensation: $100 per
meeting attended
• Allen Adelberg,
incumbent Republican
— Adelberg, 57, appoint-
ed a trustee in 1998 to replace Marc
Schulman, who was elected a state rep-
resentative, is seeking election on his
own for the first time. A 26-year town-
ship resident, he is married and has
two children. He's a financial analyst
for Ford Motor Co., now at the
Livonia Transmission Plant.
Adelberg has spent 10 years on the
West Bloomfield Zoning Board of
Appeals and has been a homeowners'
association president. He advocates
that the township remain a residential
area and strictly enforce traffic and
environmental laws, but criticized the
"long, drawn-out studies on proposed
major-road widening" that may not be
concluded until 2004. "Our main task
on the board is to continue to be
responsible for the public's health,
safety and welfare," he said.