Debbie Macon, incum-
bent Republican
Seeking her third
term, Macon feels her
experience and recogni-
tion as a longtime
trustee have won the
confidence of township
residents, and she has a "strong com-
mitment to long-term planning."
She said, "We can't cut the budget
across departments unless we have a
strategy; we need a sense of what
services may have to be cut; this
requires the shared goals and priori-
ties of all seven board members —
and we need feedback from resi-
dents."
Macon favors senior citizen dis-
counts on cable TV use, trash pickup
and other services. She wants a firm
master plan for business develop-
ment, road and traffic improvement
and water and sewer rates. "If re-
elected, I plan to raise all of these
issues again before the new board
and hope they'll get along better,"
she stated, "and come up with
answers to the important questions
facing us."
Debbie Macon profile
Macon, 57, has lived in West
Bloomfield for 20 years. She and her
husband, Kenneth, have been mar-
ried 33 years and have one son.
Born in St. Louis, Mo., she has an
education degree from Harris
Teachers College there and an MBA
from Rutgers University, moving to
Michigan when she got married.
She's employed by Trustee Leader-
ship Development of Indiana, spe-
cializing in training and facilitating,
and she's on the Wayne State adjunct
teaching staff in interdisciplinary
studies. The family belongs to
Renaissance Unity Church in
Warren.
Roberta Boyle, Republican
A two-term member of the town-
ship's Parks and Recreation
Commission, Boyle is an environ-
mental consultant to homes and
businesses, and has earned national
recognition for her work in preserv-
ing wetlands.
She believes she has "a great deal of
experience" in public sector budget-
ing "and I know the wants and needs
of West Bloomfield residents; my
background will provide a different
perspective on the board." She
deplores the "declining morale"
among township employees and
"bickering" on the board.
Agreeing that the budget is the top
township issue, Boyle says, "Our
services are taxed out," and she
wants to try to cut costs while
improving services. She's not a fan of
the traffic intersection roundabout
idea because, she says, they cause
more minor accidents and would
hamper emergency vehicles; she
would rather have "bland-looking"
median strips.
Roberta Boyle profile
Born in Bad Axe, Boyle, 48, and
her husband, Brian, an attorney in
Detroit, have been married 26 years
and have two daughters. They are
20-year township residents. She has
an environmental education degree
from Michigan State University, and
is proud of her endorsement by the
Sierra Club, a nationwide environ-
mental organization. The family
belongs to Our Lady of Refuge
Catholic Church.
Gerald Chudler,
Democrat
Chudler theorizes that
if four Deinocrats get
elected to the board,
they'll probably "think
alike, be on the same
page and it will defi-
nitely help improve things."
He adds: "There's a big ego prob-
lem now on the board, and that's
hindering the best interests of the
township; I want to see West
Bloomfield succeed."
He wants to clean up the entrance
to West Bloomfield from the south
on Orchard Lake Road with a sign
posted there.
Chudler says repairs are required
on potholes, curbs and twisted strip-
mall parking signs, "and we need
$30 million alone for sewer system
repairs."
As chairman of the township's
Woodlands Review Board, he says he
also would be an asset as a trustee
regarding environmental matters.
Gerald Chudler profile
Chudler, 63, who is Jewish, has
lived in West Bloomfield for 26
years, and he and his wife, Brenda,
have three children and four grand-
children.
He graduated from Detroit's
Mumford High School and attended
Detroit Institute of Technology. He's
been an executive of a Detroit indus-
trial laundry company for 36 years.
He's a board member of the Orchard
Crest Home Owners Association.
He's not affiliated with a synagogue.
Chudler is township clerk candidate
Maxine Brickner's brother-in-law.
Larry Horn, Democrat
A member of the West Bloomfield
Board of Review, Horn wants to bal-
ance the budget, but try
to avoid cuts in services
along the way.
"Having township
employees pay more on
their health care is an
option," he said. "We
just have to manage our
money better. The Tri-
Cities Merger communities must pay
their fair share." He wants to inspect
all facets of the township's "aging
infrastructure, especially the sewer
system, which we must repair." He
also wants to improve the "inconsis-
tency of garbage removal and road
kill removal."
Horn, a real estate broker for 17
years, says that background gives
him a better understanding of the
makeup of property values, "and I
will do what I can to maintain them
at a high level."
He adds: "In general, we have to
keep our 26 lakes clean and desir-
able, stopping the spread of fertilizer
around the lakes. That's the beauty
of West Bloomfield."
Larry Horn profile
Horn, 43, who is Jewish, was born
in Chicago, and has lived in West
Bloomfield for 17 years.
He graduated from Michigan State
University with a business degree
and has been a real estate broker for
17 years. He and his wife, Julie, have
been married 19 years and have two
children. Horn is president of the
Bloomfield Woods Home Owners
Association.
He participated in the West
Bloomfield Relay for Life, helping
his company, Keller Williams Realty
West Bloomfield Market Center,
raise $10,000 for the American
Cancer Society. He's a soccer coach,
and the family belongs to Temple
Shir Shalom.
Todd K. Kokko,
Republican
Kokko boasts he's the
only candidate to
attend every Board of
Trustees meeting except
one in the past three
years.
The reason: "To be an active citi-
zen and learn all of the issues." He
even attended some before he moved
to West Bloomfield, and also attend-
ed these types of meetings regularly
when he lived in other cities. He
claims members of the various town-
ship boards and commissions are
"too biased" on issues and "browbeat
and cross-examine" residents. "The
ordinances and codes are written in
`legalese' and must reflect real
English," he says. "I also suggest the
township appoint an 'ethics officer'
to help decide issues before the
board."
Kokko opposes traffic roundabouts
because they cause too many "below-
insurance-deductible fender benders"
and is against the widening of
Orchard Lake Road because it would
bring too much traffic into the area.
He wants to cut budget costs by
avoiding employee overtime, having
them use less-expensive paper, and
transcribing meeting minutes
through digital recordings. He says
the township needs better demo-
graphic representation on the board
— "I would be the only trustee from
the north end."
Todd K Kokko profile
A father of a teenage son, Kokko,
44, has lived in West Bloomfield for
almost four years. He formerly lived
in Southfield and Redford Township,
graduated from Southfield-Lathrup
High School and got an engineering
degree from Lawrence Institute of
Technology.
He owns KTK Engineering in
West Bloomfield, providing engi-
neering prototypes to the automotive
industry. He is Lutheran, but is not
affiliated with a church.
Diane Reis - Harnisch, Republican
The executive director of the
Oakland County Republican Party,
Reis-Harnisch also has been active in
politics in Farmington Hills,
Franklin and Royal Oak and as a
precinct and state party delegate.
She now wants to bring her "polit-
ical expertise to the West Bloomfield
side of 14 Mile Road." But she does-
n't envision an elected trustee posi-
tion as a partisan job because "subur-
ban community life should be non-
partisan."
She wants to "keep community
interest alive and give people their
say in local matters." Reis-Harnisch
feels the current board is "divisive,"
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