An Open Letter to
Novi's New City Manager

June 13, 2006

Dear Clay,

Congratulations on your selection as the new City Manager of Novi. This is both a great opportunity and a tremendous challenge. As you are aware, the average term for a City manager is 7 – 10 years. You will be just hitting your stride at the end of that term and I expect you will have other opportunities which may take you away from our City.

As City Manager, you will undoubtedly receive a substantial amount of unsolicited advice. Because I have been provided with this unique opportunity by novi.org of having my own column, let me be one of the first to impart my own brand of wisdom.

1) Seek long –term solutions to the various labor negotiations currently going on in the City. Wages, benefits and health care need to reflect the current and future economic conditions in City, Region and State.

2) Don’t allow future drug forfeiture funds to be manipulated for political purposes. If you have not already done so, take a firm position and work hard to see that it is achieved.

3) Carefully plan the imminent transformation of Novi into economic juggernaut. It is time we begin to aggressively seek the kinds of businesses that bring jobs to our City that can be filled by our residents. Market forces are already putting the breaks on residential development. Increasing commuting costs will force residents to seek employment closer to home.

4) Figure out a way to build a permanent, stand alone senior center. Our senior population has long been underserved and they will continue to grow as a political force in our community. Ignoring or marginalizing their needs is not an option.

5) Start planning today for the future expansion of Grand River from Haggerty to Novi Road and the resulting disruption to the business in that corridor. We cannot cripple some of the most substantial business areas of our City during the construction period.

6) Start negotiations with the Novi School District on the Bosco property to provide the additional active parkland this City so badly needs. Old politics need to be replaced with bold new initiatives. Your counterpart, Peter Dion, has proven to be opened minded and the school board will react to the needs of our residents.

7) Continue the recent investment in our parks, recreation and cultural programs. Powers Park and Community Sports Park need millions of dollars of improvements. We also are in need of a performing art facility for our acclaimed theatre program.

8) Never take you eye off the unfunded pension and health care liabilities. This will be the biggest problem for municipalities during the next 25 years. Don’t expect it to be solved by the state of federal government anytime soon.

9) Always remember, residents are your number one priority. It’s easy to forget when elected officials and staff demand your time and attention.

10) Finally, continue to endeavor to bring forth new bold initiatives for Novi. Some will fail, some will succeed; all are worth the effort.

Enough pontificating for now. The next ten years will define our City for the next century. You are a talented, capable and dedicated young man and along with our Police Chief Dave Molloy, you are building a City leadership staff that will be the envy of the region. I wish you good luck and feel free to call on me whenever necessary.

I had the opportunity to spend several hours with U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow this past weekend as part of Clinton River Watershed Council’s River Day activities. She is a warm and charming individual who loves to talk about the things important to Michigan residents.

She is a strong supporter of bio-fuels and thinks that Michigan could be a leader in refining corn, sugar beets and other agricultural products into fuels for our motor vehicles. The Big 3 will need to double there research and development efforts to take advantage of this potentially limitless source energy.

We also talked about jobs, manufacturing, economic incentives, historically significant buildings and many other things. I walked away very impressed and look forward to a future opportunity to have similar discussions with her challengers for the senate seat this fall.

Congratulations to Linda Blair of Novi for her recent recognition during the 2006 Women’s Bipartisan Bicameral Entrepreneurship Action Day. I have had the opportunity to work with Linda, a VP at ITC, on the Board of the Novi Parks Foundation and where she has been an active and valuable member of our team.

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- Well done is better than well said.

Benjamin Franklin US author, diplomat, inventor, physicist, politician, & printer (1706 - 1790)

In the tradition of Ben Franklin, the Novi Post provides informed political commentary on current events in Novi, Oakland County and all of Michigan.