“Evaluating Cityhood is Good” - Please Vote Yes on May 7th

Dear fellow neighbors and residents,

I hope you are all aware of the important vote coming up on May 7th. I am writing this guest article to share some information from our recent Town Hall meeting.  I am also asking you to join me and most of my fellow Village Council members in voting “YES” to continue the Cityhood process that began back in July of 2006 when 16 out of 17 members of the City Study committee recommended that we explore the option of Cityhood. Village Council unanimously supported that recommendation and we have continued slowly one step at time. You may have noticed that a small amount of opposition to the idea of Cityhood has surfaced in the papers and with a few yard signs over the past few weeks. This is typical when any new idea is explored, especially one that presents the idea of change. However, I strongly urge every resident to give this process a chance.  A “YES” vote will allow that to happen. It is important that everyone understands that we are not deciding to become a City on May 7th.  A no vote on May 7th would clearly end the Cityhood process, and it would eliminate future opportunities to allow for our residents to participate in the most important parts of the Cityhood evaluation process; the opportunity to elect a charter commission and draft a potential City charter.

A “YES” vote allows these opportunities to continue, whereby our residents get to elect a 9 member charter commission and engage in the public drafting of a charter for all residents to review. We have invested nearly 7 years and approximately $60,000 to navigate the State Boundary Commission process that started back in 2006. I want to reiterate that the vote on May 7th is extremely important and we need your support. We have come a long way since the City Study Committee made their recommendation and it would be a shame to have it end abruptly before our residents can have the opportunity to draft a potential charter for review, discussion and comparison.

As one member of your elected Village Council, I have tried hard to encourage discussion on this topic whenever possible.  I have discussed it at Council meeting, at Town Hall meetings, in our parks, at our restaurants, during my recent campaign and on many of your porches or front lawns. We have tried hard to share information about this process as it has occurred through our newsletters and website. We have had “Cityhood” as a standing discussion item on our agenda for at least the last 4 years.  

This past Saturday, I had the honor of participating in one of the best Town Hall meetings we have had in the Village since I have been a resident. Approximately 60 residents of the community attended, participated and discussed some of the reasons that Cityhood is being considered. There were concerns and questions expressed about what happens to our infrastructure, can our police and fire coverage stay the same and will our taxes go up or down. Some residents wondered if our ordinances would stay the same. We answered with certainty that our water system, wastewater treatment plant and collection system, along with our public streets would remain our responsibility and under our ownership as a City. We shared that we would continue to contract with the Washtenaw County Sherriff and Dexter Area Fire Department because these two entities provide great service and are the most cost effective option to provide this service. Efficiencies in tax collection, administration of the tax role and assessment role, as well as the lower cost of providing these services and administering our own elections, were shared and described by our Village Finance Director/Treasurer Marie Sherry. While it is not envisioned that the future tax structure of the City will be significantly different than what we have now, incorporating as a City would for sure result in our residents and businesses not having to pay any taxes to either Scio Township or Webster Township. Past Village Presidents attended the Town Hall meeting and spoke with passion about the importance of this opportunity, and how this was the proper time to thoroughly evaluate it. 

The related topics of growth and annexation were also raised as questions. We explained that growth was not associated with Cityhood. Our Village boundary is not proposed to get bigger if we become a City.  We discussed that the Village has experienced well managed growth over the past 30 years with the addition of the Dexter Business and Research Park, Dexter Crossing Subdivision, Westridge Subdivision and most recently the Cedars of Dexter. Growth that is well managed has been an asset to the Village, not a detriment, but it is important to recognize that perhaps our most significant growth has already occurred and is therefore not part of the current Cityhood proposal. We discussed that Dexter’s evaluation of Cityhood is very different than when our neighbor Chelsea went through their own evaluation and decision several years ago. Chelsea chose to get bigger by adding lands from the surrounding Township. Dexter’s Cityhood petition does not propose to take lands from the surrounding Township, outside of a few uninhabited acres to connect Cedars and Westridge (in Webster Township) with the majority of the Village land in Scio Township.

We need a “YES” vote on May 7th to continue our opportunity to evaluate Cityhood as an option. I am asking for your support at the polls and to participate in the process in the months that follow.

So in conclusion, please take the time to vote on May 7th.  If you have questions or have heard a rumor that you need clarification on, please contact any member of your Village Council. We have a newsletter going out to all residents this week. We are also available as a resource. My cell phone number is 313.363.1434 and my email address is skeough@dexterMI.gov. I am very much in favor of having the Cityhood process continue and would welcome the opportunity to speak with you about it. Thank you for your consideration of this important topic. I look forward to seeing you around our town.

Sincerely,

Shawn Keough, Dexter Village President