Discuss Detroit » Archives - Beginning July 2006 » Tom Barwin, Ferndale City Manager, resigning « Previous Next »
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Bvos
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Username: Bvos

Post Number: 1646
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 134.215.223.211
Posted on Wednesday, July 05, 2006 - 12:34 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I'm surprised this hasn't been bigger news. Ferndale's City Manager, Tom Barwin, is resigning and taking on the job in Oak Park, IL.

http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll /article?AID=/20060702/NEWS03/ 607020674&SearchID=73249744894 354

What do folks think the affects of this will be? Will mass transit be less of a possibility along Woodward? Will Smart Growth in SE Michigan get dumber?
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Eastsidedog
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Username: Eastsidedog

Post Number: 607
Registered: 03-2006
Posted From: 12.47.224.8
Posted on Wednesday, July 05, 2006 - 12:41 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I think Ferndale will find someone good who is up to the task. No need to panic Bvos.
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Itsjeff
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Username: Itsjeff

Post Number: 6273
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 208.27.111.125
Posted on Wednesday, July 05, 2006 - 12:54 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I think BVOS was more interested in whether Mr. Barwin will be replaced by someone with an equally large vision for the metro area, instead of his own little feifdom.

In another article about Mr. Barwin's departure, Brooks Patterson was quoted, actually criticising him for involving himself in regional transportation when he has no business addressing that issue. I yelled out, "No, that's YOUR job your fucking halfwit, but since you won't, others have to step up!"
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Susanarosa
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Username: Susanarosa

Post Number: 963
Registered: 11-2003
Posted From: 208.39.170.90
Posted on Wednesday, July 05, 2006 - 12:57 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I just wonder if he's ever going to try to get a job in a city he actually lives in? :-)
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Eastsidedog
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Username: Eastsidedog

Post Number: 610
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Posted From: 12.47.224.8
Posted on Wednesday, July 05, 2006 - 1:00 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I think that in the near future you will see a lot more "Tom Barwin's" in office in the inner suburbs. As time progresses the inner suburbs will start to realize that they have more and more in common with Detroit. I would be very surprised if Ferndale's new city manager was a fiefdom-type. It would be a step back for Ferndale. (my hometown! :-))
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Sumotect
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Username: Sumotect

Post Number: 203
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Posted From: 64.243.32.9
Posted on Wednesday, July 05, 2006 - 4:26 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I have seen Barwin speak, very impressive. I think he was one of the most progressive leaders around here. He will be missed.

He is off to Oak Park Ill. and all those early FLW houses. Good for him, a loss for us.
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Treelock
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Username: Treelock

Post Number: 140
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Posted From: 68.77.166.98
Posted on Wednesday, July 05, 2006 - 5:16 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Ferndusky is a progressive place and I'm sure they will do a good job finding a replacement. Whether he's in Barwin's same activist mold, however, is another question. Tom Barwin did a lot of good things for the city and, by turning the spotlight to deficiencies such as the lack of transit, the region as a whole.
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Alsodave
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Username: Alsodave

Post Number: 731
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Posted From: 208.49.95.12
Posted on Wednesday, July 05, 2006 - 6:41 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

LOL @ Susanarosa!

As a former Ferndale resident, I'm more worried about Barwin leaving than I am about Stevie Y and Ben Wallace departing.

(I'm sure Brooks Patterson isn't losing sleep over this :-) )
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Mikeg
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Username: Mikeg

Post Number: 115
Registered: 12-2005
Posted From: 69.136.155.244
Posted on Wednesday, July 05, 2006 - 6:56 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Laura Berman's paean to the departing Tom Barwin:
"Ferndale manager takes his gospel, heads to Illinois"

So Barwin now heads west where he can "live his inner-ring suburban dream" and get paid $54,000 more per year than he made in Ferndale.

"There isn't much of a market here in Michigan for a gay-friendly, sprawl-fighting, transit-promoting guy," said Barwin.
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Detourdetroit
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Username: Detourdetroit

Post Number: 223
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Posted From: 69.212.42.73
Posted on Thursday, July 06, 2006 - 10:07 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Barwin was the best, most enlightened offering in the region...bar none. This news is devastating and so telling. Oak Park, IL gets Barwin. We keep Brooksie. Ugh, will the nightmare ever end???
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Focusonthed
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Username: Focusonthed

Post Number: 326
Registered: 02-2006
Posted From: 209.220.229.254
Posted on Thursday, July 06, 2006 - 10:19 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

This is the most telling quote:

quote:

As for the rest of us: We didn't lose a job to China -- only another competent, energetic, idealistic person to Chicago.


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Mikeg
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Username: Mikeg

Post Number: 117
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Posted From: 69.136.155.244
Posted on Thursday, July 06, 2006 - 10:51 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I think what Barwin proved is that there isn't much demand in Michigan for a city manager who acts like a politician. City managers get hired to do the bidding of their city's elected officials. They administer the policies established by the elected officials and make the decisions necessary to run their city on a day-to-day basis.

Smart city managers who want to guide their city towards long term goals learn how to influence their elected officials behind the scenes. Those who like to do it in the media sooner or later find that they have to move on to a different job, usually one in a different media market.
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Susanarosa
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Username: Susanarosa

Post Number: 965
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Posted From: 208.39.170.90
Posted on Thursday, July 06, 2006 - 11:10 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Anyone else see the story on the Today show this morning about Oak Park, Ill. not allowing a Lane Bryant store to locate downtown because it "didn't fit their plan"?

Sounds like Barwin might be a little bored in his new job if fat chicks are the only thing they have to worry about.
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Swingline
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Username: Swingline

Post Number: 528
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Posted From: 64.12.116.204
Posted on Thursday, July 06, 2006 - 11:23 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I completely agree with Detour and Focus. Oak Park, IL is a model example for what enlightened "suburban" planning can produce. It's kind of cruelly ironic that Mr. Barwin is ending up in such a fine location. This region's effort to achieve more sensible development patterns including the creation of an effective mass transit system has lost a very eloquent advocate. It is very difficult to replace such leaders.
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Rocket_city
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Username: Rocket_city

Post Number: 73
Registered: 04-2006
Posted From: 141.217.84.88
Posted on Thursday, July 06, 2006 - 1:40 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

His shoes are too large to fill, so no, this region will experience a net loss in leadership, which will be a shame when DeVos completes his purchase for "governor"...I mean businessman, I mean...oh what the hell do I mean.

I'm just glad that I got to shake the man's hand before he left. I got to meet him at the Detroit Orientation Institute. What other city managers participated in that and had something to offer? None.

And the brain drain ensues.
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Goat
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Username: Goat

Post Number: 8604
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Posted From: 70.54.70.136
Posted on Thursday, July 06, 2006 - 3:54 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Maybe Detroit should hire him as Ferndale didn't do too bad with im in that position. But then again we all know that Detroit politicians wouldn't be able to milk their position for all it's worth.
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Danny
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Username: Danny

Post Number: 4489
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Posted From: 198.111.165.50
Posted on Thursday, July 06, 2006 - 4:08 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Good for him. Maybe he'll do somthing about the plus size Lane Bryant clothing store in its downtown. Folks down there don't want a big box exotic store in their revitilized neighborhood.
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Jsmyers
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Username: Jsmyers

Post Number: 1792
Registered: 12-2003
Posted From: 209.131.7.68
Posted on Thursday, July 06, 2006 - 4:39 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)


quote:

I think what Barwin proved is that there isn't much demand in Michigan for a city manager who acts like a politician. City managers get hired to do the bidding of their city's elected officials. They administer the policies established by the elected officials and make the decisions necessary to run their city on a day-to-day basis.

Smart city managers who want to guide their city towards long term goals learn how to influence their elected officials behind the scenes. Those who like to do it in the media sooner or later find that they have to move on to a different job, usually one in a different media market.



I couldn't disagree with that more. Your statements are true if the elected officials in Ferndale didn't want what he was. They did.

I'd bet that the #1 reason he is leaving is to get a promotion (50% pay raise - and a higher profile job). #2 might be frustration. Pressure to leave from his bosses almost definitely is not a factor.

He could have went after the city manager job in Novi, except that they wouldn't want him (and he probably wouldn't want to work for Novi).
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Mikeg
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Username: Mikeg

Post Number: 120
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Posted From: 69.136.155.244
Posted on Thursday, July 06, 2006 - 5:14 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)


quote:

I couldn't disagree with that more. Your statements are true if the elected officials in Ferndale didn't want what he was. They did.




I never said that Ferndale officials "didn't want what he was". Given the size of their city, they were probably unable to match the kind of big money he could get elsewhere. It is likely that elected officials in other Michigan cities would not consider him for an open position due to his outspokenness. Rightly or wrongly, they consider the proper place for a city manager to be "behind the scenes".

I thought it was a bit much for him to "bitch-slap" Michigan in his parting shot without also acknowledging that maybe his maverick approach to the job might also a reason why there might not be "much of a market here in Michigan" for someone like him.
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Iheartthed
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Username: Iheartthed

Post Number: 131
Registered: 04-2006
Posted From: 64.131.176.232
Posted on Thursday, July 06, 2006 - 5:14 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I hate to say it... but I'm glad I got the hell out of metro Detroit. The brains in that area seem to be fighting a losing battle.
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Eastsidedog
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Username: Eastsidedog

Post Number: 611
Registered: 03-2006
Posted From: 69.220.142.7
Posted on Thursday, July 06, 2006 - 5:15 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)


quote:

Barwin was the best, most enlightened offering in the region...bar none. This news is devastating and so telling. Oak Park, IL gets Barwin. We keep Brooksie. Ugh, will the nightmare ever end???



Gimme a freakin break. Barwin is not the friggin' messiah. Progressive city officials in Michigan are merely a symptom of progressive people in Michigan. So much negativity and whining, I wanna puke. I'm sure the good "progressively-minded" Ferdalians will replace him with someone similarly progressive in no time. Ferndale is not going to turn into Novi because Barwin is leaving. Hello, people! The politicians and officials are simply reflections of the populace! They are not our messiahs OR dictators leading us to see the light...
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Jsmyers
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Username: Jsmyers

Post Number: 1793
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Posted From: 209.131.7.68
Posted on Thursday, July 06, 2006 - 5:49 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Some politicians and officials are also leaders. Leaders don't just get willed into existance by the populace.

Barwin is two things (among others): A leader and a progressive.

I have no doubt that Ferndale will be able to find another progressive if they want. I hope they can find a leader.

Sorry Mikeg, I took your comments to mean that he was pushed out of town by Ferndale. Given the choice to follow your principles and leave the area, or stay and comprimise them, I know what I would do.
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Detourdetroit
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Username: Detourdetroit

Post Number: 224
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Posted From: 69.212.42.73
Posted on Thursday, July 06, 2006 - 9:24 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

eastside, I hear what you're saying. barwin is not the messiah. my mountain of praise was not intended to mythologize the man. my point is that as a man and as a leader of this stillborn region we live in, he was one of the very few people that got it and called it and was in a position to move the debate. for us to lose someone like that is sad. i disagree that he's simply a figment of ferndale. maybe ferndale had something to with it, but what he said was not always popular. he took risks and stuck his neck out. we need 1000 more of him to move us in the right direction.
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Eastsidedog
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Username: Eastsidedog

Post Number: 612
Registered: 03-2006
Posted From: 12.47.224.7
Posted on Friday, July 07, 2006 - 11:53 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Sorry Detourdetroit, but IMO there are few leaders that really sway the masses (both Hitler and Dr. Martin Luther King come to mind as those that did). Most leaders are products of the times and of the populace. Again, I say that Barwin was no Messiah. He was just a sign of the times and changing attitudes in SE MI. The prominence and continued popularity of leaders like Patterson is a sign of the times as well.
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Rocket_city
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Username: Rocket_city

Post Number: 75
Registered: 04-2006
Posted From: 141.217.174.222
Posted on Friday, July 07, 2006 - 5:00 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

^ Until DeRoche takes over after Brooks retires and all of Ferndale is paved over by a giant freeway that he insists his people in White Lake Township will need to get to the new Partridge Creek in Macomb.

Anybody know if Tom Barwin is originally from the area or if he was a transplant who had to learn the "Detroit system" or "Detroit way of life"?
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Eastsidedog
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Post Number: 617
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Posted From: 12.47.224.7
Posted on Friday, July 07, 2006 - 5:04 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Agreed Rocket_city. I'm sure that DeRoche last long and promising future ahead of himself in MI politics.
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Eastsidedog
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Username: Eastsidedog

Post Number: 618
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Posted From: 12.47.224.7
Posted on Friday, July 07, 2006 - 5:06 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

DeRoche, just another guy riding the waves of divisive Michigan politics. He has a very promising future indeed.
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Jsmyers
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Post Number: 1794
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Posted From: 209.131.7.68
Posted on Friday, July 07, 2006 - 6:23 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

DeRoche is shooting for governor. (Maybe US house or senate.) I would go as far as to say he has been chosen by the Michigan Republican party.

He is a gifted politician with absolutely horrible policy. I believe that him and those who agree with him are the state's biggest problem. (At least its biggest problem that we can control now -- we can't control the fact that the big 3 gave sweetheart contracts and retirment benefits to their workers in the 50s, 60s, and 70s.)
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Eastsidedog
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Post Number: 619
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Posted From: 70.236.161.2
Posted on Friday, July 07, 2006 - 7:47 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Jsmyers, I'd bet that folks like DeRoche think "WE" are the biggest problem in Michigan (i.e. DETROIT).
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Taj920
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Username: Taj920

Post Number: 115
Registered: 01-2004
Posted From: 68.42.252.205
Posted on Saturday, July 08, 2006 - 10:59 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I know Tom used to be the assistant city manager in St. Clair Shores and helped get the Nautical Mile revitalization project going.
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Trainman
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Username: Trainman

Post Number: 92
Registered: 04-2006
Posted From: 205.188.116.137
Posted on Saturday, July 08, 2006 - 7:25 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Brooks Patterson will be voting YES for the SMART property tax renewal (August 8, 2006) because this proposal includes his favorite mass transit project. This project as you all know is the I-75 expansion and YES it was stated at an MDOT/SEMCOG meeting that this IS to improve mass transit because buses get clogged on roads just like cars.

At least Tom Barwin tryed to stop this non-sense from staying on the SEMCOG 2030 TIP as documented.
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Trainman
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Username: Trainman

Post Number: 93
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Posted From: 205.188.116.137
Posted on Saturday, July 08, 2006 - 7:28 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Brooks Patterson will be voting YES for the SMART property tax renewal (August 8, 2006) because this proposal includes his favorite mass transit project. This project as you all know is the I-75 expansion and YES it was stated at an MDOT/SEMCOG meeting that this IS to improve mass transit because buses get clogged on roads just like cars.

At least Tom Barwin tryed to stop this non-sense from staying on the SEMCOG 2030 TIP as documented.
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Mikeg
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Username: Mikeg

Post Number: 128
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Posted From: 69.136.155.244
Posted on Saturday, July 08, 2006 - 10:19 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Is there an echo in here?

A wise man once said, "The echo of the completely empty valley bears tidings heard from the soundless sound."

Another wise man once asked, "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"

It finaly dawns on me that to fully understand and respond to Trainman's postings, it will take the wisdom and enlightenment of a Zen Master.

Therefore, like a good Buddhist student answering the Zen Master's "one hand clapping" riddle, I will thrust forward one of my hands and then add, "Talk to the hand, Trainman!"
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Trainman
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Username: Trainman

Post Number: 95
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Posted From: 205.188.116.137
Posted on Sunday, July 09, 2006 - 9:10 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Mikeg,

I'm at least trying to improve our city.

The answer to improve mass transit and our region is for the Gays, Straights, and Christians, Muslims, Asians, Africans, and all people to get along and get out and do something to improve things.

What do you not agree with me on? Or, do you agree?

Thanks for your point of view
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Rocket_city
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Username: Rocket_city

Post Number: 78
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Posted From: 141.217.174.222
Posted on Sunday, July 09, 2006 - 4:44 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

You forgot the blacks and the whites. Something a Barwin would address, but not the likes of a DeRoche. Although, DeVoss did a nice job of coving up a huge photo of his mansion and summer cottage, 2 yachts, and manicured property, by showing him in a photo smiling at a black woman from Detroit.

I swear I'm not a lefty extremist, (I'm an independent voter) but this election I'm kinda pissed. ;)
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Dougw
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Username: Dougw

Post Number: 1227
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Posted From: 69.220.224.233
Posted on Thursday, July 13, 2006 - 10:51 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

A longer article by Bill McGraw in today's Free Press about Tom Barwin:

http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll /article?AID=/20060713/NEWS05/ 607130352

quote:

...

Despite the sluggish economy, Ferndale continues its remarkable transformation from a dowdy, has-been, drive-through suburb to a sushi-eating, gay-friendly, nightlife-abundant destination.

That renaissance largely has taken place during Barwin's 8 1/2 -year watch -- but his tenure is coming to an end. Barwin is leaving this month for a similar job in Oak Park, Ill.

...

With a population of 52,000, Oak Park has more than twice Ferndale's 22,105 residents, and Barwin will get a raise, from $101,000 to $152,000.

And Oak Park has mass transit: It's about 20 minutes from Barwin's office -- via elevated train -- to the Chicago Loop. The Chicago area also has a more diverse economy and what Barwin characterized as more regional cooperation.

He sees it as a lot different from southeast Michigan.

"I want to see how they do it there," Barwin said. "I just need a break from metro Detroit and Michigan. The resistance to change here is incredible. You have to be strong."


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Metrodetguy
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Username: Metrodetguy

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Posted From: 69.221.93.123
Posted on Friday, July 14, 2006 - 2:42 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Not to knock the guy w/o knowing more about him, but it seems that he is at least a little bit, covering for himself (the higher profile job, moving to a more "fashionable" area, and $50,000 raise) by knocking Metro Detroit and Michigan.
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Focusonthed
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Username: Focusonthed

Post Number: 362
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Posted From: 209.220.229.254
Posted on Friday, July 14, 2006 - 4:03 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I don't think what he says is at all incorrect, re: "resistance to change"
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Dougw
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Posted From: 136.2.1.101
Posted on Friday, July 14, 2006 - 6:18 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Actually, his comments at the end about how he "wants to see how they do it there", and how he "needs a break", make me think that it wouldn't be out of the question for him to move back to metro Detroit at some later time in the future.
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Fury13
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Username: Fury13

Post Number: 1154
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Posted From: 69.222.11.226
Posted on Friday, July 14, 2006 - 7:20 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Have any of you BEEN to Oak Park, IL? It's pretty damn nice... a definite step up from Ferndale, not that Ferndale is bad at all.

And, just steps from his new office, he's got elevated-rail public transit that goes to the Chicago loop in minutes... the likes of which he'd never have here.

It's a no-brainer, folks.
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Focusonthed
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Username: Focusonthed

Post Number: 363
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Posted From: 24.192.25.47
Posted on Friday, July 14, 2006 - 7:36 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I live in Ferndale now, and I'd sure move to Oak Park in a second for a 50% raise.

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