Politics & Government

Huber Says Farmington Hills Council Needs to be Proactive

The city council candidate says officials have to look at economic realities.

William Huber owned a business for 15 years, had to cut back and finally close it, because of tough economic times – so he has learned some lessons about budgeting. And he thinks Farmington Hills city officials haven't looked far enough into the future.

"Basically, I don't think our council is being proactive enough," the council candidate said, "and I don't think they're making the hard decisions that need to be made."

One of seven candidates running for three, 4-year city council terms, Huber said he has heard city officials talk about the Nov. 8 public safety millage as "short-term", because it would be in place for 10 years.

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"Ten years is not short-term," he said. "I think we need to match our budget with our economy. We have to match our decisions with the economic realities."

One of the proactive strategies he supports is having "synergies with neighboring communities" and sharing services. He wonders whether city officials are doing that now just because Gov. Rick Snyder is mandating it, and wants to know why the city hasn't done more of it in the past. "The economy hasn't been going down just the year or two," he said.

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Huber is especially concerned about businesses closing, and points to the at Orchard Lake and 12 Mile as having a real impact on the community, with the loss of jobs and the people the business attracted to the city. "What are we doing as community leaders to help these businesses?" he asked. "Every business lost is very, very important and very sad."

When it comes to budget, Huber would take an even harder line than has been done in the past. It may not be enough to cut staffing by not filling positions as people retire or leave for other reasons. "You just can't keep going back to the residents (for tax dollars)," he said.

Huber says public safety has to be a top priority, and believes the fire department, which operates with a combination of full-time and paid, on-call firefighters, is "top notch". He would like to look at using the same combination for the police department, in order to reduce costs.

"What is comes down to for me is, what is a necessity, and what is a luxury?" he said.

Huber sees the council's role as coming up with strategic ideas, with an emphasis on leadership. He has heard complaints that residents don't feel they're getting enough information from the city and that officials "don't get it". He said he wants to ensure there is two-way communication.

When it comes to balancing the budget, he said, "I feel in our economy, nothing should be sacred ... It has to make sense, and if it doesn't make sense, why are we doing it?"

"I'm not here to run our community down," Huber said. "I'm not here to say cut, cut, cut. We have to really come to terms with our economy."

A business consultant, Huber has been a resident of Farmington Hills for 15 years and has a son, David, who is a graduate.


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