Remaining Incumbents Just Escape Recall in May 4th Grosse Pointe Shores Special Election.

Voters were clearly energized by the Shores recall movement. With over 1300 votes cast, more than half the electorate participated. Unofficial results show that:

Mayor:
James M. Cooper: survived by only 40 votes

City council members:
Victoria J. Boyce: survived by only 40 votes
Robert E. Graziani: survived by 89 votes
Brian J. Hunt: resigned rather than face recall!
Frederick K. Minturn: resigned rather than face recall!

The city voters were split by Vernier Road, with the South end Precinct 1 voting to recall Mayor Cooper and his fellow incumbents. The incumbents managed to barely hold on to their seats by garnering more votes in their home North end Precinct 2.

For details of the unofficial vote breakdown by precinct, click on this hyperlink.

Thanks to the legion of volunteers who circulated the recall petitions, the 552 Shores citizens who signed them and put the recall on the ballot, and those who voted on May 4th! The incumbents barely escaped by the skin of their teeth and failed to obtain the mandate they sought. While falling a bit short in the vote count, the recall process has sent a strong message. Hopefully all seven members of our current council will take this message in to account as the city moves forward: Shores voters desire a higher level of accountability, fiscal responsibility and transparency from our officials. As a result of the recall, Shores residents certainly are better informed about the sorry state of our city finances.

While higher taxes were the basis for initiating the recall, other events and serious issues provided the basis for the solid support Shores residents provided to this democratic effort to hold the Cooper incumbents accountable. During their campaign to survive, the incumbents did almost nothing to objectively address the serious issues behind the recall. One thing the Mayor Cooper and the Shores council can rest assured of, the recall supporters are not going away and will continue to stay engaged until their concerns over the issues enumberated during the recall process have been resolved!

During a recent council meeting, a key anti-recall supporter speaking for the incumbents took issue with a quote from Thomas Jefferson that I had up on the website. It was clear he was taking Jefferson’s message in a purely literal context. With his simplistic way of thinking he could not grasp the real meaning behind:

“When the people fear their government there is tyranny; when the government fears the people there is liberty.”

I can only hope that having just barely survived the recall process that Mayor Cooper and his fellow incumbents have come away with a better understanding of Thomas Jefferson’s admonition. This sage message stands as true today as when Jefferson helped penned the documents that established our democratic system of government.

While the frequency of the web postings may diminish now that the recall election is over, the Shores Recall Web Site will be maintained as a means of keeping city voters and taxpayers informed and up to date on what is happening. As always, your thoughts and suggestions are welcome.

Yours for a better Grosse Pointe Shores,
Dr. Robert E. Lee

webmaster@shoresrecall.com
Sponsor, Shores Recall Committee

• Shores Recall Home
• Restoring Fiscal Health
• Shores Recall Isues
• Shores Taxpayer Info
• Top 10 Anti-recall Myths
• GP Shores On Fiscal Watch
• Bob's Blog
• Guest Postings
• GPS in the news
• Shores Video Clips
• Source Documents
• Officials Who Raised Taxes
• Recall / Tax Links
• Contact Recall Central

Grosse Pointe Shores Salary Facts:

• In 2008, Grosse Pointe Shores Manager Mike Kenyon made $207,000. His executive assistant wife, Angela Kenyon, made $149,000. That year, Governor Granholm took home a state salary of $158,000, and she offered to take a 10% pay cut for 2009 • The Shores paid its current finance director $145,000, when Lt. Governor Cherry makes only $120,000. • In 2008 Grosse Pointe Shores legal expenses were over $170,000, while Michigan paid our full-time state Attorney General Mike Cox $125,000. • Our park manager made $95,000 in 2008 at a time when the salaries of our Michigan state senators and representatives are under $80,000 a year.