Reader wants local rep

Dear Editor,
Now I’ve heard it all, we have pop-up boutiques, pop-up vegetable stands, pop-up antique furniture stores and now the Eighth Congressional District has a pop-up Democrat candidate!
Elissa Slotkin has popped-up in a district where she hasn’t lived in 20 years. Leaving her home and husband in Washington DC for the Holly farm where she spent summers while attending Cranbrook two decades ago, she is here to reclaim her local yokel status. She claims to have a “consulting business” here, though the Holly Chamber of Commerce has not received her application as of this writing. Elissa has arrived from the DC swamp to solve our current problems. She sure has a lot of money for signs.
Our current congressman served in the Michigan legislature before being elected to go to DC. He has a home here, his children attend public schools here. I would say Mike Bishop has a greater familiarity with our Eighth District and is not a rookie. Seniority counts in Congress. That’s a fact.
Our family was engaged in a two year battle with the IRS. Letters back and forth, document after document, a small issue but important to the estate of deceased kin. Mike’s office cleared the log jam within two months and our problem was resolved.
Let me suggest our district and and citizens will be better served by someone who actually lives here in Michigan, not someone camping out on the old family farm. Elissa Slotkin would be more suited as a candidate in Washington DC or perhaps Baghdad. She knows those locales well.
You can bet your hot dog!
Rob Namowicz
Independence Township

Neighbor disrespected by church construction

Dear Editor,
We would like to respond to the Sept. 12 article, “Renovated church ready for renewed community service.” Not once did we read thank you to the community, more specifically the direct neighbors, for having to deal with two years of construction with no restrictions on hours.
Heavy equipment and trucks that were started as early as 5 a.m. and equipment dropped off as late as 11 p.m. This was not an occasional problem, but an ongoing weekly issue that was never controlled by the city, the church or the builder who supposedly had a gentlemen’s agreement that construction hours would be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
This was never enforced in two years. Complete disrespect for the neighborhood. You would think that a church would be the best possible neighbor, but not the case in this circumstance.
The church also completely destroyed the tree line that blocked our view and the river banks with a rogue tree company. Some of these trees and branches were on our property and we have pictures of workers removing trees on our lot.
When we threatened to call the DNR they never returned. Again, complete disrespect for the neighbors and now we have a clear view of the new LED lights the article raves about.
Most cities have “Green Space” ordinances which would have addressed this issue, but the only “green” is the green light the village gave the church to do whatever they want.
Now we take on the task and expense of planting our own trees to block the view.
It appears that the only real sacrifice that the church had to make was moving worship services to the gym for a longer period of time than planned.
We feel there should be a follow up article in The Clarkston News regarding the complete disrespect to the adjoining neighbors and the inability of the church or the village to control the issue.
This will be an issue again if there is another large building project in Clarkston.
We would personally like to thank Jonathan Smith, the City of the Village of Clarkston, Pastor Rick Dake, and Frank Rewold and Son for allowing our quality of life to be ruined for two years and destruction of our scenic oasis that we purchased on 2016.
Regards,
Sarah and Jeff Dean
Clarkston

A call for character

Dear Editor,
Over 75 percent of the city’s income comes from taxes on residential property, about 17 percent comes from taxes on commercial property, with the rest coming from other sources
The City of the Village of Clarkston is a “destination”; the vast majority of those who come here are visitors. Less than 1,000 are residents. Some have estimated that over two-thirds of the people who use Depot Park are non-residents. And, clearly, the vast majority of people who visit downtown businesses are non-residents.
The fundamental “character,” e.g. Main Street homes, neighborhoods, trees, waterways, services, location, of the community is what attracts and retains residents. Nearly all of the current residents keep their homes and properties in appealing condition, which adds to their tax and resale value. And, many of those homes are not in the Historic District!
So, most of the attention of our city leaders should and needs to be on maintaining, and or improving, the character of our community. Let us be sure to elect and reelect people who focus on the needs of the residents!
Tom Stone
Clarkston