Why is Ken Nelson running for Mayor?

The following Issues will be expanded on my Facebook page.

Issue #1 Mayor Taylor seems to have a temper and a certain amount of arrogance about him when communicating with residents and business owners. Look back over the years and count how many times he has had to remind the public than he IS the Mayor!

Issue #2 The Mayor and at least one Council member has been operating in violation of our City Charter with their partisan politics. Chapter 3, section 3.03 says “The election of all city officers shall be on a non-partisan basis. The general election laws of the state shall apply to and control, as nearly as possible, all procedures relating to registration and city elections except as such general laws relate to political parties or partisan procedure…”

Issue #3 The support of the Mayor for an exorbitant salary increase for the City Manager, in a time of economic instability for the residents and businesses of Sterling Heights was deplorable. It is unclear whether there was any negotiation on behalf of the Mayor and Council. The Governor of this State has a $159,300 salary compared to our City Manager receiving a $202,950 salary.

Issue #4 As Mayor, embarrassed a significant portion of Sterling Heights voters by speaking, for them, in disrespectful letters to the President of the United States and news stories in local and out of state newspapers with his very partisan opinions. I think he forgot about the Charter, again.

Issue #5 How much did it cost for the Mayors marketing campaign. A new City Logo, what was the cost of reprinting all the business cards, letterhead, envelopes and signage throughout the city. This is not to mention the embarrassment of the Golden Corridor along M-59. The big problem is that Sterling Heights paid the tab to promote the Commercial businesses along M-59 on our northern and northwestern borders for Utica, Shelby Township, Macomb Township and Clinton Township. When asked to contribute, all of the municipalities declined, leaving Sterling Heights to write the check. Embarrassment surrounds the “Halo” (aka Golden Buttxxxx) a $170,000 blunder that turns colors at night when representing different initiatives in Sterling Heights. This whole marketing campaign was not fully thought out and was, in my opinion, a misuse of funds.

Issue #6Safe Streets and Recreate Recreation ballot proposals have changed the fiscal status of the City to a “Buy Now Pay Later” mentality. The original Safe Streets Proposal was presented as needed because of a large cut in Revenue Sharing from the state, 2.45 mills passed by a significant margin. So, after voters approved the proposal for 6 years, here comes the 2019 Safe Streets Renewal. Fear marketing does it again, we still can’t fund our Police, Fire and road repairs without this renewal. If it is needed for the proper operation of the City, then the Council should have increased the operating millage instead making the voters make the decisions for them. This is bad fiscal Policy. The other was the marketing of Recreate Recreation proposal in 2017. We are going to do all of these improvements and even build a new palatial Community Center. All this and more for $45,000,000, but, don’t worry, it’s only going to cost you 1 mill for 20 years, most of the money has been spent but the residents are still saddled with that 1 mill for only 17 more years. Actually, the vote to approve was very close, with almost as many against the proposal as for the proposal.

Issue #7 More to come!