Shores voters approve roads and infrastructure proposal

ST. CLAIR SHORES — In unofficial results from the Aug. 6 election, St. Clair Shores voters passed a proposed roads and related infrastructure millage by a margin of 7,067 votes to 5,048.

The proposal asked voters to approve an annual levy of 2 mills for five years, beginning on July 1, 2025, for necessary residential street, alley, and city parking lot repairs and construction, street lighting, and related sewer repairs and construction.

The millage will replace a current 1.6430-mills levy, which was adopted in 2019. The new millage is estimated to collect $3,931,795.50 in its first year.

Councilman Chris Vitale said he doesn’t have any strong feelings about the proposal.

“I think less of a city government when it has to rely on millages to fund infrastructure and things like that, because these sorts of things should be provided for in the budget,” Vitale said. “But at the same time, I recognize that the city had a lot of expenditures that really couldn’t be planned for.”

Vitale mentioned that both the St. Clair Shores Police Department and St. Clair Shores Fire Department station renovations contributed to these expenditures, as did the city’s pool. He said the station projects were made possible by the American Rescue Plan Act money, and state regulations required spending at the pool.

“We had a lot of expenses we didn’t see coming for us,” Vitale said. “So that was the reason that I was willing to vote to put this on the ballot.”

He went on to say he was neutral on the millage, and that he would leave the decision to the residents.

Mayor Pro Tem and Councilwoman Candice Rusie said she hopes the city uses the money collected from the millage responsibly.

“I know that this is a sacrifice from the taxpayers to choose to raise the millage rate, and I hope the city recognizes that and uses the money responsibly for the residents we represent and serve,” Rusie said.

Rusie was originally against including city parking lots within the millage language. She did want to thank residents for making their voices heard and voting in the election, regardless of how they voted.

“It’s always nice to see that some people do make it an effort to exercise their right to vote,” Rusie said.

Mayor Kip Walby said he’s thankful to residents for passing the millage.

“So we can continue to maintain our roads, maintain our infrastructure,” Walby said. “It’s desperately needed. And I think we’ve done an excellent job for the past 20 years on maintaining our residential streets.”

He also said it’s exciting to see support and trust from the residents.

 

Edwards wins Democratic primary in state House District 12
Incumbent state Rep. Kimberly Edwards bested two challengers in the Democratic primary for the District 12 seat in the Michigan House of Representatives.

Edwards received 6,231 votes to defeat Angela McIntosh (1,931 votes) and Patrick Biange (966 votes). 

In November, she’ll face Republican Randell Shafer, who was unopposed in the primary and received 3,296 votes.

Edwards said she is excited about the results, although she wishes there were more details about voter turnout. 

“I’m glad people came and used their voice to vote for the candidate they wanted,” Edwards said.

She said she’s glad people could see the hard work she’s done for the community and voted for her. 

McIntosh said in an email she was disheartened to not win the election, but said she understood the advantages that came with being an incumbent.  

“Our budget was tight, yet we still managed to make an impact,” McIntosh said in the email. “It was unsettling to experience unethical behavior from the opposite camp, specifically the theft of our yard signs in Detroit and Eastpointe. Such actions are both cruel and unjust.” 

Biange did not want to comment. 

Shafer could not be reached for comment by press time.