Welcome -
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The Forum is co-moderated by Karl Fink and John Hansen.
If you wish to be added to the Forum mailing list just send a request to RepHansen@aol.com. or KarlVFink@gmail.com You will get meeting reminders, meeting notes and nothing else. -Meeting Dates- The next meeting of the Dexter Forum will be on Saturday, November, 16, 2019 at 8:30 AM The group meets on the first and third Saturdays of the month. ------------------------------------------------------------------ <<< The "Stump" >>> ---- Expect more Stump activity as we approach 2020 elections. ---- ------------------------------------------------------------------ ************************ "It is now officially less than a year until the big election. There will possibly be three before the big one but the big one is coming. We will Listen and Learn." *************************** |
....About "The Dexter Forum" from other Sources:
http://annarborobserver.com/articles/_we_can_help_dexter__full_article.html
http://annarborobserver.com/articles/_we_can_help_dexter__full_article.html
Who We Are |
The Dexter Forum is supported by the Dexter Wellness Coalition as part of the 5 Healthy Towns initiative to "help connect with others in healthy ways". The purpose of the Forum is to create an opportunity for interested women and men to gather to discuss important issues facing our community. All are welcome on a drop-in basis. The group meets on the first and third Saturdays of the month.
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The Forum in action-
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"We make the agenda at the meeting so you never know what's on peoples' minds until you ask." ================================================== Sat, Nov 2- We welcomed some more new folks and continue to be amazed at how many are unable to sing their high school fight song acapella. We learned that our new redistricting system is getting into gear. Any registered voter can fill out an application at this time (with some exceptions for partisan office holders and their kin). The list will eventually be winnowed down to 13 - Four Republicans, four Democrats and five assorted others. These folks will draw new district lines for the Michigan House, the US House and the Michigan Senate to be used in the fall election in 2022. Speaking of the Michigan Senate, Lana Theis, our Senator paid us a visit. She will not be on the 2020 ballot and is as curious as anyone about what her district will look like in 2022 when she does run for re-election. She also let us know about her work on 'surprise billing'. This occurs when a non-network doctor sneaks in on your case and you are stuck with a big bill. Each Michigan senator represents close to 300,000 people so it is a real advantage of the Forum to be able to speak with your senator face-to-face. We heard more about the potential of a ballot proposal to limit the construction of supportive housing within 1,000 feet of a school. Organizers are getting legal approval of their petition language with an eye on the May '20 election window. District court candidate Anna Frushour is now district court applicant Anna Frushour. The sitting judge is leaving earlier than expected so the remainder of his term will be filled by the governor. The position will still be on the ballot in 2020 but the appointee will be able to run as an incumbent which is a real advantage. Circuit court candidate Nick Roumel discovered the Dexter Forum and we gave him a chance to introduce himself. Although he is currently in private practice he spent some time as an attorney in student legal services at UM. He may have some stories about that sometime. Super proud Webster trustee John Scharff announced that Webster Township will finally be building their own new fire station on land they already own - with cash. No bond, no loan - they just saved up for it. Imagine that. The next meeting of the Dexter Forum will be on Saturday, November 16 at 8:30 AM at the Dexter Wellness Center. The Dexter Forum is supported by the Dexter Wellness Coalition as part of the 5 Healthy Towns initiative to "help connect with others in healthy ways". The purpose of the Forum is to create an opportunity for interested women and men to gather to discuss important issues facing our community. All are welcome on a drop-in basis. The group meets on the first and third Saturdays of the month. Back issues of the Forum notes are available on our web site DexterForum.com Just let John or Karl know if you would like to be added to our e-mail list which will get you meeting reminders and your own personal copy of the meeting notes. ================================================== Sat, Oct 19 There is always something that catches the eye as you drive around Dexter. This time it was Phil Arbour who wanted to know what the little forests of wooden stakes cropping up around town signified. It turns out that these are the locations of the new pedestrian crossing zones that resulted from the cooperation of the City and the Schools to improve safety for kids walking to school (and big people can use them too.) Joshua Kay, a candidate for Circuit Court Judge, introduced himself and told us a little about changes in docket assignments for judges. The current judges have announced that the new judge will be assigned full time to family matters. Joanne Westman was looking for new folks to join the board of the senior citizens center. (I think she got a good one.) Julie Schumaker told us about a $100,000 challenge grant that will double any gift that you give to The Dexter Community Fund before the end of the year. Pledges for future years are included. In the don't ask if you don't really want to know department we learned that Central Street will not likely reopen until November 4 - unless it snows before that. The rumor is true - we are getting a new pharmacy in town. It will be a branch of an independentpharmacy in Saline. While it will be near the old country market space it will actually occupy the space of the old Hallmark store. Opening is planned for February-ish. You have to give a lot of credit to our two county commissioners, Jason and Sue, because even though we grill them like bratwurst every time they keep showing up. We learned more today about the potential for absorbing the road commission into the county government structure. The commission is holding public hearings on the topic. Check their website for time and place. ================================================== Sat, Oct 5, We started off talking about spraying again - this time it was aerial spraying for mosquitoes instead of roadside spraying for weeds. There have been several human deaths along with horse deaths in Michigan related to a form of encephalitis transmitted by mosquito bites. The spraying affects only the northern part of Webster Township but the whole thing has happened very suddenly and without a lot of communication even between the effected arms of government involved. Wind or weather could put a stop to the whole thing and there are opt out provisions but folks in that area need to sit up and take notice. We are looking forward to a report on the 'speed dating with your elected officials' event to be held in Chelsea next week. It just sounds like a real neat idea featuring local Chelsea officials on up to US Senator Gary Peters. Inquiring minds wanted to know when the Central Street paving project will be finished. Even though Doug Fuller was not present and even though it is not a County Road Commission project his spirit was channeled with the report that it will be done when it is finished. We had our usual round of info-mercials. Dexter is a great place to be in the fall. Something is being built on Baker Road near the Grand Alley. Maybe two things. If the depth of the hole is related to the size of the digger on site then it must be something big. It is nice to have a little mystery in our lives. There is a major attempt being made by the City (with lots of partners) to aquire the land along the river across from the party store at the Huron River Drive/Mast/Joy intersection for the purpose of creating a park with river access to help with the canoe traffic in the area. City resident Sue Sherrill informed us about a group that intends to put an issue on an upcoming ballot that would create what she referred to as a school safety zone that would prevent the construction of facilities that serve people with behavioral issues within a specified distance from a school. This, of course, is in reference to the Avalon/Faith in Action housing project proposed on Dan Hoey Road across from the Dexter Elementary Complex. ================================================== Sept 20, 2019 Today’s Forum notes come through the courtesy of Doug Marrin and the wonders of the internet. Sandy and I are in way upstate New York attending her high school class reunion. Sorry to have missed such an exciting session of the Forum. The announcements included letting people know John Scharf is the new Webster Twnshp treasurer, Apple Daze Oct 5, Methodist Rummage Sale next weekend as well as the Webster Fall Festival. There will be what sounds like a fun event coming soon, kind of a speed dating session with local politicians. Members of the public will get to spend 3 minutes at a table with an elected official. Jason M. walked in just as it was announced he was one of the people with whom you could "speed date", gaining some good laughter and remarks.Bridge Magazine made a stop at the Dexter Forum on their fall campaign, Your Water, Your Voice. Michigan has 11,000 lakes, over 36,000 square miles of rivers and more than 3,200 miles of Great Lakes shoreline, the most of anywhere in the world. As custodians of a lot of that freshwater, Bridge Magazine's question for the forum was "How should Michigan manage our waters statewide?" It is a vital question for residents of the Great Lake State. The information from this meeting will be compiled with other meetings all around the state to form a Citizen's Agenda Report which will then be delivered to every state-level elected leader in Lansing. This is the ninth such campaign Bridge has done in 10 years engaging more than 69,000 people in the process. Overall, folks think the condition of Michigan's Great Lakes is pretty good right now. They are not quite as confident about our inland lakes and rivers however giving them a "fair" rating. 78% of attendees felt that the government should be doing more to protect our waters by imposing more regulation. Regarding the Enbridge Line 5 up in the Straits of Mackinaw, the room was fairly split between removing the pipeline altogether and making it safer by incasing it in bedrock. When it comes to bottling up our freshwater and packing it off to other places, attendees felt it should either be banned or companies should pay more. Other issues discussed were invasive species, agricultural runoff, and sewage leaks. Everybody in the room agrees that money should be spent on fixing it, but exactly who is going to pay for it became a more difficult question to get through. One attendee told the group that we have 20% of the world's freshwater in our Great Lakes. It is up to us to be good stewards of it - for the environment, for Michigan residents, but also for people who are not in Michigan. We have to be conscientious in our approach to our water resources. Gene Utke noted that poor water quality issues disproportionately affect the poor citing Flint as an example. There was a comparison of our water situation to the state's roads. If we don't spend the money today, we will spend more money to fix it tomorrow. In case Karl hasn't sent you the results of the polling, I've attached them. -Doug ======================================================== |
