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, October, 05, 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------ ***. Karl and I have recorded an interview about the Forum for the local component of All Things Considered on WEMU 89.1 radio that will be broadcast on Monday, December 3 during both the 4:00 and 6:00 versions of the show. Many of the questions were about why you keep coming and why you don't yell and argue. You can also hear the segment by getting on the WEMU website and clicking on the podcast after Monday. **** https://www.wemu.org/post/public-interest-focus-community-forum-dexter-where-participants-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." ================================================== 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 =================================================== SEPT 07, 2019 We started the new season with a celebration - a birthday party. We know that it is precedent setting but from now on anyone who turns 99 gets a cake and a party and a chance to share life's secrets with the group. Al Ruhlig has hardly missed a Forum since the beginning and we appreciate his quiet wisdom. It turns out that the secret to a long life is based on faith, family and farm work. We have a new newspaper in town and it is actually made out of paper not pixels. It is called the Dexter Guardian and is available free at your local gas station. We bemoaned the loss of our (only) local pharmacy. It wasn't so much that we failed to patronize our local business but more related to pressure from insurance companies to force us to shop by mail. The Avalon supported living project has jumped another hoop as they received approval of their preliminary site plan from the planning commission. Doug Marrin shared the latest step in his journey from coffee shop owner to We Love Dexter.com to OnMain.Today to cub reporter for the Sun Times News. Be careful when you retire - life has a way of chasing you down and putting you back in the action. We were knee deep in advocates for the Lion's Club fall sports program (buy one), Apple Days (go there), the Webster Fall Festival (RFD Boys will be there), Coffee and Conversation with the Episcopals (prison reform) and a divorce workshop. (These folks all bring flyers that are on the table just outside our meeting room.) It looks like the City fire hall project could be on the ballot as soon as May of 2020 but don't hold your breath. Our Webster Twp. friends are still working out the details of their fire hall project as well. And then there was the issue with some internal friction on our school board. We were running out of time so its best to re-visit the last couple of issues of the Sun Times News to get up to date on this one. The next meeting of the Dexter Forum will be on Saturday, September 21 at 8:30 AM at the Dexter Wellness Center and will feature a return visit of the Bridge Magazine Roadshow. The topic this year will be "Great Lakes - Great Economy." ================================================== Aug 17, 2019 Do you remember how hard it was to understand the mental health/public safety millage that was on the ballot a year ago? Well, we tried to figure out what happened to the money and it is no easier to understand today. Our current commissioners (who were elected after the millage passed) did their best to explain how we got more money but still ended up in the hole since the state requires us to provide certain services with the understanding that they will reimburse us but then it really doesn't turn out that way. Sometimes I say you had to be there to understand but in this case you probably don't know much more even if you were present. We noted that with a turnout of a little less than 10% the bond proposal offered by the Intermediate School District passed meaning that a little over 5% of the eligable voters were able to effect a tax increase for 100% of the population. We learned that when Dexter meets Chelsea on the football field there will be another battle in the stands as the Education Foundations of both communities engage in a fundraising contest. The county commission now has four months left to propose changes in the structure of our road commission. They are in the listening phase so we gave our commisssioners an earfull. We also had an update on proposed changes in funding for the meals-on-wheels program. This is another one of those you do it and we will pay you back later situations. August is a 5 Saturday month so it will be three weeks before our next Forum which will be held on Saturday, September 7 at 8:30 AM at the Dexter Wellness Center. For those planning ahead, we will have a return visit from the Bridge Magazine roadshow on September 21. Their topic this time is Great Lakes - Great Economy. They will use the little clickers again to instantly measure our responses and then will combine them with thousands of others to help provide guidance to our legislature. And yes, we are assured that the technology will all work this time. =================================================== Notes - August 03, 2019 Often times people leaving the Forum are excited to have learned something brand new or have enjoyed listening to a stiring cry to action by a candidate for office. This was not one of those days. It is the middle of summer and the livin' is easy except for a few detours. The City of Dexter had another community meeting about fire, police and administrative facilities. Yes, they did. There is an election in three days regarding facilities at High Point - our regional school for kids with serious disabilities. Most of us have already voted by absentee ballot. Tom Drinkwater, from the Sun Times News, noted that over 2,000 community newspapers have closed in the last decade or so creating an information void in our little towns. The Sun Times News is filling that void for us and he thanked us for our support. City projects this summer include sidewalks on Forest Street as part of the safe route to schools program and a total rebuild of Central Street between the Dexter Mill and downtown. Commissioner Maciejewski let us know about a proposed change in the funding for our Meals on Wheels program that he is trying to prevent. Our senior center is like the little engine that could. Board member Joanne Westman pointed out that they accomplish daily miracles on a tiny budget. If you are reading these notes on the OnMain.Today site or from Facebook and you used to get them directly or you just want to be added to the Dexter Forum mailing list just send me a note at - RepHansen@aol.com I know a few folks got lost in the transition to SimpleLists. Unsubscribing is easier now, too. Just hit unsubscribe when you open the item and it is automatic from there. The next meeting of the Dexter Forum will be on Saturday, August 17 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. To unsubscribe from this Dexter Forum mail list ...please go to http://www.simplelists.com/confirm.php?u=pc7UuZ8YL3Jx6avRAXRbncFLbAuIB8lK ======================================================== |
