Woods recall campaign back on

A campaign to recall the two newest members of the Grosse Pointe Woods City Council is back on, after the Wayne County Elections Commission approved the petition's language yesterday (June 24).

Woods resident Nancy Hames refiled her petition earlier this month, after an earlier version was rejected by the commission.

Hames is seeking to recall Arthur Bryant and Joseph Sucher from the city council, after they voted with the majority to raise the city's property-tax rate last month. Hames, an unsuccessful candidate for council in 2005, said at the time that the two "should not be safe" after approving a 1.75-mill increase.

The measure won't go before voters, however, unless Hames can collect 2,500 signatures of registered voters by early August, 90 days before the Nov. 3 election. She said she believed she could meet that goal "if I cast my net wide enough. If people aren't interested in this, it will fail at the polls anyway."

Bryant said he was disappointed by the approval. He had argued that the vote doesn't constitute an across-the-board tax increase, because most Woods residents will actually see lower tax bills this year, due to plummeting property values. (Hanes is one who won't.)

"I hope the people of Grosse Pointe Woods recognize the true nature of the situation and the fact we're doing the best to maintain the city (as it is)," he said. Sucher didn't immediately return a call for comment, but later submitted a defense of the millage increase, posted here.

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