In Grosse Pointe Shores, a laptop
is as elusive as a council quorum

Word of a special meeting Wednesday night (March 14) of the Grosse Pointe Shores City Council, with a single item on the agenda -- "city computer discussion" -- was bound to arouse curiosity. How it played out may raise even more.

The meeting, called by council member Dan Schulte, failed to draw a quorum. The only other council member who showed up was Robert Barrette Jr. Without enough support to hold a formal meeting, Schulte elected to explain the circumstances from the council table. read more...

Grosse Pointe Shores fills Vick's slot
with retired Woods administrator

In a special meeting Monday night (March 5), the Grosse Pointe Shores City Council voted 4-2 to appoint Mark Wollenweber as the city’s interim city manager.

Wollenweber – a familiar face in the Pointes who most recently served as the city administrator of Grosse Pointe Woods – follows Brian Vick, who resigned as manager March 3.

Wollenweber’s contract will pay him a pro-rated amount of an annual $80,000 salary for up to four months, beginning March 20, as well as a 4% payment into a deferred compensation plan. read more...

Grosse Pointe Shores revenues to fall,
water bills to rise, city council told

Property values in Grosse Pointe Shores are expected to drop by 12 percent in 2012, Bruce Bisballe told his fellow city council members at Tuesday's (Feb. 21) meeting.

The finance committee chairman said Wayne County has verified this decrease. The drop, and its accompanying dip in tax revenues, will leave a gap of approximately $500,000 in the budget for fiscal 2012.

But, Bisballe said, this is seen as the bottom of the revenue drop. read more...

Grosse Pointe Shores City Council fills
public safety seat, hears meter concerns

Stephen Poloni officially left his position as Grosse Pointe Shores' director of public safety for a similar job with the City weeks ago, but his name remains on the door and he's been the department's representative at city council meetings. The double duty ends soon; the Shores city council approved the hiring of John J. Schulte at its Tuesday (Jan.17) meeting.  read more...

Grosse Pointe Shores starts new era,
as incoming mayor, council meet

To the victor go the spoils, and the victors in the struggle for control of Grosse Pointe Shores' city government clearly enjoyed their new roles as change agents during their first city council meeting Tuesday night (Nov. 15).

It began with an orderly transfer. The outgoing council members – all but one of whom were defeated for re-election last week – offered good wishes to their successors. Now-former Mayor James Cooper swore in his replacement, Ted Kedzierski, who then swore in six new council members: Bruce Bisballe, Robert Barrette Jr., Alexander Ajlouni, Kay Felt, Robert Gesell and returning incumbent Daniel Schulte. Flashes popped and families cheered from the audience. And then all took their seats and commenced with the reforms. read more...

Grosse Pointe Shores a sea of signs
as mayor, council seats go up for grabs

For the smallest of the Pointes, Grosse Pointe Shores has the distinction of having the biggest, and certainly the most acrimonious, municipal election this year.

Because of the Shores' switch from a village to a city in 2009, every seat is in contention this election -- six city council seats and the mayor's, and a total of 11 people are bidding for them, making the community a sea of waving yard signs. read more...

A hushed squabble breaks peace
at GP Shores council session

Grosse Pointe Shores Public Safety Director Stephen Poloni stepped to the podium to give his regular report to the City Council Tuesday night (Oct. 18) and saved the news everybody already knew for the end.

Poloni told the council he was taking retirement from the Shores and moving to the same job in Grosse Pointe City, succeeding the City's retiring chief, James Fox. But he wanted everyone to know how much he would miss them.

"This isn't a job, but a family," he said with real emotion in his voice.

Only a few minutes earlier, a different atmosphere had prevailed during the meeting's contentious public-comment period. read more...

Grosse Pointe Shores candidates
crowd the stage at LWV forum

The smallest of the Grosse Pointes had the distinction of presenting the largest candidate forum of the campaign season Tuesday night (Oct. 11) at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial.

Nine candidates spoke, each one angling for one of the six seats on the Grosse Pointe Shores city council. The one-time event is part of the transition from village to city approved by voters in 2008. The top vote-getters will win four-year terms, and the remainder will serve for two years, with the seats coming up on staggered schedules thereafter.

Incumbents David Galbenski, Brian Geraghty and Daniel Schulte shared the stage with newcomers Alexander Ajlouni, Robert H. Barrette Jr., Bruce Bisballe, Kay Felt and Robert E. Gesell at the forum, hosted by the Grosse Pointe League of Women Voters. Non-incumbent candidate Elias Ropotos was absent.

The mayor's seat is also up for grabs. Incumbent James Cooper and challenger Ted Kedzierski faced off first. read more...

Grosse Pointe Shores council sidesteps
secession, opts to study Wayne divorce

Grosse Pointe Shores City Council meetings are frequently lively events, what with the grumbling audiences and squabbling members, but Tuesday's (Sept. 13) was a breed apart. Representatives from many of the metro area's news organizations were there, even TV and radio, to cover the proceedings.

The lure, of course, was the agenda item on the possibility of county secession, raised by council member Dan Schulte last month. The idea, also floated by Park Mayor Palmer Heenan at that city's last meeting, proposes that the city take advantage of a state law that allows county-straddling municipalities to essentially change the borders of both, by choosing to entirely join one or the other -- in this case, to leave Wayne County and become part of Macomb.

The meeting was publicized well in advance throughout the area, and the house was full. But those who hoped for a quick sound bite and lively discussion had to learn an essential truth about the Grosse Pointes -- nothing moves fast here, from Shores council meetings to a county fracture fraught with questions about how it would work and what it would take to accomplish. In the end, the council voted to study it further. read more...

Grosse Pointe Shores centennial
to feature three days of celebration

Grosse Pointe Shores residents are invited to a centennial celebration next month, as the smallest of the Pointes celebrates its 100th birthday with three days of activities. read more...