News & Events
June 2005
May has brought some big changes to the Michigan Suburbs Alliance that we hope will result in a lot more direct service from us on projects from redevelopment to municipal finance to regional governance. We have grown our staff from two to seven, refurbished the office with a major furniture donation, and begun researching a new member city priority project: regional transportation.
First, let's offer a hearty welcome to the Suburbs Alliance's new staff who have already transformed the office with their energy and enthusiasm. After graduating from the University of Michigan, Brittany Galisdorfer has rejoined us as our Program Administrator. A numbers whiz, her focus is predominantly on fiscal issues, helping with both organizational management and our Municipal Finance Policy Project.
Ida King serves as our Technology Administrator, bringing with her a toolbelt of Microsoft certifications that would make Batman envious. As we delve into new electronic applications such as wide area wireless internet access, Ida's passion for creative uses of technology will help our cities stay on the cutting edge.
U-M senior Sharon Carney is jump starting our communications plan - evidenced by this first monthly e-update. An English major with a work history writing for the School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Sharon understands our need to communicate clearly and consistently on the urban development topics of the day.
Arizona native Rachel Gartell and Pleasant Ridger Cooper Holoweski are both working as Project Assistants on the balance of Suburbs Alliance projects. Rachel brings a wealth of experience in training and education as well as public policy. She's assembling a series of workshops on regional collaboration that will launch in the Fall. Cooper's political science degree is balanced by a background in fine arts giving us an expanded ability to translate complex policy into digestible educational materials.
We extend enormous gratitude to a team of private sector supporters who helped bring more than $15,000 worth of Steelcase workstations into the office. Prompted by Bren Buckley of Burton-Katzman Development and facilitated by Newcombe Clark from Bluestone Realty Advisors, Ann Arbor-based NSK donated the leftover furniture from an expansion of their North American headquarters. We owe a special thanks to retiring NSK VP of Finance John Ellis who spent a full day helping us identify and collect the donation.
Last, at our Annual Meeting this month, member cities identified regional transportation as a high priority project for the Suburbs Alliance in the coming fiscal year. Over the next three months, staff will determine the project goals and budget for approval at the September board meeting. Our focus points will be funding and strategies for city street improvement and innovations for intercity transit. Teaming up with the Michigan Public Transit Association, the Michigan Road Builders Association and others we hope to help Lansing rethink its transportation priorities for southeast Michigan. If you've got an interest in this new project, we need your voice and ideas. Drop us a line at the office to find out how to get involved.
With talented new staff and pioneering projects before us, the Suburbs Alliance is keenly poised to raise the call for regionalism and encourage reinvestment in Michigan's first-tier suburbs. We are, as always, more a staff-facilitated organization than a staff-driven one, so your participation and enthusiasm is both welcome and essential. Don't be surprised if you hear one of us on the other side of a phone call urging you to take a lead in our coalition's work... and by all means, please don't hesitate to do so!
