When word got out that a consultant hired by the City of Farmington Hills had used the word “merger” in a report, you could almost smell blood in the water.
Cities merging? It looked like big news, even buried in a list of more than two dozen recommendations created with the intent of ensuring Farmington Hills’ success is sustainable for the future. It was the easy story and the most intriguing, because people’s reactions would likely be quick and passionate.
Fox 2 News reported the day after a Farmington Hills city council meeting that the city was studying a possible merger, as though the idea had appeared on its own. Caught on tape, one screaming woman appeared to be saying the merger would never happen. In fact, she’s dead-set against even the suggestion of allowing high rise buildings.
Local newspapers got the story right, reporting the full range of ideas and reactions from the report. Living here really does make a difference. –
Joni Hubred-Golden, Publisher
Farmington Enterprise
I would like to weigh in on the merger issue. I think it would be good to make a list of the things that we already share and the things we don’t. But I’m not sure what those are. The elephant in the room that no one seems to want to bring up is the loss of jobs a merger would create. I feel bad that some people would lose their jobs and the ones that wouldn’t would have responsibilites heaped on them to make up for it. I’m not in favor of merging the police depts or the libraries, but maybe some of the other depts.
Farmington has a lot to offer and the Hills also has a lot to offer. I think the Hills could help downtown Farmington with all their empty storefronts. If we could just get John Anhut’s rolodex out of the deal Farmington could rock!