Hey Neighbor!
It’s been great to see so many of you outside enjoying the Michigan spring recently. Anyone else tempted to start planting before the frost date when the sun looks so enticing?
This will be a brief intro, because we have two major things to talk about in the body of this newsletter: the community garden and how construction permits work in the city.
But before I get to the meat of the work, I’ve got one bee that persists in my bonnet. Most of you know that between 2020-2022, I worked at the Michigan Organization on Adolescent Sexual Health. I have long been an advocate against sexual and gender-based violence, which is how I found my way to MOASH. I am incredibly grateful for everything I learned there, mostly from honest conversations with young people who directly feel the impact of policies created by people who haven’t lived as a teenager in decades.
There has been a lot of “culture war” nonsense about the topic in the news lately, including a recent editorial piece in the Detroit News claiming that expanding Title IX is a “true threat to democracy.” The author attempts to make arguments about how pronoun use will…ruin our country? Forgive me, but I firmly believe America is stronger than that. What the author fails to address is how often Title IX proceedings at colleges have failed survivors of abuse and assault, and the damage it does to young people–especially the young women she claims to defend–to face disbelief, character assassination, and the numerous other ill outcomes of reporting violence that never should have been perpetrated. About 1% of the nation’s population identifies as trans*, while about 20% of women (and 6% of men!) will experience sexual assault during their time on college campuses. So next time the media tries spinning us all up about something, let’s take a moment to assess the actual size of the “threat” we’re talking about…and whether the piece might be more about generating clicks than producing sound policy.
As always, in love and solidarity,
Kelly
Community Calendar
See event sponsors for details and pricing. Don’t forget about weekly progressive raffles at VFW 1136 and American Legion Post 217!
May 4-5
Local Artists Guild Art Show, Wyandotte Museum
Saturday, May 4
Downtown Cinco de Mayo celebration
Sunday, May 5
Cinco de Mayo, FOP, 12-6pm
Downtown W Lofts grand opening celebration, Oak St. between 1st and 2nd
Wyandotte Museum Pie and Ice Cream Social
Monday, May 6
Council Meeting, 3200 Biddle 3rd Floor, 7pm, see city website for Zoom details
Saturday, May 11
Roosevelt mural restoration unveiling, RHS, 5:30pm
RoVaSi 50th anniversary celebration, RHS auditorium, immediately following mural unveiling
Sunday, May 12
Mother’s Day Breakfast, PRCU, 8:30-12 or sold out, see Facebook for pricing
May 17-19
Citywide Garage Sale, maps available at Wyandotte Museum
Saturday, May 18
Downtown Spring Dig-In, 9am-12pm
Sunday, May 19
Food Truck Rally, PRCU, 12-4pm
Monday, May 20
Council Meeting, 3200 Biddle 3rd Floor, 7pm, see city website for Zoom details
Saturday, June 1
WPS Scholarship Golf Outing, Contact Rebecca Bearden for details
Skip Clack Fishing Derby, 10am, Bishop Park Fishing Pier
Monday, June 3
Council Meeting, 3200 Biddle 3rd Floor, 7pm, see city website for Zoom details
Friday, June 14
Lions Club Golf Outing, contact Theresa Jamula for details
Monday, June 17
Council Meeting, 3200 Biddle 3rd Floor, 7pm, see city website for Zoom details
The Dirt on the Garden
With gardening on so many people’s minds, I wanted to take a moment to talk about my vote on the community garden. If you watched the most recent council meeting, you know that my colleagues and I did decide to lease the garden to the church, subject to a number of rules and regulations available on page 95 of the linked agenda packet.
This was not a decision we made lightly. At the previous meeting (April 8, video linked here), when the lease proposal was first brought forward, council unanimously voted to hold the matter in abeyance until we were able to gather more information on how the space would be used and whether the public would still have access. The reason for holding the matter for another two weeks was simple: there are many legitimate questions about leasing public space to a religious institution, even if their aims are good (utilize undeveloped space in the city, feed the hungry). My personal questions involved who would be able to utilize the beds (I am devoted to public spaces staying public), whether the named soup kitchen beneficiaries were prepared to accept the donations under the new structure, and how the organization planned to staff the garden given the considerable amount of work it takes–after all, if it was easy, it is unlikely the Beautification Commission would have voted to cease its operation!
Knowing I would not vote yes on this without significant guardrails for ongoing protection of public space, I was grateful to my colleagues for their willingness to hold off on a vote until we had our questions answered. I continue to be deeply grateful to them, the volunteers of Wyandotte Family Church, and our city administrator for working to develop the program guidelines that ultimately became part of the lease agreement voted on during Monday’s meeting. I also want to thank the members of the public who came and spoke, both in support and opposition. It is only through public discussion that we can come to fruitful decisions.
I voted yes on the proposal for three reasons:
I believe the program guidelines attached to the lease are sufficient to ensure ongoing public access at the garden, satisfying my core concern. I feel deeply for last year’s gardeners who may lose their personal beds, but I am grateful for the program requirement to publish public volunteer opportunities and am hopeful last year’s gardeners will return to work with each other in the spirit of the garden being a community effort.
While I would have preferred this to be done more akin to a park sponsorship or program management agreement than a lease, the lease framing both adds the church’s insurance should something go wrong during the course of gardening and prevents us from running into something called the “Wyandotte Family Church Community Garden,” which to me would be a much more direct endorsement of religion than having them serve as program administrators.
This is a one-year lease. I am all about making steady, long-term decisions when we can. But time is marching on, and we are very rapidly coming upon planting season. Quite simply, we do not have the time to run this decision back to the drawing board, however differently we might have wished things had transpired earlier this year.
As always, if you have questions about this or any vote I have taken, I encourage you to send me an email or join me at my next walking hour!
Pulling Permits
Another common concern we have been addressing at meetings lately involves construction on private property and its relevant permitting. I will be the first to admit that our website is a little messy here–if you look up “Permits,” it will take you to the Engineering page, which will immediately prompt you to go to the Front Desk page, where you will have to select “Engineering” to get to the permits…
BUT, once you get to the permit application itself, you will be given the option to select “Homeowner” or “Contractor.” What you select at this point is critical, and I want to take a moment to break down the differences between the two.
When you hire a contractor to do repairs, they are responsible for the permitting and the ultimate outcome of the work. In other words, if they build a structure that does not conform to code, the liability is on them to make the correction–and they are the ones who can be held responsible by the city for improper outcomes.
Wyandotte requires contractor permits to be pulled by contractors who are licensed through the State of Michigan. This is an additional protection that the person you hire meets the relevant insurance and credentialing standards of the state. Unlicensed contractors are not eligible to pull permits in Wyandotte, so if your new project team is offering to do the paperwork, they are probably legitimate–but you can (and should) verify contractor licensure at this state of Michigan website. I tested it out with a few reputable local names, and they showed up!
The alternative to a licensed contractor pulling your permit is to apply for a homeowner’s permit.
When pulling a homeowner’s permit, you are assuming two things: 1) responsibility for all work outcomes, and 2) self-completion of the work (friends and family can assist, but you are attesting that no one is being paid). You will be required to fill out a homeowner affidavit in addition to your permit application that attests that you are a current or soon-to-be resident of the property you are completing construction on. It is not legal to pull a homeowner’s permit on behalf of another person, but many unlicensed contractors will ask you to do so, citing things like cost savings and time to completion.
Don’t fall for it. On top of assuming the liability yourself for any nonconforming outcomes, it’s safe to assume that an unlicensed contractor does not have the needed insurance should there be a workplace injury. Now I won’t ignore the reality that many people simply do not pull permits for work that should have it, sometimes because they don’t realize it’s required. But taking the time to make sure your construction plans are up to code at the beginning can end up saving you a lot of heartache and several thousand dollars at the finish line.
TL;DR In the world of Facebook recommendations and other word-of-mouth referrals, it is critical to ensure that any contractor you hire is licensed in the state of Michigan. Anyone you hire who asks you to pull a permit on their behalf is not in compliance with the law, and completing construction without a permit is flirting with disaster. Be smart! Your home deserves caring professionals.
That’s all for this month, folks. Enjoy the sun, get out and dig up some dirt, be good to yourselves and each other.