Shelby TankersleyHometownlife.com
LIVONIA — Mayor Maureen Miller Brosnan and Councilwoman Kathleen McIntyre showcased their different platforms in a forum Sept. 28.
The event, hosted by the Livonia Chamber of Commerce, allowed both candidates to make their case to voters ahead of the Nov. 7 election. The chamber also hosted a forum for city council candidates.
Brosnan, 60, is the city's first female mayor and is seeking a second term. She previously served as a council member and president. Her most recent job before being elected mayor in 2019 was interim CEO of Catholic Charities of Southeast Michigan. Brosnan also chairs the board of Trinity Health - Livonia, formerly St. Mary Mercy Hospital.
McIntyre, 60, is ending her second term on city council, which has included a stint as president. McIntyre works as a marketing and communications consultant at Cole, Newton & Duran CPAs. She has also served on Livonia's planning commission and zoning board of appeals.
Livonia's mayor serves as the city's chief executive in a nonpartisan capacity. As mayor, Brosnan currently makes $137,300 annually. On council, McIntyre makes $18,144.
Den West, president of the Livonia Chamber of Commerce, moderated the event. He asked candidates prepared questions, as well as questions from audience members regarding diversity, development, the city's future and more.
Securing better electricity services from DTE
Like most metro Detroit communities, Livonia has faced significant electrictal outages after weather events, sometimes lasting days. West asked the candidates how they have worked with state officials and DTE to improve services.
McIntyre said said she's engaged state representatives on the issue.
"These power outages started long before this year," she said. "It is not council's job to go and engage DTE. I did, however, repeatedly ask the city council president and vice president if they would bring someone from DTE to city council to hear the concerns and explain to us what the issues were. I also talked to our state representatives."
Brosnan said she's attempted to build a relationship with DTE that she thinks could lead to improvements.
"While we remain tough and challenge them on a regular basis, we think the best way forward with DTE is to try to find a way where we're constantly being vigilant to track the work they do while presenting ways for them to improve the system," she said. "The CEO of the company calls me after just about every storm."
Encouraging redevelopment of long vacant properties
The candidates discussed their approaches to encouraging redevelopment of long-empty sites in the city. Some of the major empty properties in Livonia include the former Sears, at Seven Mile and Middlebelt roads, and the former Kmart at Seven Mile and Farmington roads. Developers have proposed a Meijer and some housing at the former Kmart site.
McIntyre said thinks the city could enforce its blight ordinances more effectively and look to its master plan.
"We have to listen to residents, but we've got to get to the heart of the blight issue," she said. "Once you have blight, it becomes much more challenging to get it redeveloped."
More: Livonia's candidates for mayor speak to local issues
More: Livonia adds five absentee ballot drop boxes to comply with new state law
More: Livonia voters can meet local candidates, trick or treat during unique event
Brosnan agreed, saying the city's Vision 21 master plan calling for mixed-use developments provides a roadmap.
"It's really the strongest tool that we have in our tool box, next to our ordinance enforcement," she said. "We're working constantly and diligently to get as many of those spots as we can filled."
Funding a needed update to city infastructure
Livonia's major city buildings, including city hall and the police department, need about $97 million in updates over the next decade, according to a report the city received earlier this year. Most of the major service buildings in Livonia are more than 35 years old.
An audience question asked how the candidates would fund what the person see as the largest needs.
McIntyre said she'd be hesitant to fund new construction now, citing bond and construction costs. She suggested putting more funds toward city parks.
"If you look around (city hall), you can see that it's not in great shape," she said. "However, we don't have the funding to replace city hall right now ... I think making investments into our parks is an incredibly important piece of making our infrastructure attractive to everyone."
Brosnan said her biggest priority would be to rehabilitate city hall, located at Five Mile and Farmington roads. She said securing a public-private partnership for the property would be her focus during a second term.
"It really does come down to the infrastructure here at city hall," she said. "We understand the size of this problem and we understand if we don't begin to get a plan in place and get our arms around it, we're going to just kick this down the road like it's been kicked down the road."
Get the latest headlines for metro Detroit every morning in your mailbox by signing up forour daily briefings newsletter.
Contact reporterShelby Tankersley at stankersle@hometownlife.com or 734-311-0659.
