Novi City Council candidates talk about motivations and stances on issues ahead of November elections

 

NOVI, Mich.- For any election season, being able to identify the key reasons that are behind the candidate’s motivation for running is important for voters to make their best-informed decisions. This upcoming election shouldn’t be any different, as on Tuesday, Nov. 5, residents will head to the polls to decide which three out of six candidates will fill out four year terms and what one of three candidates will hold a two year term. “I just generally always had an interest in public service and the study of public policy has always been interesting to me,” said Councilwoman Laura Casey, who will be at the end of her second term on the council in November. “I was on the library board when the new library was built, and having that feeling of being able to contribute and bringing better things into Novi makes me feel good.”

“Ultimately it’s trying to make Novi a better place to live for everybody,” said Mayor Pro-Tem Dave Staudt, who has served on the council since 2007.

Roads and community center main topic points at rare study session in Novi

NOVI, Mich.- The Novi City Council convened for a special meeting on July 17, to focus on studying plans for both road construction and for the potential building of a community center in Novi. “We were able to create a committee,” Mayor Pro-Tem Dave Staudt said. “My goals going in were getting work done on neighborhood roads, getting work on roads that have economic payback and mitigating traffic, and I don’t know if council share my goals but we were able to create a committee to study it.”

“I think it was an accomplishment,” said Councilwoman Doreen Poupard. “It could’ve just been a regular study session but we came out of it with legitimate plans and direction for improvements we want to make going forward.” A primary question going in to the meeting was whether there was going to be enough time to be able to approve a bond to fund the road construction and put it on the ballot for the upcoming November elections, a question that was answered early on.

Council Members come to agreement on road study session

NOVI, Mich- The Novi City Council met on June 17, and among other topics, approved a motion set forth by Councilwoman Laura Casey for an official road project study session that will take place on July 17. “We have been talking for quite some time about how bad the traffic is on our major roads and intersections,” said Casey. “We had done a big study on the Novi Road corridor, and we know we have tough traffic, and the study was eye opening with showing how the easements could be widened and how Grand River and Meadowbrook were impacted by the effects of this.” “There have been similar easement issues with Beck Road as well, so it’s really a combination of all of these factors that brought this session together,” said Casey. While sessions like this aren’t common, according to Casey, support for the meeting was not short to be had, on the condition that what comes out of the meeting is a real plan of things to get done.