CITY OF THE VILLAGE OF CLARKSTON

VOTER GUIDE – NOVEMBER GENERAL ELECTION
CITY OF THE VILLAGE OF CLARKSTON
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
POLLS ARE OPEN 7:00 A.M. – 8:00 P.M.
LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OAKLAND AREA
Website: www.lwvoa.org
E-mail: contact@lwvoa.org
Phone: 248-594-6602
1 Candidate for MAYOR for ONE 2-year term
JOE LUGINSKI 71 N. Main St., Clarkston, MI 48346
(Candidates running unopposed were not sent questionnaires.)
4 Candidates for CITY COUNCIL for THREE 2-year terms
CANDIDATES for
CITY COUNCIL
THREE 2-year terms
Vote for no more than THREE
RICHARD BISIO
37 Church St.
Clarkston, MI 48346
Question 1 (150 Words or less):
Provide biographical information and
explain why you are running for City Council
and relevant qualities and skills you would
bring to the position.
Question 2 (150 Words or less):
What are the top 3 Priority Issues facing your
city and what actions would you, as a city
official, take regarding each of them?
I am a 12-year resident of Clarkston. I
served on the city council for a two-year
term in 2010-2012 and was appointed to fill
a vacancy in 2013. I have served on the
finance and ordinance committees. I am
running for council to continue to advocate
for better city government, including better
budgeting, transparency of city government,
and consolidation of services. Recently, I
proposed a tax rate reduction for the current
budget year.
1. Rigorous budgeting: The city should
have a three-year budget and a realistic
long-rage capital improvement program.
The operating millage should be reduced
when long-range planning shows that is
advisable.
I have been an attorney for 35 years,
handling commercial disputes. I am a
published author on legal matters and have
served on numerous court-appointed and bar
association committees. With this
background, I bring to the work of the
council an attention to detail, a concern with
proper process, and an ability to promote
ideas.
Copyright League of Women Voters Oakland Area 2014
Page 1 of 2
2. Shared services: I think there are
opportunities to share services with the
township, another municipality, or a third
party vendor that could save the city
money, such as utility billing and
payment processing, tax payment
processing, property assessing, and
perhaps other functions that the city pays
staff to do.
3. Law enforcement: I would like to revisit
whether the city can enhance law
enforcement services. Increased
vandalism in the park is a concern and
others have expressed concern about the
coverage the city gets from the sheriff's
department. Although dedicated
enforcement for the city would cost
something and should be put to the
voters, this is an issue that deserves to be
looked at.
Published by the League of Women Voters Education Fund
CITY OF THE VILLAGE OF CLARKSTON (Continued)
CANDIDATES for
CITY COUNCIL
THREE 2-year terms
Vote for no more than THREE
Question 1 (150 Words or less):
Provide biographical information and
explain why you are running for City Council
and relevant qualities and skills you would
bring to the position.
SHARRON
CATALLO
Question 2 (150 Words or less):
What are the top 3 Priority Issues facing your
city and what actions would you, as a city
official, take regarding each of them?
DID NOT RESPOND IN TIME FOR INCLUSION
29 Buffalo St., Clarkston,
MI 48346
PEGGY J. ROTH
DID NOT RESPOND IN TIME FOR INCLUSION
25 Madison Ct.
Clarkston, MI 48346
MICHAEL G.
SABOL
20 Buffalo St.
Clarkston, MI 48346
My family and I are nine year residents of
the City. Along with an Engineering degree,
I have an MBA, and law degree. I have been
on the Council for two and a half years. I
have worked for GM for 38 years with a
variety of experiences in managing people
and multi-million dollar programs. This has
provided me with many skills which I
believe to be critical to a Council position
and include issue identification, problem
solving and strategies to resolve issues.
I love the City and the people. There are
great people and I want to continue to be
their voice in local government. The City is
a naturally beautiful place that I want to see
grow and yet maintain the historic beauty of
the streets, buildings and homes. My
passion, education and work experiences
can provide the most benefit to the residents
of the City.
The biggest issue facing the City is how to
handle the excess in budget reserves that we
have. We should return some of this to the
taxpayers but we must do it in a manner that
is thoroughly planned. We need a rainy day
fund and to make sure that the requirements
of an aging infrastructure are met.
Second, we need to work to enforce the
laws that we have. One of the keys to being
a government is the rule of law and
enforcing those laws. I plan to continue to
be a voice of enforcing our ordinances or
having reasonable discussion on eliminating
those laws.
Finally. the City continues to face an
identity crisis. I will push to have a fully
operational Community Committee that will
work with the Chamber of Commerce,
Independence Township and other
surrounding communities to define the role
and purpose in the overall community.
The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan national organization whose purpose is to promote political responsibility through
informed and active participation of citizens in government. The League never supports or opposes any candidate or political
party. Candidate responses are included as submitted and have not been edited except in cases where the replies have exceeded
the stated word limitations.
Spelling and Grammar were not corrected.
The inclusion of candidates’ statements and
opinions is solely in the interest of public service and in no way is to be construed as an endorsement by the League of Women
Voters which takes no responsibility for any views or facts stated by the candidates.
Copyright League of Women Voters Oakland Area 2014
Page 2 of 2
Published by the League of Women Voters Education Fund