Right combo for City Council includes Moeller and Relken

Here you are - a major stakeholder. Your family's future is invested in this $53 million-a-year corporation with $266 million in assets. On Nov. 6, you will have to pick a new board of directors.

If the city of Port Huron were your personal company, who, if any, of these candidates, would you pick to run it?

Port Huron has had a troubling two years on this City Council's watch. There was the mayor's back-door dealings and the council's deception that cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars with the clumsy forced resignation of City Manager Tom Hukta. 

The council pushed through the first income-tax increase by any City Council in Port Huron's 150-year history. It also approved massive water- and sewer-rate increases, illegal under the state's Headlee Amendment, but needed because the council failed to heed Hukta's earlier warnings about financing sewer separation.
Now, the lives of Port Huron's senior citizens are at risk. Many must choose between paying their water bills or buying medicine.

Most damaging of all was the council's complete neglect of the Blue Water Bridge Plaza Project until it was just too late!

You have to admit one thing, though: The council certainly was up to the job of pulling off the city's 150th birthday party.

So, 12 candidates - six incumbents and six challengers - want your vote. Which combination could put Humpty Dumpty back together again, as we deal with complex issues and lay plans for Port Huron's future?

How about a good mix - maybe something old and something new?

Four individuals undoubtedly would provide strong, independent leadership and vision in a new council: Brian Moeller, James Relken, Mark Byrne and Al Lewandowski. The dream team would be Moeller and Relkenas mayor and mayor -pro-tem, respectively.Both arenatural leaders. They're bright, they know their way around City Hall, and, without a doubt, they will listen to you. Plus, this dynamic combination would provide a certain entertainment value as a bonus.

Throw in current council members Jim Fisherand B. Mark Neal. With their experience, love of the city and community connections, you have a team that could make things happen again.

If you're looking to make a statement, however, there is a real leader who studies and understands the issues, as no one else. It is regrettable Trina Avedisian didn't file before the candidate deadline passed, but she is a great choice as a seventh member of the council. She would be worth the effort of voting for her as a write-in candidate.

There is an official process. First, you must stop by the City Clerk's office and fill out a "Declaration of Intent" form to run as a write-in candidate. For this election, the deadline is 4 p.m. Oct. 26.

At the polls, voters would have to fill in the arrow on the ballot, and on the blank line next to the arrow, write in Trina's name.

It's a tough proposition, and no one in Port Huron has ever pulled it off. Trina, however, makes it worth a try.

My political punditry aside, you know the only opinion that matters is yours on Election Day. It's your company. It's your board of directors. Haven't we learned over and over again it really does matter who's sitting in those seven seats?