Item 11.1 on the Supervisor portion of March 27, 2019 Pittsfield Township Trustee meeting agenda read: “Approve the design and purchase of a Gateway Sign from Signs By Crannie, Dexter Block, and Teal Bird Designs, LLC, respectively, for a total cost not to exceed $27,000.00.” [1]
On the surface, the word “sign” seems simple enough — especially when it comes to supporting motorists’ interest in navigating travel from here to there. More particularly, they serve a very important purpose in distinguishing jurisdictions for all matters of laws and enforcement. [2-4]
But it’s not at all that pedestrian.
A major emphasis at the Pure Michigan Governor’s Conference on Tourism this year was on the need for assertive municipal branding. Identify (unique) advantages of your destination and strongly, consistently communicate them to the widest relevant audiences practical. [5]
During a session on tourism campaigns moderated by Chad Wiebesick of Desination Ann Arbor, two clear arguments were proffered. The first was that attraction, be that visitors coming in for discrete events or more permanent corporate builds, are only so elastic beyond an effectively fixed pie; and bringing them in today is always better than tomorrow. [6]
Second, the competitive environment is increasingly such that the risk of doing nothing today, even if that’s what always been done, fails to recognize that alternative options are more and more aggressively pitching themselves now. [7]
Just as Detroit and Saline are both Michigan cities but otherwise vastly different in terms of challenges, structure, and economic scale, so, too, would it be grossly incorrect to cast Pittsfield Township as =any= Michigan Township. [8-10]
Within Washtenaw County, how many people in the main know that Pittsfield Township is second only to the City of Ann Arbor in total State Equalized Value? [11]
During a one-on-one meeting with =Saline Journal earlier this year, Dr Mandy Grewal, Pittsfield Township Supervisor, described this as part of her concern about a larger “story not told.” In the months following start of his new tenure as Saline Area Chamber of Commerce exeutive director, John Tripolsky was seen in the audience of Pittsfield Township Trustee meetings. Pittsfield and Supervisor Grewal subsequently featured significantly in his “Chamber 2.0” presentation. [12-15]
Local media are starting to run highlights Pittsfield Township Trustee Meetings now, too.
Ironically, stand alone moment-by-moment reporting does more to underscore Dr Grewel’s conerns than anything else. Given the opportunity for a more thoughtful discussion with Saline Journal, she developed increasing layers of substance by talking about having established and underscoring the necessity of close relationships with SEMCOG. She talked about her service on the executive committee of Ann Arbor SPARK. [16-17]
We must continue performing our government functions day to day within an increasingly constrained fiscal space. Actually, we must do more. In many ways it is the essence of democracy to finance what we do through local millages — where accountability is closest to the people who pay and receive. That can also be difficult; the cases to be made are personal and the choices can be touched.
All of this was considered in developing our first Master Plan which was put out in 2010. Diversifying grey spaces. Public transportation. Retrofitting metro landscapes. As we face changing demographics, how can we provide a place where people can live without driving? What is our vision and what are the goals for residents in balance with commercial? recreation? work?
This is not static. In 2015, we took a structured look at it, almost like a ‘report card.’ How far have we come? Where do we want to go now?
Going to 2020, our people saw sustainability as front-and-center. It is hard-wired into our DNA. Having this will drive our decisions about green spaces. It will help ensure consistent decisions about commercial industry that is here or growing here or coming here new. Yes, it will instruct our collaboration with the new [Saline] hotel independent of jurisdictional boundaries in support of the larger whole. [18,19]
This appears to support the substance that would be required for the sort of pro-active branding advocated last month by Pure Michigan for all of its geographically distinct constituents.
When it came time for Trustees to vote on Item 11.1 on there March 27 agenda, however, other, equally important values came to the fore: Respect and tolerance.
As contrasted to Saline City Council meeting three-minute opportunities for Public Comment, Pittsfield Township offers five. Also different: They respond, directly and in real-time, from the dais. And after hearing from one local resident who questioned the expenditure of $27,000 “for a sign,” asserting that “so many other priorities have been cut,” a sufficient number of trustees appear to have been persuaded against approving this proposal.
Supervisor Mandy Grewal was absent from this meeting, so it is impossible to say how that she would have addressed disparity between voiced public objection and this agenda item that she herself obviously thought necessary at this time and consistent with strategic needs of the township.
References
- “Board of Trustees Agendas & Minutes” (March 27, 2019) Pittsfield Charter Township Michigan.
- “United States Road Symbol Signs” Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), US Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration.
- “Standard Highway Signs: Traffic Sign Codes for Law Enforcement and Maintenance” (February 2010) Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT).
- “Traffic Sign Design, Placement, and Application Guidelines” Traffic and Safety Design Division (March 2017) MDOT.
- Pure Michigan Governor’s Conference on Tourism (home page).
- Destination Ann Arbor (home page).
- “The first Saline Council Meeting of 2019 told a tale of two cities (and quite likely a good number more than that” Dell Deaton (January 8, 2019) Saline Journal.
- Saline (home page).
- City of Detroit (home page).
- Pittsfield Charter Township Michigan (home page).
- “Chapter 6: Successful Economy” Pittsfield Township (June 2011) 2020 Sustainable Vision.
- Saline Area Chamber of Commerce (home page).
- “Day 2 On The Job, And Our New Saline Area Chamber of Commerce Director Has Little Desire To Sit In The Big Chair” Dell Deaton (December 11, 2018) Saline Journal.
- “Board of Trustees” Pittsfield Charter Township Michigan.
- “Formal Saline Area Chamber of Commerce new ‘Chamber 2.0’ launch put an indelible emphasis on its ‘Area’ mission” Dell Deaton (February 22, 2019) Saline Journal.
- SEMCOG (Southeast Michigan Council of Governments) (home page).
- Ann Arbor SPARK (home page).
- “2020 Sustainable Vision” Pittsfield Charter Township Michigan.
- “Progress Report On Saline Hotel: Negotiations Are Now Taking Place To Book Rooms In Anticipation Of 2019 Opening” Dell Deaton (November 14, 2018) Saline Journal.
- Pure Michigan (home page).
