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Politics & Government

A Royal Oak Original: A Conversation with Mayor Jim Ellison (Part 1)

Gerry Boylan and Shannon Crepeau sit down with the mayor to have a conversation about the city the leader affectionately calls 'the jewel of southeastern Michigan.'

In this first of a two part series, columnists Gerry Boylan and Shannon Crepeau talk to Royal Oak Mayor Jim Ellison about life as a city official, downsizing government and whether it makes sense to ask voters for another millage.

A conversation with Jim Ellison is like sitting down with an old friend. He’s comfortable in his own skin and while strongly opinionated, he can laugh at himself. He knows that if you are a local government leader long enough you’ll eventually find an issue to disagree and agree on with just about everyone. Jim is fine with that and understands that passion goes with the territory. He believes debate does not have to be uncivil and best we can tell, in Jim’s decades of service in local government, he only flew off the handle once.

Notice that we have hard time using the term “mayor” with Jim. While Jim is a strong leader and has a mayoral disposition, he doesn’t wear it on his sleeve. He is approachable and reachable. You are likely to find him and lovely wife Jodie on the streets of Royal Oak or in a local restaurant. Our take on Mayor Ellison is this: He’s a thoughtful, hardworking leader, who loves this city and the people in it. He’s a great ambassador for Royal Oak.

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The mayor just celebrated his 60th birthday and is a lifelong resident of Royal Oak.  He attended , Barton Jr. High and Kimball High School. He reminded us (and gave us a great idea for a future column) that all of the original Royal Oak junior high schools were named after inspirational women – Helen Keller, Clara Barton, Jane Addams and Mary Lyon.

Five of Jim's eight kids, from a family combined with Jodie, still live in the area. He says he is able to spend plenty of time with his six grandchildren. 

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He was inspired by politics at an early age. Two city officials lived on his street — City Commissioner John Austin and Judge John Osgood. As a youngster, Jim thought, “Wouldn’t it be cool to be decision maker in the city, like these distinguished guys?”

Before winning a City Commission seat in 1991, he was a member of the Jaycees and involved in a variety of committees. He “retired” from elected office in 1995 as his term ended, but stayed involved with the Woodward Dream Cruise, Planning and Traffic committees and then successfully ran for mayor in 2003.

Those are the facts. Here’s what we learned from our widespread conversation with the mayor. 

We asked Jim for his worst and best memories during his mayoral tenure:

I’ve had a lot of great memories surrounding the city, but some of the most heartwarming have been officiating at weddings.  I love performing weddings, usually for young residents of Royal Oak. All the hopes and dreams begin on that day and I do my best to make it a special occasion. 

One poignant wedding happened in front of the Star Dream fountain. The couple came alone except for one friend. But two witnesses are needed to make the marriage official. I noticed a parking enforcement officer in the city lot and motioned him over from his appointed task — giving parking tickets — to be the second witness for the short ceremony. I think that was a first in wedding witnesses and I don’t think the officer gets many hugs in his daily work.

The toughest memories involve the downsizing of our local government over the years. While it was necessary, it did not change the fact that the reduction in costs has a personal impact on those impacted. I particularly remember a younger police officer who lost his job. I knew the officer and his family and knew the challenges they would face. That’s when a budget becomes more than just bunch of numbers.

You mentioned the downsizing of our local government. Are you satisfied with the progress?

In 2005, when the residents of the city defeated a millage request, the message was the city needed to cut costs and become more efficient before approving a millage.

We responded by restructuring, streamlining and making our local government more efficient. While the work is not complete, we operate every department in the city with fewer people. We’ve combined operations, and many employees have made important concessions on wages and benefits.

We need to continue our efforts, but I think we have answered the call very effectively due to a lot of smart and hard work by our city employees and department heads.

Does it make sense to ask for another millage increase? If yes, when?

The short answer is yes, although the timing and amount still needs to be determined. Asking for a millage is always a very challenging request of residents. 

I know we all would agree that the economic challenges facing households holds true for the city. I think residents understand that. I think we are close to making a compelling case that city government has been restructured and shared sacrifice has been made. I’ll be working with residents and the city commission to discuss what is the best course of action to take.

That’s it for today. We’ll be back Tuesday with part two of the conversation, which covers Mayor Ellison’s views on downtown, special events, our neighborhoods, roads, attracting new businesses and what keeps him motivated and upbeat about our city.

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