GPWoods Truth: Absentee applications in the mail

Grosse Pointe Woods absentee voters should keep a close eye on their mail over the next few days.

More than 2,000 ballot applications already have been sent to residents who have voted absentee in the recent past. But this time they require a careful screening, because voters must ask to be put on the absentee list for both major upcoming elections - August 7 and November 6.

I got my application on Friday (June 15) and sent it right in.

The first is the Aug. 7 primary, where two sitting Democrat U. S. Congress members, Gary Peters of Troy and Hansen Clarke of Detroit, will be battling it out with a long list of challengers to represent the newly redrawn 14th Congressional District that includes the Woods.

Also in August, Woods residents will be required to select candidates to vie for a new State Representative to replace Tim Bledsoe. As it has in the new 14th U. S. Congressional district, the State House's 1st District for the first time in recent history has been split in two.

Two-term Democrat Bledsoe of the Park has been bounced out of our 1st District and placed in the Detroit-dominated newly redrawn 2nd District, where he has no less than four Detroit Democrats to beat. Republican Grosse Pointe Park Councilman Dan Grano is unopposed. The Farms also is in that group.

The new State HR District 1 now is comprised of Grosse Pointe Woods, Grosse Pointe Shores and Harper Woods. Rookie Dan Schulte of the Shores is the lone GOP candidate in D-1. Of the five Democrat candidates, the most recognizable - and recognizable is about all he is - is former Wayne County commissioner Christopher Cavanagh, of Harper Woods, youngest son of one-tine Detroit Mayor Jerry Cavanagh.

Confused? Hey, everybody is. Apply for an absentee ballot. At least that way you'll have a couple of weeks to figure out who's on first. And I'll get back to you later with my list of suggestions.

For Woods' absentee voters, the really BIG election is Nov. 6. And I'm not  talking about Mitt Romney versus incumbent Democrat What's-his name.

There are much more important local ballot measures to be decided, both affecting Woods' homeowners to the tune of thousands of dollars every year. The most defeat-worthy is a $1.2 million a year Headlee Override "Millage Proposal" which, if approved, will provide the Woods' mayor and council with a windfall for 10 years - and probably more - that they can waste any way they choose.

You can tell how important passing this tax-gouge Override is to Mayor Robert Novitke and his six spendthrift council cronies. They won't even allow the words "Headlee Override" to be mentioned in the Override ballot proposal's language.

They honestly think voters are dumb enough to give them a blank check.

Grosse Pointe Woods at last count had more than 13,000 registered voters. Nearly 5,000 of them voted in the February Grosse Pointe Library Millage election. And nearly half of them were absentee voters.

Check your mailbox. You may have a limited income, but you have a powerful voice.

Register for an absentee ballot and make sure you check the boxes that specify that you want an absentee ballot for Aug. 7 AND Nov. 6. If you don't receive an application, call the Woods' City Clerk Lisa Hathaway at 313-343-2447 and ask for an absentee ballot application. She has to send you one.

For up to date "No Headlee Override" ballot information go to our website at http://grossepointewoodstruth.com. Or contact me at pwaldmeir@aol.com.