County Commissioner Tim Burns was pleased to be able to participate in the YOUTH VOICES AND ADVOCACY DAY on Friday, February 5. The event was hosted by the Alliance of Coalitions for Healthy Communities and provided an opportunity for Oakland County high school students to discuss issues of importance to them with local civic leaders.
Youth Voices & Advocacy Day encouraged teens to engage in positive discussions with peers, legislators, concerned adults and community leaders on a host of topics.More than 300 teens participated in the event. Local civic leaders that joined them in dialogue sessions included Commissioner Burns, Congressman Gary Peters, State Representative Marie Donigan, Troy Police Chief Gary Mayer, Judge Dennis Drury, Superintendent of Troy Schools Barbara Fowler, Troy School Board Trustee Ida Edmunds, Troy Community Coalition Executive Director Ann Comiskey, and Troy City Council Members Mary Kerwin, Robin Beltramini, Maureen McGinnis, and Dane Slater. The dialogue session was facilitated by Kent Roberts from the National Civility Center.
Picture 1: Congressman Gary Peters talking with Oakland County teens during Youth Voices & Advocacy Day.
Picture 2:Oakland County Commissioner Tim Burns partipating in a dialogue session with local teens.
Picture 3: The Troy Community Coalition was an active sponsor of the event with more than 100 participants from the City.
Youth Voices & Advocacy Day was held at Modern Skate & Surf’s facility in Royal Oak. The event also featured a keynote address by Miss Michigan Nicole Blaszczyk, dinner for particpants, skate park demonstrations, and an after-party featuring the bands Magic Firewater and The Jam Society.
Thank you to event sponsors: Modern Skate and Surf, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Jamboozies Bar and Grill of Sterling Heights, Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches, Kohl’s Department Store, Meijer, Outback Steakhouse, Qdoba Mexican Grill and Staples.
Alliance of Coalitions for Healthy Communities: Troy Community Coalition; Royal Oak Community Coalition; Tri-Community Coalition; Greater West Bloomfield Community Coalition; North Oakland Community Coalition; Alliance of Coalitions for Healthy Communities; Birmingham Bloomfield Community Coalition; and the Madison Heights Community Family Coalition.
County Commissioner Tim Burns is a past-President of the Troy Community Coalition and currently serves on its Board of Directors.
On January 12, 2010 a massive earthquake struck Haiti, causing catastrophic damage to the Caribbean island nation. Give, but give wisely to help the victims of this natural disaster. Beware of scams or charitable solicitations from nonprofits that may not utilize your donation appropriately or efficiently. Click here for a list of charities that are providing assistance in Haiti and meet the Better Business Bureau’s Standards for Charitable Accountability.
The following are some links to other resources to assist you with donating to the Haiti relief efforts:
County Commissioner Tim Burns chats with Don Jones from the Oakland Livingston Human Services Agency (OLHSA) in this new episode of Oakland Connection.
Local volunteers from the business community provide advice on how to make Oakland County a better place to live and work. The Oakland County Business Roundtable has four committees (Economic Development, Quality of Life, Transportation, Workforce and Education) which present their recommendations at an annual breakfast attended by civic and business leaders in December.
The following are a summary of the Oakland County Business Roundtable’s recommendations for 2010, which were presented on December 11, 2009 at the Troy Marriot. CLICK HERE to read the entire Oakland County Business Roundtable report.
Economic Development Committee
Oakland county should seek to partner with Macomb County in the Site Plan Assistance Review Collaborative (SPARC). The Macomb County Department of Planning and Economic Development has created the SPARC pilot program to assist communities in streamlining and simplifying their site plan approval processes to assist developers looking to build locally.
Quality of Life Committee
Develop an Ambassador Program for Oakland County to attract, orient and retain emerging technology companies.
Recognize and celebrate companies that demonstrate leadership in environmental sustainability in business through the creation of “The Green-based Economic Award.”
Establish a closer Oakland County link with the state’s “Pure Michigan” advertising campaign, giving Oakland County a more prominent presence on the Michigan.org web site and in state marketing materials.
Establish a 311 telephone service to better serve the general public regarding services offered by Oakland County.
Implement a “Community Quality of Life Award” to improve the lives of Oakland County Citizens.
Transportation Committee
The County should call upon state legislators to increase Michigan’s road funding and to support the efforts of Businesses for Better Transportation. Funding options include Private Investment Infrastructure Funding and Public-Private Partnership.
The Board of Commissioners, state officials, and federal officials should be asked to support the Troy/Birmingham Transit Center.
A Transportation Infrastructure Development One Stop Shop should be formed to provide direction and support to alternative energy stakeholders in the form of technology updates, education, funding sources, ordinance support and key contact information.
A transportation purchasing pool consisting of both county agencies and municipalities should be formed.
All permitting agencies and departments in the county should implement an automated online permit management system.
A regional transportation authority should be formed to explore the TranslinkeD logistics program developed by the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Recommended the County develop dislocated worker internships and partnerships with employers who have diversified their services or products.
Recommended the County encourage entrepreneurships and train individuals for jobs in health care and emergingtechnologies.
Recommended the County match employers’ training needs with educators who will develop training programs to address those needs.
The Skills Needs Assessment Checklist should be expanded to include health care, film and aerospace sectors.
Oakland County Commissioner Tim Burns speaks with OCBR Transportation Committee member Laurene Funk at the annual Oakland County Business Roundtable breakfast.
Reiterating once again his commitment to small businesses as the engine of our economy, the President urges Congress to move forward immediately in steps to help them expand and create jobs.
The President pledges to rein the deficit, citing three specific steps to this end. He praises the Senate for restoring the pay-as-you-go law, discusses his proposal for a freeze in discretionary spending, and calls for a bipartisan Fiscal Commission to hammer out further concrete deficit reduction proposals.
The President talks about his first year fighting against special interests and barring lobbyists from his Administration, as well as the fight to come in the wake of a recent Supreme Court decision.
As the President continues to work on immediate job creation, he discusses his proposal for a new fee on the largest financial institutions to ensure that every cent of taxpayer assistance gets paid back. Saying that, “we’re not going to let Wall Street take the money and run,” he goes on to discuss the ongoing push to make sure banks can never put our econo […]
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