Southfield Mayor Welcomes New Business
SOUTHFIELD (WWJ) - As Michigan cities wait to learn what budget cuts will mean for funding of state services and revenue sharing, local government leaders like Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence are busy looking for ways to keep the city's bottom line strong in other ways.
During a ribbon-cutting ceremony to welcome the newly arrived "The Culinary Studio," a shared kitchen, Mayor Lawrence told WWJ Newsradio 950 she isn't counting on state funds like revenue sharing while planning the city's budget.
Lawrence said she fully expects there will be further revenue sharing cuts.
The mayor said Southfield voters will be asked, in May, to approve a millage that would generate operating funds for Public Safety, roads, Parks and Recreation and the library.
"We're going to the voters with a direct message, that we are challenged in our public safety. We have four-minute response times in Southfield. We want to maintain that," Lawrence said.
"People live in this city because they know that if you call EMS, if you call fire or police, they're going to be there in four minutes, and that's what we expect," she said.
Lawrence says that if the millage does not pass there will be cuts "across the board."
