Birmingham Commissioner Accused Of Using Anti-Semitic Rhetoric

BIRMINGHAM, MI — A Jewish Rights group sent Birmingham city officials a complaint about one of its members using anti-Semitic rhetoric in an email.

The Michigan director of the Anti-Defamation League, Carolyn Normandin, accused Birmingham Commissioner Clinton Baller of using "antisemitic tropes" in a political email he sent.

The group also called for Baller to issue a public apology and asked the Birmingham commission to investigate and take appropriate action.

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Birmingham City Manager Tom Markus told the Detroit Press Press that he'd refer the complaint to the city’s Board of Ethics, in which they will decide whether the complaint justifies holding a hearing and issuing an advisory opinion to the City Commission.

Baller said he will not apologize or retract his statements because his email was not anti-Semitic, but rather political.

"The ADL letter is born out of a politically motivated desire to continue the pre-election deceptions, misinformation and fear-mongering of a political faction clawing for traction and relevance," Baller said. "The ADL has a legitimate role in rooting out anti-Semitism, but this isn’t that."

According to a copy obtained by Patch, Baller's pre-election email was used to blast candidates running for city commissioner he opposed. He attacked a political action committee that supported one of the candidates and its founder, fellow commissioner Brad Host, as "directing the campaign of lies" and referred to him as a "willing marionette."

He also referenced the PAC as a "cabal that has done virtually nothing to improve the lot of Birmingham residents," while also suggesting donors to the campaign were "buying the ponies."

"My office received a number of reports regarding the letter," Normandin said. "I must say I find the language used in Mr. Baller's message troubling, and unbecoming a City Commissioner."

Normandin also said that anti-Semitic incidents have increased 240 percent in the past five years, in part "through divisive and dog-whistled language designed to promulgate hatred."

Although Baller wasn't defending his seat in November's general elections, he made it clear about who he wanted to see defeated. One of the candidates he opposed, Andrew Haig, was elected to the City Commission. The other, David Bloom, was not.

Baller also recounted his family's Jewish history. He said his father was a non-practicing Jew and his mother was a non-practicing Catholic. However, he said learned later in life that his mother was Jewish and she hid it due to anti-Semitism in New Jersey. He also said his first wife, son and stepson are Jewish.