Consultants May Have a Hard Time Landing Jobs in Ferndale Government

Saving money was on the minds of members of the Saturday as they held a candidate forum to discuss issues in the city.

The use of consultants repeatedly came up during the hour-long session, and one city councilman's stance on the subject seemed to be music to the ears of this group that advocates fiscal responsibility and accountability in Ferndale government.

Current City Councilman Mike Lennon said he knew that a "parking consultant" the city hired some years back was going to tell him what he already knew: that the city needs more parking. 

"And guess what? That's exactly what this consultant told us," Lennon said, half jokingly. "We paid him $7,500, and I could have told them that for a grand."

"Amen," one woman said from the thin crowd of about 15 residents during the forum at 701 Woodward Heights.

"The days of hiring consultants and putting up totem poles at Cambourne and Woodward are gone," Lennon continued. "As far as I'm concerned, no more consultants."

It was a sentiment shared by all candidates at the forum, who are either running for the first time or are up for re-election on Tuesday and consider the economic health of Ferndale to be the top priority.

Council candidates include incumbent ,  and .

For mayor, current mayor  is running. He's being challenged by newcomer , but Mr. Willis did not make an appearance at the forum.

Other issues the watchdog group brought up were the capabilities of the and whether government should shed more light on the bidding process to win city contracts.

"She's a very young person," Sean House told the panel as he was describing Ferndale City Manager April McGrath. "Do you think that could be a detriment to the touchier issues we come across in Ferndale?"

Everyone on the panel praised McGrath, who is 37.

"The age question came up" during discussions of McGrath before the city hired her, Mayor Coulter said. "And we found out she can stand up to folks."

"She's got a spine of steel," Wells added.

Also of concern for the group was the bidding process to win city contracts, and toward the end, there was a consensus that citizens should perhaps be allowed to look at all the bids for city work once a deal is closed.

"We can do a better job of making the process a little more transparent," Coulter said.

Another citizen questioned the logic of the buy-local ordinance, which allows the city government to award contracts to Ferndale businesses if the bids are within two percent of other competitors.

"We should support local companies when the bids are that close," Coulter said, adding that obviously bids won't be considered when they're "not competitive."