Where The Sidewalk (Construction) Ends...

The city council had passed, on May 22, 2017, a decision that Royal Oak property owners either install or pay for the city to install sidewalks in some neighborhoods. The project would include removal of mature trees and reduction of front yards and driveway lengths for some homeowners.

“I received an estimated bill of $5000,” said Skinner, “and others received estimates up to $10,000.”

With 69 neighbors, Skinner went to court, and they were granted a temporary restraining order against the city of Royal Oak.

“We fought the city,” Skinner says, “and we feel we’ll prevail in court.”

Skinner says, “I’m happy to be running for mayor of Royal Oak. I wasn’t paying attention. I think a lot of us weren’t paying attention. And when I started looking at what they were doing with sidewalks, and tearing down trees, I said, ‘Really, it’s time for me to step up.’”

Some of Skinner’s goals and objectives include: conserving city finances and developing a two-year budget; stopping major no-bid contracts; preserving surface parking that supports the Farmers’ Market, library and downtown; reviewing current contracts, programs, ordinances and the Master Plan to increase benefits to taxpayers and all Royal Oak’s citizens; to increase participation in local government, especially including millennials and seniors.

And Skinner has wishes.

“My wishes and hopes are,” he said at a recent fundraiser, “that, once I become mayor, a lot of you stay involved; that we get good people here; that we have new voices; that we really participate. We’re the ones that control our government, and we want it to work for us. We want it to work for the neighborhoods.”