Community Foundation President Outlines Campaign for City Council

Oakland County Commissioner Craig Covey asked those in the audience to repeat after him.

"I'm a fan of Dan," he said. And the crowd repeated.

"Dan is the man," he said. The crowd followed.

"I'm a fan of Dan," he brought back. And, again, the crowd repeated, louder.

Amongst the buzz of the crowd, Covey made the introduction: "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Ferndale's next city council member, Dan Martin." 

Martin, , announced that he will seek a seat on Ferndale's City Council come Nov. 8.

"I'm officially declaring my ," Martin said to a crowd of friends, family and supporters at Dino's Lounge on Tuesday evening – each one wearing a "Fan O' Dan" pin.

There are two council seats up in November, Mayor Pro Tem Kate Baker and Councilman Mike Lennon. The mayor's seat is also up for election.

"I had been thinking about it for a while," he said after his declaration speech. "I think I have a lot of offer. I have this drive to give back to the city. I truly love this city."

Martin, 38, who has lived in Ferndale since 2007 and is originally from Bay City, Mich., is the president of the nonprofit (FCF). His organization raises money for other nonprofits or projects that are based in Ferndale or directly affects Ferndale residents and community.

And the residents and the community were a big part of his speech. "The driving primary force (for running) is the community," he said to his supporters. "This is community here, this is Ferndale community." Which was immediately followed by applause.

On top of president of the FCF, he sits on the Arts and Culture Commission, Michigan AIDS Coalition Board and the Police and Fire Board; has been an precinct delegate;  and has volunteered at too many Ferndale events to list here. He has also worked on various other election campaigns and, right out of college, ran for a city commission seat in Bay City. "I lost, it was right out of college," he said.

Martin, during his speech, outlined what he will focus on as a council member. He discussed being good stewards of public money, mass transit, getting the community involved and addressing downtown Ferndale's parking issues.

"We must continue to be good stewards of the money, it's critical to Ferndale's future that we are good steward of the trust given to us," he said.

Martin talked about the important of Ferndale supporting and embracing "smart government regional collaborations." He said that Ferndale shouldn't be fearful of these collaborations and that collaborations won't be a loss of identity. "We are a city of character, we retain who we are because of what we are," he said.

Mass transit was also given attention. Martin said it is imperative that Ferndale be a voice in mass transit and be at the table to craft a solution. "Woodward cuts right through Ferndale," he said. He said if light rail were to go up Woodward, it would change the look and feel of downtown. "We need to drive this discussion correctly and thoroughly," he added.

And then there was parking.

"I'm going to talk about a personal pet peeve of mine: We have to do something about parking," he said, to applause. "We've got to get it done. It will be a priority of mine if elected."

To run for Council, a hopeful must pull a nomination packet that includes a signature petition and various other identification forms. So far, only two council nomination packets and one mayor's nomination packet were requested from the City Clerk's office. In addition to Martin, resident Sherry Wells has also pulled a packet for council. For mayor, resident Ray Willis has pulled a packet.

This doesn't mean they are on the ballots quite yet. Each nomination packet requires no less than 100 and no more than 150 signatures to be turned in by Aug. 16.

Martin concluded his speech with words of being home and changing the world.

"I'm from Bay City but I can say that I finally feel like I've come home," he said. "Because of Ferndale, but also because of all of you here tonight. …

"We do things a little different here in Ferndale," he continued. "We are going to change the world, it's who we are, it's in our very nature. So let's show 'em how it is done in November."

Dan Martin's campaign on Facebook can be found here.