From Your Officials: 5 Thing to Look Forward to in 2012

The year is still fresh. Full of opportunity. Anything is possible. So, with this new look on this New Year, we decided to ask our city policy makers to tell us what they are looking forward to in 2012. 

A few things to point out first. None of them mentioned the end of the Mayan calendar and it ending December 2012.

But on a more serious note, nearly every one said they want to continue to work on and improve collaborations with neighboring cities. This will definitely be a point to watch as . The big one to watch will be whether or not Ferndale will move forward with often talked about fire authority with Hazel Park. It's currently in the study stage but look for movement (in one direction or the other) soon.

Also, one final note, Councilman Mike Lennon went pie-in-the-sky on us and said he's looking for zero percent unemployment AND world peace. Let's keep our fingers crossed on those!

(Don't forget to check out what the "look forward to 2011" .)

Ferndale Mayor Dave Coulter

• My first full term as Mayor, working with  and all my council colleagues.
• A presidential election that will hopefully produce a more serious discussion of the enormous challenges we still face.
• Working with neighboring cities to rethink the way we deliver services and support our region.
• Improving the appearance and safety of .
• Improving how the city and businesses.

Councilman Scott Galloway

• Working with neighboring local governments including Hazel Park, Pleasant Ridge, Royal Oak Township and the Ferndale School District to provide high quality municipal services collaboratively.
• Learning more about the future of .
• Concluding a collective bargaining agreement with the Ferndale Firefighters.
• Further efforts to address parking concerns in the downtown. has been a huge success. Multi-space meters and more active management of our parking system will result in a better experience for visitors and businesses.
• A new, more .

Councilwoman Melanie Piana

• : Increased community engagement and a happier police force with this new scheduling approach.
• Community Festivals: I love our downtown events and festivals that help create our unique sense of place. And I hear we have some new ones in the pipeline...
• Improved city technology: Continued focus to improve internal city functions and communications with residents and businesses. 
• Continued collaborations and relationship building with our neighboring cities.
• New businesses continuing to open! 

Councilman Mike Lennon

• World peace
• Prosperity for all
• Good health to all
• A bulging general fund
• Zero percent unemployment

Councilman Dan Martin

• The new leadership team in the City that formed in 2011 has really begun to gel and can hit the ground running in 2012. We have the right people in the right jobs and I am really looking forward to what we can do together over the next year.
• Working on parking improvements in the downtown area. Not only addressing the need for businesses but definitively tackling the challenges the surrounding neighborhoods are having with the overflow.
• Planning and pursuing for even greater opportunities in regional cooperation with our neighbors. This creates a neat opportunity to find ways to deliver terrific services, while maintaining Ferndale's distinctiveness. We can get a lot more traction on environmental and transportation issues together though than we can apart.
• The continuing economic recovery for Michigan. We have had strong business growth in 2011 and look forward to even more in 2012.
• Running a fiscally sound and responsible government operations for Ferndale. And of course another Obama win in 2012.

Former Mayor Pro Tem Kate Baker did not respond.