Last night was the last Planning Commission meeting for the Chair, Bill Mulder. If you have followed along these last few years, Bill has led a resilient, professional and thoughtful Commission.

They listened, even when the voices were harsh. They have found ways forward, even when obstacles were placed in their way. They have represented the best of citizen public service. They rose to each challenge, on every occasion, and their perseverance was engendered and encouraged by Bill.

We are better as a community because of his service. I am better because he is a friend.

In early weeks of the New Year, we will look to the City Council to pass the updates to the zoning code developed through the hard work of our resident volunteers.

Yesterday, the Harbor Spring High School and Middle School bands performed the 18th Annual Holiday Collage Concert. They were FANTASTIC! For those of you who are not here in the winter, while you may have sun, you are really missing out on this concert. They played songs to celebrate Chanukah and Christmas.

They are just so good.

I honestly cannot wrap my head around how these kids play so well at such a young age. The jazz band this year features a trumpet section I cannot say enough good things about (yes, my daughter plays trumpet-she on the right in the video). The rhythm section is awesome. And I am truly amazed at fourteen-year-olds who can stand up and improvise solos in front of an audience. It goes beyond musical skill and understanding. It shows confidence and creativity.

Hello there. Many of you know I have a wood-paneled '91 Grand Wagoneer. I really love the thing. It always provokes smiles when I drive it. Today, I fired it up and ran to the IGA, waving at several friends along the way.

For me, the “Woody" is a classic bit of automotive history. I had wanted one for a long time and last year finally won this one at auction. It is weird, I know, but I feel lucky every time I drive it. In part it is nostalgia, but this time of year it is also just feeling lucky that it turns over and starts.

Like me, the Woody does not like the cold. It can be cantankerous, and a bit fickle. As I was driving today, I was thinking that perhaps I am more like this hulk of a vehicle than I would like to admit.

This week, I have been cantankerous. And, like my Wagoneer, while I might seem fine on the outside, in truth I was grumbling. Something was off. I would like to blame the cold, but it was a bit more than that.

As we get to the weekend, I want to take a second to thank you all. A few months ago, I celebrated that this little Facebook effort had accumulated more followers than people who voted to repeal the zoning ordinance. We have now passed 615 followers. It is pretty awesome. There are still plenty of things to be worried about, but concern can co-exist with optimism.

Despite our growing numbers, nearly all the comments and questions are respectful. You can sense that there has been a growing disappointment in how some advocate for change in our community. But more importantly, there is a real desire to reduce the tension and engender civility in our municipal affairs.

Hoping to start fresh this week with a note of gratitude!

This weekend the hills opened for skiers. Cold nights and daily accumulations make for a lot of fun. We owe the snow farmers a ton for bringing us an early bumper crop! They are a great example of so many who work behind the scenes to make our community successful. I hear Pintail is opening soon!

While on the subject of hard workers, as the cold sets in before the holidays, I think about my dad. For 42 years, he worked for UPS. This time of year, when he was working package trucks, he would leave before my brothers and I went to school and not get home before 10 pm. This was long before Amazon. Most of the packages he delivered were Christmas gifts sent to family and friends across the country.

Today's Harbor Light has an excellent front page retelling of the Planning Commission's work on the 2025 zoning code update. If you don't have it delivered, spend a couple bucks at the Harbor Market and pick one up!

Bob Buckner, who has both served on the Planning Commission and on the City Council this year, made the presentation which began by outlining the extent of public involvement throughout the process. Over nearly 1,750 hours, four seasons, five town halls, 10 open houses, an online survey, 23 open Commission meetings all to review every single word of our zoning code.

The result is a proposed update to the zoning code that preserves the property rights of homeowners and the charm of Harbor Springs.

A great deal has changed since the zoning code was updated over 20 years ago. The Planning Commission along with the community have proposed common sense updates that bring the code up-to-date and provide for a bright future for our town.

Before the Council meeting, I was handed an article that appeared in the Opinion section of the Detroit Free Press this weekend. The piece raises similar concerns and connects them to the classic holiday tale, "It's a Wonderful Life."

The columnist writes about the end of the movie, where the guardian angel, Clarence, shows George Baily what life in Bedford Falls would have been like without him. In a double meaning for us, George is shown a town that is no longer Bedford Falls but is now named Potterville after the town’s malevolent wealthy banker. The author puts the scene in the context of the destruction of so many of our national norms symbolized by the destruction of the East Wing of the White House. He writes, "We are all living in Potterville now."

It is heartbreaking. Much like I feel about the hollowing out of our little town's professional staff. I have heard that some will gather later this month in the back of Pierson's to toast and cheer the departure of our City Manager. Something they actively worked to make happen. As the great poet Maya Angelou said, "When someone shows you who they are, believe them."

We live in a special place where these kinds of happy run-ins with our neighbors happen every day. We cheer on Cora at Little Traverse Tileworks as she makes thousands of ornaments to be sent across the state. We rely on book recommendations from Katie, Susan, Alison and the rest of the gang at Between the Covers. We chat with Hannah at Harbor Springs Farmers Market mornings and Matthew at the bar at the The New York Restaurant. We joke with Kelly after our fourth trip to Meyer Ace Hardware - Harbor Springs in a day and ask Kathy for window box advice up at Renolda's.

There are hundreds of other causal connections we get to make in this small town. Connections of care and concern. It is why we hardy few are able to stick around and survive the winters. We provide warmth for one another. All members of the Fellowship of the Cold and Windy.

Today, I would like to take a second to thank all our City's volunteers who serve on the City Council, Boards and Commissions, and dozens of non-profit service organizations throughout town.

Hundreds of our friends and neighbors take time to work on City policy. They collect food for the pantry. They chaperone school trips and dances. They make sure the Harbor Hut is stocked and ready for students who are hungry. They plant gorgeous gardens. They flip burgers at the Legion. They blow bugles and bang drums in parades. They drop off food when a family suffers a loss. They pitch in and are there for one another.

It is you, our community's volunteers, who make Harbor Springs great, because you make Harbor Springs good.

Thanksgiving is nearly upon us! I hope you will join me a bit this week to pause and reflect on the many things we can be thankful for in our lives here on the banks of Lake Michigan.

Today, I would like to highlight and thank our City's staff. Earlier this year, the Chamber of Commerce presented the staff at City Hall an award for going above and beyond the call of duty during the ice storm we struggled through last spring. They deserved every bit of the ovation they received by the community.

Public service can often be a thankless job. But, it shouldn't be. When we need them the most, the staff who supports Harbor Springs spend time away from their own families to help. They support volunteer boards and commissions. They keep our City looking gorgeous. Daily, they do hundreds of unnoticed tasks that make this place special. They keep us safe, warm and connected.

I was never talented or confident enough to perform onstage. But I have always loved words (I know, it is a shocking admission). My high school had a stellar English Department. Mrs. Sutherland (who recently passed), Mrs. Young, Mrs. Dust and Mrs. Mary Francis Wagner all taught me the right words can shape our world.

Mrs. Wagner introduced our class to Shakespeare. Now, I am no expert on the Bard and often struggle to understand what he is saying. But, as I think about our kids on stage performing Little Mermaid, I know some of them will someday do Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night or Julius Caesar. In those performances, they will learn there are many bits of universal wisdom in the works of Shakespeare.

This week, I have read a flurry of excuses for why it’s clearly totally fine for a witness in a lawsuit against our city to have a meeting where a resolution to that lawsuit is discussed with the Mayor, Councilmember and Clerk. Afterall, some say, it doesn't technically violate the Open Meetings Act (OMA). I haven’t called for anyone to step down over this whole thing-but give me a break! A friend reminded me of a line from Shakespeare’s Hamlet that sums things up: "The lady doth protest too much, methinks."

Hello there, Harbor Springs and all the ships at sea.

In a few days, the kids at the Harbor Springs Middle School debut their production of "The Little Mermaid" at the Performing Arts Center. Performances are this Friday, November 21st at 7pm and Saturday, November 22nd at 2pm & 7pm. Tickets can be purchased at the box office or in advance from our friends at Between the Covers.

There are so many good lessons in the story about loving where you live and who you are. About finding and valuing your unique voice. And about never trusting devious sea witches whose best friends are eels. All amazing life lessons for our talented Middle Schoolers.

Life so often imitates art. Some lessons really are universal no matter how old we get.

Last evening, at City Hall, a public hearing was held on proposed updates to the zoning code. The Planning Commission has worked tirelessly. They listened. They compromised. And last night, after all their efforts to find a path forward, the Planning Commission unanimously passed an updated zoning code and forwarded it to the City Council.

That, my friends, is something worth celebrating! More than the fact that they advanced the updates it is HOW they did it. When the final roll call was called, every single member of the Planning Commission voted to approve the new update.

Please join me in applauding each of the volunteer Commissioners for their thoughtful contributions. It was a huge effort and was surrounded by controversy and often invented contention. Bill chaired a process that was open, and frankly, beyond reproach. Kenny, Chip, Vanessa, Mark, Tony and Barry, along with outgoing Councilmember Bob Buckner and incoming Councilmember Jeanne Benjamin, ALL deserve our thanks and congratulations.

Today, I've got a bit of a science story. Carbon is one of the building blocks of life on earth. Somewhere between 90-120 miles below the planet's surface, intense heat, pressure and time transform simple carbon into extraordinary diamonds.

Heat, pressure and time. One could argue these are the forces the update to our zoning code has had to endure as well.

In 2022, the Merriam-Webster dictionary named "gaslighting" as its word of the year. The dictionary defined the word as "the act or practice of grossly misleading someone especially for one’s own advantage."

The word came from a 1938 play and movie called "Gas Light" whose plot involves a man trying to make his wife believe she is going insane. He regularly dims the gas lights in their home but insists to his wife that the lights are not dimming, and she can't trust what she is seeing.

There has been some definite "gaslighting" going on in Harbor Springs. In the last few weeks, The Harbor Light has done the hard work of digging into some of the activities we have been told are “normal” and “fine” when we can all see they are plainly not.

On the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month the guns of the Great War fell silent. Today, we mark the end of World War I and honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in service to the free people of the world. We remember those who struggled and won victories against men who would impose their fascist will on us all.

Today, I'd like to return to our series on the proposed zoning code updates. Let's talk about the code's new format.

I know that sounds super boring, but it is important. The improvements in this aspect of our zoning code may be the most critical of all with big benefits for both residents and professionals.

Early in the update process this year, the Planning Commission and community members strongly agreed that the format of the current zoning code was frankly, horrible. Planning Commission members have said that it is likely among the worst in Michigan.

We just returned from today's special City Council meeting. I think there was general agreement that the meeting called last week by the Mayor and joined by Councilmember Reeve and former City Manager Tom Richards was inappropriate.

In the future...Councilmembers should probably not hold meetings with city staff and suggest that a former employee, who is suing the city (and is their personal friend), be hired again while sitting next to a witness in the same lawsuit against the city. Sad that has to be the subject of a meeting-but here we are.

I think for the good of all, the Council decided to spare the City from more division. They pointed out the poor decision making by the Mayor and Councilmember Reeve and moved on.

The Harbor Springs City Charter is our Constitution. We all vote to ratify it as the rules that govern our city.

One of the sections of the Charter (4.6) talks about the City Council's relationship with the City Manager and City staff.

A little civics background: Harbor Springs, has what is known as a "Council-Manager" form of government. We are not a "Strong Mayor" government. The International City/County Management Association (ICMA) says about 70-75% of all cities in America are like us a "Council-Manager" government. The Council sets policy, the Manager runs day-to-day operations.

With that in mind, let’s go back to why our Charter requires Council to direct their actions toward the Manager and forbids Council from going directly to staff. This piece of our Charter is found in almost all other "Council-Manager" governments and it is written to protect staff from a member of Council directing them to do something in conflict with the Manager.

I sure hope this is the last post of a really busy day, but this one is important. To their credit the two candidates running for City Council who raised and spent over $1,000 filed the proper disclosures. The Emmet County Clerk just sent them over.