We are finally at the end.

This is my 201st post since starting this effort 107 days ago. The website I launched that day has been visited 4,714 times by nearly 3,700 people from around the globe. Over 2,600 of those visitors were in and around Harbor Springs.

I am exhausted. I think as a community we all are. I hope for most of you it is a good kind of tired. The tired of knowing you tried your best and did all you could.

On behalf of the volunteers and neighbors who spent two years and 30 public meetings to craft our new zoning code, I urge you to vote "NO" to keep our code and move on.

Please cast your ballot for the servant leadership displayed by Nancy Rondel, Jamie Melke and John Lio. All exceptional candidates to lead our city in the years ahead.

If we want Harbor Springs to stay like it is, it will need to change.

We are losing full-time residents. Our population is aging. We need larger and more stable class sizes to maintain our fantastic schools. To keep our charming town vibrant, we need to take action. Doing nothing and hoping for the best is not a plan.

Ultimately, that is what the new zoning code is. A piece of a plan that looks forward rather than back. On this last day, I urge you to support your neighbors and vote "NO" to keep our new code and move on.

Yesterday, one of our neighbors stopped by to drop off candy for my two kids and a card for each. The cards said that if the kids ever needed anything, to stop by. Thanks Fred and Linda, you are a perfect example of what makes Harbor Springs such a special place to live.

There is warmth here, even when the weather turns cold. Maybe even more so when the snow flies. We rally to one another and care for those who need caring for.

Many have asked, "What do the "yes" people want?" As I have said from the beginning, the specifics are a bit of a moving target. It seems to boil down to, they want to get their way. Compromises were made, additional meetings conducted, and now a public vote is taking place all to accommodate the politics of grievance.

It is one week until Election Day. I had no idea what I was getting into when I started this effort. It has been incredibly exhausting, but far more heartwarming. Our community is a special place full of extraordinary people who are neighbors in the best sense of the word.

Financial disclosures were due last Friday for campaigns in Michigan. The idea of requiring public disclosures is so voters can see who is contributing to the causes they care about. The hope is transparency helps voters be better informed about who is working to influence their vote. The forms require identifying all those who contribute to a campaign and where they live.

Well, the time has come...

We began this effort as an anonymous Harbor Springs voice for a good reason. Not because we are some big developer, but rather because my wife and her dad are local business owners. I didn't want my advocacy to hurt their business. It seems that ship has sailed.

The city received a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from the "yes" folks asking for everything they have about Burns & McDonnell. The theory is that this big firm is behind the whole vote "no" campaign.

They are not. They are my employer whose name auto-filled in the organization blank when I bought the web address www.votnoharborsprings.org The only thing that will come up in response to their request is my application to serve on a city board. I had to put my employer for when I applied to volunteer on a city committee (I am on the RRC). It's my sloppy error that got their name drug into this.

The question we face on our zoning code on November 5th, is not super intuitive. Hopefully we can help: A "NO" vote keeps the new code. A "YES" vote repeals the new code.

Look, input from all is great and can help us make better decisions. But they are ultimately OUR decisions. Being a registered voter in a community comes with rights and responsibilities. We take them seriously.

One can hope that all the folks with "yes" signs in front of their summer homes and rental properties are equally involved in the communities where they actually live.

Hey there Harbor Springs! Today we wrap up our series that follows up on the recent letter from the folks working to repeal the zoning code. The next topic is Fostering Community (which we are all for!)

Its day three of our look at the latest letter from the folks working to repeal the zoning code. The next topic is Affordable Housing. We've been looking forward to this one!

Hi there Harbor Springs! It is day two of our “The More You Know” series and we are tackling the second reason the letter we got this weekend said we should vote yes. They say “The current zoning plan was not developed by Harbor Springs residents . . .”

Today we are starting a series named for that catchy “The More You Know” segment we used to watch when we were kids. (Go ahead…sing the jingle-we wont tell).

Ole Nubbins got a letter in the mail this weekend which featured four reasons to repeal our new zoning code. (It also included a long piece written by fashion writer whose style memos are honestly worth a look. The author however didn’t find anyone in Harbor Springs who was voting no on the zoning repeal to talk with-which is too bad, we are nice folks).

Good morning Harbor Springs! We are less than 30 days out from Election Day! Most of us have day jobs and volunteer our time in support of the candidates and causes we support when we can. This year, perhaps more than others, many of us are putting in the extra effort to support our democracy and city.

Here is a thought exercise. What if instead of going through all this effort to repeal the work our neighbors did to pass a new code, those who want changes worked with the committees to propose, draft and enact changes to the new code. Reasonable people could have worked with the city and our volunteer boards rather than turning it all into a referendum. That seems much more like the Harbor Springs we want to preserve.

But, here we are. "Yes" signs on one side of the street. "No" signs on the other. For a group that says they love Harbor Springs-they sure as heck divided it. It is time to move beyond the misinformation, distrust, fuss and anger. 

Our options are a vote "yes" to REPEAL the new code and go backward or vote "no" to KEEP it and move forward. Our hope is that together we will say "NO" on November 5th.

Rainy days have us thinking.

Early on, we wrote a post about a lesson from Mr. Rogers. It likely betrays us a bit that we grew up in a generation that looked to a mild mannered, cardigan wearing, Presbyterian minster for life lessons, but here we are.

In our earlier post we recalled that after the tragedy of 9/11 Mr. Rogers we should, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

Today we conclude our three-part series highlighting changes in the new zoning code. These three relatively small changes were so concerning an entire cottage industry of grievance sprung up in our little town to combat them.

The Planning Commission sought to help provide housing opportunity to the broad spectrum of persons seeking housing in the city by:

o Allowing a narrower minimum width for newly created lots to give property owners more options.

o Changing “guest quarters” to Accessory Dwelling Units and allow long-term rental of ADUs to potentially increase the availability of rental property options for the community

o Allowing duplexes with administrative review (this was “by right” but was changed at the request of the petition people) in both new residential zoning districts and triplexes by special land use to address multi-generational housing needs and provide options for property owners

Strap in folks. This ole ram has penned another long one:

In 2022, the Merriam-Webster dictionary declared “gaslighting” to be the word of the year.

Around here, you probably think of the Gaslight District of Petoskey when you hear the term. Those charming streetlights in Petoskey’s downtown hung with wreaths and red ribbons during the holiday season.

But the reason Merriam-Webster gave the honor to the word “gaslighting” was far from charming. The term comes from a 1944 film with Ingrid Bergman called “Gas Light.” (There was a play and TV movie before, but Bergman is the best so we can start there). In the film a husband lies and manipulates his wife into believing she is crazy. Slowly, she becomes more isolated and seemingly delusional as gas lights flicker on and off in her mind.

Next up, Modest Change #2:

The new code allows for more approvals by administrative committee rather than special land use by entire planning commission to streamline processes (especially for more common requests).