Porter and Covey race for reelection in Ferndale

FERNDALE – With Nov. 4 right around the corner, incumbent candidates Robert Porter and Craig Covey are working to make sure that they retain their places in Ferndale's government. Mayor Porter and Councilman Covey have been strongly endorsed by Pride PAC, Michigan's LGBT political action committee, and both are strong allies of the LGBT community. Council candidate Jackie Koivu is also strongly endorsed by Pride PAC.
Porter says he thinks the Pride PAC endorsement is great. "Unfortunately too many people want to represent only part of their community and the gay community represents a large part of their community and have to be represented properly," he said.
Both candidates face conservative challengers. Porter, who has been a Ferndale resident over 20 years, is facing challenger Beth Holland who has built her campaign largely around criticizing the current state of city services. She claims that services have been recklessly cut back, compromising the safety of the city's residents. Porter, however, denies that there's a problem. He compared the city of Ferndale with comparable cities in the surrounding area and found that Ferndale was consistently above average in every category of city services including fire and police departments.
Porter maintains that city services are strong and will stay strong. Ferndale has had to make cut backs in many areas because of statewide budget cuts. He says that conservatives trying to make this an issue don't understand the system. "People are speaking about this gloom and doom thing because obviously they don't want to deal with social issues," said Porter. "Unfortunately it is a very sad misrepresentation of our community."
Covey is one of seven candidates running for two council seats. Conservative candidate Dawn Ptaszynski called for Covey's recall a year and a half ago. According to Covey, she demanded his resignation at a city council meeting. "When I didn't resign she threatened to recall me," he said. "A week later she decided that I wasn't worth it and she would just run against me." The incident stemmed from controversy surrounding Pastor Tom Hanson's position as the volunteer police chaplain in Ferndale. Hanson was strongly criticized by LGBT groups and allies for being anti-gay. Hanson has since sold his Ferndale church and moved to Warren.
Both Porter and Covey strongly oppose the M-DOT railroad expansion plans in which Ferndale would become a major hub for freight trucks and trains. "We will fight them to the wall on that. It WILL not happen in Ferndale. We will not allow it. The situation that that would create in Ferndale would be devastating to our tax base, quality of life, to our water department," said Porter.
Covey agreed. "The mayor and I are fighting tooth and nail to halt any consideration of railroad yard expansion in Ferndale. And for that matter we will oppose expansion at the Fairgrounds as well. We don't need the dust and dirt and the noise pollution."
Both Covey and Porter urge LGBT residents and their allies to get to the polls on Nov. 4. "The people need to get out and vote," said Porter. "It's very, very important. We need support to make sure this city continues on the route of progress that it's on. Should people forget to vote and the opposition gets elected, it's the same mentality that this city had 10 years ago when the downtown was empty and there was a lack of acceptance for different groups. We can't go back to that."
Covey warned voters not to be complacent. "People need to be afraid because apathy is what elects bad candidates," he said.
Both Porter and Covey spoke highly of council candidate Jackie Koivu. "There's a real chance that a conservative could take one of our council seats this election unless voters can elect Jackie Koivu who would be a solid ally on progressive issues in Ferndale," Covey said. Porter commended Koivu's diverse community involvement.
Porter, who had back surgery two weeks ago, lamented the fact that he hasn't been able to get out and talk to the people of Ferndale like he has in the past. That, he says, is how he likes to campaign. He hopes that the people of Ferndale will support him. "I'm a good candidate for the entire community. My job as mayor is to represent everybody and to maintain fiscal responsibility in this community," he said.
Covey stands behind Porter. "I think Mayor Porter is the most supportive mayor for the LGBT community of any mayor in the state of Michigan," he said.
Both Covey and Porter supported the human rights ordinance in Ferndale. The ordinance was defeated after a right-wing campaign against it. "It is sad in a free society that we would have to include different groups in legislation," Porter said. "But unfortunately that's not mankind and we have to deal with that." Covey hopes the issue will come up again in 2004 or 2005.
Although he recognizes that the race isn't over yet, Covey is optimistic for both himself and Porter. He invited his supporters to their victory party on election night (that's Tuesday Nov. 4) at 8 p.m. at Boogie Fever in Ferndale. "Dollar drinks and free food," he said. "We'll watch election returns and celebrate our hopeful victories."