Hazel Park and Eastpointe Pass Fire Authority Millages
(Crystal A. Proxmire, Feb. 24, 2015)
The voters have spoken and SMORSA is in. The South Macomb Oakland Regional Services Authority was approved by voters in Hazel Park and Eastpointe on Tuesday, creating the new agency which will manage the funding aspect of fire service in those cities.
In Hazel Park there were 616 yes votes and 227 no votes.
While the City still faces financial challenges, SMORSA gives each community the taxing authority and revenue to continue providing fire services to residents. The partnership is purely financial, with some possible savings in terms of bulk purchasing power, but the departments themselves will remain unchained.  14 mills were approved in Hazel Park to create SMORSA. “Hazel Park firefighters will fight Hazel Park fires, and Eastpointe firefighters will fight Eastpointe fires,” said City Manager Ed Klobucher.
For Klobucher the victory came not just in seeing the measure pass, but in the way the community came together to do it. Residents came to town hall meetings, listened to online videos of Mayor Jan Parisi and Klobucher talking about the plan, and dozens of volunteers knocked on doors and distributed signs urging people to get out and vote.
“I live in the best city in the whole world,” Klobucher said after 73% of the voters approved the measure. “We had overwhelming support. The secret sauce in Hazel Park is cooperation. Everybody pulls together as a team – the unions, the staff, the residents. The reason we have stayed out of emergency management is because we come together and beat the odds.” He said the city’s great fire service would continue and that he would “promise residents to do the best I can, to give them the best service with what we have.”
In Eastpointe the vote was 61% in favor, with 1602 voting yes and 1025 voting no.
According to both Oakland County and Macomb County, all precincts have been counted, though the numbers are unofficial until certified.