Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


The Pinckney Village Council meets tonight, with residents expected to again weigh-in on the possibility of eliminating the police department.

Both the budget and master plan update process are underway in the Village.

At last week’s Planning Commission meeting, Chair Bree Kraut addressed a master plan survey that went out and community chatter about the police department during reports.

Kraut said they worked as a group on the questionnaire that was sent out, and it was a group effort to formulate questions. She said a lot of people have been asking why the police department was included, and that’s because there’s a section in the master plan called “facility and services”. She noted the fire service was also included in the survey.

Kraut went on to say that a lot of comments on Facebook were “concerning and embarrassing and….false news”. She said the point of the survey is just to gather information for the master plan – adding she wasn’t sure where all the misconception was coming from and reminded that meetings are open to the public.

The survey will be open until the end of May to encourage more responses. As of last week’s meeting, Kraut reported there were 60 responses - which was low considering the amount of people it’s available to was over 1,000.

Some of the survey questions ask how satisfied people are with current police coverage, how important is it to have 24-7 coverage, and would people be willing to support a tax increase to maintain that level of service.

A link to the master plan questionnaire is provided, as well as a previous story with the police chief.

Concerns about the fate of the police department came directly from the department, and the Village has not issued any formal statement either way on the topic.

Some village officials have stated the department accounts for half of the budget and it’s the biggest area of savings, versus a tax hike.

The following is a portion of a post on the Pinckney Police Facebook page in late April:

“The questions in the recent survey that went out with the newsletter are seriously slanted toward eliminating your police department. Will the police budget increase this next fiscal year? Yes, it will but everything does and always has. We aren't reckless with your money in the PD. We only purchase what we need. When we replace equipment, such as cars, we sell them and return your money to the general fund. If you've enjoyed 24/7/365 police coverage of our great town, let the village president know as well as the council.”

Also at last week’s meeting, the Commission was questioned about the master plan update.

Former Village President Linda Lavey spoke during call to the public to say she was puzzled as to why the master plan update was being put out to bid, and couldn’t imagine it would be cheaper than utilizing the current village planner.
Lavey said she realizes they want changes in the plan but doesn’t understand why they wouldn’t want the current planner to do it, saying “it’s right there in the name – she’s the planner – she does master plans, so if you think you’re looking for a professional to a master plan, we already have one”. Lavey said if they want to go out to bid, it could be cheaper but doubtful.

Kraut responded to say that the current planner will be given the option to present like everybody else.

Council meets at 7pm tonight at Village Hall.

Meanwhile, some residents appear to be mobilizing in support of the police department ahead of tonight’s meeting.
The following message was provided to WHMI anonymously:

"🚨 Attention Pinckney Residents:

Our Village President, Jeffrey Buerman, just gave himself a $50,000 raise, moving his position from part-time to full-time - taking the money from our Police Department's budget.

He also tried to pressure the Village Treasurer into "cooking the books" to falsely show the Village had $300,000 less cash on hand than we really do, trying to create a fake budget crisis. Our Village Treasurer resigned as a result of his relentless pressure!

Now, he's claiming we have no choice but to eliminate our Police Department, which protects us 24/7/365, and replace it with limited Sheriff's Department coverage that we would have to contract and pay for.

👉 This would mean much longer response times and put our safety at risk.

We have to act!

Call Jeffrey Buerman at 734-878-6206 and show up at the Council meeting on Monday, May 12th at 7 PM and let the Village Council know you oppose shutting down our police department.

Let's stand together and stop him from taking away our police protection!"


Requests for comment have been placed with Village President Jeff Buerman.