The Battle Alley Bugle asked every candidate for Holly Village President and Village Council the same six questions.

Several candidates, for reasons of their own, answered.

Next up alphabetically is April Brandon, candidate for reelection as Holly Village President.

Questions are the Bugle’s. Answers are the candidate’s. Responses are published as submitted, apart from minor formatting cleanup. The Battle Alley Bugle does not endorse candidates.

  1. What Village of Holly office are you seeking, and what is one concrete result you want to have accomplished by the end of your term?

I am seeking reelection as Holly Village President. By the end of my term, I want Holly to have adopted a sustainable, publicly vetted financial plan that protects essential services and continues addressing our infrastructure needs without relying on temporary fixes. Holly has spent years trying to stretch limited revenue across increasingly expensive responsibilities. My goal is to leave the Village with a realistic path forward… whether that includes new revenue, restructuring, or cityhood… not another study gathering dust while the roads continue auditioning for roles as archaeological sites.

  1. Residents routinely ask Village government to solve problems controlled by Holly Township, Oakland County, the Road Commission, the railroad, the state, or somebody else entirely. Which problem are you most prepared to be blamed for despite having little or no direct authority over it, and what should Village officials do when explaining that fact somehow fails to fix it?

I’ve already been blamed for breaking water mains. The theory is that I crawl underground in the dark of the night, tear them apart with my bare hands, then inconvenience everyone by directing DPW to repair them. If explaining aging infrastructure does not fix it, Village officials should focus on what might: emergency response, honest communication, replacement planning, and funding. Anyone determined to believe the Village President personally attacks pipes is not seeking an infrastructure briefing; they are seeking a villain. I can survive the role. Our water system cannot survive another decade of pretending outrage is a capital-improvement plan.

  1. Holly promotes economic growth while treating its historic character as an economic asset. When development and preservation pull in different directions, where should the Village permit change, and where should it refuse? At what point does designing a new project to “fit in” become historical reenactment?

Permit: thoughtfully placed higher-density housing that expands our tax base and reduces the burden on existing households. Consider paid expansion of Holly police services into surrounding areas where requested, generating revenue while extending accountable local policing. Refuse data centers, Flock cameras, and development that damages our historic district or family-centered village charm. Zoning must be appropriate to each area and favor established neighborhoods when residential and commercial interests conflict. New development should complement Holly without turning downtown into historical reenactment or turning our neighborhoods into overflow space for whatever a developer finds most profitable.

  1. A proposal comes before Council that is legal, within budget, and recommended by Village staff, but the Facebook post about it attracts 63 angry comments. How much weight should those comments carry in your decision? Would your answer change at 100 comments—or if 40 of them came from the same person?

As Captain Picard said, “The first duty of every Starfleet officer is to the truth.” Sixty-three comments deserve review. But when anonymous accounts hijack the discussion and the outrage traces back to the same three rabble-rousers wearing digital mustaches, that is not 63 residents. At 100 comments, the standard remains the same: count evidence and legitimate concerns, not avatars and exclamation points. If one person comments 40 times, their concern counts once. Public input matters. Manufactured outrage does not. Then Council must “make it so” and govern.

  1. Village government has substantially more things residents would like fixed than money with which to fix them. What service or investment would you protect even if doing so required residents to pay more, and what would you cut before making that request? You may invoke “grants” once. Then assume Holly did not receive one.

I would protect police, fire, and DPW because public safety and functioning infrastructure are the foundation of local government. Holly applies for every relevant grant and continually pursues savings, but independent analysis found an understaffed government operating with zero waste. There are no municipal yachts, decorative fountains, or lavish avocado-toast appropriations waiting to be eliminated. We can delay non-emergency services or projects, but there is no “fluff” left to cut… and delay eventually becomes deterioration. Before asking residents to pay more, I have shown exactly where the money goes and what services are at stake.

  1. At the end of your term, what is one thing about Holly you hope has not changed at all, and one change you hope residents have come to accept was necessary?

I hope Holly’s identity has not changed: neighbors knowing one another, locally owned businesses, our historic downtown, community traditions, and the fierce affection residents have for this place… even when that affection arrives in all caps. As the great Leslie Knope said, “What I hear when I’m being yelled at is people caring loudly at me.” I hope residents accept that preserving Holly requires investing in it. Responsible funding and long-term planning are not threats to our small-town character; they are how we protect it for the next generation of residents who will care loudly at their elected officials.

Next candidate questionnaire: Shannon Cole at 3 p.m.