I am voting YES on the 6-year Police Safety Millage Renewal as well as for the requested .5 mil increase. I hope that everyone else will do the same.

Here is why I am voting YES. Police protection is a dire necessity to keep our township community safe. Orion Township is recognized and noted as one of the safest growing communities in Oakland County and rated in the top 100 safest communities in America due to the excellent protection afforded to us by our local Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.

Our Commander of our Sub-station, Lt. Daniel Toth, has shown a wonderful forthright caring and very sincere concern for the Orion Township people and our community, as well as sharing his great example to all of the deputies under his command. There have been times that Lt. Dan Toth and his deputies have come across scenes in their policing duties that none of us would wish to envision in our very worst nightmares.

Orion Township has experienced a 29 percent growth in its population since 2007. The population has grown from 31,000 to its current population of approximately 40,000. Meanwhile, the amount of certified Oakland County Sheriff Deputies has increased by only three new deputies in that time span which comes to only a 10 percent increase in deputies.

As I had stated back in 2012 … Orion Township is just a hop, skip and a jump from I-75 and thus easy access to outside criminal elements. We very much need to keep the excellent policing services that we have received through the years from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.

Please vote YES on Tuesday, August 4 for the Police Operating Millage.

Sincerely,

Mary MacMaster

Orion Twp.