Mike Lennon: Public Servant Beyond The Call Of Duty!

Story by David Stone
Photos by Bernie Laframboise and others

DO NOT CALL MIKE LENNON A POLITICIAN. He much prefers the title “public servant,” because he truly believes a government official is there to serve the will of the people, not their own agenda. This comes across when he describes the characteristics of an ideal councilperson. He mentions things like, “You have to vote with your heart and your conscience…you can’t keep everybody happy…you’re at the will of the people and what they want.”

Public service is in Mike’s blood. His father, Bernie Lennon, was mayor of Ferndale and also an Oakland County commissioner at the only time that the Commission had a Democratic majority, according to longtime family friend Danny Reedy. Bernie Lennon also served the Blanchard administration as Deputy Director of the Department of Labor, and also ran the Michigan State Fair.

Mike attended the Ferndale Public Schools. He went to Roosevelt Elementary School, Lincoln Junior High, and Ferndale High School. He was a Ferndale Police Officer from 1977 to 2002. And then he served on the Ferndale City Council from 2003 to 2015. He also worked for Garden Fresh Salsa for seven years, until they were bought by Campbell’s. Now, according to Lennon, he is “working on his golf swing.”

Mike Lennon loves Ferndale. He can’t say enough wonderful things about his town. He calls Ferndale a “walkable, bikeable community” full of “nice restaurants, nice bars, nice boutiques, specialty stores.” He says that “if you walk 9 Mile you’ll be fascinated by the different types of stores, what you can buy, and what you can eat.”

He also pointed out that Ferndale hosts many large public events during the summer, and “we just passed a bond last year for our parks and roads.” He also points to the fact that people come here because “they can buy a house at a good, reasonable price.” When asked, point-blank, why a business should locate in Ferndale, he says, “Because you’re going to the customers.”

Acknowledging a problem exists, Lennon says “the current council is working on a parking solution.”

Time spent in city government gives a person a close-up look at government at the state-level, too. So it should not come as a surprise that Mike has opinions about our leaders in Lansing. While he is quick to point out that “we have a good state represen-tative” (Robert Wittenberg), he is highly critical of others in state government for putting their party ahead of Michigan’s needs. He says that revenue-sharing is nonexistent” and that they are “wiping out little cities one by one.”

“They don’t vote with their heart and soul,” observes Mike, “that’s what I did.”

On a much more personal note, I asked our sports-loving beer-drinking former councilman if there was anything no oneknew about him (and would be printable). It took a few moments for Mike to come up with an answer because, as he said, “What you see is what you get.” After some thought, he says, “I like a romantic movie now and then.” Also, besides reading the newspaper regularly, he enjoys the work of such novelists as Tom Clancy, John Grisham, and James Patterson.

Craig S. Covey on Mike Lennon
CRAIG COVEY (a candidate for Oakland County sheriff) worked with Mike, both as a fellow councilman and later, when Craig was mayor. Covey mentioned that Mike “took over after his younger brother, David, lost his life in a car accident.” He described the two brothers as “very honest and forthright…they were the original voices to ‘tell it like it is’… both brothers always tried to represent the working people, the average resident, with common sense and no nonsense.” I asked Craig if he had any really good Mike Lennon stories. “There are plenty of good stories I could share, though not all of them in a family newspaper,” Covey replied. Covey said Mike “could use gruff and salty language sometimes, and more than once a four-letter word escaped his mouth with him not always realizing the microphone was picking it up.” Craig’s favorite Mike Lennon story took place at Como’s. The two were sitting at the patio bar and Mike “remarked how great it was that he was there with hundreds of women. He said, ‘Covey, you and I are the only guys in the whole place.’ I had to point out that it was ‘First Wednesday,’ also known as lesbian night at Como’s.

Mayor David Coulter
I WAS NOT SUPRISED WHEN MAYOR COULTER described Mike Lennon as a “pretty blunt guy who overflowed with pride for his children, who doted after his Mom and who teared up on his last night of Council. He’s got a huge heart he doesn’t always show, but it’s part of what makes him special.” Coulter “always appreciated Mike’s sense of humor and ability to lighten up serious discussions.” Dave sat beside him on the council, and tells how “many times after I’d get up from the table for some reason I would come back to candy wrappers and other trash in my chair. At first I’d pretend it wasn’t there, but it didn’t take long to learn to always check my chair first.” Most of the things his girlfriend, Sue McCleary, told me were things I had also heard from others. She mentioned that “Mike loved this city (and) everyone loves him,” that “his family lived here forever,” and how it is “their heart.” However, she did mention two things no one else said. She told me that he never spoke from prepared notes, rather, he always spoke off the cuff. He responded to every question from his heart, without notes. And, Sue told me that Mike is so trusted in this city that “everyone (still) calls Mike Lennon when they have issues” they can’t seem to solve. Mike regularly takes calls from Ferndale residents who don’t know where else to turn with their problems.

When asked about the future, Mike just smiles and politely refuses to answer. Sue clarifies this by quoting one of Lennon’s favorite saying, “You never show your line up before game time.”

But whatever is in store, Ferndale will continue to benefit from the presence of Mike and the Lennon family for a long time to come.

Thank you, Mike, for making Ferndale a wonderful place to live and work.

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