Newly sworn-in Ferndale City Council member Eddie Sabatini wants to help facilitate the transfer of the Kulick Community Center back to the city as a goal for 2026.
By: Mike Koury | Woodward Talk | Published January 13, 2026
OAKLAND COUNTY — As a new year dawns, leaders in Ferndale, Berkley, Huntington Woods and Pleasant Ridge are looking ahead to what they want to focus on in 2026.
Eddie Sabatini recently attended his first meeting as a member of the Ferndale City Council, and what he’s hoping to do throughout his first year is to stay committed to being an accessible council member.
“I spent a lot of time on the campaign trying to meet as many folks as possible, and I want that to continue,” he said. “I serve the community, so I want residents to know that I’m accessible. So, I’m going to try to set up some office hours. My contact information is out there and very publicly available. So, I just want folks to know that I’m here to serve them and they can reach me.”
One of the reasons Sabatini decided to run for council was to get some form of a community center back up and running. With the transfer of the Kulick Community Center still in the works, Sabatini said he wants to work on that deal between the city and Ferndale Public Schools.
“I just want to help facilitate that,” he said. “Hopefully, there’s a win-win solution for the school district and the city and the residents, of course, because we deserve a community center. … It’s an important community issue, and personally as well. Me and my family used it, and we still do. We use the playground in the green space that is still open to the public. But yeah, there’s no building, no classrooms, no place for programming, nowhere for the seniors to meet.”
Gary Elrod has entered his first year as a member of the Berkley City Council.
Elrod wants to make sure there is improved communication between the city and residents with how the government works for them.
“There’s a disconnect that often happens between interpretation about what takes place at the meetings and then what they see from a service level,” he said. “I just want to make sure we bridge any of the misunderstanding about what we’re capable of, how high a level of service we are currently providing, and then why sometimes we stumble. So it’s really basic — is just establishing a good routine and making sure that people are hearing from us and they understand that there are limitations, but we also are meeting certain service level standards that do exceed or meet the needs of our community.”
2026 will mark the 100th anniversary of when Huntington Woods was founded as a village. The celebration is one that’s important to Commissioner Joe Rozell, who is excited for the events and plans for the centennial.
Outside of that, Rozell said Huntington Woods will look at changes to its parks, including new signage, new picnic tables and new play equipment and a complete update of Val Jones Skate Park, as well as continuing with its infrastructure improvements with its roads and sewers.
“We’re looking at asking our voters to approve a millage, possibly later this year, to continue the work that we’re doing,” he said. “We’re fortunate that some of our outstanding debt we’re paying off. So, we’re able to — if the voters are willing — try to keep paying what you’re paying and allow us to keep doing what we’re doing, and that is fixing roads, fixing sewer lines, and so we were looking at continuing to move forward on the infrastructure front, which we think is very important. I mean, there was a period of time in years past where the city wasn’t focused on that, and we’re now kind of left with that responsibility, but we’re taking it very seriously and so we’re going to be focused on that as well in 2026.”
Pleasant Ridge City Commissioner Katy Schmier said the city is in a strong and stable position, and when it comes to this year, there always can be things to adapt and improve upon.
One thing mentioned by Schmier is to protect Pleasant Ridge’s sense of community. The topic of short-term rentals, which has been an item of discussion at recent commission meetings, will continue to be one at the beginning of this year,
“Short-term rentals have been around for a while, but the way they are affecting communities is changing,” she said. “Pleasant Ridge very actively now is talking about and looking at ways to deal with short-term rentals. What is the best way Pleasant Ridge can handle that to protect our sense of community, our neighborliness, to protect us? How do we adapt to that change? … I think that is also an example of what’s happening in our greater world. Things are changing really quickly. So, what is the best way that Pleasant Ridge can stay really educated with those changes, really engaged and to really ensure that any changes that we make both internally, but that are also changes that are happening in our county and in our state, how we can stay engaged in that conversation to make sure that changes are benefiting and protecting Pleasant Ridge.”