Farmington mayor shares positive report at State of the Cities address

FARMINGTON/FARMINGTON HILLS — Farmington Mayor Joe LaRussa spoke about the strengths, history, challenges and future of the city at the 2025 State of the Cities event April 1 at The Hawk auditorium in Farmington Hills.

“The state of our community is strong; the state of our city is strong,” LaRussa said as he addressed an audience of approximately 400 people.

Those are among the reasons he remains convinced that, “Farmington is the best place to call a home, to run a business, and to build a life.”

LaRussa described Farmington as the “envy of the region,” which stemmed from WDIV-TV Channel 4 featuring the city in an “In Your Neighborhood” segment and highlighting the best of Farmington.

”Organic media coverage is the direct result of the vision, policies and hard work of everyone at City Hall,” LaRussa said.

Home values are up in the city, according to the mayor. In 2024, the median sale price of a home in Farmington rose 2.2%, with homes valued 32% higher than other homes across the region in southeast Michigan, according to a report from the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments that LaRussa cited.

Although there were not many homes for sale in Farmington last year, according to LaRussa, more housing is coming.

“Housing inventory will come available in 2025 as our Hillside Townes and Legion Square (developments) make substantial progress toward completion.” LaRussa said. “These projects will bring new housing stock to Farmington — 80% faster than predicted.”

Safety strengthens a community, and Farmington continues to have one of the strongest safety records in Michigan, according to LaRussa.

The Farmington Public Safety Department, as part of its accreditation review, reported an annual average of 10,212 documented contacts with citizens in the last five years, according to LaRussa.  Of those, there was an average of only four citizens’ complaints per year.

“That’s .03% of the total interactions that our Public Safety Department has with its residents,” he said.

LaRussa commended the leadership of Public Safety Director Bob Houhanisin for partnering with Farmington Hills for ambulance transport services.

“Committed response times are down 58%, and in some cases actual response times have been reduced as much as 83%,” LaRussa said. “This kind of speed saves lives.”

Farmington celebrated its bicentennial in 2024, with a host of activities to commemorate the event. The 200-year-old city is rich in history but embraces modern technology to better serve residents.

“As a technology advocate and enthusiast in the private sector, I’ve seen firsthand how the implementation of digital workflow and software tools can improve productivity and quality, reduce errors, reduce wait times, and improve customers’ experiences,” LaRussa said.

Farmington is implementing digital permitting in the Building and Planning Department, according to LaRussa. He has received positive feedback from other cities and contractors who use this. With the new system, he is expecting higher compliance with permit requirements, more accurate scheduling with work inspections, and higher productivity among staff. According to LaRussa, this will free up staff for more complex and creative work.

“These results will continue to move Farmington forward,” LaRussa said.

With Farmington being an older city, LaRussa called for the need to adapt to one of the city’s biggest challenges, which is having a water and sewer infrastructure system, as some parts are more than 75 years old.

“Renewing this infrastructure is not easy and it’s not cheap,” LaRussa said.

According to the mayor, last year alone, emergency repairs cost $614,000, due to a failure in the sewer line. According to LaRussa, this cost $5,430 per foot, compared to a cost of $148 per foot when the same action is planned in advance.

The emergency sewer failures are becoming more frequent and diminishing the city’s ability to save and pay for the upgrade, LaRussa noted.

“It’s like the car you want to replace but you can’t save up because it’s always in the shop,”  said LaRussa, who is currently in discussions with the county to explore collaborating with other communities also in need of renewing their water and sewer systems and getting a bond together.

If it comes to it, LaRussa is confident residents will come through.

“Farmington will do whatever is necessary to preserve and equip our community for the future,” he said.

LaRussa was joined at the State of the Cities event by the CEO of the Greater Farmington Area Chamber of Commerce, Susan Arlin, who hosted the event, as well as Peter Provenzano Jr., who is the chancellor of Oakland Community College.

“The chamber is a conduit for its members to connect with fellow businesses and community partners through powerful networking, promotion and education to achieve their goals,” Arlin said.

Sheila Hughes, a downtown Farmington business owner and member of the chamber, shared her perspective about the event.

“I attend these every year. I want to know what is happening in my city. I’m looking for information that might help my business,” Hughes said.

Hughes shared an optimistic perspective.

“I think the city does have a bright future — Farmington and Farmington Hills,” she said. We have great leadership. We have a great community that engages. … We can do a lot of great things.”

Provenzano shared a similar perspective.

“The future looks bright,” he said.

According to Provenzano, OCC, which has a campus in Farmington Hills, is experiencing its fifth consecutive year of enrollment growth, which is triple that of undergraduate institutions in Michigan. The college has also seen an increase in graduation rates for seven years.

“We are incentivizing them (students) to stay in school (and) take more classes,” Provenzano said.

Farmington Hills Mayor Theresa Rich and Farmington Public Schools Superintendent Kelly Coffin also spoke at the event.