Southfield Mayor Supports School Merger
Photo courtesy of Deborah Harmse
Southfield Mayor Kenson Siver suggested merging high schools some two decades ago.
The merger of the two high school is “long overdue,” according to Southfield’s new mayor, Kenson Siver, who took office Nov. 16.
Siver, who is a Democrat, said he suggested the merger back in 1995, when he was associate superintendent of Southfield Public Schools, but no one wanted to listen at that time.
“Embrace the great harmony” of the merge, advised Siver, who said it will allow students access to more and new courses.
For example, Southfield-Lathrup will bring its dance classes, Siver said, and Southfield High will offer Lathrup students a newspaper program, he said.
Before becoming mayor, Siver worked for Southfield Public Schools for 45 years in various capacities, including several years as adviser to The Southfield Jay newspaper staff. He also taught history and English courses “but newspaper was my favorite.”
So how does one go from education to politics?
Siver said he did it by running for city council, to which he was elected three times, in 2005, 2009 and 2013.
He then ran for mayor this past year and won against Sylvia Jordan by a comfortable margin of 7119 votes to 5,350. In other words, he had 57 percent of the votes to her 43 percent, according to election results.
As mayor, he said, “My first priority is to continue to repair the roads and bridges,”
His second priority is to enforce codes that will help to keep Southfield more attractive.
His third priority is to make sure people maintain their rental properties.
