Remembering 9/11 in 2012

I was attending a Downriver credit union meeting as part of my duties as an employee of the Michigan Credit Union League during the morning of September 11, 2001. On my return to my home office in Troy I was listening to CDs in my car instead of the radio. When I arrived back in Troy to work from my home office, Mary Ellyn told me about the events that had transpired that morning in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.


Officer Mulvihill

Little did I know on the morning of September 11th that those acts of terrorism on the East Coast would interconnect with events here in Troy, MI. You see, in April of that year, I had been elected to the Troy City Council. First came the sad news that Troy Police Officer Charles "Chuck" Mulvihill, had died that very same day. He was on duty three days earlier and suffered an apparent heart failure while responding to a call for service. While I didn't know Officer Mulvihill, I knew that his passing was deeply felt by all of the men and women who served our City in the Police Department. He's still remembered (along with Officers Chivas and Smetana) every year at the Troy Police Department's Memorial Ceremony.

That same week, Troy Daze was scheduled to occur. At that time it was a City-sponsored event. Within hours of the terrorist attacks, City staff met and made the decision to cancel that year's Troy Daze festival. The Troy City Council was not consulted on the decision. While the decision to cancel the event made sense, I believe City staff realized after the fact that their policies and procedures needed to be re-evaluated to enhance communications with the City Council. 

Click here to read the Troy Times story on these local events and how they were impacted by the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States.