City Manager offers honest perspective on Stimpson

Because of my position at the city, I am often asked by visitors or leaders from other communities — what is the secret to the success of downtown Tecumseh?  How has your downtown flourished, while others have struggled?  My first answer is always our small business owners.  Nowhere else that I have worked or lived, have I seen a group of business owners that are so willing to help each other out and realize that the success of others around them will contribute to their success.  I often share the story of Tecumseh Bread & Pastry that was able to start their business because 3 Dudes and Dinner invited them to use their commercial kitchen until they could afford a storefront of their own.  I give the example of the owner of Union Block Suites, who has rehabilitated several buildings downtown, which has allowed Musgrove Coffee and Paper Street Soap to open.

Another name that rises to the top is Dave Stimpson.  Dave has spent the last 15 years investing in our downtown and helping other small business owners.  He has volunteered on the Downtown Development Authority for almost a decade.  Dave started with the historic Bidwell Building, bringing a landmark building back to life and making it possible to host several small retail and office tenants. Then there was the dilapidated and blighted Eagles building on South Evans Street, which is now a modern dance studio thanks to Dave.  When Grey Fox Floral suffered its devastating fire, Dave offered to put the Eagles building renovations on hold and host their business until their building was re-built. 

More recently, Dave came to the City and said he wanted to do something to help some of the businesses downtown that had suffered during COVID.  He offered to sponsor a downtown block party to get people to come back downtown, particularly to the bars and restaurants that had been devastated by having to close or limit their capacity.  Dave used his legal expertise to help several of the bars and restaurants apply for the new social district license, even fronting the application fee for one proprietor. He even purchased drink tickets at several of the establishments to hand out to first responders and veterans to thank them for their service.

When the current on-line blogs and social media posts circulated that Dave had purchased a couple other run-down and vacant properties in downtown Tecumseh with allegations his motivation was to somehow profit off the planned Lenawee Community Complex (The Phoenix), it was obvious they didn’t have the full story. Clearly, someone was feeding these outlets a dishonest narrative in an attempt to selfishly divert resources from the project or for their own political gain.  I would encourage anyone that has been confused or swayed by these accusations to look a little closer at the history. 

Dave Stimpson has been a long-time investor, volunteer and supporter in downtown Tecumseh and has helped a number of our small businesses through the years.  Thank you, Dave, for your on-going commitment to Lenawee County, and specifically for your long-term efforts to make downtown Tecumseh a success.

— Dan Swallow
Lenawee County resident and
Tecumseh City Manager