Birmingham Reflects on Sept. 11: A Goal Is Reinforced

Memories of Sept. 11, 2001, are shared broadly, but are also personally distinct. So are reflections on the enduring impact of that life-altering day a decade ago.

This week, Birmingham Patch presents 12 diverse perspectives on what happened that sunny Tuesday morning 10 years ago and the ensuing decade — including comments by a pastor, a sheriff, civic leaders, a state representative, a county commissioner and a woman widowed that awful morning.

'Reaffirmed my commitment to public service'

Robert Bruner
Birmingham city manager

Sept. 11, 2001 reaffirmed my commitment to public service, an original career goal. I had been a political science and economics double-major (at Albion College) and I interned at the White House. As a senior, my double major let me interview for more lucrative jobs in the private sector and my student loan debt made lower-paying public service jobs financially unfeasible, so I accepted an offer from Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) in Detroit.

I was promoted from analyst to management and technology consultant on Sept. 1, 2001 and laid off just six days later. Since I was unemployed, I was home at 9:03 a.m. on Sept. 11 and watched United Airlines Flight 175 crash into the South Tower of the World Trade Center on live television. We did not know it was a terrorist attack at the time, so I went about my business and filed for unemployment benefits. Listening to the events of the day unfold in the unemployment office was a surreal experience.

A total of 403 local government employees — firefighters, paramedics and police officers — died that Tuesday 10 years ago. It strengthened my interest in a government career at the local level, closest to the people being served. My public service career began within a month as assistant to the city manager of Oak Park.

Robert Bruner was appointed Birmingham's city manager in December after serving as Ferndale's city manager and Ypsilanti's assistant city manager. He grew up in Redford Township and South Lyon, where he was an Eagle Scout. Bruner has a master's in public administration from Wayne State University. He's a board member of the Woodward Avenue Action Association and Michigan Municipal League Foundation. 

For more accounts of where Birmingham's leaders and residents were on Sept. 11, stay tuned for more in our Birmingham Reflects series or check out what residents already had to say.