Let me preface this preview of the upcoming Tuesday election by admitting that it is not totally unbiased, nor is it complete.  Nor does it suggest you follow the author's ideas of what I find negative, positive, or just not all that important in making a choice.  I do strive to offer up any sort of relevant information provided by other sources and add my own prejudices as neutrally as I can.

Scottville

Let's start off in Scottville.  There are two contested races for Scottville City Commission seats.   Nick Cilman and Sue Petipren are facing off for an open full-term commissioner-at-large seat.   Commissioner-at-large Connie Duncil is defending her full-term seat against challenger Edward Hahn.  The local chamber and newspaper held a forum in Scottville, primarily featuring the Duncil-Hahn race, as Cilman was called off on a fire run as a member of the SFD, and Sue Petipren wasn't able to be there. 

Hahn is a former commissioner who had tried to bring some transparency and accountability to the council, Duncil is a loyalist to the Scottville status quo.  If you think Scottville is on the road to ruin if they continue the way they're going, choose Duncil.  If you think things need to be shaken up more, go for Hahn, who at least is willing to offer alternative views to the current stagnant thinking.

In the COLDNews, Petipren and Cilman squared off on issues.  Sue wants to restore Scottville back to what it once was, Nick wants young people in town to get more involved.  Whoever wins will bring a new face to the board, some energy, and a fresh mandate.  I would recommend Sue Petipren because she has been involved with and cares for the community since way back and deserves the chance to show what she has to offer, plus she doesn't have the potential liability of being an active city employee, as Cilman does. 

County and Townships

The County list of contested elections and ballot issues shows that all County Commissioner races have already been decided, as have the uncontested sheriff and prosecutor races.  No judge race is in this election cycle. 

Grant Township has a treasurer's race between Kristen Brandt and Caroline Goodrich.  Brandt is a Democrat and Goodrich is a Republican, her resume looks fairly solid on its face with bank experience.

Pere Marquette Township has a race for four trustees with five people vying for them.  Kmetz, Piper and Nordlund are all incumbents, so choose which one you like least to not vote for if you think a change is needed with the PM Board, or keep all three and decide whether Soberalski or Rasmussen should be the one you don't choose.  Soberalski currently serves on the Zoning Board of Appeals for PM Twp. and leans heavily Democratic, Henry Rasmussen attends most board meetings and leans heavily Republican

Ballot issues in the county include a MCE School District expansion to levy a millage uniformly across their district, which now includes Freesoil, and to deal with their bonded indebtedness.  It seems to fairly allow Freesoil the ability to help pay their fair share for the education of their kids at MCE schools.  The other ballot issue is a one-year renewal of the rural fire millage, needed because of the ballot-wording in the August election leaving a year off.  As this passed easily then, this will also likely pass again with ease, and should.

101st District State Representative

Mason County Commissioner Curt VanderWall and former 101st representative Dan Scripps vie for the spot vacated by term limited conservative Ray Franz.  The two had a spirited conversation on the issues beginning around 1:05:00 into this video of the COLDNews 2016 campaign forum:

You couldn't avoid getting mailers from both of these gentlemen that accuse the other of impropriety and themselves in terms of piety.  The Ludington Torch checked on some of their veracity in Setting the Record Straight on Curt Vanderwall.  Scripps talks a good game, but he maintained at this forum that VanderWall tripled his pay, and that was untrue.  He took a big pay cut, because he had his perquisites replaced with a straight salary.

VanderWall definitely loses the beauty contest between the two, but he's local to Mason County and didn't use the same tactics in return.  I see him becoming a Republican-in-name-only, unlike Franz, but better represents the community of the 101st District.

Ludington

The above video has each of the three contested Ludington races talking about various issues, starting with Third Ward (15:00 in), councilor at large (28:00 in) and mayor (44:00 in). 

Mayor:  If you think the status quo is the way to go, you may have difficulty in choosing between Gary Castonia and Kaye Holman for mayor.  Kaye is currently mayor pro-tem and has used radio, newspaper, and yard signs trumpeting herself, while Gary has not used either, deciding that his name recognition, radio presence, and reputation is enough to get him through.  It will not he will definitely finish behind Holman. 

The unknown factor is the candidacy of Cheri Stibitz-Rozell, who has only emerged in the political scene of Ludington since the Fourth Ward spring stench-storms.  Cheri is very pleasant, has been very good in getting her yard signs distributed throughout the city, is much more youthful than her opponents, and has a policy that may appeal to a greater range of folks. 

Some may perceive that she has a bonus for being a lot like the previous mayor, in that she's a young teacher with Scottville connections and no record to look at, unlike the other two candidates.  Others may perceive this as a negative, since Mayor Cox served only half of a term and hhad his share of private scandalous behavior and quickly became a tool of the ingrained system.  There is no indication that Cheri will have such issues at this point, and she will likely win if Castonia can siphon off enough votes from Holman. 

Castonia's spot on the council will need to be hand-picked by the council if he wins, Holman's seat will be term-limited out.  Vote for the future.  Read also MCP 2016 Mayor Race.

Councilor-at-large

Brandy Henderson is unapologetically progressive and admittedly has a lot of knowledge of the city's inner workings, two things which she touts as virtues.  She also has shown that she has used her position as 'first daughter' of three-term Mayor John Henderson, who found herself in the mayor's Youth Advisory Committee, found many years of employment at the Municipal Marina, found many positions by dint of her connections with Heather Tykoski and Kathy MacLean (and of, course, her daddy) in the Chamber of Commerce, the DDA, and the Ludington Area CVB. 

One can judge her effectiveness at each position using their own yardstick, but it hasn't seemed to work out all that well or for all that long.  One can imagine the former mayor, and her other benefactors through the years will expect her to carry on their agendas, the people should not believe that he would take their agenda seriously if it differed. 

Buskirk's yardstick should reflect his previous stint on the council and his new outlooks nearly 15 year later.  Neither seem to have anything working drastically against him, and sometimes he shows moments of initiative and insight.  His father, the Reverend Wayne Buskirk, allowed his son to develop without all the help that his opponent's father did.  He is more committed to service and less on ideology and inner workings.  Read more at MCP Buskirk-Henderson.

Third Ward Councilor:

This features the city race where the two candidates are most different.  Les Johnson has no qualms about being called a city hall team player, he looks at his loyalty to the city's chosen positions and chief officers as a positive.  He has always followed the recommendations of the city manager and seems not always able to understand what he is voting upon, though he always knows enough to vote to raise revenue for the city. 

This hasn't stopped him from taking advantage of his position at times.  When he owned AJ's Party Port, he would routinely sell hundreds of dollars of Moscato, Brut, and Wine to the Ludington DDA, a public body, to resell at the New Year's Eve Ball Drop events.  Was DDA Secretary Les Johnson putting that fact in the minutes of any of the DDA meetings as he was legally and morally required to do?  Nope, but neither was he doing that when other DDA members were benefitting their businesses with public dollars.

His opponent Tom Rotta, is not perfect, and in full disclosure, I am him.  My positions on public policy can be found in the recordings of the city council meetings of the last five years, it can be found here on the Ludington Torch for eight years.  I stand by it.  Unfortunately, as a citizen I can usually only point to the problems and not be a part of practical solutions, since the officials typically block that from happening.  That will change.  Read more here:  Third Ward Candidates Talk Issues on the MCP

Let's all do our part on Tuesday and begin the process of draining the local swamp:

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I was going to vote for VanderWall until I saw coverage of his recent campaign stop with Governor Rick Snyder.  Snyder's mishandling of the Flint water crisis has caused him to become one of the nation's worst governors.  In fact, his disapproval rating is 63%, which is third worst in the country behind Dan Malloy and Sam Brownback.  Snyder is also listed as one of the worst leaders in the world:  http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/03/michigan_gov_rick_snyde... 

I'm not sure why VanderWall would be campaigning with Snyder.  He is not a popular governor and is the subject of much controversy and criticism.  Seeing his recent photos of him standing proudly alongside Gov. Snyder made me change my vote. 

Good point, you can see that partnership here on TV 9&10, where it tells us that the governor was also campaigning for Jack Bergman.  Snyder, whatever you think of his part in handling of the Flint water crisis, is probably not the best person to be seen with during this election season, as it will probably flip more votes than it gets. 

I more wonder why outgoing conservative Republican Ray Franz has not actively campaigned with or endorsed VanderWall's candidacy, especially with his previous rivalry with Scripps.  It betokens that VanderWall has an uphill battle.

Thanks for the information X. I hope you win the Council seat because you will bring honesty and integrity to a situation that lacks both. The Citizens will be lucky to have you as an advocate and watch dog who will scrutinize the dealings within City Hall. Good luck.

I'm going down to the courthouse now in order to learn my fate...

I'm disappointed with the results tonight, I received under 30% of the vote.  It looks as if Buskirk and Stibitz-Rozell will also falter, but show stronger.  The status quo received a mandate tonight.

Still, I'd rather stand in defeat while standing for something, than stand in victory while standing for nothing. 

And it looks pretty good for Hillary to join me in the loser's column.

Ludington's City Government. Where ethics goes to die.

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