A Time to Run, A Time to Walk

[XLFD]

I'm Running

On Thursday, March 24, 2016, I picked up a nominating petition in order to run for the position of city councilor for the third ward, a position I will run for in earnest against the incumbent, Les Johnson, should he run for re-election as expected (he has also picked up a nominating petition), and any other candidate whose position mirrors compliance with the current regime. 

I do not take this decision lightly; I have no great desire to become a public servant, in many ways I feel that I lack the aptitude for the position.  Yet we have to remember that those we remember as being the founding fathers of our country were essentially non-political outsiders that were pushed too far by the tyranny from afar. 

Another 'rebel' with the same Christian first name as mine, and a last name homonymous with 'pain' (that would be Thomas Payne, for all you Fourth Warders) stated in his preamble to "The Crisis": 

"THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated."

Surely what is happening in Ludington, in mostly piecemeal fashion, is a crisis that affects each of our citizens and property owners.  Freedom is being taken away, money is being unfairly taken away, the spirit of our common citizenry is being drained away, and most alarmingly, our most precious resource, our safety and health, is being compromised by a city management team that would spend millions of public dollars on municipal marina improvements and other whimsical projects while ignoring threats to the public's well-being and keeping up with their duty to maintain basic utilities.  

My pledge is to work to restore freedoms recently taken away by tyrannical city officials, and restore more money back to the public, while sensibly coordinating our city to face the challenges of our until recently ignored infrastructure and stop the neglect, cronyism and corruption that is only getting worse.  Specifics will be provided and I will need your help to overcome inertia.

I'm Walking

Today I did something that was a spur of the moment decision, I joined a marathon walking exercise starting at the West End of Ludington all the way to the outskirts of Scottville, over 8 miles.  I had originally started walking down from the hospital to get a look at a planned walk by Ed Lombard, 60, who lives in the small village of Custer who set out about noon today, March 25, all the while dragging a large, wooden cross and wearing a believable period outfit.

I had walked from the Spectrum Hospital area going west and caught up with them going east at around the downtown Wesco.  Lombard had announced his walk roughly a week ago on the COLDNews, and he had a small contingent of folks traveling with him.  I decided I would walk with him at least back to where I started from, but I wound up traveling the eight miles with him. 

Why did I decide to do that?  I can't totally be sure, but I think there were two reasons involved as to why I wanted to do so, at great pain to my aching feet.  Like Ed Lombard, who normally drives a truck but is a devoutly pious figure who had once hoped to run for governor back in 2010, I thought it was a great way to commemorate Good Friday, a day we usually overlook but perhaps one of the main foundations as to why Christianity is so cherished by many.  What better way to celebrate than to endure a fraction of the pain suffered 2000 years ago.

My second motivation was to make sure he was able to fulfill his quest.  Eight miles carrying a cross is a major task for a stout 60 year old man with occasional joint problems, and the eight or so followers who went with him were teenage girls and older men and women.  I wanted to make sure he was successful, and I wasn't sure there was any others there that would easily bear this burden.  I was willing to emulate Simon of Cyrene and help him out if need be. 

 

Fortunately, he was blessed enough to make the trek without needing any such help.  We made it to Scottville and attracted news reporters from TV 9 & 10 and TV 7 & 4 on the way.  It was fun.

I'm not very pious myself, so someone who knows me pretty good figured out why I may have been encouraged to join this walk.  They said it was a cross between always being there to help when I can, and because of my own identity as a Christ-like figure in Ludington.  I definitely am not near the same level, so they weren't saying I had the ability to walk on water and cure the sick, but that our city officials have acted like imperial Rome in persecuting me through the years. 

Christians often claim that Jesus' message was not political, sticking to the gospel line that jealous Jewish leaders forced Pontius Pilate to execute him for the crime of sedition.  But politics was very much in the words and viewpoints of Jesus, and his words went against the ruling elite of the time.  He wound up being taken to task for it, which is the same thing that has happened to me over the years in Ludington, and will follow most anyone else who believes the words of our city leaders to be blasphemy or lies, of which many are. 

And I have to agree with some of my friend's psychoanalysis, I actually noticed the parallels in both of our fates while on the long walk, and look forward with faith and resolve for the long road ahead to making our city accountable once again to the people. 

[stump]

One would have to wonder if the current council even knows about  section 6.5  Do you think any of them ever did any research on any project that came to a vote?    Seems they just go along what shyster Shay tells them they should vote for. The people voted these councilors into office to do what is best for the citizens and the city. Each and every one of them should ask themselves the question, how is this going to affect the citizens in my ward? how is this going to affect the city?  Shay job description is to do the will of the council not the other way around.

[AQUAMAN]

Who are the two that took out election petitions for the at large position? Also, I think since there have been so many debates this year in the Prez. primaries, why not have some with the current councilors? I am quite sure many would chicken out, due to unfair and unpopular voting against their duties to the infrastructure. Others too have voted for silly ordinances. The ONLY WAY to get this publicized and remembered is to bring those weaknesses up over and over to embarrass them and make the incumbent lose. WMOM's Steve MIller is one that might be contacted for this purpose, and of course a public debate in city park, like the one for the sheriff's office of a few years back, would be needed to get the public out to witness the truth and give input. The LDN can't ignore or twist that around, and neither can Shay sitting on high.

[XLFD]

I welcome debates particularly in September and October, but the amount of debates I attend would be dependent on whether we could get the incumbent to participate, and whether there are more than two in the race.  If more than two people are running for an office, a primary election to narrow the field to two will happen in August, as it did in 2014 with the Circuit Judge and mayor race.  In that case, debates in June/July would be good.

The two at-large potential candidates were landlord Steven Von Pfahl and somebody else whose name I had not recognized.