An Appeal for Transparency - The Ludington Torch2024-03-28T19:42:24Zhttp://ludingtoncitizen.ning.com/forum/topics/an-appeal-for-transparency?commentId=4689834%3AComment%3A1329616&xg_source=activity&feed=yes&xn_auth=noNo need to apologize; Willy,…tag:ludingtoncitizen.ning.com,2021-02-23:4689834:Comment:13298512021-02-23T18:50:37.237ZXLFDhttp://ludingtoncitizen.ning.com/profile/TheLudingtonCitizen
<p>No need to apologize; Willy, if you carefully read my words once again talking about their commitment to principles, you may notice that I was (perhaps clumsily) trying to relate that they have a principled commitment towards bad government policies and acts. The best villains have a principled commitment to evilness.</p>
<p>No need to apologize; Willy, if you carefully read my words once again talking about their commitment to principles, you may notice that I was (perhaps clumsily) trying to relate that they have a principled commitment towards bad government policies and acts. The best villains have a principled commitment to evilness.</p> Here's the relevant part of t…tag:ludingtoncitizen.ning.com,2021-02-23:4689834:Comment:13298502021-02-23T18:46:55.045ZXLFDhttp://ludingtoncitizen.ning.com/profile/TheLudingtonCitizen
<p>Here's the relevant part of the <a href="https://ludingtoncitymi.documents-on-demand.com/?l=935afb222a724d11a47eb72ec45ccf80&r=AB83A7D311CD8C6B712469B296362576&d=9f4febfefc50ea11a2e8000c29a59557" rel="noopener" target="_blank">2-10-2020 meeting minutes</a>: </p>
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<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8589625855?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8589625855?profile=RESIZE_710x"></img></a></p>
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<p>As you can see, they all voted to support Councilor Lenius'…</p>
<p>Here's the relevant part of the <a href="https://ludingtoncitymi.documents-on-demand.com/?l=935afb222a724d11a47eb72ec45ccf80&r=AB83A7D311CD8C6B712469B296362576&d=9f4febfefc50ea11a2e8000c29a59557" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2-10-2020 meeting minutes</a>: </p>
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<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8589625855?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8589625855?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a></p>
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<p>As you can see, they all voted to support Councilor Lenius' and Councilor Miller's false assertion that litigation was unavoidable, Lenius remarked he would like to see me sue the City. Sure, why not Joe, it doesn't cost you any extra time and money to defend you and your peers blatantly violating the OMA twice and not wanting to be held accountable for it. Councilor Serna even went along with it, but she didn't fully understand the issue at the time, having missed the original meeting where the violation occurred.</p> The Council's stand on this m…tag:ludingtoncitizen.ning.com,2021-02-23:4689834:Comment:13296372021-02-23T15:59:28.087ZWillyhttp://ludingtoncitizen.ning.com/profile/willy
<p>The Council's stand on this makes no sense, especially when this is a slam dunk for the peoples right to know. Why ignore the advice of the attorney. Something fishy going on here. Sorry X, I don't believe they are doing this out of their commitment to principles. In fact they are doing just the opposite. Each Councilor who voted for this should publicly give their reasons for doing so.</p>
<p>The Council's stand on this makes no sense, especially when this is a slam dunk for the peoples right to know. Why ignore the advice of the attorney. Something fishy going on here. Sorry X, I don't believe they are doing this out of their commitment to principles. In fact they are doing just the opposite. Each Councilor who voted for this should publicly give their reasons for doing so.</p> It's obvious that they are li…tag:ludingtoncitizen.ning.com,2021-02-23:4689834:Comment:13296152021-02-23T13:42:48.433ZXLFDhttp://ludingtoncitizen.ning.com/profile/TheLudingtonCitizen
<p>It's obvious that they are like me in one way and have a commitment based on principle. My commitment is in seeing that meetings are properly noticed and open to the public, in seeing that closed sessions only occur when it is legitimate to do so, and in seeing that non-exempt public records are shared with the people, their rightful owners. </p>
<p>Their commitment is to the exact opposite, and spending public dollars to defend their antidemocratic and antisocial values. </p>
<p>It's obvious that they are like me in one way and have a commitment based on principle. My commitment is in seeing that meetings are properly noticed and open to the public, in seeing that closed sessions only occur when it is legitimate to do so, and in seeing that non-exempt public records are shared with the people, their rightful owners. </p>
<p>Their commitment is to the exact opposite, and spending public dollars to defend their antidemocratic and antisocial values. </p> Doesn't it just make you wond…tag:ludingtoncitizen.ning.com,2021-02-23:4689834:Comment:13298012021-02-23T12:57:42.567ZFreedom Seekerhttp://ludingtoncitizen.ning.com/profile/FreedomSeeker
Doesn't it just make you wonder why they would go to such extent of costing $$Tens of $$thousands? to defend holding back minutes? What is there to hide?
Doesn't it just make you wonder why they would go to such extent of costing $$Tens of $$thousands? to defend holding back minutes? What is there to hide? Councilor Lenius was the one…tag:ludingtoncitizen.ning.com,2021-02-23:4689834:Comment:13294592021-02-23T05:05:24.583ZXLFDhttp://ludingtoncitizen.ning.com/profile/TheLudingtonCitizen
<p>Councilor Lenius was the one who basically said the 'meter was running' and decided against negotiating a way out of the problem and chose to have me go through the litigation process, but he's not one of the named councilors on the lawsuit (Miller, Bourgette, and Stibitz-Rozelle are). All they would have had to do was provide the minutes of the two unlawful closed sessions, they could have even properly redacted some information from them, but nope they would not do the minimal task of…</p>
<p>Councilor Lenius was the one who basically said the 'meter was running' and decided against negotiating a way out of the problem and chose to have me go through the litigation process, but he's not one of the named councilors on the lawsuit (Miller, Bourgette, and Stibitz-Rozelle are). All they would have had to do was provide the minutes of the two unlawful closed sessions, they could have even properly redacted some information from them, but nope they would not do the minimal task of voting to allow the release of the minutes being that the two sessions were unlawful. </p>
<p>Hubris prevented them from doing the right thing and I hope they gain a little humility when this comes back from the appeals court, because it will likely still have to be litigated more at that point. They fail to realize that the decision they made to force a lawsuit not only wastes a lot of resources for both of us, but makes me even more certain that the council is crooked and keeps me in the game as an adversary rather as an ally for a couple more years at least. </p> What a sad thing that the cou…tag:ludingtoncitizen.ning.com,2021-02-22:4689834:Comment:13294162021-02-22T23:21:53.186ZFreedom Seekerhttp://ludingtoncitizen.ning.com/profile/FreedomSeeker
What a sad thing that the council went against the advice of the new attorney and city manager not to just settle this and release the minutes--and now cost to the taxpayer, or insurance pool, with an extended fight in appeals court. Aren't two of the three councilors that voted to go into closed session gone now (Linius and Henderson-Miller)? Are they still accountable for the vote, if the appeal court finds against them? You have amazing tenacity, X, and I think the new city manager, and…
What a sad thing that the council went against the advice of the new attorney and city manager not to just settle this and release the minutes--and now cost to the taxpayer, or insurance pool, with an extended fight in appeals court. Aren't two of the three councilors that voted to go into closed session gone now (Linius and Henderson-Miller)? Are they still accountable for the vote, if the appeal court finds against them? You have amazing tenacity, X, and I think the new city manager, and attorney respect your knowledge because it seems that they are correcting things you point out, often before it has to go to court. This is smart management, unlike the previous management that seemed to want to cut out the people's tongue, and prove themselves right even if wrong. And too bad Judge Wadel wanted to clean his desk, like just dumping papers in the waste basket.