City of Ludington Protects Poor Navigation by Baby Badger Captain

[XLFD]

On the morning of Tuesday, July 23, 2013, I took a bicycle ride out to the north of Ludington, a not uncommon occurrence in the middle of summer for me.  Shortly after noon, I arrived back in Ludington via North Lakeshore Drive, and cruised through Stearn's Park to check on the beach patrol.  Surprisingly, one was at their post that day.  Not too surprising, they weren't paying much attention to the beach.

 

But after a few minutes of observation, I continued on my merry way to the south side of town, ready to cool down after 35 miles on the road.  I got over to Loomis and took it all the way down to William Street, at which corner I was stopped by a Ludington policeman nearly five years ago when on my bicycle, for 'disobeying a stop sign', an event which many say began my whole brouhaha with the City of Ludington.   I wound up with a civil infraction for the encounter for violation of MCL 257.649.

 

As you can read in that law, it was a violation of right-of-way rules, and yet according even to the officer who wrote me the ticket back in 2008, I violated no one's right-of-way by crossing the clear intersection on my bicycle-- his beef was that I hadn't come to a full stop, whatever that is for a bicycle.  When his boss, Chief Barnett of the Ludington Police Department, related the event to my superiors at the fire department he was keen on using false information to try and make me drop my request for a hearing on the matter, but I didn't,  and I wound up resigning from the Ludington Fire Department due to the hostility in my work environment created by the LPD and others in the local government. 

 

But nostalgia isn't what makes me recount these memories, just to give the casual reader of The Ludington Torch some background into the irony of what happened next on this fair Tuesday.  I turned south up William going past the City Marina, traveling on the road, because a couple vehicles were parked along the west side of the street, and I came to about where the 'A' is on the map below at over 15mph, and I began to put my left arm out straight to signal my intention to turn left on Filer Street.  You will note there is no stop sign at the end of William where I turned:

 

 

At about the same time, a City of Ludington truck was pulling out of where the '1' is, it hadn't looked as if it had come to a complete stop there, nor did I see the driver look my way.  On seeing this, I retracted my arm quickly, so as to be able to brake and/or control my bicycle so as to avoid this vehicle, and I was then approximately at 'B', the truck at '2' position. The driver had glanced over towards the entrance to the parking lot in the lower right corner, but was accelerating towards Filer Street without any indication that he saw me coming.

 

Had I not braked, I would have arrived right in front of his vehicle and would have been ran over in his acceleration.  Had I broke lightly, I would have crashed into the side of the vehicle.  I broke in earnest, and wound up behind the truck, and since there was only a block to the next stop at Rath Street, I was able to catch up with him to make a more positive identification.  For I had seen his profile quite clearly as I was braking to avoid a collision, that would have been caused by him violating my right-of-way, the previously mentioned MCL 257.649.  It was quite clearly, the Ludington Code Enforcer Jerry Welton, you may know him as Captain Jerry of the Baby Badger:

 

 

I know him best as the unyielding code enforcement officer who would not honor the City's commitment to pick up paneling back in 2008, even earlier than the bicycle incident.  But I also know him as the corrupted City of Ludington toady that unlawfully took my election signs off of people's front yards back in 2011 as seen exclusively in the back of the City car he used then: 

 

 

If he was consistent in such enforcement, one may forgive such acts, but he has shown over the last three seasons he isn't.  He was strictly seeking out, uprooting, and taking my signs back to City Hall, where he knew I could not enter.  There's something lacking in his character, which probably makes him an excellent Code Enforcement Officer.  But his driving this last Tuesday, was definitely unlawful; he stole my right-of-way and endangered my life.  Was he under the belief that he was able to drive his vehicle down the street without interference from the laws of the road, as he does when he captains the Baby Badger down a meandering parade route?    

 

 

Reporting the Offense:

 

I took a photo with my phone of the back of the City vehicle that almost hit me, when it stopped at Rath, and then headed home.  Though I was tempted to give Captain Jerry a piece of my mind right then and there, I figured it would be more constructive to report the offense, as I believe he may have become aware of my presence as he was finishing stealing my right-of-way that day. 

 

As I prefer having a record of my contacts with the City, I decided to send off an E-mail instead of talking face-to-face or on-the-phone.  It also would give me time to cool down, because I was still a bit upset that a City Officer who has harassed me before, almost ran me down the day after the Mayor said I had "called out" the area's police.  Could this violation have been the City's way of sending a message to their vociferous critic?  After all, I may have been seen by LPD, the beach patroller, and a DPW guy down at the beach just a few minutes before I was almost capsized by the captain.

 

 

My E-mail was delivered at 1:07 PM that afternoon, sent to LPD Chief Barnett and City Manager John Shay, and related the above series of events in brief detail.  I also asked either of them to interview Mr. Welton for his side of the story, and to get back to me with how they wished to proceed:  whether to charge Mr. Welton with a civil infraction for violating MCL 257.649, or whether they would waive that responsibility.  After getting no reply that day, I sent a follow-up E-mail correcting a mistake I had made in my haste, and again asked for a reply.  After getting none from either source that day or the next, I composed a letter on Friday morning for a FOIA Request (something they cannot ignore without legal consequences) asking for: 

"Unedited Video footage of marina area cameras between Noon and 12:40 PM on July 23, 2013. Particularly, the camera at the entrance to the marina and any camera that would show traffic coming up Loomis or William that borders the marina, and/or West Filer Street."

 

I don't believe there is any camera pointing directly at the intersection, but I do think my bicycle and Captain Jerry's blue City truck will be viewable before we actually almost met.  But even if a stray camera picked up the instants where Captain Jerry almost ran me aground, would we get an ounce of accountability from the Ludington Police Chief for his close ally in enforcement? 

 

 

Chief Mark Barnett can lead the City Council's invocation each meeting, and ask for divine guidance in the way the City is ran, but would he actually listen to it if he did.  I violated nobody's right-of-way or endangered anybody back on August 25, 2008 a block away from where I had my right-of-way violated and my life endangered on July 23, 2013 by a City Official.  Chief Barnett is trying to sweep this under the rug with the same diligence he used back in 2008 to harass a humble firefighter into submission by his lies of what happened in a harmless traffic incident.  What a shameful way to protect and serve the public.

[XLFD]

What makes me most afraid is that they do not consider this worthy enough to respond to promptly, and that their officials/officers are on recent record with slander and intimidation tactics.   With other anecdotal information I've got from others, I am beginning to wonder whether our well-paid police department does anything during the summer other than traffic control for events and harassing the beachgoers.

The link to the law is in the thread head but I had no stop sign while he did and so you probably have an idea how it works, and I wouldn't be surprised if he did overlook me or saw me and misjudged my speed, but the fact was he moved into a section of street I had the right to, and I would have been seriously injured if I hadn't adjusted to events.

[AQUAMAN]

Quit mucking up the waters EyE!

[Willy]

I would go with the idea that he did not see you however it is more likely that he did not look. He was at an intersection where there is only on way to look for oncoming  traffic that would interfere with his progress so it is obvious to me that he did not "look". Anyone driving large equipment must be alert at all times especially in an area with children such as the playground located yards from where Welton was driving his vehicle. This would be a situation where I completely agree with you on who is at fault. I certainly hope he did not intentionally cut you off. If that were the case then we would have an entirely different situation.

[XLFD]

It appeared to me he may have been distracted, and maybe talking on some device, but I only saw the side and the back of his face, he did appear to look up the one lot to the south briefly, but it sure seems as if something is amiss since I've never been contacted back.  I'm going to be taking it up a notch, once more. 

[AQUAMAN]

Ignorance, and old age, Jerry, is not an exception for the laws, as you might enforce on others, but not "YOURSELF"! Welton needs some growing up, and yes, some reflection on his own behaviors. Luna Pier is quite the downstate Detroit town, been there many times to fish Walleye. Great town. Except for Welton the Welshire type, more BS down-state people trying to make themselves a big fish, in a small pond.