Commissions of Sins, 2012 Edition: Still Sinning - The Ludington Torch2024-03-29T13:42:30Zhttp://ludingtoncitizen.ning.com/forum/topics/commissions2?commentId=4689834%3AComment%3A60187&feed=yes&xn_auth=noSmart observation, Verdad, ho…tag:ludingtoncitizen.ning.com,2017-04-27:4689834:Comment:3443892017-04-27T13:44:46.291ZXLFDhttp://ludingtoncitizen.ning.com/profile/TheLudingtonCitizen
<p>Smart observation, Verdad, however some of these boards and committees are formed because state law says they must exist in some form, like a Planning Commission, Board of Review, etc. A DDA must have its own governing body. Other mundane boards like the Cable Advisory Board, Parks Advisory Committee seem redundant, but are probably formed in order to qualify for state/federal funding or grants. </p>
<p>The five committees of three council members each are all supposed to be advisory…</p>
<p>Smart observation, Verdad, however some of these boards and committees are formed because state law says they must exist in some form, like a Planning Commission, Board of Review, etc. A DDA must have its own governing body. Other mundane boards like the Cable Advisory Board, Parks Advisory Committee seem redundant, but are probably formed in order to qualify for state/federal funding or grants. </p>
<p>The five committees of three council members each are all supposed to be advisory boards, however, what tends to happen is that they do all of the talking amongst themselves, formulate plans, and then send it upward without the issue being seen by the public until it has already been molded by a handful of city officials in private. They can shut the public out of these committee meetings, they do not need to keep minutes (though they generally do, and they are available through FOIA), and if you do show up, they don't need to let you talk. </p>
<p>The only one I have attended (other than the June 2015 one where they invited all the Ludington landlords in to discuss rental inspection) was last September; they discussed my request to have a campaign campfire down at the beach without asking for any more input from me. Shortly after that, the chairman of that committee Mike Krauch, Shay and Chief Barnett, revealed their records of their investigation into some less-than-provocative speech in this forum, recounted here at <a href="http://ludingtoncitizen.ning.com/forum/topics/threatening-times-in-ludington" target="_self">Threatening Times</a>. All three were present and acted like little kids when giving me (and other media leaders who never made formal FOIA requests) my FOIA request concerning their investigation of nothing.</p> And your OK with that?tag:ludingtoncitizen.ning.com,2012-01-31:4689834:Comment:603962012-01-31T05:13:37.293ZMarty Redmanhttp://ludingtoncitizen.ning.com/profile/MartyRedman
<p>And your OK with that?</p>
<p>And your OK with that?</p> hi ideals sound great on pape…tag:ludingtoncitizen.ning.com,2012-01-29:4689834:Comment:604922012-01-29T18:27:20.137ZHeaven Therzkehttp://ludingtoncitizen.ning.com/profile/HeavenTherzke
<p>hi ideals sound great on paper or on the moniter but the other side has compleat control over the low ideals. counciler johnson will keep all his hats. there law is to do the exact oppisite of what you point out.</p>
<p>hi ideals sound great on paper or on the moniter but the other side has compleat control over the low ideals. counciler johnson will keep all his hats. there law is to do the exact oppisite of what you point out.</p> Keep your eyes and ears open,…tag:ludingtoncitizen.ning.com,2012-01-29:4689834:Comment:601872012-01-29T04:23:42.737ZXLFDhttp://ludingtoncitizen.ning.com/profile/TheLudingtonCitizen
<p>Keep your eyes and ears open, Willy, and report what you see here. I will probably have to be scaling back my postings here due to not having enough time to do research beyond what I need to do to see that the local governments do their job according to their oath of office, serving the public they receive all of their power from, not using that power as a club on the public. </p>
<p>If you want to stay apprised of current court events, look to the sidelines in the "City is 2 Damn Corrupt…</p>
<p>Keep your eyes and ears open, Willy, and report what you see here. I will probably have to be scaling back my postings here due to not having enough time to do research beyond what I need to do to see that the local governments do their job according to their oath of office, serving the public they receive all of their power from, not using that power as a club on the public. </p>
<p>If you want to stay apprised of current court events, look to the sidelines in the "City is 2 Damn Corrupt Movement" group. I think it's mostly too dry for the general forum.</p> I think you should do both. R…tag:ludingtoncitizen.ning.com,2012-01-26:4689834:Comment:601582012-01-26T02:43:43.238ZWillyhttp://ludingtoncitizen.ning.com/profile/willy
<p>I think you should do both. Report on the ulawful actions and send the information to those whose duty it is to see that laws are enforced. Good job.</p>
<p>I think you should do both. Report on the ulawful actions and send the information to those whose duty it is to see that laws are enforced. Good job.</p> This year, I made a resolutio…tag:ludingtoncitizen.ning.com,2012-01-26:4689834:Comment:602582012-01-26T01:04:48.910ZXLFDhttp://ludingtoncitizen.ning.com/profile/TheLudingtonCitizen
<p>This year, I made a resolution to not only report on the unlawful actions of our City and County officials, but to do what I could do to have justice and the law win out over conflicts-of-interest and unlawful behavior. To this end, I sent the following to Prosecutor Paul in order to get some attention to the topic. I will let him have a few weeks to act on or ignore it and then I will send the CC-ed Attorney General of Michigan some more hard copy if the PA boots it. AG Schuette will see…</p>
<p>This year, I made a resolution to not only report on the unlawful actions of our City and County officials, but to do what I could do to have justice and the law win out over conflicts-of-interest and unlawful behavior. To this end, I sent the following to Prosecutor Paul in order to get some attention to the topic. I will let him have a few weeks to act on or ignore it and then I will send the CC-ed Attorney General of Michigan some more hard copy if the PA boots it. AG Schuette will see a lot from this postmark this year, I predict.</p>
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<h3 class="details"><strong><em><a title="Click to search for messages with same subject">Incompatible Public Offices</a></em></strong></h3>
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<strong><em><span class="lozengeContainer"><span class="btn lozenge small left right">From: <a title="tomrotta@rocketmail.com" href="http://36ohk6dgmcd1n-c.c.yom.mail.yahoo.net/om/api/1.0/openmail.app.invoke/36ohk6dgmcd1n/9/1.0.35/us/en-US/view.html#">Tom Rotta</a></span></span></em></strong></div>
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<dt id="hdr-to" class="hdr-info"><strong><em>To: </em></strong> <strong><em><span class="lozengeContainer"><span class="btn lozenge small left right"><a title="prosecutor@masoncounty.net" href="http://36ohk6dgmcd1n-c.c.yom.mail.yahoo.net/om/api/1.0/openmail.app.invoke/36ohk6dgmcd1n/9/1.0.35/us/en-US/view.html#">prosecutor@masoncounty.net</a></span></span></em></strong></dt>
<dt id="hdr-cc" class="hdr-info"><strong><em>CC: </em></strong> <strong><em><span class="lozengeContainer"><span class="btn lozenge small left"><a title="Les22j@frontier.net" href="http://36ohk6dgmcd1n-c.c.yom.mail.yahoo.net/om/api/1.0/openmail.app.invoke/36ohk6dgmcd1n/9/1.0.35/us/en-US/view.html#">Les22j@frontier.net</a></span> <span class="btn lozenge lozengeadd right small btn-kiosk-addcontact"><a title="Add to your Contacts"> </a></span></span></em></strong></dt>
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<div class="flag" title="Click to flag email for follow up"><strong><em>Tuesday, January 24, 2012 3:57 PM</em></strong></div>
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<div id="yiv891763084"><div id="yui_3_2_0_1_132753901933287"><div style="background-color: #fff; font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif; color: #000; font-size: 12pt;" id="yui_3_2_0_1_132753901933286"><div><strong><em>I am bringing forth a complaint of a violation of the Incompatible Public Offices Act (MCL 15.181, et. seq.) by Ludington City Councilor Les Johnson. To remind you “Incompatible offices” means public offices held by a public official which, when the official is performing the duties of any of the public offices held by the official, results in any of the following with respect to those offices held:</em></strong></div>
<div><strong><em>(i) The subordination of 1 public office to another.</em></strong></div>
<div><strong><em>(ii) The supervision of 1 public office by another.</em></strong></div>
<div><strong><em>(iii) A breach of duty of public office.</em></strong></div>
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<div><strong><em>On the 1-9-2012 Ludington City Council Meeting: <a href="http://www.minutesondemand.com/data/ludingtoncitymi/files//cou-regmin-01092012_20120115124856.pdf.dir//January%2009,%202012%20City%20Council%20Regular%20Meeting%20Minutes~50764.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span id="lw_1327539092_0" class="yshortcuts">http://www.minutesondemand.com/data/ludingtoncitymi/files//cou-regmin-01092012_20120115124856.pdf.dir//January%2009,%202012%20City%20Council%20Regular%20Meeting%20Minutes~50764.pdf</span></a> LCC's Les Johnson is noted as being appointed <font size="2"><font size="3">to the Board of Review in the middle of p.4: "</font><font size="+0"><font size="3">Moved by Councilor Castonia, seconded by Councilor Taranko, to approve the appointment to the Board of Review for 2012. Councilor Johnson abstained from vote due to conflict of interest. Motion Carried</font>. "</font></font></em></strong></div>
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<div><strong><em><font size="2"><font size="+0"><font size="3">Abstaining from the vote, does not lessen the fact that he is on the Board of Review which is subordinate to the City Council. In that regard, the City Charter says in section 9.3: "<font size="+0">The Board of Review shall consist of five (5) electors of the City who, at the time of their appointment, are neither elected nor appointed officials of the City. They shall be appointed annually by the Mayor with consent of Council..."</font></font></font></font></em></strong></div>
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<div id="yui_3_2_0_1_132753901933293"><strong><em><font size="2"><font size="+0"><font size="3">But I am not asking you to enforce our City's ordinances, which the City Council and Manager have no interest in so doing, I am asking you to enforce this as per state law MCL 15.184: "a prosecuting attorney may apply to the circuit court for Ingham county or to the circuit court for the county in which the alleged act or practice in violation of this act is alleged to have occurred or in which a party to the alleged violative act or practice resides, for injunctive or other appropriate judicial relief or remedy." -- if the party guilty of this offense, Les Johnson, does not voluntarily give up this office immediately, and admit to wrongdoing in the acceptance of this office unlawfully. Note also that LCC Johnson is a member of the Downtown Ludington Board which is also supervised by the Ludington City Council. Even though this also functions as the City's DDA, which allows dual membership in the City Council, it is a separate entity from the DDA, and his membership in the DLB should be terminated by the Incompatible Offices Act as well. Thanks for your taking action on this matter, that is in the public interest of good governance by reducing the appearance of conflicts of interest.</font></font></font></em></strong></div>
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