Cull Places, pt. 1: Ludington Mayor Barnett Plans Double School Shooting

[XLFD]

Ludington Mayor Mark Barnett was interviewed on WMOM earlier in the same day the deer cull was approved by the city council in October of this year.  Nearly ten minutes into the meeting, he was asked:  "Is there anything that the community should know about (the deer cull), to help prepare them, to help them understand why it's being approached again?"

Mayor Barnett replied:   "I think the City expects its council, its government, its manager, to manage things in the city.  I'm not a deer hunter, but I think, and we're not talking about deer hunting, we're talking about managing the herd that's within the city of Ludington.  I think we've heard-- different 'herd'-- issues of interaction, pets with deer, and it's a public safety issue.  It's not just a matter of car/deer accidents. 

Frankly, it's been my observation, because we have a herd that is routinely around our house, as do most people, where these deer, walk up to the street and they're looking both ways.  If we could teach our children as effectively as these deer have learned to look both ways, we'd be in great shape... so in my estimation, these deer have become citified, the rule or the standard we measure the problem is not measured in car/deer accidents anymore, it's human/deer interactions."

Not a very convincing justification by any means, but during the same interview, City Manager Mitch Foster would admit the City was "staying away from controversial property (like schools in PM Township)" and that the "City is looking for large tracts of land" wherein to conduct the cull.  But it has been Mayor Barnett who has taken the lead in reviving the deer cull, using the political capital he amassed by running a successful 'vanilla versus vanilla' campaign against a reasonable incumbent last fall where the deer cull was not an issue that came up.  

Barnett has taken the lead in getting the deer cull restarted this year, starting with a clarion call at the end of the September 11 council meeting demanding action by the council before November to move a deer cull forward and as seen in the notes of the October committee meeting where he would proclaim that there is no longer any question as to whether a deer cull should be held.  The council would listen, with only Councilor John Terzano disagreeing-- and only because he thought a deer census needed to be held beforehand to measure the program's success, or lack thereof.  

A mayor's actions should be measured by its impact to the community, and whereas critics might suggest the deer cull is costly, inefficient, unsportsmanlike, unnecessary, etc., let's presume that Mayor Barnett's actions throughout the cull's reinstatement were motivated by what he has publicly stated and that his goal is lawfully and selflessly working for the public good.  

Mayor Barnett lives on the NE corner of Tinkham and Lakeshore Drive in a nice brick house on a small tract of land, less than 2/3 of an acre, it's contained within the orange rectangle shown above.  At this point, you might be saying something like "XLFD, first you insinuate the mayor is involved in planning some school shooting in the title, this is after you insinuate in a fractured poem that there is some homoerotic relationship between him and the First Ward councilor when his property is visited by deer management sharpshooters, and now you're showing aerial pictures of his property.  What is wrong with you!"  

As always, I humbly thank you for your patience, and beg for you to have just a little bit more as the points are made.  The poem was satire, making fun of the biggest cull advocates, but it turned out to be prescient of what was going down.  I received a FOIA response the day after the meeting I read the poem, the request was in part seeking work initiation documents (Form 12A) for places in Ludington where this year's version of the deer cull was taking place.  Lo and behold, the mayor's small parcel was one of the six places that had filed WIDs.  

On the map you can see two other small parcels of land being used; the pink rectangle at 606 N. Lakeshore is Patricia Rathsack's parcel, the widow of former First Ward Councilor Richard Rathsack, and the burgundy red rectangle at 601 N Lakeshore is Bruce Lowing's property.  The other three properties will be revealed in part two of Cull Places as they have different problems associated with them.  

Two problems immediately come to mind with any deer cull happening on Mayor Barnett's property.  The first is that he has used his political capital and his position as the primary proponent for the deer cull to push this through the rest of the council, so why hasn't he ever publicly expressed his own desire to have us spend all that public money for at least the next two years to have a cull on his own private property?  That's a glaring conflict of interest that you can have a federal mercenary drive a DPW truck filled with deer carcasses through.  

The second problem is that the hunting ground is just off a state highway and in a mostly residential area.  While one has to believe that his neighbors to the north and west are OK with it as they have filled out their own forms, what about those across the street to the west, not to mention those driving by on the highway or within 20 yards (in football, the red zone) of the shooting if they're driving by on Tinkham. 

And what about to the east where both Barnett and Rathsack abut Oriole Field, owned by the Ludington Area School District (LASD)?  Unless the deer are in Barnett's back yard to begin with, they will either be crossing the streets or the school property to get to the bait piles.  And this proximity to school grounds is the fatal flaw with Mayor Barnett and/or the other two from hosting a deer cull on their property.  

For if you look at Rathsack's WID form, you will see a special consideration that was whited-out on the other two forms (still applicable however), but when you read the fine print you will find that deer culls cannot happen here without approval of the LASD:

It may be hard to read without magnification, but the person agreeing to have a deer cull done is certifying that their land is not in a school zone or has the school's permission to hold one if they are within a school zone.  Federal law defines a school zone as anything within 1000 ft. of school grounds, and legally, Oriole Field property is school grounds.  

The furthest western extent of Bruce Lowing's property is within 600 ft. of Oriole Field, while obviously from the overhead picture, Barnett's wooded area is immediately adjacent to school grounds.  Another ethical question for Mayor Mark Barnett is why did he white-out the special consideration when he should obviously know that anyone shooting deer on his property will run a significant risk of having their bullet deflect onto school property or passing traffic?   And why is he willing to violate federal law and try to cover that violation up for the USDA to come in for his own private service of wildlife management in his backyard?

Lastly, look at what is actually in his backyard:  a swimming pool.  The Google map tells us that the pool is (school) ground zero for the "Lakeshore Swim School".  This is a private school ran by his daughter Marissa.  Miss Marissa claims on her website:  "All lessons are held at a private, heated pool near Oriole Field in Ludington, Michigan."  Miss Marissa won $5000 in last year's Momentum 5X5 Pitch competition, saying she was hoping to make her school a year-round enterprise (this hasn't developed yet).  If a deer cull would happen on this property, it would fall within two school zones and that's the double school shooting mentioned in the title.  

While one might guess that Marissa would let her dad shoot deer on his own property even when it contains her private swimming school's pool, LASD has indicated this year that they will not give approval for deer culls after being sued last year.  Without that formal approval, the three private residences in that area cannot lawfully host a deer cull.   

[Willy]

Excellent article X. What a revelation. Ludington still has a corrupt City Hall the keeps getting put into power. How many times will the foolish voters fall for this kind of deceitful behavior before they get off their keesters and vote in honest politicians. Just amazing.

https://ludingtoncitizen.ning.com/photo/trust-me?context=user

[stump]

 It's really too bad that the majority of the citizens of ludington don't know what's going on. The small amount of views on this revealing information might spread to a few more people but probably won't change anything. The Mayor is a stooge thinking his promoting the deer cull will work by placing his and neighbors property in the mix when it's not because of the school zoning issue. He should be called out for sure and I'm sure X will do that at the next council meeting.

[XLFD]

As you may know, I can only call out for so long before my voice gives away, and if I still haven't been heard, and laws are still being ignored, and lives and property are endangered by so-called representatives of the people, I tend to start writing things down, paying the court clerk her due, and letting judges take a crack at solving the official-created problem.  

They have solved two issues of last year's cull of having the cull happen directly on school grounds and out of the city limits, but they haven't even tried to solve the problems with the original deeply-flawed contract they had with the USDA, and only made things worse in that regard by trying to amend it to include these three private property owners and other places ill-suited for this cull.

[woodsman]

The two kill zones on the east side of Lakeshore Drive just north of Timken is there not a motel the next place north?  People coming and going at all hours of the day and night.  Does seem like the motel would be sounding off about shooting their way unless shooting across Oriole field is a better place for the passthrough or missed bullets to travel.