Local Primary Election Results 2016

[XLFD]

Looks like the 'insider' vote broke for Brandy Henderson and the 'outsider' vote went David Buskirk's way.  They both will square off against each other once again in November.  With all wards reporting:

Brandy Henderson 413 (moves on to November)

David Buskirk 261 (moves on to November)

Wally Cain 223

Steven Von Pfahl 109

Two out of three ain't bad.  The charter amendments went down except for a good showing for the budget presentation proposal which passed with nearly 70% approval.  The other two did not miss passing by much:

1 – Change date for presentation of the budget.

yes 782

no   377

2 – Change city manager term to five years.

yes 573

no 598

3 – Provide city manager with authority to spend city funds for emergency repairs without prior council approval.

Yes 559

No 617

With most of the countywide votes trickling in the following candidates are leading by margins too wide to surmount: 

County Clerk:  Cheryl Kelly

Fourth District:  Lew Squires

All Mason County Fire Millages

The Surveyor race is still too close to call, Rex Pope has the advantage at press time, and Curt Vanderwall looks to be crushing his two opponents in the 101st District.

See more up to date results at:  http://www.shorelinemedia.net/ludington_daily_news/news/local/elect...

[Willy]

1. [Budget] Another self inflicted wound by voters. It is troubling that people would give themselves such a short time period to review the budget. It would be interesting to poll them to find out exactly what they were thinking.

2. [ Manager contract] Why was this such a close vote?  I guess half the people don't understand what Shay and his buddies were trying to do in putting this on the ballot.

3. [ Emergency repairs] I'm glad this proposal failed but again, what were the people who voted for this thinking. The yes voters were voluntarily willing to relinquish accountability regarding how their tax dollars are spent.

I don't want to insult people but for God's sakes when half the population is willing to allow elected and appointed Government officials the ability to navigate around the voters and side step important oversights that all citizens should be concerned with then you have to wonder are half the people ignorant or just plain stupid.

[Brad]

It's the "low information voter" disease.  Or really just do not care (like with WES).

1- Trying to think this backwards, I still can't think why any one would vote for this.  People want to vote in something?  They come to vote for candidates only so vote yes just cuz?  Or they think it doesn't matter when? (other then to council and CM that want ignorant citizens)

2- Close because they think the council cares, so if council forwards to election, the city needs it..?  5 Years is stupid and I can not for the life of me figure why this seems acceptable, when most Americans are against the establishment.  Even POTUS maybe should only 4yr then 2yr terms.

3- As I've said before, I thought this is one that would pass, as I thought maybe people would see "emergency" and think that the city wouldn't actually fix anything without a meeting.  

[XLFD]

The vote percentages for each proposal was 67%, 49%, and 47% respectively.  I was hopefully projecting the same eventual 'yes,-no-no' results but was thinking the votes would be around 10% lower in each.  My thinking is that the primary polls brought out a higher percentage of those who would favor such things, others stayed home.  And when you see that less than 1200 people in Ludington voted, you'll note that a lot of them stayed home.

On analysis, Councilor Krauch was dead right in keeping the clerk/treasurer appointment proposal off the ballot because these results for these three would have likely went to my original projected levels dues to the voting down of that one proposal.  These three proposals didn't really affect the casual voter, and the apathy helped them do as good as they did despite the negative consequences apparent when you think about them. 

In retrospect, however, this result is amazing once you look at all the council meetings where these proposals were touted by each and every councilor and other officials as great things, and explained how each would be great if passed.  At each meeting they were explained, the COLDNews would print the official's positive comments for them in the meeting recap.  

When the COLDNews explained these proposals in supposedly a 'fair and balanced way' they only printed the official line on how these would be beneficial, the last recap of these proposals telling us rather one-sidedly to vote for them:

"The explanation about changing the date by two weeks is that it will allow city officials more time to learn the Consumer Price Index number that is used in determining expected revenues before completing the budget. The CPI number usually is known by late October or early November."

"The council’s explanation for the proposed change is that the one-year term may discourage qualified applicants from applying for the job because few people would want to risk switching jobs, moving to Ludington and buying a home if they are only guaranteed one year of work.  However, even if the term is extended to five years, the council may still terminate the city manager’s contract at any time.  A severance package, in the case of termination, would be agreed upon by the council and city manager candidate prior to hiring and would usually be six to 12 months."

"The proposed change would clarify that the city manager can spend money on emergency repairs in excess of the dollar amount limit if he notifies the council of the need for the expenditures.  The explanation for the change is that it clarifies that the city manager has the right to spend money on emergency repairs — such as broken water or sewer lines — without prior city council approval."

A supposedly unbiased newspaper with a supposedly unbiased article on election proposals allows the city council to market them unabashedly, using non-factual data from the goons who forced the proposals down our throats in the first place.

[XLFD]

Supplemental results show that Rex Pope will be the next Mason County Surveyor and that the County Clerk race was won by incumbent Cheryl Kelly with 73% of the vote over challenger Mary Alway.  The clerk race shows the power of incumbency, while the surveyor race shows that a non-incumbent can make inroads if they are able to present a narrative to explain why the current incumbent is not doing the job. 

Mary's primary failing was trying to win by primarily telling us of her experience and qualifications, without giving a compelling reason as to why Cheryl Kelly wasn't as qualified or experienced.  Rex Pope came off as energetic and an agent of change towards the better.  He attacked the status quo and detailed what he would do differently and how it would affect the county in a better way.  He was rewarded for his ability to distinguish himself from the incumbent with a victory. 

[AQUAMAN]

Hmmm, severance pay for Shay? 6-12 months, or Years? Let's FOIA that question too, or get surprised later?