Ludington City Council Meeting, June 23, 2025: Ten Reasons Why You Should Hate City Hall (in one meeting)

[XLFD]

The agenda packet of the Ludington City Council's last regular meeting before Independence Day on June 23, 2025, didn't give much hint of how repressive our local government has been over the last three years, but fortunately the council's actions, words, and the voice of the citizens displayed it perfectly.  

Among officials, the only absence was of LPD Thief Christopher Jones, replaced by Sergeant Jason Smith, the only addition was of Treasurer Renee Caithamer, who was there to address council questions about changes proposed to the city's credit card policy (there were none asked).  These changes were predicated by my findings that city hall wasn't following their own policy passed back from the last millennium.  

In true 2025 city hall corrupt fashion, their modification of the policy was to allow for city officials to continue violating using public credit for unofficial purposes, and to do it without fear of sanctions from their fellow officials.  While I would make this point in my second comment, my first would address their attacks on private businesses that happened at the end of the last meeting and their ongoing assault against the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA):

XLFD:  "I used to think I was special before the last meeting.  At that meeting, Councilor Sti-bitch led the city's retaliatory gaslighting campaign against local private marinas, otherwise known as the city's competition for their two largest enterprise funds outside of public utilities.  Unfair competition, since private marinas have to pay property and gas taxes and cannot receive grants; this allows the two public marinas less overhead, the ability to make obscene profits when selling gas, and be eligible for $1.5 million grants as they hope for this year.  That isn't enough of an advantage, they are now trying to criminalize private marina behavior, but not similar behavior by the general public, and defame one uppity marina through gaslighting techniques that the mayor is well known for applying to me when I've tried to have the city reform its unethical or illegal policies.  I see I'm not just a special case, anybody who regularly calls city policy out for what it is can get the same treatment.  

You'll see another of my FOIA appeals are up for consideration; since I don't see any defense in the packet, I will have to guess you may want to delay your duty until your next meeting.  Surprise, the next scheduled meeting of the council is three weeks from today.  So unless you are planning to hold a special meeting, if you don't consider it today, you will have failed your duty and make me file another FOIA appeal to the circuit court.  It's really not that difficult to find for me, if your judgment was pure.  The FOIA response indicates zero exemptions in the records requested, as you might expect for a mix of invoices and emails between the LPD and a non-profit agency formed to support the LPD.  

Yet, for some reason, I am being charged for up to 89 minutes of administrative effort in having exemptions separated out of the record, where none is claimed and none is to be expected.  The FOIA estimation worksheet I was supplied has never been approved by this council, violates the FOIA, and I am once again the target of attempted public extortion by this public body.  Why isn't there one amongst you that will stand up against illegal acts by your attorney and police thief?  [END comment]  

By the end of the meeting, our officials showed that they do indeed have a special place in their heart for me for going after my apparel, again, and rejecting my FOIA appeal without any attempt to figure out why no exemptions were claimed, but it would take 89 minutes to edit exemptions out.  What is crazy is that the city spent thousands of dollars to recently be trained on the FOIA and they still have almost zero knowledge of their duties under FOIA and the law itself.  They would rather put records that would show their police thief acted improperly behind a paywall and make any reasonable attorney see that their actions are the classical example of public extortion.

The 'uppity' marina owners were present, and they would also speak at the front and end of this meeting.  Jeff Henry spoke of his revealing visit to the Waterways Commission, where he found that the city's idea that they have a $1.5M grant from the Waterways Commission was not yet a reality, and may be curtailed before October when such grants are finalized.  He asked what the city will do if it's not.  Ray Karboske related history of marinas in the city and his marina's part in responsibly getting rid of fish offal, and his surprise at the city threatening him with crimes if he should use their facilities in the future.  

Daniel Jensen would finish off the initial comments by stressing his concerns with contamination from the old Biological Station, a reasonable concern since the watershed is within the city even though the facilty is in PM Township.  TFM's toxicity to humans and the food chains has not been investigated very much.  We at the Ludington Torch are fully behind Jensen's call to the drain commissioner to look at this issue better than it has been.

Chris Nicholas was scheduled to present an update on how Gus Macker went and how it will go in the future, but he was not able to make it.  A public hearing on the topic of letting the DNR make regulations regarding navigation in the PM Harbor was opened so that any local or state agency could enforce them, rather than just the city.  This was passed unanimously with no discussion among councilors.

The credit card passed without any discussion other than Councilor Winczewski telling me how offensive my shirt was, and how she wanted to thank me for alerting them to their needing a new policy (in order to cover up their past violations of their old policy-- not said) but couldn't because my shirt was just so offensive.   

As I've explained before, my shirt does not only reflect my relief that an assassin's bullet mostly missed the target last July 13 in taking out the current president, but my own relief that the contracted killers of the City of Ludington missed me on March 12, 2024 when they started shooting without warning in broad daylight when I was still in Cartier Park.  I wear this shirt to commemorate two miracles that saved the lives of two government reformers, not to hurt the delicate feelings of corrupted city officials who don't understand the First Amendment.

Despite Mr. Henry's warning, the city approved a professional services agreement for engineering at a cost of $68,311 with Prein & Neuhoff for the Harbor View Dock A project.  They also appointed Clerk Deb Luskin and Jen Christensen to be the city's alternates at the MERS meeting.

As noted, they rejected the FOIA appeal for invoices and emails between the LPD and the Friends of Ludington Police (FOLP).  While the city repeatedly validates its policies of using the credit cards and the general fund for K-9 expenses on the basis that the FOLP has paid into the general fund before those purchases were made, they have yet to show any proof of it.  As such violation is an incredible abuse of the public trust and illegal use of public funds, an unwarranted paywall has been erected to hide the decadence.  The city attorney would say that there could be valid redactions, but he couldn't indicate anything other than "donations and donors may have privacy concerns". 

We have never heard of a donation having the right to privacy, that Goodwill shirt I bought the other week didn't know of any.  When we get these records in the future without illegitimate fees applied, we will find that the police thief and city manager have been lying all along about the general fund being intermingled with the K9 fund and their unlawful use of city credit.  

I was almost denied the right to comment a second time.  At 1:04 in Mayor Mark Barnett made a declaration:  

"Mr. Rotta, you have had an opportunity to two of those three times and coming up, we've had some... when I saw you come in the shirt you are wearing today, in a couple different ways, it's vulgar, and your response was equally vulgar.  When you had Ms. Winczewski ask you to turn your shirt inside out, you had an opportunity, you had two opportunities to... two opportunities for public comment and you'll have a third one assuming you can remove what's clearly offensive to at least one of the women here on the dais; so we'll open it up for public comment, I want you to know that I'm not going to recognize you unless and until you turn your shirt inside out so that we can proceed."

If you are acquainted with basic civil rights, you recognize this as a government agent using their power to restrict a person's freedom of speech at a public forum.  Fortunately for them, City Attorney Hammersley reined him in almost immediately by saying:  "Your Honor.  Respectfully, I think we'd be infringing on the right under the Open meetings Act".  Hizzoner would acknowledge that begrudgingly but then display his antipathy towards free speech while giving us a lecture on respect and free expression:

Barnett:  "But I will tell you Mr. Rotta, it was vulgar to see, as Ms. Winczewski told you, to see, it was offensive to her, it was offensive to me to see how you reacted and laughed in her face.  So once again, I think it's important that we treat each other with respect and it is vital for all to have the opportunity to express their opinion and talk about things, and freely speak about things-- but to bring a foul gesture, an offensive caricature and point it directly at each one of us, and certainly the four ladies up here having to look at it, one of whom has indicated that it is offensive to them, and I think for you to laugh in their face, I think is despicable."

I was chided twice for laughing in Councilor Winczewski's face, but when one goes back in the tape to the thirty-minute mark, one finds that both she and I were seated in our respective chairs throughout her diatribe on my shirt.  I wish she would be so offended when city officials misused the credit cards for years costing the public tens of thousands of dollars.  If I laughed, it was suppressed mirth I had due to her presumptiveness about telling me what to do with my shirt.

I had enough to address in my second comment without dignifying this attempted assassination of my rights, because once again, they missed the target and looked reckless in the try.

XLFD:  "An updated credit card policy is nothing if you regularly choose to violate it and look the other way.  "Credit cards be used only... for the purchase of goods and services for the" official business of the city."  says the old and new policy and yet these public credit cards have been used to order Hungry Howie's for ZBA meetings, regularly catering police meetings by Jamesport Brewing, buying veterinary services nearing $2500 supposedly for a K-9 unit we were told would be fully supported by the FOLP, not the taxpayer's credit. 

Even in this pay period, the general fund card purchases contained over $100 for Sportsman's Bar and Jamesport Brewing "meeting" expenses.  Each one of you hypocrites violate the state constitution you have sworn an oath to uphold and defend every time you approve of these criminal acts.  How many years have I been pointing this out?  You guys are filthy to your core because you keep doing this then raise our taxes each of the last two years by $300,000 each year to support your sick habits of stealing from the taxpayers. 

I'd also like to know, why does the city attorney, who bills monthly, get paid three months at this particular time and why does the city not tell us what property it is thinking of purchasing rather than just go into closed session without telling the public about its location.  You have the power to go into closed session to discuss price and other matters, but why can't you tell us what land you are interested in?"  [END comment]

These are uncomfortable questions of course, but there would only be one attempt to answer the one about city attorney billing after the closed session was over.  He said it was because the bills had been left unpaid over the last three months.  What wasn't explained was why was the city two months in arrears, as the contract between the city and the Sewage law firm clearly delineate monthly billing and payment procedures.  

In other comments, Ray Karboske would explain how they brought the current fish gut removal service to town, how the collection system was set up to most efficiently use the service, and why the past system worked best for the contractor, rather than having them make stops at all marinas.  Jeff Henry explained how wildly inflated numbers of future recreational boats by the DNR led to their policy to build public marinas in cities where they felt marina coverage was needed.  Daniel Jensen followed up on the PM contamination issue, staying on point for the third time at this meeting.

The meeting showed how poorly the city is currently being ran in multiple ways, the top ten:

1) Adopting a newer credit card policy that overlooks the violations and excesses of the past and sets up a greater potential of fraud and abuse in the future.

2) Denying a FOIA fee appeal for records that would likely show illegal use of public money.

3) Believing a rationale that it would take 89 minutes to redact records with no exemptions claimed.

4) Discussing purchase of property in closed session w/o indicating what property it was.

5) Approving an engineering contract for a project that might lose $1.5M in state grant funding.

6) Ignoring calls to monitor contamination of the PM Lake Watershed

7) Ignoring continued abuses of the city's credit card for restaurant and other unqualified purchases.

8) Breaking the employment agreement between the city attorney and the city w/o any reason why.

9) Continuing an unwritten policy that would criminalize business owners for using public facilities.

10) Eschewing the First Amendment and the OMA because a cotton t-shirt offended them.

This is your Ludington City Council in the middle of 2025, and it's completely embarrassing and disgraceful.  By the way, I did turn my shirt around while the closed session took place, in order to please "my masters".  But I sat with my back to the dais for the rest of the meeting.

[stump]

Rotta, your just a bad boy. LOL

[XLFD]

It's true, and I'm only 34 felonies behind another disruptor on a larger scale.

[Daniel Jensen]

Mid 2025 is shaping up to be a real scorcher for the 4th of July in ludington. Will there be fireworks? I'm sure there will be. Q is.. how many are there and long will they last? We'll have to wait and seat.