Ludington settles lawsuit but...

[masonco]

I got this notice on facebook.  Maybe next time settlement should include Ludington publishing an admission of guilt instead of their rebuttal. Hmmm I got a feeling they were whining but waiting to see how coldnews will gloss it.

http://www.masoncountypress.com/2013/01/22/ludington-settles-lawsui...

[Willy]

What kind of legal advice has the City been getting. They continually work contrary to the law and one would think that with the massive legal bills the City has been accumulating over the last several years that the question of how they run the City would have come up. Isn't this why the City has a Manager? Hasn't any of the Councilors asked themselves why they have a Manager that does not know what is required to comply with the OMA. Has any of the Council members asked the question, why they themselves do not know or understand the rules governing the OMA. Ludingtons official need to be schooled in Government 101 because they are costing the taxpayers a lot of money due to their ignorance and incompetence. The citizens of Ludington deserve better.

[XLFD]

As noted in my original thread, Shay and Asst. Mgr. Steckel have over 30 years experience in their field, the sitting councilors at the time had over 30 years of experience in that capacity, and the mayor had ten years behind him as mayor.  All during times when the OMA has been effective and basically unchanged.  This wasn't an accident.  And it is easy to interpolate with their increased protections afforded by their FOIA changes, that it wasn't an isolated incident of iniquity. 

[XLFD]

They just put out there E-version of the facts, pretty much an E-vasion of the facts:

City of Ludington to settle Open Meetings Act case with Rotta, pay attorney fees, court costs

Patti Klevorn - News Editor

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

The city of Ludington did “technically” violate the Open Meetings Act in July 2011 via emails between the city manager and councilors over a sanitary sewer main collapse, City Manager John Shay said at a Ludington City Council meeting Monday.

He was explaining the plan to settle a lawsuit filed by resident Tom Rotta over the issue. The city will pay his attorney fees and court costs for a total of $4,650.

City councilor Kaye Ferguson Holman and Mayor John Henderson commended Shay for the way he runs the city and said this is no reflection on him.

“He looks out for the city’s best interest in all that he does,” Henderson said.

“I did what I did to fix an emergency situation and avoid having sewage back up into people’s homes and have the street collapse,” Shay said.

When the situation arose, Hallack Contracting happened to doing work on nearby Staffon Street and agreed to do the emergency repairs, he said.

Shay emailed councilors to let them know what was happening and some of them replied to him to go ahead with the work. That exchange could be considered a “meeting” or conducting the city’s business outside the public view.

While it was an emergency, there was a council meeting shortly after it came up, during which the issue could have been brought up in public.

City officials said it could have cost more to continue the case in court than settling it now.

http://www.ludingtondailynews.com/news/69069-city-of-ludington-to-s...

See any contrition there by any of these public servants?  No; without any shame, they blamed the whistleblower for costing the City's taxpayers $4650, and were all over themselves in self-congratulatory pablum.  It was all I could do to refrain from laughing about their actions, and crying about the state of politics in my hometown.  The video of that meeting, when available, needs to be required viewing for all citizens of this town.

[Lisa O'Brien]

On the Mason County Press - it also had this statement mentioned (not sure what councilor or public body made the statement)  "“It is unfortunate that Mr. Rotta chose this path to question how it responded to this emergency,” the statement said."

I'm curious what other options did they really leave you - you have 5 minutes to speak at meetings, from what you have said they do not reply to your emails. The way it seems you chose the only path they left you.

[XLFD]

True, and they were even given fair warning of this 'oversight in the public's interest'.  This thread:  o-brother-ludington-city-hall-where-art-thou-ethics was put out on November 1st, not even a troll stopped by at that point to respond, and my lawsuit was not filed until the fifth of November.   It totally chronicles the scheme, which would go on to the long list of other complaints they ignored. 

For the sixth time last night, I publically called John Shay a perjuror, without nary a blink by the 'real' media.  There is conclusive written proof to back that claim.  That should tell you something about what the City Council expects of its City Manager.  And only the City Council can get rid of this burden on the backs of the public.

[AQUAMAN]

This should clearly prove to the good people of Ludington exactly how out of touch, how authoritarian, how arrogant, and how uninformed the City Manager and the Mayor really are! Esp. when it comes to locals infrastructure programs. Not to mention wasteful of taxpayer dollars! But DOES IT? If I'm not mistaken, I believe this same Hallack Co. bid the job earlier at about $10-15K cheaper, but did Shay pay attention? NO! He continued to think it was a future problem that he could tackle at some later date, even after 1-2 residents made complaints earlier. Then claim to the public that's it's a legal problem that is cheaper to settle than it is to fight? Yeah, right, they can NEVER ADMIT FAULT NOR GUILT! How condescending and arrogant. Instead, the CC/Mayor give even more praise to the Shyster Shay, how stupid and ridiculous can you get? That guy doesn't walk on water as they would have us all believe, he's a henchman they hired to squash and conceal the public's business and files to the very end. Wake Up people, Tom Rotta stood up to a vile evil, a lawless City Manager, one whom will continue to evade and deceive at every level and opportunity, as long as no one cares or stands up for justice. BIG CONGRATULATIONS to XLFD for doing the "right thing at the right time". Keep up the GOOD WORK for the "betterment of Ludington's residents, not just the LDN & CC"!