Marina and the Hendersons

[XLFD]

The Father, The Son, and The Wholly Legal

Back in 2001, I remember John Henderson announcing to the rest of the Ludington Fire Department at a meeting that he was running for Mayor.  I innocently asked him in passing at the end of the meeting about whether he would still be able to serve on the LFD if he got the job.  He was an excellent firefighter, and I was concerned that he might have to resign due to a potential conflict of interest between the two jobs.  At that point he hadn't really considered it, but was going to look into it.
 
He was elected that fall, and it was noted that he definitely had to resign from the County Commission, and eventually it was judged ( by City Attorney Anderson(?)) that he was able to serve on the LFD, but could not be LFD's Secretary anymore.  It seemed reasonable at the time, and I was happy we retained a quality fireman.

But some people were troubled by this aspect.  As Mayor, he exerted employment/disciplinary control over the Fire Chief (his father -in-law) according to the city charter.  The Chief similarly exerted such control over the Mayor who remained a fireman.  Hence, the Mayor/firefighter bossed the Fire Chief who bossed the Mayor/FF who bossed the Fire Chief...  Both are in each others chain of command; meaning if one acts against the other, he has to worry about the other acting against him.
A circularity of power which could go against the public's interest and which Michigan law seems to invalidate by the Incompatible Public Offices Act, which say that one person can not hold incompatible offices as defined by:  Incompatible Offices Def..  State law, however, does offer a proviso for those cities with less than 25,000 people which allows a public employee/official to be a volunteer firefighter and someone who exerts control over the fire department at the same time  MCL 15.183. 

By no means does this relieve the ethical conundrum produced, but it allows the retention of a good firefighter in a small city who just so happens to have political aspirations.  It can, and did, however, invoke a measure of politics into the LFD which were sometimes uncomfortable to the members who joined to put out fires and rescue lives.

Nepotism:  Family Interest over Public Interest

In the above scenario, situations may arise more easily not only due to the incompatible public offices but also due to the close relationship the two share.  The concept of nepotism was part of former Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox's Model Ethic's Ordinances for Local Government   AG of MI Ethics Ord .  Section 2-12 states an Anti-Nepotism Policy:  "

Unless the [name of governing body] shall by a two thirds (2/3) vote, which shall be recorded as part of its official proceedings, determine that the best interests of the [type of unit] shall be served and the individual considered by such a vote has met the qualifications for appointive office or employment, the following relatives of any elected or appointed officer are disqualified from holding any appointed office or employment

during the term for which said elected or appointed officer was elected or appointed: spouse, child, parent, grandchild, grandparent, brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, or the spouse of any of them. This Section shall in no way disqualify such relatives or their spouses who are bona fide appointed officers or employees of the [type of unit] at the time of the election or appointment of said officer to elective [type of unit] office.

  Many Michigan cities (such as nearby Fremont :  Fremont's Nepotism Law) and many other states have solid rules against hiring and appointing relatives.

Private businesses are often run by families, passed down through generations-- so why is nepotism bad in government?  Here's a short list of why, courtesy of City Ethics Expert, Robert Wechsler:

• Nepotism includes many of the basic government ethics issues:  conflict of interest, misuse of office, preferential treatment, and patronage.
• Nepotism undermines public trust by making government look like a family business run not for the community, but for the families in power.
• Nepotism is bad for morale within the government organization. It goes far beyond hiring. It remains a problem every time raises and promotions occur.
• Nepotism and its cousin, hiring friends, are the leading methods of keeping other ethnic and racial groups out of local government.
• Nepotism puts officials in an awkward position when they don't want to hire a relative, but feel it's expected of them. Nepotism laws protect officials as well as the public.

Nepotism also exacerbates problems. A culture of loyalty and secrecy flourishes within families. As does crime. Nepotism in government naturally leads to nepotism in contracting, which means a failure to competitively bid, or bid-rigging. This can cost taxpayers millions of dollars a year. (http://www.cityethics.org/node/811).

 

The Mayor And the Marina

 

Our city code calls for an elected Mayor whose main power is the making of appointments.  The mayor appoints people to fill most all of the boards and committees the City maintains, which are then almost always affirmed by vote of the City Council.  The Municipal Marina Board is one of those, and this board oversees the operations of the Municipal Marina, and meets monthly with the Marina Manager and City Manager. 

I was somewhat amazed to find out (through an FOIA request) that throughout the summer the City Marina has about 13 workers at the marina doing about 450 hours of work each week. This means that there is at least 4 workers there every hour of the week that they are open. 

What do these workers do?  Well, my request had also asked for document(s) that described the job duties that were performed by a certain employee there.  None was provided, although the payroll and other data were.  The marina manager has their job description, but the seasonal help does not.  So last year, over 400 hours each week were paid with public money to these seasonal employees who seem to have no defined job.  Who were these people, and where do they hide when you walk by the marina?

 

 

This is the top part of a sample weekly payroll from last year.  The typical employee went to LHS (not surprising), and if they're old enough will likely be going to college, with GVSU being attended by at least five of them.  If you are at all familiar with Ludington politics, you'll see a lot of surnames that look familiar. 

From what I've gauged through peoplesearch, Allard, Wroble, Britton, and Barnett are offspring of -Wastewater Treatment Supervisor Rob Allard, Public Works Crew Leader Dave Wroble, Building Inspector Ed Britton, and LPD Chief Mark Barnett.  If you check their names out on Facebook, you'll find that most all the MM workers are friends with each other.  You'll also happen to notice that two have the last name of Henderson.  Yes these are two of John Henderson's daughters, Brandy and Chelsea. 

It seemed kind of weird that an equal opportunity employer like the Municipal Marina would be so stocked up with Hendersons and City employee's children, so the last month, before the marina season began, I did some research.  Remember there are at least 12 seasonal jobs available, and I have made some FOIA requests regarding employment at the marina.  Checking the LHS job bank, Michigan Works!, the LDN help wanted ads and the City website, there was no call for seasonal help at the marina. 

Undaunted, the first half of this month, I sent an undercover teen to check at the Marina itself.  I myself had cased the Marina by walking around it four different times during the hours they were open before this.  You would figure there would be staff outside getting the Marina ready.  But even though past year's payroll records indicated there would be 3-4 people around at that time of year, I didn't see anyone outside either time. 

Neither did my help.  They went inside and found one person who I am presuming to be Mr. Christensen, the Marina Manager. They were informed by him that the jobs at the marina were taken for this summer, but they were given an application they could fill out.  It was a generic application form, letting us know that they were an Equal Opportunity Employer.  When asked about the job's duties, it seems they were defined as "to do whatever he or the boaters needed to be done". 

Summary

 

Public employees and officials have a duty to work for the public good rather than use their position for their own-- or their family and friends-- good.  The Municipal Marina Board, complete with City Manager Shay and City Councilor Holman, allow the Ludington Municipal Marina to be guaranteed summer employment for the children of the City's officials/employees and their best friends.  These positions cost the City $70,000 each year.  There was a time when these positions were actually advertised to the public at large and perhaps anybody had a chance at these easy summer jobs; now you just need the proper pedigree.

Our most powerful elected official, Mayor John Henderson, thinks it is fair to be able to control who is on the Municipal Marina Board, have the Board okay the expenditure of nearly $830,000 taxpayer dollars on an unnecessary marina improvement of his devising, and have them hire his daughters (since 2005) without giving you or your children a fair opportunity for employment. 

If so many of Ludington's leaders are able to look the other way at such unfair hiring practices taking place right under their nose, you have to wonder what other evils they can overlook. And what extent is the damage that has been done to the morally good people of City Hall, who have to accept the situation just so they can keep their jobs, or worse, become corrupted themselves by figuring out how to make 'the system' work for them as well.

[Lisa O'Brien]

If the water was included in the rent why would the tenant have to put up a deposit? I can see having a deposit where the tenant is liable for the water bill.

[XLFD]

Not all landlords in Ludington include water in with the rent, those ones who don't pushed for this ordinance successfully. 

Nor do all provide separate water meters for each unit.  For those who do, the $250 deposit comes into effect for renters moving in.  Now, water usage varies due to a variety of factors, but when this ordinance was passed if you consider a family of four uses 600 gallons per day (on nat'l avg.), the water bill would be just over $30 per month.  The deposit is equal to about eight months of use.

Therefore, an individual or couple moving in is paying over a year's worth of water use on this deposit, when they need that money for move-in expenses.  In your neck of the woods, Lisa, utility deposits may be the norm, but our private utilities here do not mandate such annoying deposits unless you're a proven deadbeat already.  See page ten of this:  http://www.consumersenergy.com/uploadedFiles/CEWEB/SHARED/Guide-to-...

  

[Lisa O'Brien]

The ordinance should have been written that whomever is responsible for the water bill (tenant or land lord) pays the deposit, and it should have been based on avg usage and billing cycle.

[Willy]

In a town the size of Ludington there is no reason to require a deposit let alone one that is so high. Most larger communities require a deposit for non payment or a turn off notice. This type of nit picking by Ludington only drives folks out of the community. The City is getting and acting on bad advice from somewhere.

[Edie Lindsey]

I have two different stories on this water deposit that came about two years ago, and my own viewpoint. 

An unmarried couple I know was wanting to move into Ludington a year or so ago.  They responded to an ad for a place they just had enough to move into, but they found out  they needed this deposit.  The guy was really upset with both the landlord and the ordinance that put this unit just out of their reach.  They wound up moving out of state where they have 1.5 good jobs now.

 

A landlord I talked with, not rich, but who owns two rental units, said to me that she was for this at first because she had been stiffed a couple times.  When she explains this deposit to wannabe tenants of quality, it has broke the deal twice for her.   She has a relative living at one of the units, the other vacant.

 

Viewpoint:  private utilities can't mistreat one type of customer (renters) without doing the same for homeowners, condo owners, etc.  You won't see them charging a renter with perfect credit a high deposit, while not charging a condo owner with terrible credit no deposit.  Can they?

 

[Lisa O'Brien]

If homeowners do not pay their bill the city can put a lien on there house - they can not do this with renters. If I was a landlord in the area and coming up with the deposit was deterring renting my properties out, I would pay the deposit myself and have it in the lease that any outstanding water bills would be taken from the security deposit. I am sure this ordinance was put in to effect because there was a large amount of unpaid water bills.

[XLFD]

There was never any deposit before this law was crafted, and it really serves no public purpose other than allowing the city to make up the couple hundred bucks it might lose per year to delinquency whether its justified or not, and make more money than that by retaining forgotten deposits in the long run. 

It really is counterproductive to renting, and just more bureaucracy. 

[AQUAMAN]

Speaking of Britton, his grandson was attempting a B&E last summer on some business property, I caught him and his two buddies in the act. After I found out his grandad was Ed, and he was on Army leave, I gave him a stern sermon and let him pass without 911 action. No doubt Sierra may be a sister or cousin, there are no other Brittons around here, not a popular name like Smith or Johnson.

[Edie Lindsey]

Does anyone know if James Christensen is related to the Jennifer Christensen who works at the City offices? 

The vacuum of morals in Ludington government increases in suction with each of your posts, XLFD, keep 'em coming, and good luck in your quest.

[XLFD]

I suppose someone could ask him/her if they're related.

I received a record for the marina for this year.  Most are return employees, a couple new employees are Mekayla Steckel and Connor Whipple. 

Connor's facebook friends include the City Manager's wife, and the Assistant City Manager, Jackie Steckel.  Mekayla Steckel, I can't find much about her, but something about her sounds familial familiar.

[AQUAMAN]

Sounds like it's obviously a relation/daughter? of Jackie. Now, from the looks of it, there are a whole lotta kinfolk of city officials/employees with kids on the payroll. When the summer fun is over, I wonder how many of the same names are at other agencies/departments of local government enjoying another public trough payroll check, at all our expenses? Like Holman and other CC members say, if you don't like it, why aren't you down here complaining in person to us? Maybe a group needs to be formed for just such needs and actions to counter this "Nepotism gone wild extravaganza" in our faces these days.

[XLFD]

Our last two Attorney Generals (at least) strongly advocate laws to prevent nepotism.  Fremont, Michigan has half of the population of Ludington, and yet has an anti-nepotism ordinance to avoid the conflicts that naturally occur when family and cronies get the nod. 

In one of our FOIA requests we accidently misstated the wrong Henderson girl (of the three that have been employed by the City).  FOIA Coordinator John Shay, our City's chief executive, caught this error and corrected it (much to his credit).  We apologized "... was at fault for claiming the wrong Henderson working for the City in this last request; nepotism does come with its share of problems.  Have a nice day, sir."  

 

He replied simply: "Have a nice day, too."