The Place Where Ludington Talks
May Day, Mayday, May Day, Shay Day
Today is May 1, and many of you may (no pun intended) be familiar with being an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and a traditional spring holiday in many cultures. It may be best known for the traditions of dancing around the maypole and crowning the Queen of May. Happy May Day.
In contrast, the one word Mayday repeated three times is used to signal a life-threatening emergency primarily, traditionally used by aviators and mariners, but also adopted by other emergency responders like firefighters and police. It's origins come from France, the word being a shortened version of "venez m'aider" (meaning "come and help me").
May Day also has a more recent meaning as a day being celebrated. On May 1, 1886, after unions called for better working conditions that were not met, more than 300,000 workers in 13,000 businesses across the United States walked off their jobs in the first May Day celebration in history. Over time it became International Workers' Day and ironically, this version of May Day is an official holiday in 66 socialistic countries and unofficially celebrated in many more, but rarely is it recognized in this country where it began.
Yet the irony doesn't end there. during the Eisenhower Administration in the midst of the Cold War with the Soviet Union, the federal government effectively pre-empted the communist and anarchist inspired date by stamping May 1st as Law Day, a day to celebrate the role of law in the foundation of the country and to recognize its importance for society.
Which all brings us to today, May 1st, in the City of Ludington, which has it's own celebration of May Day. You probably missed the notice in the March 4th edition of the City of Ludington Daily News (COLDNews), which I have reprinted below with my own highlights. This notice, tucked away below the obituaries, tells us the City of Ludington or it's contractor will enter your property and cut the grass if they notice it is higher than 10 inches.
The ordinance referred to does not mandate the City to notify you that your grass is high before they trespass on your property, cut the grass, and charge you a small fortune for the deed. It only requires the City to post this notice in the COLDNews in March, when your lawn is covered with snow and ice.
Prior to this change made about a year ago by a power-happy city council, the City had to notify you in person or by certified mail to correct your tall grass. If you didn't timely correct the problem the City could then come in and cut the grass. This is the proper procedure, this satisfies the due process requirement for the government to enter your property and charge you for work you may have never sanctioned.
Let's be clear, there are people who do not cut their grass as often as their city or their neighbors would like, people who regularly push the limits of what is socially acceptable. There should be a way to deal with these folks, without trampling over their lawns and rights. The older rules, respected that, and allowed those offenders to know when they erred. The new rules are a potential cash cow for the City, snuck into the tax bills, a discrete revenue generating scheme made appealing to the city council by City Manager John Shay with help from Attorney Dick Wilson.
As the notice says, from here, May 1st, until the rest of the summer, if you let your grass grow above the 10" mark, you will have the city or its agents invade your curtilage, notice any other violations they may witness while cutting your lawn, then attach the bill to your ever increasing tax bills. Too bad you cannot load up your mower and do the same for their properties which do not comply.
May Day, Mayday, May Day,
A springtime festival for the City of Ludington, a distress call for the citizens of Ludington,
A defective anti-Constitutional socialism-inspired ordinance imposed beginning on Law Day.
May Day, Payday for Shay Day.
Views: 697
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by jfc123 on
-
Interesting! We have social media now, everyone has a phone with a camera. Take a picture when the city is not in compliance! Post it, here or concerned citizens Ludington on facebook. It is time to stand up for everyone's rights!
Strength is in numbers and we need to multiply asap to get a new 3rd ward council and things corrected in the 4th ward! Not worrying about a stupid West End project when so many in the 4th ward are suffering!
-
Permalink Reply by XLFD on
-
The West End Project or West End Scheme as shinblind calls it, as well as all actions by our city leaders involving the WWTP, the PM Bayou, rental inspections, oppressive grass, junk and fire ordinances all point to an unaccountable group of Ludington leaders, looking at using your tax dollars to fund funky projects and policies while the basics and your basic rights are being ignored. It is worth not just focusing on one of these facets of bad government without considering the interconnectability of the others showing our leaders' malfeasance.
I welcome the extra prong of community involvement that the Fourth Warders are bringing to the table, and encourage them to remain active and seek information from all relevant agencies in correcting their issue of noxious gases, because you know the city will get on their case for noxious weeds and grasses on their lawn.
-
Permalink Reply by shinblind on
-
It is a War not a Battle jfc
Winning the West End Scheme or the Battle of PM Bayou or Bowling/Subway Block aka the BS Scheme mean little if the corruption at the top is allowed to continue.
Victory will be ours only when voter apathy ends and the current City Council is replaced with enough members to kick the City Manager to the curb.
Only then will real change begin.
-
-
Unfortunately, most folks will not get motivated beyond topics that directly affect them and their immediate circle of friends and family. Witness the Rental Inspection issue; since its passage the people affected negatively (landlords and tenants) have been effectively silent for the most part. No petitions, no lawsuits, no public dissent, no issue-oriented candidates, no social media webpages keeping it as an open issue-- which it could be and should be. It is not sustainable and it unarguably goes against the Federal and State Constitutions our city councilors swore to defend and uphold.
This is an excellent opportunity to bring knowledge to the citizens and visitors of our fair city of the ill management of our city and its resources to displace the ignorance, propaganda and outright fibs related by Ludington City Hall through their usual outlets! We need as many field commanders as we can get in that cause.
-
-
It must take a lot to get the local landlords upset. Maybe they are all rich and fat and happy with the situation.
I know in Port Huron the landlords there were upset enough to run their own members and replaced the city council members with ones who supported them.
They even helped sponsor a bill in the Michigan Senate which would alter the State wide law covering rental inspection in cities above 10,000 population. They considered the current law obtrusive.
If the local landlords made an effort and replaced council members favorable to them they could have overturned the local rental inspection ordinance. As it now stands they have no dog in the fight.
Disappointing to say the least.
"Owners of rental properties in some communities—for example, Port Huron—believe local rental housing inspection programs should be curtailed, and they have worked to elect local officials who agree."
https://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2015-2016/billanalysis/Hou...
-
Permalink Reply by Willy on
-
In my opinion a newspaper notice does not cover the City's obligation to notify property owners of a violation especially if it involves trespassing on private property. This to me is akin to denying a person's right to due process not to mention entering a property without a search warrant. I've never heard of a municipality issuing a single public notice to cover the year long enforcement of a code violation that involves penalties, fines or service fees. It's to bad the citizens can't issue a public notice to City Hall informing them that any unconstitutional actions, misdeeds, etc, would result in fines and immediate termination.
-
Permalink Reply by AQUAMAN on
-
How about all the people that DON'T SUBSCRIBE to the LDN? What about them? There must be many thousands that never heard of or know about that notice, and that to me, proves without any doubt, the Unconstitutional deed here. The certified letter is the legal and reasonable way to do this, and I'll bet most attorneys would also agree. Notice has to be specific to a particular landowner in violation, not just a public notice in a rag paper that no one reads. First time someone with money takes this to court, it should be overturned by a Judge with brains, like Wadel.
-
-
Good point Aquaman. How is informing people thru a local paper that has a very limited circulation going to provide legal cover for the City when they levy huge costs and fines on the public. Ludington officials are reaching way beyond legal limits.
-
-
Shay and Wilson seem to know all there is to know about law, and create more lawsuits against the COL in the past 5 years than I've seen in all my life. That's NO WAY to treat the citizenry, nor be responsible stewards of their mighty powerful and overpaid positions. Guess they love drama and all the chaos associated with it better than just doing the job with honor and professionalism. Sad, and getting more frustrating as time passes. I also doubt most of the public are aware of this, or cares.
-
Permalink Reply by Jasper on
-
Yup Aquaman you are absolutely correct in your assessment. "Pure Ludington," at its' finest. Who is attending the HOF pig trough fest? IMHO all these pure Ludington events are nothing more than a distraction from the real problems that exist. Isn't HOF one one of the corporate businesses CM Shay was contacting to quit emitting excessive whatever into the sewer system? Yet the pig fest goes on! Beyond laughable! Is there such a category in the World Book of Guiness for a city the size of Ludington to contribute to the foul smell of sewer gas while attempting to break the "record?" Now that would be a record breaker!
-
-
Aquaman it appears as you "stated" nobody cares. The citizens of not only Ludington but the entire USA would rather be tuned into gaming systems etc... then acknowledge slowly their rights are being taken from them. Only then when these "stick your head up their proverbial a$$" will it be too late.
-
-
And this a damn shame and the reason the COL gets away with all of their bullshit! Except I will say that there is a big movement going on now in the USA that the establishment can not stop. Like him or not Trump has gathered the masses and is moving toward a White House victory, why? Because he represents the people that are upset and angry they are left out of government and don't matter!
Guess what we do and there is a candidate that is anti establishment running for 3rd ward council that will fight for your rights, his name is Tom Rotta and we support him in his candidacy!
As I have said strength is in numbers, they can not stop a movement supported by all, just like Trump, love him or hate him! Bottom line, fight for what you believe in and things will eventually fall your way. (My dream at least!)
Ludington is a beautiful city and deserves to be governed as such!
© 2024 Created by XLFD.
Powered by
