The Development of Authority, part 12: Nickles for Councilor Nick, Les

[XLFD]

At the August 25, 2012 Ludington City Council meeting, they were busy passing ordinances for millage rates and levying.  Six ordinances that did nothing other than necessitate the need to pass six ordinances next year to keep the millage rate the same, even if it's forced down by law.  Ridiculous waste of time.

 

In the midst of it all, however, Mayor Henderson spiced up the proceedings by having others tell those assembled what these millages were used for.  When they got to the DDA millage at about 22:00 into the meeting.  Mayor Henderson introduced it and then said: 

"Councilor Johnson, you have a business in the downtown area, do you support the DDA?"

 

Let's just say that Les Johnson, the councilor from my beloved Third Ward should like the DDA; he's been serving on it since 2008, when he helped jump the Tax-Increment Financing up to double digits, making about $60,000 extra the first year in an ever increasing climb of everybody's taxes-- except for the Downtown's district, where his business is. 

He has served mostly as the secretary, and doing a terrible job of it, since he adds little detail and violates the Open Meetings Act frequently by not recording votes taken, as he did famously when they were considering the way faring signs.  Of course there was no mention that Nick Tykoski, fellow new councilor, was also on the DDA and not even being mentioned as being benefitted in the minutes, like the "Contracts of Public Officers with Public Entities" disallows. 

 

 

I don't know whether Les was prepared for that segue, but he definitely made it seem informal: 

"I do support the DDA.  It's really done a lot of nice things for the city.  I can't remember the exact number but there have been trash receptacles and 15-20 benches throughout the downtown area and a few other things.  Hoping to get repair of parking lots, and other nice things."

 

Trash receptacles, benches, parking lot repair-- other nice things?!  Frankly, the three things he mentions don't even come up in what the DDA Board can do with the money it receives MCL 125.1657, but some of the wording is vague enough to make these all legal if you say parking lot improvement trash cans, benches "halts the deterioration of property values in the downtown district and promotes the economic growth of the downtown district".

 

But this vagueness is the evil of economic development.  At your residence who buys your benches?  Who buys your trash cans?  Who repairs your driveway/parking area?  Unless you too are also in the DDA, the answer to each of these questions is:  you do.  Not everyone in the City and County, like the beneficiaries of the $140,000 of DDA money received mainly through millage and TIF.  How can you not like the DDA with all that largesse coming to you, City Councilor / DDASecretary / Board of Review member Les Johnson?  Note:  keeping all three jobs is expressly illegal by state and local law.

 

Let's now move to some simple math.  Here is the DDA budget including past and predicted:

You will notice there is no NYE Supply budget for the years 2010 and 2011.  No slots in the budget for purchasing booze with tax dollars, and then reselling it for a profit, which the City of Ludington certainly doesn't put into its DDA Revenues.  They had $0 coming from NYE in 2010, a token amount in 2011. 

But booze is one thing AJ's Party Port sells, and if the City doesn't use it all on New Year's Eve, they certainly aren't sharing it with you.  But they are giving over $400 of your tax money to Ludington City Councilor/ DDA Secretary / Board of Review member Les Johnson, and his Downtown business to purchase Moscato, Brut, and Wine for New Year's Eve. 

And is DDA Secretary Les Johnson putting that fact in the minutes of any of the DDA meetings?  No, nor did he this last NYE Ball when he sold about $250 more.  And that's about as illegal as City Councilor Nick Tykoski's proposing, developing and getting the way faring sign contracts without public knowledge, and without a fair competitive bidding process.  Both of these councilors should resign, and yet what did they do just this last Monday?  They sat in judgment of whether they should allow records to be shown to a Ludington citizen who had a valid interest in them, and totally rejected two totally lawful requests.  This was mere minutes after they participated in a vote where there was not a quorum present.  Laws; rules; when you're in deep, who needs them, guys? 

                 Les Johnson                                     Nick Tykoski            XLFD

 

Councilor Nick and Councilor Les, I'm sure you would have loved to stop the release of all the records that show you have acted in your own self-interests, and not in the public interest.  Here's just a few more from Councilor Nick.pdf who had his fiance/wife sign his invoices and OK the money spent, when there actually was invoices-- never was there a contract.  Very informal, very unethical, and very illegal.  And yet for the City of Ludington, the beat goes on.  And for the Ludington Daily News, who also has membership in the DDA, Nick's heroic actions saved the City money.

And Councilor Nick thinks he's done us all a favor by keeping his technically useless 25 Karat Gold way faring signs down around $50,000 instead of the hyperinflated $150,000 they forecast back in 2008. 

And Les thinks he's doing us all a favor by serving on three boards, and performing terrible in at least two of them, and taking in taxpayer money to buy the hooch he has at his store.  Keep the tax money in the Downtown Ludington area so it "halts the deterioration of property values in the downtown district and promotes the economic growth of the downtown district". 

Point to the over half a million dollars the DDA has spent since you were on it, Les, and remember it as buying trash cans, benches, and other nice stuff.  If nice stuff means money to DDA Board members, you're right.

If you guys want to do the public a favor, resign, get your crooked behinds out of public service, and do it honorably and immediately.  And take your DDA with you as you leave.  Let's put public money into public uses, not private pocketbooks of public servants.