Oaths of Our (Ludington) Ancestors

[XLFD]

On Monday May 11th, I had an appointment in the morning at the Ludington City Hall.  After hearing the city attorney effectively defend the reason why City Manager John Shay will not swear an oath is due to tradition in Ludington, to whit, that a city manager hasn't swore an oath of office since 1953, I decided to verify the research that the attorney pointed at, by looking at the duty books to see whether the three city managers before Shay did not do that state and locally mandated duty and try to figure out why if that was the case. 

It started as usual by a FOIA request to review the 'duty books' the attorney referred to and was pleasantly surprised by a response that allowed me to come in and look at the actual records, without some sort of illegal fee that they sometimes put up for inspection of records.  I arranged a date for looking at the books at 9:00 AM sharp. 

I arrived and was led into the conference room in the northwest corner of city hall where I found three books.  An old small one that went back to the 1880s and the very first part of this century, a more worn full book that practically contained all of the 20th century oaths, and a newer one containing all of this century so far.  These are the three below:

I myself am a closet historian, so it was very interesting seeing the early positions that are now extinct like alderman and night watchmen.   In April 24, 1952, Clay Omstead originally was appointed by the Ludington city council as a 'municipal judge', a position created in 1942 but eventually phased out .  He would serve at this position for a long time, getting re-appointed regularly and taking oaths, the one below taken 16 years later.

I couldn't help but notice Arlo Slagle's oath of office.  Officer Slagle was killed in the line of duty on July 20, 1958 in response to a bar disturbance north of town at the beginning his third year of service to LPD, the first and last officer of LPD to die in the line of duty.

I was pleased to find the oath of office for Mayor E.J. Thompson back in 1939, I have heard a lot of good things about him and was impressed by his frankness during his tenure as reported in the Ludington Daily News.

A page from 1971 shows journeyman Ronald Jabrocki beginning his career with the Ludington Fire Department (he is assistant chief now), George Reed and Joe Taranko being sworn in as special police officers, and current councilor Gary Castonia's entry into the local law enforcement field.

I couldn't help but check to see if my own pseudonym was in the proper place in the latest of the duty books, and it was; I recall the moment of swearing the oath fondly:

My fellow firefighter during the time I was serving, Mayor John Henderson, featured prominently in the oath books, swearing an oath for each of his three terms as mayor, for being a volunteer firefighter in the early 1990s and even in the oaths for DDA members shown below:

Did you get the right oath, John Henderson's is at the bottom, someone other than that is on the one above.  This was a signature I was very familiar with, having seen it on three years of overbillings by the city attorney.  To make sure I checked with the city clerk, who assured me that it was his signature, which was made during the time when I originally brought the 'oath issue' up. 

Apparently, John Shay believed he had to swear an oath to be on the DDA, and that is part of state law; all members of a DDA are required to swear an oath of office (MCL 125.1654), but as we have noted, all officers and employees of the state and its subordinate local governments are required by law to swear an oath.  I have years of John Shay's W-2 Forms for the city showing he's an employee, the charter refers to the office of city manager regularly, so he's an officer too. 

Yet, he was okay with swearing an oath as an ex officio member of the DDA, so he apparently has no set convictions against taking an oath.  So why can't he swear an oath of office like James Cartier did on November 20, 1953?  There has been no significant change in state or local law mentioned (or existent) that would have changed this requirement.

Likewise, despite diligent searches at and around the times when the three city managers between Cartier and Shay (Von Drak, Richards, and Miller) would have assumed the office of city manager, there were no oaths, the city clerk's research was correct.  However, two things extra must be mentioned. 

First, Jim Miller did actually swear an oath of office for the city many years before he assumed the role of city manager, when he got on the fire department:

And he continued working with the city as a superintendent of water and/or sewer utilities before becoming acting city manager in 1988.  One could say he had already oathed due to his continuous service. 

But more importantly, a perusal of the duty books within the periods  between Cartier and Shay has a dearth of oaths for anyone other than an elected office, firefighter, or police officer.  With few exceptions (such as for offices like city attorney and harbormaster), city employees beyond the mentioned classes were not administered oaths. 

Before I made an issue of it back in 2011, the 300 full or part time workers for the City of Ludington were mostly without an oath.  About twenty firefighters, thirty police (regular and reserve) and ten elected officials were, which means that 80% of the workers/officers of the City swear no oaths, even though they should.  The sixty contracted/retained attorneys who work on behalf of the city (supposedly) and 240 supposedly public servants working with your local municipal tax money paying them, have no oaths among them. 

Perhaps we can survive a seasonal municipal marina worker without an oath of office, but do we want someone like the city manager not swearing that he will follow the state and federal Constitutions to the best of his ability?  Particularly when he has failed in that regards on numerous occasions to the detriment of the citizens of Ludington?  The city council is unanimous in allowing him to dodge the oath while working for them, are they not wanting him to do what they have sworn to do?

[Willy]

What clearly stands out about this situation is the fact that an attorney would advise Shay against taking the oath because previous Manager's did not. The law is still the law even if it is ignored. Integrity and honesty seem to be a scarce commodity for Ludington's elite. Just take the damned oath Shay. The longer you put this off only makes you appear to be snubbing your nose at the citizens you work for. Plus, that cast of characters commonly known as the Council can't seem to grow a pair. What a sad group of foolish people.

[XLFD]

Speaking of foolish people, here's Hizzoner's latest oath filed just three month's ago for the DDA.  Despite having signed at least two before for the office of mayor and the make-believe office of LPD reserve officer, he put his name on the wrong line.  Mayor Cox could show us what an honorable and devoted public servant John Shay is, as he's told us, by insisting he takes a city manager oath of office. 

[AQUAMAN]

Arrogance and narcissism is what rules the city council Willy. By Shay not taking the oath only preserves and reinforces his anti-XLFD position publicly. It's just that simple imho.

[XLFD]

If citizens don't read this website or our Facebook presence, the Ludington Pitchfork, or don't go to or watch the city council meetings, they won't even know it's an issue.  Sadly, that's a sizable majority of Ludington citizens.

But for those who do, Aquaman is absolutely right; now that the council's complicity in the oath avoidance of their boys have come to the forefront, their arrogance, narcissism and pride will make them believe the attorney's specious arguments and reinforce their boy's position by actively keeping the city manager from taking the oath now that they perceive they will look as if they caved in to pressure from an indigent, indigent citizen who points out several laws they are breaking.   

It not only makes them look foolishly proud and incapable of following their own oath that many of them have sworn multiple times, but also makes it a sweeter victory for all of us when they are finally forced to have their guys follow the law.  It further shows we have a council full of spineless jellyfish whose allegiance to the law and loyalty to their constituents are far down each of their list of traits.

[AQUAMAN]

Not only does His Honor sign on the wrong line, but the form in itself is duly outdated by at least 15 years. It says 19__ instead of 20__. This tell us again something about the efficiency and accuracy of records, forms, and such at city hall? Yes, in the distant and even recent past of the history of Ludington, there have been honorable men, real leaders, that came forth to represent the citizens best interests. Men who put politics and greed aside, in favor of helping the locals get the best services, infrastructure, management skills, and friendly help that all of us deserve, and pay for in our taxes. Men who didn't hide truths and followed the principles of the city charter, fair bidding, fair hiring, not nepotism and legal excuses for justice.