While Mayor Henderson's City is On-the-Rocks, His Brandy is Served Neat

[XLFD]

Mayor Henderson celebrating the most recent tax rate hike

 

Ludington's Mayor John Henderson has a lot to be proud of with his eldest daughter, Brandy.  She started out being a key figure in local politics back when she served prominently on the first Youth Advisory Committee that was formed by Mayor Henderson back in 2003, a post she continued at least through 2005.  She continued serving the public as a poll worker in the 2004 election.   The next year and for the next five years she managed to get an extended summer job at the City Marina, while her daddy helped manage the running of that agency, as reported in the marina-and-the-hendersons thread.

 

In spring and summer 2009, she was given an internship position under Heather Venzke  BH- 2009 Internship under HV   with the following duties  Intern Duties.

Brandy Henderson with Heather Venzke-Tykoski enjoying a cold one

 

That may have been innocent enough in itself, as no money was spent, and so it worked well for everyone.  In Sept. 2010, E-mails passed between DDA president Venzke and City Manager John Shay about a position she proposed to create for a certain person named Brandy followed by an E-mail to Ms. Henderson, who was thrilled by the offered opportunity  9-23-2010 Contract position E-mails   9-24-2010 Contract Position E-mails  The Contracted Jobs. 

City Marina business was winding down for Brandy and she managed to do 37 hours of billable work  Work Times   and then she was paid through payroll the $370 she earned, as these two documents tell  Payroll 1  Payroll 2. 

Right after she completed both jobs in November, she was hired on by the Ludington/Scottville Chamber of Commerce (LSCC) in a new job as the 'Assistant' to Kathy MacLean  BH in Linked 1.  Her string of luck continued in February 2011 with the extra $1000 per month voted to her illegally by the DDA, including a vote by her boss at the LSCC and her fellow LSCC members.  That job, its vague descriptions, and covert beginnings is covered here in the seventh of this series.

 

Brandy Henderson (far left) Kathy MacLean (far right)

 

On March 13, 2012 the area's Convention and Visitor's Bureau (CVB) announced that they were looking for a new Marketing Director for that organization on Facebook.  Please note that the person who needs to be contacted is Kathy MacLean, Brandy's boss at the Chamber of Commerce and fellow associate at the Ludington DDA (aka the Downtown Ludington Board).  This is the job description. 

Previously, we noted the new 5% room assessment the CVB placed on all local lodging establishments netted the CVB a lot of extra money each year, and it was noted about a year ago that this gave that group about $230,000 more to play with in the DDA's 2011 March meeting.  The room tax is imposed by this non-public group on all establishments with over 10 units in the county, whether they like to or not.  The benefits of membership are nominal, however.

 

Who got the job less than three weeks after the notice was put out?  Here's a hint: her daddy and her current boss at the DDA and the Chamber didn't have anything to do with it (wink).

 

                                                             Brandy recommends her employers and her mother, she is very loyal

 

DATE: April 3, 2012                                                                                       

 

TO: All Media

 

CONTACT: Brandy Henderson, Director of Marketing, 231.845.0324

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

LUDINGTON AREA CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU ANNOUNCES NEW DIRECTOR OF MARKETING

 

The Ludington Area Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors is proud to announce Brandy Henderson as the new Director of Marketing. Henderson brings a great deal of enthusiasm for the community as well as the skills and experience that will enhance the marketing efforts of the Ludington Area CVB. In her new position, Henderson will be responsible for the development and implementation of all marketing and communications activities for the organization.

 

“Brandy will be a great asset to our marketing team and I am excited and looking forward to working with her on our goals for 2012,” said Dave Bourgette, Chair of the Ludington Area CVB Board of Directors. “For us to have someone with her skills and enthusiasm as a marketing director is only going to make our organization stronger.”

 

Henderson is a Ludington native and has lived in the area the majority of her life. She graduated from Grand Valley State University, where she received her bachelor’s degree in Advertising & Public Relations. Since returning to the area two years ago, Henderson has been actively involved in the community and been working for the Ludington & Scottville Area Chamber of Commerce as well as the Downtown Ludington Board handling marketing, communications and event coordination for both organizations.

 

“As someone who was born and raised here, I am very passionate about our area and excited to have the opportunity to be a part of showing visitors all that we have to offer” said Henderson.

 

###

 

Thank you!

 

Brandy Henderson
Marketing & Events Coordinator
Ludington & Scottville Chamber of Commerce

Downtown Ludington Board

Ludington Area Convention & Visitors Bureau
[phone]
FAX [phone]
www.ludington.org
 

[Marty Redman]

The mayor does love his daughter thats for sure.  I will not be investing in my SOS Ludington t-shirts and mugs.

That CVB business is weird.  You need to pay $5 for every hundred bucks you take in as a hostelry?  Thats going to help how?  Ludingtons going down the tubes spurred by the leadership of the Johns and there situational ethics.  I can't wait until Lud gets a new mayor and manager, I hope it takes less than two years.

[AQUAMAN]

Tough degree, (advertising and public relations?), qualifies you for a Marketing Director position? Remember, it's NOT what you know, it's WHO you know! Nepotism is not only alive and well for the Hendersons, it's repeated over and over throughout a number of many years for Brandy, and with the help of Heather, she can't miss getting lucrative jobs and paybacks.

[XLFD]

Michigan law created in the 1980s make it mandatory to join the local CVB-- then it makes it mandatory to succumb to assessments like the 5% they voted on last year, even if the majority of lodgers vote against it.  You don't get one vote per person, you get one vote per room you lease. 

Convince enough big lodgers they will get more out of it than they put in, and you get their votes.  Meanwhile, you have all the small lodgers forced to use a significant portion of their money to pay for advertisements and marketing for the big lodgers.  The small guy is thus forced to find a way to make up for this missing 5% of their income being used by their big competition. 

End result is you get a fair portion of the lodgers being effectively taxed without representation, and a small number getting the CVB stamp of approval.  Economic development?  More like economic suppression.

[Lisa O'Brien]

Well at least she has the degree in marketing - I would be more suspicious if she was just a high school graduate. It's a small town just because she is the Mayors daughter doesn't mean she should be automatically excluded from the job. It is possible given her experience she was the best person for the job.

[Marty Redman]

Yeah, but the process should be above reproach if she does keep getting the jobs.  Did that happen when she was hired at the marina, the Chamber of commerce, the DDA, or now the CVB?  Oh for four, as I count.  When her papa and papa's friends have the power the process should be more transparent than glass.   Also as Aquaman said, she has no degree in marketing.

[Lisa O'Brien]

But we also don't know all the facts - how many others applied for the job? and if there was applicants with a better resume why were they passed over? It could be they wanted a higher salary than was offered. Surface level it looks like it could be shady but we don't have all the facts.

[XLFD]

The Ludington CVB is always welcome to publish those missing facts in this hire, but Marty does present the past hiring of Brandy by the City of Ludington at the marina and the DDA.  The records show that there was limited consideration of others in both hirings. 

But the CVB and Chamber do not have the duty to provide their records on request, unlike the City of Ludington.  However, evidence is increasingly showing unethical and illegal behavior by the people and organizations mentioned in this article, and I will further develop this through the coming months.

[Willy]

Lisa

Remember the key phrase. "Appearance of impropriety." I don't care if she has a PHD in kissing politicians as_es.  These people are showing disrespect to the community that is  paying their salaries and their offspring are learning how to thumb their noses at all of us.

[Lisa O'Brien]

Willy,

You are right about the key phrase. But at this point we don't even know if anyone else applied.

[Willy]

Lisa

Your right we don't know what took place regarding the competition, if any, for her job. I actually feel sorry for Brandy. This is what she has been taught about how local politics functions. She has no idea that her employment gains have been the result of political back scratching and not from her abilities. She's in for a rude awakening some day unless she goes into politics as a profession. If that's the case then she's had plenty of on the job training.

[Willy]

X

You better be looking over you shoulder after posting this discussion. Mrs Henderson might be sneaking up behind you again while your riding your bike. This time she may not stop. Does anyone doubt that Brandy would have got this job if she were not the Mayor's daughter. These people have no shame and no regard for the citizens they are supposed to represent.

[XLFD]

Are you then saying I shouldn't go to Michael John's Studio of Hair and ask for a close shave by Penny?  LOL.