Comment

Comment by XLFD on October 28, 2016 at 10:22am

I doubt anybody is totally immune, unless they have a libertarian philosophy and stay true to it, like Ron Paul.  Politics often involves some compromises to get things done, it can be easy to sacrifice everything meaningful including scruples over the course of a political career.   If elected, I hope my fellow Torchers can keep me stay true to my ideals, and redirect me if I stray. 

As I infer, the only teams I would consider myself on would be the 1000+ member team of the Third Ward, and the 8000+ member team of Ludington city.  In which case, I would be a better team player than anybody on the council since the advent of Pete Engblade.

Comment by Willy on October 28, 2016 at 9:56am

I also had problems with the video pausing and was unable to finish watching.

Comment by Brad on October 28, 2016 at 5:41am

Not you X, but I worry any new blood on the council will become infected with team'osis, follow'itis, and shay'emia. Hopefully you are elected, but make sure to get your shots ...you're probably already immune anyway.

Comment by XLFD on October 28, 2016 at 12:51am

I noticed the phrase 'team player' and similar sentiments thrown out at several points.  When an established elected incumbent politician says they are team players, particularly the ones with records like these, they suggest that they are not only working on goals as a unit with other officials to accomplish things they may not totally understand, but also that they will oppose those who think otherwise (citizens) who hinder them reaching that goal. 

It suggests that they will go along with anything that their quarterback (in this case, John Shay) is wanting them to do.  This current batch has a lot of that going on.

Comment by stump on October 27, 2016 at 11:23pm

Every time I hear the phrase " TEAM PLAYER " I cringe. To me that means you go along fat, dumb and happy just to be part of a group . YOU! yes YOU, can't think on your own, do no research, have no ideas, offer no opinion, don't even ask any questions , Your setting up there looking down on the citizens thinking you are helping them. THINKING? I really miss spoke there. just following along with the rest of the sheep., that what team players do. Just what we need , another " TEAM PLAYER " .

Comment by AQUAMAN on October 27, 2016 at 9:38pm

Regarding the Mayor position, I also noticed the senior candidates saying our WWTP and Water Dept. inefficiencies are Lansing's fault and problem, because they lack funding for our infrastructure problems. That in itself is an "outright LIE". We, the local citizens, elected those whom are responsible, and appointed a big shot too. They alone failed to keep infrastructure properly maintained, as well as updated. ALL the Dept. Heads that reported to the CC last December, regarding water, sewers, streets, and other infra. problems, were again ignored and put-off from getting help right away. I think most ALL the candidates ignored this very vital and important issue, regretfully.

Comment by AQUAMAN on October 27, 2016 at 9:31pm

Except for maybe Cheri, I saw a timid and sterilized type of candidate stance for most candidates of this forum. Concerning the third ward race, I didn't see the same question being asked to Tom of the transparency issues with city hall. Nor of PM Bayou, nor infrastructure. I did hear Les state he's for the status-quo, being a "good team member". That only means the opposite of what he said earlier, about listening to all the positions by the public, answering his cell phone anytime, and voting with his constituents, not the rest of the council, which he does about 99% of the time. Cheri for Mayor seemed very calm, full of new energy, well dressed and smiling, & also has new visions and attitude, which the other senior citizens close to 80 years old cannot match. Kaye appears like she has health issues, in particular, Parkinson's disease. And Gary's biggest asset is he is also a "team member". Which also reflects on his votes on issues, without knowledge nor intelligence, but simply what the city mgr. recommends for a stance. And let's not forget Rathsack, made a good joke, saying he was running unopposed, so he guess he'll do the job again. Only problem is that he's another "hand-picked" member of the "team". He and Castonia have plenty of retired time to investigate issues before voting, and I truly believe they aren't and haven't since serving. Others need more review, long video to watch. Mine stopped several times on important replies, and other times, skipped some video, anyone else? Thanks.