The Missing Rays of Sunshine

[XLFD]

Ludington City Manager Mitch Foster offered a "Thank you" note at the end of the year up on the City's official Facebook page, offering what appears to be sincere recognition of folks who made the City run smoothly.  The words expressing his gratitude follows in its entirety:

I believe we can all safely state that 2020 was year of challenge that hit us in ways we did not expect. Each of us has had to adjust our daily routines to adapt to the COVID-19 and the accompanying economic slowdown that has been experienced. One piece of sunshine for me was the incredible work done by City staff as they adjusted work schedules, routines, and other items to continue to provide amazing services to our residents and visitors. While during any normal year they may encounter some difficulty, this year has proven interesting with the number of changes to rules and guidelines from the state and federal government. As I look back on this difficult year, I want to take time to say thank you.

Thank you to our City Hall staff – Karen, Jen, Teresa, Virginia, Corinn, Pat, Jared and Shaun. No matter if you were wearing a mask while greeting a resident, or answering the phones while we were closed, you did so with an increased understanding and compassion. You made sure the entire organization continued to run smoothly and that our neighbors did not feel any negative change when dealing with City Hall.

Thank you to our Senior Center Staff – Rayma and Cyndy. You two plus Vickie have done an incredible job of advocating for and working with our most vulnerable population to make sure they did not feel alone during this difficult time.

Thank you to our Public Works, Cemetery, and Parks staff – Ken, Mike, Bill, Tom, Mike, Mike, Justin, Josh, Joe, Scott, Joe, Landon, Brian, Kirk, Tony, and Brandon. While people were prevented from congregating inside, you made sure our public spaces were kept clean, safe, and enjoyable for everyone.

Thank you to our Utilities, Water Plant, and Wastewater Plant staffs – Kevin, John, Gary, Jared, Ken, Erich, Gordon, Tamela, Matt, Larry, Nate, Ron, Mike, TeJay, and Nick. With staff reductions and new rules from the state, you all continued to make sure the safe drinking water flowed to homes and the dirty water flowed out. You continue to amaze me as you focus on the community’s wellbeing first and foremost.

Thank you to our Police Department staff – Steve, Sue, Mike, Jacob, Jason, Chad, Jared, Mikki, Angela, Austin, Micah, Mike, Michael, Valerie, Laura, and Jessica. Whether out on patrol, working on investigations, supporting the department from behind the scenes, or helping to make sure our kids got to school safely – the community is a better place because of your efforts this year.

Thank you to our Fire Department volunteers – You all risked your health by helping our residents and neighbors during this pandemic and our appreciate cannot be fully expressed.

To our Community Development/DDA staff, Heather and Jen – Thank you for continuing to work hard to help our local businesses in any way possible while also working with local partners to make sure businesses got the resources they needed.

Thank you to my Assistant Jackie – You have been an incredible resource and support during this very difficult year, always willing to listen as well as hit back whenever you felt something was not quite right.

Thank you to our department heads – Tom, Debbie, Heather, Carol Ann, Jim, Russ, Vickie, Chris, Darryll, Jamie, Tim and Joe. Each of you dealt with changing policies from me, changing rules from the state, and changing expectations from our neighbors; and with each adjustment period you provided strong leadership to your departments.

I would also like to thank J.B., Jerry and Mark for their years of dedication to the City – I wish you all the best in retirement.

I am thankful for each and every one of you for making the commitment to work for this amazing community and the work we do could not be completed without you.

Thank you,

Mitch Foster

City Manager

In processing this message, you may find this an admirable commendation of the people that help run the city at the local level, and you may are likely to agree with the sentiments included in this "pat on the back" for those called out by name throughout the congratulatory statements.  But even though you may like the message enough to express your approval, you may be dismayed a little of the incompleteness of the acknowledgments after noticing that a significant portion of what makes Ludington work is left off.  Once you recognize that exclusion, you can't fail to wonder whether the absence is intentional or not.

When you are a public servant, your service to the general public should be a highlight of any sort of statement you make thanking those for helping your political unit prosper.  Mitch Foster ignores the people, businesses, and institutions that fund everything that employs him and all of the employees acting under him that he mentions.  The public message avoids any sort of nod to those in the community outside of the clique of those who work at (or work under the guidance of) Ludington City Hall.

Back when Mitt Romney was a Republican governor of perhaps the most liberal state in the union, Massachusetts, he offered a special 'thank you' to the citizens early on during his 2004 State of the State Address. 

 "And a special thank you to the citizens of Massachusetts: You are paying all the taxes, creating all the jobs, raising all the children. This government is yours. Thank you for letting me serve you... We bow not to kings, but to the inalienable rights of man. Here in America, the citizen chooses and the government serves."

This simple acknowledgment of the underlying pact between citizens and governments should be part of any public statement of thanks from any political leader.  In 2020, when our local and state governments have appropriated a lot of power under the guise of an emergent medical crisis at the cost of the rights of every individual they supposedly represent, it's something that the citizens deserve to hear.  When they don't hear this message expressed honestly from their governors, county administrators or city managers, they conclude that those leaders have forgotten their primary mandate.  

If Mitch Foster had concentrated on the same things Mitt Romney focused on in 2004 (and has forgotten since if his recent actions are any indication), he would have recognized that city workers were a lot better off than those in the private sector, many who have had government shut their business down rather than create a plan that would allow their business to continue operating with an acceptable level of risk.  Has anybody that was acknowledged by the city manager actually done anything to save businesses and individuals harmed, sometimes irrevocably, by the actions of a tyrannical nanny state?  Anybody?  Anybody?

The hardships experienced by the City of Ludington (a branch of our state's government) have not arose from anything imposed by the citizenry, rather these 'hardships' have been more along the lines of figuring out how to provide some services and stay within their own self-imposed limitations.  Most citizens do not have their jobs guaranteed during a pandemic, and yet they must support the ever-growing government denying their livelihood.

One has only to look at the 2021 Ludington Budget passed in December 2020 to see that the growth of Ludington government is planned while many local businesses wonder if the government will ever allow them to open again.  City revenues in 2021 are scheduled to be up from both 2019 and 2020, among these, property taxes are scheduled to be up by 5%.  

You may also notice that the City was already operating nearly $200K beyond their 2020 budget by the end of July, making you wonder where all of that money was coming from for the last five months of 2020 when they paid millions of dollars off at council meetings.  While businesses are going under because they cannot make money courtesy of government edict and live up to the revenues of their own budget, city hall is collecting more money and spending more money than ever. 

City Manager Foster also states that there has been reductions in staffing at the water and wastewater plant, as well as utility maintenance, while this is not reflected in the budget at all:

What's reflected are nearly 6% raises in the wages of sewer maintenance workers, over a 10% raise in the fringe benefits of water maintenance workers.  No labor expense in those services are expected to go down in 2021 or further in the future.  When Mitch Foster says there are 'staff reductions' while wages and fringes increase dramatically from prior years, he must mean that many of these workers got a lot of extra time off in 2020 without any reduction in their remuneration.  The private sector does not follow this rule.

City Manager Foster has expanded the city's budget and fostered growth in the wages of city workers in the face of the reality of the irreparable damage that restrictions and shutdowns are doing to the City of Ludington, and how it is pushing citizens into more reliance on businesses outside of the city limits.  He must come to recognize that all governments are like parasites living off their host, the citizenry:  the parasites health and potential for growth is directly related to the health and growth potential of their host.   The host is far from healthy and growing in this case, yet the parasite decides to feed off it at a greater rate while not admitting their thankfulness of the relationship.

[Freedom Seeker]

Absolutely! Nice quote by Mitt Romney, too bad more government employees didn't Sincerely feel that way. I hope Mitch Foster hangs his head just a little bit for forgetting to thank those from whom his paycheck comes. His lack to do so will only embolden the sometimes arrogant staff who think they are better than the poor residents because they make more money and drive fancier cars.

You captured my sentiments. I'm so sick of the city cliche continually patting themselves on the back while this year getting another six percent raise and increasing our water rates 7.5% again. Although I can agree with a manager's tactic of positive reinforcement on staff and knowing that praise is better than none, they continually year after year get enough benefits and raises and reduced work load this year while the residents suffered more--more burdensome utilities raises not just with water, but with Consumer's also. Economic collapse of many residents, and the city workers party up while kneeling in the necks of the dying residents. Thank you Mitch and city staff.

[Willy]

I took it on my own to interpret Miller's letter

To everyone who matters and peasants

I believe we can all safely state that 2020 was an epic year for cancelling your rights, freedoms and the Constitution. Each of us has had to adjust our daily routines,except city workers, to adapt to the COVID-19 hoax and the accompanying economic catastrophe caused by Whitmer and the Democrats. One piece of sh_tshine, I should say pain in the a_s for me, was the incredible work done by that X guy who tried to make us follow the law and stop wasting tax money, but we'll show him by keeping our expensive attorneys on the payroll by dragging all this unnecessary action to court. While during any normal year the city has some difficulty obeying the law, this year has proven interesting with even more rules and guidelines violated by Ludington, state and federal governments. As I look back on this government caused difficult year, I want to take time to say if you don't like it, to bad. Thank you to our City Hall staff for staying employed while we went along with closing private businesses and putting many people out of work. Oh by the way did I mention that the people who pay my bills and finance the City's operation can go jump in the waste water treatment pond and swim with their mouths open.

Your pal
Mitch Foster
City Manager

Very good article X.