The Place Where Ludington Talks
Secrecy Defeats Democracy in Oceana County
It has just been publicly disclosed that a candidate running for Oceana County Commissioner running unopposed this November after winning in the partisan (Republican) primary in August has been facing drunk driving charges after an incident that happened in early June.
In the two month period before the primaries, the newspapers that covers Oceana County, operated by Shoreline Media, which also runs Mason County's lone newspaper the City of Ludington Daily News (COLDNews), offered nothing on this development (see August post Election Results Article), and have still not presented it. The fledgling Oceana County Press finally learned about the incident and ran a story by Allison Scarborough today and reprinted below:
HART — Andrew Sebolt, who is running unopposed in the Nov. 4 election for a seat on the Oceana County Board of Commissioners, is facing a drunk driving charge.
Sebolt, 32, of 4124 E. Hazel Rd., Hart was arrested June 7 by the Oceana County Sheriff’s Office for operating while intoxicated, according to his file in 78th District Court. He posted 10 percent of a $3,500 bond, his file states.
The case is being prosecuted in Oceana County by the Mason County Prosecutor’s Office due to an apparent conflict of interest. Sebolt waived his arraignment, June 17, according to court records.
Sebolt’s attorney, Ryan Ramsayer, said he is confident his client will be vindicated. “I have filed a motion to have the case dismissed,” he said. Ramsayer is an associate counsel for Barone Defense Firm in Birmingham, Mich. According to the firm’s website, it exclusively handles drunk driving defenses.
A hearing to address Ramsayer’s motion for dismissal that was scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 14, was adjourned on behalf of the prosecution, he said. The attorney said he has a “pretty good basis” for dismissal. “My client is presumed innocent, and he will be vindicated. We need to let the system work itself out,” he said. “A non-alcohol offense” could be the outcome of his case, he added.
Due to the appointment of the Mason County Prosecutor’s Office as special counsel, Ramsayer said reaching a “positive solution” has taken longer than he would have liked. “The wheels of justice move slowly,” he said. Now, a new date for a motion hearing is being scheduled, he said, and he’s anticipating that will not take place until the end of November — after the election.
Sebolt defeated longtime county commissioner Larry VanSickle, who is currently chairman of the board, in the primary election last August. Sebolt is seeking election to represent District 4, which includes the townships of Colfax, Leavitt, Elbridge and Ferry.
OCP was unsuccessful in reaching Mason County Prosecutor Paul Spaniola for comment.
OCP received a tip from a reader about the case who said they “wanted to make a good decision among the candidates.”
http://www.oceanacountypress.com/2014/10/16/county-commissioner-can...
Analysis:
Sebolt is not the typical type of politician that media would protect, being a member of the Tea Party. An unidentified conflict of interest with the Oceana County Prosecutor's Office, apparently led to the reassignment of the case to Mason County's Prosecutor Paul Spaniola, who is a noted sympathizer for political officials in trouble and in suppressing open records.
Sebolt's attorney has been great at gaming the process so as not to attract unwanted attention and postpone any court ruling until after the election when his client would then be a county commissioner. The Oceana County Sheriff's Office, under control of the county commission were the arresting authority and, unlike the City of Manistee Police Department did with arrest records of WSCC's President Charles Dillon, decided to keep their cards face down.
In Dillon's case, it has been strongly rumored that bad blood existed between him and the Manistee Chief of Police, who live just a couple of houses away from Dr. Dillon in Manistee. Andrew Sebolt seemingly has a better relationship between himself and the sheriff of OCSO, who soon will be hopeful that Sebolt does not take his deputy's actions personally.
So what we have here is probably an understaffed longtime local media in Oceana County being ignorant of the news, an upstart internet media group scooping them on this important story, someone accused of DWI since June who will become county commissioner by default unless someone gets a write-in campaign in by the end of next week, and a county that will get a commissioner who just may be dangerous even outside the commission chambers.
If Sebolt's attorney is so confident that his client will be vindicated, why doesn't he divulge all the records that show his point to the public so that Joe and Mary Oceana do not hold their nose when they are practically forced to darken Andrew Sebolt's oval on the ballot? I'm a Tea Party sympathizer, but would not vote for him since this incident shows that he is willing to hide public information at the people's expense.
Democracy cannot flourish unless the people are properly and honestly informed. Maybe that's why the Ludington City Council wants to abolish democracy for the people of Ludington by taking their right to vote away from clerk, treasurer and even council positions? They, Manager Shay, and the COLDNews acting in concert can make most citizens believe almost anything.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Willy on
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If he's on the ballot and gets no votes, will he be considered elected since he's running unopposed. If not then he had better vote for himself to assure at least one vote.
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Permalink Reply by XLFD on
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I see him becoming the Oceana County poster boy for why democracy doesn't work, if his optimistic attorney fails and he gets a guilty verdict on the DUI.
You know, the person that they will point to and say was elected by the people after he was found drunk driving, and thus allow them to argue that they should make more elected positions into appointees.
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Permalink Reply by dimebag on
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you are nothing but another fckn tabloid paper running stories that are old news...i bet your mom is proud of you
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The heading of this piece and the follow-up analysis are strictly my own; the pith of the story is linked to and accredited, and effectively news to most people up here in the north country. Before October 17, Sebolt's traffic stop has not been unveiled on the net, or any other newspaper to my knowledge.
Otherwise, to answer your question, you would win that bet. Thanks for joining, but please carry along the conversation better in your next post.
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Maybe it was Douchebag? No, that's probably his momma, very, very proud of Dimbulb.
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Wanna meet up sometime.so you can talk for shit to my face and get yours busted
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Dimbulb, this isn't some kinky dating site, please take your aggressive stance elsewhere, or start adding some relevant content to your posts.
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Permalink Reply by AQUAMAN on
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Hmm, that's too bad, another troll out for kicks instead of a poignant poster. Doesn't the word dimebag have connotations of $10 in illegal drugs, it used to in the day. Maybe his excuse is he can't connect the dots.
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Once again, the Oceana County Press beats Shoreline Media to the punch in getting the news out that Andrew Sebolt has been found not guilty by a jury of his peers in a second trial.
"Sebolt’s drunk driving case ended in a hung jury last February, and a second trial took place last week that acquitted him of the misdemeanor charge.
Sebolt, 33, was arrested last June by the Oceana County Sheriff’s Office for operating while intoxicated.
The case was prosecuted in Oceana County by Mason County Assistant Prosecutor Glen Jackson III due to an apparent conflict of interest of the Oceana County Prosecutor’s Office.
At the heart of the case was Sebolt’s alleged .15 blood alcohol content (BAC), and Sebolt’s attorney, Ryan Ramsayer, was able to show the jury that the reading was “unreliable,” he said. “At the end of the day, the jury found that number was unreliable. This is a great result for Andy.”
Ramsayer contested the results of the DataMaster DMT taken at the jail. He called in the machine’s manufacturing representative, Dale Haverdink, and the the head of the alcohol enforcement unit of the Michigan State Police, Sgt. Perry Curtis, to testify at trial.
A BAC of .15 is nearly twice the legal limit.
“He feels vindicated,” Ramsayer said of his client. “This was resolved in a positive way.” By taking the case to trial, it allowed “our neighbors to decide — not the prosecutor or the judge,” he said.
Ramsayer is an associate counsel for Barone Defense Firm in Birmingham, Mich., which exclusively handles drunk driving defenses.
Sebolt defeated longtime county commissioner Larry VanSickle, who was chairman of the board, in the primary election last August. He defeated VanSickle again in the midterm November election after the former commissioner launched a write-in campaign. Sebolt represents District 4, which includes the townships of Colfax, Leavitt, Elbridge and Ferry."
http://www.oceanacountypress.com/2015/05/04/jury-acquits-county-com...
As a Datamaster unit was used to gauge MSP Trooper Sammy Seymour's Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of approximately the same levels in Ludington, and he has demanded a jury trial, it's looking better for him.
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