On the Ballot

[XLFD]

On Friday afternoon, I became the first candidate in the City of Ludington to file a completed and sufficient nominating ballot.  I am officially running for the office of Third Ward City Councilor. 

To get on the ballot I had to get twenty signatures of registered voters in the third ward in Ludington.  As an additional help, the city clerk, Deb Luskin, gave me a walking voters list that had the 1000+ registered voters in my ward when I went to city hall and expressed my intent to run. 

After looking through the list, I decided to keep close to home and use the signature search as an additional exercise to get to see whether the neighborhood was supportive of me or not.  It was largely a pleasant experience with me getting 24 autographs all from residences less than three blocks from my palatial estate on Dowland.  Only one time did I go to a door and get rejected outright.  It was made up for by a couple of times when I got treated especially nice.

When I took the two petitions with a dozen signatures each to the clerk, she had to check them to make sure the signatures were authentic and that the signers were legitimately registered in the Third Ward.  Nineteen of the people I had were on my voter list, but the five others claimed to have been registered in the Third Ward, so I had them sign. 

It turned out four of those people were mistaken about their data, and one other on my list had came back as a potential problem since they had been living in a different state recently, so verification of their registration needed to be checked by the state.  This left me at nineteen until that was resolved.   

But Clerk Luskin did point out that I hadn't signed my petition and I was qualified to do so.  This was good news, but I hesitated because I just didn't totally trust the guy I was signing for.  I got over that, signed on a new sheet, and then finished the process to become a bona fide candidate for office. 

Now this probably isn't a very interesting, entertaining, or educational story to most of the readers of this, but I want to put it out there as a final call to those who have an interest in taking back some of the control of a city government that keeps going further in the wrong direction.  A trained monkey like myself, vilified and defamed by city officials and the other local media, can get on the ballot with little effort in order to help my fellow citizens fight a corrupt tyranny. 

What's your excuse for not doing so?  What's your excuse for not urging someone you know, who would be a great official, into helping sort the mess out? 

This is the eleventh hour; after Tuesday April 12, you will not be able to get a nominating petition to get on the ballot for this year.  You also will need to get those twenty signatures by April 19, not a difficult task, but one that needs to be done quick.  If you run for the treasurer or at-large councilor, you will need an additional twenty signatures from anybody in the city. 

I appeal especially to those in the Fifth Ward.  Councilor Nick Tykoski is not only a no-show at a great number of meetings, but someone who has used his official position to advantage in getting work for his private business without lawful protocol being followed.  Yet he is (probably) running unopposed, all the while voting for all the tax-raising, rights-lowering litigation of the last five years.

[shinblind]

Congrats Tom.

Good to see you pass the first hurdle. My next post was going to be on how was your petition drive was going.

Even one friend in the Council will be paramount as to how the City is governed.You may induce a "Trump effect" on other Council members and like voters who pledge to leave the Country if Trump wins, the other members of the Council will resign no longer able to operate behind a cloak of secrecy. There is way too much ass grabbing and back slapping by the current crew of Councilors and the city in general.

 My dream is to see every current Council member up for election swept out of office. They have not earned the trust of the public nor have done the diligence that the position requires.

[AQUAMAN]

Dittos to that shinblind. Seems awfully early for getting on the ballot to me, and probably many others considering it. Like 7 months till the vote? I think they do this intentionally to keep incumbents in office. If that deadline were in August or September, I think the petitioners would be greatly increased. That to me at least seems a more appropriate timeline.

[XLFD]

Councilor Holman will be swept out of office due to term limits, but let's take a look at who has took out petitions for her spot.  1)  Wallace Cain- a spirited Ludington elite loyalist, 2)  Brandy Henderson- a chip off the old blockhead, and 3)  Steve Von Pfahl- someone who railed against the RIO rather stridently, but seems to also be stridently socialistic on his Facebook page. 

If the first two win, I don't see there being much of an improvement, and the latter may be an inconstant ally in trying to rein in the scope of the COL.  Beyond Von Pfahl, the only other 'outsider' in the race is Lane Dulin in the Fourth Ward, who lost badly to Wanda Marrison way back when.  I never caught what he was for or against then, but he has recently signed the petition to thwart the West End Project. 

[Willy]

Well done X.

[XLFD]

In Ludington, we need some charged fire hoses and squeegees to commence the cleanup.

[jfc123]

Ludington needs several more like you. Glad to see you are running. As an outsider I have learned much from you and this site and also found out where to look for additional info. Just what a governance should be is opaque and that in my opinion is what you offer! Nothing like the current leadership there that are very uppity and wont respond to an email (4th ward councilor).

[XLFD]

Jfc123, I am hoping what you meant to say is the opposite of opaque, which is transparent.  Ludington government is at best translucent at this point, but you can assure yourself that it will get more opaque in the future if the clerk/treasurer charter amendment passes to make them appointive offices, and if none of the 'reform' candidates get in.  When April 19 comes around, we'll know exactly who those are.

Thanks very much for your supportive comments.

[jfc123]

Yes you are right and thank you for a courteous reply, I meant translucent. Had another sleepless night with a brain that would not stop thinking about how horribly the COL has treated us and how bad they have hurt us.

[Willy]

X, Ludington is going to have it's own mini version of the establishment trying to stop Cruz and Trump. The Council, Mayor and Manager along with the LDN will be doing their hardest to discredit you and degrade you in the eyes of the public. Just like that sh_t editorial Beganche and the other featherheads at the LDN got together and wrote. I recall it not being all that positive to your campaign. Just think, first the Council, then State Senate followed by a Senate seat in Washington and finally President Thomas Rotta. You got my vote.

[XLFD]

After a term at the LCC and a term of state senator and US Senator, I would be at least 68 years old and ready to retire from the good fights, and unless I have the resiliency of a Ron Paul, I may by that time become so detached from the reality of being a disenfranchised citizen.  Thanks for your confidence in me, anyhow, and I may call on your photographic talents during this time to help out-- I can't seem to have a camera for a few months without it malfunctioning.

And it's not because I'm taking selfies and breaking the lens in the process. 

[woodsman]

Tom Best wishes on your run . Only thing I would ask Do not wear your Fire Department shirt after your election Lol....

[XLFD]

I'm going to hope to have Councilor Castonia lend me some of his 'Ludington City Councilor' polo shirts, so that shouldn't be a problem.  I might have to wash them beforehand a couple of times to get the Ben-Gay and whiskey odor from them.  He lends them to the homeless at times...