When it was announced that Nick Tykoski (pictured below right) tendered his retirement as the Fifth Ward Ludington City Councilor early last month to devote more time to his business, this forum, other local media, the council and social networkers began urging those interested in taking his still-warm seat to step forward. 

When a city council position is vacated in Ludington, our city charter allows the council to pick a replacement if there is no regular election in the near future.  At the May 22nd city council meeting, the city clerk announced there had been some people interested in the position.  WMOM reported the names that Clerk Deb Luskin mentioned at that meeting later on May 24th, probably since one of their own threw their hat in the ring. 

They noted that:  "Steve Miller, a promotion manager at WMOM has filed his name for the position. Steve Miller currently serves on the Downtown Development authority. Wally Cain, IT Director for FloraCraft, has expressed interest in the position. Cain has served on the zoning board of appeals and the Mason County building authority. Michael Shaw of Ludington has also filed a letter with the city to take over Tykowski’s [sic] unexpired term. Shaw has previously served on the Mason County Planning and zoning Department in 2014."

At the time, I figured that Wally Cain was the prohibitive favorite due to his loyal presence at most meetings, defending the city council when he feels the need to, like when the City police department was caught with their pants down operating hidden cameras in the local bathrooms pointed where they shouldn't have been: 

As noted in the article, the deadline for applying was May 30th.  At around the same time the city clerk posted a notice of a special meeting slated for 4:00 PM on June 12th to interview candidates

Now, May 30 was on Tuesday, fully one week and a day ago, the interviews are only four business days away.  One might think the city would put out a press release, a website notice, an agenda, or something on other social media in the five business days following the last day of applying for the position, about the finalists for the position.  At least their names.  There has been nothing. 

You would think that the City of Ludington Daily News (COLDNews) or Mason County Press would be vying to get the scoop to get the finalists and their bios out to the public as soon as possible.  Not a thing.

You may even think that WMOM and the Synergy Group would be wanting to get the news out on the local radio waves, especially since one of WMOM's guys may be involved.  Dead air.

Lastly, you may look at the Ludington Torch for that information, but besides a post from the recap of the May 22nd meeting relaying the three names the clerk mentioned then, there has been nothing illuminating anything more.  I will be curious enough in the process to attend the special meeting next Monday, but frankly, the roster of candidates does not elicit enough curiosity from me to send a quick E-mail to the city clerk to find out who made the list.

Perhaps all the other local media and local social media posters just haven't had their curiosity piqued enough to find out either.  After all, the final decision of who will be the next Ludington city councilor won't be theirs to make.  Why publish their names or their positions on issues, have them interviewed or debate each other as they normally do for elections when six other people outside the Fifth Ward will make the final decision on who will serve those 1000+ residents, and the rest of the citizens of Ludington? 

Undemocratic elections can be so non-inspiring at times.  Yawwwn.

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I hope there are other candidates besides those three.  Pretty poor slate.  It's unfortunate more people do not want to take an active interest in local government.

By the way Wonder Woman, congratulations on your summer blockbuster movie, it sets a high bar for Aquaman when his movie comes out next year.  If there are only three people going for the seat, consider that Councilor Gary Castonia has been the only candidate in the city's Sixth Ward since Jack Harper's retirement due to term limits in 2005. 

And then he finished a distant third place in the 2016 mayor race, his first encounter with democracy.

What kind of perverse freak accepts hidden cameras in a Public Bathroom? My bet is this person will get the job. This person will fit right in with the others! Good! Then, let the lawsuits fly... Bankrupt this city on principle.

All other city officials tacitly accepted the city manager's and police chief's contradictory statements regarding the secret bathroom cams, only Wall-less Can publicly defended the action as moral and appropriate.  If you don't recall, the police chief told the investigating MSP trooper that the cameras hadn't worked for nearly two years, while the city manager in a certified FOIA response not only said there was camera footage over the last weekend, but it would take an officer six hours to review them to see whether there was any invasion of public privacy footage to edit out, and I would be charged over $150 to see the boring stuff.

Few cared at the time to note that the two statements could not both be true, and that one (maybe both) of our highest officials lied outright in their official capacity.

When this situation came to the publics' attention a few years ago, it received some serious attention and comment to the negative from locals, then it died. The typical procedure from on high was lie, and deceive anyone that is against it, and push it off the stove for any further discussion. Yes I agree, Wally Cain is also a pervert that agrees with continuing the deception, and quite illegal cameras inside the bathrooms, and will most likely get his appointment to city council to keep the good work going. Congrats Wally, you will fit right in nicely as per the fixed agenda in place and stronger than ever now. 

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