An Invitation from the King of Ludington

[XLFD]

Last week, I received an E - Mail from someone I hadn't heard from in a while.  Ludington City Manager John Shay. 

 

Wednesday, January 4, 2012 10:39 AM

Tom: 

The City will seek bids to reconstruct Dowland Street between South Washington Avenue and South Rath Avenue this spring.  This project will entail replacing the water main, water service lines, valves, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, curb, gutter and the road itself.  The City has scheduled a meeting on Thursday, January 12 at 11:00 a.m. in the downstairs Community Room at City Hall for the property owners/businesses/residents on Dowland Street to meet with the City’s engineer on this project.  The engineer will explain the scope of the project and address any questions or concerns that the property owners/businesses/residents may have.

 

The Department of Public Works will be handing out notices to the residents about this meeting.  While I know you disagree with the Letter of Trespass issued against you, the purpose of this e-mail is to confirm that you are invited to attend this meeting without being in violation of the Letter of Trespass. 

Please contact me if you have any questions.

 

John Shay

City Manager

 

This marked quite a departure from the last eight months where I haven't received anything other than a "CC:" E-mail sent to LDN that was irrelevant.  Through these last 8 months and the two months before, I have been banned from Ludington City Hall and Police Station, threatened with arrest for misdemeanor trespassing if I set foot on this public property.  All because some at City Hall feared what I was uncovering with FOIA requests.  John Shay last replied to me when I asked to enter City Hall for purposes of turning in my nominating petition that allowed me to run for City Council in 2011.  That was May 2nd. 

 

Since then, and before the correspondence above, I wrote him three times-- three times I received no answer, even though I asked him about rescinding and/or reconsidering the City Hall ban.

 

On June 13, 2011 I wrote to him:  "The fifth amendment to the Constitution says that "No person shall be... deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."

Under your letter of trespass, my liberty of being able to set foot on public property (to whit, the City Hall and Police Department) was denied, and yet my due process amounted to me being served the Letter without having any offense, real or imagined, leveled against me. In your one-sided newspaper article three days later, you mentioned me making numerous FOIA requests, and having run a stop sign three years earlier. You failed to mention I was on my bicycle and the stop sign was illegally placed as well as not being backed by a traffic control order, but those are technicalities from your vantage point, I'm sure.

So as a citizen, and as a candidate for the At-large City Councilor position, I beseech you to retract this onerous restraint on my liberties, and allow me the ability to use the city services and participate in the Open Meetings held at these places at my pleasure, as all other law-abiding citizens are able to do."

 

On September 9, 2011 I wrote to him concerning an invite to my associate to a meeting:  "... If His Honor {the Mayor} wants to extend the same courtesy to me, it will need to be contingent with a public retraction of the baseless Letter of Trespasses against me by yourself..."

 

On October 7, 2011 I wrote to him:  "... OK, the balls in your court, John. Drop the baseless Letter of Trespass for me, as per my attorney's request to the City to mitigate some of the damage already caused to my reputation and my election chances (attached), or face some more litigation due to preventing me from attending a so-called open candidate forum on equal terms."

 

My distinguished attorney had wrote three very sensible letters to the City Attorney seeking to have that onerous policy retracted in October.  No permission from the City Manager, recognized by the new City policy, was forthcoming and I was pilloried repeatedly by the "blind, deaf and especially dumb" local newspaper for having 'declined' my invitation to the above mentioned 'open forum'.  While the City was violating the City's own sign policy by picking up my legally placed campaign signs, I had to send surrogates to City Hall to get them back. 

 

Election day came, and even though my residency of the Third Ward was well-known to all City Hallers, as I had applied to be appointed to fill that open position in April, interviewing in front of most of them, they apparently forgot I would need to vote at the very City Hall I was banned from.  Even though I had discussed this at my interview for Third Ward, talked to the City Clerk about this very issue, and other City Officials about ramifications of the policy, I received no invitation at all to vote. 

 

I have since had that investigated by the County Prosecutor, and will soon have the FBI involved in checking out that serious breach of Federal Election Law.  I have heard nothing from any Ludington official changing the policy or the letter of trespass I received, but apparently John Shay has finally decided-- after prohibiting me from going to an open forum and from voting-- to allow me to go to City Hall for an informational meeting on a street project.  Yippee, I'm glad you think you have that power as well, Mr. Shay, as you continue to function without an Oath of Office. 

[XLFD]

Oh, I don't think I was special; a DPW truck stopped out in front, they put one of their flyers under or in each of the four mailboxes at my front door, and continued down the street.  I noticed the sound of the high-idling truck parked out front, saw them come and go, and then saw them proceed up Dowland going east. 

You may say to yourself:  "They put the fliers in your mailbox?  Doesn't the USPS Domestic Mail Manual state that “no part of a mail receptacle may be used to deliver any matter not bearing postage, including items of matter placed upon, supported by, attached to, hung from, or inserted into a mail receptacle.” In other words, the mailbox may not be used for anything other than for pieces of mail with postage attached. The USPS Domestic Mail Manual goes on to states that it is a federal offense and there is a significant penalty for violating this law."

 

To which I would reply:  "Relax; they're City of Ludington employees in the Kingdom of John Shay, they can violate-- no that has too many negative connotations-- tweak any Federal Law they see fit to.  Forgive, forget, look forward."  

LOL.

 

[Heaven Therzke]

forgive forget look forward are words you need to consider x-lfd.  john shays a good onerable man who does an importent public service.  quit wasting his time and let him move this city forward.

[Dave]

Ah, I C that fine public school education is still doing your comments justice Heaven :-)

[Sweater Cows!]

funny. seems he just set himself a (post)-precedent for requiring himself to "invite" you to city hall for a certain date instead of (mock) 'requiring" you to ask permission.

[AQUAMAN]

Sometimes "olive branches for peace" shouldn't be ignored. I don't know who said it or if it works, but here goes: "keep your friends close, your enemies closer". Your previous emails from City Hall had the formal insignia of a letterhead at the top, that proves it's bona-fide material. If this one has the same, you should be good to go, if you so choose, it's a foot in the door so to speak.

[XLFD]

This meeting is a simple meeting with Shawn MacDonald, DPW head, and Amy Malek of the City's favorite engineers, Prein & Newhof answering questions concerning the inconveniences of this construction.  The E-mail I received from King John was only sent to me.  The letter dropped off is attached below.

Every member of the LPD has been instructed to arrest me on sight at City Hall/LPD property, every member of City Hall knows I'm not allowed there, and have been instructed to call LPD when they see me.

Would I be afraid of being unlawfully arrested?  Yes. 

Do I believe I would get a fair shake from the LPD and the local justice system?  No.

I fear my government, but I am willing to fight my fears, safely. 

[Willy]

X

I didn't notice it until now that in his letter of Jan,4 Shayster addressed you as Tom. Does he think you are now friends or is this his way of disrespecting you? I would assume that professional ethics would require a business letter be addressed as Mr._____. I noticed he didn't sign the letter just "John". Very unprofessional.

[XLFD]

Nice catch, Willie, that flew under my radar.  He has been rather formal to me and 'Eve' for the most part.  Perhaps his interview with the MSP gave him some understanding that I am not his enemy, but just someone who does not like dishonest, closed, and unethical government. 

Nah, I'm sure they were more than civil to him.  Maybe me and King John can get together some day, and sing Kumbaya when I visit him at a nearby institution of corrections, LOL.

 

Starting with this thread, I encourage all who refer to Ludington City Manager John Shay to instead call him King John (which should not be confused with Mayor John Henderson, who actually gets elected by the people and takes an Oath of Office to uphold laws).  If you are familiar with the legend of Robin Hood, King John was the corrupt leader of England, using the Sheriff of Nottingham to enforce his special edicts and laws and harass Robin and his Merry Men.  Also starring:

Chief Barnett, as Sheriff of Ludingham

XLFD, as Rotta Hood and featuring the Merry Men:

'John', as Little John

Willy Smith, as Willy Scarlet

Aquaman, as Friar Tuckson

Dave, as Alan-a-Dave

with Wanda Marrison, as Maid Marrison (haven't wooed her over to the good side yet!).

[AQUAMAN]

I resent that notion of Friar Tuck, am I that Fat now, .......lol...... oh well, maybe I am, but I'm pleasingly plump anyhow, aint I? The "fish Gods don't mind yet". And mind over matter is what really counts, isn't it? Like I said, keep your "enemies closer", or forget figuring out their next move before you get formal notice of it later.......just food for thought, not cynicism.

[AQUAMAN]

Why not show this to your buddies at the LDN, like Benoche and Brainski, and see if they too want to accompany you to the meeting, if their time tables agree?  Then they HAVE TO REPORT the results if such an arrest occurs, and I really doubt it could or would. Throw the dice for a CHANGE! Not Chicken OUT! All that's at stake is the Constitutional Rights of an American, right?

[XLFD]

The connection between you and the friar was based on piety, not rotundity   0:-P  Honest.

You have strengthened my backbone, Aquaman, but alas it's too late to go, the meeting was this morning.  I wrote an E-mail to King John early this afternoon, telling him why I decided not to attend:

 

"FYI, for upcoming events like this, an E-mail as you have sent here is insufficient for purposes of inviting me to the City Hall, as I understand the Workplace Safety Policy.  That policy says I do need written notice from the City Manager, but I still must fear the risk of arrest when I go to the City Hall for such an event since you haven't notified any officer of the police department, nor any other City Haller to my knowledge, as you have not notified me that you have, or CC-ed them in the E-mail. 

 

Likewise, the WSP has no definition of what written permission entails, and a xeroxed E-mail with no signature just might not cut it, and I am not endangering my liberty accordingly.

 

If you are sincere in future invitations, you could send me a letter to my home address with such permission, signed by someone who has statutory authority to do so.

 

As I and my attorney have asked:  mitigate the compounded damages the City of Ludington is accruing by rescinding the illegal Letter of Trespass-- and take an oath of office-- after all, it's been eight years."

[XLFD]

Willie, Tonight I went to an event at Foster Elementary with science, social studies, and art projects being displayed for all grades.  Both King John and I were there as we both have kids in that school that were displaying projects.  I don't know whether I noticed him first in the crowded gymnasium, but I felt threatened and intimidated by his presence-- I freely admit that. 

After all, he has used the power of his office to discredit me, rob me of my rights, used his private police force (the LPD) to serve me an unwarranted Letter of Trespass, and has done numerous things contrary to law that I have exposed here, none of which his office has responded too. 

But he did pass by me while I was checking out exhibits, and said "Hi, Tom" and I nervously replied "Hi, John" and moved away from the area.  This was the third time I've seen him during school events this year, and I don't fail to feel threatened and intimidated by his presence.  The school is public property in Ludington, and he could claim the right to disallow me from going there with his new-found, unconstitutional power of his.