Fact Check: Rotta, City FOIA Issues Continue

[XLFD]

The Ludington Daily News reports on Tuesday 3-13-2012, and Rotta, who was never contacted by the quality reporter known as Kevin Branisczeski once again, did not report the full story and broadcast some inaccuracies.  Those are footnoted in red, and commented on at the end:

 

A city resident is again challenging a Freedom of Information Act decision by Ludington City Manager John Shay, who is the city’s FOIA coordinator, and the Ludington City Council again upheld Shay’s decision Monday night.

Tom Rotta is the resident who challenged the decision — as he has for many FOIA decisions during the past year — and the council’s vote supported Shay’s contention that he did provide Rotta with all the records he requested.

At issue, according to Shay, is that the third, fourth and fifth invoices Rotta requested all referred to the same original 2010 invoice for $19,105.52 from Tye’s Inc. to the city for a lettered sign. 1

In a March 1 email to the council’s members, Rotta stated he was appealing to them because Shay failed to produce one of his requested records or certify that it does not exist.

Rotta statements

He did not attend Monday’s council meeting 2 and no one spoke in favor of his challenge during the meeting’s public comment period, but Rotta did provide an email to council members, other city staff and the Ludington Daily News Sunday.

In that email he states that current Councilor Nick Tykoski — who took office in January 2012 — was a member of the Ludington Downtown Development Authority in 2008, as was Ludington Community Development Director Heather Venzke. Rotta said the city council decided to amend its tax increment financing plan that year to provide the DDA with tax revenues for downtown improvement projects. 3

He stated the plan included spending $150,000 for signage during the next few years and stated Tykoski’s company was awarded a $15,001 signage project without a bid or contract in 2009. 4

Tykoski and Venzke are now married and Tykoski abstained from Monday’s vote on Rotta’s challenge.

Before the vote

Councilor Gary Castonia said he believes Shay went above and beyond his duty to provide Rotta with the information he sought and said he believes Rotta’s challenges are wasteful because the most recent caused at least seven 21-page documents about the challenge to be created when no one challenging the decision even showed up to voice their concerns. 5

City Attorney Richard Wilson said he believes the city did not have to provide Rotta with any of the documents he requested because the dates he asked for did not match the invoice dates, but were instead dated by when council took action to approve them. 6

In court

There is currently at least one civil case on the Circuit Court docket that involves Rotta suing the city for what he contends is a FOIA violation involving documents between the city and Tykoski, Tye’s Signs and Tye’s Inc. during a three-and-a-half-year period between Jan. 1, 2008 and Sept. 6, 2011.

51st Circuit Court Judge Richard Cooper, according to the court, has offered 7 to disqualify himself from that case if the parties do not reach a settlement agreement and the case is tried in court.

If that happens, a new judge would be selected.

___________________________________________________

1:  The records he says are the same are these I requested

3) Invoice for $9552.76 for "Downtown Signs" dated 6-14-2010 and given ref. #: 8009

4) Invoice for $9552.76 for "Downtown Signs" dated 6-16-2010 and given ref. # 8009

5) Invoice for $9552.76 for "Downtown Kiosk Signs" dated 8-09-2010 and given ref. #: 74

Gotten from this financial record of the DDA:

 

I would have thought there might be a voided invoice 8009, a non-void 8009, and an invoice 74, (a check is denoted as CK) but what we got was this voided check and check and a vague statement (not an invoice).  No invoice, check or statement 8009 or 74 was included.  Shouldn't this at least be explained?  This is what I was requesting in my appeal-- certify that the invoice's do not exist or have been lost or destroyed.  Was that difficult to do?

 

2- Perhaps the threat of arrest on entrance into the City Hall by the appellant was a factor?

 

3 & 4- I was surprised that the LDN disclosed this, but it was a very incomplete disclosure and colored by the fact that it was part of my statement not verified by the reporter to its accuracy.

 

5- Rotta maintains the City had no reason to create those documents or the power point presentation, as it was totally irrelevant to the point of that appeal they abandoned when I didn't show-- perhaps it was that whole threat of arrest and incarceration thing again due to that law you passed, Gary.  The City Manager even ignored my request to attend that meeting via written permission, but why engage in technicalities when it doesn't suit your purposes.

 

6- This is pure drivel by the purest driveler.  These are records described by the City DDA's own financial records, and if their dates don't match, perhaps the DDA administrator should be better at dates and organization, or is that asking too much, or threatening in some way?

 

7- This is true CC Judge has offered to disqualify himself, but the junior reporter makes it sound as if he did so because he didn't want to oversee the case, not that because his son was on the Defendant's legal team.  The offer was also accepted, and we had to remind the Circuit Court when we saw this in the paper, that they needed to find a judge, for there will be more litigation going on.

 

Once again, a great example of reporting by the Ludington Daily News... of what not to do.

[AQUAMAN]

That's right Stale Dale, cop-out and run when the conversation get's "too real for your kiddy type mentality". I'll go on to say that I am working out of town, so I cannot attend the CC mtgs. as I would if there. And when I am there, I only go once in a while, it's a circus atmosphere at best when you attend, with "fixed agendas of the outcomes on all the pertinent matters at hand", a few select people want the entire city's population to drop and run whenever they have a meeting, it's not always convenient, and certainly NOT in my list of top priorities. I would suppose if I and X got all our buddies, relatives, and Torchers together, say we only show up with 20-25 people, the COL would probably issue us all LOT for being a Mob Mentality danger.....lol. I could envision just that too. As for Wanda, I don't ever remember attacking her, ever, where's your proofs sir? Again, more shallow threats of nothingness. As a matter of fact, not fiction, you can ask her this, have I ever phoned her and talked, with calm and resolve, to get her viewpoints, and not be beligerent? I respect her views, and as a newbie, newly elected/appointee, she doesn't know what all the ropes there yet, but I give her credit, she seems to have an open unbiased mind. Oh yeah, you can call me Aqua for short, since you can't spell my alter ego name here correctly, nor even make a sensible nickname.

[AQUAMAN]

Dale, that's exactly how the Torch got created, because the dull-drums of the LDN reporting the propaganda of the city's leaders was not news, it's prefabrication and agenda type statements, over and over, for the masses. Plus the fact that another local forum was also biased and liberal beyond belief, banning people for not being vulgar like their base was constantly, and for even mentioning Charleton Heston for standing up for Christianity and the right to bear arms. The fact that the LDN doesn't publish both sides of any serious matters betrays their very own reason for being, that of Freedom of Speech, and Freedom of the Press. The awkward, clumsy, and ineffectual ego-driven leaders of the LDN's local staff are mad at X for several reasons of the past, some you mentioned, but the fact is, these people don't get the whole message out, cause it's in their own "fixed agenda". In a lot of ways they have that same aloof and condescending attitude prevalent with some on the CC, so they get along quite well. I might also add this regarding contracting in any business, if the original bidders don't reply, the first initiative is to find replacement bidders, not just ask the same bidders why no bid, and then be told exactly what I was, there was no sense in bidding it one guy said, the fix for the contract, like many of the past with the city, was in already, he didn't want to waste his time as he had previously, and always lost to Nick, not because Nick was volunteering labor either, quite the opposite, and he asked not to mention his name, so, I won't divulge that confidentiality either. Btw Dale, you've logged on to this site well over 15 hours straight now, when do you punch your time card tonight?

[AQUAMAN]

It doesn't take a good business man much time to analyze your antics here, they revolve and repeat in continuity, not adding anything of a nature that is pertinent to the debates at hand, but just for chaos and conflict. You NEVER answer ANY questions, just add your dribble and cop-outs. Must be nice to have soooooo much time for dribble, not direct objective debate, as this site usually has. Not to worry, you're going to slip sooner or later, then your bud Larry will probably take over again, eh?

[XLFD]

Aquaman,

With his disregard for direct questions and any sort of facts on his behalf, I fully believe Dale is probably not reading 4 of every 4 posts of everyone here.  Welcome to the club.

[Sweater Cows!]

What is MIFI?? Is that where you use a smartphone as a hotspot? Does that work well if so? will one smartphone run 3 or 4 laptops?

[masonco]

Sprint does not work very many places any more. Don't go to north east part of state with it. It is useless.

Dale, you are the ONLY one I know of who calls that unit that way. It is not even advertised as that.  If you had said your portable internet box, people would have recognized it from the advertisments on TV. Even my sales rep at Verizon and ATT both here and in Gaylord do not call them that MIFI.  I have one and I had to stop and think what you meant by that.  BUT mine is 4G and Verizon works everywhere except parts of UP and in Rogers City

 Dale..please lighten up and decrease the negativity. thank you 

[Willy]

Dale
If the LDN wanted to get to the bottom of this situation and do a true investigation they could in fact settle this with one article by gathering all the information from both sides, but sadly to say it appears that local business and political ties have influenced LDN's methods of news gathering and reporting. The LDN then becomes a gossip and advertising magazine. It becomes a shell of a news institution. It becomes a mouthpiece for local politicians. It ceases to be a 1st amendment protected entity. In short it ceases to be, what I consider, a newspaper. It becomes only pages of advertising in which it's own existance becomes it's only purpose. Why become  a journalist when the most important story in the paper is an advertisement for toilet paper. And since when did rudeness stop a "real" newspaper from gathering and reporting information and the truth. If all the news was only obtained from happy, contented people then newsprint would smell like roses. I guess you don't hold the LDN in high esteem because it sounds like if you were in charge your only concern would be that there are a lot of pretty pictures for the dumb downed readers to look at. With your attitude the LDN might as well be a comic book and I'm afraid a lot of people are getting that message. I subscribed for years but have since come to my senses and realized how impotent that paper has become and the sad part is it was intentionally neutered

[XLFD]

Willy, that's all true from what I've seen, but can I play the devil's advocate and speak as to why the LDN has come to this state of affairs.  We all know that it is tough times for newspapers, the advent of 24 hour cable news, the rise of social networking and instant internet news, has made newspapers rely more on news that is fed to them and depend more and more on their advertisers. 

If the LDN were to devote resources to actually covering the dirt on the local government and local businesses, they would lose their newsfeeders and their ad revenues respectively.  Furthermore, if the LDN actually writes a negative story about the area's DDA (which is highly unlikely since the DDA budgets over $5000 a year in advertising, while at the same time having the circulation manager of the LDN on the DDA helping make that public money private) they wind up ticking off both City Hall and favored businesses who want to control that $120,000 of pot luck pork and even more grant opportunities that go with it.

Thus if the LDN  does the job that our founding fathers said were the duties of a free press, they will find themselves at the soup kitchen.  So let's not hate on them; they do what they do to survive.

[Willy]

What's the point in having a newspaper if the information it contains is inaccurate or misleading. To what purpose does that serve other than  making fools of their readers. In truth it only adds to the speed of their decline.

[XLFD]

It's a modern day Catch-22 isn't it? 

If the LDN reports the truth, they do their duty but they fall to the wayside because they lose their revenues, and ease of public access.  

If the LDN reports pablum, they don't do their duty, they get ad money and public access, yet the readers eventually lose interest, ad resources dry up, and they fall by the wayside. 

They've chosen the one that usually lasts longer.

[masonco]

Willy good question that applies to all media outlets. Look at the efforts being made to shut down conservative web news sites and even attempts have been made to shut down Fox News. Yet they watch it obviously when they find fault with the hosts dare mention anything not approved of by our government...Oh wait, big brother is watching this site...What am I thinking? (looks over shoulder)

[AQUAMAN]

Dale, you don't have control of your very essence and being, your are and have been programmed and controlled by covert experts in vague and corrupt sources for your information. You don't analyze, read, digest, and make up your own mind, you are infested with the same virus as the col, that of control, power, greed, and cover-up, that of ruling with an Iron Fist, that which has worked it's way in Ludington for far too long, and may now, at long last, have a chance of being changed, back to some normalcy. Is that what really get's your goat, that of something we as citizens can and will partake in, some normalcy and honesty at long last? Some investigation into our very own funds being spent, whether frivolously or prudently? Methinks this is your very essence, that of deceit and fraud, that which we here feel is worth the time and effort to investigate, and the more X and his followers go, the more we uncover as such. And let the "chips fall where they may" imho. They may end up falling on you too pal.