Ludington Spring-Along

[XLFD]

A little known fact about 2020 is that the first day of spring occurred the earliest it ever has since the late 1800s.  Astronomically speaking, not since 1896 has the spring equinox occurred as early on March 19th as it did this year, and it only made it with ten minutes to spare.   The first full day of spring saw some interesting things happen with Ludington City Hall.

City Hall Closed, but Close

Ludington City Hall has been closed to the public (except dire emergencies) over the last week since Tuesday due to the Coronavirus crisis  impelling the governor to shut down most things where people might congregate, like dine-in restaurants, libraries, and schools; but early on the Thursday when spring officially came, city hall was active with the weekly 'Talk of the Town' video clip.  The two hostesses of the show typically tell you about all of the weekend events and what's happening in and around downtown during and after hours.  

This week, they were particularly hard-pressed due to the president, governor and local health department shutting anything that involved social gatherings down, including the pervasive bar & tavern network that is a staple of the show.  Self-quarantine and social distancing are the new buzzwords that have been adopted by all public servants.

Yet these two ladies in their forties not only sat inches away from each other for a half hour chatting away about the new normal, they had the city manager drop by for a little bit to add some of his own newfound wisdom regarding COVID-19 guidelines. 

A fine example for the public to be following.  Is there any hope that the citizen's get a tax refund from all levels of government for all of the government services that they have paid for and will have been diminished or denied them over this period due to their official acts in this pseudo-crisis?

Closing Job Openings in a Not-so-Close to Open Process

During this down period, city management has been looking for replacements for a water plant supervisor and police chief to replace one who died on his job site and one who is retiring, respectively.  The first full day of spring they announced they had found suitable replacements.

Jamie Hockemeyer is currently the water plant supervisor at Mt. Pleasant with a couple years experience with the Michigan DEQ (currently the Environment, Great Lakes and Energy Dept. or EGLE) and has F-1 (Treatment) and S-1 (Distribution) certifications from EGLE.  Looks very qualified on paper.

Tim Kozal has been the police chief (public safety director) of Manistee over the last three years, and served in Kalamazoo for 22 years prior with a brief stint in Edwardsburg as their PSD for about three years.  Kozal assumed command to the north just after the Lee Milks shooting and his most notable act has been holding the press conference that exonerated the officer involved of any blame.

                                                        Mitch Foster's Long Lost Brother?!

Kozal was chosen over a dozen other candidates one of who was already on the LPD and one who was retired LPD.  The most recent personnel committee where the supposedly-nonbinding decisions were made gives even less information.  Minimally, the expected compensation and the names of the other candidates should be divulged.  

The water plant superintendent should rightly be decided on each candidate's technical merits, but it's a shame that the person who will be in charge of city law enforcement is chosen over twelve others without involving the public more in the decision or at least allowing their elected officials more of a say rather than 'rubber-stamping' the executive decision at the next city council meeting.  

Close Call:  Open Meetings Act Lawsuit Open for New Judge

On March 19th, I received two letters.  The first was from the 51st Circuit Court.  As noted in my comment from the March 16th meeting, I was disappointed that the City used their in-house attorney (Carlos Alvarado) rather than their risk management attorney, because the money for them comes from the City's general fund and nobody with authority okayed that expense.  

I didn't note then that I was also disappointed by the fact that they chose to oppose the motion for disqualification I included with my lawsuit (see ResponseBriefDQ.pdf).  Alvarado correctly noted that I had not supported my motion with an affidavit effectively swearing that the information behind my motion was true, but then developed a line of reasoning that having Judge Susan Sniegowski rule over the case would not somehow be unfair since her husband is a long-term supervisory employee (officer) for the City of Ludington.  Or for that matter, that her position as FOIA and criminal attorney for the City of Ludington just prior to her attaining the rank of judge might make her appear less than impartial.

Had I been both the boss of the judge's husband and the judge's previous employer, I think Alvarado's perception would be much different.  Yet, if that was the case, I would still have made the same motion, for it just wouldn't have been fair and proper with all those conflicts.  

Fortunately, the letter was the same as what I had seen before; on her own motion, the judge disqualified herself, noticing that her husband was an officer/employee of the defendant.  The City has the right to appeal that ruling to Judge Wadel, but I don't see it any more successful than this objection to disqualification.  Good judges take themselves off cases when there is any appearance of impropriety.  

Review Board Open to Moderation, Close to my Evaluation

On March 9th, I went before the Ludington Board of Review meeting in the council chambers I frequent and explained several reasons why the City's assessed value (AV) of my property on Pine Street was overvalued.  Like many folks, my AV jumped an immodest level this year due to 'market forces' figuring into a move of 8% upward. 

The other letter I received was from this board.  I had argued the prior week that the raise should be by no more than 3% using a variety of tactics and apparently they agreed.  The AV for my modest homestead was adjusted downward by $3000 to my evaluation for a 3% rise.  Another ruling for a modest victory by mail on the first full day of spring.  It makes you want to sing:

City leaders hire new police chief,

And water plant superintendent,

Judge rules against their new lawyer's brief,

And Board rules against large assessment.

This was the very first day in spring,

City hall closed, and we're still winning.

[Freedom Seeker]

• With a Foster-Kozal look-alike confusion not socially distancing themselves, we might be "police-managed in a socialistic city."