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Ludington City Council March 28, 2022: Unwritten Rules

The agenda packet for the March 28, 2022 meeting of the Ludington City Council indicated a fair amount of busy work (10 action items) and potentially a closed session, but the meeting itself didn't even last 3/4 of an hour. Councilor Ted May and the city attorney were absent, the latter which led to a special acknowledgment at the front of the meeting and the dropping of the closed session.

Three non-controversial ordinances were passed, all effectively concerning zoning issues and originating from the planning commission and read at the prior meeting of the council. One removed the term "story" as defining building height in the zoning code; it will be replaced by a height in feet. One rezoned 1228 S Madison Street. The last permitted 'accessory commercial units', allowing the creative use of property to start up a small business enterprise.

Other business amounted to awarding three contractors annual contracts for stump grinding and crack sealing, along with certain Harborview Marina improvements. The record shows that the City received four bids to fill these contract in total, indicating once again that the City is getting negligent in the competitive bidding process. The City, perhaps thinking of the terms of their marina lease with the state that requires competitive bids, did decide to pick the low-bidder on the one contract of these that had two bidders. Each contract was awarded without debate negative vote. Another contract had its first reading, one that would allow Harbor Front Condo holders use the facilities at the Harbor View Marina over the next five years

The last bid they were considering was also for a five-year contract, but with a composting company, of which I addressed with my first comment, made after a representative of the PM Masonic Lodge announced a free dinner for all interested on April 30th to celebrate their sesquicentennial (150 years) of being in Ludington. Ludington's sesquicentennial is next year. Lyla McClellan had followed him and expressed her concern over having too many short-term rentals.

If my comment seems short (for me), it is because I had a longer one prepared dealing with a FOIA appeal, but left that part off since a talk with City Manager Mitch Foster just before the meeting left me uncertain as to whether it was appropriate for the meeting. Here's what I wound up saying:

XLFD: (-36:15 in) "The Morgan Composting contract in your packets is very troubling to me as it seems like a total waste of resources in many ways. Support of this contract amounts to only a memo from the DPW superintendent, so I asked for more supporting information from the City after last meeting via FOIA, and nothing was forthcoming, I received a tardy FOIA response that indicated they needed two more weeks to supply the information that apparently none of the council members have access to tonight to gauge whether this contract is of value to the city.

Here is what we do know from the contract. It will cost up to $56,000 to remove what is already there and cost up to $21,000 more for what accumulates this year and future years. And although Councilor Bulger correctly stated that at the committee it was understood that we would be getting mulched dirt back from the company, the contract has no such language indicating that-- so we will be spending up to $77,000 extra this year and losing access to the 'free' dirt produced, and we don't even know why this is going to happen other than the DPW's superintendent telling us the folks at EGLE is forcing our hand and forcing us to take Morgan's in a no-bid contract. Let's have some answers."

When this topic came up for discussion, Foster would explain that the EGLE directed them towards the Sears-based composting company and that the City would be getting some of the dirt back due to what effectively was a handshake and oral agreement. None of the seven elected officials present reminded him that the city charter and the city code requires "written contracts" for purchases of services like this. See Chapter 13 of the charter and Section 2-4 of the code.

It is certain that neither Foster or DPW Superintendent Stickney has the municipal authority to enter into what amounts to a 5-year oral contract with a contractor, that's a duty solely permitted to the council, and that the written contract entered into by unanimous vote of the council this evening did not contain all of the understood stipulations of this unwritten deal. Foster admitted to engaging in a corrupt practice disallowed by the city charter, and every official present, including the police chief, didn't even bat an eye at the admission.

I berated city officials for this in my second comment, and for their other unwritten policies that permitted someone convicted of a long list of felonies to join the fire department, and that permitted their school resource officer to commit perjury on a warrant affidavit and not face any discipline:

XLFD: (-4:25 in) "Morgan Composting is under no legal obligation to give the city back any dirt from the 13,000 cubic yards of mulch it will remove from the city this year in the contract you agreed to tonight. It is only symptomatic of greater corruption at city hall if there were oral agreements in addition to this, as the city charter section 13.2 states clearly: "All purchases shall be evidenced by written contract". If this council actually read some of the contracts that they pass unanimously, maybe they wouldn't make mistakes like Councilor Bulger did at the last meeting in presuming we were to receive dirt back.

City Manager Foster erred at the last meeting when he said Austin Billings did not lie on his on-line application. Signing said application certifies that all information thereon is correct and complete. Leaving off 5 or so felonies is far from complete, so if Mr. Foster is correct in saying there was only room for three felonies, Billings could have put down two and say "plus six more". There is no written records supporting any of Foster's other assertions either.

It would all be academic, however, if we had sensible practices for our fire department. If you go to apply to the fire departments in Grand Rapids, Lansing, Saginaw, Muskegon Heights, Port Huron, Lapeer, even Detroit and a host of others, you will automatically be disqualified by having one felony conviction. In Newaygo, Oshtemo, Romulus, Southfield, Auburn Hills, etc. they even disqualify candidates for some misdemeanors on your record.

Want to be a firefighter but have too many felony convictions to qualify anywhere else, then come to Ludington, we're hiring! Are you working for a police department that frowns on committing perjury on your warrant applications, join the LPD where you can do that freely and keep your job as a school resource officer! Where is city leadership on this issue? I'll tell you: Defending their policies that would allow for the hiring of career criminals and leaving an established perjurous cop to prey on our kids at the local schools." [END comment].

My time actually ran out and I wasn't able to finish the last two sentences. Unwritten rules have seemed to develop over the last few years at city hall, perhaps because of the lenity of the Covid protocols, which allowed them to conduct business out of view of the public for the most part. This seems to have led to bad habits.

Our city leaders are operating by making handshake contracts outside of the public purview, making a sham of the competitive bidding process. One can only imagine what handshake contracts city leaders made with State Senator Curt VanderWall when they abandoned the low bid and chose his company. City leaders are hiring career felons to positions of public trust, and retaining police officers to look over our schools who have perjured themselves in order to secure an unwarranted search warrant citing some unwritten policy of making a threat assessment.

This is not the direction the City of Ludington should be heading if they are to be representing the good people of this city.

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Permalink Reply by Willy on April 1, 2022 at 8:15pm

I don't know if Foster had been smoking or drinking but he just admitted, as you said, to engaging in corrupt and illegal activity. How hard can it be to follow the City's laws and ordinances. I got an idea X. Maybe you could get Foster to follow the legal requirements the City is bound by and shake hands over it. Then you will know for sure he will do the right thing.