Career Move

[shinblind]

Creating  Haiku

Ordinance A Specialty 

Wire Shinblind Pitchfork

[Freedom Seeker]

Drink for every hound
When they spend more money, hon
Councilors buy next round

[Haiku Confucius]

Ordinance haikus?

Drinking shots when money spent?

Nah, two words:  dunk tanks!

[XLFD]

For those wondering what's with the odder-than-usual posts... the City of Ludington through their sites on other social media outlets are soliciting ideas to make those Monday evening council meetings more populated with a post proffered on Friday, a picture is shared where somebody in a chicken costume is talking to a council:

"~Friday Engagement Fun~
The City is always hoping to get more people engaged at City Council meetings; what could we do to help make it easier for you to attend? Please comment with simple things we could do to get more people there!
Have a great weekend!
PS: City Manager Mitch Foster would be willing to dress in a chicken suit if it got you there!"

Any ideas?  I haven't checked this with the City Treasurer or Mitch Foster yet, but for the person who comes up with the best idea, I think they or a person they choose should get a year or two waived for city taxes and the first shot at the city hall's new dunk tank with an official of their choice seated. 

[Willy]

Is this serious or a joke. What idiots can not figure out why people are not participating in City Council meetings. This has got to be one of the most moronic, uninformed ideas floated since dropping a crapload of money on Ludington Ave beach in order to destroy it. Please tell me the people now occupying the negative space at City Hall and are promoting this idea are not actually brain dead.

Ideas for Council and City Hall

1. Have a transparent and open Government

2. Freely dispense the peoples information without battling over FOIA requests.

3. Don't belittle, mock, scorn, humiliate or harass people who speak their minds about

    how corrupt City Hall is.

4. Stop being corrupt.

5. Follow the codes, ordinances and laws.

6. Be respectful to all citizens. If you can't do that then find another job.

7. Listen, listen, listen and then

8. Act in an honorable, legal and ethical manner.

9. Remember that you work for the citizens, they don't work for you.

If you need to be told this then something is terribly wrong and if anyone thinks that chicken suits or chicken soup will make things better then there needs to be a hell of a lot more soul searching.

[shinblind]

Dunk tank deep with beer

Chicken suited councilors

Ludington debt free.

[Freedom Seeker]

Ethically challenged,
Takes many years to undo
Lack of respect for people.

[stump]

 Why would I want to go to a meeting , get up to talk about something of concern to me only to have the councilors not pay any attention to what I have to say or to never get a answer to a question. Hell, they don't even look at the citizen speaking. No respect!

[XLFD]

Or rather than just being ignored, be roundly criticized and attacked for your beliefs on public policy or for trying to get information through legal channels.  I know this guy, and he's not just an isolated example, who has been going to council meetings since 2012 and commenting at almost every one with a well developed point or three pointing out problems with public policy or the acts of officials .  Most points get ignored if the impending threat of litigation is not sufficient enough to get a response, but what is invariably addressed the most is not the issue, because there is rarely a sufficient answer, but the person raising the issue.  

That same person was banned from city hall for 14 months in 2011 just for raising the valid point (in this forum) that there was improper bidding and a conflict of interest issue you could drive a truck through in the City awarding a $150,000 sign contract to Nick Tykoski. 

Even though the City settled a federal lawsuit filed for violating that man's First Amendment rights (among others), they came back against him in 2016 when he was running for office to accuse two of the contributors to this forum of threatening John Shay and Michael Krauch.  Shay used his own police department to conduct that investigation, so it wasn't surprising they wanted to prosecute these two; fortunately for the taxpayers, the prosecutor saw it would only end badly for the City and him if they did.  

People that may want to go to meetings get turned off when they see a Councilor like Krauch lay into a lady that brought up a lot of valid issues about putting a splash pad in Copeyon, and get raked over the coals because she had made a calculation error in the past, whereas, Councilor/Mayor Holman routinely did such gaffes without other officials batting an eyelash. 

This is all part of the public perception, they see a rigged system where tons of landlords and tenants can speak out against a rental inspection plan they were never a part of (city attorney drafted a re-write of Manistee's), and see it get passed-- leading to almost zero affordable housing units in the city limits.  They look at the three years its been on and marvel at how well it worked:  at running all of the work force the city requires out of the city limits with the hope of gentrification and promised grants.  The City's perspective has just not matched the general population's.

[shinblind]

Cry havoc. 

And let slip the clucks of war.

[XLFD]

"...that this fowl deed shall smell above the earth With carrion hens, groaning for butchering."  Marc Anthony from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, slightly retouched with the taste of chicken.

[shinblind]

Well played...