John Shay Tiptoeing to the Tulips?

[XLFD]

Ludington City Manager John Shay has had a secret over the last month or so.  According to the 1-2-2018 Holland Sentinel article, the position of township manager for Holland Township was being advertised in order to find somebody to replace their current manager who announced his May 2018 retirement in November. 

The position was advertised for $110,000 to $140,000 and included responsibilities such as implementing policies, developing and administering the annual operating budget and capital improvement plan and managing operational and project improvement contracts, among other things.  The township was looking for proven fiscal management skills and working knowledge of laws and ordinances, with a degree in public administration or related field required.

Sometime before February 6, John Shay had not only applied for the position, but had also been interviewed for the position along with six other of the 32 people that applied for the position by the township's selection committee.  A 2-6-2018 Holland Sentinel article noted that they also planned on holding the final interviews in private, wouldn't share the names of the two finalists, and would only reveal their names when they make a recommendation to the board of trustees after the interviews.

The Holland Sentinel made an observation based on open government principles:  According to the Open Meetings Act, a closed session can take place to review the contents of an application for employment to a public office only if requested by the candidate. However, “all interviews by a public body for employment or appointment shall be held in an open meeting.”

Continuing:  "Though the township is using a search committee, that search committee has been given the authority to select finalists; this requires that committee to comply with the Open Meetings Act, even though it might not necessarily be a quorum — or minimum number of members present — of the public body, according to the OMA. There is also a prohibition on deliberately forming a sub-quorum in order to avoid the OMA."

The township's spokesman said both candidates requested privacy as they are both employed and “have concerns about the word getting out at this particular point in time.”

A 2-11 Holland Sentinel article notes that township officials reversed their opinion, being that their proposed method would likely have been found unlawful by the OMA.  Holland Township officials would hold interviews for the remaining township manager candidates that are open to the public. 

The next day's Holland Sentinel 2-12 listed the two candidates, one being the beleaguered city manager of Ludington (above right), the other, a local candidate, Steve Bulthuis (above left), executive director of the Macatawa Area Coordinating Council.  The article notes they received information on the two and their identities from their use of another tool of open government, the FOIA request.  Public interviews will take place at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 20, at the township hall, 353 N. 120th Ave. The township manager is appointed by the board of trustees.

It should be noted that the prior meeting by the selection committee held at an undisclosed location on an undisclosed date where they interviewed the six candidates in a secret meeting in order to whittle the field down to six, the committee was deliberating about and deciding who would make the cut.  That appears to be clear a violation of the Open Meetings Act.

John Shay may have found his future home, one that seems to comport itself like his old home, but at least the area's news media may act responsible in keeping the processes more open than here.

[John Doe Jr]

Wow! There is a God who has answered Our Prayers! Please Holland, take this GREAT GUY! He is FANTASTIC! You will all love him! He will make your City SPECTACULAR! I couldn't say enough great things about "This Guy". Ludington will absolutely mourn for a very long time when we lose this huge asset to our community. We may not get that West End project but, that's OK! He has done so much already it will take years to repay for all He has done!

[XLFD]

I may have to put the Ludington Torch on hiatus during the afternoon of the interview, so that nobody around Holland can access the true record of John Shay in Ludington, or rent a bus and take a lot of folks down to Holland Twp. and sing the praises of John Shay, between the laments of us losing such a fine gentleman.

[XLFD]

Isn't it amazingly appropriate that John Shay's secret wasn't released until yesterday afternoon, kept hush-hush throughout last night's meeting, and only revealed to the media because some industrious journalists with the Holland newspaper used a FOIA request.  FOIA requests and open meetings have a similar effect to John Shay as garlic and wolfsbane have on other monsters.

[XLFD]

Way to amusingly interconnect things, Freedom!  If things weren't so well choreographed, you would think that Heather's retraction of Cops & Robber proceeds from the Shop with a Cop program would have made Barnett uttering his memorable catchphrase, but he at least was too dignified to enter into the fray.  

Let it be known of my great internal conflict at the meeting to go with my second prepared comment or not, after Heather Tykoski's admissions and denials during her time at the podium.  I decided it best not to stir the embers and dilute her response by getting others to weigh in on it.  

An even bigger conflict is whether I should do the humane thing in letting Holland Township learn more about their Ludington candidate's many 'accomplishments' here before they make a decision, or afterwards, when they can't throw him back. 

[AQUAMAN]

Well well well, some find X, quite the find of info. and I for one of thousands around Ludington will also be interested in the final decision a week from today or so. And the Shyster just got reappointed for another year, meanwhile, behind everyone's back, he's doing this? This should be a wake-up call to our locals, of deception and non-transparency right under the city council's eyes, as well as our citizens. Please Holland, accept the Shyster from Boston, and good riddance. Too bad we might have to wait until May for him to leave, if all proves fruitful.

[XLFD]

I was at the December 18, 2017 meeting where the city council voted unanimously to reappoint Shay, after Mayor Holman was gushing over how much she relies on him.  The only one at that meeting who publicly begged to differ was me:

"Thirty three months ago I proffered this council ten strong reasons why they should fire John Shay, I could amend that with at least ten more strong reasons at this point, all based on performance of his job, all that can be rationally supported by facts and public records.

I cannot fathom why such an abysmal record would be supported by this council, except through fear of the repercussions for not towing the line and breaking up part of the gang. Sad, that fear is our city's primary motivator, that secrecy is our city's primary protocol, and that conformity to corruption is our city's primary objective.
So you may forgive John Shay for costing the taxpayers millions of dollars for not abiding by the competitive bidding process, or for allowing the city attorney to overbill for three years until they were caught, or for conducting business and initiatives illegally outside of the public view, or for ignoring the infrastructure at the public's peril until the DEQ came a-knockin', and still be able to sleep well at night. I couldn't do that."

Yes, nobody else would take the job, but I am John Shay's muse, inspiring him to seek out and find another spider hole to manage in his own special way.  

[AQUAMAN]

Just a thought: wondering if the COL could take the Shyster to court for breach of contract if he gets this job in Holland? Afterall, he would be leaving a serious gap in personnel in the city's opinion, right? As for me, I think his assistant Jackie Steckel could stand in just fine, either temporarily, or permanently, and probably cost us much less in the end. Not that she shouldn't be paid the same as any man, but she might need more education, degrees, and/or tenure to accomplish that. In the end though, this has the be the TOP STORY of this 2018 for The Torch, at least so far, lol. How did you come about finding this info. X? Has the LDN/MCP even printed anything yet? I bet not!

[Willy]

Let us not forget that if he leaves, another Manager will be chosen by a bunch of unelected City Councilors.

[XLFD]

A bunch of unelected city councilors in a process likely not to follow the OMA.  Presuming that the personnel committee would serve as the 'selection committee' for a new CM, you would have unelected Wally Cain (remember him losing in the councilor-at-large primaries when he did run) as chairman, unelected newbie Joe Lenius, and Brandy Henderson at the beginning of her second year.  The special interests they are connected with may play a part in their recommendations.

I think Shay has outlived his usefulness, but there is a definite risk his replacement may be even worse for the electors.

[XLFD]

It looks like a binding decision about John Shay's future in Holland Township will be made today, according to WHTC:  "The Holland Township Board will conduct open interviews, beginning at 3 PM on Tuesday, with Macatawa Area Coordinating Council Executive Director Steve Bulthuis and Ludington City Manager John Shay... the board will hold a special meeting following the interviews and expects the panel to make a decision on a new manager at that time."

[AQUAMAN]

I'm going out on a limb and predict Bulthuis gets the job anyhow. He's a local Hollander, so sure to be a favorite for that small town also, rather than a Bostonian/Detroiter I would think. I noted from the WHTC link that Holland is also looking for a city mgr. too, wonder if Shyster applied for that too? He might get that one if he loses this one.

[AQUAMAN]

FS, there a quite a few archival threads on the Shyster Shay replacing Jim Miller as city mgr. from years ago. Check them out. I'll just reference this as the most common denominator: Jim Miller is a local, now selling real estate I believe yet. He came up from the bottom to that position. He was a good man from all I heard, at least at the beginning, then he shifted somewhat to not so good. He was egged on by some councilors to do things to locals, just for the sake of power over taxpayers. It got worse and worse over some years. Then came John Henderson, new Mayor. He expected as new boss, Miller would do anything he demanded. Finally, Miller wouldn't say yes, like a yes man was expected to do. Miller resigned as a result, had too much love and respect for other locals he grew up with and lived with all his life. Then came Shyster Shay, a YES MAN that the Mayor sought out specifically for his attitude, and never flinching any request, lacking ethics and morals. Of course Shyster Shay has no background in Ludington, so he could care less about offending or insulting locals, unlike Miller. So, there endith my lesson, I'm sure you can find much more reading that identifies with this subject matter.