Ludington City Council Meeting July 11, 2016: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to City Hall

[XLFD]

After doing hours of diligent research and preparation in creating speeches for the two public comment periods at the July 11, 2016 Ludington City Council meeting, I began the trek of three blocks from my house to the city hall ready for game.  Halfway there, I was intercepted by an officer from the Ludington Police Department and whisked away reluctantly but willingly to another part of the city to deal with an emergent situation.  The city council, led by the mayor for the rest of 2016 (at least), Kaye Holman would have to proceed without me and my commentary, my unwilling contribution to her honeymoon appearance. 

The end result for the meeting, was a half hour of the usual business and self-congratulatory pomp, broken only by a brief reminder from one of the upstanding citizens of Ludington at the end that everything was not as perfect as the official wizards portrayed them to be.

July 11, 2016 Ludington City Council Meeting from Mason County District Library on Vimeo.

The council did have a brief moment of internal dissent about 7:30 into the meeting with Councilor Rathsack objecting to the special liquor licenses for two of the After-Friday-Night-Live events occurring on July 22 and 29.  Rathsack stoically opposed the drinking events in the downtown (this year at the 'beautiful' Community Garden) because of the plethora of such events already scheduled and the fact that the FNL event is supposedly family-oriented.   He was the sole councilor to think so, and it was passed.

The City of Ludington okayed the early purchase of pre-treatment equipment for the water treatment plant in order to get a start on the process of upgrades this winter instead of pushing the project back another year (see p. 32-36 in this councilor packet).  You will note that this contract was for the city to pay $30,000 on this project now on this expense that was not otherwise in the budget, and that the council voted on the expenditure, that's within the rules, and will be noted for later.   Somewhat troubling is the competitive bidding process being relegated solely to the contractor, who violated that process (they offered the higher bidder an opportunity to offer a second bid).  They also limited the field to two far away companies, when one would think there might be more options. 

The City also looked to procure more vacant or abandoned grave sites in city cemeteries so that they could repurpose them; they had the first presentation of a ghoulish ordinance that seems reasonable. 

The most far reaching vote made during this meeting was to pass a resolution to adopt the City's Master Plan.  This document directing the city's future was crafted primarily with help from the Land Information Access Agency (LIAA) and its very progressive corporate backers.  Sadly, Councilor Rathsack praises the document and asks for greater access (17:45 in) for the public to the documents, and at 19:50 into the video after thanking all that worked on it, Councilor Katie Moonbeam (aka Kathy Winczewski) admitted proudly that "it is a very progressive plan". 

In an area where all of our contested county offices are going to be decided in the August Republican primary, because there are not enough Democrats/Progressives around to support a run with that designation, we have the biggest city and the county itself adopt very Progressive (that's with a capital "P") master plans.  This is what happens when the electorate is not paying enough attention, their leaders adopt devices that go against the communities core, and against the core principles of the Republican Party they claim to be members of.  I make reference to this plan in my closing two minute speech that I never gave.

At the end of the meeting comment, Diane Chippi (22:30) delivered a brief comment reiterating a call for more action that never seems to come:  "I just wanted to say that in '08 there was 15 million (gallons) of wastewater in the (PM) Bayou and 2012 there was a 10 million gallon spill of wastewater and neither spill was cleaned up.  It's turning the bayou into a swamp and unusable.  A lot of weeds.  Just go see for yourself." 

It was not addressed in the closing communications and miscellaneous business periods.  They told us instead about the Tree Advisory Board, Friday Night Live and a verbatim reading of the charter amendment to give the city manager a five year contract rather than a one year contract, by Councilor Krauch, the city councilor who has the whole of the PM Bayou in his ward.  It's perhaps better than him dismissing the PM Bayou's pollution by reading a misleading executive summary purchased by the city to explain the nearly 500 page report from the DEQ about the bayou.

City Manager Shay informed us of the disastrous news that MSHDA had approved the bowling alley block development, but implied it was a good thing.  Unless your last name is Jacobson, Wilson, Tykoski, or Shay, this is bad news.

Exclusive for the Ludington Torch readership is my proposed public comments that I would have given at this meeting (with some documentary backup also only available here) were it not for the last minute emergency preventing me from it, but first, I thank the LPD for their response and its appropriateness.  It may be my opinion only, but this meeting seemed to be rather blasé without the usual firebrand present bringing up the usual excesses and manifestations.  Sorry that happened, following the yawns is my prepared speech ungiven.

"On May 19 in an update on mitigating the sewer odors from the wastewater treatment plant the city manager told us that the City was in the process of purchasing a vapor-phase system.  In the next update on June 1st, he related that the City had purchased a vapor-phase system from a company.  Later updates said it was installed on June 15, and since that time odor complaints have been few, and that's promising news.

But this meeting's financial report shows that the city spent over $27,000 on the vapor phase system/blower.  The updates claim that the "city" had made this purchase through the recommendations of their contracted city engineer, but at the May 23rd meeting while in the process of purchasing the system, according to the update, this council did not vote to acquire it.  Neither did they approve it on the meeting on June 13th or even the last meeting or any other meeting.

 

This purchase of over $27,000 was not laid out in the budget at the end of last year.  The city manager does not have the authority to spend over $27,000 of the public monies on such purchases without getting approval by the city council.  It says so in the city charter, the laws that the city manager and this council must live by.  It's why you are approving the pretreatment equipment for the water treatment plant. 

Have you decided not to live by the laws created and affirmed by the people of this city?  Or did you approve this outside of a meeting open to the public, with phone calls and e-mails getting your approval and in clear violation of the Open Meetings Act.  This is what you did in 2012 to do non-emergency work on the sewer system on Brother Street. 

Maybe it was done without due notification of the city council, and thus approved without the input of any elected official.  It seems that at least four times a year I come before this council and remind you of the laws for purchases, contracts, and how you have just violated those laws. 

The manager or his attorney will likely try to paint this purchase as an emergency buy and bypassed the council for expediency's sake, even without proper authority.  But the record shows the council could have looked over and confirmed this at the May 9th or 23rd meeting.  It is often the only time the citizens can see what is being done with their money, and whether it is being spent wisely.

Keeping citizens informed and processes transparent are part of the new master plan you are scheduled to pass.  As it is, the city manager made the decision unilaterally to purchase this system without lawful authority, without your authority, so it would be fair to give him the bill for it, or a pink slip. Thank you."

Besides the expenditure of about 10% more money for the system at the WWTP, the purchase of the WTP equipment is logically equivalent to it, and deserved a vote and public notification of the details prior to the purchase.  The city manager and the contracted engineer made this decision while avoiding scrutiny from our elected officials and ourselves.  This is illegal, secretive, and very shady.

My second prepared comment dealt with the Master Plan which I was confident that they would pass during the meeting with glowing commentary, which I was correct about.  Let me second Councilor Rathsack's plea, and refer everyone to read the master plan, that document directing the city's future. 

I suggest everyone read it with a critical eye, however, for the politics behind it is discernible for discerning readers and it seems that some of the statistical data is suspect, such as the Fourth Ward being second only to the Forest Hills area in Ludington for having the fewest living in poverty (see p. 165).  As someone who has worked for the Census, if someone living in a hovel tells you that they make a million dollars each year, you put it down.  People often don't tell you the truth about such personal things as that. 

 

The proposed speech:  "Our new master plan mentions climate at least 82 times, 77 times more than the previous plan drafted by Williams and Works which only used it in the neutral sense.

 

In drafting our latest master plan LIAA and their politically motivated allies, have stretched our master plan from an apolitical 82 pages of objectives, goals and directions to a 198 page document filled with misleading graphs and false data that amounts to propaganda fostering globalism and alarmism.  For example, in these pages are graphs purporting that Michigan will have the same climate as Oklahoma by the end of the century if the people don't give away all their freedoms and allow federal or even international powers to keep the problem in check.  It won't happen, but having a climate like Oklahoma could only bolster our area's economy and sustainability.

It is unfortunate for the people that nobody from the Ludington Planning Commission and the City Council can look through this master plan and object to the unproven science and ludicrous assumptions that you have now voted to implement to make Ludington more 'resilient and sustainable'.  Hitler's Mein Kampf set out similar plans for Germany's future resilience and sustainability, even though he never used those exact terms.  Such blueprints for government-ran societies always fail in the end, due to man's lust for tyranny from those at the top, and conversely, man's lust for freedom from those at the bottom."

[Willy]

My hat's off to you X. You cover the Council meeting better as an absentee than the LDN covers it when it sends a reporter. You have inadvertently demonstrated just how incompetent Ludington's local newspaper really is. Thanks for all the time and work you put in attending the council and other meetings which are important to all of Ludington's citizens.

[XLFD]

Thanks, Willy.  You know, if the COLDNews' reporter was confident that their reportage reflected reality, they would attempt to link to the MCDL site on their E-paper and allow the readers to review the actual recorded meeting.  But then more people would wonder why they often choose the most mundane topics to report on, and ignore many of the relevant points often made by the public-- which often gets ignored by officials anyway since they are not held to account by the local paper.

If you're a standard journalist, you probably think I come off as too biased, and cringe when I talk and become part of the story, but I'm not a standard journalist, I'm a commentator and an investigator, and I try to speak for the under-represented in my speeches and point out the foibles of those officials that run-of-the-mill journalists should be holding in account (yeah, I'm talking to you Brasiczewski and Alway). 

[AQUAMAN]

Yes, very well said Willy, my hat is always off to XLFD, he's terrific imho. 

[jfc123]

I just don't get why councilor Krauch wont embrace this while others are? He has been contacted many times by myself, never an answer? Why would the good people in Ludington and the governance want to be looked upon like this guy that will not do a thing to help his ward? What did we do to him but help build a city that he as an outsider can run? I deserve his spot, write me in this election!

[AQUAMAN]

You have to be a resident at least 6 months I believe, maybe different now? Plus, you have to have an allegiance and cohort relationship with someone else like Shay or a Councilor. Committee member appointed too! Like Wallace is NOW! Go Figure! And please, discover your new self, one that may ignore local's wants and needs, and also be belligerent at the same time. 

[AQUAMAN]

Me too jfc, but you have a taped threat on a citizen? By whom, Shyster Shay? Yes, he threatened me too, just befoe a CC mtg. a few years back, and also yelled so loudly out in the hallway, that everyone there, about 40 people, dropped what they were saying to witness his assaults on me personally. The ONLY reason he didn't get a fist in the chops/nose was because of the witnesses looking on. When I asked them after the CC mtg. if they would witness Shay's assault on me, the answer was a steadfast NO! They didn't see anything, nor hear anything. It was mostly the council members, the Chief, and some other cronies that were the witnesses. But, I still owe the Shyster a medical cure for his mouth that day to this day. If I EVER SEE HIM in the streets alone, he's ALL MINE TOO, irregardless of the consequences. 

[AQUAMAN]

The guy may be 6'6" tall, but he's all mouth, no muscle, no balance, no quickness either. 

[XLFD]

Giving a villainous character like John Shay a right cross to the chops may seem like a deserved and therapeutic act, but it does not solve anything and can get you serious time in the pokey, since he does effectively run the LPD. 

Remember that even in this day of rampant public corruption and terrorism the old adage by Martin Luther King still runs true.  "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."  In order to be a proactive citizen, be the light and the love-- expose the corruption, show how it affects our commonwealth, and propose better solutions for all.  The firmly established darkness and hatred will portray you as they really are, but the light of the truth and the love of the truth will persevere and triumph eventually. 

[AQUAMAN]

How about a kick in the gonads? That doesn't show in a picture either, lol. 10 years is a LONG time to rule this little town, and still want to rule even more territory and people. 

[AQUAMAN]

Yup you're right X, shouldn't be too aggressive about Shay, he's not worth the time nor hassle. Besides, I was a bit lit up when posting this veiled joke. Guess Shay can insult and threaten other locals around here without any problem, then when someone gets upset about his assaults, they then can become the target of a witch hunt by LPD. Know of someone else with that event happening recently. The Law however says self-defense of an attack is legal and how come LPD can't follow that law too?