Scottville City Clowncil Meeting, August 16, 2021: Going Full Clowncil

The Scottville City Commission had a problem that arose during the previous week.  That public body had been using the Optimist Hall to hold their meetings, but due to last Tuesday's windstorm, a power pole crashed into the roof of that building and posed a serious issue of fire and potentially electrifying the metal pole barn structure.  

That problem was solved and the pole was fixed, but apparently the hall was without power, making it unusable for a meeting.  Rather than figure out an alternate building to hold their meeting last week, the leadership of Scottville decided at the last minute to hold their meeting outside with officials setting up their tables on the clown band shell just to the west of the Optimist Hall.  

I have routinely called the current commission a 'clowncil' because they act like a band of clowns, the picture below shows that they have adopted that pet name as of this meeting

The way they set this meeting up shows their general disdain for the public and illustrates their complete lack of humility.  The stage is big enough to have the officials set tables up along the back of the stage and have room for at least two rows of chairs for the public facing them, it would have easily facilitated the five people that attended.  

Instead they had the clowncil sit very apart from the public, and since they didn't have any type of speaker system available for use, it was exceedingly hard for those attending to hear.  Former Commissioner Sue Petipren affirmed that when she told them at the end of the meeting that she couldn't hear them.  Had the clowncil allowed the public to speak at the beginning of the meeting, as it mandates in the city charter, they would have heard this a lot earlier in the meeting.  

Throughout the meeting, I cupped my hands to my ears in order to hear better, the COLDNews reporter moved to the side of the stage to listen in, but the clowncil never figured out that they weren't being heard very well.  Several of the officials gave their reports talking towards the Mayor Pro Tem, Commissioner Rob Alway, which made them extremely difficult to hear.

These elitists had an elevated platform to show their superiority to the attending public, they kept the public forty feet away to show their exclusivity, and unlike the public on their hard benches looking into the sun, they were sheltered from that orb blazing in the sky to the west. 

The agenda was amended right off to add a couple of items that were eventually passed without controversy:  to move the next meeting back to city hall, and to close off some city streets for the fall celebration on September 11th.  The only other two items of business was to accept a resignation of Jerry Cole from the planning commission, and to purchase computer equipment worth $3300 to be used in one of their police cars, both of which were also passed without any more discussion than what is in the agenda packet.  

Carlos Alvarado introduced a FOIA appeal to be decided at the next meeting.  This involved a request to see the script of the prepared statement Clowncilor Alway made at the last meeting.  For some reason, Alway does not want to give out this public record so he and the rest of the council is allowing the Chilean Fee Chaser to draft a memorandum to address why he thinks the City has the power to withhold this public record from disclosure. 

From past experience, drafting the memo will likely take the city attorney a couple of hours at about $200 per hour, so the cost to the taxpayer for Rob Alway trying to hide the words he spoke at an open session is going to be around $400 by the next meeting.  Don't they have better things to spend money on?

I had a comment for the clowncilors, I once again brought my sign showing council procedure according to city law, where public comment always comes before city business.  They will see this sign until they decide to follow the law and hold meetings in accordance to that law.  Is there any better illustration (other than my nine count lawsuit against them) that the Scottville Clowncil holds themselves above the law.  Here is the comment delivered at their feet on their clown band stage.

XLFD:  "In the City of Grayling, the Clerk-Treasurer is off the job and a police investigation is underway after the Grayling city manager and police found multiple unexplained payroll discrepancies during an internal audit.  In the City of Scottville, the Scottville acting city manager who also served as the police thief, allowed the city clerk and treasurer to embezzle money from the taxpayers of Scottville while he was actively doing the same. 

This conclusion, fully supported by payroll and other records, is indisputable, but this commission has done nothing more than run interference for these common criminals of Scottville City Hall.  The same clowncil that helped run the old city manager out-of-town for almost missing a deadline takes zero action while the public officials rob the public coffers.  One of your bold commissioners read a statement at the last meeting, courageously attacking a member of the public when that person had no ability to refute it.  As to be expected, it did not address any of the criminal violations of the city or the multitude of FOIA and Open meetings Act violations alleged in the lawsuit he was privileged enough to be one of the individuals to receive.

Shockingly, when I asked for a copy of this prepared statement through FOIA, the city attorney denied the request saying that no such record existed, further explaining that the document was not a public record, even though it was a writing prepared, owned, used, in the possession of, AND retained by Clowncilor Alway and shared to admiring officials and citizens at a regular meeting. 

Clowncilor Alway wants to read a ridiculous and out-of-touch statement loudly and proudly into the public record, yet has the FOIA Coordinator invent and invoke a new exemption unsupported by existing law and precedent to block its release. 

In summary, the clowncil investigates why a city manager nearly misses a deadline, yet fails to investigate rampant fraud and embezzlement by other officials who prompted the other investigation.  A clowncilor reads a statement in open session of a regular meeting in front of the public and other officials, then does his best to hide the transcript of that statement when it is asked for.  We finish one more month where the clowncil ignores the city charter's meeting procedures, not allowing the public to address the commission before the meeting's business is to be conducted.  The City of Scottville is in trouble, and perhaps commissioners should spend some time doing their jobs ethically and responsibly rather than continuing to pat themselves on the back while corruption runs rampant at city hall."

Later that night, Mayor PT Alway would effectively write up a recap of the meeting, showing that he now believes that there is no ethical issue with him covering, as a 'journalist', one of these public meetings that he just so happened to be running.  Seeking or serving in public office violates the professional detachment expected of a journalist covering that beat.  Ethical violations come easy, when you've already elevated yourself away from following laws. 

You will notice that Mr. Alway fails to report that he is withholding a public record from the people, that it is being actively sought, and that one of the attendees at this meeting made several unrefuted criminal allegations against city officials.  Those issues seem a lot more important to the public than what he reported.

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Alway is definitely treading into a potentially questionable situation if not a completely corrupt one. How can any citizen consider that a politician can also be the voice of what is supposed to be an unbiased reporting  of news and Government oversight in daily life and at the same time be part of that governing body they are reporting on?. The media definitely influences and persuades citizens on how to think and react regarding  how they are being governed and how the governing body should be perceived. Always attitude is dangerous to Democracy. There is no way he can hold a political office and be the voice of oversight of that Government he serves without major and ethical conflicts arising. He may feel the need to be involved with local politics but if he hasn't learned by now  that combining politics with the  press only makes for a lethal combination that will inevitably destroy a free society then he will never be a person that can be trusted with protecting our rights and freedoms.

https://www.spj.org/ethics-papers-politics.asp


Well said, Willy. The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) article above adds a few thoughts about combining political office with journalism as a profession.

Your article is a very good one, FS and shows how Alway is going into territory a journalist should not go.  They have two major provisions and split those into four less general ideas, here are those ideas and how they are being subverted, inverted, and perverted by the MCP editor-in-chief:

— Disclose unavoidable conflicts (MCP/Alway is getting paid by COS to run help-wanted and other ads without any disclosure)
— Be vigilant and courageous about holding those with power accountable (he has avoided addressing any instance of obvious malfeasance at the COS, including his own, as a clowncilor and a journalist)
— Distinguish between advocacy and news reporting. Analysis and commentary should be labeled and not misrepresent fact or context (see his latest meeting recap)
— Recognize a special obligation to ensure that the public’s business is conducted in the open and that government records are open to inspection (at the prior meeting, he was one of those handed a nine count lawsuit alleging FOIA and OMA violations, many of which he played a part in)

Alway could learn a lesson or two by observing how former COLDNews editor Paul S. Peterson conducted himself when he was councilor in Ludington for 12 years, especially when the last three years had me in the picture and raising stinks.  

Love the article FS.  It answers a lot of questions regarding ethics and conflict of interest and how the media should be conducting business.

Thanks for the comments on the SPJ, Willy and X. I hope other readers realize by this that Rob Alway is not a responsible journalist or council member with his two big hats conflicting. Thanks X for trying to keep Scottville honest and one of its biggest heads (Alway) play ethically. Yes, he may be trying to serve the community as his article opines, but I hope he also reads and takes to heart the SPJ article and considers taking one position or the other.

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