In the recap of the last Scottville City Clowncil meeting, it was noted that Scottville Commissioner Rob Alway felt compelled to mention at the end of the meeting that "things in the City of Scottville are moving along great, ignore the voices of those lone people who concentrate on the negative to get attention.  Everyone else is very secure in the way their officials are acting and moving the city forward." 

The problem with this paraphrased observation is that if he is being honest about what he's saying, then he hasn't been talking with a lot of people living in Scottville.  Ever since I was drawn in to the small town's politics about half a year ago when problems with their city manager arose and those left to mind the store couldn't be bothered with following basic tenets of the Open Meetings Act and the Freedom of Information Act, I have been approached by a lot of people from Scottville that have a beef with the way the town is run.  I will be spotlighting one of those shortly.

Have I heard from anybody that has a similar view of Mr. Alway?  Nope, I haven't even heard of one attempt to defend the fraud of the police chief or of his latest attempt to destroy a public record showing evidence of a crime. I haven't heard of any explanation as to why the city treasurer is working full time when she's never been given that promotion from any legitimate source.  I haven't even heard why the city clerk is getting paid 7.5 hours of overtime to attend a clowncil meeting and draft very poorly written and incomplete minutes of those meetings. 

Truth is Scottville is being ran and policed strictly by mercenary labor.  Acting City Manager/Police Chief Murphy lives in Victory Township, as does his senior SPD Officer Katrina Skinner.  New hire Stephen Case resides in Fountain Twp.  Clerk Kelse Lester lives in Branch Twp., and Treasurer Shafer lives in Eden Twp.  City Attorney Alvarado lives in PM Twp., with an office in Ludington.  City assessor Greg Barnett lives in Amber Twp., as does Marc Hansen from the DPW.  The other DPW worker, Justin Coolman, lives in the Fountain/Freesoil area. 

EVERY SINGLE ONE of the nine city officials comprising city hall staff and the police department do not live in the City of Scottville, none even live in a city.  At least prior City Manager Courtney Magaluk lived in a city, albeit in another county.  

The people of Scottville notice that the people administering, interpreting, and enforcing the rules do not care enough about their community to live there and pay the astronomical taxes and water/sewer bills that the residents are forced into by their mismanagement.  This is why the current acting city manager keeps giving himself pay raises and comp time he doesn't qualify for, this is how a city clerk gets to charge eight hours overtime for attending and writing down what happened at a virtual meeting that lasted less than an hour, this is how a city treasurer advances herself to full-time status without authorization and allows a city manager to take FMLA leave at the expense of the taxpayers when nobody qualifies for that benefit. 

Because at the end of the day, none of the people actually in charge of the City of Scottville have to worry about a set $38.60 per month for water service and additional $49.23 for sewer service even if they have the water shut off (1" lines).  They don't have to face the highest millage rates in Mason County, and the highest when one considers the three counties that share the borders of this one.  What does the City of Scottville offer in exchange?

Nine hirelings and hired guns who seem to care only about their own financial solvency, as they rob money from the city coffers without offering any explanation of their proven wrongdoing, and living in areas that allow wells and septic tanks rather than a guaranteed monthly $85+ water/sewer bill, not to mention their townships have about half of the tax millage rate they force on the citizens of Scottville. 

Add to that seven mental-dwarfs that comprise a city commission that currently has no regard for their own city charter or statute (the home rule city act) by fundamentally amending that charter in a consent vote motion, rather than the process they used just last year to reduce the voting districts in Scottville to one.  The only thing keeping these clowncilors from being apologists for the illegal behavior of their freebooting city staff, is that they completely ignore the lawlessness, fraud, and theft without any comment or judgment when those violations are brought before them.

I invite anybody, anybody, to argue a counterpoint by providing a defense to the corruption in Scottville.  If you can't do that, just point out one thing over the last fourteen months that Scottville city leaders, operating as the City of Scottville, has done that has been wisely accomplished or helpful to the citizens in general.  I have scoured their meeting minutes and other records and have found nothing, even though their budget has grown nearly 10%.  I find only overreach and avarice.

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