Shay Usurps the Power of the Purse

[XLFD]

Remember back in May 2016, when the Ludington City Council narrowly avoided putting a proposal on the November ballot to make the city clerk and treasurer appointive positions rather than elective positions (see p. 233+).  A sole 'no' vote by appointed Councilor Krauch coupled with an absence of two other councilors, prohibited the council that night from putting this on the ballot.  Krauch wisely predicted that this almost universally unpopular move would lead to the other three proposals' defeat; even without it on the ballot, only the most innocuous proposal passed. 

The five proposed charter amendments were all actively pushed by City Manager John Shay in his memoranda to the councilors, and with good reason, they had all made his position stronger and/or less accountable.  But even then, the language of the charter amendments did not allow him to take command over the city clerk or city treasurer position.  He has found a way to change that safeguard without changing the charter.  

Much earlier this year, I heard from a reliable source, who had heard it from John Shay himself in an unguarded moment, that our city treasurer, Linda Rogers, was heading out west to be closer to family members.  She would be out there this summer, it was said, and sure enough, Linda Rogers has already sold her palatial Lewis Street house and closed on April 5th to repatriated Ludington product, Ben Holbrook.  

Treasurer Rogers decision had been firmly set months ago according to my source, and rather than place the position open for election, the city manager and his gathered city official friends seemed to be devising a way to circumvent that unwanted bit of democracy.  Think about this for a moment:  why would honest officials want to prevent the electors of Ludington the ability to elect the treasurer, the official that is ultimately responsible for the city balancing the books?

However, they did, and their deliberations over this vacancy-filling never took place during a council meeting, nor has it been documented in their newly released standing committee notes.  The announcement of the position came up as a Facebook post at around the same time she made it official (see the MCP's Ludington treasurer announces retirement.) saying as if it hadn't been planned at all or told to Shay months before:

“The timing of my exit follows the successful end of the 2017 property tax year and settlement of my tax records with the county treasurer, leaving a clean start for my replacement,” she wrote in a letter to Mayor Kaye Holman and City Manager John Shay. “I will assist with the transition as much as possible and will leave my personal contact information with the interim treasurer."

Additionally, it was posted on their official webpage, with a link to the 'interim city treasurer' job description.  That job description shows just what John Shay will do in order to get a hold of the city's purse strings, after he and Rogers has already driven the City of Ludington into deep debt.  Let's review first what the Ludington charter tells us about the position of city treasurer.

Section 3.4 tells us that the city treasurer is elected at-large for a period of four years.  Section 5.2 tells us that "Any vacancy of an elective office... shall be filled within thirty (30) days by appointment by majority vote of the Council with the Mayor voting in case of a tie.  No vacancy need be filled if it occurs within sixty (60) days preceding a City election. Elective officers so appointed shall serve until the next regular election, at which time an election shall be held to fill the remaining period of the term of office."  

According to the MCP article, her last working day on the job will be June 13, officially ending July 15th.   The city will have regular election days August 7 (primaries) and November 6th.  Yet the job posting on Facebook says the interim treasurer will serve until the end of 2020, in direct violation of the law. 

Let us not forget that just two years ago in 2016, Mayor Ryan Cox resigned in late May, effective June 30.  Mayor Pro-tem Holman took over for the rest of the year, but, there was still a mayor election for Cox's unfilled term held in November 2016, with four participants.  The rules for the city treasurer are no different, other than there is no Treasurer pro-tem.   

Furthermore, and this should really frost you over if you believe in the sanctity of laws:

The job description says the city treasurer will be supervised by the city manager, perform work as directed by the city manager, and has the city manager be responsible for disciplining the treasury staff.  The description lists 16 requirements that are not listed as prerequisites of the position in the city charter.  The description states the interim treasurer is an at-will employee, meaning that they can be fired by the city manager at any time without cause.  

It's all geared to usurp the autonomy of the city treasurer, whose supervisor is appropriately the city council (LCC Sec. 10.3(g))and the people of Ludington that elect them.  The treasurer is not subservient to the unelected city manager, treasurer employees report to the treasurer not anybody else and serve at the treasurer's pleasure:

This is a pure power grab that benefits only one person.  This person recently tried to secretly get a job in Holland Township, helping them violate the Open Meetings Act in order to shield his job-hunting.  His record of iniquity in Ludington sunk him in that endeavor.  Now he has beguiled his fellow officials into taking away your right to elect a treasurer in this year's elections, and then steal the treasurer's powers given to them by law in the city charter.  The city manager will have absolute control over the city's treasury department. 

Ask yourself why somebody who could not even do the simple job of being a FOIA Coordinator because it took too much of his time, can now unlawfully take on the task of overseeing the city's treasury, where he can fire anybody at anytime if they don't count the money the same way he does.  In a lawful society, we can't allow these multiple charter violations to happen.

[Freedom Seeker]

Great article, XLFD. I think it has to be for the fact that Shay has someone already picked for the Treasurer position. Notice that the date for application closes in 13 days and they will pick someone already on the 17th of May according to the Personnel subcommittee agenda posted today. That will probably be a giant rubber stamp decision coming out of the sky. Who could fill in such an important position in two weeks? Looks like ethics jumped in the Lake again.  So how do we stop these multiple Charter violations from happening?

I suspect that the qualifying applicant should be a good cook-- a top priority for cooking the books.  Trouble is too many cooks spoil the broth and I'm sure Shay will be standing over the Interim with a big wooden spoon stirring the pot.

[Freedom Seeker]

X, are you working on your resume for Treasurer position, or are your qualifications in math overkill? Yu have only 12 days left.

[XLFD]

Actually, my math skills are going to be subverted by my limited political science and prosecutorial abilities in order to get the city treasurer position on the 2018 ballot like it is mandated to by the charter and nullify the language of the interim position that go against the city charter.

[Freedom Seeker]

That's a good use of political skills, but you should throw your resume in the ring so there will be someone other than just the "pre-selected" candidate interviewed!  Because it is unlikely that your political prowess can succeed that fast.  We need you as Treasurer, then you could set up a non-profit for the Toys for tots or at least put it in a private fund.  Besides, wouldn't you enjoy having Shay as your boss?

[Willy]

Thanks for posting this information X. Something that will not be seen in the LDN. Is the interim Treasurer's job a recent creation or is it addressed in the City ordinance? This entire situation is another cluster intercourse by City leaders. The only way this kind of crap keeps occurring is illustrated in the picture below.

[XLFD]

I don't think you'll see that political cartoon posted anytime soon in the COLDNews either.  

I have recently posited a question to the city clerk about the legality of the Interim City Treasurer's (ICT) office.  Since it does not correspond to the charter-mandated 'City Treasurer' (CT) position in many ways it is a created administrative office.  As such, it must be created by ordinance (see LCC section 10.8):  "The positions and duties of Administrative Officers for which provision is not made herein, shall be established by ordinance. The Council, upon recommendation of the City Manager, may prescribe additional powers and duties, not inconsistent with this Charter."

There are a lot of powers and duties inconsistent with the charter inside the ICT job description, some actively conflict with the CT provisions

[Freedom Seeker]

Thank you, XLFD for the update on this and for questioning the Clerk. The Charter seems clear that someone is trying to make an elective position into an administrative position.

Willy, the cartoon, though disgustingly poignant, is so true, especially in light of the etymology of the military origination of the term to which you refer.