The Chiefs are in the Play-Offs: Ludington Chiefs Go After a Rogue Flame

[XLFD]

The Ludington City Council had a meeting tonight where I got up and gave my five minutes of public comment, which follows after the local news having a field day.  You can read the headlines and see the video of Chief Barnett's tirade tonight at other area news outlets, so I place them here for your perusal.  First from the Mason County Press:

 "After years of being bashed by citizen Tom Rotta, Police Chief Mark Barnett and Fire Chief Jerry Funk publicly admonished the outspoken self-proclaimed community activist during tonight’s Ludington City Council meeting.

Tonight’s admonishment stemmed from Rotta’s recent questioning of the legality of the police department’s volunteer reserve unit. Reservists are typically used during special events. While they are not regular police officers they still must meet certain qualifications.

Barnett spoke at the end of the council’s meeting. He said he respects a person’s right to free speech but believes that Rotta abuses that right.

“My concern is with Mr. Rotta and his random use to say whatever he wants… while he has every right it doesn’t make it right for him to be able to do that.”

Rotta operates a website that allows people to anonymously post their complaints about local happenings. Often Rotta’s posts attack a person’s physical characteristic or questions their integrity.

Barnett said he fears that Rotta’s attacks have hindered volunteerism in the city. “It doesn’t seem right.”

The police chief said Rotta, on his website, has made remarks about his personal appearance and even called him a pervert, in relation to an issue of cameras being located in common areas of some city bathrooms. “My wife and my family don’t appreciate that… It hurts me and my family… You should be ashamed of yourself.”

Barnett said the volunteer reservists are volunteers who give their time and that Rotta’s questioning of those individuals is shameful.

“I would like to apologize on behalf of Mr. Rotta to those people who give up their time,” Barnett said. “If you want to be part of the solution than you should act appropriately.”

Fire Chief Jerry Funk said he served on the police reserves for 30 years. “That’s 30 years of giving up holidays and weekends,” Funk said.

“I resent that he says those things about the volunteers who give up their time,” Funk told MCP.

Funk’s and Barnett’s comments were met with applause.

Rotta’s quest against the City of Ludington began several years ago when he was pulled over and ticketed by a Ludington police officer for failure to yield on his bicycle. At that time he was a member of Ludington Fire Department.

Mayor Ryan Cox, at the request of City Councilor Wanda Marrison, allowed Rotta 60 seconds to respond, the same amount of time Cox allowed Chief Funk. Rotta stood up to the podium but then refused to comment.

http://www.masoncountypress.com/2014/03/24/police-and-fire-chiefs-a...

The other news agency, the City of reported similar stuff and added a video of the police chief's oration:

Ludington Police Chief Mark Barnett said at the end of Monday's Ludington City Council meeting to resident Tom Rotta, who starts most meetings with claims against city officials, his words were hurtful to him, his family, city police officers/reserves, volunteer firefighters and all he "bludgeons." 

Barnett apologized to those hurt by Rotta's comments. 

"Shame on you, Mr. Rotta. Shame on you," Barnett said.

Ludington Fire Chief Jerry Funk also spoke out and said he, too, was offended by Rotta's claims against city officials, noting Rotta's comment that Ludington police reserve officers are "vigilantes."

Funk said he worked 30 years as a volunteer reserve officer, including every Fourth of July during that time.

"We are there to help people," Funk said.

He commended Barnett for his comments. 

City councilors clapped for both men.

Rotta was given an opportunity to give a 60-second rebuttal, but after he went to the lectern, he declined, saying he wanted more time.

http://www.shorelinemedia.net/ludington_daily_news/news/local/artic...

I must have really had a fire and brimstone speech tonight.  Frankly, I think it fell slightly below that.  I was told I comment on both the chiefs' public appearance, yet I can't remember ever doing that.  I have commented about those on the other side of the bathroom cameras at Waterfront Park are perverts, so one can infer from his diatribe, that he has watched those cameras, some pointed at urinals and pointed inside the stalls.  It is perverse and illegal to record in such areas, so those who do can rightly be called perverts; the Ludington Police Department have imprisoned others for the same type crimes and likely refer to them with the same vernacular. 

 

And yes, I called the reserve police officers "vigilantes", because that is exactly what they are, but here is the full public comment I gave:

"At the end of the last meeting a couple of you stood up and made some statements which should have been refuted at the end of the meeting by the facts, but this city council in its open and transparent style refuses to allow public comment after they have conducted the business of the meeting. The County, PM Township, and Hamlin Township, your three partners in developing a joint comprehensive master plan, all allow comments at the beginning of the meeting and the end of the meeting. A goal in Ludington's master plan is that "residents of Ludington will benefit from an open, available and transparent communication process with City leadership and staff". Muting the public from the conversation after you conduct your business and made your own public comments is unfair and contrary to that goal.

Attorney Wilson started off by saying that the people's charter took the power to appoint reserve officers to the police department from the mayor and thereby into the hands of the police chief. But the city charter and code in no way gives such powers to the police chief, just the power of direction of officers. Because there is no accord in the charter for reserve police officers of any type, the dominating authority is expressed in section 10.8 which says "The positions and duties of Administrative Officers for which provision is not made herein, shall be established by ordinance."

As there has never been any ordinance codification of the reserved police officers of Ludington, and exactly no public records that the City will share regarding this group, they are an illegal, opaque, organization which should be repugnant to this public body. A vigilante is defined as an individual that undertakes law enforcement without legal authority. The Ludington Police reserve officers are vigilantes. If I organize a group of uniformed and armed officers and send them out into the community to enforce the laws of this nation, state, and locality, without any sort of legislative authority lawfully behind them, I don't think this community would tolerate them for long. It would likely be called a ‘gang’.

Particularly, since there are some here in this room that just might be rounded up. Chief Barnett's Vigilante Squad starring Mayor Cox should similarly be either legislatively organized or disbanded. Having secret, unaccountable-for vigilantes being controlled by our police is not a good thing.

Councilor Castonia followed by admonishing me for basically three things, punctuated at the end by the other lame duck councilor. He stated I get up at this podium and state that everything should be voted on by the people, and that it's his job to vote on things.

While I am a fan of direct democracy, I am an adherent of constitutional republics of which this city allegedly is. If the City Charter calls for a popular vote, then the members of this public body can vote on it-- on equal terms with a few thousand other citizens in an election. If you don't allow that public vote, then you as public servants are breaking the law, and the chief's or anybody else's gang of vigilantes in Ludington may come and arrest you accordingly.

The second point he brought up was that he's never seen my name on the ballot, and that wouldn't surprise me. I ran for Ms. Holman's councilor at large position in 2011, and I was not allowed to enter the City hall or police station without authorization, which was denied me several times just before the election. This was due to a policy that Councilor Castonia oversaw at the Committee level that kept me out and denied me the right to vote in that election at my polling place, this City Hall, so even I have never seen my name on the ballot.

What got me targeted was to point out the unethical business dealings of the City, courtesy of our City Manager and two public servants with the last name of Tykoski, one who runs a sign business. Councilor Castonia did see my name on legal process just a few months ago, when he was served right here for taking part in willfully violating the Open Meetings Act.

The third point was that he said that I should be part of the solutions and not part of the problem. From my perspective, the problems with Ludington have been originating from this very city council. Whether it be from what I have pointed out in this chamber over the last two years entered into the public record with pride, or what I have pointed out at my blog for the last five, there can be no denying the fact that this council has only raised taxes and fees for our citizens in that time, even holding truth in taxation hearings to raise them when the Headlee Amendments rollbacks kicked in. That trend will be continued tonight when this council passes the change in water and sewer connection fees which covertly raises connecting replacement taps by over 30%."

My finishing paragraph was never spoken due to my five minutes having ran out, and too bad because it had a bit of joviality.  Frankly, I think it's a pretty sad situation when the police chief and fire chief says that I am attacking volunteerism, by questioning why these armed vigilantes are not in any way accountable or have any minimum standard of training or qualifications (that the public knows of) or any legislative fiat for their existence.  It would be so easy for this city council to pass an ordinance making reserve officers legitimate and set some requirements, and for Mayor Ryan Cox to admit that his mayor job and his police job are incompatible and resign from one or the other.

[AQUAMAN]

Jonny, you are just that, a JON, to be getting all the crap and urine in your receptacle as you can hold, and that, my loser newbie, is just what you deserve!

[Willy]

What's disappointing about this entire situation is the reaction of the media covering Ludington. Both the LDN and MCP fail / refuse to cover the reasons Mr. Rotta goes before the Council. They will fawn all over local politicians when they attack Mr. Rotta and report in detail what they say in all it's lying, negative glory. Mason County is blessed with a biased, pro government, look the other way, imcomplete and anti-citizen media coverage. No surprise though, it only reflects the liberal style news coverage that dominates the entire Country. I thought MCP would be different but it appears that it's a small acorn that's fallen from the LDN tree. To bad, the MCP could have been a real force in showing what good and fair reporting is all about. 

[XLFD]

If you step back and analyze the whole situation, the one you should be most appalled with is Mayor Ryan Cox.  He is the one who runs the city council meetings, he is the parliamentarian.  Part of Mark Barnett's remarks are in today's paper, I will have them in their entirety shortly.  Though he touches lightly on public policy, almost all of his speech falls outside of the realms of public business and amounts to just a soliloquy against one person. 

"Mayor" Ryan Cox had a duty to bring Chief Barnett back to addressing the chair instead of verbally bludgeoning (to borrow a phrase) a citizen.  But methinks "Officer" Ryan Cox was afraid to do so, for fear of upsetting his commanding officer.

None of his speech answers any of the poignant points in question that I brought to the podium about his vigilantes, which include Ryan Cox.  And whereas he may think I'm engaging in namecalling, that's exactly what the reserve officers are.  Being a vigillante isn't necessarily a bad thing.  Superman and Spiderman have a lot higher approval ratings than police.

[Willy]

X

The entire debate  hinges around an illegal reserve police team and the fact that the Mayor is part of that illegal team which therefore makes him a subordinate to the Chief of Police. This is exactly the point you have been trying to get across. That the Mayor is an underling to the Chief and can therefore be influenced by the fact that the Chief is his boss and the proof of this revealed itself at the Council meeting when the Mayor allowed the Chief to attack a private citizen, unrestrained. This is a serious situation.

[XLFD]

I agree entirely.  It is very serious, but the so-called 'local media' and our public officials are acting obliviously to it. 

The timing is also very suspicious.  Next week, the summary disposition of my Open Meetings Act lawsuit against Mayor Henderson and six councilors is tried, and this outburst throws my name in an unfavorable light in the front page of the newspaper with a bunch of anti-Rotta  propaganda, just in time to influence Judge Wadel negatively towards me. 

[XLFD]

Mayor Cox is going to get an earful at the next meeting and before. 

[XLFD]

One should ask where Chief Barnett's compassion was when Shelley Burns, an innocent bystander, was assaulted by LPD's Aaron Sailor who unlawfully entered her sister's home? Where was his pathos when innocent Ludington citizen Joe McAdam was assaulted and tasered by LPD Officer Matthew Warmuskerken on Ludington Avenue and at our hospital?  Where was his concern when Sue McAdam was handcuffed and arrested by LPD Officer York and Warmuskerken that same night, after being stopped for a taillight, and having exactly zero field tests performed on her. 

His thoughts were only for his guilty officers, and for sweeping the affairs under the rug. 

[XLFD]

Good points, john streeter.  Chief Barnett built his foundation on creating a bogeyman out of me, and a cherub out of himself and his vigilantes, without regard to the facts of the matter.  He gave no airtime to the questions I have posed that have been left unanswered to the public, he gave no airtime to specifically detail what I am supposed to be ashamed of, and where I have misapplied the First Amendment as a bludgeon. 

As is frequently seen both here and elsewhere, he relied on the principle that the myths created by the authority figure, trump the truths spoken by the common folk. 

[XLFD]

EyE,

If you want to count positive and negative posts at the COLDNews and MCP Facebook sites about myself, you will get a skewed result every time.  I and quite a few of my supporters have been actively blocked from one or both of those sites.  The MCP does not allow you to post with a pseudonym, even when your identity is known, such as in my case.  Defending me can come at a cost if your livelihood remotely touches the powerful clique in Ludington.  I actually warn most people that come here and use their regular name to be careful, and seriously consider posting anonymously, if they support the causes.

You have often came here and declared that your opinion-making process is assisted greatly by emotions, how you feel about the poster, what the media says, how the majority react, and the like.  I suggest you to start thinking for yourself; use logic and analysis over polls, feelings, and editorials in the news sections.  I encourage this among everyone, even those who are generally supportive in my causes and quests for accountability and truth in government. 

Open minds want open governments and the right to discuss things openly.

[AQUAMAN]

Well said s.todd, dittos!

[Willy]

X

I don't read the LDN anymore because of the unreliable, incomplete and misleading reporting so I'm wondering if what I heard is correct. Did the LDN put the Chiefs ignorant and childish rant on it's front page?

[XLFD]

Yes, and my internet has been interrupted more times than not this morning and the last two evenings, so I have not been able to publish the full rant yet.  Patti Klevorn did that with her totally neglecting any of my statement other than the 'vigilante' reference, and also put out a post underneath it about the Brill tax break, totally getting it wrong. 

Must be nice to say such things about a person without referencing any materials that show any truths to their statements.  Let's not forget, our buddy John Shay, the meeting after he settled his case in Federal Court with me, got up at the end of the meeting and said that I took pictures of his house, had people tell his wife that I stared at her and his daughter at school, and other personal attacks that had no grain of truth to them.  These people are shameless, but at least Barnett can shovel the shame he doesn't have himself.