The Kaye and Shay Show

[XLFD]

According to WMOM reports earlier this morning, John Shay was unanimously approved as City Manager for another year. 

City Council Recap
Tuesday, 06 December 2011 06:52 | Author: wmom 

 
Generally Ludington City Council meetings are very predictable. Last night something unusual happened. Just last month, Kaye Holman City Councilor at Large, told MOM listeners that she would vote against retaining City Manager John Shay. Outgoing councilor Pete Engblade has also cast his vote against Shay over the past several years. Both Holman and Engblade changed their minds. As a result, John Shay received-for the first time in several years-unanimous approval for the position in 2012.

City Employees received a small raise in the 2012 budget. The city will operate at a deficit next year. It is estimated that it will cost $33,300 more to run Ludington than anticipated revenues...    http://www.wmom.fm/

 

Todays LDN also notes the glowing vote of Ms. Holman saying "she spoke highly of Shay", who made her upcoming "no" vote against Shay one of the few issues she spoke with conviction when she discussed that issue on WMOM with me in late October.   Responding to a question from Mike Tanis, she told all potential voters for the record:

 

"I would vote against John, I am one of the two councilors that you have mentioned and I voted for a change for six years, it's time for a change, and that prety much says it all."

 

That does indeed "pretty much says it all".  Call it what you will, deception, craft, dissimulation, cunning, double-dealing, fraud,  deceit, duplicity, guile, prevarication, deceitfulness, fabrication, hypocrisy, trickery, delusion, falsehood, imposition, untruth, it all seems like a lie to me.

 

But this is not a surprise to me; it was an excellent ploy by Kaye finessed on the public to neutralize all the citizens who are fed up with the Shay Administration that may have considered voting for her opponent.  And who could forget her pledge that she always listens and gets back to her constituents when two Ludington citizens had contacted her in writing 30 times with 30 different concerns affecting the City over these last three years and received nothing back from her.  Do we really want an established liar as the Finance Committee Chairman? 

 

Now for the first time since John Shay was City Manager, his reappointment vote took place on the first meeting of December instead of the week before Christmas.  A small blurb in the Saturday LDN said it was "to consider a 2012 contract with CM John Shay and vote on raises for administrative employees".  Looks like it did more than 'consider' his contract.  Pretty stealthy; I already had a laundry list of reasons not to reappoint him to be presented for the meeting in two weeks, not that it would have impressed that gang.  And I'm sure the non-administrative employees are happy for the City Hallers who put the budget in the deficit.

 

[XLFD]

Check out Kaye's glowing reference about John Shay and her recent revelations about him and his job after they had a heart to heart talk.  Maybe she began liking him after it was found out that her opponent in the last election was unable to vote or maybe it was when she found out Shay had never taken the Oath of Office.  Anyway, her endorsement  occurs starting at about 22:55 into the meeting:

[Willy]

The council pulled another fast one. Some employees have  agreed to pay 10% of their health care by using a $1200 pay increase starting in 2012. How many folks in the private sector are getting a $1200 raise this year. Not very many. And the odd part of this is that the city is running a deficit. How do you tell all of the laid off and under paid workers in Ludington that they will have to dig into their pockets to dish out more of their money to pay for this.  How does that work?

The problems X is having were made crystal clear at this meeting. Shay is one smooth talker and BS'r. He converted Holman over to the dark side. Not that she wasn't already half way thru the door. Shay's got the whole council buffaloed but I do believe they will have a wake up call when X pursues his litigation.I would not doubt it if Holman and Shay were partners in conspiring against X in order to sabotage his attempt at being elected to the City Council. Together, working as a team they could more easily keep X off the council  because Holman and Shay  both had much to gain by denying him a Council seat. Holman's incentive was  being reelected and Shay's was continuing to banish X from City Hall and denying him easy access to information of potential corruption. Politics at it's lowest.

[AQUAMAN]

Good points Willy, and fact of the matter just before the election came in Nov., the city put out a full steam effort to remove Rotta signage that was 4-5 times more in numbers than Holman, put the LDN up to the task of slandering X in an editorial, made attending a candidates forum very difficult or illegal, denying more important FOIA requests at every turn, using A-C privilege to gain more traction for denying FOIA's, and the list goes on. If this was all coincidental, then I guess those believing it also believe in the Fairy God Mother. The Dark Side appears to be on watch, and winning these days in spades. Congrats to Shay for Shystering in another expensive tenure of duties, dirty duties mostly, to accomplish any warped agenda he is sent to do, and win every time without regard for anything but the bottom line of a W in his favor. Wonder what his raise was, did they say?

[XLFD]

All non-union salaried administrative personnel got a raise of $1200.  No doubt, earned by all those FOIA requests they have to deal with by one person. 

They finally posted the budget over at the City website, but they still haven't put up the agenda for the December 5th meeting, something they normally publish the prior week.  I am hot that they covertly pushed this vote for the CM up one meeting to avoid any public input from being heard, as I have indicated I would be doing.

I can't help believing that Shay and crew moved it up one meeting because they feared the results that should be coming from the Circuit Court next week when my first FOIA appeal in that body goes to a formal hearing.  I've got one crappy 'legal team' myself, but I hope the facts speak for themself.