The Re-cull of Ludington Mayor Mark Barnett

[XLFD]

Today I (under my Christian name) started the recall process on Ludington Mayor Mark Barnett by submitting a recall petition with the following reason stated:

"At a 9-11-23 Ludington council meeting, Mayor Barnett, citing still-unsupported anecdotes, directed the council to move to create a plan for a deer cull in committee and bring it to council for approval before 11-1-23.  Moved and passed.  No plan was ever created, but council timely approved funding a cull for $19,500.  Barnett did not disclose that the public-funded cull would be held on his private property, within a school zone, nor has he got required school approval." 

In recorded public meetings, Barnett strongly advocated for restarting a deer cull without ever disclosing to fellow officials or the public that he would be the beneficiary of the culling service by hosting it.  Beyond this corrupt act, the cull's action plan permits federal agents to "utilize suppressed firearms from vehicles" which is not only incredibly dangerous when your backyard borders school grounds, it violates federal law when you don't get express permission from the school district, which has not been sought.

Because of the unethical, illegal, and unsafe course of action that Mayor Barnett has taken surreptitiously in order to have his private deer cull, it has become a civic duty to initiate this action in order to let the voters choose a mayor that better matches our city's ideals and values.  

                      A 2023 portrait of a pin-striped Mark Barnett facing justice in Mason County, and now a reenactment in 2024

This was the press release I sent out earlier today, minus the email and telephone number of the county clerk so that the three local news outlets could verify my action.  Once I get the recall petition language approved, and weather any challenge through appeal (if any), I and other like-minded individuals will begin the process of getting signatures. 

By my unofficial reckoning, we would need to have 920 valid signatures of voters in the City of Ludington to get this on the November ballot.  Hopefully, we can find a quality citizen to run against the incorrigible incumbent, one that would not use the power of his office for his own personal gain.

If you haven't been following the Ludington Torch over the last couple of years, here's a brief summary of what has transpired to get us here, with links to pertinent records and information. 

On October 10, 2022, the Ludington City Council passed with a contentious 4-3 vote, Ordinance 494-22, approving a 3-year Cooperative Service Agreement (CSA) with the USDA for their Wildlife Management division to "provide lethal removal of white tailed deer" (aka a deer cull).  Barnett was running against incumbent Mayor Steve Miller at the time, and this was never a campaign issue between them.  

Following the filing of an injunction against the deer cull due to the contract's insufficiencies and the unlawfulness of where they were to conduct the cull (on elementary school grounds) and the ascension of Barnett to the mayor title at the beginning of 2023, the council voted 4-2 on a motion to halt the cull for that winter.  Early last summer, I heard from a very reliable source that deer cull 2.0 would be coming back for council approval in the fall, and sure enough, even though it had never been a topic of discussion at any council or committee meeting all year since its stoppage, Mayor Barnett read into the record at the end of the 9-11-23 council meeting a strongly-worded statement directing the council to draft a deer cull plan in committee and bring it to council for approval.  

A plan never developed in committee or at the council, but they passed a simple motion on October 23, 2023 to "approve a deer cull using general fund dollars", absent any plan and any proposed sites.  This would indicate the City wished to default to the original plan found in the 2022 CSA (see pages 2-9) which is between the USDA and the City of Ludington (COL), with no other individuals (like Mark Barnett) or entities (like the school district) mentioned.  

Article 7 of the CSA allows for individuals or entities to get into separate CSAs with the USDA, but it does not allow the COL to effectively subcontract the existing CSA to offer services on lands not under direct control of the COL.  The only way they can legitimately do that is to renegotiate terms with the USDA and then amend the existing contract with an ordinance that recognizes the addition of Mayor Barnett and any other would-be co-cooperators.  

But even then, the taxpayers would be paying for Mayor Barnett's deer cull, so the first and second reading of the ordinance should elicit moral outrage from the citizens, beyond the outrage that he tried to have his personal deer cull on the backs of the taxpayers, whose taxes were raised by nearly $300,000 last summer under his watch.  

Additionally, he knows his backyard abuts school grounds, but somehow one day after his neighbor signed a work initiation form that had her certify in section 19 (untruthfully) that she wasn't inside a school zone or had received approval from the school district (LASD), consistent with what last year's WI form stated, Mayor Barnett had a WI Form where that section 19 was blank.  

Mayor Barnett did not have to worry about perjuring himself on the form, because he decided to alter the form so that he wouldn't be obligated to certify that he bordered school grounds and hadn't got the school's permission.  He may have avoided lying on this form, but he corruptly altered the federal form without any good reason other than to avoid the harsh reality that he would need direct approval from the LASD.  

These are not the characteristics you want in your city's highest elective office.  Please sign our petition if you get the opportunity once it becomes valid, we deserve answers and we deserve better.  

[Willy]

Good for you X. It seems to me, after reading your press release, that not only should the Mayor be recalled but all of the Councilors who approved this cull fiasco should be put on the recall chopping block. He didn't do this alone. He's just the worm head sticking out of the hole in the rotted apple. The rest of the rot in the apple body is the Council. The people of Ludington certainly deserve better than the decaying corrupt government that has poisoned the heart of Ludington. 

[XLFD]

You know what's funny, Willy.  I did the paperwork to start the recall complete with the language against the mayor and a little over 24 hours ago, I sent the COLDNews, WMOM, and WLDN a news release spoon-feeding them the information of my recall and what it was about (the lead-off of the article above).

For reasons I don't fully understand, none of them has decided that it's news.  Serious ethical allegations against the mayor of Ludington resulting in a petition to remove him from his job should the voters agree.  No replies and no stories put out, apparently, it's not news to them. 

Top article in the LDN today reminds locals of a lantern-lit hike for the weekend.  Here's what's happening with them, and at least WMOM; they are waiting for city hall to prepare their own press release that will minimize the allegations and paint me in a bad light.  Predictable.

[Willy]

You're right. It's funny but sad. Nothing new there.

[XLFD]

Still crickets-- and worms-- almost 24 hours after receiving confirmation about the hearing date (see below) and over three days after filing the petition and sending out a press release.  Reminds me of when I won big in the 51st Circuit Court vs. the City of Ludington in regard to the charter revision back in 2022, sent out a press release and the COLDNews wouldn't run anything about it until the the city council over a month later decided to appeal that decision (the appeals court's decision is likely to be handed down on February 6th).  The COLDNews is living up to its name.

[Daniel Jensen]

The outlandish antics from local heads need to be put in ck.