Why Mitchell Foster May be a Good Fit for Ludington

[XLFD]

Mitchell Foster, the presumptive city-manager-to-be of Ludington, appears as if he may be a good fit, at least a better fit than what the two other contenders for the job seemed to be.  When one compares the cover letters and resumes from the three interviewed candidates (found here), one finds that Mitch grew up in the area and is familiar with what has changed and what hasn't over the span of his 30 years, an insight the others lack.  One thing he touts from his experience is being able to reduce debt at Kingsley and Winneconne (WI), similar to what he was able to do for himself and his wife on the Dave Ramsey Show a couple of years back.  Ludington's future must focus on such things due to poor planning.

His current city, Winneconne, has a lot of lakefront like Ludington, nestled between two lakes near Oshkosh.  Many of that village's issues are mirrored in Ludington, they recently have had major water utility work performed.   But does this make him the best fit in Ludington?  Maybe.

                                      Mitchell with his wife Becky in a recent Christmas season photo

A recent article in the COLDNews following his pick by the councilors alerted us to Foster's philosophy of small incremental changes, perhaps a difference from the past, and wants to involve himself in working intimately with the community to have an ongoing dialog with the citizens, using social media and other outlets to hear what the public has in mind, a definite change from the past.

In another article in the COLDNews, new Mayor Steve Miller noted he was "very impressed right off the shoot with Foster.  That was one of the most knock-out interviews I've ever sat across from."  While initially swinging towards candidate Patrick Reagan, the council switched over to Foster due to his degree of preparation, professionalism, maturity, and articulate answers.  Does this make him the best fit in Ludington.  Possibly.

An article from Mlive in 2008 tells us:  "At age 19, Mitchell Foster was easily the youngest delegate at the Michigan Republican Convention...  His interest in politics began at about age 10.
"My grandfather and dad were both very involved in local politics," he said.
Foster's father, Dave Foster, was on the Scottville City Commission and his family owned Foster's Market in Scottville. Mitchell Foster went to Mason County Central High School before transferring to Big Rapids High School, where he graduated.

At Northern Michigan, he is majoring in political science and economics. He hopes to start his political career in state government as either a senator or a representative, then move up from there."

While a city manager is a bit of a drop off from the elected position of a senator, one has to admire his position.  And if he does ever get the itch, he may just get a boost later into being a local congressman from being a city manager who can tame the wilderness of Ludington politics.   Even as city manager of Winneconne, he had no insecurity about being an ardent and unapologetic MSU fan during the basketball season in the heart of Badger country (as well documented in his social media posts).  Yet all of that doesn't make him the best fit of the three in Ludington.  

What makes him the best fit.  Look at the map.

Patrick Reagan cannot be found.  James Van Ess is only half here in the middle of town, but Mitchell Foster can be seen as plain as day coming into town:

How can you fit much better than that?

[Willy]

I'm not as optimistic as you. Ludington still has the same undercurrent of corruption that got you banned from City Hall. As long as those people have any say in how this town runs Mr. Foster is going to have his hands full. When Brandy Henderson tried to open up discussions on the internet she was quickly put in her place and has been very quiet since then. Another thing Mr. Foster is going to have to deal with is all of the propaganda he will be hearing about you. Anything you say will be met with resistance and given a negative spin which will definitely find Fosters ears via the bad seeds in the community. Unless he is a completely fair and open City Official he may very well be pulled into the dark side. And if he does he will find himself going toe to toe with you regarding how the City is being run. The only way things will change is if the dark shadows who control Ludington's politics suddenly come out of the shade and embrace an open and honest Government. Can anyone imagine the LDN reporting honest, fair and complete news stories? 

[XLFD]

If I wasn't optimistic about whether things could change for the better in Ludington government, I wouldn't keep plugging away.  I was inspired tonight by Fifth Ward Councilor Angela Serna, who expressed and defended her (and her voters) reservations about moving the 5th Ward polling place to the new fire station and offered two sensible alternatives to look into.   Once you see her scrap with the two chiefs, the rest of the council, and even the mayor, you will likely wonder why her commonsense viewpoint was utterly ignored by the rest of the council.  Unless you are very familiar with how this council actually works.  We need more like Serna.

[AQUAMAN]

I'm with Willy at this particular time, let's wait and see. Foster may seem the best and right now, but he has to prove himself into the near and far future. The attitudes of the city council, along with the LDN, are going to influence anyone as city mgr., and that will make the difference in the end imho. He has a background as a conservative, but the entire makeup of the council and LDN are just the opposite, that in itself is a tortuous and challenging uphill battle to contend with. But of course, he now will be compensated 300% higher in pay, and that will be a strong influence.

[XLFD]

I have heard there were recordings of these interviews, don't know who has possession of them, but from what I hear from somebody who was there and whose opinion I trust, is that the three candidates represented three different styles.  Van Ess came in with a no-nonsense approach, wanting the job but making it clear he wouldn't be the city council's tool in making the city work.  That didn't appeal to the council.

Reagan thought of the position as a dream job and was positively gushing about downtown projects (a specialty of his) and was definitely appealing to the DDA wing of the council (led by Brandy Miller).  He may have won had not Councilor Cheri Rozell changed her line of reasoning in the midst of deliberation.  She was likely subliminally influenced by Mitchell's going through the Scottville (MCC) school system, where she has been teaching at for awhile.

[shinblind]

To me he looks like a grown up version of Ralphie from Christmas Story.

I just hope he doesn't shoot his eye out.

[XLFD]

If the LFD is dispatched to assist in extricating Mayor Miller's tongue from the city hall's flagpole in March, we'll know he's been triple-dog dared by the new guy:

[Willy]

OW! That can do some serious damage to the tongue.

Good points all. One other major problem I have with Mr. Foster is his desire to climb the political ladder. In order for that to happen he must have many allies in local Government and businesses. He can't afford to rock the boat and risk loosing support of the political crowd, which of course includes local media. So even though he sounds like the real deal, his future ambitions of being a career politician give away his desires to please those who can help put him into higher offices. Unless he has the wisdom of Solomon and the persuasive abilities of a hypnotist, I don't see much change in how Ludington City Hall does business. I hope I'm wrong.  

[Freedom Seeker]

Too funny, Willy. Add to the wisdom of Solomon and the powers of a hypnotist, the financial prowess of Warren Buffet and Ross Perot combined and the strength of Jesus Christ to resist temptation for political gain.