Ludington City Council October 11, 2021: Bright Lights and Big Noises

The agenda packet for the October 11, 2021 meeting of the Ludington City Council showed no action items, but it did offer a presentation and a public hearing, and a few people in the community took the opportunity to comment on things that concerned them.  

Mayor Steve Miller almost bypassed the roll call, which showed only Councilor Les Johnson absent.  Following the pledge, public comment opened and Annette Quillan opined first.  She made the case for Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) which will reach the city council shortly.  

Chuck Sobanski, back from a long Sabbatical spoke next, he wondered whether the taxes for 102 Second Street was paid, waxed approvingly on the siren at Copeyon Park, and snarkily commented on some new (unofficial) camping spots. 

Jeremy Verstraedt (5:00 in) commented next and used his full time to talk about noise and light issues.  He lives near Floracraft and has problems with noise and light in the area, and around the city-- pointing out the three pedestrians hit the prior night on James and Ludington.  I went next and summarily rehashed my last meeting's queries and advanced a new issue regarding the LPD not following 'best practices':

XLFD:  (8:30 in) "I'm hoping, since we have a small docket tonight, that Chief Kozal can perhaps address the serious violations I alleged at the last meeting where three of his young officers had all committed three flagrant violations of protocol in an incident.  Namely, they performed illegal interrogations, conducted illegal searches, and deliberately shut off their recording devices in the middle of an incident to confer amongst themselves.  Perhaps most disturbing was that a woman was arrested that night when the elements of the crime alleged was definitely not met. 

I additionally point out an incident that happened last month on West Melendy Street to someone who was not named Devon Wakelin.  I have previously recounted two incidents where Wakelin was unlawfully arrested by multiple LPD officers on that block; you may discount my belief that Wakelin was unlawfully arrested, but please do not discount the local district court judge's affirmation of that belief. 

In this most recent incident, three LPD officers were involved in another officer- escalated arrest that involved the use of force.  Officer Morris grabbed Darrick Lilleberg's arm before saying that he was under arrest.  He would have Lilleberg on the ground for over a minute before his partner would say that he was under arrest for disorderly conduct, a statute that seemed inapplicable, and he was not later arraigned on that charge or any others besides three felony counts of resisting arrest.  

The officers finally handcuffed the passively resisting Lilleberg, but this only occurred after a third officer arrived and a taser in drive stun mode was deployed.  Chapter 5 of the LPD police manual describes the department's use of force policies, this objectively was not followed in this arrest.  Nor was there ever a use of force report generated explaining why this aggressive arrest involving less-lethal force was used.  

The manual explicitly says tasers should not be deployed in a "situation in which an unarmed person is uncooperative, but is not currently acting in an aggressive manner."  Lilleberg's resistance amounted to him having his arms underneath his body so that he could not be handcuffed in an unjustified arrest.  Why does the LPD continue to arrest innocent people and charge them with felonies that occur only because officers can't follow policy or respect people's civil rights? [END]"

Police Chief Tim Kozal doesn't appear to be concerned about how his officers are behaving, since he has yet to address any of the issues of why his officers are ignoring training and protocols and appear to be using their arrest powers to the detriment of our community.  When a police chief ignores claims like these, he knows they are 100% true and that there is no good defense other than obfuscation, which has yet to be used.  He needs to borrow one of former Chief Mark Barnett's "Shame on you, XLFD" speeches and use it at a future meeting.  

Speaking of which, I was bicycling up North Staffon on Tuesday and somebody pulled up beside me while passing me and matched speeds.  It was the former chief, he waved friendly-like with one of his winning smiles and I reciprocated before he moved along.  I wondered if he has been following the latest controversies involving his department, and is relieved that he no longer has that responsibility.

A presentation was given by Dani McGarry talking primarily of the household hazardous waste collection day held each year.  The offering was informative, letting the public know about all that was entailed, how it was funded, and how the county used the service by jurisdiction.  

The public hearing was held next, and I had originally penned a speech that was begrudgingly positive about the tax abatement offered to the new owner of 102 Second Street because city leaders have actually held them accountable over the last couple years in rescinding two Obsolete Property Rehabilitation Act (OPRA) certificates.  These allow a homeowner to make mega-improvements on their property, but instead of paying the extra cost of the increased taxes made by that improvement, your property taxes are kept low.  

Lyla McLellan spoke at this hearing wondering about the plans made to use the second floor rental space as short term rentals (STR) rather than regular rentals.  City Manager Mitch Foster would address this later saying that the new owner believed that would work best for them, at least in the short term (no pun intended).  With the City's new STR policies, the City makes significantly more money from STRs than from regular rental property, so expect this to happen for future OPRAs in the business district.  Lyla wants long term residents instead, but failed to notice the City's interest.

Fourth Ward Councilor Cheri Stibitz bubbled with excitement that this oldest business building in Ludington would be renovated once the motion to grant a certificate was made.  Foster would explain the process the City used to maintain an eye on their OPRA projects after being prompted by Councilor Winczewski.  They would unanimously approve the agreement between the City and Barry Neil, the new owner, and the resolution of an issuance of an OPRA certificate.

As noted, none of the committees brought any action items to the council, but Councilor Stibitz spoke about green burials being considered for an area in Lakeside Cemetery, and the CPRC's recent field trip out there.  Foster would relate how his conference in Portland, Oregon went, and how it was in rough shape.  He would also speak of more areas being developed in the City, and about proposed sidewalks for the new school.  It seems rather a late time to start talking about that now, since the new elementary is scheduled to open in January, but the school hasn't even addressed that yet.

Public comment was convened again, with Annette Quillan leading off again, expressing a simple wish to have the City put the public Wi-fi in the downtown and the Waterfront Park area back on.  Jeremy Verstraedt spoke again of the science of noise, and asked about reviews of site plan reviews and how Floracraft had some issues with noise and lights.  Councilor Winczewski would address this prospectively before the meeting adjourned.  

Kevin Curran related how the prior night's pedestrian accident may have been caused by some of the bright LED lights on Loomis Street at that intersection.  After the meeting, I checked this out, along with Ms. Quillan and Mr. Curran who arrived in the same place (CM Foster would also pass by us.  There are bright lights on Loomis, but I don't believe they played a part in this.  Unfortunately, Chief Kozal would not address this issue at the meeting either despite it being brought up by two citizens (while another present had a FOIA request for incident records in progress).  

Views: 321

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

I always like to hear the City Mgr. report, he is very cognizant of current events, and brings a lot of important issues to the forefront for our city, and thank you very much Mitch. He's a quality CM that we have needed for many years, and I appreciate his diligence and input for our progress. Kathy was also cognizant of the lighting issues involved with Floracraft, and we can also appreciate her input there. It's nice to see some CC come into the realities of today now.

Thanks for the information X. I am glad you reminded the Chief about his employees questionable actions and I am also  curious as to exactly what lights and noise is of concern regarding Floracraft. As far as the WIFI is concerned, I don't think the City should be providing that service.

RSS

© 2024   Created by XLFD.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service