Ludington City Council Meeting, August 14, 2023: Virtual Recall

[XLFD]

The Aug. 14, 23 LCC council packet didn't show as much meat and potatoes as Scottville's, so I made the tough decision to bypass the affair pending my ability to clone myself and attend both meetings simultaneously.  It was probably a wise decision on my part because city leaders had prepared a counter-offensive to my recent so-far successful recall petition against Councilor Les Johnson for his part in raising property taxes by $300,000.  Due to the magic of television, I was able to view the Ludington meeting and offer the following recap in absentia, recalling the finer (and not so finer) parts.  

August 14th, 2023 Ludington City Council Meeting from Mason County District Library on Vimeo.

What actions did the council take?  Well without any disagreement amongst themselves they:

a) Introduced two ordinances to slightly change two policies:  1) to make the local minor-in-possession law in agreement with recent changes in state law and 2) to modify the oversized vehicles and containers to give them some more flexibility by allowing the police chief and city manager to extend times allowed.  

b)  Approved two letters of understanding with the POLC involving promotions within LPD and wage credits for experience with other PDs.  Sergeant Mike Fort recently transferred over to the MCSO county mounties (possibly because of a tendency to do dumb things while at LPD), and no other officer of LPD had qualifications enough to assume the role vacated.

c)  Approved application for a JAG grant for the LPD worth about $200,000 if approved by the granters.

d)  Approved the Love Out Loud Crusade for Sept. 22-24 at Copeyon Park (other details in packet, p. 69)

Other than that, City Manager Mitch Foster placed a plan to spend the last $120,000 of the ARPA funds in front of the council for them to mull on and decide on next month.  Two presentations were given.  One was by Heather Tykoski describing how the city's webpage would be changed on August 23rd with new fonts, bells, and whistles with the objective to put the most popular parts of the page up front.

The other was by Vicki Sawicki of CISMA who gave a presentation identifying Ludington as a hot spot for invasive species who offered services of identifying and eradicating them from the area.  This had nothing to do with the wide-open southern border, but with plants like Japanese Knotweed and Tree of Heaven (pictured).  Councilor Winczewski has adopted this crusade against invasive plants, so look for the rest of the councilors to follow her and pay $120 per hour for treatments in order to control these outbreaks of non-native vegetation.  

Initial public comment had the LOL Crusade organizer thank the council for consideration, and Chuck Sobanski, touting his unofficial mayorship of Fourth Ward thank the council for doing what they do and taking the slings and arrows.  It was only after I witnessed two prepared speeches by officials later in the meeting, that this was part of an organized message, and Mayor Chuck was probably given some added incentive to speak thusly.

He would make up for this obsequious comment in his second comment by politely chiding the council for not doing more for landlords over the last few years in order to combat the housing crisis in Ludington.  Chuck, a landlord himself, just doesn't seem to really understand that the city council created the housing mess in Ludington back when they passed the rental inspection ordinance back in 2016, taking out many affordable housing units that just won't be ever coming back.

The city did this intentionally, it would give them the ability to offer developers packages from federal, state, and local taxpayers in order to support building projects in the 'missing middle' of housing-- projects that generally don't make out too well in the free market because people/families either want to own a house or be able to stay in a cheap apartment until they can afford a house.  

Daniel Jensen rounded up the comments by wondering what chemicals would be used to control the invasive plants (a good question never answered) and then wondered why the City and the COLDNews were avoiding the issues of the Ludington Biological Station and its TFM (a lampricide) contamination.  Mayor Mark Barnett would only remind him that the LBS was outside the city limits and that PMCT officials should be notified.  Jensen doesn't always score a hit, but he had a good comment tonight and one can see the COLDNews managing editor talking with him after the meeting.  We have reported on the LBM contamination twice over the last few years at the LT, while other county news sources have remained silent.  

Councilor Les Johnson, who had planned on serving me papers at the meeting appealing the election commission's decision to approve my recall petition against him made a brief comment in his defense at 43:40 into the meeting:

"I feel it necessary to address the issue of my recall.  I am appealing the recall, because I did nothing wrong, and I want my constituents to know that.  Unfortunately, if this goes to a vote of the people, it would cost the taxpayers approximately $18,000.  I have struggled with this decision because of the cost to the taxpayers, however, I feel I must defend my vote to levy the taxes necessary to run the city.  Mr. Rotta apparently doesn't struggle the way I do with using taxpayer money frivolously, so to my colleagues on the council:  continue to keep fighting for what's best for the city, even though it's frustrating knowing that we have to deal with some citizens that's always believe we're doing what we're doing for our own personal benefit.  Thank you."

The councilor apparently just doesn't get that extracting $18,000 from the taxpayers is less than the $300,000 he voted to take as extra from them.  He also doesn't understand that elected officials first concern is doing what's best for the citizens of the city, not for the city corporate.  So, when he and his colleagues raised taxes without one reason or concern about why city hall needed the money more than the property and business owners of the city, many who are in a lot direr straits than the City, they all became fair game for recall.  

Not surprisingly, other councilors chimed in with 100% support, because they also just don't get the idea that they work for the voters first.  Most are not immune from recall either, I'm just not in their districts.  If you want to make a statement to your councilor that you don't appreciate the city taking $300,000 each year from all of us just so they can give it away to wealthy developers or use it in building $1.4 million bathhouses for a city park campground that erroneously calls itself an 'enterprise zone', then let me help you get the ball rolling.

Mayor Barnett would wait until about 1:00:45 into the meeting to start a conversation where he uses some charged terms such as referencing someone who may "pull out a driver and whack someone in the head politically".  He then launches into a bizarre defense of the council and open discussions, odd since he had wanted to severely restrict public comment just a few months ago.  

His Honor should have saved this oratorical gem for the next time I was in attendance, as I think I was at least a part of the intended audience he wanted to reach.  Councilor Johnson did serve me the appeal yesterday, but there is no date for that to occur yet.  If Johnson wants to avoid putting an extra $18,000 charge onto the taxpayers beyond the $300,000 he already saddled them with, maybe he should talk with the city manager and the mayor, both of whom I talked with last week, with a solution that would cost nothing and be a win-win for everyone.  And get the City of Ludington back on track in following the dictates of the charter rather than breaking the rules.

[Freedom Seeker]

Interesting! Are you saving "the solution" for the next edition? You have 105% of my attention. And how was your discussion with the mayor?

[XLFD]

The solution is likely to be revealed at the next meeting, if not before should I get some sort of response by city leaders.  My main discussion was with the city manager, the mayor generally just listened in with some minor interruptions.

I did receive Johnson's appeal "Notice of Hearing" this morning, it will be held on September 19 at 3 PM.

[Freedom Seeker]

Will be waiting with bated breath!

[Willy]

Thanks for the information X. I hope Johnson enjoys his last term as Councilor. If I lived in his district I would join the Democrat Party so I could vote ASAP and AOAP [As Often As Possible], say twice a day just to oust him out of office the same way they did for Trump in the 2020 election. Just kidding, one vote per day would be enough. As far as the invading species, could they work on moving the Lefties out of town. Just like the Tree of Heaven, which has been here for hundreds of years, this species hangs on and has become a nuisance just like the Left.

[XLFD]

You can't really change the characteristics of a Tree of Heaven, but one can always hope that one can change the hearts and minds of liberals that have bought into the socialism mythos, and for that matter, the hearts and minds of RINOs who accommodate them in leading the nation into the unbelievable actions of our federal government over the last three years.  

The school really needs to put their "No Rottas allowed" signs in places that are readily visible.  I took a photo of that same area you shown and I didn't see the sign.