Mayor / Teacher Cox just Mayor Cox now

[Wonder Woman]

Does anyone know why Ryan Cox is no longer teaching at Ludington Area Schools?  He is working at Home Depot now.  The school district sent a letter to parents before school started saying Mr. Cox would not be teaching during the 2015/2016 school year.  It seems like an interesting career move to go from a government job (teacher) to a retail employee. 

[AQUAMAN]

Anyone that is waiting to see if the LDN/MCP is going to document in their rags any info. on the status of the departure of Mayor Ryan Cox in the LAS system, hope you don't hold your breath. Sorry way to die imho. 

[shinblind]

Slinging mud is the only option when the local news media fails to carry out its function. 

Rumor, falsehoods, innuendo and gossip are the only alternatives besides hiding your head in the sand.

Remember, Clarie the bookgirl Whitcomb was run out of Ludington for doing less grievous offences than Little Lord Mayor Cox has done. But the media must play favorites less they have to get off their dead ass and report what is the truth.  I guess anything beyond printing press releases from the local governments taxes too much of their curiosity and intellect.

So carry on you fellow slingers, until the press again discovers  their cojones and becomes free.

[Willy]

I don't agree shinblind. It's bad enough that Ludington has a no show newspaper but  spreading rumors here on the Torch would only serve to show the World that we're no better. This forum has been a great success due to X's hard work, honesty and fact filled information and that has helped many people become aware of what is actually going on in Ludville. Lets not lower this forum into the same muck that has engulfed City Hall and the Ludington Daily News.

[XLFD]

The Ludington Torch leadership and membership isn't above speculating on things, particularly in the comment section, if it does so responsibly and the opinion/speculation/rumor is explicitly or implicitly noted. 

But most assuredly, this is a topic of interest here in Ludington, and this thread serves the purpose as providing a forum over something that hasn't completely been revealed, and probably should have been.  Obviously when you look in our archive throughout our seven years, we have avoided suggesting that baseless and meaningless rumors are fact.

The "city hall bubble" I mentioned at the last meeting refers to the officials being oblivious to the overall public opinion, which was most evident during the months of the RIP.  They tune the public out, because the sing-song of their fellow appointed officials sound better to them.  Whereas, we know as citizens, that they should be listening to the people, that hasn't been happening for the last few years.

So Ryan Cox, insulated by his peers avoiding any mention of the subject, thinks that his career change and 'personal' conflict is not out there in some form, being a topic of discussion for schoolchildren, citizens, and even visiting tourists.  But it is, and in many forms, it's probably a lot worse than the truth actually is.  And that's why I think he will only benefit himself if he is alerted to the problem, addresses it, even though he really isn't duty bound to do so. 

As Aquaman says, it is detracting from the dignity of the office in the eyes of many to let such secrets about his public life as a teacher remain in the dark, and even the 'personal' problems he is alleged to have had may be of interest to the public because of the involvement of two public agencies (school and police).

[Willy]

And it's very possible he quit his job because he wanted a career change. These kinds of rumors and gossip can ruin a person if untrue. Unless those posting here have proof of their accusations then they are no better than those they criticize.

[AQUAMAN]

Hmm, I find it somewhat strange now, looking back at the beginning of this thread, and the 4 pages since till #5. Everyone on here was sorta making some comments one to another, and mostly fact, along with a few slight of tongue jokes, no harm, no foul, and no libel was ever intended. Wth is the big push now to defend and suppress comments about Mayor Cox? None of us or him are angels. But, we aren't all Mayor of Ludington either. I don't think anyone here is on the top shelf register over at the LAS system either. Whether anyone wants to admit it or not, ALL of us have posted something negative on this subject matter since the start. And SO? Given the serious and suspicious circumstances, wth are we supposed to do? Hide under a rock, wait for the LAS to make a formal statement of real truth, or wait for the daily rags to print something? Don't confuse public scrutiny of our leaders, both paid and appointed in office, with character assassination, that's NOT been done here, and it's NOT the POINT! I'm sure Cox has a "sob forum" for his supporters, so, why not go there and cry with them if that's the case for some without the stomach to follow-up on this important story for Ludington. If Mayor Cox was the kind of gentleman that gave X a few more minutes for comment at a CC Mtg., quite hiding behind FOIA Coordinator Attoneys to deny FOIA info., investigated the facade debacle where Shay and Maclean were both accused of fraud for grants, investigated the City Attorney for over-billing, made sure future City contracts were all fairly bid and let to contractors, then, after he did all that in advance, I might feel more obliged to support him now. As it stands now, I just don't, and am not inclined to be pushed to do so. 

[Willy]

I definitely do not support Mayor Cox. Not only is he a hindrance to open Government in Ludington but he is the face of an unresponsive Council  for just the exact reasons Aquaman quoted. Complaining about any politicians poor performance in carrying out their duties is one thing but spreading gossip about their personal life which may not be true is something else. I'm sure X has already filed a FOIA request to find the truth. I would love to see Cox leave the Mayor's office so X can be elected to take his place and straighten out the mess at City Hall.

[AQUAMAN]

I guess I foolishly believed that somehow the regime of John Henderson was over when Cox ran for office and got elected. I figured a fresh face and new younger energy were going to help fix things, and make progress for the future. I thought transparency was coming back. I hoped leadership from the Mayor's office would be a keynote of a new administration. Boy, I thought wrong, and nothing really changed. In fact, the situation worsened imho. 

[XLFD]

I found out quite a bit with a FOIA request to the school, but these will only get you written documents, not the underlying issues in what seems to be a personal issue involved.  My impression is that the personal issue affected his professional conduct, the consequences of which made him decide to 'simplify' things by leaving the teaching profession, at least temporarily, while he took a less stressful position during a difficult time of his life.

If so, it was a wise move, and I don't fault him for it.  Spreading gossip isn't what we're here for, and unsubstantiated hearsay and rumor will not be tolerated.  Airing a fact such as Ryan Cox is not teaching and is working at a hardware store, and then making a hypothesis using inference and deductions as to why it occurred and then conduct an experiment or two, is the scientific method applied for getting to the truth.

[Real Talk]

Because someone doesn't take a stab at the Mayor or makes a joke towards him on here, that person needs to go to a different forum?  What a stupid forum this would be where only people who agree with each other are aloud to comment on certain articles or events.  Could you imagine if someone knew who you were and just started saying rumors on a public site about to doing something like a CSC like these claims about Mayor Cox Aqua?

Willy is right though aqua, slander and spreading rumors that can be detrimental to someones character can result in a lawsuit.  I am sure X is aware of that and wouldn't want one coming down on him or whoever else likes to hide behind their keyboard.

Why should the mayor/city council give "X"  a few more minutes to speak?  Do you realize 5 minutes is a long time to let people speak at a Council Meeting.  I have taken part at a few other city council meetings and their rules were 2 minutes.

[Willy]

The whole reason for time limits is to keep the meeting as short as possible. Since there are very few people who address the Council it is unreasonable to limit the time to 5 minutes. If a large group of people talk then I can see the short time limit. The Mayor has the power to grant more time to anyone addressing the Council but he and the Council do not want to hear what X has to say so of course he is not given a second more of time. I've seen people talk at Council meetings who were given much more than 5 minutes. It all depends on who you are and what you talk about. The Council meets twice a month and that means citizens can only speak for a total of 10 minutes per month and given the unresponsive nature of this Council, this limited amount of time is their way of squashing public scrutiny. 10 minutes a month is hardly enough time to discuss serious issues, however the Councilors have no time limit at the end of a meeting to voice their criticism of X when he speaks. The fact that he is not allowed to rebut those Council comments constitutes an unfair setup designed to limit the public from providing information and voicing concerns.

[XLFD]

I strive to keep my comments within five minutes, and I have been getting better lately.  I'd estimate ninety percent of the time I'm within three sentences of finishing my comment within the five minute period.

What is indicative of Ludington City Council's perception of not being responsive to the public is exactly how their meeting is set up.  Before my recent preoccupation with going to and speaking at these meetings, Mayor Henderson allowed some Q & A during the comment period, this isn't disallowed in the rules of the council most recently reworked in 2002 (during Henderson's first year), but it has become an unofficial rule since before Mayor Cox got on board.

Few city/township/county councils have this rule, none in our area explicitly do.  As noted, Hamlin, PM Townships and the County of Mason all have three minute comments both before and after the meeting, or six minutes altogether. 

In these areas, the people talk and/or ask questions, the council/commission responds and does their business, the people talk, ask questions, and/or respond to what happened, the meeting adjourns unless an official responds to the people's comments.

In Ludington, the people talk, the councilor does their business, then officials have their own comment period, which often descends into attacking and demeaning those people who spoke out.  It is undeniable that this does not promote two way communications and must be changed, preferably into the three minutes before and after with allowances for questions from the public. 

It won't happen, however, without some new blood in those elevated councilor seats.