19th Senate and 63rd House Updates

Editor's note: I'm having some trouble with Blogger the last few days. I've been trying to post a couple things I'd written earlier in the week and have revised and Blogger either wants to post the unedited version or nothing at all. So, I'm posting this again in the hope that the earlier version that should have appeared and hasn't won't magically show up once I post this.
And now back to our irregularly scheduled blog...

I tend to focus on my home turf of Barry County on this blog since it doesn't get covered elsewhere on-line and because I have little time to cover much else (save for griping about the Governor's race every now and then). But the filing deadline has left us with some interesting races in the other parts of West Michigan that I'd like to talk about:

In the 19th Senate District, incumbent Mark Schauer (D- Bedford Twp.) will be challenged by one of two Republicans. The August 8th primary will be between Elizabeth Fulton (Battle Creek) and Al Cavasin (Concord).

Fulton is a middle school librarian. She doesn't seem to know where she or the voters stand and seems to be suggesting that the people will have to tell her which issues she should run on. This is a nice schtick- playing up her need to do "research" as a librarian but we sense it's a front. As co-owner of Southside Sportsman Club with her husband, it's clear to us she'll likely hammer the popular and moderate Schauer as too liberal and try to play to the militant gun crowd. I get the feeling Cavasin gets the support of the party since he owns a private security company in Jackson and is likely to be better financed than Fulton. Cavasin sounds like another Chamber of Commerce clone who will probably repeat the pre-recorded message of "need more tax cuts, need more tax cuts."

In the 63rd House District it looks like we'll get a rematch between Lorence Wenke (Richland Twp.) and Jerry Vander Roest (Galesburg). Wenke edged out Vander Roest by 90 votes two years ago. Look for a reprise of the "Values" theme as Wenke is known for his principled stance against gay bashing right before the last election which probably is what almost cost him his seat (you should read his speech about that vote). Wenke seems to be going on the offensive early with this gem of a quote:

"What issue will Jerry run on this time?" asked Wenke, a Richland Township resident. "Two years ago he ran on a values platform and then we all found out that he had a criminal record for soliciting a prostitute in Lansing while working as a state employee."

Ouch! This one is nasty and personal and the race has only begun...

The winner of the Republican primary squares off against Democrat Phyllis Smith of Vicksburg.

What's good for the gardener...

Let’s crack down on ALL welfare!

State Rep. Fulton Sheen’s (R-Plainwell) public relations machine is singing his praises for being on board with the Michigan House of Representatives’ latest “welfare reform” package of bills. It’s just another chapter in the GOP’s play book that should be called “Let’s Beat up on the Poor Again.” And the biggest reason they like to beat up on them is they don’t vote. Another is that a lot of frustrated voters want scapegoats, regardless of whether or not they’re the problem. The Republican press office had the gall to claim this new welfare package actually helps poor people on public assistance while practicing tough love for their own good. Sheen was quoted in the press release as saying, “We want to offer a hand up, not a handout. It is also our responsibility to make sure that tax money is being spent efficiently and proactively.” That’s interesting. I bet Sheen feels altogether differently about corporate welfare, in which public tax dollars are spent through abatements to help companies be more "competitive." A lot of time the companies take the tax breaks for a while and then leave, like Tyden in Hastings which pulled up stakes after raking in about $78,000 of public money in tax breaks, in order to move their company overseas to exploit the cheaper labor force while still expecting Americans to buy their products. Where is his concern about that process? Where is a law spelling out penalties for companies that benefit from tax breaks and then cut and run and give good-paying jobs to cheap overseas labor?

The Republican press corps reports these new welfare reforms “place an emphasis on education and job training, and limit welfare assistance to 48 months for able-bodied recipients, including a maximum of 24 consecutive months of assistance. Recipients will be given a range of services to prepare them for the work force and help them find work, while making sure taxpayer money is used wisely.

Amendments to the welfare reform package were added to:
• Prevent murders, rapists, other violent criminals and fugitives from justice from receiving state welfare checks;
• Include a 24-month suspension from state payments for violating work requirements three times;
• Create a pilot program for drug testing people who receive welfare if they are suspected of illegal drug use; and
• Require recipients to show proof of U.S. citizenship before receiving state welfare payments and demand that proper authorities be contacted if it is found that a person is in the United States illegally.

The package of bills also includes a tougher sanctions policy for those who "refuse" to work.

What would happen if state government insisted every CEO of a company getting tax abatement be tested for drugs or be required to show proof of citizenship? And what happens, if anything, when business violates environmental or workplace rules — do they get busted and cut off entirely like welfare cheats?

This is just another horrible example of politicians beating up on the poor, because they can, and meanwhile looking the other way when the more well to do commit similar crimes. When Rush Limbaugh and Gov. Jeb Bush’s daughter were busted for drug abuse, they got treatment, not incarceration. But Joe Homeless and Jane Street Walker wind up in jail or prison for the same offenses.

Where is the outrage?

Superintendent sacked. No suprise.

Yours truly wrote late last month before the school board elections:

“Lakewood is almost hopeless, a community that is clueless about exactly what has created its problems, a district long divided over decades. Some observers have called it ‘Bosnia,’ and not without good reason. Don’t be surprised if the new superintendent doesn’t last very long.”

On target — again. Forgive me for patting myself on the back like Rush Limbaugh.

According to an impeccable source, Lakewood Superintendent James Richardson was asked to leave the building Friday and not come back. I heard it was three school board members and the athletic director who escorted the man from Otisville, Ohio, out and sent him packing his bags after a stint that lasted less than nine months.

Rumor has it Richardson was using the infamous “N’ word around other professionals. Also not endearing him was his bungling of the issue to privatize the bus drivers and custodians. The man walked in the door with just a 4-3 vote to have him hired, which should have been his clue to stay away. A 4-3 split likely is as good as it gets, so the loss of just one of the four spelled certain doom.

Among the six school districts in Barry County and environs, there have been three messy divorces between school boards and their top hired administrator in the last six months. Besides Richardson and Lakewood, we’ve had to watch that awful train wreck in Caledonia with Wes VanDenburg and we’ve seen Ron Archer being forced out at Delton.

There is so much unhappiness in public schools these days, much of it because so many are struggling to make ends meet financially and massive cutbacks have been the rule, not the exception. Most seem to want to point to the man in charge, the superintendent, as the scapegoat for the problems, but we ought to look at ourselves.

We parents and citizens have gleefully enjoyed all those tax cuts that put money back in our pockets over the last 20 years while public education has been slowly starved to death. With tax cuts there is less and less money for state government to adequately fund education, so local districts have to cut expenditures for athletics, classroom instruction, educational trips, the arts and a host of other things. Remember when pay to play was just a temporary money saver? It’s been brought into the realm of the commonplace. Now we holler when our local custodians and bus drivers lose their jobs and are replaced by private companies. And we holler when a local elementary school is threatened with closing. Yet we keep electing the bozos who cut taxes, promote privatizing and come up with destructive and stupid laws like “No Child Left Behind,” which does nothing to help public schools but instead sets them up to fail.

What do we expect the schools to do with declining revenue? We haven’t been paying attention. If we want quality education, we have to pay for it.

Barry County Board campaign contests set

Five races for the Barry County Board of Commissioners in the Aug. 8 Republican primary. This calls for a brief analysis of each one, district by district:

• Districts #1, 2 and 4, nothin’ happenin’ here in August. Don Nevins in #1 and Jim French in #2 are home free with a bye all the way through. Hoot Gibson in #4 is unopposed in the primary and will get token resistance in November from Democrat John Loftus, the Harold Stassen of Barry County politics. I can almost see old John with his name on the ballot even after he’s dead.

• District #3 — A pretty good one here, with Republicans Keith Ferris and Ken DeMott vying in the primary and the winner to meet Democrat Mike Lewis in the general. Beware of Ferris, my sources tell me he is good buddies with Sandy James and decided to run at her urging. If Ferris wins the seat, will it be back to more of the same old game of Clare and Sandy’s protégé running the show? It’s too bad Lewis is a Democrat. Judging by his commentary at the Unicameral forum and by a letter he wrote to the Banner, he shows a rarity in local politics these days — the ability to think for himself and the promise of intelligence.

• District #5 — The capable and engaging Mike Callton will get another challenge from Mark Noteboom, the Third Man in the famous race two years ago that brought down former Chairman Jeff MacKenzie. Callton won handily in 2004 in a three-way race and he shouldn’t have much trouble here again. Noteboom didn’t even bother to show for the First Friday forum in July 2004.

• District #6 — The most interesting race of the bunch. Board Chairwoman Clare Tripp will get a primary challenge from street fightin’ Mark Englerth, the former chairman of the Barry County GOP, before it got taken over by the incompetent absentee Orvin Moore. If she survives what promises to be a real battle in August, she’ll have to do it all over again in November against Democrat David Brinkert. Word on the street is that Clare has managed to piss off a lot of people and her private and personal conduct has been the subject of much rumor and scuttlebutt. This one will be fun.

• District #7 — A rematch between Republicans Tom Wing, the reigning incumbent, and challenger Jeff VanNortwick. The latter, according to my sources, plans to hammer Wing’s simply awful attendance record and habit of being tardy. Why, he was even late for that infamous secret meeting of five commissioners in April 2004 in Baltimore Township. For those who haven’t paid attention, Wing had egg on his face on the front page of the Banner last October for missing or being late for 32 percent of County Board meetings, a fact brought up again by Farm Bureau member George Hubka is a nasty letter to the editor this week in the Banner.

• District #8 — Incumbent Wayne Adams will meet Serafin “Chuck” Nieves in a battle that just might be the latter’s attempt to settle a score in which he was removed from the Planning and Zoning Commission without adequate public explanation. Nieves got a raw deal with laughable excuses from the County Board on his non-reappointment. Adams was in on it, and he just might pay for it.

With the 87th District state rep race, the prosecutor’s race and the parks and rec millage, this promises to be a wild ride between now and Aug. 8.

87th District update- Let the games begin!

In the words of Gomer Pyle in the Andy Griffith Show, “Surprise, surprise, surprise!”

I was blindsided by by a couple of late candidate filings by people I really do not know. So that late flurry of activity leaves us, for all practical purposes, with six candidates for 87th District State Rep. As promised, we had candidate filings from Brian Reynolds, Susan Vlietstra, Brain Calley and Jim Bailey, but Trombley and Tom Lower of Ionia were added to the list on filing deadline day Tuesday, making things even saucier for the next two and half months. Let the games begin.

I know little if anything about that second candidate from Ionia. Trombley, who is in the real estate trade, tells me he that he reads the site in regular basis and is a citizen candidate who is pro-casino, supports the “Fire the Senate” movement and wants to eliminate the Single Business Tax in a responsible manner. So where does he differ with Reynolds? We know there isn’t a heckuva lot of difference between Vlietstra, Bailey and Calley, all of whom pretty much toe the party line and will do whatever the GOP bigwigs and special interests tell them to. Reynolds and Trombley are different, but they’re different together. The waters have been muddied.

The name of the game remains finding a way to beat the anointed Calley, who is being supported heavily by outgoing term-limited State Rep. Gary Newell. Our state rep. in the last six years is widely regarded in Barry County as a big disappointment because of his penchant for doing the bidding of the health care lobby and public safety lobby, but not ordinary citizens in his district. So why would these citizens who have been short-shrifted elect the same old worn out slick politician style candidate who wants to cut taxes for business and just keep doing what we’ve been doing? It’s called marketing. Calley has been carefully groomed to succeed Newell and he has a lot of big money from doctors and lawyers backing him for advertising. He’s the pick of the machine. He’s a good boy, safe for the GOP, much in the same way Fulton Sheen is for Allegan County and Glenn Steil is for southwestern Kent County. They all walk alike, talk alike, smile and kiss babies very skillfully. They all stay on message and do a nice little dance in which they tell you nothing substantive while blowing smoke up your ass. As I stated here before, Calley is good at telling you what he thinks you want to hear. Then he’ll go to Lansing and get into bed with the monied interests who help get him elected. Put a bullseye on Calley’s back. Can he and his machine be stopped? One wag told me he’d like to see Reynolds, Trombley and Vlietstra form a coalition behind one of the three of them and pull an upset in a march to a “different drummer” toward the land of the mavericks- anyone want to set up a conference call or a smoke-filled room to hash out a deal?

On another note: I was pleased to see that someone stepped up to the plate to run against the Unsinkable Patty Birkholtz, but it’s the same lady, a Democrat to boot, who lost badly in the November 2004 general election. She needs to get fire in her belly fast or she will indeed, as one commentator here recently said, be squashed like a grape (though I have to admit that's likely to happen no matter how she campaigns- the best chance to take her out would have been in the primary). I was very disappointed that no Republican decided to step up to the plate and try to stop Patty. Our democracy doesn't work as well when ballot slots go uncontested and politicians get a cake walk to another term with the disgruntled voter having no outlet for their anger- another reason so many have given up even bothering to vote at all.

Meanwhile, Mark Doster’s name remains on the ballot, though he’s said he’s out. And Frank Campbell had the smarts to pull out. Interestingly, Campbell was rumored to have indicated his disappointment in the Republican Party bigwigs’ apparent support of Calley. So I’m not just blowing smoke like you know who.

It will be a fun race to watch. Let the games begin!

Polling the Governor's race

The media is making a lot of hay out of recent polls that show DeVos inching in front of Granholm but still firmly within the polls margin of error- meaning we went from a statistical dead heat to... a statistical dead heat. It makes for splashy headlines but doesn't tell us much about the race itself.

What we do know about the race is that DeVos has been on the air for several weeks and has managed to convince the majority of people who aren't undecided that he's a jobs provider. Meanwhile, Granholm has been forced to save her money (since she's not a billion-heir to the scAmway fortune) and has been the subject of a continuous assault from DeVos, Sikkema and DeRoche as well as the state media which will do anything to make a close race and force both candidates to spend lots of money buying ads from them (please, can we get publican campaign financing already?). The pundits are desperately urging Granholm to go on the air and begin the campaign, ignoring history by forgetting that they said the very thing to the Stabenow campaign which held it's fire until late in the season and ended up taking out the much more well-financed incumbent Senator Spencer Abraham.

Now, you'd think DeVos would be a good spot, coming from behind, pulling ahead and with lots of money left in his Scrooge McDuck vault somewhere in Ada and in the pockets of his rich contributors who will surely benefit from another round or two or three of tax cuts) . But when you look at the polls a bit closer than the 5-second sound byte you see something that doesn't bode well for the DeVos campaign.

As pointed out here the West Michigan native DeVos actually trails Granholm by 15 points on his home turf of Kent County - a heavily Republican area which has been the receipient of millions in largesse from the personal fortunes of the DeVos and Amway families as well as having been the beneficiary of state spending due to the West Michigan mafia's control over the coffers in Lansing over the last decade of Republican rule. Meanwhile, DeVos' high polling numbers come from the areas where he isn't really known outside of a recent blitz of slick campaign ads that have yet to receive a proper response from the other side and manage to avoid taking stances on any of the tough issues that will surely come to the fore before November. Now, it's fully possible that Granholm waits too long and lets DeVos convince voters he's a better alternative but it seems more likely to me that once the Granholms campaign informs the public of DeVos' actual stances on the issues the people of Michigan will get to see a clearer portrait of a man who is disliked even by those who have most benefited from his family's fortune. Let's not forget that in 2000 Dick Posthumus got 60% of the Kent County vote and Bush got 59% in the county in his presidential races. Once again, I don't think the playing field looks good for DeVos in the long term. If DeVos can't win on his home turf he doesn't stand a chance to beat Governor Granholm.

Born to run?

Anybody out there willing to run against State Senator Patty Birkholz?

Granted, any Democrat who dares to put his or her name on the ballot most assuredly will lose. But think of the opportunity to hold Patty’s feet to the fire in candidate forums and joint appearances. Oh, the places you’ll go!

I have been told by sources that the state Democratic party will pay the $100 filing fee. After that, you’re on your own, but all you’ll really need is the ability to scheme, a gift of gab, a love of mischief and a solid understanding of the importance of holding our politicians accountable. I would welcome any Republican to challenge Ms. Birkholz in the Aug. 8 primary as well. The point here is that no politician ever should get a free ride to being re-elected. Some local hero or heroine should step forward and declare candidacy, then let the fun begin.

If indeed a democracy isn’t about everybody agreeing and being docile and apathetic, but an ongoing debate, an exchange of ideas, I implore, nay beg, someone to step forward, to volunteer, to serve your fellow citizens in a time of crisis. The 24th State Senate District needs and wants you. Not to be elected, but to give her hell, to eloquently voice the frustrations of many people who are not being heard. I hereby offer free political advice and a campaign's worth of on-line agitation and muck raking, for whatever that may be worth which is not much unless a political tsunami crashes through the state and throws the bums out in which case you become the next State Senator (remember who helped you get there).

The deadline is 4 p.m. Tuesday, May 16, at the county clerk’s office in Allegan, Barry or Eaton counties. Call Barbara Cichy at (269) 623-8481 about that $100 filing fee (and tell her Pol Watcher sent you).

Just remember the Special Olympians’ prayer is, “Lord, let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”

87th District update-King James version

Start spreadin’ the news... Boss Bailey’s back in town.

Yes, folks, think back to the good old days with Jim Bailey, aka King James, Emperor James, Cheaper by the Dozen, etc., the former chairman of the Barry County Board of Commissioners (1995-2001). Bailey, I am told by a number of sources, was seen Monday morning taking out petitions to run for State Rep., 87th District, joining the somewhat less than stellar lineup of Brian Calley, Susan Vlietstra, Frank Campbell and Brian Reynolds, not to mention the sacrificial lamb, Democrat Doug Kalnbach.

King James, who ran the County Board like a controlling corporate CEO for six years, likely was the heart and soul of the 1994 right-wing revolt over the animal shelter that unseated four incumbent commissioners. Trouble is, despite the promise of change, this revolt led to virtually nothing to benefit the county. It spawned a lot of artbitrary and lousy government decisions, the likes of which we still see remnants of today. So we have King James to thank for initiating the County Board’s lousy track record over the past dozen years.

Who can forget that wonderful decision by the county to drop out of the old Joint Economic Development Commission? Then Bailey and Co. proceeded to hire Small Government Consultants to get absolutely nothing for a wasteful fat price tag of $35,000 of taxpayer money. Small Government Consultants, with Craig Starkweather and Patrick Doyle, took the money, got out of town and disbanded a company that was dangerously close to being one of those phony scam companies we’re often warned about.

What about the ill-fated attempt to eliminate the county surveyor’s job, in which Reynolds totally outfoxed Bailey’s posse and kept his job via election law?

The Bailey era in county government also was marked by awful feet dragging on a new animal shelter, a project that finally was seen through by a grass-roots group of citizens which included Brian Reynolds (perhaps one of the things that helped draw the ire of Boss Bailey and his conspirators on the board who ended up with egg on their face when Reynolds brilliantly outmanuevered them).

There are other great Bailey stories that have circulated over the years, but he certainly had his supporters, some of them disturbingly demonstrating characteristics of people who drink the proverbial Kool-Aid. One of my favorite Bailey stories, though, was a public affair, during a First Friday candidate forum between him and Gary Newell when both ran for state rep. Newell, noting they were politically on the same page so often, said “Jim, I could hug you.” The noticably uncomfortable and homophobic Bailey replied almost immediately, “A handshake will do.”

Bailey spent some pretty big bucks to run for state rep. and lose in 2000. Then mysteriously he virtually disappeared from public view. It was said he was being a dutiful husband and helping with wife with her day care business. Interestingly, though he often railed against government handout programs, his own children often appeared in Reminder photos showing them as recipients of free programs for kids.

Well, this combination J.R. Ewing and Boss Hogg figure in Barry County politics appears to be primed to get back into the limelight. A part of me dreads it. But a part of me is amused and looking forward to it. After all, Boss Bailey is likely to give me plenty to write about. I may need it with Sandy James leaving the County Board. Won’t you come back, Jim Bailey?

A Night at the Forum

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Despite the heroic efforts of the local media and Unicameral Michigan, the forum of the evening of May 4 laid an egg.

Despite promises they’d be there “first, best, live,” Channel 8, Channel 17, Channel 3, Channel 6, Channel 10, Channel 35, Channel 53 and WOOD-Radio all were no-shows. Maybe their newsrooms were inundated with live photos of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes and their new baby. At any rate, it was because of their promise of being live at the scene of the big debate over whether the State Senate should be abolished that the decision was made to move the whole production from the Thomas Jefferson Hall to the Hastings High School lecture hall. But the only one with video camera in tow during the whole sordid affair was the ever-faithful Mike Hook on behalf of Hastings Public Access Channel 12. The audience was smaller than what organizers had hoped for, maybe 50 people at best. Maybe a lot of people didn’t want to miss “American Idol.”

Most disappointing of all, however, was that there was virtually no intelligent, stimulating debate on the Unicameral topic. There was no serious, thoughtful exchange of points of view on why or why not the 38-member Michigan Senate should be history.

Of course, State Senator Patty Birkholz was not present once again. She can find time for feel-good photo ops reading to Delton Elementary children or for other carefully orchestrated public relations media events. But she’s AWOL when she is beckoned to explain to her constituents why she should keep her job. State Rep. Gary Newell and State Senator Ken Sikkema have excuses. They’ll both be retired by January, so they don’t need to speak to the issue. Both obviously favor keeping things just the way they are.

I appreciate the eight people who did have the guts to show up, but none of them said anything with any substance. The worst offender by far was Portland loan officer Brian Calley because he’s raking in the big bucks from fat cat banker friends and family and as a result likely will be the next state representative from the 87th District. He showed an alarming ignorance about state government that a bright ninth-grade civics student could demonstrate. He called for a part-time legislature, though it already is. He talked about the horrors of partisanship, as if he is somehow non-partisan himself, lacking the understanding that a good argument is at the very heart of democracy. He agreed he couldn’t defend the current State Legislature’s performance, but to date, like gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos, hasn’t given us one shred of evidence he’ll do anything differently. Calley once said he understands the big disconnect between Hastings and Lansing, but actually the biggest disconnect is between Calley’s acknowledgment of our current predicament and his fierce defense of the status quo.

Libertarian William Gelineau waxed eloquent about irrelevant issues, adding nothing of value to the discussion. Moderator Fred Jacobs let him drone on and on for too long and called on him far too often. The entire Libertarian Party has been a big disappointment on this issue. What better way to implement the libertarian platform of reducing the size of government than eliminating half of the state legislature and the politicians who create more feel good garbage bills and yet the Libertarian Party in Michigan has done NOTHING to push the Fire the Senate campaign. I know the party isn't a major force but certainly it has enough members that could circulate petitions to get this on the ballot where most people understand it would easily pass and they could then take credit for it's success and actually achieve something instead of running placeholder candidates who never stand a chance of winning and never get anything done.

Democrat Al Abbassee, who has only a slightly better chance of being elected than Gelineau, waxed eloquent about himself and, like Calley, did a remarkable job defending the status quo and showed himself as mostly a “Republican Light” style candidate (And we've seen how well that does NOT work with the Brinkert campaign- how about going guns ablazing at the Republican dominated government which has screwed up our state budget while calling for still more tax cuts? At least give your voters some red meat so they bother to show up at the polls!).

Brian Reynolds, my choice for 87th District state representative, should be kicking himself. He let these bozos mentioned above get away with glittering generalities, hopelessly inadequate knowledge of the subject and shameless self-promotion. He was too passive, and when asked why he’s not running against Patty, he should have quickly replied that Birkholz is a Republican incumbent and therefore virtually invincible and unlike former Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, he doesn’t want to be elected to a position he doesn’t believe should exist any more. At least he stood out by not sounding like an idiot, which in this race is enough to make him stand out as the best choice to go to Lansing and work for We The People!

Republican Frank Campbell brought up the tired old notion of West Michigan vs. the Detroit area, which makes him a divider, not a uniter, and solves no problems whatsoever because southeast Michigan is the most populous region of this state and should not be targeted like a KKK Grand Dragon targets Negroes.

Republican Susan Vlietstra touted herself as a woman who meticulously checks the facts before she makes any decisions, yet the justifications she presented for her opposition to firing the senate were based on minor points, such as the House replacing the Senate in powers of impeachment. She also scored no points for being offended at Jacobs’ noting she is a housewife and township clerk. She should have said she’s proud to be a mother and a public servant at the same time, proving she handle big and important jobs.

Democrats Eric Geister and Doug Kalnbach said nothing, literally. To paraphrase former County Commissioner Bob Wenger, they both should have stayed home and planted corn.

In the end, all eight candidates for state offices failed to give us a reason to get excited about them. They didn’t seem to understand the petition drive to “Fire the Senate” as an idea worth serious, intelligent and spirited debate. In the end, it seemed like the only one who knew what he was talking about was Fred Jacobs, the moderator. Bravo to the organizers for at least trying to get the issue discussed and for allowing the voters an early look at the candidates who will ask for their votes in August and November.

I repeat, sadly, the road the hell is paved with good intentions, and the forum laid an egg.

Elections Past and Future

One election is coming and the other is going.

It certainly was interesting to examine the results of the school elections May 2 in this area. And now it soon will be time to turn attention to the Aug. 8 primary. In West Michigan, which has a long-standing one-party system that rivals totalitarian dictatorships overseas, the primary is everything, because he or she who wins in August is virtually certain of victory over the hapless Democratic opponent (if any one even bothers to file) in November.

Some observations about the Tuesday, May 2, election and beyond:

1. The nearly 11 percent turnout was pathetic. School boards, even though they’ve lost a lot of their power and control education since Proposal A was passed in 1994, should be of concern to anyone who has children or even knows any kids who go to school (actually anyone who cares about what their tax money is being used for). Is the low turnout the result of the new election laws that have voters cast ballots in township halls and the like rather than in schools? I don’t know, but we have to find ways to make it easier for the massive numbers who are too busy, lazy, ignorant or apathetic to participate in the process. Yet many of them will show up in droves at school board meetings if there’s trouble.

2. I got a bit of an ego boost because I called my shot on the Hastings and Delton school board races, picking Tammy Pennington and Jeff Guenther in Hastings and Elizabeth Matteson in Delton. I shed no tears for the unceremonious retirement of Terry McKinney, who was turned away in his bid for a third four-year term. I hope he lost because of his support for neo-fascist homophobic right-wing religious zealot Bill Skilling as a candidate for supertintendent. Incumbents actually had a rough go of it Tuesday. Besides McKinney, Vince Pennington in Lakewood and Brian Schumaker in Maple Valley were dumped by challengers. Vince Pennington deserved it. He didn’t even bother to respond to the Lakewood News queries for an interview. If you don’t take time to talk to the press, you show you don’t care to talk to the voters since often the only way the public in these local races gets to hear from candidates is through the media.

3. It was a mixed bag in Caledonia. Ken Yonker was the top choice, but Pat Johnson, with her necktie for Wes VanDenburg still warm, was also elected. The two are on opposite sides of the most important issue to hit Caledonia in many years. Do the voters want a good fight, or don’t they pay attention to who the candidates are and where they stand?

4. The biggest news about the approaching primary is that Serafin “Chuck” Nieves has decided to run against incumbent County Commissioner Wayne Adams in the Eighth District. Nieves is fresh from getting the boot from the County Board as a member of the Planning and Zoning Commission and he certainly is expected to have some interesting things to say in the campaign. Also of note is that Board Chairwoman Clare Tripp continues to be in an awkward spot. She hasn’t filed yet in the Sixth District, but Democrat David Brinkert has, and there are serious rumors that a fellow Republican of note will offer up a challenge Aug. 8. Even if Tripp survives the primary and general election, she faces the possibility of losing the chair next January because her good buddy, Sandy James, is retiring and being replaced by someone not likely to be “on the team.” Add Mike Callton, Hoot Gibson and Don Nevins and the prospects of another new face or two on the board, and it could become another embarassment that could drive her to be having her own conversation with God ala Sandy James.

5. No one has filed yet for 24th District State Senator, but incumbent Republican Patty Birkholz is a shoo-in, and thus far nobody has stepped in to avoid letting her skate free from now through November. Not so in the 87th District State Rep. race, where chosen one Brian Calley, the Portland loan officer, has rivals but is establishing himself as the Establishment's man to beat, mostly because of his ability to pick the deep pockets of fat cat contributors- including himself. Brian Reynolds, my choice, is cash poor, Susan Vlietstra is horribly green and Frank Campbell still has to decide if he’s in or out of the race. Then there’s the sacrificial lamb, Democrat Doug Kalnbach.  Can no one stop Calley, the candidate of the status quo, the candidate of keep doing what the Republican dominated state government has been doing for the last 16 years? If you liked Gary Newell and you like where this state is headed, Calley’s your boy. Better yet he’s the fair-haired golden boy for special interests from outside the area who won't give a damn about you once he gets elected. It still mystifies my why people complain about things and then vote for the candidates who staunchly defends the same old game. In that case, you get the government you deserve!

The filing deadline for the fall election season fast approaches. Stay tuned!

Candidates get candid on Unicameral

It may be one of the most amazing forums ever held in Barry County Thursday night (May 4), when as many as seven or eight candidates for public office gather for a round-table discussion on the Michigan Unicameral “Fire the Senate” petition drive. It has all the ingredients to be a real hoot.

J-Ad Graphics Vice President Fred Jacobs, arguably one of the most influential people in the entire county, will serve as moderator. All of the candidates for 87th District State Representative, even the chosen one, Brian Calley, have agreed to participate. Word from sources close to the situation is that Calley didn’t want to come, but chose not to alienate Jacobs, who has a habit of holding politicians’ feet to the fire. Conspicuous by her absence will be State Senator Patty Birkholz, who has declined repeatedly to ever appear in a public forum to explain to the people why she should keep her job. Every one of the 38 state senators has been asked to debate the issue any time, but still no takers. The men and women in Lansing apparently have chosen to ignore the rag tag “Fire the Senate” crowd, the strategy that is backed heavily by corporate media. There will be a few candidates on hand who support the Unicameral movement, most notably Republican Brian Reynolds, Democrat Eric Geister and Libertarian Bill Galineau. I’m not sure where the other guests stand, but we can find out. I hope Mr. Jacobs can avoid this becoming a “cattle call” for the candidates or a love fest dominated by irrelevant information about grandchildren, churches attended and how wonderful Barry County is. There is more than a rumor that State Rep. LaMar Lemmons III will be one of the panelists. Lemmons introduced a bill calling for eliminating the senate, but it’s been condemned to the dust heap in Lansing.

The venue had to be changed from the venerable Thomas Jefferson Hall to the Hastings High School lecture hall to accommodate the anticipated crowds and media. Finally, Unicameral is getting a little bit of attention. If you’re free Thursday evening, you might find this forum more than entertaining. It’s got to be better than anything on TV.