Some people in Barry County have suggested the only way to stop the impending election of Portland's Prince Charming, Brian Calley, is to vote for the Hometown Hero- "King" James Bailey. I have to shake my head and question whether those people need a history lesson in Barry County politics...
An astonishing revolution took place on the Barry County Board of Commissioners a dozen years ago. It was the August 1994 Republican primary, when no less than four incumbent members of the board were unceremoniously retired from their seats, an electoral turnover of 50%, a record to this day. Sitting commissioners Orvin Moore (chairman), Marge Radant, Gordon Fuhr and Mark Doster all were defeated in their bids for re-election, signaling the dawn of a new era in Barry County government. The extraordinary rise to power of King James Bailey had just begun. He defeated Fuhr in the primary and in January 1995 was selected chairman, even though he was just a rookie. What followed was a six-year dictatorial reign with mediocre results and one particular event that some might suggest came dangerously close to being criminal.
King James was fond of telling a lot of people privately he enjoyed the “King James” moniker and he ruled the board with an iron fist, insisting no ideas be presented in public unless cleared first with him. The King manipulated and micromanaged virtually everything he figuratively could get his hands on. Yet eventually there was little to show for all his efforts to control county government.
Just look back now and declare what King James Bailey accomplished in his six years on the throne. What is his legacy? For me his legacy is a back-room deal he made at public expense, the local version of Teapot Dome — The Small Government Consultants scandal.
King James and his loyal subjects, including Sandra James, Rod Goebel, Tim Burd and Lew Newman, somehow advanced the notion the City-County Joint Economic Development Commission and Director Joe Rahn wasn’t getting things done and pulled the County Board’s $20,000 annual contribution to the JEDC. The King and his toadies contended they could hire a "professional" firm instead to better drum up business for Barry County.
So the JEDC was disbanded, Rahn had to scramble to find a job as economic development director for the City of Hastings and Bailey and Administrator Michael Brown engineered a deal with a company called Small Government Consultants, co-owned by Craig Starkweather and Patrick Doyle. The county plopped down $24,000 for a first-year contract with Starkweather and Doyle and agreed to pay even more for each project the dynamic duo could bring home. The contention was that Starkweather, former top aide to State Senator Jack Welborn, and Doyle would have Lansing contacts in order to do a better job than Rahn could ever do. Not long afterward, it was discovered Small Government Consultants wasn’t even a company with a “doing business as” designation and it had no money except for the $24,000 Barry County had advanced.
A year passed, and all the consultants were able to come up with was a little bit of questionable help on a jail grant in which Sheriff Steve DeBoer did the bulk of the work. Nonetheless, the county agreed to pay Starkweather and Doyle an additional $8,000 for dubious services rendered.
Commissioners such as Robert Wenger cried foul after the year was up and contended the county had flushed $32,000 down the toilet. It had gotten virtually nothing in the way of economic development help and Small Government Consultants had made some easy money at taxpayers’ expense. Suckers!
The county’s contract was terminated with Small Government Consultants, which immediately folded its tent, leaving some question about whether it actually was a legitimate business. Meanwhile, Rahn, the man Bailey and Company rejected, somehow managed to capture grants worth more than a million dollars for the City of Hastings.
The county has never recovered from this fiasco in the economic development department, trying this and that for the past 10 years since then without any solid tangible results. I thought Bailey and his gang should have been held accountable for making a backroom sweetheart deal with their shady buddies. If not taken to court, they all should have been booted from public service, just like their predecessors had been just a couple of years before. King James, in my opinion, is more than just a bully, dictator and control freak. His active role in fleecing Barry County taxpayers to the tune of $32,000 should neither be forgotten nor forgiven.
King James was retired from public service, at least I thought, in August 2000, when he lost to Gary Newell in the GOP primary for state representative. Yet after six years of falling off the radar screen, he’s back in the public arena twisting arms and boldly going after the prize he missed out on six years ago as if time since then has stood still until now. I won’t let bygones be bygones with the likes of King James. It amazes me when I see his bold signs along the highways of Barry County. Do these people really know or remember this guy? I wish I could forget! I urge anyone who is considering voting for "King" James in order to stop "Prince Charming" to proceed with caution and study their history lessons...
Friday, June 30, 2006
Monday, June 26, 2006
Nakfoor Pratt wins case for Prosecutor post
I’ve been silent about who I like in the race for Barry County prosecutor — until now. Because I wasn’t entirely sure about who is the best candidate, like I have been about Brian Reynolds for 87th District State Representative, I waited until the First Friday forum of June 22 to make a decision. I’m backing appointed incumbent Prosecutor Julie Nakfoor Pratt.
I think she really put on an impressive clinic for everybody last Thursday night at the forum. If you weren’t there, check out Cable Access Channel 12, which videotaped the whole thing. Then you can see for yourself a good example of what a prosecutor should say and do in a public setting.
Nakfoor Pratt was straightforward, passionate, insightful and aggressive in her presentations while answering questions. She didn’t just go through the motions. I want to emphasize “passionate” because I personally believe that’s one of the most important ingredients someone must bring to such an important job. She demonstrated time and time again she gives a damn about what she does.
She was smart enough to seize the forum as an opportunity to explain what a prosecutor does, why it is sometimes necessary to plea bargain with scalawags and to show off her impressive litigation skills. She essentially talked to the audience members as if they were the jury in an important case, which in a meaningful way, they were. Though some people I spoke with thought the whole affair was a draw, or it only slightly favored Nakfoor Pratt, I honestly believed she won her conviction because of her passion, assertiveness and common sense. Challenger Tom Evans, meanwhile, looked like he was running for accountant. Though certainly versed and competent, he seemed to stumble while carefully wording his responses and sometimes it wasn’t entirely clear what point he was trying to make. By contrast, Nakfoor Pratt was constantly taking notes and then approaching the podium to score more points in her arguments, which often were striking and convincing.
I disagree with both candidates on some of their attitudes and positions on crime, drugs and a few other aspects of criminal justice, but I really get the sense that if a child molester or murderer commits a heinous crime, she’ll do everything humanly possible to have such scoundrels removed from our midst. Not that Evans won’t, but she has a tremendous edge in that all important quality called “passion.” This is not to say Nakfoor Pratt hasn’t stumbled or made mistakes; I’m certain Evans has as well.
But our current prosecutor was right in saying you have to run with your best shot in getting a conviction and you have no control over sentencing, that’s up to the judge. I’ve heard and seen a lot of suggestions that Nakfoor Pratt was “anointed” last October, but that simply is not true, and no less a figure than Hastings Banner publisher Fred Jacobs has made such a public statement in one of his paper's editorials. When Gordon Shane McNeill resigned, he didn’t hand off the job to her. Judge Jim Fisher made the decision, as the law states he must. And though I’m not wild about the notion Fisher didn’t do a lot of consulting and did not conduct interviews, this time I think he chose a good litigator.
I applaud Ms. Nakfoor Pratt for a solid presentation, a rarity these days in candidate forums. She is far from perfect, as she readily acknowledged Thursday evening, but I think she is best equipped for a tough job. I’m rarely a fan of electing incumbents, but my strong recommendation is to vote for Julie Nakfoor Pratt. Now it's up to the jury...
I think she really put on an impressive clinic for everybody last Thursday night at the forum. If you weren’t there, check out Cable Access Channel 12, which videotaped the whole thing. Then you can see for yourself a good example of what a prosecutor should say and do in a public setting.
Nakfoor Pratt was straightforward, passionate, insightful and aggressive in her presentations while answering questions. She didn’t just go through the motions. I want to emphasize “passionate” because I personally believe that’s one of the most important ingredients someone must bring to such an important job. She demonstrated time and time again she gives a damn about what she does.
She was smart enough to seize the forum as an opportunity to explain what a prosecutor does, why it is sometimes necessary to plea bargain with scalawags and to show off her impressive litigation skills. She essentially talked to the audience members as if they were the jury in an important case, which in a meaningful way, they were. Though some people I spoke with thought the whole affair was a draw, or it only slightly favored Nakfoor Pratt, I honestly believed she won her conviction because of her passion, assertiveness and common sense. Challenger Tom Evans, meanwhile, looked like he was running for accountant. Though certainly versed and competent, he seemed to stumble while carefully wording his responses and sometimes it wasn’t entirely clear what point he was trying to make. By contrast, Nakfoor Pratt was constantly taking notes and then approaching the podium to score more points in her arguments, which often were striking and convincing.
I disagree with both candidates on some of their attitudes and positions on crime, drugs and a few other aspects of criminal justice, but I really get the sense that if a child molester or murderer commits a heinous crime, she’ll do everything humanly possible to have such scoundrels removed from our midst. Not that Evans won’t, but she has a tremendous edge in that all important quality called “passion.” This is not to say Nakfoor Pratt hasn’t stumbled or made mistakes; I’m certain Evans has as well.
But our current prosecutor was right in saying you have to run with your best shot in getting a conviction and you have no control over sentencing, that’s up to the judge. I’ve heard and seen a lot of suggestions that Nakfoor Pratt was “anointed” last October, but that simply is not true, and no less a figure than Hastings Banner publisher Fred Jacobs has made such a public statement in one of his paper's editorials. When Gordon Shane McNeill resigned, he didn’t hand off the job to her. Judge Jim Fisher made the decision, as the law states he must. And though I’m not wild about the notion Fisher didn’t do a lot of consulting and did not conduct interviews, this time I think he chose a good litigator.
I applaud Ms. Nakfoor Pratt for a solid presentation, a rarity these days in candidate forums. She is far from perfect, as she readily acknowledged Thursday evening, but I think she is best equipped for a tough job. I’m rarely a fan of electing incumbents, but my strong recommendation is to vote for Julie Nakfoor Pratt. Now it's up to the jury...
Saturday, June 24, 2006
The Power of Privilege
Brian Calley, the handicapper’s favorite in the 87th District State Representative primary campaign, recently posted a question for me on this site, asking why I dislike him so much. I have a variety of responses. I hate the sin, but not the sinner. It’s nothing personal. I do not have any personal differences with the politicians or candidates I criticize. Politicians these days can get away with suggesting that anyone who attacks them is "out to get them" or that the person criticizing them is doing so out of "hate." This is a nice way to get around the actual criticism and it’s been a favorite tactic of Republicans in control of Washington for the last few years.
I don't hate any politician or candidate on a personal level, but I do hate what money and greed is doing to our society and our government. And I don’t support any person who aids and abets the theft of our rights by the moneyed elite in order to further their own self interests.
I think Brian Calley is yet another politician who will help the wealthy at the expense of the poor and middle class. I suspect he’s yet another silver-tongued con artist who will pretend to care about you just enough to get your vote and then go on his merry way sucking up to PACs and lobbyists in Lansing and elsewhere, ignoring the ordinary voters in his district who gave him the job. This anger is not directed personally at Mr. Calley (since a few of the other candidates in the race are likely to do the same once in Lansing- it's just that they don't have quite as good a chance at getting there as Calley). It's anger about the privileges he has been given, the playing field that’s not level, tilted toward his candidacy because of behind the scenes efforts of special interests and wealthy GOP insiders.
Notice Calley, a banker and the son of a doctor, already has been handed the endorsement of the doctors’ lobby. I’ve heard he has won the blessing of Right to Life, despite the fact at least two of his primary opponents, notably King James Bailey and Susan Vlietstra, are about as Pro-Life as you can get. Special interests have been lining up behind Calley, just like they backed his predecessor, Gary Newell, eventually turning a six-person primary contest into anything but a fair fight. Just ask Bailey (whose said to be incensed that Calley is lining up all the big money he apparantly thought would fall to him) and Frank Campbell, who dropped out of the race because he saw he couldn’t compete with Calley’s awesome arsenal crafted by a backroom deals and marketing schemes hatched privately long before this race even began.
Calley himself is affable enough, and he’s an excellent schmoozer. But when I saw that two-page “story” written by Calley himself and published on Father’s Day by the Ionia Sentinel-Standard (pictured above), my blood boiled at the sight of yet another scheme to give the “anointed” one a free advertisement, a huge advantage that will not be offered to the other five candidates. This poor excuse for journalism expressed naked and excessive support for the front-runner, the local boy and banker from Portland who is well off enough to take a rumored three-month leave of absence to campaign full time while the other working stiffs are putting up their signs only on weekends and weekday evenings.
My huge problem with Brian Calley is that he has been handed this district on a silver platter by party hacks and wealthy backers who are adept at marketing a young man with boyish good looks, lotsa charm and ambitions to go higher, to the state senate, congress and maybe even the U.S. Senate. It’s really nice to be the chosen one, while all the others, regardless of their credentials or skills in the political arena, will only pick up the crumbs because these days slick marketing trumps creative ideas to solve problems. The system has broken down badly, and Brian Calley’s campaign is just an annoying reminder of what’s wrong with modern America, which pays attention to marketing and appearances rather than substance and possibilities.
Brian Calley is probably a nice guy, but to me he’s just another PAC-powered politician who courts the right wing hate mongers and hyper-capitalists who seek to divide the country to enact their own extreme agenda. I have made my apology to Mr. Calley for my earlier error about him in this space. I fess up to my mistakes. I understand Mr. Calley told Banner Editor David Young he plays his cards “face up.” That’s easy to do when you’ve been dealt the very best hand and everyone else in the game is holding crap. It’s nothing personal, but I won't be voting for Mr. Calley in August. I'm asking the rest of the voters of the 87th district to join me. That's not anger, that's democracy.
I don't hate any politician or candidate on a personal level, but I do hate what money and greed is doing to our society and our government. And I don’t support any person who aids and abets the theft of our rights by the moneyed elite in order to further their own self interests.
I think Brian Calley is yet another politician who will help the wealthy at the expense of the poor and middle class. I suspect he’s yet another silver-tongued con artist who will pretend to care about you just enough to get your vote and then go on his merry way sucking up to PACs and lobbyists in Lansing and elsewhere, ignoring the ordinary voters in his district who gave him the job. This anger is not directed personally at Mr. Calley (since a few of the other candidates in the race are likely to do the same once in Lansing- it's just that they don't have quite as good a chance at getting there as Calley). It's anger about the privileges he has been given, the playing field that’s not level, tilted toward his candidacy because of behind the scenes efforts of special interests and wealthy GOP insiders.
Notice Calley, a banker and the son of a doctor, already has been handed the endorsement of the doctors’ lobby. I’ve heard he has won the blessing of Right to Life, despite the fact at least two of his primary opponents, notably King James Bailey and Susan Vlietstra, are about as Pro-Life as you can get. Special interests have been lining up behind Calley, just like they backed his predecessor, Gary Newell, eventually turning a six-person primary contest into anything but a fair fight. Just ask Bailey (whose said to be incensed that Calley is lining up all the big money he apparantly thought would fall to him) and Frank Campbell, who dropped out of the race because he saw he couldn’t compete with Calley’s awesome arsenal crafted by a backroom deals and marketing schemes hatched privately long before this race even began.
Calley himself is affable enough, and he’s an excellent schmoozer. But when I saw that two-page “story” written by Calley himself and published on Father’s Day by the Ionia Sentinel-Standard (pictured above), my blood boiled at the sight of yet another scheme to give the “anointed” one a free advertisement, a huge advantage that will not be offered to the other five candidates. This poor excuse for journalism expressed naked and excessive support for the front-runner, the local boy and banker from Portland who is well off enough to take a rumored three-month leave of absence to campaign full time while the other working stiffs are putting up their signs only on weekends and weekday evenings.
My huge problem with Brian Calley is that he has been handed this district on a silver platter by party hacks and wealthy backers who are adept at marketing a young man with boyish good looks, lotsa charm and ambitions to go higher, to the state senate, congress and maybe even the U.S. Senate. It’s really nice to be the chosen one, while all the others, regardless of their credentials or skills in the political arena, will only pick up the crumbs because these days slick marketing trumps creative ideas to solve problems. The system has broken down badly, and Brian Calley’s campaign is just an annoying reminder of what’s wrong with modern America, which pays attention to marketing and appearances rather than substance and possibilities.
Brian Calley is probably a nice guy, but to me he’s just another PAC-powered politician who courts the right wing hate mongers and hyper-capitalists who seek to divide the country to enact their own extreme agenda. I have made my apology to Mr. Calley for my earlier error about him in this space. I fess up to my mistakes. I understand Mr. Calley told Banner Editor David Young he plays his cards “face up.” That’s easy to do when you’ve been dealt the very best hand and everyone else in the game is holding crap. It’s nothing personal, but I won't be voting for Mr. Calley in August. I'm asking the rest of the voters of the 87th district to join me. That's not anger, that's democracy.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Squeal like a pig
Today's Hastings Banner contained a bombshell story in which we are told that a member of Michigan Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema's office sent an abusive email to the Unicameral Michigan Fire the Senate campaign. While it's certainly not surprising there is no love lost between the highly paid staffers in Lansing and the people wishing to throw them out on the unemployment line with millions of workers whose jobs were lost due to the policies they helped enact, it is surprising that the person who seems to have done it would do it in the manner he chose. According to the Banner:
So, the guy who specializes in media and communications is stupid enough to send a message that is not only "threatening, intimidating and abusive" but is also easily traced?! What an idiot! Sikkema should fire the guy just for being so stupid. Ewer's email began with the subject line:
Joe Lukasiewicz, spokesperson for Unicameral Michigan, has rightly played his cards close to the vest and has not revealed how close or how far away the group is from getting on the ballot. It seems his strategy has paid off and the Senators are getting a spooked at the thought of having to look for a job. Suddenly, outsourcing may not be seen as a good thing by all the free-marketeers in Lansing who could care less when your job gets packed up and shipped to China or India. Apparently, according to Lukasiewicz, this isn't the first time someone in Lansing has lost their cool:
I would appreciate it if the many readers of this site would do the favor of contacting Mr. Sikkema and let him know that the citizens of Michigan do not agree that Senate staffers, paid for with taxpayer dollars and using taxpayer-bought computers, should be harassing a grassroots citizene effort merely exercising their democratic freedom. Please let Sikkema know that Steve Ewers' actions are worthy of immediate dismissal:
And be sure to be really nice when you talk to them.
An e-mail identified as being sent Tuesday from Steve Ewers, media specialist with the Senate Majority Communications Office in Lansing, is regarded by spokespersons for the grass-roots state-wide drive as threatening, intimidating and abusive.
So, the guy who specializes in media and communications is stupid enough to send a message that is not only "threatening, intimidating and abusive" but is also easily traced?! What an idiot! Sikkema should fire the guy just for being so stupid. Ewer's email began with the subject line:
“Your crusade”and continued...
“This likely came about for a personal reason. There is nothing on your website that gives a valid reason for your pursuit. You are a f...ing idiot — shoot yourself through the temples and do us all a favor.”
Joe Lukasiewicz, spokesperson for Unicameral Michigan, has rightly played his cards close to the vest and has not revealed how close or how far away the group is from getting on the ballot. It seems his strategy has paid off and the Senators are getting a spooked at the thought of having to look for a job. Suddenly, outsourcing may not be seen as a good thing by all the free-marketeers in Lansing who could care less when your job gets packed up and shipped to China or India. Apparently, according to Lukasiewicz, this isn't the first time someone in Lansing has lost their cool:
“As we've gathered signatures around the state, both state representatives and senators have literally gotten into our faces. I did not back down from their intimidation and in some cases, I left them swearing at me in frustration over their lost argument. But Mr. Ewers’ letter is especially troubling. It appears to be a threat.”
I would appreciate it if the many readers of this site would do the favor of contacting Mr. Sikkema and let him know that the citizens of Michigan do not agree that Senate staffers, paid for with taxpayer dollars and using taxpayer-bought computers, should be harassing a grassroots citizene effort merely exercising their democratic freedom. Please let Sikkema know that Steve Ewers' actions are worthy of immediate dismissal:
Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema
P.O. Box 30036
Lansing, MI 48909-7536
Phone: 517-373-0797 or 1 (800) 774-1174
District: (616) 534-3464
Home: 534-5781
Fax: (517) 373-5236
E-mail: senksikkema@senate.michigan.gov
SenKSikkema@senate.state.mi.us
Official Website: http://www.senate.michigan.gov/gop/
Campaign Website: http://www.sikkema.org
And be sure to be really nice when you talk to them.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Exemption redemption
I would still like to further redeem myself concerning the property tax exemption suggestions mentioned in last Sunday’s blog, let me attempt to explain this very clearly: I have owned up to my (and my sources’) mistake on suggesting Brian Calley had a second homestead exemption, overlooking the possibilty he had another kind of exemption — agricultural. I also have been accused of making “bogus” allegations against Clare Tripp and her properties in that same blog, but anyone who read the posting saw that I said “IF” Clare took a homestead exemption on her Lakeside Drive property in addition to the English Court property receiving one, it would be illegal. Furthermore, I stated “IF” Clare’s defense was that she was living separately and therefore entitled to the Lakeside exemption, she would have to fess up to filing a false affidavit listing the English Court address as primary. Before I posted Sunday, my sources insisted an Internet site listed a homestead exemption for both parcels. Since then I have contacted Banner Editor David T. Young and he said he was told by Yankee Springs Township Clerk Jan Lippert there is no homestead exemption for the Tripps on the Lakeside property. Except for the statement about Calley and Tripp both accepting more than one homestead exemption, all accusations against Tripp were written on conditional terms, with emphasis on the word “if.” I cannot prove whether the information was "scrubbed" or if my original source was wrong. I will surely be more careful in the future and I have pulled the story from the site since I can no longer stand behind it as being completely accurate.
What actually led up to all of this was when the blog was posted there was much confusion about Ms. Tripp’s contention to Banner reporter Jon Gambee (in response to a previous posting here) that she and her husband owned four properties in Yankee Springs Township, all within a few miles of each other. She was asked why she has been listed officially in phone books, Internet searches, Barry County government directories and her affidavit in filing for office as having lived at four different addresses in the past three years. I felt the answers she gave, from the account I was given, were lacking. Because of the obvious obsfucation I did some digging and was given the information from a very reliable source that led to Sunday's story in which I stated that Calley and Tripp both had improper exemptions. I was wrong about Calley and I have admitted that. I have yet to hear from anyone with information telling me why the accusation against Tripp might be "bogus." I looked up the word “bogus,” in the dictionary and found it means “fake” or “made up.” Such a charge against this blog is overstatement, embellishment and unfair- and probably made by someone with an axe to grind. A better and more accurate characterization of Sunday’s posting would be “mistaken” or “misunderstood.” It's hard when politicians and candidates so often refuse to come clean even when caught with their hands in the cookie jar.
To wrap all of this up, I hope, when you have unusual living arrangements and countless eyewitness accounts cast doubt on your telling the truth about where you live on a public document such as an affidavit, you’re better off just telling everyone the truth from the get-go. After all, you’re a public official and you should be held accountable for such discrepancies. I continue to believe Clare Tripp is not coming clean in her answers in response to these questions and I will still pursue the story. There's not just one cookie jar here, there's four...
What actually led up to all of this was when the blog was posted there was much confusion about Ms. Tripp’s contention to Banner reporter Jon Gambee (in response to a previous posting here) that she and her husband owned four properties in Yankee Springs Township, all within a few miles of each other. She was asked why she has been listed officially in phone books, Internet searches, Barry County government directories and her affidavit in filing for office as having lived at four different addresses in the past three years. I felt the answers she gave, from the account I was given, were lacking. Because of the obvious obsfucation I did some digging and was given the information from a very reliable source that led to Sunday's story in which I stated that Calley and Tripp both had improper exemptions. I was wrong about Calley and I have admitted that. I have yet to hear from anyone with information telling me why the accusation against Tripp might be "bogus." I looked up the word “bogus,” in the dictionary and found it means “fake” or “made up.” Such a charge against this blog is overstatement, embellishment and unfair- and probably made by someone with an axe to grind. A better and more accurate characterization of Sunday’s posting would be “mistaken” or “misunderstood.” It's hard when politicians and candidates so often refuse to come clean even when caught with their hands in the cookie jar.
To wrap all of this up, I hope, when you have unusual living arrangements and countless eyewitness accounts cast doubt on your telling the truth about where you live on a public document such as an affidavit, you’re better off just telling everyone the truth from the get-go. After all, you’re a public official and you should be held accountable for such discrepancies. I continue to believe Clare Tripp is not coming clean in her answers in response to these questions and I will still pursue the story. There's not just one cookie jar here, there's four...
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Anonymous comments are done
I have disabled anonymous comments on the blog. It's gotten out of hand. Perhaps in time I can change it back but for now people have to have a Blogger account and log in to post on the site. This should stop some of the trolls. And, just in case you were wondering, it's not because people are attacking me for getting a story wrong. I can take that- unlike some people I don't cry foul when someone goes after me. What I cannot allow is for people who are not elected officials or candidates for office to be publicly slimed here for personal conduct. Also, I will not let this site be used for anonymous campaign attacks on opponents. I issued a warning here a while ago and the attacks did not diminish, in fact they seemed to increase. If this doesn't work, I may have to restrict comments further. If you wish to smear your opponents, I suggest you use direct mail or push polling. Contact me at MichPolWatcher (at) Yahoo dot com for more ideas or to secure my services ; )
As always, thanks for reading and commenting.
As always, thanks for reading and commenting.
Friday, June 16, 2006
A prescription for PAC-powered politicians
Doctors' lobbying group says
Brian Calley's their 'boy'
It should have been no surprise Thursday when the Michigan Doctors’ Political Action Committee announced its endorsement of Brian Calley for 87th District State Representative.
This same group was one of the heaviest supporters of Gary Newell, the guy who has sat in that seat for the last six years, doing virtually nothing except the bidding of special interests. In case you didn’t know, Newell has been chairman on the House subcommittee on health and he’s done a fine job of advancing the agenda of the doctors’ PAC and health insurance companies. What has Newell done for Joe Citizen? Sorry, but ordinary people don’t have a lot of money and they don’t make big contributions to election campaigns so Gary Newell ignored your concerns and ignored the massive problems with our health care system in order to siphon off campaign contributions from his lobbyist buddies in Lansing.
The reason I say it’s no surprise is that Calley is the chosen one, the “boy” who has been selected by the Republican Party machine and its corporate backers and PACs to succeed Newell in Lansing. Newell himself has been said to be a big backer of Calley, an Ionia County Commissioner who has learned well the lessons of walking, talking, acting and being one of those cookie cutter candidates who are cranked out by the GOP insiders in smoke-filled rooms where the problems of the little people are not only ignored but actually made worse so the robber barons of the 21st century can pursue their profits on Wall Street while ignoring the sad sacks on Main Street. As I’ve said here before, Calley’s damn good at kissing babies, cozying up to the people with money, schmoozing and telling voters what he thinks they want to hear. But how much is he going to do for you?
Yes, I’m saying I believe Calley is as phony as a three-dollar bill. I’m even more alarmed there are plenty of people who will go to the polls on Aug. 8 and select this slick golden boy and then they’ll have the gall to tell me and others they’re tired of all those slick politicians who don’t care about us and only seem interested in collecting enough money to get elected and re-elected. Somehow they don’t understand they’re being hustled, flim-flammed, sold a bill of goods, taking it between the cheeks, however you want to call it. Collectively, we’re suckers. P.T. Barnum was right. We don’t recognize a slick politician when he comes up to us and bites us on the arse let alone when he shakes our hand and tells us what we want to hear.
The Michigan Doctors’ Political Action Committee is the political arm of the 15,000-member Michigan State Medical Society. In its press release, it said, “Physicians in Michigan want the best government possible for all citizens and we know Brian Calley can help move us to that objective... Brian Calley has shown dedication to improving our health care care system and we believe he will provide the experience necessary in these tough budget times.”
What experience? Has he been trained by Newell in the of doing the bidding of monied special interests while only giving lip service to the public? If you want more of the same- special interest-controlled government that works for big money types while screwing the little guys- then vote to re-elect Gary Newell, vote for Brian Calley. But if you want something different, if you want someone who's going to stand up and say no to the PACs and the lobbyists and their large campaign checks that allow politicians to ignore you then take a look around and find the candidate that doesn't look like every other politician, who doesn't talk like every other politician. You know who my choice is- Brian Reynolds. A lot of people are saying Brian just doesn't look the part. Well, if you want a guy who walks and talks like a typical politician then you give up your right to complain when they turn into politicians and forget about who sent them to Lansing. Go ahead and vote for another slick politician with lots of money to spend and see what you end up with. Just make sure to come back here so I can say I told you so!
Perhaps the most stunning part of all of this me is that I have learned maverick Barry County Commissioner Mike Callton supports this weasel, Brian Calley. This is another sign that Calley is lining up "the right people" to support his campaign and that it's really Brian Calley versus all the Barry County candidates. I ask the voters of Barry and Ionia County: Are you going to let this slick weasel represent you in Lansing and get himself six years of living high on your dime and a fat pension to keep him secure the rest of his life (probably spent as a lobbyist for the same groups buying his favor now)? Or are you going to stand up and stand together and support the kind of candidate who will go to Lansing with YOUR AGENDA? Time is running out. You need to make your decision by August 8.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Sign Wars II & other updates
This is a quick update on my earlier posting about the 87th state rep race. It seems like all candidates are in the fight now as Brian Reynolds (my pick for the 87th in case you hadn't heard) put his signs up almost as I wrote my original post and I have now seen one sign for Brian "Re-Elect Gary Newell" Calley on M43 towards Delton, a couple for Jim "King James" Bailey around Hastings and a Wade Trombley sign that seems to hover over the headquarters of J-Ad Graphics just north of Hastings as if to keep watch over Fred Jacobs and David T. Young. Feel free to post your campaign sign sightings and where you saw them so those of us who haven't been getting out as much we'd like can figure out if any candidate is getting a groundswell of support or littering vacant lots or anything that can keep us busy until the forums start later this month.
Speaking of which, I was asked to clarify that the forum for the County Prosecutor race is June 22nd, at 7pm at the Thomas Jefferson Democratic Hall. It seems one of the candidates was unable to make the original date of the 29th so please mark your calendar or Palm Pilot accordingly. Also please consider showing up!
Speaking of which, I was asked to clarify that the forum for the County Prosecutor race is June 22nd, at 7pm at the Thomas Jefferson Democratic Hall. It seems one of the candidates was unable to make the original date of the 29th so please mark your calendar or Palm Pilot accordingly. Also please consider showing up!
Monday, June 12, 2006
Come clean, Clare
The question is, where does Barry County Board of Commissioners Chairwoman Clare Tripp live? The answer isn’t very clear at all.
Ms. Tripp last month officially claimed her address as 11776 English Court, Shelbyville, in her affidavit when she filed for another two-year term on the County Board. However, in the official Barry County directory for 2005-2006, her address is listed as 11991 Lakeridge Drive, Wayland.
Making matters even murkier is that her address is 11967 Lakeside Drive, Wayland, in a whitepages.com search and in the fall 2005 SBC phone book. Further, in the 2003 SBC telephone book, she was listed living at 12209 Mallard Point Drive, Yankee Springs.
Ms. Tripp claimed the English Court address when she filed for office in 2004 and that was the address she reported in the 2003-04 county directory. But this only makes things even more confusing.
My sources tell me her husband, attorney David Tripp, actually lives at the English Court address and she has been living at 11967 Lakeside Drive. My sources also tell me she and David are married in name only, and that their relationship is a virtual separation, even though they appear together in public in a church pew Sunday mornings, have a sort of Sunday brunch at the Circle Inn, Gun Lake, and then get into their separate cars and go their separate ways for the remainder of the week. My sources also have told me Clare rarely makes an appearance at the house on English Court. According to the Michigan Compiled Laws Annotated Currentness (MCLA), “‘Residence,’ as used in this act, for registration and voting purposes means that place at which a person habitually sleeps, keeps his or her personal effects and has a regular place of lodging. If a person has more than one residence, or if a wife has a residence separate from that of the husband, that place at which the person resides the greater part of the time shall be his or her official residence for the purposes of this act.”
I’m sure many might wonder why I should bring up all this personal information. Two reasons:
1. If Ms. Tripp spends most of her time at the Lakeside Drive address, then she wasn’t really telling the truth about her place of residence when she filed her affidavit. Bill Clinton got his fanny impeached for not being truthful under oath about a sexual peccadillo, so what would the penalty be for Ms. Tripp if indeed she is guilty of a similar transgression?
2. If Ms. Tripp and Mr. Tripp are essentially, but not legally, estranged, does this have an effect on whether David Tripp should receive health care benefits, courtesy the county taxpayer? I am not entirely certain whether he does get his health care insurance through Clare, but if he does, it raises serious ethical questions about making taxpayers foot the bill for such benefits when the two of them appear to be only going through the motions for their marriage. This is a strange way to demonstrate family values.
Some observers have asked me how is it that Clare is able to drive an SUV in the winter and a Corvette in the summer when her only source of income appears to be as a county commissioner. Is David still taking care of her financially, despite the fact they rarely spend time under the same roof? People for a long time speculated on the relationship between Bill and Hillary Clinton, but from where I sit they don’t seem to have any more troubles than Mr. Tripp and Ms. Tripp. A reader of this blog named “oldscrotum” not long ago asked about a police report in 1999, in which Ms. Tripp was found in a parked vehicle with a man other than her husband late at night. Now I’ve been hearing she has been seen at various places and events with another man in her company. If you add up the score, it certainly looks like the Tripps are splitsville, which indeed is a personal matter. But it becomes the public’s business if they insist on play acting as a couple and officially keeping their sham marriage legally intact for their benefit and at the public’s expense.
The public should demand an accounting of this arrangement. If the Tripps have gone their separate ways, don’t try to fool the public, be honest. And if Mr. Tripp is getting county-sponsored health care benefits, he should drop them immediately. If this whole affair is as my sources tell me, it’s yet another example of a politician peeing on our collective shoes while telling us that it’s raining.
It's time for Clare to come clean.
Ms. Tripp last month officially claimed her address as 11776 English Court, Shelbyville, in her affidavit when she filed for another two-year term on the County Board. However, in the official Barry County directory for 2005-2006, her address is listed as 11991 Lakeridge Drive, Wayland.
Making matters even murkier is that her address is 11967 Lakeside Drive, Wayland, in a whitepages.com search and in the fall 2005 SBC phone book. Further, in the 2003 SBC telephone book, she was listed living at 12209 Mallard Point Drive, Yankee Springs.
Ms. Tripp claimed the English Court address when she filed for office in 2004 and that was the address she reported in the 2003-04 county directory. But this only makes things even more confusing.
My sources tell me her husband, attorney David Tripp, actually lives at the English Court address and she has been living at 11967 Lakeside Drive. My sources also tell me she and David are married in name only, and that their relationship is a virtual separation, even though they appear together in public in a church pew Sunday mornings, have a sort of Sunday brunch at the Circle Inn, Gun Lake, and then get into their separate cars and go their separate ways for the remainder of the week. My sources also have told me Clare rarely makes an appearance at the house on English Court. According to the Michigan Compiled Laws Annotated Currentness (MCLA), “‘Residence,’ as used in this act, for registration and voting purposes means that place at which a person habitually sleeps, keeps his or her personal effects and has a regular place of lodging. If a person has more than one residence, or if a wife has a residence separate from that of the husband, that place at which the person resides the greater part of the time shall be his or her official residence for the purposes of this act.”
I’m sure many might wonder why I should bring up all this personal information. Two reasons:
1. If Ms. Tripp spends most of her time at the Lakeside Drive address, then she wasn’t really telling the truth about her place of residence when she filed her affidavit. Bill Clinton got his fanny impeached for not being truthful under oath about a sexual peccadillo, so what would the penalty be for Ms. Tripp if indeed she is guilty of a similar transgression?
2. If Ms. Tripp and Mr. Tripp are essentially, but not legally, estranged, does this have an effect on whether David Tripp should receive health care benefits, courtesy the county taxpayer? I am not entirely certain whether he does get his health care insurance through Clare, but if he does, it raises serious ethical questions about making taxpayers foot the bill for such benefits when the two of them appear to be only going through the motions for their marriage. This is a strange way to demonstrate family values.
Some observers have asked me how is it that Clare is able to drive an SUV in the winter and a Corvette in the summer when her only source of income appears to be as a county commissioner. Is David still taking care of her financially, despite the fact they rarely spend time under the same roof? People for a long time speculated on the relationship between Bill and Hillary Clinton, but from where I sit they don’t seem to have any more troubles than Mr. Tripp and Ms. Tripp. A reader of this blog named “oldscrotum” not long ago asked about a police report in 1999, in which Ms. Tripp was found in a parked vehicle with a man other than her husband late at night. Now I’ve been hearing she has been seen at various places and events with another man in her company. If you add up the score, it certainly looks like the Tripps are splitsville, which indeed is a personal matter. But it becomes the public’s business if they insist on play acting as a couple and officially keeping their sham marriage legally intact for their benefit and at the public’s expense.
The public should demand an accounting of this arrangement. If the Tripps have gone their separate ways, don’t try to fool the public, be honest. And if Mr. Tripp is getting county-sponsored health care benefits, he should drop them immediately. If this whole affair is as my sources tell me, it’s yet another example of a politician peeing on our collective shoes while telling us that it’s raining.
It's time for Clare to come clean.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Candidate forums for a long time around here have had a lousy track record in attempting to enlighten voters. We’ve seen it all, you know — the cattle calls, the boring speeches, the waxing about grandchildren and what a wonderful place Barry County is to live in, work in and raise a family. The only thing that seems to have been missing is thoughtful political discourse to help us poor shmucks decide on election day which one is the best man or woman for the job.
The First Friday series, virtually the only game in town (Hastings) for the last 17 years, has made a valiant attempt to bring these essential debates and information to the voters via the forums themselves and through coverage in the Hastings Banner. Yet, “at the end of the day,” there always has been a disturbing lack of critical information about who is more qualified, capable and deserving of being chosen to go to Lansing or Hastings and make decisions on our behalf.
However, there are whispers gradually growing louder that this year’s “meet the candidates” affairs will be more substantive, filled with pointed and sometimes somewhat embarassing questions. In other words, there is a promise of holding incumbents and challengers accountable in open public debates on important issues. My sources have told me the people responsible for the forums are working diligently on developing a list of prepared questions that matter, questions none of the candidates will see ahead of time. They have told me they have absolutely no intention of allowing candidates to drone on and on or dance while not adequately answering what is being asked.
The key is to have no-nonsense moderators who possess solid bullshit detectors and somebody handy with a stopwatch to limit candidates’ responses to say, three minutes or less. The key is having a referee who insists on straight talk about serious issues that enlighten attendees, viewers, readers and eventually the voters so they can make more informed choices on primary election day, Aug. 8.
What makes this even more interesting is that there is an indication Ionia plans to have a similar serious forum for state rep candidates there, one that puts the accent on what the candidates say about the issues rather than on how many children and grandchildren they’ve been able to have (as if this talent makes anyone qualified to serve in public office), what church they attend or how much they love living in beautiful, rural Barry County.
The goal this year, I have been told, is to avoid a comment like the one former County Commissioner Bob Wenger made at the Gary Newell-Jim Bailey debate in July 2000 that there wasn’t a dime’s worth of difference between the two and rather than waste an hour at the First Friday, “I should have stayed home and planted corn.” If we get two informative candidates forums for state rep. and one good one each for the county prosecutor’s race and County Board of Commissioners’ contests, I’ll finally believe we have served our Founding Fathers well, and it will be up to the voters to sort out the buckwheat from the bullshit.
OK, from what I’ve been hearing, here in Barry County, there are three forums left before the August primary:
• Thursday, June 29, at 7 p.m. — Thomas Jefferson Hall, Hastings, for the two candidates for prosecutor, appointed interim Julie Nakfoor Pratt and challenger Thomas Evans.
• Thursday, July 6, at 7 p.m. — Thomas Jefferson Hall, for the 10 candidates in the GOP primary races in the Third, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Barry County Board districts.
• Thursday, July 27, at 7 p.m. — Thomas Jefferson Hall, for the six candidates in the GOP primary for 87th District State Representative. At the risk of being totally biased (it’s my blog, after all), I’ve already endorsed Brian Reynolds for state representative and I’ve seen absolutely no reason to change my opinion.
Do yourself a favor and either show up for any or all of these forums, read the Banner accounts or watch them on Local Cable Access Channel 12. To paraphrase what a friend of mine once said, the stakes are too high for you to stay home or look the other way.
The First Friday series, virtually the only game in town (Hastings) for the last 17 years, has made a valiant attempt to bring these essential debates and information to the voters via the forums themselves and through coverage in the Hastings Banner. Yet, “at the end of the day,” there always has been a disturbing lack of critical information about who is more qualified, capable and deserving of being chosen to go to Lansing or Hastings and make decisions on our behalf.
However, there are whispers gradually growing louder that this year’s “meet the candidates” affairs will be more substantive, filled with pointed and sometimes somewhat embarassing questions. In other words, there is a promise of holding incumbents and challengers accountable in open public debates on important issues. My sources have told me the people responsible for the forums are working diligently on developing a list of prepared questions that matter, questions none of the candidates will see ahead of time. They have told me they have absolutely no intention of allowing candidates to drone on and on or dance while not adequately answering what is being asked.
The key is to have no-nonsense moderators who possess solid bullshit detectors and somebody handy with a stopwatch to limit candidates’ responses to say, three minutes or less. The key is having a referee who insists on straight talk about serious issues that enlighten attendees, viewers, readers and eventually the voters so they can make more informed choices on primary election day, Aug. 8.
What makes this even more interesting is that there is an indication Ionia plans to have a similar serious forum for state rep candidates there, one that puts the accent on what the candidates say about the issues rather than on how many children and grandchildren they’ve been able to have (as if this talent makes anyone qualified to serve in public office), what church they attend or how much they love living in beautiful, rural Barry County.
The goal this year, I have been told, is to avoid a comment like the one former County Commissioner Bob Wenger made at the Gary Newell-Jim Bailey debate in July 2000 that there wasn’t a dime’s worth of difference between the two and rather than waste an hour at the First Friday, “I should have stayed home and planted corn.” If we get two informative candidates forums for state rep. and one good one each for the county prosecutor’s race and County Board of Commissioners’ contests, I’ll finally believe we have served our Founding Fathers well, and it will be up to the voters to sort out the buckwheat from the bullshit.
OK, from what I’ve been hearing, here in Barry County, there are three forums left before the August primary:
• Thursday, June 29, at 7 p.m. — Thomas Jefferson Hall, Hastings, for the two candidates for prosecutor, appointed interim Julie Nakfoor Pratt and challenger Thomas Evans.
• Thursday, July 6, at 7 p.m. — Thomas Jefferson Hall, for the 10 candidates in the GOP primary races in the Third, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Barry County Board districts.
• Thursday, July 27, at 7 p.m. — Thomas Jefferson Hall, for the six candidates in the GOP primary for 87th District State Representative. At the risk of being totally biased (it’s my blog, after all), I’ve already endorsed Brian Reynolds for state representative and I’ve seen absolutely no reason to change my opinion.
Do yourself a favor and either show up for any or all of these forums, read the Banner accounts or watch them on Local Cable Access Channel 12. To paraphrase what a friend of mine once said, the stakes are too high for you to stay home or look the other way.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Sign Wars
This Thursday will mark two months until the August 8th primary election. We are now hitting the real start of the election season as local lawns are sprouting political signs faster than dandelions.
I have learned from past mistakes that the amount of yard signs for a candidate aren't a true measure of the success or lack thereof of their campaign. I remember thinking Becca Lukasiewicz stood a chance against Gary "the health industry lobby's best friend" Newell because of the large number of yard signs supporting her in my neck of the woods. Obviously, I underestimated the fact that so many would blindly cast the vote for the "R" no matter what and the fact that no amount of campaign hustling can overcome that disadvantage for a Democrat on the ballot in many parts of West Michigan. But this fall we will have a couple instances where the "R" isn't a factor- in the 87th House race between a gaggle of Republicans seeking to replace the term-limited Lobbyist's Best Friend as well as the prosecutor's race featuring the appointed Julie Nakfoor-Pratt and challenger Tom Evans.
It seems the prosecutor's race has heated up early with both candidates spending a decent amount on yard signs and getting them out to supporters around Barry County- especially inside Hastings. It looks like Nakfoor-Pratt is willing to spend what it takes to keep her job as on some streets it looks like every other house has a sign for her. The signs, by the way, are almost unreadable from the street consisting of small letters against a white background so unless you know what they are for I'm not sure it's doing any good. I guess that's the drawback of a hyphenated name, but I would have suggested she make Julie in big letters or else just put the name on three lines so it could at least be legible from a distance. I guess Evans is lucky to have such a short name as his signs are clearly seen from a distance. I also think the bold white on red was a better color choice and attracts the eye. It also helps he went with a sans serif font that is plain and bold. Once again, I'm not sure if any of this makes any quantifiable distance come election day but we all know how important every vote can be when the ballots are counted so it surely cannot hurt to have a better looking sign than your opponent.
The 87th House District race hasn't seen the same type of action- at least not yet. The only candidate whose signs I've seen so far is Susan Vlietstra. I can't really compare the quality of the signs to any other candidates' since I have to see any from the rest of the pack including Brian Calley whose been running since he born, or so it seems. Vlietstra's also the only one I have yet to see a billboard for- though that was a tiny thing between Hastings and Middleville that could hardly be seen from anyone inside a car travelling 50-60 mph as most do along M-37. I expect in the next week or two we'll see a couple other candidates' names showing up in area yards.
Once again, the presence of signs or lack thereof bodes little for candidates' chances in August, but it does give us something to talk about as we wait for the campaign rhetoric to heat up and candidates to start slinging mud and trying to gather enough votes to push them over the goal line in August. And in a district where no polling data is available, yard signs are one of the few tools we have to measure the amount of support a candidate has before the results are announced. For political junkies and informed citizens like me and you, it's all we have until the debates...
I have learned from past mistakes that the amount of yard signs for a candidate aren't a true measure of the success or lack thereof of their campaign. I remember thinking Becca Lukasiewicz stood a chance against Gary "the health industry lobby's best friend" Newell because of the large number of yard signs supporting her in my neck of the woods. Obviously, I underestimated the fact that so many would blindly cast the vote for the "R" no matter what and the fact that no amount of campaign hustling can overcome that disadvantage for a Democrat on the ballot in many parts of West Michigan. But this fall we will have a couple instances where the "R" isn't a factor- in the 87th House race between a gaggle of Republicans seeking to replace the term-limited Lobbyist's Best Friend as well as the prosecutor's race featuring the appointed Julie Nakfoor-Pratt and challenger Tom Evans.
It seems the prosecutor's race has heated up early with both candidates spending a decent amount on yard signs and getting them out to supporters around Barry County- especially inside Hastings. It looks like Nakfoor-Pratt is willing to spend what it takes to keep her job as on some streets it looks like every other house has a sign for her. The signs, by the way, are almost unreadable from the street consisting of small letters against a white background so unless you know what they are for I'm not sure it's doing any good. I guess that's the drawback of a hyphenated name, but I would have suggested she make Julie in big letters or else just put the name on three lines so it could at least be legible from a distance. I guess Evans is lucky to have such a short name as his signs are clearly seen from a distance. I also think the bold white on red was a better color choice and attracts the eye. It also helps he went with a sans serif font that is plain and bold. Once again, I'm not sure if any of this makes any quantifiable distance come election day but we all know how important every vote can be when the ballots are counted so it surely cannot hurt to have a better looking sign than your opponent.
The 87th House District race hasn't seen the same type of action- at least not yet. The only candidate whose signs I've seen so far is Susan Vlietstra. I can't really compare the quality of the signs to any other candidates' since I have to see any from the rest of the pack including Brian Calley whose been running since he born, or so it seems. Vlietstra's also the only one I have yet to see a billboard for- though that was a tiny thing between Hastings and Middleville that could hardly be seen from anyone inside a car travelling 50-60 mph as most do along M-37. I expect in the next week or two we'll see a couple other candidates' names showing up in area yards.
Once again, the presence of signs or lack thereof bodes little for candidates' chances in August, but it does give us something to talk about as we wait for the campaign rhetoric to heat up and candidates to start slinging mud and trying to gather enough votes to push them over the goal line in August. And in a district where no polling data is available, yard signs are one of the few tools we have to measure the amount of support a candidate has before the results are announced. For political junkies and informed citizens like me and you, it's all we have until the debates...
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