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...
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18 comments:
One wonders if the local and Ionia news outlets are aware of this. Let's hope they read the blog.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch it becomes obvious that a wise squirel burrys enough nuts to survive. The brainless greedheads who thought they would trot off to Lansing for the pot of gold forgot their math.Barry Republicans couldn't organize a two car funeral. The mere number of Barry County candidates itself would guarantee a Calley win even if her had not run a solid, well planned and executed erffort.
Pol: Please use this "King" thing sparingly. I'm getting nauseous! I asked previously what he had done to even be called anything but a politician, and you just summed it up, nothing good! King he was NOT! It sounds like he just had a bunch of the usual idiots around that would follow Charles Manson if he could buy land near Freeport!
Pol:
Did Wade ever answer your question on the "illegal" signs repoted in the Banner?
Ionia folks have this warm and fuzzy feeling that their man will carry on the Newell legacy. Talking to some of his supporters, they believe that Brian Calley is the real deal. They don't have these reservations about Calley that the majority on this blog have about him. It's a similar zeal that Reynolds folks have about their candidate.
I don't get those same vibes from Bailey backers. They seem to be going through the motions for Jim. Recent efforts by Bailey and his backers to have candidates drop out, or to portray himself as the "only" alternative are backfiring.He was a terrible public servant. He not only bilked the county $32K in the one instance, but hundreds of thousands of dollars during is six year tenure.
I disagree to a point with Pat. I think a Barry person could win if it was a three person race (with two in Barry), but it would require the same early leg work that Calley has put into this race. Candidates for 2012 take notes.
Carrying on Newell's legacy is EXACTLY the reason Calley's candidacy worries me so. Newell ever did a damn thing for the district while working solely for the interests of out of district PACs like Right to Life (about the only bill I remember him attaching his name to was to get a state-endorsed license plate for them) as well as the big city Health Care Lobby.
The "zeal" you sense in the backers of Reynolds is borne from a sense of dread knowing that he's the only chance to get someone to represent PEOPLE and not the powers that be or the extreme right wing while in Lansing. The voters of Barry and Ionia Counties have a choice between several candidates BUT ONLY ONE will serve the needs of the moderate, independent, centrist, etc. citizens and that is Brian Reynolds. While all the others vie for a slim sliver of the vote, Reynolds reaches out to those of us who aren't used to being represented by our state rep. or senator in Lansing. Reynolds gives us that option.
While people obsess over the size and colors of signs, which as I pointed out in my post on that are a very imprecise way of gauging a campaign though fun to talk about, the real race takes place below the radar, in back rooms, on city streets, at fairs and festivals, and I think many have underestimated the impact that having one moderate running against 3 right wing clones might have. The real question is whether moderate Republicans, independents and Democrats wake up and realize the real race is in August and not November. I'm doing my best to get the word out simply because the last thing I think Michigan and this district need is more of the same.
And, no, I don't really remember Wade answering the question as much as laughing it off. I think he answered it on Agnosticrat's blog if you want to see. I know he didn't answer Ag's questions at all which seemed odd considering it sounded like Ag was seriously considering voting for him unless I missed the sarcasm.
I would have thought we'd have seen a letter explaining himself in the last Banner but I don't remember seeing anything interesting except for another Don Johnson screed which was so long and rambling they had to cut in half to fit it in. I wonder if they're just reprinting old letters some times because he still seems obsessed with Bill and Hillary Clinton. Maybe someone should tell him they haven't been in the White House for six years.
Trouble is Pol, that Reynolds isn't the only one positioning himself in the center. Mr. Trombley (who has yet to answer the sign question on either blog) has co-opted a good deal of Brian's positions.
Brian (Reynolds) has squandered his opportunities and is doomed to languish with the rest of the Barry County pretenders. Brian hasn't capitalized in attracting these groups (you would have seen the groundwork by now), so they are going to stay home and sit on their hands while "banker boy" cashes in.
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Makes you wonder...does Don Johnson have a special bin at the Banner?
On a rare trip to Battle Creek this morning, "duck", it was interesting to see the number of Calley and Tom Wing signs up. At the intersection of M37 and Hickory, scene of many serious accidents over the years, he has placed a sign in front of the Stop sign (SW corner), a few feet, but still just off the pavement.
Hopefully the drivers will have their eye on the stop sign and not his sign.
The Johnstown Supervisor, Mack, is obviously a Calley and Wing supporter. Must have been a big fan of "No Show" George Jones country music. Hopefully Johnstown voters will reward the "current" Supervisor with their feelings if he has someone running against him?
Tom Wing sign in front of the Stop Sign!
Wish someone could validate he actually "showed up" to place the sign! Doubt he had the time. Must need the bennies of County Board "service."
Ok, that's it.
Wing & Wade you're going to sign etiquette and placement school. ;)
Wish I could get the sheriff to rund these guys up and actually make them come to such a class a la the drunk driver schools.
With Bailey's return does this equate him to fat Elvis? Waiting for the sequined jumpsuit and glasses.
M.C. Bailey, Tripp, James, and company, and some who just follow; "don't or can't make any waves," are the reasons for my County Board bashing. All this incompetence, backroom (Baltimore Twp) bartering, part-time benefits, and doctored residences has been building up in me and other voters. You , unfortunately, are or feel you're getting hit with the some of the paint from the same brush. A dream, but my respect, trust, and backing would follow the man/lady who will stand up and make a motion to freeze Board pay and benefits and restore them to what typical part-timers receive. This is suppose to be "public service." Not a "feeding trough."
I believe the brush has painted a fair picture. Sure there is a far cry between you (Wade) and Calley when speaking on outsider vs. insider terms, but barring flippant remarks as to the anger of property owners and their ire when trespassed, you have not responded to a real question before you. To be sure there has been no election as of yet, and you still have a chance to win. But it appears as though if the election were held today, on this blog, you would not. Why?
Consider this:
This is a great place to vent frustration. Ask anybody who posts here.
It is easy for you to come on this blog and give an update as to the task before you, and the difficulty of small business ownership. If you are just coming here to advertise your candidacy, I am sure Pol will oblige and we will read what you have to say. On the other hand, I think all of us here can do without the "feel sorry for me because life is so hard, and you are not being fair" remarks. Life does not come easy for any one of us, and the sooner you can appreciate that, the sooner you may gain a little respect. We have posed questions to you that for whatever reason you choose to ignore. That is your right, and nobody here can take that away from you. But in evoking that right , you have given us a peek as to the true nature of your character. Although it is a small matter, your non-answer is a sure sign of a politician. Hence the first part of your new slogan.
to Pol, and others:
If I have spoken out of turn, I apologize. I do not intend to speak for you, or others here. Wades remarks are begining to smell like a g*damn*d therapist session for office seekers, and I had hoped for a little more than that.
Ag, I agree completely.
Wade's "I am not a politician" schtick sounds like a tired Monty Python skit about the fellow who came in for an arguement.
In any forum, real or cyber, I look for the candidate to give me straight answers. Wade so far has been glib and evasive. Right now I may vote for Lower because he hasn't done anything to irritate me.
Finally met Lower on the campaign trail. I agree he's a good guy. I heard he was miffed about Calley getting Farm Bureau, being Lower is a real farmer and Calley is one through exemption.
Farmers need to wake up and realize Farm Bureau is not looking out for them! Farm Bureau is a tool of Agri business but yet these small farmers see environmentalists as a bigger threat when its Big Agri thats driving them under! WAKE UP!!! They support schmucks like Calley for the same reason the Chamber of Commerce will- he's going to screw the little guys and make the rich do quite a bit better for themselves while wrapping it in nice paper that says "TAX CUTS" and "SMALL GOVERNMENT!"
Don't forget he's got the chic vote!
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