Anyone who thinks Brian Calley has a lock on the voters of the Ionia County doesn’t know the situation on the ground. Just as Jim Bailey and the courthouse gang in Barry County got into trouble by dragging their heels and forcing a group of citizen activists (one of whom today is another candidate for the 87th district seat, Brian Reynolds) into raising funds for and building a new animal shelter, Brian Calley has alienated his own constituents by refusing to do what he said he’d do for several years as an Ionia County Commissioner.
Last September, after public pressure from citizen activists enraged at the deplorable conditions of the local shelter, Calley promised that he would get at least $100,000 allocated for a new animal shelter. A few months afterward, Calley promised to get land for the shelter that was former state property (about 200 acres), given to Ionia County. This was something he has worked on with Alan Cropsey's office stooge Craig Starkweather (if the name rings a bell, it’s because he was one half of Small Government Consultants, the group that seems to have schemed thousands of taxpayer dollars from Barry County’s coffers for virtually nothing in return under the incompetent management of former Chairman Jim Bailey). They promised to form a committee for a new shelter. They dragged their feet in the formation of this committee into the next year.
Since then the committee has met, but it’s been all talk and no action from Calley. It seems as though he’s making a career out of what turns out to be empty promises. Calley now seems to be looking past his constituents and onto a potential career of making empty promises from his new office in Lansing should he win the primary election for the 87th district.
A few days before the last Ionia Commissioners meeting of Monday, July 10, Calley once again was informed of extremely poor conditions of the present animal shelter as the dogs and cats have been suffering for lack of proper ventilation in the harsh summer heat.
Many dogs are being put down for lack of room, cats are dying like flies. The shelter finally had to put down all the cats, 80 in total, because of a virus. Kennel cough was present in the entire dog population. Dogs have been maimed and injured digging underneath fencing.
Imagine how much this neglect has cost taxpayers’ money in having to try to save the injured animals harmed by the indifference of a slimy politician who has time to come to every church and township meeting to shake hands, kiss babies and play the piano, but not enough time to care for his constituents or the defenseless animals dying in the sweltering summer heat in the Ionia shelter. Brian Calley promised that he would have the agenda of the next meeting of July 10 amended and that he would seek to have a resolution adopted to do something immediately to correct this problem.
At the July 10 meeting, Calley offered a resolution attaching more strings to the $100,000 allocated (sounds just like the same roadblocks Jim Bailey and company put up in front of the citizens taking matters in their own hands), spending almost 20 minutes to get this resolution passed. Calley mentioned nothing about his promise that something would be done immediately to relieve the current and ongoing suffering of the animals at the shelter. At this point the new animal committee has not even decided the size of the building.
If you think this is a just an isolated incident of Brian Calley being out of step with the citizens of Ionia County, let me correct you. Calley was also on the wrong side from the vantage point of voters in his own district two years ago when a zoning referendum was on the ballot in Ionia County. Calley loudly supported the measure, which was soundly defeated by a 2 to 1 margin. Anyone who thinks Calley has a cakewalk in his own territory doesn’t know the lay of the land- this could turn into an interesting fight on Calley's home turf, leaving the race open for someone who can take advantage of Calley's neglect for the needs of the people, and the animals, of Ionia County.
One of the reasons I support Brian Reynolds for the open seat in the 87th district is because I saw up close the passion and keen intellect he displayed during those fights with Chairman Jim Bailey and the Barry County Board of Commissioners, who promised much but delivered almost nothing. In fact, it seemed like they tried to fight the citizens at every step.
Now Calley seems to be taking lessons from the Jim Bailey School of Government Ineffectiveness, Indifference and Incompetance. Do we need more politicians who promise us everything we want to hear but don't deliver? I don’t think so. I think we need more citizens like Brian Reynolds, Mark Englerth and all those people in Barry and Ionia County who get together and do what needs to be done.
While Brian Calley schmoozes with the power brokers who can write their $1,000 checks and give him endorsements which fool the sheep into thinking he’s the one to beat, homeless dogs and cats swelter in the summer heat, suffocating and dying because Calley has dragged his heels for too long offering empty promises instead of urgent action. Is this the guy you want to be protecting your family in Lansing? Not me. I think he’s a snake. And if this is how he cares for animals, then how much can we expect him to care for our jobs and our families? We've seen during the Hurrican Katrina disaster what indifference and incompetance on the part of elected officials can do to make a bad situation worse- your vote on August 8 will send someone to Lansing who needs to be looking out for the needs of voters (and the animals) of this state and this district.
These are the facts as I understand them- as always, I welcome your comments
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17 comments:
Lamentation and evasion seem to be fine qualifications for a legislative seat. It reminds me of the President waiting for 'sound science' to move on Global Warming which is only a doubt in the minds of the Flat Earth Society.
We used to call them"the Explainers" They can explain anything. They can 'explain' why blowing a two billion dollar hole in the State budget is not a problem because they have a 'secret plan' to solve the problem that will be unvieled AFTER the election. A secret replacement for the SBT that we have no right to be informed of until they are securely invested in their grueling part time job with full time pay and bebefits ordinary citizens can but yearn for as health care and retirement become memories. They can continue to explain why workers are better off with a shrinking portion of the national wealth. They can 'explain' why it is to our benefit that they will be given health insurance for life after they have served only six years as the bought and paid for stooges of the big money special interests.
They can 'explain why it is better to throw embyos into the garbage than to use them instead to aleviate and cure living humans of some of the most horrible slow deterioation known.
They sing and make witness in churches as they 'explain' that it is christian to let children die as embryos are turned to garbage.
They can 'explain' why it is moral for the State of Michigan to run the largest gambling operations while it is immoral for Native Americans to offer a casino rather that a cheap piece of paper from a machine in a Booze store or Saloon.
THEY can 'explain' anything.
"We're working on it".
"This is the way we've always done it"
Yes Brian, you will fit in admirably if the people want more of the same old ----.
There is evidence that people are sick of politics as usual. The trouble is that THEY have pretty much made it impossible for us to do anything meaningful about it.
Brian Reynolds is the Brian who is dedicated to something other than go along.
BRIAN REYNOLDS needs the support of every decent Republican, Independent and Democrat on August 8th. For those of us the incumbent forever Gerrymandering has made the Primary Election the real General Election, just as it has been 'arranged' in a sickening 90% of the legislative districts in Michigan.
So, let us not just vote for Brian REYNOLDS, but let us take a few minutes to talk with our friends and neighbors and urge them to participate in the August 8th Primary Election and vote for the real Brian.
One strong voice can make a difference if we insist that the strong voice be elected to a place in the forum. The congregation at our 'Bully Pulpit' may consist of a single person at a time.
We can do it. We have the obligation as citizens to work at it.
Or we can meekly surrender to 'The Explainers'
Great Job Pat! "Splainin" we call it in the south! LOL Calley take a hike!
Pol:
Excuse the pun, but this dog won't hunt.
Why? Because no paper or other candidate his hitting him with this. This matter is still being sorted out and the reasonable folks of Ionia are giving Calley and the rest of his board the time.
One of the reasons that Bailey was beseiged by the animal shelter stuff in 2000 was that the Banner was a pitbull on this issue. I don't see the "objective" (ha!!) Ionia Sentienel Standard fanning the same outrage.
To those who wish to defend Cally by slandering his critics: I never said Lazarus or anyone else working for a new shelter in Ionia was a saint (in fact, I never mentioned him). It doesn't matter. The issues raised are important ones, and anyone who would defend Calley by slandering one of his critics is trying to kill the messenger instead of presenting a valid argument in Calley's defense.
My question to Jay is: Do you think this is just about winning an election? How many dead animals is an acceptable number for you? Or doesn't that enter into your calculus? I find the charges disturbing and I am most certanly not what you would consider an "animal rights" activist. The fact is Calley's had plenty of time- 3 and a half years. He's done nothing but make empty promises. Once more you sound like a cheerleader for Calley while pretending to be detractor. We've heard it before from you and I think people are catching on...
Typical incompetence and lack of conscience we have at all levels of government. We can't do anything about 911, except look at it for a year or so, until us dissidents hopefully go away and quit asking you, right clare? No one with guts to stand up and take action that needs to be taken now! No, not this week, but we've been complaining for years!
80 cats lost. Calley should suffer as they did. Maybe he will then grow a back bone. Put neil, nystrom and the other stooges with him. Perhaps the Ionia paper should publish his prior pictorial and surround him with 80 cats suffering from heat and dehydration. How can these people sleep at night. I will sleep well tonight, with a cat at my feet. At least the constitution keeps you from inside my house, thank God!
clare, got the interest up yet? Heard back from brownie and the treasurer yet? Better check ALL your mailboxes and voice mails. Watch the dogs, they may not recognize you at some of your houses!
7/19 Gongwer News Service
ENDORSEMENTS RAISE RED FLAGS IN 87TH DISTRICT
Tom Lower grew up raising feeder cattle and was active in the Future Farmers of America throughout his school years. For the last 20 years, he and his wife Kitty have raised beef cattle on their 120-acre farm in Ionia County.
So when Mr. Lower ran for state representative in the 87th District GOP primary –the only farmer in the 7-person field – he thought he could surely count on backing from Michigan Farm Bureau’s Ag-riPAC.
Susan Vlietstra has been the clerk for Thornapple Township since 2002, and was a township trustee for two years immediately preceding that. She’s actually the only candidate in the race with “township” on her resume, so she was confident her bid for the Republican nomination in the 87th District would be supported by the Michigan Townships Association.
In neither case did it turn out that way. Both groups gave their respective backing to Brian Calley, a commercial banker from Portland and Ionia County commissioner.
Mr. Calley has racked up more endorsements than the rest of the field combined, including one from the man he’s trying to replace, term-limited Rep. Gary Newell (R-Saranac). His PAC list, in addition to the above groups, contains heavyweights like the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, Right to Life of Michigan PAC and the Michigan Fraternal Order of Police.
But at least two candidates in the 87th District Republican primary have charged shenanigans on the Farm Bureau and MTA nods, saying the endorsements resembled the anointing of a chosen heir more than genuine fact-finding.
Said candidate Jim Bailey: “There’s got to be a reason why all these groups lined up behind him.” And Mr. Lower joined Mr. Bailey in saying the genesis was with one nod – from Right to Life – that they found questionable.
Right to Life of Michigan’s PAC was one of the first heavyweight groups to release their complete en-dorsement list. In the 87th, like most districts in Mid/West Michigan, an endorsement from Right to Life can go a long way to determining a candidate who is consoling their supporters on election night and one who is packing bags for Lansing.
Right to Life’s endorsement criteria says that, first and foremost, a candidate must be pro-life without exception, save for life of the mother. When a seat is open, a questionnaire is mailed to each major-party candidate, and each is offered an interview with local RTL members. The local board gives a rec-ommendation to the PAC’s state board, which in turn issues the group’s endorsement.
According to RTL PAC’s Larry Galmish, RTL rules state that, in an open seat campaign like the 87th, if one viable candidate does not meet the group’s pro-life criteria (in this case Brian Reynolds of Hast-ings), then RTL will try to coalesce the pro-life vote around one candidate – in this case, Mr. Calley.
But that decision confused and rankled some of the other candidates, who said that they are at least as qualified as Mr. Calley to carry the pro-life banner. Mr. Bailey, a former Barry County commission chair, when asked his stance on abortion, said, “I have 12 children, so I’m very pro-life.”
Mr. Bailey said his meeting with the local board was after 9 p.m. on a weeknight, in Ionia County, and most of the board was made up of people from that county, not his home county, Barry. He said that had Mr. Calley come to a similarly constructed Barry County RTL board, at 9 p.m. on a weeknight, results might have been different.
“I’m not out to pick a fight with these organizations,” Mr. Bailey said. “I just question the process, and I think anyone that looks at it will question the process.”
“We try to get representation from all areas,” Mr. Galmish replied. “Sometimes we do, sometimes we don’t.” But he said each board member had been trained, had full knowledge of the endorsement crite-ria, and was fully qualified to make a recommendation.
Mr. Galmish said there is always a question of viability, and said that Mr. Calley was a clear frontrun-ner – something both the MTA and Farm Bureau also cited in their decisions.
According to documents filed with the Secretary of State’s office, Mr. Calley, who was one of the first entrants into the race, had raised over $20,000 by January; in addition he told Gongwer on Monday that he was very close to having raised enough to cover his entire campaign budget.
But Mr. Bailey said that after the Right to Life endorsement, people and groups just started lining up behind Mr. Calley, figuring they could live with him. When asked how he knew that, he said he was personally told it.
MTA Legislative Liaison Tom Frazier said the association’s final decision came down to two candidates: Ms. Vlietstra (the township clerk) and Mr. Calley. The association sent out a questionnaire to each township official in the district, asking their opinion on who the MTA should endorse, and Mr. Calley received more support than the other six Republicans combined.
“I think it’s evident that Mr. Calley has done a good job courting local government support, township officials included,” Mr. Frazier said.
Ron Nelson with the Farm Bureau had a similar response. The Farm Bureau sends out a lengthy sur-vey to each candidate, and each county in the district recommends a candidate to the state board. “If both recommend the same candidate, it makes the job very easy. If they differ, they can interview both of them,” Mr. Nelson said.
Though he said he wasn’t intimately familiar with the specifics of the situation, Mr. Nelson said that as a resident of Ionia County himself, it is evident that Mr. Calley has set himself apart.
“Of the seven, I know that Mr. Calley has really, really worked hard,” Mr. Nelson said, adding that Mr. Calley knocked on his door and has sent him literature.
Mr. Bailey said that each group has the right to endorse whomever they please, adding that the people of Barry County know him, and know his record.
Mr. Lower is tackling the problem in a decidedly different way – he posted his responses to each en-dorsement questionnaire on his website, so the voters could see exactly where he stands.
Pol:
I do feel bad for those lost animals, but it's not entering into the Ionia consciousness. From my tour of Ionia coffee shops this past week and reading the Sentinel-Standard I hear the same refrain from patrons: "WE ARE BACKING OUR BOY" [Calley]. I did hear from half the farmers I talked to that were going for Lower. The one negative person to comment about Calley brought up a decision on county planning.
Pol,I don't think your views on this matter are irrelevent, but I haven't seen the same ground-swell of disdain from those in Ionia that I remember was here in Barry.
I was just pondering who RTL can throw away a baby to save the life of a mother and yet fight to the death to save embryos who might actually GIVE LIFE to others.
Don't expect too much from RTL. It is and always has been a sham, a front of mostly radical right wing religious types who truly would like to turn the United States into a quasi theocracy These are the same people who oppose condoms, morning after (non aborting) pills and any other form of effective birth control.
The zealots I know and have spoken with barely hide their conviction that unplanned pregnancies, especially among unmarried women, is 'the price one pays when one plays".
To punish for sexual activity not designed for procreation is a major unspoken goal.
Understand me. Not all members meet the above description but the folks who live quite nicely from the proceeds do in most cases.
Again, how can we agree to destroy the child to save the life of the mother and throw embryos into the garbage?
I'll put another comment on the next post, but can't resist responding to the above. Not one of the RTL or Farm Bureau VOTERS will actually vote any differently after the endorsements than before. They supported GWBII and currently represent the 30%+ who continue to see violence and nationalism in close partnership with self-interest and greed to be the only option available. The endorsements of these organizations only gives legitimacy to the salaried efforts of their administrative staffs for further fundraising.
Face up to the facts! 60% - 70% of the registered non-voters don't give a damn. Trying to sway the unswayable is pushing a rock uphill. If each "Democrat" drove two "Democrats" to the polls on August 8, there would be more than enough votes to make a difference. I hope B.Reynolds has the good sense to get a list of people who voted for Kerry, Granholm, and Gore and try to get them to tape the American Idle while they get dragged kicking and screaming to participate in the "democratic" process.
Jaybird! Maybe just a link to the gongwer article, and a couple of snippets! Some of us have day jobs!
My eyes hurt, I'm going to bed!
Good info but, I didn't want to read war and peace.
Agnosti: Sorry for the long post, but I didn't want to be seen as hiding anything by not giving you guys the full article. As for linking it, that's hard to do since it is a subscription service. Will keep your comments in mind next time.
Janiac!
Sorry to be so short with you. The info is good. I just have to be able to read faster! (Hastings schooled you know)
Also, if it's a subscription service then it's basically stealing to cut and paste the whole thing in one block and giving to us for free. Please try to just post relevant excerpts if you can't link to it. I don't need any more people after me than I already have.
Innocent until proven guilty Pol! I still don't know who you are! We can get you a good plea bargain!
Everyone seems awful quite, hope it's because you're enjoying the weekend as much as I have?
Need to get everyone out to vote!
REMEMBER: MARK ENGLERT, KEN DEMOTT, CHUCK NIEVES, VANNORTWICK!
By the way, anyone seen Tom Wing? I saw a homeless guy at I94 EB exit ramp onto Sprinkle, had a sign wanting a handout, thought it was Tom. Rolled my window down and said "you're already on Barry County's Welfare roll, what else do you want?"
What's the scoop, Clare and Mike Brown (too many Browns), did you get all the "right" answers from Private Eye ronnie neil (bet he watches old Dick Tracy movies lol). Perhaps with my help there would have been two convictions in his biggest homicide case. Not too impressive ronnie!
How bout "ole Charlie" is he on the lamb again?
Cheer up Ag3, I think most were out at the fair and needed the break from the blog.
Timmy, i agree, we need to come together. Vote Reynolds.
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