With all 26 Barry precincts reporting. Calley wins the Republican primary for the 87th House seat by a wide margin in Barry and he also carried Ionia handily.
Barry County results:
Calley- 2336
Bailey- 1603
Vlietstra- 1262
Reynolds- 1221
Doster- 385
Trombley- 104
Lower- 74
And over on the Democratic side:
Kalnbach- 1731
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71 comments:
Trombley must have had 104 relatives? Got tromped or tripped by one not even running a campaign? Looks like Bailey was making a moonshine run to take votes away from Susan and Brian! Congrats to Susan and Brian for a great race!
Now, Bailey, lets get all those ugly illegal signs out of our faces!
I guess if you wanted to finish in the top three you needed to spend $25,00 of your own money. At least Calley was smart enough to get some of that back with fat checks from PACs who now get his vote in Lansing. He laughs all the way from the bank while Bailey and Vlietstra must be wondering what the hell they were thinking.
I always like to look at the top of the ticket versus downticket comparison- If I didn't screw up the math about 2,000 of GOP voters in the county (a massive 1 in 4) didn't even bother to vote for DeVos at the top of the ticket. 308 people voted for Devos in Barry County that did not vote for Patty Birkholz. And of the 2001 people who voted on the Democratic side for Granholm, almost 300 of those didn't bother voting for Kalnbach for some weird reason. I would think DeVos supporters would have to be a little worried about that kind of drop off.
I should have said of the almost 8,000 (actually it was 7,985 by my count) that registered a vote in the 87th House race on the GOP ticket. Not much of a difference but potentially there were people who didn't even bother voting in that race but voted for county commission, precinct delegate, etc.
Not unusual a drop off Pol. Within the range.
Surprised a bit with Bailey's showing. Love the fact that Doster is currently out polling Trombley and Lower.
AP finally hjad the totals:
46 out of 46 precincts reporting:
Brian Calley 4,322 43.05%
Jim Bailey 1,932 19.24%
Susan Vlietstra 1,449 14.43%
Brian Reynolds 1,386 13.80%
Mark Doster 407 4.05%
Tom Lower 406 4.04%
Wade Trombley 138 1.37%
Calley did 1,000 votes beter than I thought he would. Even if Bailey got Susan to drop out, Bailey couldn't overcome Calley's margin. Doster is the man. No campaigning and he bests Trombley and Lower. Looking at Trombley's total did any of the thousands he claimed to have secured really like him or vote for him?
Keys to the win: Pol is right that it takes at least $25K to be taken seriously and to run a campaign. Joe Hune won in Livingston state rep seat with $12K, but he had a lot of grassroots support. It also takes early courting of district influentials and Lansing interests. Door-to-Door was also key, and Calley did do a lot. Other factors such as geography also helped. If exit polls were done, I would have to bet that a good chunk of the fundamentalist church (combined with the RtL endorsement)vote went to Calley.
What Calley spent a lot on was mail. I heard Bailey was doing a lot of first-class, simple pieces. Calley did the slick, full color pieces. Susan only did one full color piece--if she had done more maybe she would of gotten a larger chunk of the pie. Calley and Susan (from my sources) did an absentee voter piece. I didn't see any other candidate do that.
In summary, it took shoe leather, court'n and money to win this race. Redistricting in 2011 will put a kink into any candidate's plans to run early for the next open seat like Calley did. I hope 2012 comes here quick.
Wade: I'll have my Sharpie in hand.
Gee! My $5 sign offer would have been a bargain. I'm going to have to change my rates.
Jay,
Nice reporting.
How many registered voters are there in Barry County?
What was the final vote count?
Can you tell how many voters chose the Democrat side of the ticket? I think the number might be surprisingly larger than my perception.
"Half of success is showing up for work".
While we spend lots of speculative time on dividing and re-dividing the pathetically small voter turnout, the secret to winning in a true democracy would involve inspiring a larger percentage of registered voters to show up for work. If it is a fact that voting is mandatory in Australia, as it is in Costa Rica, the "rest of the story" is that enforcement is probably a joke. Nonetheless, voter turnout in these countries is admirable.
I hope they don't attempt to "export democracy" using our violent methods.
If I could have voted I would have voted Kalnbach. He is the man we need in the state house of Rep. to help change michigan for the better.
Grill: There are 42,067 registered voters in Barry of which 23% voted, slightly better than the State average. All the Dem numbers for the county are on the Election Magic website.
As for Australia, enforcement of compulsary voting is good-- around 95% typically vote. The rest are MIA or out of country, etc. If you don't vote, you are fined until you do. It seems to work there. Pretty hard to avoid fines and taxes down there.
Congressman Joe Swartz goes down. Who cares? Every Republican that does not ascribe to the radical right wing of the party should. Joe was a moderate republican who did not pander to RTL. A physician by trade, he supported a woman's right to choose and saw life-saving value in salvaging embryos otherwise destined to be destroyed. He was a fiscal conservative, a true republican. He was outed by RTL's organized smear campaign against him. The TV ads used against him were disgusting, and they were enough to catapault a virtually unknown but religiously conservative opponent into victory.
Again, Republicans beware. We saw RTL's effect in the 87th District race and despite most candidates whoring themselves to get that plumb endorsement, only one got it. The winner. Still, RTL, as part of an admitted larger political strategy, chose NOT to support a recent ballot initiative to define life as beginning at conception. They also campaigned against a similar effort in one of the Dakotas because they thought it premature to take Roe vs Wade before the Supreme Court. They use fetal life as political leverage. This is the same bunch that does not acknowledge the illogical deaths of innocent men, women, and children caused by maniacal Bush's war of choice. This is the same bunch that turns their head away from the genocide in Africa. This is the same bunch that supported cuts to family planning in poor nations, thus causing even more abortions. This is the same bunch Calley has embraced. This is NOT the direction the GOP should be going. Unless future GOP candidates get some balls like Reynold's did and say NO to the RTL, there might never be a real Republican choice again for voters. Take the party back before its too late.
Barb,
I will challenge the Dems to help David create a coherent vision for the future of Barry County before the Republicans can put one together for Mark.
The general public is holding its breath waiting for an appropriate response to the rejection of the Charlton Park millage. I suspect a shorter term blank check for a specific agenda will get support.
Next, the wheels are in motion, by Clare, to spend a lot of cash on paving the way for a bigger and better jail, while ignoring the larger issue of reducing recidivism. This will be a tough issue with the mourning dove season coming upon us.
What to do with Wayne Adams is gonna be a big job for someone. He is a nice guy, but has no clue! He doesn't possess the inner strength to take a position unpopular to those most around him,i.e. the Board, Dept Heads, etc.
Don't know what he did in his "real" life, but bet it was something low key, no decision making involved.
Are there classes available, not expensive golf retreats, that can educate some of these people voted in because voters in some areas just "like" them, don't care that they can't perform.
Adams is going to be a big concern, and a must target next election if he doesn't start standing on his own two feet. Nieves made a big mistake by not hitting Adams home country Barry Twp harder. Maybe some of the strength of our newly elected leaders will rub off on him. We can only hope! He is a very weak link though, beware!
Barb,
I'd love to believe that about Dems crossing over but I don't think that's what gave Evans the edge- Pratt blew the 911 issue and her coziness with some of the most hated people in the area surely helped in her defeat. But my question to you is: Where did that play out in the State Rep. race? I don't see it - though I'm sure as someone actively involved in the party you would like to. If the Democrats want to play they're going to have to get a lot smarter about picking their battles and I don't think they did Tuesday.
Democrats had an obvious chance to cross over and help pick a State Rep. they could possibly not be disgusted by, but instead 1700+ cast a meaningless vote for Doug Kalnbach instead of trying to back someone who they could work with and talk to. Kalnbach may be a nice guy but he's not going to win in November unless Calley is caught in bed with a live boy or a dead girl. Dave Brinkert couldn't win despite trying to run to the middle and being a good looking guy with a powerful message of being outsourced. Becca L. couldn't win despite being young and bright and having her dad working 24/7 resulting in better organization than any Democrat has had here for years. 1700+ Democrats said no thank you to a GOP candidate who was finally not a puppet of the radical right wing and the Big Money interests outside the district and so have insured this district and all of Michigan of having another fundamentalist fetus worshipper in the State House who will likely stay there until term limited and then move on to some higher office.
If I sound angry it's because I am. I think it was a pretty simple equation- it's the art of the possible and Reynolds was the best bet for anyone who thinks Right to Life and the tax-cut-and-spend far right Republican Party is out of control and needs to be put in check. I think the 1700 people who voted for Kalnbach blew a chance to have an effect on the race. It wouldn't have given the race to Reynolds but it would have sent a strong message. Instead, Brian Calley has a mandate to be a clone of Fulton Sheen, Jack Hoogendyk and Gary Newell. In other words, more of the same.
18% TURNOUT: Turnout for the August primary was 18 percent of registered voters, said Secretary of State Terri Land. The election drew 1.27 million voters, with slightly more participants in the Republican contests than in the Democratic side.
The uncontested gubernatorial candidates drew the most total votes, at 1.11 million, with the U.S. Senate, which included the high-profile GOP primary between Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard and the Rev. Keith Butler, drawing about 5,000 fewer votes. The party participation on Tuesday is reflected in the gubernatorial race, where 579,223 cast votes for Republican candidate Dick DeVos and 530,243 voted for Governor Jennifer Granholm. Mr. Bouchard won 60.5 percent of the 593,396 votes cast in the GOP Senate primary, which U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Lansing) pulled 512,231 votes.
The turnout was less than four years ago, when 1.7 million voters or about 26 percent of registered voters cast ballots in a campaign involving contested races for both parties for governor. The Democratic guberna-torial primary drew over 1 million voters with 580,000 casting votes for the Republican candidates.
I guess he can't wait.
With primary races across the state put to bed early Wednesday morning, several victors rose just as early to join their future colleagues for House session. Joining the lawmakers who are term-limited out of their district seats at the end of this year were Kim Meltzer (33rd District), Coleman Young Jr. (4th), Brian Calley (87th) and Paul Opsommer (93rd).
I would have to agree with OS's analysis. Miscues on how Julie handled items before her (911 as an example), and the appearance of cozying up to that courthouse gang seemed to have did her in.
The sheriff proved that there was a new dynamic in the county politique. Instead of embracing it, she seemed to shy away.
Tom's efforts at rounding up influentials and local officials into his camp paid off. Julie seemed to have a very insular Hastings lot (and quite a number of Allegan folk).
Also, two people went to my door in my neighborhood--Brian Calley and Tom Evans. Personal contact speaks volumes.
I'm in a rush this morning, so won't try to sift out any grains to deal with. Just wanted you to know that I have prepared a blog for serious thinkers in Barry County. I won't present it until the heat of personality bashing dies down in a week or so.
There are a few folks on this blog that I will want to become good at removing.
Many of you will be disappointed that I have seen Gary Newell doing some good things for Barry County without much fanfare, and I still admire Steve DeBoer and Julie for their extra effort.
Rational discussion gets bogged down with too much inflammatory chatter.
Sorry Grillo, I liked Julie and DeBoer but I draw the line on Newell. I would like to think that after nearly six years you could find a couple of postive things to say about Newell. The law of statistics were afterall in his favor. The few "positive" things he allegedly did cannot undue the harm caused by his other actions or indifference. He will now suck at the public trough till death do us part. As far as I'm concerned, its a value having to pay him NOT to be in the House.
Kristen, Dave McIntyre should have been fired a long time ago for interjecting his opinion as local news. He did it with the recent unicam initiative calling them a rag tag bunch that had their origins in Hillsdale County. He should have read a Banner to know that it was a grass roots effort with origins in Barry County.
McIntyre wouldnt give a local dem the time of day. He actually came out on the air and called for charges be brought against Dem house candidate Brinkert after Brinkert filed an assault charge against State Rep. Newell. McIntyre reported Brinkert as the perp. Newell got off when the Ionia County prosecutor (friend and contributor to Newell's campaign) dropped the charges citing conflicting reports of the incident. Two witnesses said it did not happen (one of whom was Newell's wife) and six or seven others provided sworn statements that Newell did in fact assault Brinkert. After repeated denials, Newell so much as admitted in the GR Press saying "Yeah, maybe I did touch him". And, like Calley, Newell too did bear witness at various baptist churches throughout the district during the campaign. I want those churches to pay taxes then. but thats a whole different issue.
As to Barb's point with Dems in these races: I am sure some Dems made the plunge and forgoed voting in their Primary. But if you were a Dem, wouldn't you want the weakest candidate to win in order to give some hope to your candidate? Brinkert's best hope was for Clare to win.
Some folks just vote in a single race, or they skip over uncontested races. 6500 voted in the US Senate race. While Ehlers got about the same as DeVos as he was uncontested. There are also some RtL'ers who just vote for the contested candidate that's endorsed.
Especially in the State Rep race, I think Calley got the holy rollers out more than the “cross-over” Dems came out.
First, I'd like to thank Old Scote for commenting on my behalf though it's not necessary. I was trying to point out that it's not about rejecting people who support you but letting them know how best to support you. Anybody should have known that claiming support by Shane McNeill was the kiss of death- you could have fallen off the turnip truck and asked the first person you met and they could tell you this, so being 'new' is no excuse. And she is married to a long-time resident- one that is HATED (and no, I don't think that's too strong a word since I've heard it used by several people over the last few weeks) by so many in this town I cannot imagine how many voted for Evans because of it (once again, it may not be fair but it's the reality of politics). Now, one could say this is anecdotal and dismiss it but it was a factor. I know as Pratt's campaign manager it stinks to hear this stuff and much of it couldn't be avoided so no one is blaming you. The fact is too, that for many people, the fact that her husband was a police officer and the obvious conflict of interest in that was seriously troubling.
I know Mrs. Cove thinks differently but Pratt's playing of the 911 issue was fumbled. I don't agree with some that they should have had the rope ready but she did seem like she didn't think it was a big deal and was seen as not having Sheriff Leaf's back- these may have been impressions but much like the impression that John Kerry was a flip flopper these things can make or break a candidate even if there isn't much truth to it.
And Jay, I would argue you're wrong about Brinkert hoping for a Clare win- I think Mark has some problems and if Brinkert wants to he can exploit the fear that some have that Mark is too "radical" to be on the board. Should be a fun race to watch and Brinkert should be able to make it a lot closer than Clare did.
Grillo- name ONE good thing Newell did for Barry County. Hell, name ONE THING he did period that doesn't include pushing for a Right to Life license plate because frankly I can't think of anything.
Annointed/appointed, what difference does it make? Fisher gave her the job! And, this makes him batting .000.
New Leaders in the "Good Ole Boys Club?" LOL I believe I would be included in your allegation, but I'm not a member of "any" club! I would not stoop to being part of a group that functioned as the ones in the past and present have! When the Sheriff starts acting DeBoerish, he loses me! You won't see me at Big Boy, and I'm not on their two-ways (well, just one, but only used once in a blue moon).
El, don't worry about removing me, I have no desire to listen to rantings like yours. It's like fast remote, going from channel to channel, not staying on one station (subject) long enough to make any sense! Good luck though!
Pol: Since Brikert came to the Board about the deposits at HCB, I'd think he'd have more ammo against Claire than Mark. Granted, Mark has a number of skeletons in his past too. I agree, it will be a fun race.
As far as associations that hurt Julie, I think Ron Neil almost hurt more than her husband. I heard many refer to Ron as Julie's campaign manager (which was wrong, and I corrected them), but that perception was out there. Add the negative feelings towards Ron through two campaigns (DeBoer & Fekkes) and the 911 debacle, Neil was more of a liability than an asset.
As far as equating Tom Evans to a "Good Ol' Boy" network, please. Julie had the courthouse gang in her camp, Ron Neil and that lot, and Shane McNeil (wanted or unwanted). Calling Tom part of the G.O.B. network is inaccurate, misguided and false.
Barb,
The challenge is that David can have the Commissioner seat IF he can promote his coherent vision for the future of Barry County. Mark will have difficulty being coherent, but if somebody helps him with it he will work his butt off to promote it. Merely having a vision won't be enough.
I hope you aren't disappointed that the challenge didn't include something more material.
Ag3,
Thanks for the "buenas suerte" wishes. You illustrated my point much better than I could have. County government is a complex multi-channel program.
You make a good presentation Kristen. But, all this about not having the time to prove herself, being under the microscope,etc., SHE and FISHER chose this! I have been saying all along a caretaker should have been placed in that position, one who would promise not to run. I heard they had a highly qualified person to do just that.
"They" chose to take that road, of the "incumbent", and they lost! Case closed! Sorry, their strategy did not work! Re-work it and try again! The neil sign being in a high traffic area was probably a negative. When the heck are they or you going to realize this guy is a has been, a liability! His reign is over. Seeing a sign in his yard is probably an automatic NO vote, especially to those that have to go by it everyday! Many Vote for the other candidate, because a certain person in their neighborhood had their opponents sign up!
Coherent vision? Has any commissioner had one? Have we had any coherent commissioners?
My feeling is Mark will promote the "PUBLIC's" vision not "his." That gets my vote. I don't really care what David's vision is! Clare's vision sucked, as indicated by the recent election.
Kristen, My jaw dropped at the forum when I heard Julie's husband was a cop. My first thought was conflict of interest since I knew they would share information. I confronted her with that question at her ice cream social and she answered it to my satisfaction. I took two of her signs and voted for her. I like Tom as a person and felt guilty voting for Julie, but I thought she was clearly the best candidate between the two as demonstrated in the forum. My point is, I can understand why many might not vote for her because of her husband. And as far as Neil is concerned, association with him in this county is the kiss of death.
Now on to Mark and Brinkert. It will be a fun race to watch. We'll see if they both are in next weekends Orangeville parade and then pressing the flesh afterwards. In my early opinion, Brinkert wins. Mark will have to mend some fences first and I'm not sure he can do that. Brinkert looks like a politician and I think has gained tremendous confidence from hosting the first friday.
And, wattzup with the "progressive dems"? Are they supporting local dems? do they have a separate agenda? Anyone out there part of the alleged progressive bunch?
Pol,
I owe you an apology. I have posted a few comments on your blog that I am not proud of. It has been frustrating for me to see the potential in Barry County diluted and stymied, and I was venting inappropriately.
You asked me to identify a single accomplishment of Rep. Gary Newell, and I nearly rose to the bait, again. Had I responded with one, I would have subjected a friend to the invective of criticism he would not deserve. I do have one for the masses.
The greatest accomplishment of Gary Newell was defeating Jim Bailey for representative of our district. If Jim had been our representative for the same term, we could now list all of his mistakes and attack him. In this way, I suppose, Gary performed a great service for Jim Bailey. O.K., so I guess that makes two things.
The same things can be said for Chuck Nystrom, Steve and Julie DeBoer, Ron Neil, Clare Tripp, Tom Wing, Sandy James, Peter Forsberg, Judge Jim Fisher, and even for Jim Bailey and a host of other people who have been willing to step up on the stage and play a part in the daily drama. They have been at least, and for whatever motivation, willing to sit in the dunk tank. It would be nice if we could make volunteering and running for office an effort that is more attractive and less intimidating for more people who mean well and want to make a difference.
You know who I am. I have been Tomas el Grillo for a few years, and Don Quixote for a lifetime. My name is Tom Wilkinson and I don’t fly under the radar. Those of you who like to sling stuff from behind the outhouse will need to sling mud, because when the snow flies I will be in Costa Rica. If you have some evidence of wrongdoing on my part, please let me know, and I will make whatever reparations are needed, if I can. If all I hurt was your feelings, get over it.
Since this seems to be the only blog in town, and you have asked me to start another, the new coffee shop is at www.el-grillo.blogspot.com. I hope to offer some different flavors to chew on. Most of the subjects will be very complex and I hope mentally challenging. The focus will be on Barry County, but hopefully we can attract thoughts and ideas from a larger world. I will expect civil discourse and attempt to maintain an atmosphere that is hopeful. All things being relative, we never know in Barry County who may be related to whom.
“Small people talk about other people. Most people talk about things. Big people talk about ideas.” Or something like that. Welcome to the new store. Open 24/7.
m.c.,
A special invite for you. I’ll try to watch your back.
I hope we can treat Brian Calley, etal, with enough respect and decency to attract his help.
El, you crack me up. That would be nice if true. We treated Newell very well and what did it get us "rain on our shoes" as the Pol likes to say. I was surprised when they interviewed him election night! We're sending a baby faced kid to do a man/womans job! But, he did look like a Newell clone, talked like one to! Hope he will prove different, but won't hold my breath. Too bad Dan Quayle didn't move to Michigan. LOL And, so many comedians out of work!
Kristen: You state that nothing could be helped when it came to Shane McNeil and accepting his donation. Yes there could, you could of refused to accept it.
As for holding the spouse against Julie; this is an age old campain tactic. Look at the Republicans and Clinton. Instead of Tom making the charge, it was out there in public sentitment. I find it funny that the campaign didn't see this as a conflict of interest since this relationship (an affair at the time) is what got Julie fired from the Barry County Prosecutor's office the first time around.
And finally, even the appearance of a sign in Ron Neil's yard is suicide. He is political Ebola, even a whiff that he is close to a campaign is death.
I did point out these things, but I was dismissed as an agent of Tom.
Both ran good campaigns and should be congratulated! I was around both at different times and never heard any personal attacks. I went into the booth (cubby hole) 50-50. Voted for rest and came back to the Prosecutors Race. Both would have done a fine job.
I've heard the affair rumor, no effect for me. NOW, the McNeil-Neil (sounds like a circus act) involvement is something new to me today. Not surprised at all, but it would have entirely thrown me in the Evans direction 99%.
JNP's husband had no effect on me, don't believe the blame should be thrown at either spouse, both did what you would expect from a spouse.
I do, however, believe that the 2nd Amendment Rights issue, which catapulted our Good Sheriff into office had something to do with JNP and her Hastings City connections affecting the vote?
If you recall, Hastings fought our right to bear arms tooth and nail. Even went so far as to enact a City Ordinance to circumvent the new State CCW Law. It was soon declared unconstitutional. I don't think many firearm advocates have forgotten that yet?
Sign in neil's yard: As in Judge Fishers case, his making radios ads for Fettkes,I believe Jay mentioned it was within Judicial/Lawyer Cannons for him to do so. But in the PUBLIC CONFLICT OF ISSUE DEFINITION I don't think so! It was wrong. Since a 911 case was on the Prosecutors desk to be reviewed, the neil sign to me was a conflict.
But, since I knew nothing of it, it had no effect on my vote. Please don't tell me where he lives, my conscience will make me write a sympathy note to his neighbors.
Back to the true topic for this thread...
I would think by now there would be some deconstruction of the Reynolds loss. He, like so many didn't lay the groundwork and make the appeals early enough. I thought with Brian's surveying connections that he could of broke Calley's iron grip on Ionia. Nor could he seem to get a message out to voters. I think he put too much faith in the unicaminists, pro-casino groups, cross-overs, and other independants, and his message just got lost in the shuffle.
As for how that message got out there seemed to be no consistancy. One look for signs and website, another for literature, and another for newspaper advertising. The literature and advertising wasn't all that accessible since it was in treatise form. If he had worked on some consolidation he would of been more accessible.
Where he failed in print, he succeeded in oratory, but that seemed to fail him. At the Barry forum and WBCH, he was almost too concise. The only real time he broke out of that mode was talking about taxation and the SBT--which were top notch answers.
He was the most monetary efficient campaigns (excluding Lower and Doster) spending aproximately $7/ voter (estimating he spent $10,000). By contrast, Bailey looks to have spent $18/ voter. Those pens add up Jim.
Like all the candidates, the crowded field doomed nearly all who jumped in without pre-planning. As I've said before Reynolds would of had a better shot against Patty than diving in against this field.
As for legislation I'd like to see passed to prevent a free-for-all like this is to eliminate the $100 filing option for State Rep and State Senate candidates. Judicial candidates have to do that, and their territory is often smaller than a State Rep.'s. If that was the case, maybe we'd have 3-4 candidates, rather than the 7. It would also stem the last minute filings. Both Susan and Reynolds filed petitions. A petition requirement would of eliminated the Trombleys, Dosters, Lowers and possibly Baileys from this race and made it more competative.
Ag3 raises a good point: guns.
Evans was endorsed by Ted Nugent's group and seemed to have the gun groups in tow. With Julie's connections to Fekkes' gang, I can see that a rural sportsmen vote could have been the difference. Julie made no appeals to the pro-gun groups, and that could of been the tipping point.
lol The McNeil-Neil three ring circus...classic.
Ag3: Affair was no rumor. Total fact to that. Many like OS dismissed it out of hand, but I think it did play a role in Julie's defeat. Sticky sexual relations (McNeil/Fekkes) appear to turn off Barry voters.
Just saw that Lower has his campaign statement up. He spent a bit more than Wade (Lower- $1,953.60). Like Wade, he doesn't account for printing. Both Lower and Bailey should be hit with fines. Bailey will weasel his way out of a fine due to "technical problems".
$92,427.16 was spent up to the pre-primary date of 7/23 by the six active candidates averaging out to $15,404.53/candidate or $9.21/voter.
Nothing to deconstruct on Reynold's campaign. Just go back over the previous posts. The failures and missed opportunities are too many to list.
Jay, The campaign cost per voter is inconsequential. You just do what you need to do to win. Calley did what he needed to do and spent what he needed to spend. To shift personal savings into his campaign fund to give the appearance of support was genious. Call it "seed money". If his door-to-door contacts he claims to have made are correct, that would have gone a long way toward locking in all he needed. If in doubt, just look at the Calley signs and the votes he got in Woodland Twp. He ran one of the best campaigns whipping the hometown boys and girl. While I personally abhore the politicalization of our churches, he was right to exploit Christ for political gain. Dems and Republicans both do it, even up to the presidential level. As long as the gullible flock are willing to follow and it remains legal in a defacto sort of way, go for it!
The prosecutor race is one of the few that I thought was a win-win for us. Each had their strengths and weaknesses and I think it was a wash. Still, Evans surprised me.
Perhaps el Grillo is right, we need to talk about serious issues and move away from the personal attacks. There are still decisions to be made in November. Despite the deeply entrenched electorate of Barry County, I look forward to the debates between the dems and gop candidates. I hope we get more than crap rhetoric. Its time for Calley to come out with a plan on how to deal with the state's crisis. Kalnbach needs to argue more than just union jobs saving the state.
The englerth/ brinkert race should be interesting. These two are so different, but yet i think both are up to the task. Change is good and regardless who wins this one, the citizens of Barry County still win. Good luck to both.
Make no mistake, I'm no fan of Birkholz. I met her Dem opponent, Suzette Roysten, and I was most impressed. Maybe the Dems have a real challenger this time unlike the last one who was nothing more than a ballot placeholder and never set foot in Barry County. the question is, will Birkholz participate in a debate and spend some of her campaign warchest?
Pray tell what plan someone can come up with for this State, that you and the rest of us will buy? They don't talk language we understand! Jobs, Jobs, incentives, incentives, that's it!
According to Patty's CFR she has $12K at hand and $14K in debt. She spent some on trinkets (note pads and emory boards), but with Allegan and Eaton counties a lock for her, I doubt she'll put much effort in defending her seat. Things might of been different if she had a Republican challenger.
Kristen: It was their choice. But in the Prosecutor's race to even associate with the former tarnished Prosecutor was playing with fire.
How easily we are conned...there was no Calley 'seed money'. Every dime will be returned to him by the special intererests with deep pockets who already own him...As for the morons who vote the 2nd Ammendment....there is no one trying to repeal it...except the NRA who has been milking you fools since the day George Herbert Walker Bush cancelled his NRA Life memmbership and Wayne (whine) began waving the bloody shirt.
I wonder if a 'responsible gun owner' is still a 'responsible gun owner' after he tries to murder his girlfriend and her friend...nahhh, just the day before...or unless he is a Woodland GOB.
As far as challenging my credibility because I choose to be anonymous, so does the owner of this blog, sentinel, Pat, Ag3, agnosti, etc (even poster gnma). Do they lack credibility? I have given hints, but so far folks have been dead wrong. I remain nameless at the request of my employer (who I have worked faithfully for for 6 years).
p-truth. I wasnt conned by Calley seed money. For sure he will be able to pull his money out and then use OPM (other people's money) for the rest of his political career with no strings attached. Not a bad investment of one's savings. Mich has one of the most liberal campaign contribution laws which places few restrictions on use of such cash. That is why Sikkema continues to rake in the cash even tho termed out. Its the media that cannot see below the surface and then report how well financed his campaign is.
Ms. Barbara, Who won the chili cook off? Tell us about Roysten.
p-truth: Try to look up more stats on "responsible gun owners," than just one case in your little burg. The stats don't support your claims. There are always exceptions to every rule. But, the entire State of Michigan has had only a few minute incidents of violence by people with CCW permits. The "real" crooks will get guns regardless of what the law says! Check it out for yourself. Pls don't try to scare people based on one isolated incident!
There have been no other incidents in Barry County, and to my knowledge all of the surrounding counties? Check it out!
Sorry I can't vote for you, Mike, you appear to have more on your mind than name-calling. Shifting from here to your website right now.
I don't think you are going to take the bait so easily.
O.K., I'm back.
So far, so good.
The "vision" is a bit thin, but as the current County Board goes it probably is a lot to grasp.
M.C. has referred to me as Professor Grillo, which is a bit more dignified than I deserve, but you may find the data on my blog to be of some help.(http://el-grillo.blogspot.com) I see that you have actually looked at a Budget and have some grasp of why things aren't working. I've been teasing Barb about getting David to form a vision. If you have any vision you will scare most traditional Barry County politicians and voters away. I would delete that part of your website and put in some pictures of puppies and little kids with BB-guns.
I will e-mail you and make it possible for you to refine your vision if you want to, later on. Getting elected is entirely different than being a good Commissioner. If you can develop a smooth Teflon approach that will make you popular on this blog, you can get elected. After that is plenty soon enough to develop a vision.
Now that Bailey is off the radar, the Rutland folks will be focusing on getting Ferris elected. I think you may get some mileage pointing out that Ferris needs to demonstrate that he is his own man. He has Bailey and James baggage that will either drag him into office or drag him to the bottom of Algonquin Lake (under the sewage).
By the way, don't mention that you know Algonquin to be the fourth most polluted lake in the County until after the votes are counted. That's a powerful lobby group to avoid the cost of a sewer.
Avoid the trail issue unless you have a death wish. The politically powerful in Rutland are opposed to trail development.
Join the NRA and buy an AK-47. Wear a sidearm to rallies.
You should talk to Englerth and Evans. They know how to win.
Here's a question that came up at my weekly breakfast meeting. Mike Callton really coved all his bets, giving to nearly every candidate up for election in the state rep and county races. There is talk he is going for county GOP chairmanship as well as chair of the county board. Are these actions part of preparations to run for county-wide office or State Rep in the near future (2012)? Maybe M.C. can enlighten us.
I too heard Callton to be the next chair.
And Ms. Barb, you answered the chili question like an entrenched politician. Are you sure you're not running for something? Congrats to Brinkert for his August victory (or was it less than first place??). If his recipe does not include any secret ingredients, it might be wise for him to put it on the back of his campaign lit if he gets any. Call it the "Founder's Day Victory Chili Recipe". Maybe the first friday can host a cook-off between Brinkert and Englerth. Winner takes all. Screw the debate, let's eat chili.
Dream on Mike L! I wish it could all be that easy. I applaud your desire to fire neil and nystrom, think it will be done sooner than not!
You'll never stop the back biting, rumors, ill-will, etc. That's politics! You want to redefine politics into something simple, it won't happen. Two personnel performance appraisals a year? Nystrom gets a good one all the time. Depends on who's doing the appraisals!
You're very naive, but good intentioned. They will eat you up and spit you out! You're only one person. It takes a Village, to steal from Hillary.
We'll never get a perfect candidate. Callton has my vote for Chair, but Jay's remarks do concern me. We need people with no personal agendas, just the Publics Agenda.
El, put a stat counter on your blog, won't see Ag3 on there, even out of morbid curiosity. Good luck though, in whatever it is you're talking about!
Change is definitely coming, I agree! Just, the other side will be dissatisfied, you already see it on here, still JNP/Tom jibes! Whenever you make a decision that one agrees with, one or two others will disagree. Fact of life! Can't make everyone happy! There is the making of a good County Board come Jan 1st, no doubt. But, they will have detractors, count on it!
If it was as easy as you say, why do we still have nystrom, neil, forbes, boysen, sarver, brown. Good luck!
m.c.
You have a long way to go to reach ineptitude. You have a lot of support for County Chair, both on here and among your new peers. I'm not an adept politician, so I shouldn't advise, but I hope you new folks will get together and set some agendas soon. We have a long way to go, and I'm really excited about the potential of this new County Board.
At this morning's meeting I picked up a copy of what was referred to as the "Parks & Recreation Plan". It is a 5-year plan published in February 2004 with financial data from 2002. Is that the Plan?
For those of you who were unable to attend this mornings meeting of the Barry County Commission Facilities & Property Standing Committee (of the Whole Board) in the Upjohn House of Charlton Park Village, no decision could be made until the same people vote again on the same issue, later. The Committee of the Whole recommends to the Whole Board that the request for millage renewal of .25 mill for operation of Charlton Park Village and Museum be put on the November ballot as a single issue. This will come as no surprise to those of you who have been listening to WBCH since Tuesday morning.
To facilitate discussion, Robert’s Rules were ignored for an hour and a half, until a motion was made by Commissioner French to adopt the previously prepared ballot proposal from the Charlton Park Board with the change from ten years to five years.
It was agreed by the Charlton Park Board members present that the failure of the millages to pass was the negative publicity created by those people who won the election, the lack of favorable promotion by the Reminder (people in Rutland don’t read the Banner) and especially the big words and the number of them on the ballot. These opinions were formed at a meeting held the previous night.
Public comment regarding a hope that Charlton Park could increase its revenue without relying so heavily on taxpayer subsidies was accepted but not entered in the minutes.
LOL, still No here!
2010, Wade--start prepping
BTW Wade, I see you didn't disclose paper or ink expenses for your brochure materials on your CFR.
oy vey, just checked out Calley's website. He gives the post-mortem on there. Way to gloat Brian!
I am obviously loathe to admit it but he has every reason to gloat. No wonder he was in Lansing the day after the primary picking out drapes for his office and being initiated into the Illuminati or whatever cult he belongs to now...
· Calley won 20 / 20 precincts in Ionia County
· His average win percentage in Ionia County was over 54% above the second place candidate
· Calley won 19 / 26 precincts in Barry County
· His average win percentage in Barry County was over 10% above the second place candidate
· The lowest Calley placed in any pricinct was second
The people of Ionia and Barry County gave Calley a mandate to vote party line, support Governor DeVos in everything he does (more tax cuts, more blaming gays and liberals for destroying our "values"), and be a good soldier for the radical right wing that supports moronic rhetoric like this:
"the liberation of over 50 million people in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our stance on the sanctity of marriage and value of life are politically unpopular but morally correct."
Politically unpopular? Maybe in Vermont but in the other 49 states it's been a great wedge to use against Democrats and win election for moral cowards who want to win elections without having to discuss REAL issues. I know Brian thinks he's a brave soul for "defending Christianity" but he's just another brownshirt ready to do battle against the Godless liberals trying to make our children worship the Great Horned God in public schools.
But gosh, I'd hate to be accused of "personality destruction" so I'll just take the high road and congratulate Calley on doing such a great job of taking the next step up the ladder.
I would rather denigrate ourselves for not voting, for not seeing through his crap and the crap of many like him. We're to blame for these idiots in office. I sure wish the mandatory voting that Jay talks about would come true. Maybe a tax writeoff for proof of voting?
Does anyone know if our County as anything in place to compare their voting records with death records (at least those dying in our County)? We make it too easy to manipulate absentee ballots?
Did Calley really get a mandate when only 20 some percent in each of those precincts voted?
Yes, since by not voting you're clearly stating your preference for the status quo. While I understand the non voters' disgust with the system and the candidates we are often presented with, I found that the State Rep. race for example had several candidates that appealed to a wide variety of constituencies and personalities and yet Barry County only was slightly ahead of other areas in turnout and that was most likely prodded by the millages for Charlton Park along with concern over the 911 issue and the prosecutor race. As it's been said, those that don't vote cede their power to the ones that do. El Grillo's wonderful letter to the editor made the point very sarcastically though I'm sure it was over the heads of the people he was trying to speak to.
One of the most depressing parts of the voter turnout is that a candidate like Englerth who was said to have visited every home in the district still only produced less than 500 hundred votes. While obviously not everyone he visits is going to rush out and vote for him, it cannot be said that they weren't aware that there was an election or what the issues were. Sadly, by my count only 2 districts' vote totals for County Commision even exceeded 800 TOTAL votes (3rd and 8th).
Besides wierd messages from outer space, I find myself in agreement with Ag3 on some stuff.
O.K., I'm back from puking in the bathroom.
Normally, my letters in the Banner get noticed by one or two relatives, but this one jibing non-voters touched a few folks and even got a response the next week. It would be nice if this was a sign of increasing awareness of our responsibility in a representative democracy. I hope the awareness doesn't require a war on terrorism to boost our collective butts off the couch.
I have a cousin in Oregon who simultaneously submitted a similar piece without consulting with me first. More stuff from space!
El, try 8 big glasses of water too, they say it cleanses you out. By the way, the number for 911 is "Up."
I've never claimed to be politically far reaching! But, the exchanges on here have been mostly enjoyable and I enjoy ding-donging in with my one measley cent. You notice the "I", my political thoughts are most often spontaneous and only mine.
My purpose in life is 911 change. Like DeVos and his myriad of TV ads, you can change the channel or skip us. I challenge anyone to question our 911 experiences and thoughts, we live them everyday! 9 heads are better than one, watch that blue water though!
Ag3: There is an effort to clean up the Qualified Voter File (QVF). Trouble is, the voter has to not vote in two election cycles (now and 2008) to be taken off the QVF.
My grandmother died on election day 2000. Since she was alive during the time of the polls, her absentee ballot counted.
Clerks are not supposed to count the ballots of dead people if they died before the hours of election day.
The way they are handled by local officials appears to be the real problem. I hear when the County Clerk gets them there is only a number on the ballot. That appears to leave it wide open for the locals to tamper with absentee ballots and not get caught (outside envelope shredded)? Not accusing, just saying the system needs to be fixed!
Ag3
Perhaps you could back up your claim of misbehavior with an actual proven fact that one single absentee ballot has been tampered with in Barry County. Perhaps this evidence of wrongdoing could have an actual date, name and place attached to it. Oh! You mean an envelope got shredded in Alabama back in 1915? I guess I forgot that one. Ain't fear a great motivator?
A number makes it secure for the canvassers, because they know it's secret and not forged. Numbers are on your ballot at the polling place (you eventually rip them off). They make sure your ballot hasn't been reproduced.
We could be like Oregon and do 100% postal voting. A system like that is frought with potential abuse.
Erasible pencils are included in Absentee ballots
So? What do you mean? What do you suggest? File a complaint if you think there is gross voter fraud going on.
Our AV ballots are quite secure. Are they 100% tamper-proof? No. Are folks "stuffing" the ballot box by sending a inordinate amount of AV ballots in? No.
County clerks do not count ballots. They are reporters. The Board of Canvassers verifies and certifies vote totals from the municipal clerks.
If you think there's irregularities, file a complaint with the county clerk against the municipality in question.
It is refreshing to see complete information.
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