IronMountainIssues.org

September 2006 Postings

9-30-2006-01

Dear Issues Editor:
 
Congratulations.  Your association's website has apparently become busy quickly.
 
I agree and disagree with Bill Revord.  How’s that for fence-straddling?  I should consider entering politics.
 
Being openly responsible for what you express and signing your name to it is the best bet.  But I disagree that anonymity, used responsibly, can’t be good and useful and have high value.  Our society uses anonymous hotlines and tip services everywhere to fight domestic violence, dope sales and usage, corrupt politicians and government bureaucrats, and every other type of crime and abuse under the sun.  Furthermore, the protective aspect of anonymity is real, especially for frightened victims and prospective victims moving into unmapped territory and not knowing what repercussions to expect from those who threaten them.  Anyone who genuinely believes that intimidation, reprisal, bullying, and harassment don’t exist all the time and everywhere, including in Iron Mountain, is naive.  Also, on a broader scale throughout our history, the United States has a strong tradition of recognizing and honoring the value and tradition of anonymity in principle and practicality.  Perhaps our greatest right as Americans is the right to vote, which is an anonymous act, using a secret ballot.
 
Anonymity itself isn’t the problem.  Irresponsible material or material used irresponsibly can also be posted, published, or broadcast nowadays by someone using his name.  Who cares if something comes from Mr. No Name or Mrs. Vandersnoot as long as the content is substantive, factual, truthful, and verifiable?  Ultimately, that’s up to each reader to consider, weigh, and decide.  Whether or not there’s an author’s name, each reader can choose to accept or reject propositions, arguments, and evidence that the writer is presenting.  Each reader can measure city officials’ claims and their alleged furtiveness versus their behavior and the results of their activity, whether or not their activity and inactivity actually do benefit the entire city or are merely a lot of noise and distraction from what is and is not really going on.
 
I agree heartily with Bill Revord’s strong implication, if not outright statement, that written contributions to this or any site, anonymous or not, should be published responsibly or not at all.  If they include insinuation or innuendo or unnecessarily harm the innocent, the editor should refuse to post them and simply dismiss them.  They’re not only potentially harmful to someone, but they’re unpleasant, repellent, and therefore ineffective when harshly sarcastic, overly emotional, vituperative, and venomous.  Sure, your opponents may in fact be egotistical and controlling morons and creeps, but what’s the point of creating sympathy for those you’re arguing against?  Those types of submissions are no better and no more valuable than gossipy or sensationalist TV, talk radio, or tabloids.  Messages must hew to a higher standard of reason, decency, and effectiveness if the writer expects them to grab and hold readers’ attention – if the writer expects them to work.
 
I’d like to see the editors put a short and simple guidelines policy to that effect right on the homepage of the website.  Guidelines directing the writer to cut to the chase.  Guidelines that ask for the writer’s concise opinion or point, his contention or belief presented clearly, succinctly, and unemotionally, and the facts, reasoning, or documentation that support what the writer’s stating.  The guide should also contain a line that warns contributors that insinuation, innuendo, unnecessary emotional jabbing, extraneous material, and anything that might victimize or otherwise harm innocent bystanders will prevent contributions from being posted.  Enforcing such guidelines is how the site will establish and maintain its integrity.  And its effectiveness.  Any successful promotional or marketing professional will tell you never to shoot yourself in the foot.  Instead, simply point to your nemesis doing it.  Why not openly make that point to the site’s contributors, and that it will be a requirement if they expect to be published?
 
About the site overall, I think its intention and effort are terrific.  I’d love to see a bunch of these websites, blogs, and blabfests spring up, where citizens have an opportunity to mix in a broader community and express themselves freely, openly, and responsibly – or just experience others doing so, and in the process learn about some of the stuff, wonderful and horrible, that’s going on around town.  What’s really attractive about your site is simply how it opens things up, attempts to hold our leaders accountable, shines light in otherwise dark and skulky places, and puts all sorts of stuff on the table that we don’t see very much or very often in the traditional media of the U.P. and northeastern Wisconsin.  Eventually maybe you’ll even influence coverage by those newspapers and broadcast stations as similar sites are doing around the country.  Is there a way to persuade the Iron Mountain Issues Association to put a PayPal feature and/or a secure credit-card form on your site so supporters can show their support and encouragement financially, not only for you but through you for candidacies, issues, debates, investigations, research, lawsuits, promotions, rallies, legal and other professional counsel, public education, more forums, and additional activities and events as you get your feet under you, grow, mature, and evolve?
 
Here's wishing you God's blessings, a strong resolve, and great good luck.

Respectfully yours,
 
Jim Hogan
Iron Mountain

9-29-2006-02

The county equalization director was quoted in the newspaper last year as saying he thinks the county should get assurances in writing from Iron Mountain on the promise that TIFA would not get a cut of the college millage.  Did that ever happen?  I don't remember seeing anything on that after the article.  I'm asking because of the council's strong opposition to keeping the police and fire pension millage from being captured by TIFA, against the advice of the TIFA board, itself.  Did the county get their written promise?

9-29-2006-01

9-28-2006-6

A posting of the History of the Water bond can be found under the Water Issues button on the main page.  Water Bond Post

9-28-2006-5

First allow me to say THANK YOU to the hosts of this web site for acting so quickly in removing the Old Civil Service test scores containing the names of those not associated in any way with city Government or operations. I am sure they would appreciate it.  I would also like to make just a couple things clear in relation to the response from one of the many unknown writers concerning my post to this site as it relates to the civil service test, etc. I would hope it makes clear a few issues.  I did not mention the issue involving a Part time dispatcher that was hired without first taking a C.S. test because that was not the focus of my post.

But as long as that anonymous writer would like to insinuated that it was not mentioned for some sinister reason. Yes...you are correct, The part-time dispatchers at the IMPD were in fact hired without first taking a civil service test. why. I cannot answer that as I do not know. Also...yes...One of those Dispatchers was sent to Police school, paid for by the City of Iron Mountain. No...I do not know how they intend to use him in a Law enforcement capacity because he is not currently on the Civil Service eligibility list. you can be assured that Civil service employees are wondering the same thing.  I would like to know a couple things myself now and hope that either the hosts of the site or their frequent authors can help me. Why do you allow for anonymous postings. Are we not all citizens of this community, Are we not all concerned about what is best. It is a sad day when people are allowed to snipe and throw stones at others under the cloak of darkness. A lot like a sniper hiding in the woods waiting to take their shot or a thief in the night who wants desperately to avoid detection. that approach is something I personally do not understand. I have heard all the excuses about the fear of retribution if an authors identity is discovered and how all sorts of things would happen to them , all at the orders of that person or persons who were the targets of their questions....Bunk....all Bunk....

If people of this community truly feel that hard questions need to be asked...then ask them. in public, in front of a council or on the front page of your daily newspaper. And let them know where they came from and demand an answer.... That's government by the people ...That's what being an advocate is...Not anonymous stabs from the dark....I agree with your writers in one sense that questions need to be asked and issues clarified. So find someone or a group of someone's and give them the authority to speak on the behalf of all of you...Isn't that what we try to teach our kids.     Stand up.... for yourself and other who can't...come on Iron Mountain...we can do better.... Thanks for letting me say my piece...again....and having said it I will have no further need to return. I would hope that my comments are taken just for what they are and not twisted into something they were not intended to be by someone from the darkness...

Thank you again,

Sincerely,
Bill Revord, Citizen, Iron Mountain
 

9-28-2006-4

John Marquart's contract - the City's estimated true cost

Salary                                                    $75,000.00

Retirement Plan 11% of salary               $8,250.00

Social Security  (City Portion)         $5,737.00

Car Allowance @ $150.00 per month       $1,800.00

Medical - Estimated                                  $5,000.00

Travel/Lodging/Meals for conferences  Est.    $5,000.00     

                                                 Total      $100,787.00 

The bottom two items are estimates.  The very last one is undoubtedly low. 

 Also, he is guaranteed an increase of no less than 3% and up to 10% next year.

9-28-2006-3

A Bloated Bureaucracy Suddenly Appears

A competent City Manager is duty bound to rein in costs.  An incompetent one surrounds himself with yes-men.  He cannot handle the job that previous City Managers handled without all the extra hires.

John Marquart knows practically nothing about equipment, maintenance or the overall operations of the Department of Public Works.  So he hires Bob Becotte as DPW Director has him on the payroll for three weeks, and finally decides to bring it to the City Council for approval.  Rather than being outraged, the Council meekly goes along.

The DPW Director, who also knows very little about equipment, gets $48,000 a year plus benefits, lives in Gladstone, has no intention of moving into the area, and is in violation of the residency regulations.  The wimpy City Council does nothing.

He hires a part-time Code Enforcement Officer from Stephenson.  His original estimate is that this position would cost around $8,000.  Now it is advertised as a full-time position. The Tax Assessor as part of his regular duties formerly handled this responsibility.

Next he decides Iron Mountain needs something called the Director of Planning and Community Development.  He hires Mark Woolard, from Ishpeming, who is also commuting and has no intention of moving within an area specified by the residency requirements.  He gets $37,500 plus benefits.  Another residency violation.

He hires Rich Brook as City Assessor.  This is supposed to be a part-time job for $25,000.  Brook is also from Gladstone, again in violation of the residency requirements.  Next thing we know a slippery arrangement ensues whereby Brook gets a contract for a massive city reappraisal.  Probably the biggest bonanza Brook has received in his lifetime.  While he likes to find faults with everything done before he arrived, the Dickinson County Equalization Department has already cited him for his errors in this years assessment figures. (See City Assessor link)

The Great Pretender Rolls on

 Pretending to be competent and actually being competent are not the same thing.

Marquart is good at pretending.  He is smooth, slick and glib.  He loves to give the impression he is always in control.  To some extent that he has succeeded because he apparently has hypnotized the City Council to believe he is practically infallible. Nobody asks him the hard questions.  He and his buddy the Mayor have the Council in the palms of their hands.  

He was fired from at least two of his last three jobs, (Wilkinsburg, PA and Dormont, PA), maybe all three.  He was manager of Edgewood, PA for two years between the two firings.  It took those City Councils about two years to size him up and send him packing.

This City Council is stacked with slow-learners.  And no watchdogs. That's obvious from the large pay raise and pension benefits they gave him.

The only recourse the citizens of Iron Mountain have is to change the make up of the City Council.  That won't happen until the November 2007 election when four positions will be up. 

It is vitally important that competent and dedicated people seek these positions.  The narrow, self-serving attitudes now evident in the make up of the current council must end.  Get involved.  Seek out people you believe can do the job and encourage them to run.  Decide to run yourself if you believe you are one of them. Apathy will only make the situation worse.  It's your city. 

Remember the quote attributed to the eminent British statesman and philosopher Edmund Burke (1729-97)    "All it takes for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing"

9-28-2006-02

What's more frightening when instances like this occur: that this dictatorial little man might be a controlling and manipulative scoundrel deliberately breaking the law and expecting to get away with it; or that the guy's just a shifty and pseudo-charming, creepy and self-important incompetent clunk who doesn't know what the law is to begin with?

1.) State law prohibiting the requirement of direct deposit of all payroll checks [see Act 390 of 1978 408.476 sec. 6 (2) at this state link]:

                  http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/mcl/pdf/mcl-Act-390-of-1978.pdf

2.) City manager's memo requiring, against the law, direct deposit of all payroll checks:  Direct Deposit Memo
 

9-28-2006-01

I agree with the sentiment in Mr. Revord's comment.  It is unfortunate that innocent people could be embarrassed by that list.  However, I do not believe it was provided as hate-mongering.  It was official documentation of potential wrongdoing by the city government.  Other than documentation, how can you successfully make a point that something is very wrong with the way things are operating in Iron Mountain?  Frustration and anger, sure.  Hate-mongering?  No, I don't think so.  I notice there was no argument that the dispatcher in question has been hired without going through civil service, and there is documentation elsewhere on this website (vendor reports) that the city sent him to school.  That is just plain wrong, and it needed to come out with documentation.  The police officers cannot bargain away City Charter requirements for people who are not police officers.  Attacking the people who point these things out is just that, an attack.  Explain how this is legal if you truly want to refute anything people are alleging.

9-27-2006-03

The link to the test scores has been removed.  The people that run this site do not wish to embarrass or bring ridicule upon those individuals that have nothing to do with operation or management of the City.  This site was created to provide information to citizens not to promote hatred toward those that serve the public.

9-27-2006-02

I was wondering...I understand that when one is a public official or even an employee of a municipality, that you need to grin and bear the attacks that the public at times slings your way, but what I don't understand is why the folks that run this web site would allow the names of  innocent, uninvolved people to be displayed and subjected to the unwanted and undeserved negative attention of the public. I write specifically about posting the grades from an old IMFD civil service employment test on this site. The article talks about the failure of the test by a councilman and a current Police Dept. Dispatcher, Now while I think that it is tacky and tasteless to begin with, My bigger concern with that is that several others who failed the test have also been placed on front street to be the target of comments, etc and they have absolutely nothing to do with the current hate mongering that this site hosts. Almost like Speak out. Just thought I'd add my two cents...Oh, And yes....I will print my name....
Bill Revord
906-774-3078

9-27-2006-1

Regarding a copy of the requested gag order referred to in Perry Tompkins reply to it at http://www.imfd.org/gag2.jpg : while awaiting a posting of it online at one site or another, you and anyone else may get a copy of it for yourself by requesting from city hall, via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), city manager John Marquart's memorandum of September 8, 2004, regarding "all correspondence with the other governmental agencies and the media, as it related to the operation and the administration of the Fire Department shall, likewise, come through the City Manager's office."

9-26-2006-02

You have a link on this website to www.imfd.org .  They don't have a forum on that site.  I'm hoping one of them sees this site and can answer a question for me.  In Part 4 of a public safety series, there is a link to a response to a gag order.  http://www.imfd.org/gag2.jpg .  I am very interested in seeing the actual "gag order".  Imfd.org, if you see this, can you post that original gag order here or there?  I'm sure I'm not the only one who would like to see it.  Thanks.

9-26-2006-01

There are a few comments here about civil service and people who were hired without going through civil service.  I did some homework, and civil service requirements are in the City Charter.  They did hire part-time dispatchers at the police station, who are not policemen or firemen, so they fall under the regular civil service, just like the police department secretary who was hired under civil service before this ignorant bunch took office.  And, yes, it's true that they hired a dispatcher who FAILED a city civil service test.  See #27.   A passing score is 70%.  Then, they took this guy and sent him to police school, and WE PAID FOR IT!!   Judging by the same test results list, it's a good thing you don't have to pass a test (see #4) to become a councilman.   . . . Or is it?     Civil Service Test

9-21-2006-3

9-21-2006-02

9-20-2006-01

9-18-2006-01

Is there any truth to the rumor that the City Council tried to put another charter amendment on the ballot to confuse the TIFA/pension money issue, and that it was rejected by the State Attorney General?

9-17-2006-01

9-8-2006-02

                                    October 10, 2005 Letter                                MIOSHA Report                                November 2005 Newspaper Article

9-8-2006-1

9-7-2006-4

9-7-2006-2

9-6-2006-2

9-6-2006-1

9-5-2006-3

9-5-2006-2

Readers of this Public Forum: 

Go to the very first posted Public Forum comment.  Scroll down this column until it stops.  On there are two links, Payroll and Vendor's Summary Report.  Click on the Vendors link.  This is only for the month of July.  The list is alphabetical.  Allen, Brian was paid $14,730.00.   Brook, Rich was paid $35,260.00 and Gilbert & Associates was paid $6,225.00.  All three are under the

Category of City Reappraisal. Rich Brook is the City Assessor.  Total:  $56,215. 

For the month, Rich Brook gets over $1,000.00 per day.  Who are Gilbert & Associates and Brian Allan and who is authorized to hire them?  Did the City Council hire them?  

Now go to City Employment Contracts and click on the 2006 Addendum under Rich Brook. Go to Section 4 - Compensation.  Brook gets $50.00 per parcel minus any fees paid to those employees used to gather field data.  Why are Brian Allen and Gilbert & Associates being paid separately?  Are we to believe that the total was $56,215 and the other two have been deducted, so Brook nets $35,260 for the month? 

 Does anyone think Rich Brook is worth $1,000 a day?  How can all this be explained?  Will the Mayor, City Manager or any council member please respond? 

 This whole reappraisal mess smells of corruption in Iron Mountain city government and we the taxpayers will get stuck.

      City of Iron Mountain July 2006 Payroll        City of Iron Mountain July 2006 Vendor Report