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January 2007 Postings 1-31-2007-11 What will it
take to make the people on this site
happy...No matter what is done its not good
enough, sidewalks on the falling a part
Northside, not enough, attempts to draw
people to Iron Mountain with their wallets
to spend at ALL businesses not enough, roads
being paved not enough. Most here appear to
be so bitter, so angry that no amount of
effort will appease them. They cannot see
the forest because of the trees. Obviously
SOMEONE must see the positive, why else
would there be MILLIONS of dollars being
invested by business people within and
around Iron Mountain alone? In my time here
in Iron Mountain, there is unprecedented
expansion. Not just by
multinational companies but by local
business owners who see opportunity here.
Hotels, corporate headquarters, college,
business its all coming here. Why? Because
they want to LOSE money...No! Its because
they see opportunities here and a positive
environment for return on investment. It
takes money to make money it takes hard work
and change to bring GOOD jobs and quality
people to fill them. Look AROUND, the world
has changed, those that don't change with
it, get swallowed up. Those that do nothing
but complain are the ones with the closed
narrow minds. To think that Iron Mountain
and the economic conditions here are the
same as 100years ago is the definition of
narrow minded.
Kurt Rosenthal
1-31-2007-10 In response to the Daily News Article of 1-31-2007-09. The reason the Unemployment rate is so low in Dickinson County is because when you lose your job in Dickinson County you move to another Town and County with some opportunity. And if you stay and after your unemployment benefits run out you drop out of the equation for the unemployment rate. 1-31-2007-09 Oh boy! Another bright article about downtown! I think an Italian
Fest is a wonderful idea. Really. However,
more irony, Main Street, Iron Mountain is on the
north side, coincidentally where ALL THE ITALIAN
IMMIGRANTS LIVED. A true honor - not lip
service or an excuse to have a downtown fest -
would be to have the festival on the north side,
where it belongs. There is a large empty lot
right at the corner of Main & Vulcan.
1-31-2007-08 Thank you for the
little bit of humor in comment 01-31-04 - "the
definition of irony." We already have a brand
new, million dollar parking lot on the north
side that we all paid for, and it's mostly empty
all the time, too.
Another comment
mentioned improvements that benefit a council
person's downtown business. Look at the trouble
the developer of the east end of C Street had to
put up with, then look at how accommodating the
council was to the developer on the top of Pine
Mountain - another council member. That new
entrance to Kramer Drive? Watch for
new development there, too, and hydrants and
water main splits have already been put in by
the City. Guess who owns the land?
1-31-2007-07 Isn't it
interesting. The 'powers that be' want to rebuild
downtown and want US to shop there. Yet what have
THEY done to promote our local economy and keep us
here? They hire out-of-towners in management
positions. They get contracts for services from
out-of-town and out-of-state (unless of course it's
a council members business). 1-31-2007-06 In the interest
of accuracy and fairness regarding post #
1-31-2007-03 on the issue of the
professional services fees of Anderson
Tackman:
The figure of
$99,860 versus $24,100 does not represent
auditing fees alone. The auditing fees are
still close to the lower figure. The
difference represents contract work that a
separate division in Green Bay did on the
city's website and computer upgrades. It is
easy to understand the mistake when going
through the Vendors Summary pages.
That said, the
Green Bay division got the contract through
negotiations, not competitive bidding, so
we'll never know if it was competitive. A
local vendor I know was snuffed out of the
process. 1-31-2007-05
What do you
expect from this administration? We
have a City Manager in his mid-fifties
with a Master's Degree who has bounced
around from job to job for nearly 30
years and fired from at least two of his
last three. He never made more than
$62,000 per year until he conned this
city council to bump him up to $75,000
and throw in $11,000 into his pension
plan. All who have had occasion to work
or deal with him know he's a control
freak. He brought that character flaw
with him to Iron Mountain and hasn't
missed a beat.
He has cost
the city a small fortune in litigation
costs, with more on the way. The
dim-witted council meekly goes along
never questioning anything. He has
built an unneeded bureaucracy with a
full time hand picked Public Works
director, Economic Development Planner
and Code Enforcer.
How in the
world did Iron Mountain survive without
these positions for well over 100 years?
Why haven't Kingsford and Norway
collapsed into oblivion without these
positions?
How can the
City Managers of Kingsford and Norway
avoid the annual trek to the
International City Managers Convention
at $2,500+ in expenses? Very simple.
They have no need to network for their
next job.
This site
has been a true eye-opener by
furnishing all this public
information to us.
1-31-2007-04 The
definition of irony:
Replacing already limited parking space in the
downtown area with grass, trees, a band shell,
and a pavilion, in order to attract more people
to the downtown area . . .
where the hordes of
new shoppers won’t finding a parking space
because of the improvements.
I’m waiting for the
next step in the plan:
to create a new, expensive parking lot
somewhere, with a trolley to ferry the people to
the downtown area. That should only cost a
million dollars or so. 1-31-2007-03 Thank you for posting the City Vendor Reports on
your site. I have found them very enlightening
as to where my tax dollars are being spent.
Every taxpayer of the City should look at these
figures closely, and question them if you feel
the same way that I do. These are some of the
incredible things that I found out.
Lately, City Assessor Rich Brook and his buddies
have appeared in the crystal ball with the
exorbitant amount of money they are being paid,
and what appears to be zero accountability for
the work performed. Please look under Rich
Brook, Brian Allan, Carl Little, David Peterson,
and Gilbert and Associates to see for yourselves
what they are being paid. Looks pretty shaky at
best.
But what about other shaky deals that this
council and management have approved. STS
consultants, an engineering company, was paid a
sum of $322,121 for 2006. I don’t recall any
contracts being awarded this company through the
bidding process.
What I do remember is Mr. Marquart making a
statement in the Daily News when he hired the
City Engineer Robert Beccotte: “We will
save money with this position and not having to
use STS Consultants or another engineer on
smaller projects for the city. We will save his
salary in the first year.”; and
Councilman Doug Rigoni agreed. “With Mr.
Becotte having an engineering degree, we will
not be spending as much money on professional
engineering services. He will have the ability
to work on smaller projects that need
engineering and this will help save money for
the city.”.
[Iron Mountain Daily News - 11-08-05 - Council Endorses Hiring - IM public works director on board] To this day it appears that Mr. Becotte has not
found his pencil to start saving money.
Another item of interest is the amount paid to
the Anderson Tackman Company. They were the low
bidder for the City audit several years back at
$24,100. For 2006, they were paid $99,860 for
professional services.
Then there are the smaller things like payments
to a restaurant owned by a councilperson for
meeting snacks and snack trays. A small amount
yes, an ethical practice… you be the judge!
1-31-2007-02 I found the article in the Daily News very disturbing. The City is willing to match funds to help a few "Downtown Businesses" remodel their buildings, but then turn around and fine the landlords in this town for not updating their rental properties. Are the Landlords made of money? If their true cause was to make the over all city look better they would have come up with a plan and a grant program to help the landlords improve the houses around town. But you see from a real estate agents point of view you can make more money, quicker from business property than private property. The mayor is involved in real estate. The main business at the other end of the parking lot that the City would like to improve is Moose Jackson, owned by Council women Eden Caudel. I am sure her business would greatly benefit from the improvement to a PARKING LOT! Are you seeing the connections here. $200,000 to improve a parking lot!! From other notes posted on this site it sounds like the City Park could use the improvements not a Parking Lot!! It makes me sick to my stomach that the Council thinks that the average Citizen in this town is too stupid to notice or too lazy to care. I encourage everyone to attend Thursday's meeting and voice their displeasure with the Council. 1-31-2007-01
Have they gone completely bonkers?
I'm talking about the plans for downtown.
Not only do they want a band shell and
carousel, now they want a green area and a
pavilion.
The buzz around
town is they want to take down the power
company poles between Ludington and B Street
in the alley behind and east of Stephenson
Avenue and make it all underground.
This is
the project they wanted the power company
and telephone company to pay for, but a
Michigan Supreme court case filed by the
utilities shot them down. They still want
to go ahead at a cost of around $200,000.
I haven't counted the
number of poles in those three blocks, but I
imagine it's around 10 or so. So the city
is going to spend
$20,000 per pole?
That's
only for starters.
Individual business owners
will have to pay the cost of the underground
electric, telephone and cable connections
into their buildings.
We don't have
any idea what this pavilion and
landscape project will cost, but we
do know it will take away many parking
spaces. So will the band shell and
carousel. They are also planning
to repave a downtown parking lot.
Business and
building owners haven't even been asked if
they want any of this.
Total insanity
has overtaken the thinking of
our city council, under the spell of the
mayor and city manager. Building owners
will pay the price, and we outside taxpayers
are definitely in the mix.
All this
while the city doesn't have money to cut
grass at the cemetery and no money
to pave the many miles of
streets that definitely need it. If
the citizens re-elect ANY
of these whack-heads who choose to run in
November, we
deserve everything we get. Color
me RED, as in fuming mad.
1-30-2007-11
Thank You, $90,110 for four months is more than
the President of the United States makes. Makes
you feel proud, don't it?
1-30-2007-10 I’m curious about Brittney
Hoszkiw. Was this person in fact hired as the
DDA/Main Street Manager?
According to the Dickinson
Chamber minutes (Volume 8 Issue 1 January 2007)
http://www.dickinsonchamber.com/Data/admin/Newsletter.pdf,
she would begin her duties as manager on Jan. 6,
with her office in City Hall. According to those
minutes, Hoszkiw has experience with the Main
Street Program through Old Town Lansing as an
intern. I’m curious as to what experience that
might be, since Old Town Lansing got their
designation at the SAME TIME Iron Mountain did.
http://michigan.gov/documents/cis/Lansing_Old_Town_Release_175345_7.pdf 1-30-2007-09 The City
of Iron Mountain clearly has a Sidewalk Replacement
Program policy. It's posted on the city site at: 1-30-2007-08 In regard to this
Daily News story about the downtown facade
program:
We've had a facade
downtown . . . no, it's too easy.
1-30-2007-07 That spreadsheet
link on the assessor was shocking! Those
figures are over and above his actual salary,
too. I took a look at those 2006 vendor reports
and came up with these additions not listed in
the spread sheet:
April -
Rich Brook $1,348.60
May - Rich
Brook $882.72
June - Rich
Brook $7,922.22
November - Rich
Brook $2,199.38
December -
Rich Brook $2,199.38
$14,552.30
+
$90,110.00 - from spreadsheet link
$104,662.30
- 2006 for Mr. Brook, plus salary - and he needs
a vehicle allowance, too?
1-30-2007-06 I'm new to this
site. Only found out about it a few days
ago. There is excellent, polite (for the
most part) dialogue and a dedicated effort
to reach solutions to the many problems we
face as a city.
I've been to a
few city council meetings. Their practice
of not allowing council members or the city
manager to dialogue with the speakers during
the public comment leaves one with the
impression they are barely putting up with
you only because it's a legal requirement to
hold a public comment period.
Other city council and township boards in the area seem to get along fine with dialogue. If a rare unruly speaker gets out of hand, it is a simple matter to rule that person out of order. This website has an amazing amount of information. It would be nearly impossible for most of us to get this information without a great deal of effort. My thanks to whoever is running it. I will do my best to inform as many people as possible about this site.1-30-2007-05 The attached
spreadsheet answers the question posed by
post # 1-29-2007-01
1-30-2007-04 I should also
clarify myself on my "Quaint like Minocqua"
comment. What I meant in that post was that the
area of Minocqua worked tirelessly to preserve
their image. There is no Wal-mart or K-mart.
It has incredible tourist business, preserved
natural attractions, and manages year after year
to maintain its integrity.
That is the outcome
of an area focusing on what it is capable of,
where its financial resources are most likely to
come from, and locking all of that in for the
long haul.
Iron Mountain seems
like it is trying to head in so many directions
with a major identity crisis.
And, in the mean time, alienating ourselves from
our surrounding neighbors.
Sigh.
1-30-2007-03 Quote by Mr. Lefebvre: "Times change and so should the Cities we live in. Even our kids are changing and it has become important to have an environment to keep them busy and out of trouble. Cities with high crime rates do not have youth programs operating. Our area is very fortunate to have the Baseball League, Youth Soccer League, Youth Football League, Waves Swimming Team, Hockey Program, Youth Wrestling Program, etc. I am forgetting a bunch and I apologize for that." While I agree that sports are invaluable at giving our kids the tools they need to have a successful life, I also wish to push the subject of Wildlife/Natural areas as being just as important to them. Someone mentioned earlier "quality family time". That is so important for our kids! This is how they learn to carry on good parenting skills with their own children someday. Learning respect for our environment, wildlife, conservation, and the responsibility of managing those resources is priceless. We live in the UP for a reason: we wanted a slower pace, fishing and hunting, the beauty of our surroundings, seasons changing, etc. Do we really want to make these things disappear one by one until we resemble a mini version of Detroit or Milwaukee? If City Park is run down then let's do something about it to bring it back to its earlier glory. Reviewing the City Council minutes is pretty enlightening: The amount of money that was eventually spent just on the City Park Pavilion is staggering. Could that have been better managed? You bet. Could some of that money have been spent on the rest of the park? Undoubtedly. Are we able to provide a sports field AND a Natural area for our families? YES! It's up to us to make it happen. If you have researched Grants for Athletic programs, I would imagine there are just as many Grants out there for Natural Habitat areas. I want our kids to be well-rounded and be able to appreciate everything our area has to offer. What makes a young adult want to raise a family here? Maybe the same things that made us want to raise our kids here years ago. We knew we were giving up higher pay to be here. But we wanted this lifestyle, these surroundings. Let's protect them now. I know that a teenager isn't as apt to go visit the deer as they were as a younger child, but they never forget the experiences they had with their parents and will want to give those same experiences to their own children someday. In my day, there was a roller skating rink, Saturday night dances at the Armory....in general, well-chaperoned events for kids to socialize and enjoy. Now it seems to be all about hanging out in a parking lot or drinking at someone's house. Can't we do any better for our kids than this? I just pray that City park doesn't become a battle ground for Sports VS. Animals. There has got to be a way to provide both, there just has to. Mr. Lefebvre said "Times change and so should the cities we live in." Respectfully, I ask you are all changes always for the better? 1-30-2007-02
The assessor pay?
Look at the contract page and the assessor
page on this site.
1. According to his
figures, there are 5,815 parcels
in the city.
2. His contract says his salary is $26,392.50
per year.
3. The addendum to his contract says he gets
$50.00 per parcel - to be done in one
year's time. That's $290,750.00, less
what others are paid (although the vendor
reports show payments to him AND others).
4.
$26,392.50
+$290,750.00
(hypothetical maximum - less others paid)
=$317,142.50
- for one year. 1-30-2007-01 Mr. Lefebvre makes very good points about the need for sports fields and how park usage has increased because of the field already there. I am in complete agreement with what he says about those needs. I am not in agreement that it has to be at the expense of City Park as a natural area. While it’s true that more people now use the park for sports than other things, it’s also true that the reason for that is the disintegration of what the park used to be. Besides the sports areas, all that’s left is a few deer in a pen and a playground. It’s no wonder that few people use the park anymore, because there’s practically nothing left of what it was. There are other areas
that could be utilized in the ways Mr. Lefebvre
proposes. The Crystal Lake area comes to mind - as
long as the e. coli problem can be addressed. There
is only one City Park. Do things really have to
change to the point that we have to lose the one
area that is unique? Our once-uniquely beautiful
hills are even being defaced with expensive houses
marring the view.
This Park could be
regenerated to it’s old glory, and in the process,
again become a star attraction for tourists. We
do need sports fields, but we need out-of-area
dollars pumped into the local economy, too. That
would be incidental to the benefit to those who live
here. Someone said in an earlier post that we are
not a quaint area like Minocqua. Why not? We
certainly could achieve that status if we wanted to.
Our area could be marketed that way right now. We
have lakes, rivers, natural beauty, perfect summer
climate, enough snow for winter tourism, etc. Why
not a natural park with beauty and wildlife? If
there are dollars to make the Pewabic mine into a
tourist attraction, there must also be dollars to
have a City Park. Can you imagine New York’s
Central Park being chopped up because time change?
The whole point of what a park is supposed to be is
being lost. 1-29-2007-02 I would like to comment on the Deer at City Park and the usage of that area. I am the President of the Area Youth Football League and would like to share my proposal for the park. Each spring through early October the City Park Soccer/Football Field is used by some 500 young athletes playing soccer and 100 youth football players. On summer evenings you drive down to the park, try to find a parking spot near the field, to watch your son, daughter, grandchild or just friend of the family play soccer. On fall week days you can come and join the hundreds of parents that come to watch their kids practice and on Saturday afternoons you can come to the park and watch a game. When you add their family and friends we have a couple of hundred people using the field. From spring to fall I water that field almost every day and I have never seen the number people visiting the Deer, using the playground, or using the large Log Cabin for a company picnic as the number of people using the athletic field for sporting events. Remember the field at City Park is the only regulation size soccer field in town. We have volunteers all season long that pick up the trash and help maintain the area. The Deer area looks run down and they have destroyed all the trees within the pen. If we took that area and flattened the landscape we could fit another regulation size soccer field and within that soccer field another football field. On the Northwest corner we could place anther baseball diamond to help ease the shortage of baseball fields in town. There is a well for water there that is capable of providing irrigation to keep the fields in shape through the summer months. We could turn one of the Log Cabins into a concession stand that could raise money for bleachers and lighting. We could have better parking near the field so as to aid the handicapped citizens of Iron Mountain enjoy the park. Now I know what your thinking. "The City doesn't have the money to pay for this" I agree, but there are Grants available for all kinds of improvements for youth athletic programs. We just have to have a need for the money. These past 3 years have you noticed that the soccer field is looking better each year. The kids are starting to take some pride in that field. I know the football players view that field has their home field. If someone were to damage the field the kids are going to know who did it and report it to the authorities. In closing I just want to point out that if you had a usage meter on the park the numbers for the athletic field would justify the creation of another field. I urge all residents of Iron Mountain to think about how many times they go to the park to see the Deer or do they go to see their children play. Times change and so should the Cities we live in. Even our kids are changing and it has become important to have an environment to keep them busy and out of trouble. Cities with high crime rates do not have youth programs operating. Our area is very fortunate to have the Baseball League, Youth Soccer League, Youth Football League, Waves Swimming Team, Hockey Program, Youth Wrestling Program, etc. I am forgetting a bunch and I apologize for that. Dean Lefebvre 1-29-2007-01
I over
heard two guys talking in a local tavern about the
city assessrs pay. I find it hard to believe that
he makes more in one year than the governor of the
state of Michigan. Can anybody verify that
statement ? 1-28-2007-03 If you look back in history, you will see that the City condemned and then seized land for City Park. At that time, it was approximately 81 acres of private property they were going after for the park. Recent discussion has put the size of City Park at around 15 acres. Just another thing to wonder about. When I was growing up, going
to City Park was a wonderful treat. There were always a
lot of people there, enjoying the deer, the bear,
raccoons, rabbits, ducks, geese, etc. I even remember
peacocks strutting around. There was a large goldfish
pond with a bridge, people had picnics, took walks,
enjoyed the natural beauty and animals, the kids played
on the playground. It was a great place to spend a
family day. Sometimes you were lucky to find a parking
spot.
Look at City Park now. It
is being transformed into a sports complex. Why? There
are plenty of other areas perfectly suited for that, but
only one naturally beautiful City Park. The average
family cannot enjoy the simple pleasures of the old City
Park already. I hate to see it go. We should do
everything we can to get that old park back before we
lose another special thing forever. That park enriched
lives by giving people a great place to spend quality
family time. A sports park cannot do that for as many
people as the old park environment did. If it was up to
me, I'd get rid of the playing field that's already
there and convert it back to a more natural area.
We do have a healthy tourism
industry here. Bambi Park is gone, too. More animals
and more variety of them would also be an attraction for
tourists. If we lose it all, it's gone.
1-28-2007-02 A recent post was questioning the city attorney's role in things. If I was the city attorney, or the firm he represents, I would be furious at how my reputation was being damaged by this administration. Marquart's MO has been to shoot from the hip without checking anything first. He was fired for leaving the council out of the loop in a previous job, remember? When the city attorney is left out of the loop, and I think he has been a few times, he is forced to play catch-up with all the blunders. I wonder if there are any memos from the attorney to the city regarding this? They should be public documents. I don't like to see someone's
reputation attacked if circumstances are beyond their
control. I spoke with the city attorney a while back, and
he struck me as a pretty decent guy, and he very vaguely
hinted at what I'm saying here about not being asked for his
opinion. I think you would also be able to find documents
where he gave an opinion that was not followed if you looked
hard enough.
1-28-2007-01 Congratulations on the great amount of new material you put on this site in the past few days. The city budget and monthly expense reports give us a chance to pick through many, many items. This is valuable information that is available for the first time in the history of Iron Mountain to the general public in an easily manageable form. This site has been a godsend to the oppressed citizens who have been lied to by this administration continually. 1-27-2007-02 Thanks for putting the city budget stuff here. Why am I not surprised that we didn't save the promised $200,000.00+ on public safety? Looks like it cost more, not less. Am I just a cynic, or, is that just the way things are done these days? I mean, they didn't have to actually save the money that was promised, they just had to promise it to get what they wanted? My parents called that lying.
1-27-2007-01
For 01-25-2007-02. Thanks. I do not include Mr. Corombos in the list of city officials I don't trust. Quite the contrary. If he says it, I believe it.
On a different subject, I'd like to
wish the landlords well in their legal battle. I pray for a
resounding, un-ambiguous victory for them. I agree that there
are a few landlords who could be called slumlords, and they
should be dealt with decisively, but they are a very small
minority. All landlords should not be punished by a costly
ordinance because of the small number who don't take care of
their buildings. Should an entire city block be fined because
of the one guy with the junk car in his yard?
What happened to the International
Property Maintenance Code that was supposed to be the end-all,
cure-all for ALL building maintenance in the City? At least,
that's how it was sold to us. It was put out as the best thing
since bread, until it was passed (with a lot of opposition).
Then, suddenly it was "no longer good enough"
to address the rental properties? Like it or not, we, the
taxpayers, are along for the ride, with OUR money being spent on
every frivolous whim of this incompetent,
self-absorbed city council.
1-25-2007-02
In answer to post # 1-24-2007-04
on where I got my information on the question of TIFA
captures, I called TIFA Chairman Ted Corombos. I
don't think he would object to my using his name. The
conversation took all of two minutes. I've known him for
years and knew if he knew the answer I could rely on it. He
did and I do.
1-25-2007-01 Are the Iron Mountain
council and Mr. Marquart really getting away with so many
illegalities? 1-24-2007-04 In response to 01-24-2007-01, on clearing up the differing opinions in previous posts. I just want to say that I stand corrected on the pre-TIFA value capture thing. I don't mind admitting I'm wrong when I am wrong. That's why this website is such a good thing. People can walk around thinking they have the straight dope on something, never knowing they may have some details wrong. That's what happens when the City never tells the citizens anything about anything. Word of mouth always gets corrupted somewhere along the way. Unfortunately, that's all we had to go by before this website came along. Thank you for taking the time and interest to correct that point. I am curious as to who you got the correct information from. My questions never seem to get answered to my satisfaction. If some of our city officials told me the sky is blue, I would feel the need for independent verification. 1-24-2007-03
Thanks, Bill Revord, for your
post on the upcoming events in connection with our local
46th Military Police Unit. I expect it will be a rousing
success and I will happily contribute to it. While we
primarily debate local (primarily Iron Mountain) issues on
this site, we face far greater issues as a nation in a
dangerous and troubled world.
It gets very close to home when
we lose one of our own. It gets close to home when we
understand our friends, husbands, dads and loved ones of the
46th MP unit are in Baghdad, undeniably the most dangerous
city on earth right now.
Those of us who have worn the
uniform and served proudly have a unique bond with every
single American service man and woman now on duty. We think
about it. Around the clock, around the world, they serve us
and protect us. They man the carriers, missile ships,
transports. They run silent and deep in submarines. They
fly the huge cargo planes, the fighters, the bombers.
And on the ground they face the greatest dangers. Highway bombs (IED's) have killed many. Medics rush in under fire to save the wounded, get them out of there, and hope they can be flown to U S hospitals in Germany. Snipers are everywhere.
Door to door fighting, the kind
we appear to be heading for in Baghdad, is the worst kind of
fighting imaginable. Remember Fallujah? The Marines sure
do. Now, the 46th MP's are right there at ground-zero of
these upcoming battles. Let's remember all these young men
and women in our prayers. They do not set government or
military policy. They are duty-bound to carry it out, and
they do. With honor and heads held high.
Thanks again for the reminder,
Bill. And yes, quite a few of us still remember your
efforts in organizing that U P wide effort after 9-11 to get
a semi-trailer full of supplies to New York at another
ground-zero, the World Trade Center. People such as you are
what make America great.
God bless the United States of
America
1-24-2007-02
Well. Looks like more
litigation woes for the City in this Daily News link:
http://www.ironmountaindailynews.com/stories/articles.asp?articleID=4746
Seems like a pretty big deal, an
injunction against the City. Big enough to wonder why this
story does not appear on the websites of other local news
media. The issue itself aside, what really ticks me off about
this whole thing is that the affected group had to spend
thousands of their hard-earned dollars to fight what the City is
trying to do to them. And that's not the first time this
council has tried to ram something questionable down a
particular group's throat, spending thousands of tax dollars to
do it while forcing any affected group to do the same with their
own money. Why is it that the people in this town have to spend
their own hard-earned money to fight every stupid whim of this
council, or face being steam-rolled by unethical, if not
outright illegal actions against them? It's a shameful way to
do business, and it's no wonder our neighboring communities are
shying away from associating with them. If they treat their own
residents so shamefully, how can our neighbors expect anything
different? This city council seems to have forgotten who they
are supposed to be there for. I believe they are supposed to be
servants, not tyrannical masters.
1-24-2007-01
I was curious about two
posts that are disagreement. Post # 1-20-2007-2 stated
that TIFA does not capture
anything from businesses that existed before the start of
TIFA unless they had made improvements.
Post # 1-20-2007-1 disagreed by
saying that TIFA captures the increased value since
its inception even on property that made no
improvements.
As it turns out, a quick
phone call on the matter revealed that TIFA
does NOT capture automatically any increase in taxes over
the years from Pre-TIFA properties that never made
improvements. Good thing, too.
TIFA has become a monster, as
was pointed out, but you can't imagine the monster it would
have become if it captured the increases over the years on
every piece of property in the TIFA district.
I also agree with
the both posts that suggested TIFA should relinquish - I
guess the correct term is pass-through - some or most of
it's huge capture.
1-22-2007-02
For the last few years or so, I have stood by and watched our city decline. In my neighborhood, there are dozens of "for sale" signs--it's similar throughout the city.
The morale of the residents is at an
all time low and we seem to feel helpless when it comes to any
discussions or decisions being made on our behalf.
Just for giggles, I read through the
description of our Local Government on the City Website. I
truly don't believe that the Mayor, the Council, and especially
the City Manager have ever read these descriptions. I also
believe they have never given a glance at the Preamble of the
City Charter.
Straw breaking the camel's back for
me? The City Park Deer. Almost everything I have remembered
and loved about my city, since I was a child, has been whittled
away to a mere skeleton of what it once had to offer.
Iron Mountain needs to try and
define who we are, what we are. We are not Marquette or Green
Bay. We are not an industrial "hot spot" or a quaint area like
Minocqua.
We are a city that could have so
much to offer through tourism, built on piles of mine shafts.
We cannot revitalize our downtown area. Ever. Those days are
done and we would be wasting so much time and money trying to
pull that miracle out of our butts. If we have Wal-mart, we
have no downtown. That area is best left to Business offices
and cafe's to feed them.
Our youth are drinking, taking drugs
and have been begging us for years to provide them with
something other than hanging out in McDonald's parking lot.
At a City Council meeting about 10
years ago, a child and his family approached the Council with a
very well organized plan for a skate park. They even included
the funding for it, already had large donations. They were
completely ignored and it went no further. I was horrified to
see that child's hard work and naive hope get crushed.
But that is what it feels like all
of the time now as I read the newspaper articles and hear things
"on the street".
Ironically, now they want to take my
beloved deer away to put up a skate park? Nope, I don't think
so. I believe there are plenty of other options and more
appropriate solutions. The acreage would probably support many
things, including the deer and the skate park and
trails --with proper planning.
But like everything that comes about
in this City lately, by the time you find out about what you are
going to lose, there has already been a City Council meeting and
they have decided for us.
As I was looking at an aerial
photograph of City Park that I printed off the link on the City
Website, I was at that moment also reading a newspaper article
where John Marquart said he didn't have time to get an aerial
photograph of City Park............
Yep, and so it goes.......
I want my city back.
1-22-2007-01
The writer of 01-20-2007-02
cleared some things up about TIFA. There was one thing said
that I am quite sure is incorrect, though. The writer says that
"Many businesses within the TIFA
district existed before TIFA started.
TIFA does not capture anything from them."
TIFA does capture the tax on any
increased value of those businesses that existed before TIFA.
So, if a business property was worth $50,000 in 1985, and is now
worth $100,000, TIFA captures the taxes for $50,000 on that
existing business. The pre-TIFA value is the only portion that
TIFA does not take. This happens whether the property is
improved or not. That's part of the reason TIFA has turned
into such a monster.
1-21-2007-01 Dear Webmaster, Our Dickinson County
Schools have all come on board this project and are involving the
kids by having them collect the items that were requested by the
soldiers via E-mail on December 23rd. I know personally that this
project gives the kids a feeling of accomplishment as evidenced by
my own 11 year old Daughters excitement over helping the soldiers.
The Elks are going after funding in a number of ways to include
hosting sites to allow residents to send their personal words of
support and encouragement to the troops by signing their message on
cards that will be available on Jan 26th and 27th and Feb 2nd and
3rd at Econo, Midtown Mall, Ebelings Grocery in Norway and the
Sagola BP station. A $5.00 donation is being accepted for those
wanting to jot down their words of support and we A lot of what you have
read here has just recently been in our local newspaper so I won't
taken up much more space here. If you can, come on down to the Elks
Feb 3rd, Bob Kanyuh and I will feed you, Give you a chance to win
some 50-50 raffles and to bid on some items were auctioning. $10.00
at the door get you in for good eats and some great music by Night
train. If your a employer in Dickinson County or the
surrounding area and would like to give your employees a chance to
send their support, we have cards available, just give a call and
we'll deliver one. 1-20-2007-02
I think a couple of points have
to be clarified concerning TIFA capture of garbage millage
and how it is different from the Police & Fire pension
fund.
As I understood the pension issue, the city was
OVERTAXING EVERYBODY because of TIFA capture, so
that the pension fund could get the correct amount due to
that fund. The pension fund was never shortchanged
because of TIFA. The taxpayers were being OVERCHARGED
because of the TIFA capture. That matter has been
resolved with the pass-through agreement, and subsequently
reaffirmed by the Charter Amendment.
True, it ended only after
a gun-to-their-head approached got the attention of a city
council that has no qualms about collecting money from any
available source, right or wrong, fair or unfair, even
though the excess funds were going to TIFA's budget, not the
the General Fund of the city. Even when the TIFA board said
it didn't need the money, the city council, in effect, said
"Yes, you do. We'll find a way to
spend it."
State law allows the city
council to levy up to three (3.0) mills for
garbage collection over and above property taxes. Iron
Mountain levies around 1.5 mills. Somewhere in that law,
which I admittedly haven't researched, there has to be a
presumption that if you're going to tax somebody for a
special service, they should get that
special service.
Many businesses within the
TIFA district existed before TIFA started. TIFA
does not capture anything from them. Many of those
pre-TIFA businesses, such as McDonald's, Country Kitchen,
Hardee's, Wendy's, the Midtown Mall and many, many others
use private garbage collectors, yet they pay the 1.5 mill
garbage assessment and get
nothing for it.
If their special garbage
assessment is presumably going into some kind of Garbage
Fund for bookkeeping purposes, they are, in effect,
subsidizing the residential and small commercial users
that the city contracted garbage service is
collecting.
Added note: I agree that TIFA
should be passing through a substantial proportion, if not
all of their capture. TIFA has served the city well and has
been a bonanza to the city, but it has served it purpose, or
at least 90% of it's purpose.
1-20-2007-01
The writer of 01-19-2007-01
inadvertently makes the point of the previous writer, about
residential property owners. If TIFA is capturing the garbage millage
inside the district, then those outside the district have to pay
more for garbage to compensate for the loss of the millage
captured by TIFA. Same thing as the pension millage issue.
That is on top of the point about those in the district paying
the millage, having it captured, and not getting the service
they are paying the millage for. TIFA has got to go, before we
have no services left at all.
Another point to look at: Those in
the TIFA district who have almost their entire property tax
captured by TIFA are getting all other city services for
free, while everyone else has to pay more
to compensate for it. TIFA is breaking the city's back,
financially.
1-19-2007-01
I did a little checking around on the issue of TIFA capturing garbage fees, but I don't have all the answers yet. Here is what I have found out. The city property tax millage on your recent tax bills is a lump sum number. Buried in that number is around 1.5 mills special allocation for garbage. This is separate from property taxes, but you'd never know it because it isn't broken out. It actually comes close to 10% of the city property tax millage. If you are a residential home owner and your garbage is being picked up by GAD, it's more or less the way it's supposed to be. Of course, you also pay additional garbage fees on your water bill. TIFA is not capturing any of this. Now the interesting part. What if you are a property owner within the TIFA district and your building was built after TIFA came into existence? And let's say you have contracted with a private contractor for garbage collection because the city does not handle large commercial accounts. Are you being exempt from the separate garbage millage, or are you paying the same lump sum city millage without getting any garbage service from the city. Any commercial property owners who are contracting their garbage with a private sector contractor should look into this. As I understand it, TIFA is capturing all the taxes on your property if it was built after 1986 or so, including 1.5 mills of special assessment that is buried in your property taxes. You may well be, and probably are paying around 10% more in city property taxes than you should and are receiving no service for this specific millage. This 10% millage overcharge would apply to any commercial building, whether built before or after TIFA, if you are contracting your garbage privately. All commercial property owners to whom this applies should definitely look into it. 1-18-2007-01
I don't know what to think about
past talk on the ISO rating of the city. We've heard about it
for going on three years now. Not so much from city officials,
but, only in response to others bringing it up. You would think
that if there was any real concern that the rating would change,
we would be hearing about it at council meetings, brought up by
the council members themselves, and not by someone else.
Is this a real issue or not? Three years is a
long time for nothing to have happened.
If there is the potential for a
collective huge sum of money leaving the local area and going to
big insurance companies due to higher rates, that would have a
serious impact on the local economy. That sounds very serious
to me, if it's a possibility. Again, if it is a possibility,
why is the council not saying anything about it? If not, why
are we still hearing about it on this website? Are there any
new developments since the 1 and 2 year-old letters posted here?
1-14-2007-01
Marcus seems to have gone into
an "Internet Silence" mode. His last post was 12-26-06, or
almost three weeks ago. Maybe he found out he couldn't lie
on this site and get away with it.
He could have posted the labor
contracts he suggested should be posted anytime in the last
three weeks. Nothing done.
Maybe his mentor, the mayor,
figured the less said about anything, the better. I'm sure
they would rather operate under the cover of darkness at
city hall. As time goes by, I am sure we will be seeing
more and more information on this site, especially as the
fall elections approach.
There are too many people
watching things more closely now. All hell will break loose
eventually.
1-13-2007-01
More on the garbage. The
writer of 01-12-2007-01 added to questions about the garbage
collection. When he talked about how much the city is
collecting through fees PLUS a millage, it raised another
question: Is TIFA capturing a chunk of that millage, causing
the millage to be raised citywide to compensate for the capture,
just like the police & fire pension millage was being raided?
Is another "gun-to-the-head" pass-through agreement in order?
Look at the things brought up
in that old newspaper clipping. Those "dumb firemen" had them
and important city issues pegged right from the start, and it's
taken two or three years for just a few of us to start waking up
to it. I believed slimy politicians over people whose highest
career goals are saving our lives and property. How does that
happen?
01-12-2007-01
The post # 1-9-2007-1 on the
city charter in relation to privatizing of
garbage poses interesting questions. If I remember
correctly, the garbage contract was put out on bids. I
think GAD and one other outfit bid on the job, then the
other outfit backed out. So GAD, in effect, was the only
remaining bidder.
I have no idea how long
the contract runs, whether it is automatically renewed
annually, or any other provisions. Also, Waste
Management was not operating in the area at the
time. It would be wise to periodically re-open the contract
to competitive bidding, although I have no complaints with
the current provider. The
cost of garbage is running around $30,000 to $33,000 per
month, so it's somewhat over $400,000 per year.
We are paying around 1.5
mills on our taxes for garbage in addition
to the fee levied on the water bills.
It seems to me the combined millage and fees levied is more
than the cost of garbage collection. If this is happening,
then they'd better not be taking money out of the garbage
account for other uses, as that would be totally illegal.
If that fund is piling up money (and you will notice
you got a raise in your garbage collection fees a few months
ago) that raise should not have been levied.
Just one more thing to
investigate. The list is endless, including the legal fees
Iron Mountain has paid the last
couple of years. They are HORRENDOUS - almost all of them
due to council and, more accurately, the city manager's
errors. For all this, he gets a huge pay
increase. Does anybody care?
01-09-2007-01
I recently looked at a few sections
of our City Charter. There is an issue I picked up on in the
charter that I have never seen on this site, or anywhere else,
for that matter. It has to do with the privatizing of the city
garbage collection.
In our charter, garbage collection
is specifically named in the description of public utilities.
Any change in the delivery of public utilities (or alterations
to any city departments) is to be done by ordinance, if I read
it correctly. Further, if a private company starts providing the
utility, I think it falls under the franchise section of the
charter, which states, among other things, that no exclusive
franchises will be granted.
Was there an ordinance to alter the
named public utility of garbage collection? I vaguely remember
maybe a resolution, but that doesn’t cut it. There are sections
of the charter saying how department alterations shall happen,
and they say by ordinance. Did the City then grant a franchise
for garbage collection? If so, was it exclusive? Can anyone out
there, besides those who made this happen, answer these
questions? Did the city council violate the City Charter on this
issue? Did the city attorney give an opinion?
01-08-2007-01
I am waiting patiently for
Marcus (see bottom of his post of 12-26-2006-1) to scan in
those horrible and scary contracts labor contracts he's
talking about.
It's clear the webmaster can
accept scans as evidenced by the recent post that had a
2004 Daily News article attached. Those of us who haven't
seen them (although they are public information) would like
to see how bad they are.
01-05-2007-06 Attached is a portion of the May 18, 2004 newspaper article mentioned is a previous post. It was a big article about the controversial budget they passed. The quote about the health fund is in the second paragraph. I urge you to read the whole thing, though. At least what is there. You will see talk of many issues that are still big problems. Fire protection, the ISO rating, retiree healthcare -complete with an elderly widow getting screwed, privatizing garbage collection, TIFA capturing pension money, etc. The problems were laid out to the council way back then, 3 YEARS AGO, and what have they done, except make a few of the problems worse? Oh, and let's not forget that carousel that was more important than the real issues in this article 01-05-2007-05 This is in response to the post from the person who is sick of hearing from and about Marcus Blomquist. I, too, am sick of his crap. But, it would be wrong not to keep calling him on his bull. With proof. Why? Because some people will believe him, just as the Mayor's other cronies were believed on city issues by many, many people. Issues that are still resonating, with the truth starting to come out on this site. If Marcus Blomquist is the mouthpiece of the mayor, than he is a big part of what's wrong with this city. Proving his lies (and others, by association) are the start of rectifying what's wrong. Just my opinion. 01-05-2007-04
Once again we received a notice
that the Iron Mountain water supply shows coliform bacteria
in the water supply.
For $4.8 million we get a water
system that gets coliform bacteria every few months and doubled
water bills.
Maybe we should have spent $10
million, and quadrupled the water rates. Then we could get
coliform notices every week.
01-05-2007-03 Is it absolutely
necessary to continue this "gotcha" game with Marcus Blomquist? It
seems to me that the focus of this column has been diverted from
rectifying what's wrong in this city to proving that Marcus
Blomquist is a liar!. Fact:: Marcus Blomquist has been 01-05-2007-02
Retiree Healthcare
So, if I have this straight, City
officials knew that healthcare would have to be funded in the
very near future. The previous city council and manager knew
that, and actually created a fund to address future healthcare
costs, and had it built up to over a million dollars. Not
because they had to at the time, but because it was the right
and responsible thing to do.
Then, this new council and manager
come along and, with the echoes barely gone from their oaths of
office, vote to eliminate the funding for the health care fund.
The exact opposite of what will be mandated soon. They knew
that GASB was coming, and they did it anyway. A million dollar
fund, and the interest it could be generating, wiped out. Gone.
Then, they cut health benefits to the people who not only earned
them, but retired under legal and binding contracts, saying
there was no money. Just how blatant does a thing have to be
before you can call it malfeasance, misfeasance, abuse of power,
or whatever bad thing it is?
Could this irresponsible, callous
stroke have been done in retaliation of the picket of Stephen’s
Real Estate just prior to Mr. Mayor being elected? For those who
don’t know, city retirees picketed the business because of some
asinine comments made in the paper about them. Mr. Tousignant
was seen taking names that day, and he did not look happy. It
appears he got even, and ignored a looming mandate to do it.
01-05-2007-01
On health insurance costs:
Excerpt from comment 11-21-2006-02
"13.NO FUNDS WERE STAVED OFF OR
DRAINED. Check the recent audit report. It's all very clear.
The health care fund was used to PAY FOR RETIREE HEALTH CARE
BENEFITS!" Marcus
Blomquist
Excerpt From comment 12-02-2006-02:
"Also the "original intent" argument
that you continue to use concerning the health care fund is
silly. Things change; circumstances require ability for
government to be flexible."
Marcus Blomquist
Excerpt From comment 12-26-2006-01:
"The main thrust of GASB Statement
No. 45 is to require for the first time that public-sector
employers recognize the cost of other post employment benefits (OPEB)
over the active service life of their employees rather than on a
pas-as-you-go basis." From article submitted by
Marcus Blomquist
Excerpt From comment 12-26-2006-01
"This city was one of the first
in the UP or the state to get a handle on exactly what that
number may be."
Marcus Blomquist
I guess that’s enough examples for
now. Basically, he tells us, and shows us with other people’s
words, that health care costs will have to be funded. Then, he
vehemently denies that the City did the exact opposite with the
retiree health care cost increase fund. Things change? Yes, they
certainly do. But what changed is that the City will not be able
to do to the healthcare fund what Finocchio has been defending
as "flexibility". No funds were drained off? No one said they
were. BUT, what was said is that they stopped funding it -
exactly the opposite of what will soon be required. First to
recognize it? So, then, why did they bleed the fund dry and not
continue to fund it when they already had a good start on the
new law?
"eliminate the transfer
to the health insurance fund for retirees"
- CLEAR ENOUGH FOR YOU, Marcus? That’s a direct quote from The
Daily News, May 18, 2004, talking about ways the City is
"saving" money with their budget cuts. I think that little line
makes you a liar . . . again.
01-04-2007-01
The writer in comment #12-31-2006-01
talks about potential huge fee increases coming. That has
already occurred this past year with some fees, and some new
fees were already added, too. See for yourself in the attached
documents.
It doesn't matter what Blomquist and
his puppetmaster say about lowered taxes. That IS a gimmick.
The bottom line is that you pay more MONEY to the City to
live here than you did before. They took a few cents off my
property taxes? BIG DEAL! On top of the new fees
and increases, they also doubled my
water rates, which adds up to far more than the few
cents they "saved" me. I hear property insurance rates
may also increase, and that increase will also be a direct
result of this council's actions. Marquart also said that the
revenue generated by reassessment will more
than pay for the assessor, too. Remember? Lower taxes, but YOU
PAY MORE because of the higher assessed property value.
Double-talk everywhere you turn.
01-03-2007-01
City of Iron Mountain hurting for
money, essential services continue to be undermined, . . . but,
"the future is bright" because we have an extra $10,000.00 to
kill deer in the city limits. Frog Country news story:
It never ceases to amaze me what
frivolous things and special interests the City HAS money for,
even as they repeatedly lament on what they DON'T have money
for.
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