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July 2007 Postings 7-31-2007-06 I have just finished reading the handout that the present city council members are giving out it makes me sick. They make it sound like nothing was ever done in the city until they took office what a bunch of hog wash. Mr. Ragoni for one should be ashamed to have ever let that be printed that way, if he went back in the books for Bacco construction over the last twenty plus years I bet a few millions of dollars has been made off the city by them for construction projects and street paving ,way before this council took over. This is just one of the many lies in that handout and any resident that has lived here for any length of time knows better. 7-31-2007-05 Ref: 7-31-2007-01
Please publish this in the Daily News. Also send to all radio
stations. Iron Mt. citizens need to hear this BEFORE they go to
the polls! If the status quo remains in office, there will be
more homes for sale and more business closings.
7-31-2007-04
Since the proper channels have not been used in the leasing of
that near Million Dollar parking lot on the north side, and no
public meeting has been held yet, I suggest a group of
tax-payers get together and offer to pay $100 per year to lease
that area. I’m sure we can come up with many good uses for such
a large piece of property…. Such as a new sports field. Wouldn’t
the City have to accept the larger bid as being in the best
interest of the tax-payers?
7-31-2007-03
Please remember to get out and vote
next Tuesday!
Also, please visit www.ironmountaindemocracy.com.
7 days until......
7-31-2007-02
Below are a few quotations by
Abraham Lincoln. One hundred forty two years after his
assassination, do they remind you of some of the people
seeking re-election and/or the city manager?
"No man has
enough memory to make a successful liar"
"You cannot escape the
responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today"
"Nearly all men can
stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character,
give him power"
"I am a firm
believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be
depended upon to meet any national
(or local)
crisis. The great point is to give them the real facts"
(I hope the challengers are
doing this)
And probably his most famous
one:
"You can fool some
of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of
the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the
time" - as opposed to the
city manager and incumbents, who believe they can fool
enough of the people to get re-elected.
7-31-2007-01
I can't help but notice how
basic the meeting minutes have become. When Lou Ann Hagen (one
of the outstanding employees the city had before the
dictator came to power) posted minutes, they were very
inclusive. Items such as attorney letters, letters from
concerned citizens, proposals and other documents that were
brought before boards, were noted as being attached to the filed
minutes. Now, there is no indication of any
correspondence attached to minutes. I guess back in the "status
quo" days the boards had absolutely nothing to hide
from the citizens of the community. Could it be that this city
council and all the boards and committees made up of only
council members and their friends have something to hide? This
sure makes it difficult to FOIA any information to check for the
accuracy of information being reported to the public.
Case in point; The City of Iron
Mountain now owns a near Million Dollar
parking-lot on the north side of the city behind Boss Snow Plow.
Recent reports indicate that the city is prepared to lease this
property for ONE Dollar a year. In fact the
original lease proposal indicated that the land could have been
purchased by Boss without competitive bids.
Section 13.8 of
the City Charter states; Purchase and Sale of personal
property. (b) Purchase and sale of real property.
NO real property shall be purchased,
acquired, sold or given away by the city whether within or
without its corporate limits except upon the affirmative vote of
five-sevenths of all the councilmen elect AFTER
a PUBLIC HEARING called for the purpose of
considering such proposal to purchase, acquire, sell or give
away real property. NOTICE of such hearing
shall be given by publication in a newspaper published,
mechanically printed and circulating within the city, once each
week for three (3) consecutive weeks, the last publication to be
not more than three (3) days before said hearing.
As I review the posted meeting
minutes of the last few years, I see absolutely nothing that
indicates how the city acquired this land according to the City
Charter. There was NEVER any public notice given that this land
was to be bought, acquired or sold. The public was not informed
as required. There is no indication that the city council Ever
voted on such an agreement. Yet now we are being informed the
land is for lease? This is just another indication of how far
removed this current city council is from doing things legally!
This council can "bad mouth" previous councils and employees all
they want about how slow things were getting done around the
city, but one knows, that when things are done "legally" extra
time becomes a factor. I see absolutely nothing that
this council has done that would indicate progress!
7-29-2007-05 After reading the
continue progress paper that the fab four is handing out, I realized
that they can not even tell the truth to get votes. 7-29-2007-04 Bruce Rosen: "I have published the issues that I believe are paramount to our city."
7-29-2007-03 David Farragh has announced that he is a candidate for a position on the Iron Mountain City Council.
7-29-2007-02
To the four incumbents to be re-elected Tousignant, VanLannen, Sally, Rogoni
If you are going to deliver a small
booklet that tells about your accomplishments, why don't all of
you read it before using it. That way your four mis-spelled
words will not make you all look as foolish as you already do
sitting at the council meetings.
I would also suggest that you find a
different list of your accomplishments, since most of what you
bragged about were lies and distortions of the truth.
All of these will be addressed this
week to the public. Thanks for your lies.
7-29-2007-01
Warning to Iron Mountain citizens,
I just had four signs in my yard for
the new candidates running for office and someone stolen them
last night! (West side)
I reported it to the police dept and
they said they have been having other reports also about this
same thing.
I haven't noticed any signs
missing for the four incumbents yet and I am well aware of where
all of their signs are.
(Interesting, though maybe a coincidence)
If you catch anyone destroying signs
and/or removing them, please report it to the police at once. My
understanding is that there is a heavy fine if caught destroying
political signs
Remember too, do not under-estimate
what this administration will do, even though there is no proof
of any wrong doing at this time except the stolen signs.
7-28-2007-01
I would be so embarrassed and ashamed to
associate my name on the same sign as our Mayor Ken Tousignant
with the slogan they are using, that I'm even embarrassed as a
citizen.
It is hard to imagine the intestinal
fortitude (guts) to have your slogan read "Continued
Progress" when all you have done is destroy the
progress of this city made before this current
administration!
I personally think it should read
"Continued Process Of" ---- Distortion, Lies,
Personal Agendas, Self Interest, Puppet Members, Arrogance and
Deceit!
Every person I have talked with so far about
this upcoming election, have said they believe Tousignant's days
are numbered and next in line is VanLannen.
I hope they are right!
Get out and vote citizens ------- End this
nightmare now!
Ken Tousignant-- I know you read this
web site everyday. -- why don't you drop out right now
to save the embarrassment to your business, yourself, the
council and the City of Iron Mountain? Your friend
Marquart will not be along your side much longer.
7-27-2007-09 In response to 7-27-2007-04 since when did unlawful ever stop our present council from doing what they feel like doing? The best sign I have seen yet for incumbents is the one in front of the shut down Zephyr station continue progress, as in lets close even more business and industry. 7-27-2007-08 This is in response to the writer of post 07-27-2007-01, the one about alcohol abuse. I couldn't agree more! The trouble is, up to now this has been an ongoing issue seen only in numerous rumors all over town. I was not at the Hog Wild, but I heard about the scene you referred to. If you were a witness, can you please provide some details as to what really went on? This is an issue of great public concern, or at least it should be in a decent and moral society. I will refrain from commenting farther until I see or hear more from an actual witness. Please respond. 7-27-2007-07 Friday, July 27th, 3:05 in the afternoon. My wife and I are sitting on our front porch and who do we see drive by. "CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER" Now we live on a dead end street and almost never see a car come past. This car is an old Iron Mountain City Police Car, but I am glad to see that they at least they took off the "CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER" sign off the car door. The cities CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER is riding around to make sure that us good tax paying citizens are not breaking one of the city's ordinances or codes. When I served in the military and visited East Berlin I noticed cars like this driving around. They were the Gestapo. Welcome to the Eastern Block Communistic City of Iron Mountain!!!! Cut your grass or we punish you. Scary, very scary. 7-27-2007-06
I see continue progress sings
around town by the present city council, that must mean to empty
are wallets some more. The city managers article on 7-25-07 said
that they have a vision, and I believe that is to see how much
more user fees they can get us for, their pet projects.
There is only one way to stop this
and that is to VOTE on AUGUST 7 and NOVEMBER 6 2007 and
remember to
ONLY VOTE FOR FOUR OUT OF THE NINE
ON THE BALLOT
7-27-2007-05 The current city council must know by now that not to many residents are going to vote for them because all the campaign signs that they put out is on city property. It looks like the north side is sticking together, there is not but 2 signs on the north side. Lets all keep sticking together and not let them separate us. 7-27-2007-04 Can someone quote the election law as it would pertain to election campaign signs on city property? See attached pictures for a sample of the signs in question. There are more.
7-27-2007-03 IN REPLY TO 7-3-2007-01 On 7/02/07 the city council approved $20,000 to resurface the tennis court at City Park. I took a ride today to look there are a few cracks, but seems it could repaired at a much lower cost. Take a ride and see for yourselves the courts were done not many years ago and are in much better shape than any rode leading to the park. I am not against sports but I am against waste. If you knew anything about tennis, or talked to the player who use this court, it’s the surface coating the on the courts that is wore off, making it slick to play on. I wish the city would take the lights from the West side baseball field (since it’s not used any more) and use them to make the courts lighted. The people I talked to said the would pay to use the lights, with a system like at a car wash. 7-27-2007-02
After reading the city manager’s
latest news article - on the opinion page, where it belongs
- I wondered about a few of his comments. It appears to be a
thinly veiled campaign for the current council members, which I
thought it was unethical for him to be doing.
Am I wrong? He practically worked their campaign slogan into his
double-talk.
7-27-2007-01 Issue: Alcohol Abuse Among City Officials I have an issue for you. A serious one. I think that one way or another it probably affects every other Iron Mountain issue on and off this site, and has for two or three years. For as long as I've known about this site and its predecessors I've been waiting for someone to address this issue. It astonishes me that no one has. However, after the most shameful and embarrassing display of public behavior that I saw during U.P. Hog Wild last weekend, I can't wait any longer. I'll address it myself. The issue is alcohol abuse among some of Iron Mountain's principal city officials. For irrefutable, empirical, scientific evidence, I invite the citizens of Iron Mountain to witness it for themselves. Seeing is believing. It's as simple as being patient, showing up, paying attention, and watching. Attend civic events at which alcohol and the city officials of which I speak are both present. You'll know them by their actions. Or most days of the week there's a good chance you can follow the offenders from home, work, or city hall to one of their favorite saloons. You can witness them drink till they're stupid as water. You can witness them behave lewdly and lasciviously with coarse, open sexuality as they get drunker and drunker. You can witness them stagger sickly and mindlessly to their Caddies or Chryslers or whatever it is they're driving and head either to their homes or to the homes of the lovers they picked up that night, weaving over city streets, curbs, lawns, and crunchy toys. If you're watching the right city official at the right time, you may even see him plow into a snow bank and get hopelessly stuck, having to be bailed out and escorted home by the police -- a professional courtesy I'm not prepared to condone. Never mind the horrible examples these officials, our local representatives, are setting. Never mind what asses they're making out of themselves. Just focus on the driving alone. Drunk driving is against the law. It's a major offense. It's one law that I doubt even these officials would dispute. It's against the law because it's a serious danger to life and limb. Chronic drunk driving, because of its frequency, is even a greater threat to the innocent common citizens who go about their endless routines throughout the city. My wife and my kids are out day after day, night after night, constantly participating in or attending community events and school activities. And I think it's important that these drunken city officials know that God Himself won't be able to stand between my wrath and those despicable excuses for human beings if they hit, injure, or kill my wife or any of my kids. And that also goes for any individual cop or law enforcement agency -- local, county, or state -- that continues to look the other way. 7-26-2007-04
Grants, grants, grants. We hear
with sickening frequency about all of the grants the city has
received under this administration.
You would think all past
administrations were sleeping at the switch. The
link below shows you exactly what the city has received
annually since 1998-99 to date.
Surprise, surprise!!
Grants received in
the recent past are among the lowest in that ten year period
!!
Where did I get this
information? Right on this website. Go to the website Home
Page, click on City Budget. In the Table of Contents, click
on page 28 - General Fund - Ten year history of
Revenues and Expenditures. It's the official word
as prepared by the city administration for their own budget,
exactly as shown in the link below. That's more
than sufficient documentation
for me. Yet they keep the spin
machine going, and I am sure, fooling the casual observer.
7-26-2007-03 C'mon people, you seem to be slacking off. Didn't anyone go to Hog Wild? Didn't anyone witness our city manager's behavior there? Anyone in the COUNTY (hint, hint), that is? It's been nearly a week, and not a peep here. 7-26-2007-02 I'm hearing that one of our local officials kept with the theme of "Hog Wild" and got "Pig Drunk" on Saturday night and made a few remarks that almost got him a good old fashion "butt whipping". I won't expect many facts of this coming out to the public. The spin machine appears to have gone to work right away on this one! 7-26-2007-01
I thought I read on this web-site
that Bacco doesn't own any land on Hydraulic
Falls Rd.
It must have been someone from the
current special interest group that posted this
information. It appears that Bacco owns parcel 051-700-680-02 on
Hydraulic Falls Road. Current SEV shows $100,000.00 with a
Taxable Value of $20,949.00. So, it appears once again that this
city councils idea of "moving forward" is just another
padding of ones pockets. Amazing how the SEV went from $37,500
to $100,000 in the last couple of years but the Taxable
Value is still low!
7-25-2007-03
Marquart under direction and control
of city council????
Interesting concept, but no go!
John Marquart would not allow
himself to be under anyone's control, let alone the council.
A dictator personality must have
control at all times and when ever threatened, he lies, distorts
and manipulates whoever he can to promote his agenda. One cannot
be a dictator without a mind set that borders on evil. Clearly
he fits that description.
Tousignant and Marquart are working
together and have the council convinced that they are making all
of the right decisions, regardless of the wish of the people and
the public comments expressed at meetings.
Look at his article in today's
(Wednesday) paper. He lists about 15-20 different things about
the city that has been done through his direction and the
support of city council.
Most of them are common things that
are a part of routine city government and the grants are always
available when applied for.
I found it very interesting that he
mentioned a International Property Maintenance Code and then
listed a Rental Ordinance. Isn't the IPMC suppose to take care
of all housing that does not meet safety considerations and
wasn't that adopted in 2004? Oh yes, I forgot. --- The IPMC
pertains to all home owners and didn't allow the city
to discriminate against a small group of people like Land Lord's
and most importantly, didn't fill the city's coffers with
$96,000.00!
If anyone believes that Marquart is
concerned about safe housing more than he is about raising more
money for the coffers, I have some property in Florida that I
would like to sell!
Citizens, --- be ready for lies and
distortions coming up before the election. I only hope the
candidates running for office will address these issues and let
the community know the real truth before the election. (Time is
getting short for such a large task!)
If these incumbents stay on the
council and this mayor and manager remain in office, I see the
city of Iron Mountain deteriorating to the point of a community
collapse of services, respectability and division of neighbors,
citizens and families. Marquart has already caused the above to
happen with the police, firemen, landlords, businesses, home
owners, community services and user fees and taxes, water rates
and sewer rates increases!
We must stop him this fall! Let him
go on to another community like his past 3 manager jobs and
destroy that community instead. (Iron Mountain is too beautiful
of a community for someone like Tousignant and Marquart to be in
control any longer)
7-25-2007-02 I have read that some have requested information regarding the candidates for city council. Below you will find my bio that will appear in the Daily News. Rest assured, I have been working with the other challengers, as well as numerous concerned and gifted citizens. In the near future we will be providing you with printed information exposing the pressing issues. We are constructing a website which you may want to visit, www.ironmountaindemocracy.com. Each candidate will have a link to their website. Remember to vote in the primary August 7. Vote for ONLY four of the nine candidates or your ballot will be voided. This election is very important to all of us! 7-25-2007-01 A comment to the posting of 7/24/2007. If that person had taken the time to read The Daily News on Friday, July 20, 2007, they would have seen the comments that Mr. Verrette had made from the council meeting as well as a more in depth interview on his plans for his development on his property. In regards to T. Tousignant's comments, he should also read the paper more carefully and would have seen every issue that was brought up at the meeting, both negative and positive, appeared in The Daily News last week including the city trails, school liaison officer etc. We know where his comments are coming from. 7-24-2007-03
This for the consideration of those who have
their sights set on John Marquart as the root of all the strife and
questionable goings-on in the Iron Mountain city government. Think about it.
Time and time again, in the face of outraged citizens at council meetings,
our council ignores the concerns of the people and praises the efforts of
Mr. Marquart. He was even given a 9% bonus in the face of the latest
go-round at a meeting. What does that tell you? He is doing exactly what he
is told to do. What else can it be? He is not to blame for doing his job; it
is those who are directing him that should be held accountable. Marquart is
guilty only of
1. Some apparent incompetence.
2. He seems to thoroughly enjoy sticking it to
people.
3. A willingness to be less than truthful to
further the agenda of the council.
4. A willingness to be less than truthful when
things start to catch up to him.
5. A willingness to ignore/twist the rules
pertaining to whatever he has his hands in at the moment.
Hmm . . . I think I’ll stop there. I just
realized I’m making the argument for the counterpoint against myself.
Anyway, I know that sounds like a lot of bad things, but it’s probably only
4% of the bad. Like it or not, I think the real, 94% villains
are the city council, as shown by their gushing praise of Mr. Marquart every
time his actions create more turmoil. It shows over and over that he is
their huckleberry. Don’t blame John Marquart for just doing his job the best
he knows how. Blame the people who are making him dance to their tune, no
matter how off-key it is. Remember, it takes a certain kind of person to be
willing to do the bidding of the current city regime, and they found one.
They hold all the cards and they pull the strings. They are the real
problem.
7-24-2007-02 Thank you Todd Tousignant for
brining up Mr. Verette's comments from the last city council meeting. I too was
apalled that The Daily News didn't report on this. Mr. Verette is one of our
community leaders who has had a positive economic effect on our community for a
long time. I think his feedback should have been reported on. 7-24-2007-01
Now I hear from a TIFA board member
that Marquart has asked TIFA to spend, get
this,
$657,400.
For what? Paving the parking lot behind city hall, put up a pavilion in
that lot and burying a couple blocks of utilities between B and Hughitt
Street in the alley behind city hall and Downtown Plaza, etc,
Most TIFA members were appalled at the
idea, and well they should be. Has
Marquart gone completely off his rocker? $657,400 for this?
The parking lot between Downtown Plaza is in
far worse shape. You could repave both parking lots for FAR LESS, maybe
$200,000 or $300,000 tops and call it a day.
The same guy who tried to
chisel Mr. Giguerre and Mrs. Occhietti and finally settled for $20,000
with Giguerre and $15,000 for Mrs. Occhietti
suddenly thinks $657,400 is chump change.
I sure as hell hope the TIFA Board
doesn't buy into this scam. $657,400. Kind of blows your mind that
anyone would even think of spending this kind of money on such
nonsense. But then, remember who is doing
the proposing. It's the nut case who is supposedly a city manager. You
remember him, the one who got a 9% pay raise.
7-23-2007-03
Mr. Todd Tousignant, you are a plum. Negative
reporting, indeed. Slanted and spun? Hmmph! I’d call it a refreshing change,
seeing the council’s stranglehold on the media come crashing down. He has
heard the spin for so long that he doesn’t even know what the truth is if he
has to call it such names.
I see the mayor has again enlisted his family
members to fight his battles for him. How very predictable. Well, at least
T. T. didn’t come right out and lie in his letter as he seems to have done
back in 2005 - 10-27-2005, to be exact.
The trouble with making false or misleading
statements about public business is that the documentation will
eventually hang you, chum.
7-23-2007-02
Mr. Legge has technically NOT completed his sentence
until he completes his parole. That date is still listed as 01/18/2010.
Until he is listed as “discharged”, he is still consider can ’active
offender’ on the OTIS Corrections site.
There are many terms he must comply with. He cannot even have
a checking account, charge account or credit card. I, personally, don’t want
a person like that inspecting (casing) my property, taking photos, or
possibly having access to even the slightest bit of my personal information.
Mr. Legge did get early parole; but most prisoners do with
overcrowding. Besides, the State of California got to parole him to
Michigan; so he was no longer their problem. I’ve seen no evidence that his
parole will end early.
Mr. Brook saw nothing wrong with hiring him, so I don’t trust
that he would protect our personal information from him either.
I’m glad they are both gone. I just wish we could be assured
that none of our info went with them.
7-23-2007-01
Honor,
honesty and integrity are missing from our elected public officials and
our city manager.
We have
deceptive, arrogant, self-serving people in office now. There is no
reason to believe it would change if ANY of the incumbents are
re-elected.
A complete
ouster of all of them is the only prospect that gives me any hope.
Short of
that, the community of Iron Mountain faces dim prospect indeed.
7-22-2007-03 In response to 7-21-2007-01 : 7-22-2007-02
There have been quite a few well written
analytical posts on the Legge-Marquart-Brooks issue.
Hats off to the posters. This is the
kind of good, clear thinking that eventually sinks in with the
voters. The regular visitors to this site are far ahead in their
interest of Iron Mountain politics than non-viewers, so I encourage
you to get all your internet friends on board who are not aware of
it to this site.
The wealth of information to be found
wandering the various parts of it, especially the City Budget on the
Home page is worth its weight in gold.
7-22-2007-01 As I was driving in town I saw a sign and it says Continue Progress with the current council members names on it. I wonder what the progress is that they are talking about. Maybe the new motels, did they bring them in? The sign reminds me of the last
election, The city you deserve. By our Mayor Tousignant. We need to make sure that we do not get coned in this election like we did the one 4 years ago. If the current council gets in
again, it will be a free for all the next 4 years and we will have no say on it. 7-21-2007-01
I have read the article regarding the David
Legge incident in Thursday's Daily News over and over looking for
nuances in the comments by John Marquart, Rich Brook and David Legge,
all of whom are quoted.
David Legge states that John Marquart
interfered in the assessment process. If this a
allegation can be substantiated, John
Marquart could have a VERY SERIOUS LEGAL
PROBLEM,
and it would be personal,
not one the city would be required spend taxpayers money to defend.
Interfering with, or attempting to influence
the valuation of properties in the assessment process affects the
individual property owners directly for a long time into the future.
When attempting to figure out who is telling
the truth and who is lying, some background information and past
practices is a good place to start.
First, would David Legge jeopardize himself
and his interest in getting off parole status
as soon as possible by making up his
statements. What does he have to gain versus what he has to
lose? He has much more to lose if he is lying. I have to
believe he understand that.
Second, does John Marquart have a
history of interfering and a have controlling personality? There is no
doubt about it. It has happened time and
time again, and a long list of witnesses could attest to it in a
courtroom setting.
Third, does John Marquart have
a history of lying? Here, the list of
potential witnesses attesting to this character trait would be
considerably longer.
In his rebuttal to Legge, Marquart
merely denies everything and launches into a character assassination of
Legge as his only defense.
I don't know David Legge. I was at a city
council meeting, however, when Carl Little, one of the people Brook
hired for the reassessment and who has an extensive police background,
make an eloquent plea on Legge's behalf. He also wrote a piece in The
Daily News. Little said in his years of police work, he had never met a
parolee more deserving of a chance that David Legge.
Further, Legge is scheduled to get off
parole at the earliest possible date. Also, he was released from prison
early because of good behavior. Putting it all together, I have to
think Legge learned his lesson and is no longer a threat to society. I
think he deserves the opportunity to move on, though his record will
always be with him.
Trying to put it all together and make some
sense of it, I have to come down on the side of David Legge. He had too
much to lose by lying. Marquart's record of lying has been building for
the last three plus years and has reached the point where his word is
practically worthless.
7-20-2007-02
After reading the very long article in the Daily
News last night, I don’t know what to think other than "there is no honor
among thieves." I’m writing about the David Legge vs John Marquart
article, of course. I’m reminded of rats climbing over each other in a
frenzy to leave the sinking ship. Personally, I think the most tantalizing
and delicious bit of information in the entire article was what Rich Brook
had to say at the very end:
"I understand your desire to ‘inform the public’
but the lives and livelihood of individuals other than myself and John (Marquart)
are being placed in jeopardy," Brook said.
What is that supposed to mean? Sounds
diabolical, doesn’t it? Sounds like a bargaining chip has been tossed onto
the table, to me. Either that, or it’s a warning to remind someone that Mr.
Brook knows the details of the dirty laundry, and he can always start
singing if he is the one hung out to dry. There is a lot more to this than
we already know. Let's not forget that 9%
bonus that was the answer to the concerns of the people that were blatantly
ignored by our city council.
7-20-2007-01
Looks to me like David Legge,
the lightning rod in all this Brook-Marquart-Reassessment
fiasco,
was (a) in a very real sense caught in the middle of it, and (2) by
luck or by fate, ended up serving a good and useful purpose.
Consider this: Marquart,
in his ramblings in The Daily News, does not deny that
a confrontation with Brook took place in the city hall parking lot. That
confrontation only took place because Legge was in the parking lot and
for no other apparent reason. Legge had as much right to be there
as you or I. So we have established that
Marquart initiated the incident.
What followed is more interesting than the
incident itself. Legge, by being contacted by The Daily News, makes
some extremely revealing statements that neither Marquart
nor Brook cared to have disclosed and made public about the
behind-the-scenes machinations going on in the assessment process.
Marquart
responds by attacking Legge's credibility, the fact that he is a felon
on parole, etc. in a desparate effort to discredit Legge's
revelations. Brook tries to get the whole incident
squashed by asking The Daily News not to print Legge's remarks. Hmm!!
Let's follow the money.
According to Legge, Brook
has $60,000 to $70,000 coming. Brook certainly has an
incentive to
to keep that whole thing hush-hush,
submit his final bill, hopefully get paid, and walk away from the whole
reassessment incident with around $230,000 more than he had a year ago.
Not a bad year's pay for an assessor, in
fact, more than triple Marquart's outrageous annual salary.
Legge
claims he was somehow going to get $30,000-$40,000 if he
had stayed on, which also seems outrageous, but his fees would have come
out of Brook's $50.00 per parcel contracted fee, so that was between
Legge and Brook.
We can't tell, being outsiders, exactly what
internal arguments took place between Brook and
Marquart about assessments, but clearly they took place,
and David Legge brought them to light.
We do know (1) Marquart is an excellent,
first class liar, (2) Brook and Marquart cooked up the whole
reassessment deal together, (3) none of the behind-the-scenes arguments
would have come to public attention without Legge's comments.
My prediction:
A settlement will come out of this because Marquart desperately
wants it to go away. He will tell the city council it is a
contractual obligation under Brook's contract, and the lemmings on the
city council will go along to avoid litigation.
The taxpayers of Iron Mountain
will get screwed (as always by this council) and the city council will
once again look look like the idiots they are for being stoolies of the
city manager. Do they have second
thoughts yet about his 9% pay raise and gushing praises?
Thank you, David Legge.
Inadvertently or intentionally, you have served a very useful public
service.
7-19-2007-10 In response to 7-19-2007-08: 7-19-2007-09 Visit this website to find information on the candidates in the upcoming City Council Election http://www.ironmountaindemocracy.com/ 7-19-2007-08
Response to 7-17-2007-04:
To clarify: The comment from Mr. Tousignant
that my head was being filled with lies was made after the meeting
when I went up to Mr. Rigoni to ask a question. He interrupted me several
times as I tried to ask Mr. Rigoni about the Grant money that Mr. Rigoni
said may be included in the amounts paid out to STS Consultants.
There was at least one person who was not
a council member who heard this exchange.
Running for council or not, every resident
should be given common courtesy...should never feel intimidated
to ask questions.
In all fairness to Mr. Tousignant, he
unfortunately received a barrage of comments when leaving City Hall that
evening from people that were upset at his behavior. I certainly don't wish
for that to happen. But I thank you for your concern for my feelings as
well as everyone else's who musters up the courage to speak at a meeting.
Response to 7-17-2007-06:
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Tina Peterson
7-18-2007-07
YOU CAN ONLY VOTE FOR FOUR
PEOPLE IN THE AUG 7 ELECTION
THAT'S HOW MANY SEATS ON THE CITY COUNCIL
ARE UP FOR ELECTION
IF YOU VOTE FOR MORE THAN FOUR,
YOU BALLOT WILL BE VOID AND TOSSED OUT
The reason we are having a primary is
because there are nine candidates for the four seats.
If there were eight or less running there
would be no need for a primary.
The top eight vote getters move on to the
General Election in November.
In other words, only one of the nine
candidates will be eliminated in the Primary.
Make sure you vote for no more than
FOUR You can vote for less than four, but not more.
7-18-2007-06 Answer to post 07-18-2007-01 7-18-2007-05
So let me get
this straight if a voter wanted to unseat the current four at large
positions they could and should vote for all five of the new candidates in
the primary in August. You can vote for any amount up to 8 in the primary is
this correct? And only the top 8 vote getters would then be on the ballot in
November.
7-18-2007-04
RICH BROOK HAS RESIGNED
after being asked to by the city manager, according to this news story on
Frog Country.
I thought he was spotless. He was defended at
every devious twist and turn by our manager and council. Why was he
asked to resign if he was so great? It's too bad he gets to make
off with all that money. Did you know he was a private contractor for the
city? I didn't. He was getting benefits, a paycheck, and mileage, as well
as having an office in city hall. How is that a private contractor? Well,
one down, anyway.
7-18-2007-03
I was at the council meeting
Monday night as well. The rudeness of the Mayor
toward Tina Peterson was indeed appalling. She
stood up and was walking slowly toward the podium.
What's wrong with that? It may
have taken her an extra ten or twenty seconds, partly
because she was in the middle of a row, and people have to
move their legs to let someone through.
For one thing, they could easily
leave more room between rows by simply moving the front row
closer to the front and space the rest of them, front to
back, more evenly.
But that
wasn't the problem. It's just
that the mayor is a rude and arrogant SOB time after time to
citizens speaking up.
He would much rather not
have anyone speak up during Public Comment, but there are
enough citizens with GUTS in this city that it won't happen.
7-18-2007-02 Response to 7-18-2007-01 The primary election is for 8. The November election will then be for 4. 7-18-2007-01
In the primary
how many candidates can be voted on is it 8 or 4?
7-17-2007-06 I encourage everyone to read Tina
Peterson's letter that she has in the posting 7-14-2007-05. I have never spoken
to Tina but so far, I like her! She seems to be very forthright. I will
be attending the next city council meeting and I look forward to meeting her.
The primary elections are about 22 days away. I hope 7-17-2007-05 Mr. Mayor, aren't you the clever one! You actually told the truth when you told Tina Peterson that people were filling her head with lies. You just neglected to mention who those liars were. Remember the manager's explanation of the Bolt decision? How about his more recent explanation of the 3K MIOSHA payment? All that non-explanation personal mumbo-jumbo about Rich Brook? I could go on, but, you know more about this than I. As a concerned mayor, you really oughtta do something about that guy who keeps filling everyone's head with lies. 7-17-2007-04
After reading the latest post by Tina Peterson,
I am disgusted that our mayor would treat a citizen with such arrogance and
lack of compassion, telling her to hurry up. Mr. Tousignant, among other
faults, you, sir, are no gentleman.
I am more disgusted with his lack of respect
when he interrupts people when they are speaking. Since he is the one who
proclaimed public comment time would not be a question and answer period, he
should keep his rude, hypocritical mouth shut and have the decency to let
the people at least speak uninterruptedly while he is ignoring what they
say.
I am also very interested in knowing what people
were "filling her head with lies", and what" lies" is the mayor referring
to? It seems to me that documentation does not support his misdirecting
claim.
Now, I suppose I have to say it’s hearsay for me
to believe that the mayor actually said all the things Tina said, because I
was not at the meeting. I would very much like to hear the tape from the
meeting and make up my own mind. I suspect these things will not be in the
minutes, nor reported in the media. For some reason, I have a strong feeling
that Tina Peterson did not lie in her post.
7-17-2007-03
Last night's council meeting was very
interesting, with issues already addressed on this site.
I do believe the Mayor needs to learn some
manners, however. When your arthritis is flared and you cannot move too
fast, it doesn't help matters to have the Mayor tell you to "Hurry up" as
you are walking to the podium.
I'm almost getting used to him cutting me off
while I'm speaking, but when he pointed his finger at me afterwards and said
that people were filling my head with lies....while I was trying to ask
somebody else a question...well that implies that I have no mind of my own.
That doesn't sit well with me.
Every piece of information I have is from my own
research, not gossip. I would never lower myself to accept heresay as truth
and only accept facts that are documented.
Whatever happens after these elections, I hope
that the atmosphere at City Hall on Monday evenings changes so that the
public is not made to feel they are wasting the Council's time. I hope that
discussion is open and honest and there is
no mocking or arrogance to be found from the Council.
I hope that the new Mayor will not tell a
citizen to "hurry up" when they are walking to the podium.
Tina Peterson
7-17-2007-02
I would like to congratulate Joe Rogina
on his appointment to the Kingsford City Council last night.
You may remember Joe as the Iron Mountain city assessor,
before he was strong-armed by our current city manager and council to resign
after many years of HONEST and valuable service to our city. I
hope he is taking some small satisfaction from the reassessment debacle
going on right now. His ongoing diligent efforts were publicly bad-mouthed
more than once by Mr. Brook, who was completely supported by manager and
council.
Joe, in my eyes, you never needed vindication,
but, it is nice to see that happening anyway. (If you could only have
learned how to make 2 + 2 = 6 and ignored the tax laws, you would have fit
in nicely with our current regime.)
7-17-2007-01 At a city council meeting a while back when questioned about the Boldt decision Marquart responded “that had to do with the city of Lansing charging customers outside city limits double for water and we don’t do that so Boldt doesn’t apply to us” Now on 7/16/2007 when asked about a new hookup outside city limits he said ”their rates will be double”. At least its easy to tell when he is lying HIS LIPS MOVE 7-15-2007-03 Might be interesting Monday at 6:30
PM at the city council meeting. Somebody might just ask Marquart for his slant
on the assessor issue and the $200,000 we have tied up in this reassessment
thing. 7-15-2007-02
This may not be common knowledge in all areas of
the city. In the north side, where most of us have Northside TV as our cable
TV provider, there is an informational channel, channel 19. On that channel,
there is a picture of the city manager’s house, with a Dish Network van
parked out front while a new dish is being installed. Along with the
picture, the caption says something like "City manager dodges 5% cable fee.
He does not support local business."
This "informational" item appeared within weeks
of Marquart pushing for and getting the 5% cable franchise fee we will all
have to pay. I found the item amusing, but at the same time it made me a
little angry. I give a lot of credit to Northside TV for having the guts to
put that on the air. It’s just another example of the way this man operates
outside the boundaries he imposes on the rest of us.
7-15-2007-01
Response to 7-13-2007-04
I too would like to see change in the city
council (and city management). I will vote for any individual that
says they will abide by the City Charter and other laws that govern this
city. This current council has violated the City Charter from day one
!! Not only have they violated the City Charter, they continue to violate
the TIFA Plan and TIF Law. Case in point; If one were to look at the TIF
District Boundaries map, one would see that the Traders Mine Road is
NOT in the boundaries of the TIF District.Yet this City Council
has, and continues to authorize the expenditure of OUR, yes OUR
tax money on projects not in the TIF Plan.
And what about the all the money ( see
attachments for some of the money spent) TIFA spent on the
MILLION dollar parking lot on the north side that the city now
owns? I'm still not sure how land was acquired by TIFA or the city without
the citizens being informed first!
Now, the city council at Monday nights council
meeting, is going to lease this parking lot to Northern Star Industries for
ONE dollar a year, and the city is going to be responsible
for keeping the parking lot in good repair? WOW !!! It
just keeps getting better!
7-14-2007-05
I wrote this letter in response to the
post asking the challengers to come forward and give them a sense of who I
am. I wanted to give a very personal and honest answer.
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Tina Peterson
Candidate for City Council Tina Peterson's Letter 7-14-2007-04 It sure gets weirder and weirder
around city hall, doesn't it? 7-14-2007-03 In response to 7-13-2007-04 7-14-2007-02
The Saturday morning Daily News had a good story
on why Rich Brook is no longer working for the city. There are a few things
that stand out to me.
1. If he is a private contractor, how can he be
asked to "resign"? An employee can resign, but a private contractor?
Wouldn't that be considered a breach of contract with a private entity?
Furthermore, how can Marquart call him a private contractor after telling
us that the reassessment would be done "in-house"? Private contractors land
contracts with the city through competitive bidding, don’t they?
2. John Marquart says that he asked Rich Brook
to resign.
3. Rich Brook says he was not asked to resign,
but that he quit of his own volition. This point and point number 2 cannot
coexist as both being truthful statements. One of them is lying. Which one?
Based on past performance, that’s a tough question, isn’t it?
4. Rich Brook says his position was politicized,
and that his position should be separated from politics. I’d have to agree
with him on that one. Virtually every employee in the city has had their
jobs politicized by this city council and manager, including those employees
who try to keep us safe.
5. Marquart may have inadvertently helped to
get the incumbents ousted in the upcoming election. What more is Mr. Brook
going to say if Marquart tries to make him the reassessment debacle
scapegoat when this whole thing unfolds farther?
7-14-2007-01 I spent quite a bit of time this morning entertaining myself by reading through some of the archived forum posts on this website. Among the many informative posts, I noticed a maddenly cryptic post, #3-12-2007-03, which got my curiosity going. It says something about the mayor hosting a GAMES convention. There are a few posts after that which ask what that is, but there is never an answer. So, I'm wondering, too. What is a GAMES convention? 7-13-2007-04 I see that signs for our city
elections are in various yards. 7-13-2007-03
This is in response to the last part of post
7-12-2007-02, where the writer asks about the "not-sewage." According to the
TV6 News story on 5-11-2007, a DEQ official called the
dumping an illegal act, and confirmed that what was dumped
tested positive for raw sewage. You can rest assured that they are
still working on their investigation. So, it’s up to the readers: Do you
believe what Marquart and Becotte said about the confirmed raw sewage, or do
you believe the Michigan Depart of Environmental Quality?
(Deja vu - remember when MIOSHA, another
official state agency, said in writing that our fire department was unsafely
staffed, and most of us believed the line of bull from Marquart and
Tousignant instead?)
7-13-2007-02
Does anyone out there wonder why John
Marquart has had seven different city manager positions in 27 years?
All of these have been lateral
moves. He has not climbed up to bigger and bigger cities.
In fact, Iron Mountain is half the size in population as his very first
job in Darien, Illinois.
In some cases he was outright fired. In
others, he was probably allowed to quietly resign.
The answer has to be that his personal
traits of dishonesty and dictatorship tendencies were more than those
previous city council could take. His stay in Iron Mountain is the
second longest in his checkered career. Does this tell us something
about the current city council? It sure
does in my book.
7-13-2007-01
If post # 7-12-2007-04 has it right,
and I have no reason at all to doubt it, Marquart has dug his
own hole ever deeper.
I have been among those who has criticized
Brook early on and continuously while the council and Marquart have
defended him. I was for his ouster before, during, and after the Legge
episode.
However, we have a far bigger
problem than Brook or the whole assessment issue.
We have a socio-path running the City of Iron Mountain.
John Marquart, quite literally, has a severe mental problem.
His control-freak tendencies have been apparent to those of us who have
dealt with him, and observed him closely, for over three years now.
His continuous lying has been been, or
should have been, patently and clearly evident to all who have had the
need to deal with him.
Only the city council and the mayor have
missed this because they are either brain-dead or work with him in
scheming for their own self-interest causes and/or he is clever enough
not to alienate the only people who can fire him.
As long as John Marquart remains as
city manager, the situation will only get worse.
You will notice he gave evasive answers to
The Daily News, Frog Country and Pooja of TV 6 on why he fired
Brook. He almost always he gives an answer to any question, even if it
is an outright lie. In this instance, he is hoping this issue will fade
away without an answer, or at worse, he buys time to come up with a real
whopper of an answer.
Whatever restrictions David Legge may have
under his parole conditions, I doubt that being seen in Iron Mountain is
one of them. If he is restricted to the boundaries of Delta county and
Marquart knew it, he should have notified the proper authorities to take
care of the matter, not use it as an excuse to fire the Assessor. He
cannot spin his way out of this one.
He could easily and legally have fired Brook
for incompetence, period. But, after all, he is the one who, with
Brook, dreamt up the assessment scheme in the first place.
There is no hope for the City of
Iron Mountain as long as John Marquart is city manager.
There is no hope for the City of
Iron Mountain if any of the incumbents remain in office and support
him. It's as simple as that.
7-12-2007-04
Just finished watching Pooja’s story on TV6
about Rich Brook’s resignation. GREAT JOB FINDING BOTH SIDES TO COMMENT
ON POOJA. THANK YOU!!
Of all the things that were questionable about
reassessment, of all the questions about the way a "private contract" was
awarded for it, of all the mistakes made and pointed out by officials at
higher levels than Brook and Marquart, and the rejections of Brook’s
figures, of all the taxpayer money wasted on this, of all the public outcry
that has been ignored, of all the people hired by Brook (or someone else)
and paid out of our pockets, of all the official support given to Mr. Brook
by council & manager, Marquart gets
piqued and confronts Mr. Brook because he met his brother-in-law on the
street?
I was as outraged as anybody else when I heard
the story of David Legge. BUT, I don’t believe Marquart has the absolute
power (yet) to determine who city employees (or private contractors . . .
yeah, right) are allowed to talk to. Mr. Legge may have been highly
undesirable for the position he held briefly, but he is related to Mr.
Brook, and more importantly, he has
rights that were not officially challenged by our city government.
7-12-2007-03
Lest we forget:
7-12-2007-02
This is in response to post #8-30-2006-1.
Yep, you read it right, nearly one year ago, August 30, 2006, the
very first public comment on this website, located in the forum archives.
Looks like you were right to question the mysterious goings on regarding the
reassessment of the city.
It is outrageous that the reassessment
debacle has gone on as long as it has. That first post was months after
Brooks' tax figures for 2006 were also rejected. Come on, election time!!
I wonder what ever happened with the
"not-sewage" that was dumped by the bat cave and the pit? Is it truly a
dead issue, as told to us by city officials?
7-12-2007-01
Now I hear Rich Brook has been canned or
quit. What about all the money we've sunk into this guy. I remember a
city council meeting where Eden Caudell, Dan Burke and Jeff Van Laanen
were praising Brook to high heaven. Makes them look pretty stupid now.
How could these people possibly have known what kind of a job he was
doing? They didn't
There was plenty about Brook on this site.
This, after all, is another scheme that Marquart and Brook cooked up and
insisted was urgent. Now, a year later, we are stuck with over $200,000
in costs.
The fact of the matter is that Marquart
knows nothing about assessing, DPW equipment, technology, fire
suppression or police work. Not to worry, he figures. As long as he and
the mayor can come up with Cool Cities programs, Main Street programs,
pavilions, and a few grants that don't do the public any good, only their
elite friends, the dumb public will think they are geniuses.
The incumbents are STUCK
with supporting the lying, lying, lying city
manager. After all, they gave him a hefty 9% PAY RAISE.
How are they going to sneak their way out of this latest fiasco? We,
the public, is well aware how the city has been run the last three and
a half years AND WE DON'T LIKE IT ONE BIT.
I sure wouldn't want to be running for
re-election. They are in for well deserved blasts unlike anything this
city has ever seen, and they have it coming.
Name a city council that has been
worse. You can't because there has never been one.
7-11-2007-03 Rich Brook the tax assessor got
fired today, finally after all that has happened to our city with this guy and
they finally did it, Was it 7-11-2007-02
ANOTHER STORY BREAKS ON THIS
WEBSITE:
RICH BROOK IS NO LONGER THE CITY
ASSESSOR OF IRON MOUNTAIN.
After months and months of exposure on this
website of documented incompetence, after the Equalization Department
took him to task in public at a city council meeting, after a number of
council members and Marquart praised him profusely, he is suddenly gone.
It will be interesting to see the spin
John Marquart puts on this one. The job isn't close to being
completed, around $200,000 has already been spent with practically
nothing to show for it.
So now they have to find a new assessor who
will find a total mess and have to be paid accordingly to correct it.
Spin it, Marquart, spin it. Maybe
three or four people in Iron Mountain will belief you besides the
zombies who sit on the city council.
7-11-2007-01
Isn't this interesting - While
Marquart was happy to tag a 5% TV fee on both Charter
and Northside Cable customers, he signs up for Dish TV,
thereby avoiding the 5% fee for himself.
Anyone is allowed to sign up with Dish TV,
of course, but it does seem a little disengenuous
that the
pusher of the TV fee also avoids it for himself.
7-9-2007-04
Connecting the dots as post 7-09-2007-02
did is an interesting concept, and a good way to show business
interrelationships between certain council members.
1 - Mark Blomquist is an architect, but also
picked up a real estate broker license.
2- This license seems to be for the sole
purpose of selling lots he has purchased on Bugni's
island in Lake Antoine.
3- He has listed them with Stephens GMAC
realty. He is the listing broker, and is named
on the sign at the site as the broker
to contact. The firm is co-owned by the mayor's
mother and the mayor works there as a
sales manager.
4- Mark Blomquist got approval for purchase
of city land adjacent to property he owned
between Brown and Fleshiem Streets by
the city council. The mayor voted in favor of the
purchase. Is this a conflict of
interest and should he have abstained?
5- Mark Blomquist is asking for 8 or 9
variances from the Board of Appeals. Will they be under
extreme pressure to go along with all
of them?
6- Rigoni also voted in favor of the sale
of city property to Blomquist. An investment group he
(Rigoni) is a part of own the former
New York Sod Farm. This group is selling some water
front property connected to the farm.
The listing from again is Stephens GMAC Realty.
7- Remember in the post listed above, that
Rigoni tried to get TIFA to pay what turns out
to be a grossly over-valued
price for the Khoury property that would have resulted in
additional commissions for Stephens
GMAC realty. Was there a quid pro quid arrangement
in there somewhere?
8- Marcus Blomquist, remember him, is the
son of Mark Blomquist who made frequent posts on
this site in that past. It was clear
to many of us that he was spoon fed the information
by the mayor, but even then it was
almost always wrong.
7- As post 7-9-2007-02 so aptly puts it -
CONNECT THE DOTS There is massive behind the
scenes wheeling and dealing going on
here, with no end in sight with these people
sitting on the city council.
7-9-2007-03 A little perspective please. What’s the big deal? So Steve Mariucci maybe bought the old Khoury property. So what? It’s not like the last day of Chaos & Abyss when God said, “You know, starting tomorrow I think I’ll take a week or so and create the world.”
Mariucci, like Tom Izzo, has had some admirable success in his field. That’s great. But he’s not the right hand of God. I don't know that he's any more special than most people in or from Iron Mountain. More well known, yes, but he’s not characteristic of Iron Mountain, nor a resident any longer. Besides, there are a lot of people from Iron Mountain, here and away, who are far richer, far more successful, and far more accomplished in their fields. They just haven’t gotten the print and camera time Mariucci has, and probably aren't all as nice as he, fortunately, turned out to be, personally. The NFL can give you a little glamour, cash, and fame, but it can’t make you a successful developer and retailer in a struggling, if not dying, small rural community in the far northern reaches of both a state and a nation in serious economic, political, and moral trouble. For his success and the area’s, I hope the people Mariucci hires to develop and manage this enterprise succeed smashingly. I wish them and him the best. You have to give him kudos for trying. But so far all he’s maybe done, till confirmed, is buy a patch of dirt on the north side. Let’s not make this more than it is. A lot of promising dreams have wafted through Iron Mountain before. After all, I’m still waiting for the Ponderosa that was absolutely positively going to open in town in the early ‘80s. Boy oh boy, I loved eating at the old Ponderosas . . . On another topic . . . Hip hip hooray and three cheers for you people who wrote recently about the noise in town!!! My husband and I and practically everyone we know or talk to are 100% behind you and those like you. HEAR THAT, CITY HALL??? Thank God the trains are quiet again. That's a relief I still experience every day at work and at home as they pass through town. The too-loud and unpleasant stereo noise and vehicle noise is one of the biggest and most underestimated problems in this town. And fireworks! My God, it's July 9th and private firecrackers -- no! downright explosives! bombs they call M-1000s, for crying out loud! -- are still going off all over town. It's a quality-of-life issue all the way, daddio, that affects so many others things. It's also something important and far-reaching that the city officials should be working on for EVERYONE in this city INSTEAD of doing all that other silly crap for each other and their immediate supporters. You people down at City Hall must not be able to hear the racket over the sound of your own voices. With peace and quiet a person just feels better. Talk about simple. So let's go for it. END THE UNNECESSARY NOISE, IRON MOUNTAIN!!! 7-9-2007-02
A point of interest concerning
the sale of the Khoury property that Steve Mariucci bought.
Quite a while ago, maybe last fall or thereabouts, I was in attendance
at a TIFA meeting. Doug Rigoni and Ken Tousignant were sitting together
in the audience. They very seldom came to TIFA meetings, I'm told.
Rigoni suggested to the TIFA Board that they
seriously think about buying the Khoury property.
He said TIFA could buy it "as is", i.e.,
with the buildings still there, for $800,000 or with the buildings torn
down for $1,100,00 to $1,200,000.
I distinctly remember then-chairman Ted
Corombos asking him "How do we know what it's worth? Why should TIFA
pay the asking price? Why not let a willing buyer and a willing seller
in the private sector establish the price? Why should TIFA get into
land speculation anyway?"
Rigoni said the city should have a "land
bank" to offer to developers. Mr. Corombos then said something like
"The land isn't going anywhere. Khoury has listed it and is willing to
sell it. Any potential developer can deal with Khoury directly."
Now I understand the final transaction price
was around $700,000 with the buildings cleared. That's between
$400,000 and $500,000 LESS than the original
asking price TIFA was asked to pay for it.
The mayor's mother had the
listing. The real estate commission on
raw land is often established at 10%. If TIFA had agreed to buy it
cleared of the buildings, she stood to make $40,000 to $50,000 more than
she subsequently made if the $700,000 asking price is accurate, as I
believe it is. The mayor, as I recall, didn't say anything at the
meeting, but he wasn't there as merely a curious citizen sitting next to
Doug Rigoni who was making the proposal. Connect the dots.
7-9-2007-01
I was searching the states' web-site for things
associated with Iron Mountain and found this item of interest.
http://courtofappeals.mijud.net/documents/sct/public/orders/20070110_s131463_56_131463-cjorder.pdf
Why on earth is the City of Iron Mountain
getting involved with a court case involving the City of Detroit
Firefighters vs. the City of Detroit?
How much is this costing us tax-payers, and why
was this never discussed at a city council meeting? If it doesn't
involve any of the City of Iron Mountain employees directly, and the city is
spending our tax dollars, we have a right to know why this money is
being spent. This is not a privacy issue, so the city must be trying to hide
something! The closer we look at the last few years, the more
hidden information starts to surface.
7-8-2007-03
Council Minutes for July 2nd have Sally Jacobs
saying she hopes that there is public feedback for future plans of City
Park, at the Pavilion open house on July 29th.
Ok, Sally, then put THAT on the City Website
like the Community Garden has been for 3 months. Print out flyers and have
them at City Hall for public feedback for City Park....like there is
about the Community Garden.
The City had no problem finding land for their
beloved Garden, but cannot find one square inch for a soccer or football
field? They leave this up to the citizens to do the research for them?
On my own, I found a piece of property I thought
would be perfect for a soccer and football field. It was even close to a
baseball field. You know what? The City will be using it for their
Community Garden. The Garden that nobody seems to really want.
I was at City Hall paying my water bill, looking
at the flyer that's trying to sell this Garden, and in the background was
the Code Enforcement officer; yawning and playing with pieces of paper on
his desk. His computer was off. He took a sticky note and moved it from
one place to another and then back again, then yawned again. Everyone else
was working.
Someone posted on this site not too long ago
about keeping things from sounding negative. Well, that would be a lot
easier to do if the Mayor, Manager, and Council weren't robbing us
blind, constantly pursuing their own agendas while ignoring the citizens,
and then treating us like dirt at Council meetings.
I challenge anyone to go look at some archived
minutes. Every single time the Manager is questioned on a project, he NEVER
has a straight answer. Year after year. Even when questioned from the
Council members, the answers are always "I'll look into that", "it's in the
works", "it's on the schedule", "next year", "next week", etc.
The Bike trail around Lake Antoine is a prime
example. But for some reason that darn downtown parking lot that most
merchants don't agree with will race through construction at lightening
speed....with the Pavilion that truly benefits Ms. Caudell. As does the
liquor and Cafe Ordinances.
If Mr. Rigoni has to abstain from any more
votes, he may as well not show up. Because of Bacco construction, Mr.
Rigoni has had to abstain from votes at nearly every Council meeting. Ms.
Caudell SHOULD abstain from many, but doesn't. Even when she did on the
Blomquist sale, she sure wasn't quiet- she tried to sway 2 of the members
her way and succeeded. Kind of like when she said that having alcohol on
the sidewalks of our downtown was going to bring in SO much business during
the day.
Am I negative? Well, maybe I am. What I really
feel is plain disgusted with my City Government. I am ashamed of them,
embarrassed of their actions and how surrounding communities feel about us
now. I am extremely angry at how they have treated us over large and small
issues. I am horrified at their arrogant and mocking comments at Council
meetings. I am jaded from their corrupt and suspicious behavior.
I feel helpless at their lies and spin.
I want to move away, but like the "For Sale"
signs show, you can't sell a house in this town anymore- nobody wants to
move here.
They may shape up before the election to save
their positions...have even started to act like they care a bit at the last
2 meetings, but it will be "business as usual" if they remain if office.
Marquart will be fighting to save his job, so he
may even behave for a bit. Hopefully, the residents have experienced enough
of their terrible decisions and behavior already to not fall for the
"honeymoon" phase coming up.
So this may be one Heck of a negative post. But
this is the only safe place to talk about such things and I'm not giving up
EVERYTHING to these self-serving jerks who pretend to be our Government.
7-8-2007-02
Response to 07-06-07 02 and 07-07-07 02
I'm hearing the same about S. Mariucci buying
the old Khoury property. You can rest assured that Mr. Marquart and the
Mayor "Team Tousignant" are going to ride the name of Mariucci as
far as they can. Don't let this blur your vision of what this council has
done to the average home owner in the city. As stated in prior posts, we the
homeowners are paying for the special interest of the
current council via increased user fees and taxes. Call them what you want,
they are taxes. I hope Mr. Mariuccis' development plans will bring
back the 150 plus jobs lost when Khourys decided to move into Kingsford.
As far as noise issues, I'm tired of hearing
car stereos from 100 plus yards away. The police department does not need
special equipment to monitor noise levels. If one would read city
ordinance 30 on Environment, Sec. 30-32. Limitation
on sound amplification system; exceptions; penalties. , one would
see that 30-32(2) (b) states: Except as authorized by law, no person shall
play any radio, music player or audio system in a motor vehicle at such
volume as to disturb the quiet, comfort or repose of other persons or at a
volume which is plainly audible to persons other than the occupants of said
vehicle. ("Plainly Audible" includes bass reverberation.) I recall reading
in the Daily News about this issue being raised at city council meetings.
Can something be done?
Trust me folks, the individuals that insured
fairness for all citizens of this city for many years, saw to it
that a reasonable and sound City Charter and Code of Ordinances
were adopted and maintained. It's just a shame
that several council members with no political background in this city, have
taken it upon themselves to "make things up" as they go rather than consult
the books. They have proven to me over the past few years they can't and
won't do what is correct.
If you think something is not right about what
this council is doing, consult the books and you will find out your
suspicions are probably correct! Just don't use the cities web site too
often to find these facts, or you will be charged a fee.
7-8-2007-01
I am wondering why such very useful information
as that contained in post 7-7-2007-03 only shows up on this website, and not
in the local media. It would reach a lot more people if things like that
were submitted to the Daily news as signed letters to the editor or even as
an anonymous speakout letter. How about a spot on "In Touch" with Aaron
Harper if your information is accurate and relevant to the common good?
The multitude of ways the current council has
significantly raised our cost to live in Iron Mountain is not common
knowledge, due to the public spin they have put on everything. As popular
as this website is, it is not as public as the newspaper, radio, or TV
coverage they get to propogate their spin on everything.
Isn't it illegal under Headlee
to raise your taxes 15%, or even 5% in a year? Isn't it illegal
under the Bolt decision to raise water rates to pay for
infrastructure that will be in place for decades, and for which you have no
choice but to use? Isn't it unethical to use the
information you obtain from being a council member for personal gain? How
many times has that happened, and is still happening? Isn't it
unethical to use you position as a council member to structure
ordinances and such so as to directly benefit your personal line of
business? Isn't it unethical, nay, a violation of
the public trust, to cut and decimate essential city services in
order to have more public money available to chase personal pipe dreams?
Isn't it a direct violation of the public trust to
arbitrarily budget money to destroy the city's, no, the PEOPLE's
City Park concept (get rid of the animals) as we have known it for decades,
without a vote of the people? I could go on and on and on. This stuff
needs very badly to be made more and more public as the election approaches.
To the writer of 7-7-2007-04: |
