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August 2008 Postings 8-29-2008-02
Hey
8-27-2008-02
That's the thing I don't like about these forums--we loose the
human element to discussions and its easy to not really read the
intention of the poster correctly. I'll gladly answer all of
your questions and firmly stand by all of my decisions, but
would rather do it face to face. I bet we'll agree on some
things, and will disagree on others--but either way the
conversation will be fun as long as we both approach it with an
open mind. We won't accomplish anything going back and forth on
this site--but I think face to face we can. You can get a hold
of me at
nalwine@norwaymi.com
Thanks
Nate
8-29-2008-01 RE: Bike paths 8-27-2008-02
Mr. Alwine, I'm the writer of the
post that you feel was insulting you. First, I am not against a
bike path, but I am against putting a bike path in a city
street. Second, I want you to know that it was not my intention
to insult you. In fact, it was a feeling that you were insulting
me that generated my response to you.
I had to wait awhile before
responding to you again, because I was at first speechless at
your indignation. I was then taken aback that you actually
agreed there are problems that need to be fixed, and then named
several of them. Why was I shocked? Because you proudly
displayed a vote no sign during the recall campaign,
DEFENDING the people who caused all the problems you now admit
are real! Then, you go to a council meeting and write on
websites about a bike path like nothing is wrong. What gives?
Why did it take someone "insulting" you to come out with your
own admission of these city problems?
Further, I live in Iron Mountain;
you do not. Why are you even involved with a bike path in a
residential area of Iron Mountain when you do not even live
here, I had to wonder? I felt not only insulted, but patronized
as well. Not just because of the path itself, mind you, but
coupled with what you didn't say about what is wrong here and
how you recently supported the cause of the problems. I felt you
were being disingenuous. You probably had no intentions of
insulting or patronizing anyone. I'll give you that. Then again,
neither did I.
It's too bad this all happened; you
are probably a pretty decent person that I would like to meet
and get to know. That will take a little time.. This city has a
lot of healing to do. I am dreading the upcoming election
already, with the ousted side already not telling us about the
deep connections their new candidates have to the old,
rightly-ousted regime. I think it's outrageous that they are
trying to paint the new candidates as "starting fresh" with new
people. What a joke. What utter hogwash.
If you have not already, please
contact the people who ran the recall and ask to see the proof
of the serious claims they made. If you do that with an open
mind, I think you will be ashamed that you supported the
anti-recall campaign, and maybe begin to understand the deep
frustration that triggered my original response to you, as well
as the depth of hard feelings felt by the many other citizens
who did check the facts before they chose "sides". I just wish
you knew how frustrating it has been to hear people praising
Marquart, when all along so many of us know what a liar,
lawbreaker, and bully he really was. He'll probably be back
here to answer for it, someday.
8-27-2008-01
To
8-25-2008-01
First, if you're going to insult me, or accuse me of things such
as redirection at least have the decency to use your name--or
tell me face to face.
Second--The bike path is a group of volunteers independent of
the City Government. We are not misdirecting or distracting the
city from the issues it faces. The city should be able to work
on the infrastructure issues and still be able to listen other
ideas--especially when they are volunteer based, with
volunteers willing to do the leg work--after all in this case we
were just looking for input from the council on permission to
proceed and how they felt best to proceed. Don't twist this to
try and say I'm putting my head in the sand trying to ignore or
distract from the issues because I'm not. This is something
unrelated to those issues and it should stay that way. I want
the city to fix the water system, police and fire issues,
determine a resolution to the assessor issue that is
satisfactory and I want them to do it as soon as possible.
Asking about the possibility of striping a line for bikes is not
part of some grand deceitful scheme, just an idea we think would
be good for those neighborhoods. If you want to discuss this
further contact me at
nalwine@norwaymi.com
This isn't meant as a negative comment, but I won't respond to
any reply that is unsigned. I think this site would be better
suited if everyone signed their names because i think it would
force all of us to act more civil towards each other.
Thanks
Nate Alwine
8-26-2008-07 To 8-25-2008-02 I speak as just an average-Joe, living in this community. Yes…I still live here, so I think I can speak for what this site has done for me. If it weren’t for this site, I would not have known the facts of what has been going on in this community. Prior to finding this site, I had to depend on the Daily News. They do NOT cover stories the way they should, in my opinion. In daily life, I just knew during the Rigoni/Jacobs, etc. reign, that my money was being grabbed more and more by this city with nothing to show for it. Water bills are through the roof; taxes are astronomical; additional fees on my cable bill, etc. Yet, what I see is that every other house in this town is up for sale. The streets and alleys are falling apart and there are no jobs to be had. There was a new “inspector” to go around and fine people for chipped paint on their homes. In my mind, decisions were being made that benefitted only a small percentage of the population and not benefitting the greater population. I don’t mind paying my fair share of taxes and fees if I felt that it was bringing our city somewhere. I won’t even begin to speak my mind about event center and land deals! This website was one of several tools I used to make an informed decision when I voted. Pick through and you can find the facts. I will continue to read here and check the facts myself, as I hope everyone does. This website is just one of many informational tools. I don’t see it as anything else. I don’t see it as something to either unite or divide. It’s INFORMATION. And for that, I am grateful. I am very anxious to hear the new candidates inform us of their vision for this city. As much as I like Jim Benbow as a person, at face value I would worry about him because of his close relationship to Rigoni. Therefore, I will withhold judgment until we hear from HIM the ideas that he has to better this community. I want to know where the candidates stand on the Mariucci thing. I hope ALL of the candidates speak their mind and let us decide based on their ideas and vision. 8-26-2008-06
To 8-26-2008-04
After reading your post, the post
that you slammed, and then the post that they slammed, I gotta
ask: Why are you defending someone who thinks the only thing we
can do about the dirt and crap in this world is to bend over and
accept it?
8-26-2008-05
To poster 8-26-2008-04, from
8-26-2008-02: You may find this hard to believe, but I, too,
have been the victim of baseless allegations on this very
website. I've even been the victim of outright lies. These
baseless claims and lies always came from the small faction
posting here in favor of Tousignant, Rigoni, Caudell, Tchokreff,
Burke, and Vanlaanen. Any factual stuff I've seen here - the
kind with documentation - always seems to come from the "other
side". I try to refer to factual statements, not opinions, when
making my admittedly heavy-handed judgments. Why do you insist
on ignoring those facts when you pass your own judgments? They
aren't going away just because you try to cloud the issue into
one of simply a difference of opinion. I find your statements
outrageous, because your tactic is obvious: convince those who
don't know the facts that this is all just a difference of
opinion. As a previous post said - if you have to do that to
win, you should not win.
"Local reign of deceit" does sound
quite dramatic, I must admit. Too bad it's true, isn't it? You
know as well as I do that there are many documented instances of
deceit - among other sins - from our council over the past four
years, and you know by now that I can back that statement up
with documentation. It was shameful and embarrassing to have
that going on so blatantly in our government, and I'm glad the
people, including me, stood up and challenged it. What continues
to be shameful and embarrassing for Iron Mountain is the group
of people who still won't admit the depth and gravity of the
deception and everything else, even with documented proof shoved
in their faces. You won't even admit that it was bad at all! How
sad.
Yeah, calling someone a loser wasn't
very nice, even if true. Sorry about that.
And yeah, I agree about the tax
lookup thing. I didn't get the point of that post anyway.
8-26-2008-04
To the poster of message
8-26-2008-02 you are wrong, and shame on you. Allegations
(made on this truthful, fact checked website) in some case are
very damaging without proof. Plenty exist here on this website,
and I have even been victim of them, though I am simply a voter
and business person looking to better my life and community.
Drama, drama, drama,...."local reign
of deceit"....give me a break with the drama. You shouldn't
call anyone a loser. You will not allow an opinion, such as you
say should be allowed.
To the poster of message
8-25-2008-02, thank you.
Clean up the attitudes, stop the
damage, let a little of the petty stuff go......
Stay off the tax look up. Too easy
to be hateful and nasty in the computer age. Not like going to
the courthouse to actually get something, just point, click, and
start spreading the hate.......
8-26-2008-03 As I was perusing the City of Iron Mountain's website I came across the tax lookup feature...interesting reading, especially if you type in the council members. Try it and you be the judge on who you should listen to when it comes to money/budget management. 8-26-2008-02
I just finished reading post
#8-25-2008-02. It was long, and it was angry. The angry part
confuses me.
It seems to me that the entire point
of the post can be summed up by saying that the whole world is
dirty, so, stop complaining about it, stop trying to change even
your local dirt because you can't, and just accept it..
So, writer, why are you angry at
those of us who have not yet sunk to that shameful level of
indifference to wrongdoing? Why are you APPALLED that people
give a damn? Why are you against spreading information to people
that is kept out of the media? If the whole world is so dirty,
why are you picking on this little website and its contributors
for voicing their opinions and providing documented facts? Why
does it bother you that some people seek factual information
rather than gossip?
I got news for you, buddy. We do
give a damn about wrongdoing. We will keep trying to change it
in our neck of the woods. And, we will continue to inform the
people of facts on issues, even if the local media will not. You
are quite the spinmeister, pal. Don't pretend to be disgusted by
this website, when, really, you are concerned because the LOCAL
reign of deceit is seriously challenged by it. Glad to hear you
moved away, loser.
8-26-2008-01 Come on. Give these candidates a chance. How well do you know these individuals. I myself don't know them very well but certainly am going to introduce myself and talk to them about the needs of the city. Just because Mr. Benbow is friends with John Fortier and Doug Rigoni doesn't make him a bad candidate. Personally, I have heard very good things about Mr. Benbow as an individual and find that he is a doer and helps in many ways in the community. Mr. Walters is a life long resident of this area and I believe he wants what's best for the city. I heard him speak at a council meeting during public comment and he was passionate about doing what is right for Iron Mountain. These are law abiding, tax paying citizens of this community and they deserve a chance just like anyone else. You said that Mr. Walters has some land he wants to sell. Well he has wanted to sell it for some time but it hasn't sold so he has held on to it, paid taxes on it and when the time comes I hope he is able to sell it to whomever. Are you saying that anyone who has land to sell will be running for council to insure the sale of their property? No, it's not worth that much trouble. 8-25-2008-03 I don’t know Harlan Walter so I won’t
comment on him, but come on when will people bashing stop. 8-25-2008-02 Hi -I was just made aware of your wonderful forum, a community building website, on my recent visit back to Iron Mountain. I must say, this is a GREAT way, (...as if verbal gossip wasn't enough) to tear your small community TOTALLY APART! I'm APPALLED that anyone with a conscience OR half a brain would think that this would be ANY GOOD at ALL for your community!?! ...Unless eMail, IMing or verbally communicating your opinion just wasn't enough to fill your need to publicly hurt or degrade yourself, or someone else! If putting someone down, or better yet, kicking them when their down makes YOU feel like you're better person... well, at least YOU believe that! People who "thrive" on this type of depravity need HELP - NOT a site like this to feed their sickness! If stating your opinion, prying your nose into peoples private business, or posting fallacies PUBLICLY makes you feel like your helping to resolve the cause - well, guess what Genius? You're NOT!!! You are simply supplying AND stacking the bricks higher - to detach and segregate your small community from each other MORE. I thought it was just wonderful that the community could come together for the benefit of the families who lost their children at the railroad bridge - my heart overflowed with PRIDE knowing I had the privilege of growing up in that community... then I come across this website... makes me utterly sick to my stomach!!! I grew up with Iron Mountain for over 40 years, and even though the Italian Heritage is slowly fading, the sickening gossip, unfortunately, is not! You wonder WHY people move out of your community and never ever look back... you wonder WHY people are willing to take their own lives or others, or WHY people sustain a life of substance abuse or mental illness... You are feeding the monster You are CHOOSING to create! ...All the back-stabbing. gossip, complaining, assuming, accusing is NOT going to help a single thing at all - ever!!! Let me get you "in" on a little secret - the WHOLE WORLD is corrupt!!!- Politicians, Religions, Business... even the OLYMPICS!!! (((GaSp!))) So, to think you are doing everyone else a "favor" by PUBLICLY accusing people or businesses of unethical practices - well guess what - you're NoT!!! If we all were made aware of all the fallacies, lies, corruptions, pay-offs, etc. of our past... we'd be SICK to death!!! It's very unfortunate, but that's just the way it is - and will always be, sadly...
"It's a
dog-eat-dog world - and I'm wearing MilkBone boxers!?!"
- Anonymous Do you hear what I'm saying - the world isn't going to change because of all the the back-stabbing, complaining, or accusing you do... Life sucks - period! We all have to deal with our own personal "pooper-scooper" - it's unavoidable! You DO NOT have a choice! But, what you DO have a choice about is how YOU CHOOSE to deal or react to it. If you choose to let it get to you, you loose sleep, or get stressed out - that's YOUR choice - NOT mine! Don't let YOUR bad decision influence MY well-being, please! That's all I ask - Thank YoU!!! I choose to try to be able to live WITH my fellow man - "as is" - to accept the things I cannot change or unable to understand. People are people - and even though I know I cannot change them, I therefore choose to accept them for who they are, and respect that they are not perfect or do not hold the same values or opinions as I do... and that's OK! If we all were the same, I don't think I would need to take the time to write all of this. To say, "I'm not friends with Mr. X because they did this..." - well guess what - you're NOT a friend!!! Nobody cares to hear about your inability to comprehend what a true friendship means... If you were TRULY a friend, you would understand that WITH your friendship and a little effort, some change or acceptance may be possible. To say, "Act local, buy local" - whatever - do you THINK other people of your community WANT to volunteer to be humiliated and hung on the cross by your sickness??? Do you think they want to waste their time having to justify their actions to YoU?!? To sit here and tally what XYZ spent (past tense) to do on this job, or whatever campaign is just stupid, very PETTY and a waste of time - it's DONE and OVER with - move on!!! Get a life!!! My GoD! How much of this do you deem acceptable or even simply necessary??? If you choose to think all is fair in the world, please deposit another $20 into my PayPal account - cause it isn't! It never will be. If you enjoy the thought of becoming like Niagara, and having all your businesses moved away, or bought out, high unemployment, or closed - be my guest! If you think your local businesses in your area CHOOSE to have to deal with other global markets they way they must - you simply have NO idea! I'm sure the choices they make are NOT as easy to deem as acceptable - but unless you can all imagine your community life without Champion or Bacco, you must understand, accept and most importantly, support them for things they sustain for your community. It's easy to accuse, or to assume - but it's NOT easy to simply TRY to understand! ...And until we all do, I think for the well-being of the community, that some things are better left unsaid. I'm not going to be the one who will call the kettle black (like others), but I am unsure if a forum website like this will go any GOOD for the community?!?
If the point of your "forum" is
to inform and educate people on the community's issues -
that's what the local newspapers and meetings are for. If
the point of your "forum" is to post local happenings,
that's what CityofIronMountain.com is for... If the point
of this "forum" site is to PUBLICLY humiliate and ridicule
your fellow community members - you are doing a wonderful
job - keep up the good work!!!
So please tell me, what is the point of IronMountainIssues.org ? Thank you for your time and consideration of my opinion. I will pray for you Iron Mountain - God Bless and MOST importantly... Peace!!! Capeesh?!? ...and PLEASE remember:
"Opinions
are like ***holes!?! Everyone has one, and they ALL
stink!"
- Anonymous (((p.s. Sorry! I understand about the profanity of your posts - so if you can, please edit as needed to deem post-worthy - thanks!))) 8-25-2008-01
With all due respect to Mr. Alwine,
please, sir, either get your head out of the clouds or stop
yanking my chain with redirection away from important issues. We
have a lot more substantive issues facing this city than a bike
path, for heaven's sake. That path is nothing but a distraction
right now. There are a lot of things that are seriously broken
and need to be fixed. I am appalled that Mayor Vanlaanen would
even talk about a bike path after the negligent and
irresponsible way he has helped run this city into the ground,
both financially and service-wise.. Not to mention the damage
that has been done in regard to our credibility and integrity to
the surrounding communities and the state. Not to mention the
never-before-seen level of division among our own residents -
those who see what was happening, and those who deliberately
seek to suppress knowledge of it.
Why did we spend/waste $800,000.00
in a year and a half on engineering costs? We could have had
full-time engineers on the city payroll working exclusively on
city issues for a lot less than that! How is this horrendous
waste of tax money going to be addressed so that something this
irresponsible never happens again? We still have two
irresponsible members on the council that approved all of that
without ever questioning it.
Why are we spending TIFA money to
fund a private enterprise? Why are we spending it on a project
that is not in the TIFA plan? Why are people so bent on throwing
our tax money at a local celebrity, for no other reason than
that he is a local celebrity? How is the city as a whole going
to benefit from giving a private businessman millions of dollars
to fund his private business?
Why did the lame duck city council
tie the hands of the current council by approving a five year
contract with the police after they lost the election in
2007? Why did they not address the health insurance problems in
that contract? They were the ones always spouting doom and gloom
about healthcare costs, so how can that be explained? Was it
spite? God knows, it was definitely an irresponsible and
hypocritical decision with our tax money. How can that be fixed?
Will the police officers "step up to the plate", as Marquart
used to say, and do something reasonable and fiscally
responsible about their pie-in-the-sky contract?
Why did that same lame duck council
approve an early retirement in the police department that cost
the city $87,000.00, and cost the pension program even more?
These were the same people who, again, preached doom and gloom
about the pensions and healthcare costs, so why did they make
problems worse by this action? Spite? Returning a favor? There
was no benefit at all to the city in doing this.
Why was Marquart not called on the
carpet for losing the Centers for Regional Excellence grant? We
had that grant, and he single-handedly managed to lose it for
the entire area.
Why did they approve
hiring employees in a way that was in violation of the City
Charter? Are we going to abide by the Charter from now on? If
so, how do you address the illegally hired individuals? It
wasnʼt their fault; they didnʼt do anything wrong. So, how do we
make it right? I suggest pressing personal charges of City
Charter violations against the individual council members who
did this and other violations. No one else should have to suffer
for their misdeeds. They should be held accountable so this
never happens again.
Why did they approve spending tax
money to send an illegally hired employee to police school?
Why did they lock us into that
contract with the police with no language to address the huge
gap in our fire protection that they caused? Why did that
contract not address the safety problems that have cost us
$23,000.00 so far? That contract was approved only a couple of
months after we got hit with the $20,000.00 fines. So why
was that problem not addressed? Again, we still have two members
of the council, Vanlaanen and Burke, that approved all of this
without ever questioning of attempting to fix anything.. This
problem still exists.
Why did city tax money pay for a new
water line across private property, the Champion property?
How are we going to address the
reassessment fiasco? Was there criminal activity? How do we
address the lost $200,000.00 caused by this irresponsible,
incompetent action? Can we get some of that money back? Can we
press criminal charges?
Do we want to go back to lawsuit
after lawsuit against the City because of the way they ran
things?
Are our outrageous water and sewer
rates within the legal parameters of the Bolt decision? The
city attorney says yes, but I've heard other attorneys say not
even close.
Through everything that was going
on, many city residents addressed the council with their
concerns about the above problems and many others as they were
happening. There was no chance for "plausible deniability". Why
were these concerns shoved aside? Why was city manager Marquart
given bonuses while this was occurring? Why was he not fired?
Why has he not been charged with malfeasance? From 2004 to 2008,
we had the single most incompetent and irresponsible and
negligent city council in the history of Iron Mountain. And some
of you out there are trying to say it's nothing but bickering.
Wow.
Why did Burke Vanlaanen, Caudell,
and Tchokreff approve the new budget, when a smart fourth grader
could have seen it was not viable? How can we fix such
incompetence? We, the people, have been trying . . . man, have
we been trying. One decisive election, and one decisive recall
later, we are now faced with more of the same from new
candidates for office. And more of the same misdirection,
misinformation, and personal attacks against those who saw
through the bull of the last four years. Some of you are seeking
to bring us right back into what we just got rid of. Benbow as a
candidate, with his obvious connections? Walters as a candidate,
with his obvious self interest in that Mariucci project debacle?
How do you people sleep at night?
But, I digress. Back to that all
important bike path. Wow! Ooh! Aah! Joy! Rapture! Put some
sparkles on it, and I just might be blinded to that other stuff
I was talking about.
8-24-2008-01 It sure looks like "Follow
the money" is still a very valid consideration when
considering a couple of the candidates who have entered the Iron
Mountain City Council races in Wards 1 and 2. 8-23-2008-05 To Post 8-23-2008-03 "City Right of Ways" are alleys and areas of property that telephone poles run through. The tax was implemented by the FCC to help in the cost of maintaining those "right of ways". Trimming tree branches and ensuring that access is maintained for maintenance. Most new housing areas have underground utilities. 8-23-2008-04 Steve was at a high school football
event in Marquette after the June Ryan show was recorded and stated
unequivocally that he has moved back to California for good. The
poster below is correct; Steve's wife is from Cal and that is home.
He also stated that he has not ruled out another head coaching job
somewhere, but if he takes one it will be a commute; he will not
move his family to wherever the job may be. 8-23-2008-03
To: 8-22-2008-04 Re: cable
T.V. fees and liaison officer. Please explain what "city rights
of way" are. Thank you
8-23-2008-02
Response to 8-21-2008-01 - I read
those blogs you say you didn't read. That person referred to was
lying, not voicing an opinion. If you posted here to defend
them, and are feebly trying to call it an opinion, I do not
believe you are "concerned for the well-being of our city and
its citizens." Nice, though juvenile, try at spinning the issue,
though.
Are you actually going to stick to
your argument that the First Amendment guarantees the right to
lie? Please.
8-23-2008-01
To 8-21-2008-01
If you don't read those blogs, then
you don't know what I'm talking about. Not everything is a
matter of opinion. There is still such a thing as facts.
When I say someone is a liar, I am not attacking their opinion,
I am pointing out that they misrepresented facts. There
is a huge difference. I can also point to specific lies this
person told, if you want to spilt hairs. Example: Nonamiss
stated as fact that the city assessor was NEVER an employee of
the city. That's not an abstract opinion, friend. It's a lie.
Furthermore, I can show you documented evidence of his other
lies. I am offended that someone would misrepresent city
affairs in a public forum like that, and I have just as much
right to respond to it as they had to utter such misinformation.
And I repeat: The First Amendment
DOES NOT guarantee the right to tell public lies about public
affairs. To believe otherwise would mean there is no such
thing as slander and libel. Get your facts straight before you
try to lecture me again. Yes, it is VERY hard for me to live in
a world with people who believe there is no such thing as facts
anymore.
8-22-2008-04 Regarding the cable TV fee: In one
of the early meetings in January, maybe the first one, the three new
council members tried to eliminate the TV fee completely. It was
voted down 4-3 (of course) with Caudell, Tchikreff, Burke and
VanLaanen voting to keep it in. Peterson, Farragh and Rosen voted
to eliminate it altogether. 8-22-2008-03
To 08-20-2008-05:
Dan Burke, according to past meeting
minutes, first proposed using the cable franchise fee to fund
the liaison officer. The city attorney voiced that it wasn't
the correct use of the fees, but was not listened to and it was
passed.
In January, before the budget
process and before it became known how bad off the City was
financially, the three new council members put a motion forward
to eliminate the cable franchise fee. Four council members,
including Dan Burke, voted no; citing the Fee-funded liaison
officer as a convenient reason...they had financially tied the
officer to the fee.
In April when the three new council
members received their financial information to start the budget
workshops, the City was reported by the Manager to be $176,000
in the red. The only income that the manager and 4 old
council members added to the budget to balance it included
numbers that could not be counted on. For example: Numbers
that had to be yet negotiated, tower fees that had to be
renegotiated (and still are not), and rental ordinance fees that
had yet to be negotiated. There is a current shortfall in all
of these numbers.
The "trimming" that the Manager and
4 council members put forward was in two categories only, and
included opening contracts. Also, a number that could not be
considered solid. The other trimming included needed equipment
by City Departments. Consistent overtime costs due to a Police
and Fire protection plan that has not been working financially,
or with personnel, was not budgeted for. Hence, yet another
shortfall.
At last Monday's council meeting:
Dan Burke, after voting for the cable
franchise fee twice, put forward the
discussion to reduce it. He said that some cities had theirs at
2%.... Back when the old council first voted the Fee in,
residents pleaded with them that very fact, but were ignored and
it was voted at 5%. Dan Burke stated at last Monday's meeting
that somehow the City has pulled in twice as much money for the
liaison officer than what they needed. Good mathematics by the
old council would have prevented that, and the fee should either
not have happened in the first place or should not have been 5%.
It is a political move only for Mr.
Burke to put forth reducing that fee at this time. It is plain
and clear it was intended to put the three new council members
in a seemingly impossible situation.
A budget that was nearly
destroyed by others over the past few years, inherited by new
members, that already requires amendments due to
shortfalls. A budget that was recognized by the three new
council members to be faulty and they voted accordingly...this
budget cannot at this time, without cuts, simply reduce the
fee. Other income would have to take the place of the fee,
which will be discussed along with the other missing income that
did not materialize.
The three new council members acted
responsibly, and will continue to do so.
8-22-2008-02
All
comments regarding the bike path here are some replies to
questions/concerns
Specifically I would like talking with the author of 8-20-2008
02 and 8-19-2008 01. Please feel free to email me at
nalwine@norwaymi.com perhaps we can exchange phone
numbers and have a good dialog on this. I'm not looking for an
argument at all--but a friendly discussion because this proposal
is not bad like it appears you think it is. I believe a face to
face dialog will be a very positive thing.
Anyone interested in more information can also feel free to
contact me, I can give you information on when the meetings are
and where and the overall goals as a whole.
Thanks!
Nate Alwine
1)
The Lake Antoine Bike Path was worked/is being worked on by a
group separate from the group proposing the bike lanes on the
west side. There have been many challenges in establishing this
path, but currently the Path/Route is slated to be constructed
this fall.
2)
As for the routes on the west side, we discussed several
options. (I am on the routes and planning committee for this
path--and have been at each of the meetings except one). One
route was along Hughitt. We explored that option because it was
the widest street. However the other option which was presented
at the City Council Meeting was to utilize A and B Streets,
placing bike lanes on one side of the street and having bikes
flow with the traffic, with parking remaining on the other side
of the street. We presented both options to the council, and
our goal in presenting these options was to start the dialog
that needed to be started. This will allow us to see if the
residents of this area would even be open to this idea, or have
inputs on how to make this work in a way acceptable to them.
Jeff volunteers with the same committee I do, and since this is
a volunteer based group we needed to present our idea to the
council and let them decide the best way to get a dialog with
the residents. Tourism is not the goal with this section of the
path--we really want to provide a safe route to the school,
downtown, and city park for residents. We also want to link the
larger path which will extend throughout Dickinson County when
completed. I am more than happy to discuss the details of that
path with anyone who wants to contact me at my info I leave
below. Now as far as permanent, we have many ideas for how this
would be implemented on the west side. One was that we have a
bike lane from late April-early November. And then parking
returns as normal. Our goal is nothing more than to want to add
something to make this place a little better.
I
do have some interesting statistics on tourism and bicycling.
As the overall path/and spur trails will not only serve the
residents, but also spur tourism as well. I'll throw out a
summary here:
When it comes to tourism the fastest growing sector in the
country is the Adventure Destination Tourism. If we drive
deeper into this we see that the top 3 sub categories of
Adventure Destination Tourism are #1) Whitewater Rafting #2)
Rock Climbing #3) Bicycling (mountain/road)
Next look at the local Adventure
Destination Resorts. Between Memorial Day and the end of
fall colors they bring up to 500 people to this area each
weekend for rock climbing and whitewater rafting at Piers
Gorge. These people are usually very impressed by how
beautiful this area is and one of the most common question I
face after guiding rafting trips is if there are any
biking/hiking routes/trails they can explore. They want to
explore this area after seeing it from the vantage point of
the Menominee River, or via cliffs north of the city.
This non-motorized route will empower them to do that.
Last weekend I worked the Tour
de Dickinson and we had over 320 people sign up to ride in
the tour from all over the mid-west. The checkpoint I
worked had 62 people stop in for refreshments. It was a
great mix of local residents and individuals from out of
state. While volunteering at Italian Fest later that day I
saw many of the riders that went through my checkpoint
buying food and drinks from local vendors. That definitely
shows interest in this area with biking.
Beyond the tourism this provides
a great alternate resource for transportation and is great
for us. I save 1.5 gallons of gas or close to $6/day when I
ride my bike from Norway to work in Iron Mountain. In doing
so I get a great opportunity to experience our communities
from a different perspective. This summer I'd see kids
playing baseball in Quinnesec, say hi to different
neighbors, and get my legs in good shape. The tough economy
has caused many to start riding their bikes, and as bike
traffic increases in town car and bicycle conflicts will
increase, so it makes sense to have this dialog and search
for the right routes for bikes.
Thanks again
Nate Alwine
8-22-2008-01
To 8-20-2008-05, As I
understand from asking about this, new members did want to
abolish the fee as soon as they took office. As I recall it
was voted down 4-3. Then the new budget was set with this
money added in and now it will just take some time to figure
out how to fund the liaison officer when the fee is
removed. It appears from the last meeting that there are
some serious issues with the budget that need to be
fixed. Looks like we need to give them some time to work
this all out.
8-21-2008-02
Hughitt Street (wide!) and the ever
awaited Lake Antoine bike path should not be mutually exclusive.
Both would be ideal.
A community has to be modern
day friendly to attract new residents and
businesses.
Modern day communities do not gear
toward sedentary lifestyle. They gear for safe ways for non
motorized communting.
Going back to the 70's and 80's ways
of thinking will ruin Iron Mountain. All U.P./Wisconsin
communities have potholes to deal with. I should not be one or
the other (fix potholes/have safe bike paths.)
8-21-2008-01 In response to the below blog: I don't read the blogs just the newspaper articles. The first amendment DOES guarantee the right to free speech. Just as is expressed on this site. People have opinions that differ but that doesn't make them lies. I don't even know what you mean by nonamiss. And what do you mean by "you people are so shallow"? You don't even know the "you people". And lets stop talking about this side and that side. We are all concerned for the well-being of our city and its citizens. I know that I am, aren't you? Why is it that anyone who doesn't share your opinion is a liar? It must be hard for such a perfect person such as yourself to live in this imperfect world.8-20-2008-02
Dear 8-15-2008-01, the First
Amendment does not guarantee the right to tell public lies
about public affairs.. To suggest some of these people (by some
people I specifically include Nonamiss as a blatant liar) are
middle of the road is outrageous. If they go as far as to lie to
make their point, it's fairly obvious what side of the road they
are on. Don't read them, you suggest? Why not? So no one
responds to them with the hard facts on the issues they are
lying about? Would that make it easier for the "other side" to
try to get back in power in November? If you can only win a
majority through blatant lying, you should not be winning. Your
way is NOT the American way. For you to quote the 1st
Amendment in this context is to defile it. You people
are so shallow and transparent it sickens me.
Oh, and to everyone on Hughitt
Street, won't it be nice for you if the mayor's plan comes to
fruition? You will never again be able to have guests come to
your homes and park in the street. Great idea, eh?
8-20-2008-05 Is just me or didn't the campaign and
recall literature speak about abolishing the cable fee? It doesn't
seem like anyone supported the idea of reducing it. 8-20-2008-04 Regarding the proposed bike path it would make much more sense to use both A and B streets. With the traffic moving in only one direction, it leaves room for a wider bike lane and street parking on one side of the street. I also would like to know what ever did happen to the Lake Antoine bike path? 8-20-2008-03 The Ryan Report segment you saw was a repeat. It was recorded in June and aired in early July. I saw it in July. I don't think anyone said that Steve was moving back to Iron Mountain. His wife is home and that is where she wants to stay. 8-20-2008-02
Dear 8-15-2008-01, the First
Amendment does not guarantee the right to tell public lies
about public affairs.. To suggest some of these people (by some
people I specifically include Nonamiss as a blatant liar) are
middle of the road is outrageous. If they go as far as to lie to
make their point, it's fairly obvious what side of the road they
are on. Don't read them, you suggest? Why not? So no one
responds to them with the hard facts on the issues they are
lying about? Would that make it easier for the "other side" to
try to get back in power in November? If you can only win a
majority through blatant lying, you should not be winning. Your
way is NOT the American way. For you to quote the 1st
Amendment in this context is to defile it. You people
are so shallow and transparent it sickens me.
Oh, and to everyone on Hughitt
Street, won't it be nice for you if the mayor's plan comes to
fruition? You will never again be able to have guests come to
your homes and park in the street. Great idea, eh?
8-20-2008-01
I saw Steve Mariucci this weekend
on TV6 Ryan Report. He was very adamant about California being
his "home". For those of you that think Steve is coming back to
Iron Mountain to save the world, keep dreaming. Of course he had
to discuss the "events center" and how a few people are
holding up the plans. Thank God for a few honest people!
Speaking of plans, can someone
tell me the status of the strip-mall that was to be built next
to the police station? Did the city ever sign over the city
property, or was this just another "cart before the horse"
deal? The way Marquart and his gang of seven spoke a year ago,
you would have thought the cars should be lined-up to the city
limits waiting to get into all the fabulous stores by now.
A bike path to city park? What
ever happened to the bike trail around the lake?
WOW !!!
8-19-2008-04
As a non resident of Hughitt St. I
think the no parking/bike path is a very smart idea. There are
also many, many grade school and high school boys who bike and
walk to get to the football stadium and City Park for football
practice and games. This would provide added safety. You
really don't generally see a lot of cars parked on Hughitt west
of Central School anyway. Our town needs to be much more
bike/rollerblade friendly to keep up with other progressive
towns of Michigan, including the U.P.
8-19-2008-03
Dear 8-14-2008-03:
Nope.
Dear S.L.:
Thanks for bringing the question to
my attention.
Jim Hogan
8-19-2008-02 Gee, things sure are quiet around this website lately. I can almost hear the crickets. I hope that means a lot of people have found a lot less to be concerned about, city-wise. I would like to see some more of this year's vendor reports posted if someone has them. Thanks 8-19-2008-01 Can you believe it? Of all the
problems Iron Mountain faces, Jeff Van Laanen seems most concerned
about establishing a bike path from downtown to the city park. Is a
bike path from downtown to the city park the highest priority item
he could think of? 8-15-2008-01 Apparently the individuals that are blogging on the newspapers website are just exercising their "First Amendment" right. And as to what "SIDE" they take, maybe they are middle of the road. If you are bothered by those comments, don't read them. No one knows who is writing them so don't throw stones into the dark. 8-14-2008-08 I checked out that link in post 8-14-2008-02. I want to know why the Daily News is allowing someone to post outright lies on their website? I though they made people prove whatever they wanted to say. Or, was that just the a rule for the side that was exposing everything? The other side can say whatever they want, with no proof, even outright lies? 8-14-2008-07
See what I mean?
8-14-2008-06 A unique Characteristic of the TRUTH Unlike everything else in human relations, the TRUTH has one very unique characteristic - it cannot be KILLED. The truth can be hidden, sometimes briefly, sometimes for centuries, but it is never dead. The truth can be burned, stabbed, stomped on, riddled with bullets, blasted with artillery and even nuked. Yet, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, it will arise again and again and again. Sometimes nations, civilizations and empires will fall because the truth was hidden. Human history is replete with examples where the truth was hidden and millions died, but the truth didn't die. Those who choose to squash the truth, twist the truth, avoid the truth or bury the truth will eventually pay a price. Sometimes the price is life itself. Other times, it is merely the embarrassment of losing an election in a small town as the populace sees through the shroud and sees the truth - which once again, did not die. A life filled with attempts at deception must be a very shallow life indeed. Some have paid the price of their deceptions. Hopefully, they have learned a lesson. Deception, however, is also addictive. Often it cannot be seen by its practitioners for what it is - the path to a hollow, meaningless life. 8-14-2008-05 The one other thing that made news all over the country was the "Pen throwing charge". It was so laughable that it made news all over! You can still look it up online to see how many places included it in their news. Everyone saw it as a joke! 8-14-2008-04 To, 8-13-2008-03 8-14-2008-03 To: 8/13/08-02 8-14-2008-02
People who are interested in the
goings on of our city government should go to this link:
You may have to cut and paste it in
your address bar. This is a recent Daily News story and the
comment blog. It's almost unbelievable what someone from the
"other side" is stooping to to make their false points. IT has
been reduced to outright lying. See for yourself.
8-14-2008-01
Since when is fighting for
and voting for the truth a shame!!!
8-13-2008-03 I guess we've done it now. No takers on the open city council seats. Maybe appointments will be made to fill those seats until elections are held in 2009. I have a funny feeling that our city is going to be dormant for sometime now. Makes you wonder if the Iron Mountain Event Center will come to fruition or if ANY business will take the chance on coming to a community that doesn't have a viable government. I know that many throughout the state are questioning the stability of Iron Mountain. I was in Ludington and Saginaw the first week end in August and when they asked where I was from or saw my driver's license I was asked, "just what is all this nonsense that is going on in Iron Mountain. I guess we are famous for something. What a shame. 8-13-2008-02
Re: 8-11-08-02 8-13-2008-01
Dear poster #8-12-2008-02,
Thank you for patronizing me. Maybe
you shouldn't ask such obviously leading questions. You are not
as clever as you think with your "innocent" sounding questions,
or your change in tactics. You should know the true answers
by now. You should also realize who slandered who, if at all.
Please spare me any more moral lectures. The ground is pretty
solid where I'm standing.
8-12-2008-03 Re: 8-11-08-02 Shame on you. No matter what side you were on, your attitude is extremely rude, negative and not at all helpful as we move forward to heal and restore this city. 8-12-2008-02
This is not the safe site that
8-11-08-01 referred to. I have been on this site with questions
or comments and have been rudely criticized. I also found that
in the not so distance past that individuals have been
slanderous towards other individuals and therefore, by printing
those remarks, the webmaster has put himself/herself in a place
where they could be held liable. This is a "public forum" and
this could be grounds for a suit. There are a few people who
write for this site that look at the world with "green eyes"
instead of accepting there lives the way they are or working to
make them better. It is easier to criticize other then to look
within ourselves and identify the problem for what it is.
8-12-2008-01
As far as I can see, the only person
constantly harping is some wingnut with the handle of nonamiss
making comments on the Daily News website on stories and letters
to the editor. Se continua a sparare cazzate lo ignorero. Other
than that, a few anonymous speakout letters to the paper is all
I've seen or heard.
So, does anyone know who is going to
run for the two empty seats?
8-11-2008-03 Who's harping? 8-11-2008-02 Fruitcakes. You figure it out. 8-11-2008-01
While there is an Election coming,
and the outcome will still yet determine exactly who will be
representing the residents towards what they want for their
City;
Somewhere, somehow, there has to be
a start to the healing of the hard lines that have been drawn.
If not, then the person and people who have drawn them (even
though absent) will still be doing their damage.
We know we are better off without
secrecy and corrupt thinking, but to get out of the tangled mess
that was left behind it's going to take a Hell of a lot more
than bickering and wound-licking. Some like to come on this
site and inflict even more wounds. They then call this site
"hateful", even though they themselves were guilty of that very
word. That won't change. It won't because people like that
refuse to change.
What can change is
others coming to this site with their ideas of what they want
for their City. So, let this be the place to share those
ideas. Let this site be where it is always safe to not only be
a watchdog and find information, but also where it is absolutely
safe to express what you see for the future of Iron Mountain.
That is what everyone fought for, took the hits for: That
Freedom.
It is time now. Let's get this show
on the road.
8-10-2008-02 The proud & positive gang continues
to harp about lies and distortions WITHOUT ONCE listing any of
them. If there are so many, they should have no trouble listing
them. The three being recalled never once addressed the charges in
the recall language because it was all true and documented and
recorded with their votes while sitting on the city council. 8-10-2008-01
About 8-8-2008-02
I'll take what we have now ANY DAY
over the deceitful, incompetent, greedy, self-serving, snobbish,
egotistical, ignorant, bullying reign we had before. If the new
people are deceptive, I will be the first to call them on it. If
YOU have proof that the new members are being deceptive, prove
it with documented facts. If you have nothing, your word means
nothing. You are just a troublemaker. It was reams of
proof that did in the old members, not just some blowhard like
you making unsubstantiated accusations. Thank God we
still have enough people left in this city that look at the
facts and weigh them when they vote.
Further, even if the former council
members were the most honest and open people in the city, their
ideas to "move the city forward" were not popular enough to win
a majority of the vote after the people saw what the "vision"
really was. That goose is cooked, too. The people decided. Get
over it. There is more than one way to move forward. I hope -
no, I believe - this new path is less crooked than the last one.
8-9-2008-01 I'd like to add to what 8-8-08-1
said. The "proud and positive" group will take issue with your
"return to normal", claiming problems that needed fixing when
Marquart and the Fab Four came in. Problems or not, they were the
wrong people for the job, they did not have a viable plan, and they
did not go about their business the right way (read: above-board,
legal, and ethical). 8-8-2008-02
To 8-8-2001-01,
Yeah right. If you think what we
have now or will have is normal you are mistaken, If you think
that we, even now with whats left, have HONEST council people
you are mistaken...Lies for political purposes and gain
continue. True, their is honesty among some of them (but
others...they know that I speak of their lies. Their distortions
that they have given to the press, to the public...They know who
they are)...Honest is far from what we have. What we have is
different from before, yet still the same....trully sad.
8-8-2008-01
I wanted Vanlaanen, Tousignant,
Rigoni, and Jacobs gone in the last election as much as anyone,
and it happened, less Vanlaanen. I wanted Tchokreff, Burke, and
Caudell recalled as much as anyone out there, and that, too has
happened, less Burke. I wanted to see Marquart removed as much
as anyone. He's gone, but of his own choice. All this, yet,
victory feels hollow to me.
It's not hollow because Vanlaanen
and Burke survived. It's hollow because it was such a hard
fought battle, but the prize was never anything more than
vigilance, fairness, openness, honesty, and integrity in our
city government. It's hollow because I only strove for what we
should have been able to have all along. The prize was nothing
but a return to normal. And many on both sides paid dearly.
So, let's not squander this "hollow"
prize. We now should realize how precious it is. Let's not get
complacent. Remember what was defeated, so we can recognize it
coming the next time and maybe avoid it. Right the wrongs that
were caused, and demand atonement if it is warranted, but mend
the hard feelings. End the brother against brother, neighbor
against neighbor bitterness. The cause of it all has been
defeated. Let's truly move forward, but never forget what is
behind us. Just a thought.
PS Rats! There is another election
in three months. I'll not kid myself into thinking that things
won't get ugly all over again. But I can hope, I guess
8-7-2008-08 To post 8-7-2008-05: I think your prescription of Prozac has run out. You need to wake up and face reality about wasting other people's money. We need a Tea Party! 8-7-2008-07
Game, Fellippa, Kramer
Build a bridge and get
across it.
A new day has dawned in this city.
The community of Iron Mountain and
it's citizens know who you are and what you supported and they
just told you by vote to get a life and reflect on your part in
dividing this city!
It is a great day again for this
city and you were not a part of the solution but were a part of
the problem!
Are all of the citizens wrong and
you three were right???????
8-7-2008-06 In French: C'est la vie. 8-7-2008-05 Politics is a dirty game. Taking the
high road in this arena is difficult but doing the right thing never
comes easy. Anger and negativity only hurt those who harbor these
feelings. To be guided by anger to the point of loving the feeling
is a definite road to disaster. It may take time but it will take
its toll. 8-7-2008-04 He won by nearly 16% (over 100
votes). A retally would be a statistical waste of time and taxpayer
money. I can't imagine any City Clerk authorizing this nonsense. 8-7-2008-03
Oh joy. Another City election is
just around the corner. Has anyone heard who may be running for
wards one and two? Whoever you are, are you nuts? :)
Does this mean we get to have a new
mayor chosen by the new council, too? Will Burke and Vanlaanen
finally get the message? I guess an argument can be made that
wart [sic] three WANTS Dan Burke to press on, regardless, and,
gulp, he should vote as a representative of his ward. I will not
hold against him what his majority think they want. I may think
they are a bunch of uninformed idiots, but, that has no bearing
here.
Vanlaanen, not so with you. Everyone
knows what the voting majority in wards one and two want, and it
ain't what you been slingin'.
8-7-2008-02 Even as he leaves the sinking ship, Marquart's supporters continue to stoop to ridiculous lows: see that huge ad in today's paper? Look closely at the signatures. They duplicated many of them, apparently to be able to fill the page and make it look like he had more supporters. 8-7-2008-01 Isn't anyone else embarrassed that Ken Tousignant is still on our City website, stating that he is the Mayor of Iron Mountain? How "progressive" do we look to those who see that, when he hasn't been our mayor in how long now? It's been said before and I'll say it now….. It's time to get him off of that Welcome video and show people that we are a city that stays current. 8-6-2008-11 I, too, expect HONEST and OPEN
answers from the three newer members but also from the two
incumbents who remain on city council. However, I think think
that's what the new members have been doing all along, so I'm quite
optimistic about it. I have no problem holding them to honesty and
openness at all times. 8-6-2008-10
Danny boy, when you were elected 3
years ago it was to be a watch dog for the city, not a lap dog.
8-6-2008-09
I was thinking about the recall and
the people who are working on each side. It reminded me of the
American Revolution. On one side was an empire with vast
wealth with a huge army and navy. The American side had a rag
tag army, no navy and very little money, but they had the
determination to stand by their convictions.
Today in Iron Mountain we have a
small army working on the recall. These people have given their
time and money to help all of the people in this town. I give
all of them a pat on the back for what they are doing. Thank
God we have people who care and are willing to try to right the
wrongs that have been done.
Thanks 8-6-2008-08
Well,
The people have spoken as it should
have been, the council members recalled have failed their
citizens in some way but to the current council members its time
you practice what you preach, OPEN and more importantly HONEST
(or truthful, not distorted for political purposes) let the
people see what things really are...not what sells your point
best. Whether it be bills, or costs or projected costs or
reasons, do not provide the public with "worst case" numbers and
state them as fact, do not believe "facts" that support your
cause just because they support your cause and then, when
opposing ideas are given you act surprised that the facts are
"inflated". Please, please actually be open and HONEST...you
know who you are.
8-6-2008-07 A silly and uninformed post,
8-5-2008-07, makes no sense at all. First of all, the
writer misspelled Mr. Corombos name. Then there is the assertion
about the landlord and his so-called girl friend. Those two people
are simply friends who live a block and a half from each other.
They are not a couple, and never have been, as each of them will
tell you. The landlord has three or four units in a large converted
home, and he lives in one of the units himself. This is the extend
of his rental units. 8-6-2008-06
re: a retally for Dan Burke:
Why would there be a retally for
only one ward? Is something amiss?
8-6-2008-05 There is a retally going on for Dan Burke. 8-6-2008-04
To the writer of 8-5-2008-07, I
trust we now know the size and importance of the movement you
mentioned.
I sincerely hope that remaining and
future council members can work together to repair the divide
that has happened to our City because of the last four years of
mismanagement. Six out of the eight people responsible for that
are now history. Let us move forward with an open and honest
government. Who knows, with the clouds now removed, we may even
achieve vibrance for real.
8-6-2008-03 This website
established a new record for daily visitors - It passed 1000 hits
in a single day for the first time ever by recording 1011 hits in a
24 hour period - between 11:00 PM Monday and 11:00 PM Tuesday. 8-6-2008-02 Iron Mountain City
Council Recall Iron Mountain City
Council Recall Iron Mountain City
Council Recall 8-6-2008-01 This information has not been confirmed yet but the preliminary results are as follows: Caudell has been recalled. Burke was not recalled Tchokreff was recalled 8-5-2008-07
Mr. Corombus,
What I find interesting is the 4
people that put in to this supposedly huge movement, a landlord,
his girlfriend, Gene Carollo and, I believe, a relative of the
fire chief(and his brother). If this is such a huge and
important movement, why on earth are there only four people
contributing??? Maybe its not as big as you may care to say on
this site...Nothing like the old school IE: yourself and Gen
Carollo included who saw it ever so fit NOT to annex (junction
to junction thus avoiding any need for a 425 agreement which you
now oppose) prior to last year and the one and only land owner
that held up the original bike path. Progress I tell you,
progress. Vote NO or return to yesteryear when all the "RIGHT"
decisions had been made!
8-5-2008-06 Barbara; 8-5-2008-05 To all those "vote no" people with
signs on the highway: 8-5-2008-04 8/5/08 Setting The Record Straight I am writing to set the record straight. At last night's city council meeting, Ms. Caudell made the statement that she had talked to the person who was attempting to recall her and encouraged the person to talk to John to try to resolve the concerns. She also made the statement that the recall members had stated that they would not stop until John was gone. I want it on record that this is a total fabrication of facts. As I am the person who initiated the recall process for Ward 1, I would certainly be aware of a personal conversation with Ms. Caudell. I emphatically state that I have never and I mean never had a personal conversation with Ms. Caudell or am I interested in doing so. I also have never made the statement that I would not stop until Mr. Marquart was gone. Why would I make a statement such as this, when I believe the council is ultimately responsible for whatever happens. Mr. Marquart is only part of the problem. It is up to council members to monitor the city manager, make sure he is completing his job duties correctly, and to reign him in when he is spending extravagantly, not completing assigned job duties, not following the charter or established responsibilities, etc. Plain and simple, the council members did not do the job they were voted in to do. The only contact I have had with Ms. Caudell is through observing her performance or lack of at city council meetings and during the court hearing regarding the recall language. At the hearing, Ms. Caudell had the opportunity to provide her views on the recall and recall language. At one point, in the conversation, she turned around to me and proceeded to try to tell me what I was thinking and feeling. She made the statement that I was not really upset with her or her performance, as a council member, but was mad at John (referring to Mr. Marquart). When I had the opportunity for rebuttal, I make it plain in no uncertain terms that it was her I was upset with. I stressed that it was her job to reign in Mr. Marquart, as she is one of his supervisors and she did not do her job. I further discussed the extravagant spending for travel on his part, the problems within the fire department and MIOSHA fines, the tax assessment debacle, etc. Lastly, I stated, to her, that it was the last straw when she voted to give Mr. Marquart a bonus after all the mistakes he had made. Mistakes, I may add which resulted in significant costs to the taxpayers (i.e. extravagant travel expenses, tax reassessment debacle, MIOSHA fines, STS Consultants engineering plans which he obtained without obtaining council approval first, were very costly, and many of which never ended up being utilized, etc. ) During her rebuttal time, Ms. Caudell stated that she realized that John had made mistakes, but the good he had done far outweighed any mistakes made by him. She reported to taking all of this into consideration and that is why she voted to give him to give him a 4% bonus instead of the amount allowed. While I am setting the record straight, I want it understood that no one, not Mr. Corumbus, my father, or any other person made me initiate this recall. I have become a very strong and assertive person, and anyone who is close to me knows that I cannot be made to do anything I do not believe in. I made the decision to initiate the recall petition for Ward 1, after researching all the facts, looking at many documents (travel expenditures, every copy of the rental ordinance which was put out, budgets, reports from MIOSHA, vendor reports, lack of any pertinent information being available to support the tax assessment when asked to provide it by the city, ISO correspondence, some TIFA information, and a variety of other documents), attending and observing the performance of the council members, and unresponsiveness to taxpayer's concerns. Last evening, during public comments, a constituent basically said that there was a group of small minded individuals behind the recall effort. To me, a small minded person is a one who points fingers without researching the facts. It is a person who believes what they are told, by others, such as the previous tax assessor, current city manager, city council members, etc. and do not research the facts themselves, individuals who want to shove an ordinance down someone's throat without really listening to the facts or trying to be fair, or individuals who approve the vendors reports without looking, in detail, at whose names were on the report being submitted for payment and amounts being billed. Thanks for listening, Barbara Toedter 8-5-2008-03
Re: 8-5-2008-01 Re: Comments about
the Honest and Open Government Committee
Michigan campaign finance
laws required us to close the books on July 20, 2008 and file
the report by July 25, 2008. As of the closing of the books on
July 20, we had $1,600 in income and no expenses.
On Monday, July 21, we incurred our
first expense when we paid the U. S. Post Office $428.12 for our
mailing of 1,981 letters to voters who had voted in the last
General Election. That was our first expense, but fell one day
after the closing of the books.
We had not been invoiced for the
envelopes or the printing costs associated with that mailing.
The same for some signs. We will pay all bills as invoices are
received. Our two identical ads in The Daily News cost us a
total of $492. Again, after the closing of the books deadline.
We have received additional contributions after the closing of
the books and they will be reported in the final filing which is
due September 4 along with all expenses. Am I correct in
assuming you found no great hidden agenda or conspiracy when you
saw the list of contributors?
.
Please feel free to get a copy of
our September 4 filing and you will find a final itemization.
Ted Corombos
Record keeper
Honest and Open Government Committee
8-5-2008-02 To 8-5-2008-01 I would think that at this stage the important part would be the income. The expenditures would be listed after the 5th of August. 8-5-2008-01 Honest and Open
Government. PLEASE. How about start with HONEST?
8-4-2008-14
Re: 8-4-2008-10 Your post is
completely inaccurate from beginning to end. I talked to the
person who distributed the brochure to Mr. Burke's home. The
brochure was put in the door and not given to a child, nor was a
child talked to. The report of his behavior at the court house
came directly from court house personnel. Who do you think I'm
going to believe?
8-4-2008-13
Tomorrow is an important day in Iron
Mountain's future as well as it's citizens. By now you should
have spent some time really
finding out what has happened to our
City and your tax dollars. Only time will tell where we
will be heading from here. With that in mind, I found a little
more information to put in your memory banks for a later date.
I questioned some city policies and found the following is in
the City Policies Manual. This concerns new developments for
road paving. It is item 2 in the manual and reads:
The developer will prepare and
provide the following:
1. Bring street up to grade.
2. Furnish water and sewer lines at
developers expense.
3. City will then place this street
on the blacktop program and blacktop when funds become
available.
4. City may require laterals on all
lots of entire street prior to paving.
Notice it does not say the city will pick up all expenses!!!
Since some of you keep trying to
make an issue of the events center when the recall was never
about that to start with, I thought you should read this
section. No. 65. adopted by the Council on 7-2-01, read as
follows:
Requests to purchase City owned property shall adhere to the following procedures as established by the City Council.
1. Individuals, partnerships,
corporation and other entities who wish to purchase City owned
property shall submit a written request to purchase property of
the City Council.
A. The request will contain the
legal description of the the property.
B. A preliminary site map
identifying the location of the property.
2. The proposed purchaser of the
property shall identify, in the request to purchase, the
intended use of the property at the conclusion of the
transaction.
A. The use shall be identified
specifically.
B. The purchaser shall also state if
zoning variances will be required to establish the proposed use
of the property.
3. The proposed purchaser
will provide a time frame for the development of the property.
A.
Development of the property shall include
clearing, filling, leveling and other earth work necessary to
the development of the property.
B.
All buildings proposed for the property shall be identified
along with the anticipated start date of construction and
completion.
As virtually very
little, or any of the above has been completed, let's keep our
focus on what this recall is really about. It's about the fact
your tax dollars were wasted on many projects that still are not
completed and those who refuse to take responsibility for
their actions.
VOTE YES TO STOP
WASTEFUL SPENDING.
VOTE YES, TUESDAY AUGUST
5TH.
8-4-2008-12
After reading the Daily News this
evening, again you see that Caudell, Burke and Tchokreff refuse
to respond to the big issues that are brought to light. All
address some small issues while refusing to take any
responsibility for the reassessment debacle. No body is
perfect, so why is it that none of the three can apologize to
the public for their gross negligence??? It is much
easier to forgive someone who admits their mistakes and tries to
rectify any future errors in judgment. If you can't see
the mistakes of the past why should the citizens of Iron
Mountain believe they won't happen again? It seems the Zebra
really can't change its stripes.
All of the
voters, who last November felt so strongly that changes were
needed, must come out tomorrow and stand up for what they
believe. Without your help nothing will
change and they will only continue to serve special interests
until the bank is completely empty. I hope you will
VOTE YES TO BRING
BACK OPEN AND HONEST GOVERNMENT TO IRON MOUNTAIN.
8-4-2008-11
To 8-2-2008-01
I would like to rebut the points
made in your post.
1. Would you like to enter into a
friendly wager that there IS factual and supporting
documentation on the anti-recall contributions? I strongly
advise you not to bet against that.
2. How many times must it be said -
get your information for yourself, just once!
3. Blacklist away, my friend. You
may as well, because, right or wrong, I will no longer be
patronizing any businesses sporting No signs in their windows.
There is too much evidence out there that tells me they are
supporting something that has no place in our government. They
MUST know what they are backing by now. If they feel that way, I
don't want to do business with them. It would be a favor to ME
if they returned the favor, just in case I missed a few.
4. Are you still hung up because
everyone IGNORED the gay stuff? That it really wasn't important
enough for anyone to latch onto, except you? I think we may have
to come up with a new term to describe this attitude; I suggest
heterophobic.
5. I agree with you that the term
elite has to go. You are right. There are no elite.
6. Sorry. Your opinion is
irrelevant. The people already adopted a City Charter that
states the makeup of our city government.
7. So. Someone says they are sorry
and offers their sympathy . . . and your response is that this
person does not speak for you? Hmm.
8-4-2008-10 Your query about Dan Burke's adventure at the county clerk's office was NOT as you heard. I accompanied him there and no such incident happened. FYI: The brochure delivered to Dan Burke's home was not given to him but to his ten year old daughter who was told that this is information that her father can choke on. Of all the despicable behavior by so called adults. This sounds like something a kindergarten age child would do. No, I take that back, they are far more compassionate then that. 8-4-2008-09 This site can only
condemn Bacco and Champion for what they have done or what they have
failed to do. When mines closed did they high-tail it out of here
and leave our community in worse shape than it was turning out to
be? No, they stayed and grew and contributed to the city's
economy. No one is in business to lose money so keep that in mind
IF we should get companies paying TOP wages ($14.00 an hour and
benefits) when they start turning a profit and do things that don't
follow you prescription. (Tina, $14.00 an hour won't look so good
when the employees have to pay a substantial portion of their health
benefits and retirement. The days of your employer taking care of
you are gone. It is time for us all to realize that the only one
that will take care of us is US. I am not the imbecile your thought
your were talking to on the this site. I have done my homework and
know more than what you shared.) 8-4-2008-08
Why did the three being recalled
respond only in part to the charges leveled in the recall
petition the last day prior to the recall election? The answer
is really quite simple, they don't have any defense and did not
want to provide additional time to be torn apart.
Burke maintained that the police
officer's early retirement is done all the time and it will be
paid for over his retirement. The truth is the pension board
motioned to have an attorney render a legal opinion prior to
allowing the early retirement. This was not done.
The pension board was required to
run both a short term and long term actuarial analysis prior to
allowing this early retirement. This was not done. Burke also
said this will save the city money. This will cost our city
$87,000 in the short term and no one knows how expensive this
will be, as the long term actuarial study was not done. Come on
Burke, weren't you there when this was discussed. We could do
better with anyone as a 3rd ward councilman.
Oh Caudell, what were you thinking
when you responded. Distorting the reassessment. I don't think
so. How could you not ask one question when Mr. Swartout sent
you a letter outlining the problems, just months after the
reassessment began. When you didn't respond to his letter, he
took the time to attend a council meeting to tell all of you in
person that this reassessment was a joke. Still not ONE question
from you or any other council person. Regarding your mother,
shouldn't you read a document prior to voting to approve it? You
had two months in a row to catch this. How about reading the
City Charter when you're elected, I'm just guessing here, but
that might have helped on other issues as well. We could do
better with anyone as a 1st ward council person.
Now comes our resident brain trust,
Tchokreff. Everything written above applies to his attempt at
rationalizing the reassessment. He also blatantly states in his
article that the State of Michigan requires a periodic
reassessment - this is a lie. There is NO reassessment underway
now, where did he pull that from? Tchokreff has spent 10 years
on the council and has wasted his time and our money. We could
do better with anyone as a 2nd ward councilman.
8-4-2008-07 I may have misspoken and want to make the correction. Mr. Tchokreff may not have been on the council when Mr. Kramer was on the payroll. That does not, however, make Robin any less responsible for knowing that the tax rolls were indeed being updated throughout the years. Instead he took Marquart and/or Rich Brook's word when they claimed it had not been updated in 30 years. 8-4-2008-06
These three up for recall don’t need anyone to make them look
bad….. They do that themselves. Here are just two examples:
In Monday’s article Mr. Tchokreff Says: “After our former
assessor retired, a level 3 assessor was hired, and he
determined that we were in dire need of updating our tax rolls.
The state actually requires a reassessment at regular intervals.
Since we hadn't been doing this on a regular basis, we knew the
update was going to be costly…”
Well Robin, if we hadn’t been updating our tax rolls, why did
you repeatedly approve monthly payments to Ralph Kramer as Joe
Rogina’s assistant in gathering info for updating the tax rolls?
And Ms. Caudell said, in reference to approving to pay her
mother: “My error, not crime, was not realizing that she was
on the vendor report when it came before the council for
approval. Instead of abstaining, which I certainly would have
done had I noticed her name, I voted to accept the report,"
Tell us, Eden, why didn’t you notice her name? You should not
be approving a report that you have not carefully gone over
line-by-line.
We need people who carefully tend to the business at hand. They
need to know what they are agreeing to and why. These three have
not shown that diligence.
8-4-2008-05 In response to 8-2-2008-01. The post who responded to you was right on point. Why don’t you put just a little research into your own question of whether posting a public document is legal? It is available to anyone from the county clerk. You must be a council member up for recall as you too wait for someone to provide information – why don’t you ask your leader – Marquart. Oh I know, you can’t rely on his information. Ref. MIOSHA fines LOL, reassessment LOL, STS unapproved spending LOL, etc. etc. “Government by the people for the people.” You stated this suggesting recalling all. We haven’t had a city government for the people for over four years, thanks to blind followers like you. What does it take for you people to understand that the facts speak the truth, not the b.s. move forward and forget the past statements. Will they EVER take responsibility for all the huge mistakes they have made? Thanks to our exiting city manager and council of the past, it will take years for our city to recover from the WORST COUNCIL we have ever had. Your blind following is to blame as well. Our only chance is if the recall is successful. VOTE YES!!!! 8-4-2008-04
When Dan Burke received the brochure by the YES
committee, he stormed into the County Clerk's office ranting and
raving that disclosing the contributor information was illegal. In
fact, as we all know, it is public information. From all
indications, he was loud and intimidating (again). 8-4-2008-03
To 8-2-2008-01
Of course it's legal to post
information that is required to be subject to public
disclosure! Is that all you got?
If you are so concerned about public
disclosure on the Yes side, do the homework and legwork
yourself, just like the Yes people had to do. What's the
matter? You can't get the info yourself unless it's spoon-fed to
you? That's been the problem with your side since 2004.
8-4-2008-02 Does anyone have solid information on Dan Burke and his adventures at the County Clerk's office? I heard he blew up had to be escorted from the building by armed deputies. If this is true, why is it not in the news? I don't care if this doesn't make it online until Wednesday after the election. As citizens, we deserve to know what kind of people we have running our city. 8-4-2008-01 In reference to 8-2-2008-01: Yes it is legal. The information is on file at the Dickinson County Court House and is open to the public. If you want to see the other sides financial report I suggest you go down to the court house and read the report yourself. Its public information. 8-3-2008-03 Terrific job on
the brochure by the recall folks. Well laid out, exceptionally well
written and very interesting. That had to take a lot of time - and
I'm sure quite a lot participation from various people. 8-3-2008-02
August 5th is fast approaching and I
imagine many citizens are still undecided how to vote on the up
coming recall. As for myself, I have continued to look into
information that exists so that I may
make an informed decision.
What I choose to do that day will be something I may have to
live with for several years. With that said, I
continue to look at information that is available with a little
research and I hope all will do the same.
I first had to first ask myself can
I trust the three that are up for recall? When the information
came out last Monday on the reassessment I began to wonder. I
looked back at the City minutes of March 19th 2007, Mr. Swartout
had attended that meeting. His comments to the council in a nut
shell was, there were to many discrepancies for any of the
reassessments to be put on the 2007 tax rolls. This certainly
should have been a red flag and followed up on. After
his testimony last Monday it is obvious the ball was dropped big
time. I can't afford more taxes to pay for another
assessment!!! If we vote someone to
the council, shouldn't they be aware of what is going on???
I have found to many issues to bring
up in one email, but below have added some issues that are a
concern to me. As careless spending seems to have put our City
budget in a world of hurt.
STS Consultants were paid in the
neighborhood of 700,000+ in a year and half. Not many projects
were ever completed for that large dollar amount. I look at my
street and other streets in town wondering what could have been
repaired with that money.
Back on the January 16th, 2006
minutes is when the rental ordinance was voted on and approved.
Why did it take until July 21, 2008 to finally settle this
ordinance. I believe if not for the new council members this
would still be up in the air.
I no longer feel the trust needed to
support those up for recall.
There seems to be many areas that
still need investigation so
on Tuesday,
I am going to VOTE YES FOR HONEST AND
OPEN GOVERNMENT.
8-3-2008-02
Our hearts were deeply saddened by
the tragic loss of the three young people Thursday afternoon.
To those families, may we express to you our sincere and
deepest sympathy for your loss.
The days ahead will be difficult but
we will continue to keep you in our thoughts and prayers.
Sincerely,
David and Donna Farragh
8-2-2008-01
In response to the link on the home
page:
Is that legal to post on this
website? It is a list with no supporting documentation or
factual evidence, yet it basically lists and condemns very well
respected members of this community. Be careful.
Where is the list for the
Yes movement? I see it is conspicuously missing. I
would like to see who is supporting that financially. I think
we deserve to see it immediately, not later as some have
suggested. Who is pulling the strings for the Yes movement. I
think we might know.
Besides, if you all on the Yes team
want to put this list of people on some sort of blacklist,
others may want to put the Yes campaign contributors on their
own blacklist.
This website has always been biased
and unclear. The condemning of the gay mayor, the cool cities
links with their anti gay message, downtown elite bashing (what
elite?)....
I really think the whole damn
council should be replaced, by a lottery pick of registered
voters, with a short term. Also, they should be unpaid
volunteers, and there should be more like 12 of them, jury
style. Government by the people for the people.
Shame on anyone trying to get a leg
up with messages to the affected families in the recent
unspeakable tragedies in our small town. It wont make us like
you more, and don't speak for me, I have done so myself already.
I think we need a total shutdown of everything and some quiet
time to mourn. May God help us all.
8-1-2008-07
I wish to express my deepest
sympathy to the families and friends of the victims of
yesterday's shooting.
I am so sorry for your losses and
hope that you will find strength from your loved ones. Please
know that your community has you continuously in their prayers.
Respectfully,
Tina Peterson
8-1-2008-06
Response to 7-31-2008-02's questions
and comments:
You said:
"Feedstock used for cellulosic ethanol will raise food prices.
Isn't it better to use natural, renewable resources, such as
those chosen for the proposed plant in Sault Ste. Marie?"
When I use the word "feedstock", it is the term meaning the renewable components used by the facility to create the final product in the cellulosic ethanol plant I described. Renewafuel's feedstock, in KI Sawyer, will be switchgrass and woody fiber. Mascoma, in the Eastern UP, will be using only woody fiber. Some operations use a combination of switchgrass, lawn clippings, woody fiber, food waste products...even animal waste products.
"Feedstock" does
not mean Feed or Food, it means the fiberous
products the company uses in their production....the "waste"
products and renewable products they will break down to
a cellular level.
For Cellulosic Ethanol, there
are several patented processes out there to extract the sugars
from the plant fiber. Coskata is using a microbacterial
process, Range Fuels calls theirs the K2, and some others use
dilute acid hydrolysis. There is a race to build the first
commercial size Ethanol plant in the US, but
pilot plants and smaller scale projects have been up and running
for quite some time. These do not use corn,
are not corn ethanol plants, and
therefore they do not compete with the food market.
You asked: What
level of pay do you deem necessary to be paid in a family
sustaining job?"
I believe that wages
above $14.00 an hour, plus benefits, are what is
needed to cover a family's cost of child care and the
continually rising costs of heat, food, and utilities. Also,
every product that households need to purchase in this
country has been affected by fuel prices, due to the
transportation it takes to get it to the final marketplace it
sells from...simply, everything we need has risen sharply in
price.
Every family's needs are different,
but at least one job in the household must be able to cover the
basic necessities, and a minimum wage job just cannot. A family
will end up, for survival's sake, applying for subsidizing
resources to be able to get through.
You said: "With all
the new technology needed in manufacturing, more than a high
school education is required. What is the education level of
the population of Dickinson County? What percentage of the
people living here have an education beyond high school? Do we
have the eligible work force"
The MEDC has Grants to train
employees for Alternative Energy and other types of job
training. The Centers for Excellence program is being started
by the State of Michigan (not to be confused with the CRE). The
State is increasing funding to community colleges. Also, please
note the quote in my post on the "Green Jobs Initiative", with
the DLEG.
I don't know the average education
level of Dickinson county, but I know how bright, talented,
hard-working, and resourceful our County population is. I know
we have a dedicated and eligible work force, an amazing local
farming industry, and people who need to be
able to support themselves and/or their families.
You asked: "Do you
consider M.J. Electric, Grede Foundries, Champion-Gundlach, and
Bacco Construction as steady and high growth industries?"
I consider these Businesses very
important to our area, and made it clear in my post that all
businesses are important.
You asked: "I
thought that NewPage was shutting down or are you referring to
the Escanaba facility?"
Escanaba, for the fact that they are
partnering with ChemRec in the Alternative Energy direction with
Black Liquor production...which will be turning waste products
into energy.
I hope I have answered your
questions. I encourage you to "google" Cellulosic Ethanol and
also Companies such as Mascoma, Range Fuels, Coskata, and
Renewafuel. Renewafuel is not a Cellulosic Ethanol company, but
is producing an alternative to coal with their bricks. A
website called Earth2Tech is very interesting, as well as
numerous sites with new info on Ethanol blends and fuel
efficiency factors.
The predicted cost of a gallon of
Ethanol from Cellulosic ethanol
production is about $1.00 - $2.00, (compared to approx. $3.30
for current E85, and $3.89 for regular unleaded.) The amount of
energy this product creates compared to the amount of
energy it takes to produce it is a ratio of 15/1. That is
incredible.
The more alternative resources there
are for fuel, the lower the prices will become on oil.
Ultimately, it is just good stewardship to start "recycling"
energy. It also happens to create jobs.
Sincerely
Tina Peterson
Iron Mountain City Council
8-1-2008-05 Rigoni and Fortier were
willing to put up over $6 grand to keep three stumps in office. I
shudder to think what they got away with in phony add on-charges
during the last four years on the many jobs Bacco did for the city
under the intentionally unwatchful eye of of their cohort Marquart. 8-1-2008-04 What an eye opening
brochure the Honest and Open Government committee put out. I try to
keep up as best I can on city affairs and attend quite a few council
meetings, but there were many well documented facts I didn't know.
If anyone was confused by the debate going on in Iron Mountain, they
now have way more than enough reasons to vote YES. 8-1-2008-03 The "Yes" committee at
the July 25 filing showed $1,600 of income and no expenses as of
that date. 8-1-2008-02 Can you imagine
BACCO and CHAMPION, INC. people trying to
justify spending over $8,000 to stop a recall and deprive the voters
of Iron Mountain a chance to decide for themselves? 8-1-2008-01
If you support the
anti recall committee you support out of town businesses.
Following is a "small list" of expenditures to business out of
Iron Mountain:
$6668.06 Detroit,
Michigan law firm
$1065.32 Yard
signs paid to Cross & Oberlie of Neenah, WI
$ 404.92 Letters,
window signs paid to CJ Graphics of Kingsford, MI
$8138.30 Total
spent outside of Iron Mountain
They DO NOT support local business, so why should you
support THEM???
The last I looked
there are numerous Iron Mountain attorneys that could have
handled the issue.
Also, we have
Standard Printing in Iron Mountain and Jon's Signs who would
have gladly done your campaign signs.
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