School Searches in Howell

I'll start with this. I hate drugs. I hate the War on (some) Drugs more. The price to pay in the War on Drugs isn't worth the cost. 

It's a different era of school security since I was a student. We didn't have lockdown drills in my day. Things changed heavily after Columbine. Today there is an era of zero sense, I mean zero tolerance, students being arrested for pointing fingers like a gun, police involvement and criminal charges for everything, and comparisons to prison. I'd hate to be a student these days. I'd be lucky to avoid expulsion and spent enough time in the principal's office back in the day as it was. I've never been good with authority. It's why I'm not a democrat. Too many authoritarians.

One thing we all need to remember with the public school system is that these are government officials, and they all have direct lines to the police. If you are a student reading this and are accused of something that could in ANY way be a police matter, don't cooperate with the administration. You have rights, and should use them in a respectful manner. Treat them as cops, and use your 5th Amendment rights. TALK TO A LAWYER. You do not want to end up with a felony or misdemeanor on your record and following you for the rest of your life affecting your future. If it costs you a suspension for insubordination, it's a smaller price to pay than a criminal record. This is a great video here on why you don't talk to the police.

Now this story has my guard up. I don't know all the facts, so I'm admitting to speculation. From the Argus

Some Howell High School students are protesting recent lockdown drills at their school, calling them little more than random drug searches in disguise.
“The big issue is that the school is telling us something that really isn’t true,” said senior Cassie Bondie, who sent an email detailing the concerns to school officials as well as the Daily Press & Argus.
“They should just be honest,” said recent graduate Renee Augustyn of the purpose behind the lockdown drills.
But school officials say they are being as honest as they can.
During the drills, students place their backpacks in a common area for inspection.
“They are lockdown drills but we have brought drug-sniffing dogs in based on information we’ve received,” Howell Public Schools Superintendent Ron Wilson said. “Obviously, we can’t tip our hand.”
Lockdown drills are conducted to practice the procedures to be used should an intruder attempt to enter the building.
Dogs from the Michigan State Police were twice brought in this semester, Wilson said.
“A cache of marijuana” was discovered during one of the searches, he said.
“We have had searches, as have other school districts in our area,” Wilson said, adding that, other than Bondie’s letter, the searches have been conducted without criticism from students or the public.
There was not a search when there was an actual lockdown this semester when a man attempted to enter the high school after trying to enter Hartland High School.
The issue prompted a lively discussion on student Facebook pages.
Bondie and others quoted in her email say they aren’t defending illegal drug use but say the procedure violates school policy and breaks the trust between administrators and students.
Students said they were concerned that randomly searching their personal property, rather than searching suspected school lockers, was a step too far.
“I know that if it happens again, some students won’t be putting their bags out,” Bondie said.
But Wilson said the searches were well within district policies and procedures.

First off, don't do drugs or bring them into school. That said, courts have rules that dog sniffs are not a violation of the 4th Amendment as they aren't considered searches. They can lead to probable cause and a search if the German Shepherd gets a hit.

"I don't do drugs. I have nothing to hide."

If some druggie gets rid of the drugs by sticking them in your bag without you knowing, you have plenty to hide. Why would he do that? He's panicking and needs to discard evidence. Anywhere possible.


I recommend keeping the bags on you at all times in these drills or leaving them in the locker (or vehicle). If the bags are being opened up, refuse. This isn't about safety, but control.

Intolerance in Howell Schools

I was up north on break and saw a couple of interesting stories. First is the latest from Howell Schools.

Thanks to Jay McDowell, MEA leader and Howell teacher, Howell Schools got itself in the news again. It was something that could have been avoided. This was on a day were several wore purple as an anti-bullying symbol. (On a side note, if you want to stop bullying, start allowing self-defense for once. Nothing stops a bully better than a good right hand impacting the jawbone)

I’ll start out with this. Schools aren’t the place for social issue agendas sanctioned by government. That means Superintendents, Principals, other administrators, or teachers. That goes regardless of which side of the issue. Gay rights agendas and anti gay rights agendas do not belong there. Reading, writing, math, history, and science belong there. Facts belong there.

The closest thing to political agendas which belong in class is related stuff lead by a devil’s advocate and neutral facilitator. My current events class (which was during an election year) I took in Brighton was excellent. The teacher there did an excellent job. I found out later that he leaned left, but did not show it in class. He was tough, but fair to all sides, and that’s how it should be. It was also time, place and manner. An economics class is a different deal. It’s not history class. It’s not government class. It’s not current events. (I have to wonder if there’s anything mentioned besides Keynesian stuff in that class)

From what it sounds, one student wore a Confederate Battle Flag belt buckle to class. The flag has several meanings to different people, not all of them symbols of “hate.” It can mean:

1. Rebel. Some fly the flag as a rebel against all authority.
2. Lynyrd Skynyrd or Southern Rock fans. There’s plenty of Southern Rock fans north of the Mason-Dixon line.
3. Southern heritage. There are a sizable number of Southern and Appalachian Transplants and their descendents in Southeast Michigan with the automobile factories.
4. Some indeed use that flag for white supremacy. Those offended by the flag point to this view and refuse to accept others.

While I have no problems with the flag, I won’t fly or wear the flag as my ancestors were union, and became citizens because of the civil war. Although with the politically correct hype these days, I’m tempted to fly that one as well as the Gadsden Flag. Some people need to be tweaked. I won’t fly it, but I love seeing the left get bent out of shape by that flag.

McDowell was offended by the belt buckle and apparently told the student to remove it. Another student compared wearing the belt buckle to someone wearing gay rights shirts (which was against his Catholic Religion) on the day of bullying. McDowell told the person to leave the classroom. This student repeatedly said he wasn’t against gays, just compared the confederate flag to the rainbow flag.

The perception here is that “tolerance” means follow the left’s agenda and the MEA’s agenda. Period. “Conform or be cast out” to quote the Rush song “Subdivisions.” Jay McDowell could have stood up for true tolerance. He failed. Instead, he, as a fairly high ranked big fish in the small pond government official using the power of authority, bullied and was intolerant to views he doesn’t care for.

What should have happened is a lesson in true tolerance in a real neutral tolerant manner.

1. Explain why the flag is offensive to some. Explain other meanings used of the flag.
2. Explain how homosexuality is against some beliefs, and also how people get offended by that.
3. Also mention the recent suicides and why there is a problem with bullying and how derogatory names for homosexuals are a favorite weapon used and how that is unacceptable. The confederate flag has nothing to do with that.
4. Then on to class.

Many MEA supporters wonder why teachers get maligned. Actions like those taken by Mr. McDowell are the reason why it happens. McDowell’s actions, ironically were the same type of actions as those he claims to oppose - Bullying actions. Conform or be cast out.

McDowell was rightly disciplined. Tolerance includes tolerating views which one does not personally support. That's something the left has a major problem grasping.

Latest on MEA and 8-D Coordinating Council related shenanigans

In my last piece, I wrote about MEA being up to its illegal tricks. There's more evidence of illegalities.

Here's the newsletter from the BEA, Brighton's MEA branch. They discussed the PAC they formed here, and have admitted to raising money for the PAC. However, they did not register this PAC with either the County Clerk or the State of Michigan. They also failed to file any pre-general reports, as there isn't even a Statement of Organization. They certainly had enough to do a massive mailing of deceit.

A special thanks goes out to Barry Goode and the MEA's newsletter discussing the PAC. It made things easy when it came to turning your arses into the state. I attached those PAC pages, along with other evidence and sent it to Lansing for official filing.

I talked to a couple people in Howell Schools today, and I'm waiting for a scanned copy of their card. Unlike the Brighton mailing, this was a typical "support candidate x" piece from the MEA. It also has a disclaimer of paid for by MEA PAC (although with the wrong address for their PAC - as their PAC is from East Lansing). The address the MEA used was 3399 E Grand River Suite 203.....their branch office. That's the same office as the "8-D Coordinating Council" which sent the deceitful BS about John Conely.


If you're tired of the MEA and their cronies setting bad examples for our teachers with their illegalities, vote for John Conely in Brighton, or Mike Moloney, and Doug Moore if you're in the Howell School District.

School Boards. John Conely, Doug Moore, and Mike Moloney are the best picks

One overlooked race in the general election is the school board races. These are downticket and overshadowed by the gubernatorial races. There are some good picks for the Brighton and Howell school board positions which are up for election this year.

For Howell - Doug Moore (endorsed in past from Concerned Taxpayers Group) and Mike Moloney. I'm confident they will do a good job there.

For Brighton - John Conely. With the previous mismanagement the last few years, it's just starting to rebuilt. Conely would be a great replacement for Powers, and can help restore fiscal sanity to the district where I went to school.

Regarding Howell, I had this forwarded to me from a current Howell resident. I knew Moore from back when I was with Concerned Taxpayers Group, and I've met Moloney at a GOP meeting.

---

The Howell school board election is really about whether the teacher
union takes over the school board as they did in Brighton 5 years ago.
Then, Brighton teachers managed to elect Joe Carney and others to
control the school board and, against the wishes of the administration
(superintendent), they approved a teacher union contract that Brighton
couldn't afford. Over 4 years, Brighton went from having a $4 million
rainy day fund to an almost $10 million deficit. They're operating
under a state ordered deficit elimination plan.

To repair the financial damage, Brighton has closed two schools,
increased class sizes and decimated their non-teacher staff. They've
lost almost 10% of enrollment or about 600 kids in 3 years.

The Howell Education Association has the same plans for Howell School District.

In Howell, the district finances have been handled well for the past 4
years and they have a strong financial position. The teachers union
wants to take control of the board by adding to the one person already
there. That's so that the teacher contract negotiations in 2011 will
go their way and they can lock in a long-term agreement that takes
every penny possible from the district. Per the HEA and the MEA, there
is no good reason for a school district to have a funds balance.

With that in mind, we should at least be aware of who the different
candidates are;

Teacher Union Endorsees

Mike Yenshaw
Jan Lobur
Marcus Wilcox

Other Liberals;

Mike & Kim Witt - Kim's sister is a teacher in Howell Public Schools.
Just like Joe Carney in Brighton, it's unlikely Kim or Mike would be
on the side of the district in the teacher union contract negotiations
in 2011. In fact, many teachers and administrators are supporting the
Witts despite the endorsements of Wilcox and Lobur.

Jim Pratt is another liberal though he didn't get the teacher
endorsement and doesn't appear to have much support from the employees
of the district.



Jason Raines - unknown

Pat Howle - well known in the school community,

Mike Moloney - endorsed by the livingston county gop - has taken the
no tax pledge, sees fiscal stability as the platform to build the
district. www.moloneynow.com

Doug Moore - endorsed by livingston county gop - ran before - endorsed
by concerned taxpayers PAC...etc

A new era begins with Howell Schools

I haven't posted on the school issues recently, but it's a new era in the Howell School District.

From the Argus

Howell Public Schools' next superintendent will start earlier than expected — assuming his position next month rather than in July — with a contract that does not include the "out" clause that allowed the district to abruptly fire its last day-to-day chief administrator.
The district's Board of Education on Thursday approved modifications to Brad Hamilton's three-year contract, allowing it to become effective May 1, although he will be paid a prorated salary until the date he was initially supposed to start, July 1.
Hamilton, the current superintendent of Grass Lake Community Schools in Jackson County, requested the start-date change. He said he is eager to begin building trust with stakeholders throughout the Howell district.
"I really want to get in the classrooms and get in the buildings while students are there to see the schools in action," Hamilton said Thursday.
He added that starting work early will allow the district to move forward with the development of a strategic plan to implement in the fall.
Meanwhile, Hamilton's contract — which the school board modified to also include a clause about binding arbitration — requires that any potential employment termination be the result of the school board finding just cause.

Good luck to Mr. Hamilton. He doesn't have an easy job considering what's gone on there with his bosses over the past several years going back to the time around the proposed enhancement millage and rainbow flag dustups. Interestingly, both Debi Drick and Wendy Day both agreed on the hiring. They aren't known for agreement when it comes to board issues. Maybe that's a good start with this new hire.

I don't know enough to have an opinion, except that I hope he does a good job and that things get put back on track in our county based school districts.

August Update

Let's get back rolling here.

Several things in the news.

1. We will have a special election this November for a key state senate seat, the 19th. The primary was yesterday. Mike Nofs, a former state rep from Battle Creek won for the GOP and Marty Griffin, a state rep from Jackson city, won for the dems. They face off in November. This is an interest race, as two seats are in play here. The Griffin seat is winnable by either party, as is the state senate district.

2. Lansing Mayor race. I haven't followed this at all, but Virg Bernero, the incumbent, won with less than 50% in the primary against Carol Wood and two others. Wood and Bernero will be facing each other in November. If Wood wins, watch for Virg to take a possible run against Rogers. He's very ambitious as he was a State Rep and a State Senator before taking the Mayor gig.

3. Detroit. Dave Bing faces Tom Barrow, who lost twice to Coleman Young in the 80's. Most of the incumbents are back. TV anchor Charlie Pugh is the leader for the city council, and is a newcomer. Monica Conyers got sent home. Results there

4. Closer to home, the Howell School Board recall won't be on the November ballot. It does not look like this would pass. I have mixed views on this as there are a few shades of gray. I would not have voted for the firing after a year, but if contracts were in danger of being breached due to executive policies, then that's a major issue and something that needs to be considered. I do not often agree with union leadership outside of trade issues, but I am no fan at all of breaching existing contracts. Contracts are legal promises, and promises ought to be kept. Those that break a lot of promises are not trustworthy. To be fair to Gardella, the scores have improved in his tenure. I think a case can be made either way for the firing decision, and that is why I would not support a recall for that particular decision. If I still lived in the district, I would not vote for Literski or Pratt, but I'd wait till election time to do that. Recall elections cost money, and they should be saved for complete clusterbleeps.....like Granholm (and Stabenow, Levin, and Obama if the feds were not immune).

5. Hamburg Recalls - What a clusterbleep. That's all I have to say about that. My feelings are known. If the democrats take over there, which I expect WILL happen sooner than later, there are only a few individuals to blame, and that is the Hamburg Board and their cliques. It makes the entire county, township, and party look bad though.

One interesting sidenote. If the Hamburg Recalls for Skiba or Evon are successful, there's a different way of picking replacements. There will be a special election, but the COUNTY POLITICAL PARTIES will select the nominees in that special election. That means that the Livingston County Republicans and Democrats choose the nominees for the election. There is no primary. On a side note, those reading should not try and influence me on this. I'm not on this executive committee. I'm on the district committee instead. We aren't involved here.

Dumb and Dumber revisited

I don't know who is dumber here. The thought policy and grandstanding of school bureaucrats or the students that did the postings. What postings? From the Argus:

Two students were suspended from Howell High School Friday after administrators discovered the students used school computers to post content on an Internet hate group created on Facebook.com.

Principal Aaron Moran said the violation could lead to expulsions.

"It's unacceptable," Moran said. "It's not something that Howell Public Schools stands for. That's not a representation of all of our kids, but it's unfortunate that some are participating in this type of speech."

Moran said school officials became aware of the Rebel and Proud Internet group Wednesday when a member of the public referred the site to a teacher. Based on the time and dates of certain postings, as well as tracking software, administrators were able to determine what activity took place at school.

Friday morning, the Facebook group listed 34 members, the majority of whom identified themselves as Howell High School students.

The group's Web page displayed an image of the Confederate flag along with this message:

"If you hate a certain type of anybody black, white, pink, yellow or polka dot (you) should join. This shows you are a rebel and proud of it."

The group's creator listed his name, address, e-mail address and cell phone number on the site. Facebook is accessible to anyone with a computer and Internet
connection.

He claimed the hate group was a joke.

"It was a joke, pretty much. ... It wasn't just me," said Chase Crawford, a 17-year-old junior at Howell High School and the creator of the group.

A March 26 forum posting by Crawford read: "i have no problem with black people just (n———)." When asked if that posting was a joke as well, Crawford said he didn't remember posting those words.

Repeated attempts to reach Crawford's parents were not successful.

Another member of the group, who identified himself on his Facebook page as a 2008 Howell High School graduate, displayed a photo of a cross being burned with a man standing next to it, holding two thumbs up.

The so-called "joke" drew a serious response from members of the Livingston Diversity Council, an organization that advocates for diversity and inclusion within Livingston County.

First off. Rule one. Anything posted on the internet is there forever. The first part of World Wide Web is WORLD. That means the entire world can see that. That can come back and bite you in the arse like an angry Canada goose.

As to the comments, based on the article (I'll skip the link, to the actual site as I have no desire to see it), it sounds like a joke. Not a funny joke, rather dumb, but a joke. The comment about black people v N's sounds like a reference to a famous Chris Rock
skit that you can see on youtube here. Warning - The language is very R rated, as you would expect from a Chris Rock skit. The burning cross picture is provocative, as it is supposed to be. Shock value to get attention. They got it..... As Foghorn Leghorn says, that boy is about as sharp as a bowling ball, hence the title of this post. Dumb and Dumber revisited. The comments were dumb, the admins were dumber.

The question is as follows. How do we deal with individuals like the people that posted this? How I deal with it is simple. I don't associate with those people. They aren't worthy of my time. That ends it. Instead with have a major news story in the Argus about this, and some grandstanding from the schools.

Is this worth an explusion? That strikes me as a political correct response to this by the thought police so the admins and the Argus can crow to the world that they aren't like Robert Miles (who of course had to be mentioned in this news story even though he's been dead for almost 20 years). If you want to see adults dumber than the kids who post this stuff, go watch a bunch of bureaucrats in action. These bureaucrats and their reaction (expulsion - uber outrage and yapping) makes it look like they have something to hide.

Back in my high school days, I had a bit of a mouth at times (surprising, ain't it) that sometimes got me in trouble. I received a cheap detention for something stupid and in my disgust, crumpled up the form and said (which I thought was under my breath) "F' this." Luckily it wasn't directly at the teacher, but it was loud enough to cost me a three day suspension as well as facing the parents at home which was no fun. I laugh about it today in my 30's, but it wasn't so funny then. It wasn't as dumb as what these individuals did, but a similar punishment for this should suffice, or better yet, give them an offer they can't refuse. If I was admin, I'd offer to take this off their record if they work the soup kitchens in Detroit for five days. Expulsion doesn't fit the crime. Slap them on the wrist a bit, stop the embarassing grandstanding, and move on from this. These are 17 year old kids which by definition, do dumb things from time to time. Let them learn from it (and not with PC brainwashing that backfires), and help this boy become a man.

Howell School Board signed contract without reading - again

After what happened with the contract regarding the former super, I figured the current board would learn by the previous mistakes. It appears that they did not do so here according to the Argus.

From the Argus

The Howell Public Schools Board of Education on Monday approved a contract with the district’s second-largest union despite board member concerns that they had not read the agreement.

The district’s contract with the Howell Educational Support Personnel Association — which represents nonteaching staffers such as secretaries, financial assistants and food service workers — is valid through June 2010.

I don't know if this is a good contract or not. That's not my complaint about this contract. My complaint is with the process. Board members and trustees need to read the contract before signing off on it. It's just common sense. Robert Parker, one of the three votes against this (Along with Ed Literski and Debi Drick) said it best.

“This board has enough interest, when you have the second-largest bargaining unit, to have an obligation to look at the contract,” Parker said.

Trustee Wendy Day agreed, but said it would be unfair to not approve a contract she said met the requirements the board gave its bargaining committee.

“I do not want HESPA to be punished for discussion that came up today,” Day said. “I think this is a good contract.”

Always read the contract. Always. The last thing needed is a rubber stamp. I don't expect boards to be micromanagers, but if your name is going on the record as approving the contracts, you better read it first. Contracts are the most important matter school boards deal with.

I like Wendy(who explained her vote on her site), but I could not disagree more with this comment. I don't think she's shocked by my view on this either as she's well know how cautious I am on financial matters going back to our time on the GOP executive committee. I think HESPA would not have a problem with the board reading the contract. They shouldn't have a problem with it. I hope it is a good contract, but reading it first would make sure it was a good contract. It's not a matter of punishment, but of checks and balances between the admins, union, and the board. Is this a good contract? I wouldn't know unless I read it. This vote should have been tabled until the next meeting.

Lastly, if there was any reason for the Howell School Board to read a contract before signing it, the Argus reminds us of what happened back in 2002.

In 2007, it created a stir when the Daily Press & Argus reported that some former and current board members at that time were not aware that the contract of former Superintendent Chuck Breiner did not have a “just cause” clause, which allows a district to fire a superintendent for good reason without incurring additional financial responsibility.

The newspaper’s review of the contracts showed the clause disappeared from Breiner’s contract starting in 2002. Breiner worked as superintendent from 1999 to last year, when he accepted a board buyout offer valued at more than $202,000.

Read before signing. Kudos to Bob Parker, Ed Literski, and Debi Drick for NOT voting for contracts before reading them. This should have been tabled until the next meeting so everyone could read it and make an informed decision. It's just common sense not to sign a contract you don't read.

Concerned Taxpayers Group PAC Makes Howell Endorsements for 08

I got this press release sent to me. I wasn't on the panel this year due to time constraints, but I trust these people as the objective questions and scoring is the same. I'm not in Howell anymore, so I don't follow the schools there as much as I used to, but the Concerned Taxpayers Group PAC is still based in Howell, and most of the founders and a plurality of active members are still in that district.

CONCERNED TAXPAYERS PAC MAKES HOWELL SCHOOL BOARD ENDORSEMENTS

The Concerned Taxpayers Group, PAC, of Livingston County endorses Olav "Kris" Kauserud and Doug Moore for the two full-term positions up for election on the Howell School Board on November 4th. In the partial-term election for the Howell School Board, The Concerned Taxpayers Group, PAC, of Livingston County endorses Deborah Drick. All of the candidates were invited to participate in the endorsement process. Questionnaires that were returned were evaluated by our panel using an objective scoring method. Our panel consisted of citizens from Howell Twp., Cohoctah Twp., Brighton Twp., and the City of Brighton. This citizens panel is very concerned about the future of our public schools in Livingston County. The voters of Livingston County should have as much information as possible about which candidates will work towards responsible fiscal stewardship and to promote a sound educational environment in our public schools. The candidates endorsed above will work for positive change in those areas if elected.

Paid for by the CONCERNED TAXPAYERS GROUP, PAC, of LIVINGSTON COUNTY with regulated funds. 1*** (Address removed), Howell, MI 48855

Elections Report and November Preview

Nothing new regarding the write in candidates who are trying to get on the November ballot. That could make things interesting in Hamburg and Green Oak.

Look at detailed numbers in the primary.
47th District - Cindy Denby won every muncipality except Hartland. Charlie Aberstauri won every Hartland precinct except one where he tied for the lead. He's a school board member there, and Hartland has avoided a lot of major controversial news stories, so that is not a real shocker.
66th District - Bill Rogers won all precincts except Genoa1. I think that was Corosanite's home precinct. Jason won there. On the democrat side, Donna Anderson won all Livingston County Precincts over Tom Crawford. I'm not sure about the Milford side, but Anderson won Milford as well.

County Commish4 - This was a close race between Fowlerville's Douglas Helzerman and Iosco's Ronald Van Houten. Handy Township went big for Helzerman, but the rest of the county away from his Fowlerville base went for Van Houten. This was a homer based vote.

Brighton Township - Tom Murphy won all precincts. Lana Theis and Geri Harmon split most of the precincts close to 50/50, but precincts 3 and 8 carried the day.

In Hamburg Township, the winners of the officer positions won all precincts except in the Supervisor's race. Cindy Pine won Hamburg 1 and Hamburg 7.

In Green Oak, one of the incumbent trustees had the lowest number of votes. I'm not sure why, since I haven't heard anything particulary negative about him. George Kilpatrick. Then it dawned on me. Did he lose because of an unfortunate last name, sharing it with the Detroit mayor? I voted for him, not that it matted all that much. I hope it wasn't because of his name. That's a dumb reason to vote for or against someone.

For November, the contested races in Livingston with candidates on the ballot are these:
State Rep:
47th District - Cindy Denby v Scott Lucas
This one looks over before it starts. Scott Lucas already has a failure to file notice against him for not turning in his pre-primary report. This looks like a repeat of Hune-Senkowski in 04 unless things change rather quickly. Unforced sloppy errors. It goes along with the too many men on the ice/field penalties in hockey and football. Games are lost because of that. So are jobs. Ask Don "Grapes" Cherry back from his days with the Boston Bruins.

66th District - Bill Rogers v Donna Anderson
While Bill Rogers is the odds on favorite to win, I don't expect Anderson to make the mistakes that Lucas is making. Her reports are by the book, and even got the often missed "Late Contribution Reports" in. I expect Bill to win, but Anderson may make him work for it. I don't expect Bill to take this race for granted though, going back to a 2002 race that wasn't at all close in the end, but scary enough on the ground for a few of our campaign junkies to notice.


County Commission 1 - Maggie Jones v Pam Green
That district is probably the most Republican in the county. Green isn't a bad candidate, but that's tough going there. There are a couple of districts where I think the dems could make a decent run, but not this one barring a major mistake by the incumbent AND a great run by Green.

County Commission 3 - Dave Domas v Adrian Campbell Montgomery
That district is probably the 2nd or maybe 3rd most Republican in the county. I expect Montgomery to make a spirited run, but being tied with the infamous Michael Moore is not good for one's political prospects around here. I mean, it's Michael Moore. Unless she distances herself from him and becomes more than a star in one of his psuedo-documentaries, this one is already over.

Green Oak:
Clerk - Michaek Sedlak v Walt Ernst
Trustee - Tracey Edry, Wally Qualls, Rollin Green, and Richard Everett v Anna Ernst and JoAnn Murphy

Green Oak is fairly competitive compared to most of Livingston County. Democrats have won here in the past, although 2006 aside (When the GOP won narrowly), there has been a right turn here. The father and daughter Ernst team as well as Jo Ann Murphy are legitament candidates and will likely get a lot of Sierra Club support as they are stronger in Green Oak than they are elsewhere.


Handy Township:
Trustee - Gordon Munsell and Erik Fraser v Robert Redinger (Incumbent)
This one could be interesting. Redinger had a free pass in 06 and won unopposed. He's also backed a Republican in Cindy Denby for state rep. That's not because Cindy is a liberal republican. She's not. She is the current Handy Township Supervisor though and they have worked together in the past and are part of a tight knit community. Fowlerville has a large number of conservative independent voters. Will they split their tickets. I think Redinger has a shot if straight tickets don't do him in. His problem is that a major league leftist is on top of the ticket. The Fowlerville area is tight knit, and that's in his favor.

Putnam Township:
Trustee - Richard McCloskey (current Treasurer) and Keith Chambers v Kevin Dobis (Incumbent) and Frank Gazdecki
Putnam has it's own local politics separate from a lot of the partisan battles. "Keep Putnam Rural" was a bipartisan ticket in 2004. I expect those issues to dominate again in 08. Putnam Township is historically competitive as well, no matter how lopsided the top of the ticket can be as John Kerry didn't effect the local ticket here.

Unadilla Township
Trustee - Julie Weiland and Warren Krueger (Incumbent) v Lori Cowan (Incumbent) and Kelly Schmidt
I don't know much about Unadilla Township (Gregory) except that it is rural and usually competitive. Krueger and Cowan are the likely winners here.

There are two other interesting races. Jay Drick is running again for judge against Theresa Brennan. There was some rumbling about Brennan being asked to run for the Supreme Court justice position, but last I heard secondhand is that this is not going to happen. I'm glad Jay is running, because at worst case scenario, she would have to give up her district seat if she is running for that spot. Politics are limited on a district court level. At appeals court or supreme court, politics should be limited, but we all know that is not the case.

Howell Schools elections are now in November. Three positions are open. Eight people are running for two positions, and two people are running for the partial term.

The candidates for the positions:
4 year terms:
Michael Yenshaw - Appointed incumbent
Mark Michaels - Appointed incumbent
Bob Parker - former judicial candidate and former Howell mayor
Patricia Howle
Doug Moore, who ran in 2007
Olav “Kris” Kauserud
Ann Routt
Phillip Arrington

For the two year terms
Dan Fondriest - Appointed incumbent, ran in 07
Debi Drick

This race in Howell schools should be different than others. First, it is in November and the turnout will be much higher. Secondly, with a new super in charge of administration there, the dynamics are different. That super was approved unanimously.

The thing to remember is that there are two races here. One for the regular seats and a seperate election for the partial term. Either Fonriest or Drick will win that seat. I'm interested in who the Concerned Taxpayers Group's PAC endorses. I probably won't be on the panel this November due to time constraints, but I still trust their judgment. I haven't followed Howell schools as much though since moving out of the district.

While most races are decided already, there are some contests here in the fall. The most contested should be the Howell Schools race along with Putnam and Unadilla contests.

Howell Schools controversy to end soon?

I really hope that's the case, and that goes double for the social issues.

From the Argus.

The Howell Public Schools Board of Education approved rule changes Monday that allow district residents to have more of a say in curriculum changes — but no vote — and that raise the limits of religious content that may be taught in the classroom.
However, board members and administrators had different interpretations about the application of the new religious content policy.

On a 4-3 vote, the board approved a motion to add two nonvoting private citizens from the district to each of the district's 14 subject-area curriculum committees, which review new books sought by teachers, but does not allow the citizens to vote. Voting against the measure were Trustees Wendy Day and Kim Shumaker, and Vice President Jeannine Pratt.

I'm not sure two is enough, but the good news is that finally the policy itself is being discussed and not just the content. The process before was what was flawed. This should have been settled in an acceptable manner months, if not years ago, saving a headache in the press. Wendy Day didn't think the proposal was good enough and mentions it in her blog.

The board then approved 6-1 to approve the instructional policy as a whole, including the amendment to the subject committees as well as increasing the content of sacred music in its instructional program from 30 percent to 50 percent. Day voted no.

I'm not a fan of arbitrary limits, but Literski menioned a legal policy on 50%. I haven't studied all the ins and outs of the Establishment Clause case law in the 1st Amendment, but if there is a court decision on it, than it is binding, whether or not what is written in the Constitution itself. I do think the 50% is the right decision (if not best policy) if for no other reason, to avoid a court fight. As a prominent 2a supporting attorney says...."Don't be a test case." Howell Schools don't want to go to court over this. I think everybody agrees on that.

Not all the fires there are put out yet, but this is a start and something to build on. Hopefully, the only fires left are the usual fires seen on school boards - fiscal matters. They never go away.

Note to all board members across the country - READ contracts

Utterly amazing article in the Argus. You would think that a school board with a then insurance company business owner would be going over any contracts, right?

But his contract is missing a provision that is included in almost every other superintendent's contract in Michigan. Breiner's contract does not have a "just cause" clause, which allows a district to fire a superintendent for good reason without incurring additional financial responsibility.

All of the other five superintendentsin the county have such a clause. Breiner, superintendent since 1999, used to have such a clause in his contract but it was removed about five years ago. Neither board members at the time nor school administrators have explained how or why that occurred.

Without that clause, some board members say removing Breiner — who has come under criticism from some of those same people recently — could require honoring the remainder of his contract. That could add up to $800,000.

I can tell you why that occured. There are two possible scenarios. One, they all missed it due to failure to read or read carefully the contract. Two, it was intentional and was one of the prices in the bidding war a few years back to keep Mr. Breiner. Now there are different opinions on Breiner within the county, but I'm not going to comment on that in this article. I don't care if the Super was Joe Perfect. The problem here is bad judgment when it comes to basic contracts, especially when you are dealing with almost a million dollars when all is said and done. That's some serious money. I can't blame him for accepting that deal. I'd accept a deal like that as well.

Now considering there are lawyers involved, I'd suspect the lawyers as part of their fidiciary duty advised their clients (the school district, represented by the board) what was in the contract and gave them all copies of it.

The good news is that most of the board that approved this is gone. I hope the current board does some detailed review of their contracts for obvious reasons.

Howell Schools fills its board today

The Argus mentions that the Howell School Board will soon be back to full strength with its next appointment. It's last appointment is Michael Yenshaw, a former cop. I do not know him or anything about him. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Hopefully the school board will not appoint a yesman, someone fiscally irresponsibile or someone involved with the current pissing contest between the LOVE group and the admin. The financial issues are the most important at this time.

We'll see what happens.

Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest - Latest follies from Howell Schools

I got a major league test coming up in a few days, so there will be minimal posting activity here until after this is done.

As the residents here in Livingston County know, Howell's in the news again. This time over the dustup caused by the leaking of an email. I divided theses sections into three areas. Dumb, dumber, and dumbest.

Dumb - Vicki Fyke sent this email to three school board members. Wendy Day, Phil Westmoreland, and Dean Miller (known on the Argus storychat and Wendy's blog as "Puppet Watcher"). It listed some strategies that Vicki wanted considered to drive the super Chuck Breiner to resign so he would not have to be bought out of his contract if the board decides to fire him. I listed this under "dumb" for two reasons. 1. Based on the amount of legal knowledge I have off the top of my head(Disclaimer - I'm not an attorney nor have taken a labor law class), it is probably illegal if the board does this. 2. I do not understand why Vicki would send an extremely controversial email to Dean Miller who flat out despises her. There's nothing secret or confidential about emails. It's one reason I don't send a lot of them.


Dumber - Dean Miller was the individual who leaked the email to the press. There is no good reason for this email to have been leaked. Dean's reason was because Vicky was applying for the open seat on the board. It's a BS reason. Why? Because the board appoints replacements until the next election. There is no way Vicki would be appointed to the board by the current board. Sharing the emails with the rest of the board is appropiate, but sending this to the story was simply pushing to take a shot at an individual and give Howell some bad press. Sending the email was dumb, leaking it to the press was dumber.

Dumbest - How can anyone in a position of authority not read an employment contract before signing it? As the Detroit News states:

A firing could cost the district nearly $1 million because of a clause in the five-year contract terms that extends it annually unless the board takes action.

Breiner earns a $140,000 base salary with annual annuity and longevity compensation of $13,400, a $500 monthly car allowance, fully paid medical insurance and district-paid retirement contributions.

Another clause calls for a payout at termination that would give the superintendent the difference between his salary and his successor's during the first year.

"I think what that means is, if we hired someone at $170,000 and his salary is $140,000 we'd have to pay him $30,000," said Vice President Jeanine Pratt, the only member of the school board remaining from the 2005 board that approved the contract.

Although Pratt's signature is on the contract as the 2005 board secretary, she did not know about the clauses until two weeks ago, she said. A compensation committee made up of Dymond, Drazic and former board member Ted Parsons, along with legal counsel reviewed the contract and recommended approval, she said.

"I did not look at it and neither did anyone else, apparently. When I realized this two weeks ago, I couldn't believe it. I never had any reason to believe anyone would be dishonest with me."
"Do I feel horrible about it? You bet I do," she added.

Nobody on that entire board read the contract or discussed it? No attorney looked at it? Where's the oversight? There's dumb and dumber, but this is reserved for dumbest. It's not just Ms. Pratt there, but everybody involved with that contract. No wonder why Howell Schools are in so much controversy today.

17 apply for Howell Seat

From the Argus

The 17 candidates seeking the vacant seat on the Howell Public Schools Board of Education are:



Donald Barnowski Jr., technology and management professional


Herbert Bursch, former First National Bank CEO


Matthew Cecora, who was unable to be reached for comment


Lyle Dickson, a Howell attorney


Christopher Drake, a General Motors Corp. engineer


Angela Elizando, a former custodian at Howell Public Schools


Vicki Fyke, the founder of the Livingston Organization for Values in Education and an area businesswoman


William "Bill" Harvey, an engineer who ran unsuccessfully for the school board in May


Kris Kauserud, a consultant helping U.S. companies set up overseas and foreign companies start in the U.S.


Dennis Kennedy, a cost-management specialist at Ogihara America Corp.


Margaret Lupton, a former Howell school board member and president


Mark Michaels, a self-employed handyman


Douglas Moore, an engineer who ran unsuccessfully for the school board in May


James Pratt, an aviation safety inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration and hot-air balloonist who unsuccessfully ran for school board twice


Dorothy Selix, a former Howell teacher who now teaches in Hartland Township


Mary Tumbarella, a part-time aide with Howell schools who unsuccessfully sought a board seat in 2004


Michael Yenshaw, a Michigan State Police trooper

The question is this. Will the board pick someone who is part of the old boys club or an independent? I know nobody with ties to the LOVE group or perceived ties to them will be picked.

Another interesting fact to this is that there will be at least three seats up next election in May.

Interesting development in Howell Schools

A very interesting development in going on with Howell Schools. I haven't followed it as closely lately since I moved out of the district and am less active in the Concerned Taxpayers Group.

Mary Jo Dymond resigned from her position, leaving a vacancy. One of the individuals who wants to replace her - Livingston Organization of Values in Education (LOVE-PAC) founder Vicki Fyke.

From the Argus

Vicki Fyke has filed an application to be considered for the seat on the Howell Public Schools Board of Education left vacant by the recent resignation of Mary Jo Dymond.

Fyke is the controversial leader of LOVE (Livingston Organization for Values in Education) who has challenged the school district on a number of issues, from a diversity flag to novels read in an advanced-placement English class.

Fyke is among seven hopefuls for the seat who've made their interest known thus far. The deadline for filing is 3 p.m. Friday

Stop at Cleary's for a beer before going to this meeting. The tension will be in the air.

Howell School Board member resigns

More changes are on the way in Howell Schools. From the Argus:

Jeanne Clum, a longtime member of the Howell Public Schools Board of Education, said Monday she would step down from the board because of health reasons.

If you're elected - show up to work

When you only show up to TWO - missing TEN out of 12 meetings, that means you shouldn't be there. When you are elected to a public office, you should show up at business meetings. Out of all the meetings for any organization of which I've been a board member/executive committee, I believe I missed one meeting. It's something I take seriously, and something I expect from public officials. Not showing up is not acceptable outside of a very good excuse.

From the Argus

The Howell Public Schools Board of Educationhas been short-handed for the last six months because a longtime board member has missed most of the meetings since November, apparently because she has been out of the state tending to a hurricane-damaged home in Florida.
Mary Jo Dymond, a former president of the board, has only attended two of the 12 scheduled and special school board meetings this year, according to board minutes. She also missed the last two meetings in 2006.

She participated in graduation ceremonies Saturday, but declined to answer questions about her absences or future plans on the board. She repeated that stance in an e-mail message to the Daily Press & Argus on Monday night.

Obviously repairing a Florida home is high priority. However, should she stay on the board if she either lives in Florida or is spending most of her time there? Could all the residents of Howell not do as good of job as she does when absent for about 85% of the meetings?

If you can't make 85% of your required meetings where you have advanced knowledge, it's time to resign and let someone else take over until you take care of your other committments. Once those are taken care of, by all means run for election again.

It's time we expect more of our public officials.

Complaint filed against MEA for illegal mailing

Back on April 27 I broke the story about East Lansing's MEA breaking the law in their illegal campaign contributions. The Argus on May 2 confirmed the illegalities by the MEA.

The campaign finance laws are tricky in some respects. Other parts are basic and no brainers. Now, the MEA's PAC is an elite campaigning organization. They know all the tricks. This one was a no brainer. I think everyone knows that all the campaign advertisements to the public need to disclose the committee which paid for them, as well as the address of that committee.

MEA-PAC made the decision to mail out illegal independent expenditures in support of their two candidates, Dan Fondriest and Ed Literski. On their expenditure, they did not mention they were from East Lansing, nor did they disclose who paid for those advertisements. It was a shady move, and thanks to a few watchful eyes, they got caught.

This is an open and shut case. As such, I did the proper thing and filed a formal complaint with the bureau of elections against the East Lansing based MEA PAC. This complaint was strictly my work and not the work of any organization officially, nor unofficially. If this was a oversight missing just the "Paid for by" message, I'd let it go. If it just missed a return address, I'd let it go. Missing both is flat out unacceptable. Maybe a $1000 fine will send a message.

Latest on Howell Campaign Finance Violations, Argus endorses in Brighton

First, Dan Meisler of the Argus wrote a story on the illegal MEA mailing. I mentioned the details here titled "Breaking the Law, Breaking the Law" The Argus article is here - From the Argus

A mailing sent out by the Howell Education Association teachers' union in support of two candidates for the Howell Public Schools Board of Education is in violation of campaign finance law because it doesn't identify who paid for it.
The postcards read, in part, "Howell teachers support Edwin J. Literski and Dan Fondriest for Howell school board," and are printed on paper the same shade of light green as the T-shirts union members have been wearing to school board meetings to protest the lack of a contract.

HEA President Doug Norton said it was just an oversight, and shouldn't reflect on the candidates.

"It was an oversight we regret," he said. "We also are confident all recipients understood it was from the Howell teachers and that it was paid for with our PAC dollars."
Norton said the approximately $2,000 spent on the 9,000 postcards was funneled through the Michigan Education Association's political action committee.

"It was supposed to have a 'Paid for by the MEA PAC' on there, but it didn't. The error was ours. It had nothing to do with the candidates we recommend," Norton said.

Neither Literski nor Fondriest said they paid for or reviewed the mailings.
(snip)

I believe that that Literski and Fondriest did not pay for or review the mailing. Fondriest kept this below $1000. Literski has not, but his campaign finance report looked legit to me. Literski is also running with Pratt as a team and not with Fondriest.

However, I don't buy it on the oversight. Besides the lack of a "paid for by MEA", there's no return address either, as their was in last year's mailing. I think Doug Norton is taking one for his team, but it's the MEA who fouled up this and their PAC. The HEA is an affiliate, but MEA is footing the bill. If I had to put money on this, MEA fouled up on purpose so they would not have to put the fact that they are in EAST LANSING, and not Howell. If they forgot only the "paid for by MEA" and had their return address, I'd write it off as a mistake. If they only forgot the return address and listed the "paid for by MEA part", I would have written it off as a mistake. But both of them, and by one of the Michigan's most effective PAC's? I doubt it. The MEA isn't exactly a politican rookie here. It looks better for East Lansing's MEA if Norton takes the heat, since he's from Howell and it can look like a local mistake, and not from non-county residents.

Also, The Argus endores Greg Rassel and Beth Minert for Brighton Schools. Rassel also has the endorsement from Concerned Taxpayers Group's PAC. The endorsement roundup for Brighton is now this:

Brighton Schools
Concerned Taxpayers Group - Irene Besancon and Greg Rassel.
Right to Life - Irene Besancon and Jared Geist
MEA - None listed. There are rumors, but until then that's just it. Rumors.
Argus - Greg Rassel and Beth Minert