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Sunday, August 25, 2024

Michigan's Republicans converged on Flint's Dort Federal Event Center on Saturday for their state party convention.

It was the first time in history that Republicans picked Flint for their convention.

The event turned into an all-day affair — kooks suspicious that machine counting might lead to Democrats breaking into the computer to pick their choices for Supreme Court, State Board of Education, etc. Unbelievably, they decided to do a hand count of the votes by delegates.

The day also featured lots of police presence, including police officers helping security escort former party Chair  Kristina Karamo out of the state GOP's convention.

She was throw out as party leader and eventually replaced by Paul Hoekstra earlier this year in January. The Michigan GOP wound up in court before a judge ruled in late February that Karamo needed to go away because she was legally ousted by her party.

But there she was on the convention floor on Saturday.

She hollered "corrupt" as they led her out of the arena to boos by many Republicans.

Probably 2,000 of them showed up.

The Detroit News reported that at about noon, another individual, whom The Detroit News couldn't immediately identify, was taken out of the arena by a group of police. He had his arms bound behind his back after security officers said he was yelling at people around him in the crowd.

Political strategist Dave Forsmark of Flushing has seen many Michigan GOP conventions and he summed this one up this way via a Facebook post:

"So, all you loonbirds who think that an optical scanner is so susceptible to hacking (the interwebs!) that 2,000 people should wait for 4 hours in a hot auditorium instead of getting results in 4 MINUTES... (Did you) notice that the results were entered onto a spreadsheet on a LAPTOP computer? Now in the annals of hacking, malware and phishing, what has been more targeted — laptops or optical scanners???

You all bristle at being called a Cult. Well then maybe superstition should be less a part of your proclaimed agenda — or at least keep it to yourselves and let other people have lives.

Oh, and ya'll are mad when election night takes 4 hours — and you want all the clerks to adopt your 1898 methods. UPDATE. The full process took EIGHT hours."

 Michelle Vorhies of Clio is a long-time member of the Genesee County Republican Party and she also went to Facebook to express disappointment in the day. She wrote as follows:

"Yesterday was exhausting. Never again will I show up at a State Convention where ballots are going to be hand counted. My understanding from the plethora of pre-convention emails was that voting machines were planned but perhaps would be contested. However, it seems that hand counting was decided by the powers that be and nothing was discussed on the convention floor (which would have taken several more hours, I'm sure). However, we did spend the first two hours arguing over rules and trivia. Those suggesting changes did not have the votes to make those changes but yet persisted wasting everyone's time with motions and questions about the process of dealing with said motions. Kudos to my friend Dave Dishaw for the excellent job he did of chairing the convention in light of all the contention and negativity.   If you know me well then you know that I am a big fan of transparency and allowing everyone to speak, even if I disagree with their position. However, I am also a big fan of following rules and procedures that are put into place ahead of a convention by those who have been elected to make such decisions. I am not a fan of wasting the time of 2,000 delegates for matters that have already been decided or are not matters for the convention to decide to begin with. I spoke with many people who were brand new delegates, they had no idea what was going on, they left early and most likely will never show up at a convention again.   For the first time in the history of the MIGOP the convention was held in Flint. The facility was obviously not what the delegates are used to but was workable. Because Flint is Flint, security was tight. We were not allowed to bring in our own food or drink, only small bags for personal items and those bags had to be clear. If the convention had been of a reasonable time frame, this would have been fine. But it was not. I am diabetic and therefore need to keep my blood sugar in line. Eating hot dogs, fries and nachos all day is not an appropriate diet for me. I had planned on bringing my own food until I read the rules for entry. Around 7pm, when we still didn't have results from the first round of voting (5 hours and counting) Knowing there was to be a second round of voting (per convention rules regarding the winner getting a majority of votes) and that would most likely also take 5+ hours to decide, I gave up. At this point I was shaky, exhausted, probably a little dehydrated and I knew that staying would only be detrimental to my health. There were many others who felt the same way. So basically by leaving the convention before the voting was complete, I wasted the entire day. Apart from the one race which was decided in the first round of voting none of my votes counted for anything. Never again.   Precinct delegate are elected to do the business of the party. They are volunteers, in fact, it can actually be quite expensive to be a delegate. Those who live far away had to provide for their own transportation and their own lodging. If someone rolled in on Friday night and stayed in a hotel, they most likely checked out Saturday morning with the intention of driving home when the convention was over. But then it seemed the convention would never be over. Imagine spending an exhausting day on the convention floor, with nothing to eat but junk food and then having to drive for hours to get yourself home. Ridiculous.   If you are one who advocates for hand counting ballots please do so on your own time. Having canvased elections for 14 years, I can verify that the voting machines are simply a tool for tabulating votes and they are incredibly accurate and safe (and not connected to the internet). Take your conspiracy theories and stuff them. I have never seem one result change from the machine count in the numerous recounts I have done. Not one. I have no problem with hand counting the ballots to verify the machine count but please do not subject people, who are giving of their time and talent to get Republicans elected, to hours and hours of endless waiting, because you believe something that is simply not the truth.   There is more I could rant about but I will leave it here for now. If you've read this far, try not to be discouraged. Things will get better, hopefully, if we hang in there."

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Mike Killbreath appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning newspaper columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

BY MIKE KILLBREATH

CCN Executive Editor

(CCN) — Two of the most popular county-wide politicians have endorsed Democrat Matt  Schlinker in his bid to beat incumbent State Rep. David Martin of Davison.

Schlinker conducted a write-in campaign to get his name on the ballot as a Democrat after Tim Sneller passed away before the August primary.

He displayed a photo today of the two Sheriffs with their arms around him when offering support which is presented above this story. Schlinker said: "I am proud to know the two best Sheriffs ever. Thank you former Sheriff Pickel and Sheriff Swanson. It was a fantastic day! This is what's known as a Sheriff Sandwich!" 

 Commissioner Ellen Ellenburg, who served as a Burton city councilwoman before being elected to represent her community on the Genesee County Board of Commissioners, has also given Schlinker support on her Facebook page but hasn't yet issued a formal announcement.

She allowed Schlinker to ride with her and husband Tom in a recent parade and the long-time Commissioner shared his campaign announcement on Labor Day which was as follows: "I'm Matt Schlinker and I am running for Michigan State Representative for Michigan's 68th House District. As a life-long Democrat, I understand the value of hard work and public service. I’ve lived in Genesee County my whole life.  Like many of you, GM has provided a good middle-class living for my family.  This year marks my 47th year of working for GM. When my friend Tim Sneller tragically and unexpectedly passed away, I knew we needed someone in Lansing to fight for us. When I signed up as a write-in candidate in the primary, I promised to be a public servant and champion for everyday people like you and your family. With your help in November, I’ll continue Tim's focus of fighting for the causes and issues that are important to people in the 68th District. Too often, our elected leaders in Lansing lose focus. While our current representative fights against women and their right to choose (HB 4107), I’ll fight for women and their ability to control their own bodies.  While our current representative has spent 4 years working to limit the rights of workers and their unions (HB 4584), I’ll work to ensure workers have the right to organize.  While our current representative is passing useless resolutions designating months for his favorite cause, I’ll work to ensure that our schools are safe through common sense gun laws.  

Four years in the Legislature and our current representative hasn’t passed one bill of substance. Instead, he’s focused on ideological bills that have no chance of becoming law. Frankly, we deserve better. Unlike our current Representative, I will not campaign on lies and personal attacks. I’m going to talk about the issues that are important to our district – good paying jobs, strong and safe schools, and ensuring the American dream for ALL families. In Lansing, I’ll work across the aisle to get results. As communities across the state benefit from strong representation in Lansing, Davison, Burton, Grand Blanc and Goodrich are left out.  When I’m in Lansing, we’ll change that.  We’ll work to get our fair share. We deserve nothing less. 

Please help me protect Honest - Truthful - and Positive representation in the 68th District.  We deserve better and together we’ll do better!"

Monday, August 19, 2024 Column

A third special meeting about the behavior of an elected official has been scheduled for 4 pm today before the regular board meeting tonight at 6 pm for the Flint Township Board of Trustees.

Tom Klee, Flint Township's Treasurer, was ordered to "minimize" contact with office employees after a second executive session by the Flint Township Board of Trustees, according to a letter obtained by The Morning Gazette Radio Show. The story was reported today on the program at 8 o'clock and it's currently the lead story on the CCN News Break presented on today's front page of The Daily Gazette.

The letter is from Flint Township Supervisor Karyn Miller to Klee although Miller did not confirm she wrote it. Township board members are prohibited from discussing what happens in executive sessions.

We confirmed weeks ago, however, that the letter is authentic. In it, Miller wrote to Treasurer Klee on May 21, 2024: "In order to align expectations, I would like summarize the agreement made at the Special Board Meeting yesterday. You voluntarily agreed to move your office to the back hallway in order to minimize contact with the Township's Administrative Staff. The office with the window is empty and available for your use. It was agreed that your current office will be maintained as is, with your name plate in place, to minimize attention to this move. Please keep your current office door, closest to the Tax Department, clsoed until after you physically move everything, minimizing contact with staff. (In) order to eliminate face-to-face interaction with staff, please communicate through your Deputy, Kevin McIntyre, since he is the Director over several departments. Please utilize email to communicate with the staff when necessary. Lastly, you agreed to participate in one-on-one training for harassment prevention and sensitivity training. You volunteered to pay for this training as long as it was not overly expensive. If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask." 

Multiple attempts to reach Klee failed during the recent campaign for the Democrat primary where he was challenged by two opponents — Dave Huffman and Kareem Snell. Klee won with 1,612 votes to 1,133 for Snell and 986 for Huffman.

Huffman was especially miffed that Klee also skipped a July 17 debate sponsored by The Morning Gazette Radio Show and The Daily Gazette at Ruggero's Restaurant on Corunna Road in Flint Township. Klee also failed to respond to a questionnaire about his positions on key issues. 

"If he can't face his opponents and answer questions about his record, he does not belong in office," Huffman said. "I have absolutely zero respect for him."

Huffman said he may challenge as a write-in candidate in November, now that the issue about Klee's alleged treatment of staff has become public. "He should resign," Huffman said. "It's a disgrace how he has acted toward our employees."

Snell has not yet responded to our request for a comment.

Also obtained by The Morning Gazette Radio Show was a cover letter on the first formal complaint filed on March 20 this year against Klee that was written by the union's Chief Steward, Melissa Grzanka, on behalf of an office employee.

Grzanka wrote: "Treasurer Klee has shown a blatant lack of respect for the personal boundaries of employees (harassment, borderline sexual) and has, on more than on occasion, utilized speech to indicate to discriminatory opinion toward the general population of a certain race (discrimination). Complaints were brought to my attention of instances where Treasurer Klee has physically encroached upon the personal space of female employees. Instances described were unnecessary physical contact by way of touching shoulders, arms, backs and on occasion sitting so close as to create physical contact of his leg with the employee. Although a formal complaint of sexual harassment is not being filed at this time, it is imperative, for the protection of all employees, that this behavior on the part of Treasurer Klee be addressed so as to prevent the situation from progressing to such an extent in the future. This sort of physical closeness and contact with employees (is) not only unnecessary, but is appropriate, and it is important that boundaries be set, hopefully though the process of this complaint, and respected moving forward."

Grzanka also addressed complaints brought to her attention about Klee "making offhand remarks that have been construed as racist in nature against the black community."

She wrote: "Examples of this are Treasurer Klee making a specific point to reference an individual's skin color when speaking with the employees about his involvement with the students at Carman-Ainsworth, or the public in general. This is elaborated upon more in the written formal complaint provided by the employee... it created a feeling of discomfort and upset due tot he racial heritage of her daughter as well as the behavior and speech being inappropriate overall. If Treasurer Klee's patterns of this type of speech and apparent bias are not addressed now, there is concern that he may grow  bolder with his statements in the future, thereby crossing the line..."

Grzanka also noted in the cover letter for the formal complaint that Klee uses "inappropriate language at work."

"This is something I have observed personally as well, noting Treasurer Klee's lack of respect for anyone around him (employees, co-workers and residents alike) where his use of foul language is concerned," Grzanka wrote. She added: "This is upsetting, not only for the inappropriateness and unprofessional nature of the language, but for the fact that if we, the employees, were to speak in the same manner as Treasurer Klee, we would be disciplined for it and, in some cases, have been disciplined for it (or warned that discipline would be issued if the language continued)."

The March 20 complaint also alleged Klee has used a "disruptive nature when interacting with employees."

Grzanka wrote about this allegation: "The employees at the Charter Township of Flint are here to perform a job and make sure the residents of Flint Township are helped in a timely, and accurate, manner. I have personally experienced Treasurer Klee interrupting me while attempting to assist residents at the counter as well as him being vocally persistent in making me stop what I'm doing to address him, speak with him, and sometimes even forcing me to stop my work simply to say 'hello.' This sort of behavior is reportedly even worse within the tax department  — a department in which attention to detail is extremely important..."  

Grzanka wrote another cover letter for a second formal complaint on May 14 this year, complaining that Klee mocked an employee's Tourette's Syndrome — a medical condition two of her children also suffer from as well. Grzanka said the incident was witnessed by another employee who provided an affidavit and the union steward requested a copy of office surveillance video from the day this incident happened.

"Prior to his departure, he stood in the doorway linking the hallway to the Tax Department and said, 'Hey...hey...' he then said 'I'm going to th-th-th- therapy' while twitching his chin toward his shoulder in a mocking gesture of someone with a mental illness. This physical gesture was in addition to the utilization of the intentional stutter indicative of the same. Not only is this sort of behavior insulting and in appropriate, it is discriminatory against people with physical/mental disabilities by poking fun at the common tics associated with several illnesses and conditions."

People are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, but allegations in the documents we obtained are troubling — especially when considering Klee is also employed as a teacher at the Flint Carman-Ainsworth school district. My vote is that it's time to turn all these allegations at the township offices over for a police investigation. The school district should also suspend him until the investigation is complete, in my opinion. Other financial items need to be investigated, too, after Klee has also been under fire for weeks by Trustee Barb Vert who has demanded an accounting of how townships dollar were used on a public hearing to discuss raising taxes in a special assessment without a vote of the people. Klee has said publicly on three occasions that he "would get it to her" but he has so far kept the financial spending a secret from the board. 

Klee already isn't very popular in Flint Township's business community over his push for tax hike. He pushed for a 4-mill tax increase last winter, trying to get it enacted without a vote of the people. He was supported by Clerk Monya Triplett and Trustees Carol Phaff-Dahl and Greg King when setting two public hearings to consider the tax hike in a special assessment. The resolution was illegal since charter townships can't use special assessments to pay salaries of employees — only buy emergency items or pay off court-ordered judgments.

After business owners and residents packed a church on Bristol Road to voice opposition to the tax hike in the first public hearing, Trustee Vert led a vote to cancel the second public hearing. She demanded to put her colleagues on record how they felt about raising taxes without a vote of the people. Triplett, who won last Tuesday's primary, changed her position to block Klee's push for more tax dollars to support what he contended is a need to hire more staff for the Flint Township fire department.

A reliable source tells me Klee wants today's 4 pm special meeting re-scheduled so he can have an attorney represent him. I hope he's paying for the attorney because all the other legal bills for lawyers to be present at two previous special meetings is a waste of tax dollars. Klee should reimburse the township taxpayers for whatever the tab is, unless he can prove the allegations are not true.

The big losers in this scenario are the taxpayers although my heart goes out to the employees impacted by Klee's alleged behavior, if these accusations prove true. Nobody should be subjected to such treatment and it's no surprise (or secret) that three office staff members are actively looking for another job.

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Mike Killbreath appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning newspaper columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

Monday, July 22, 2024

Our plan was to lead off our campaign season endorsements by urging you to deliver a strong "Yes" vote for the MTA (Mass Transportation Authority) service in Genesee County.

Ed Bennett has done an outstanding job providing bus service all over his county.

For our money, he's the very best General Manager & CEO ever of Flint's MTA system.

However, he's under fire in the southern end of our county for joining "community partners" who offered to sign a letter of support for the Flint & Genesee Group when getting more than $260 million to build an advanced manufacturing plant on a 1,200-are site in Mundy Township that's bordered by Linden Road, Elms Road, Jennings Road and Maple Road. The non-profit organization lists it as a 1,000-acre site but some opponents note that a map of the proposed Mega Site area shows 1,200 acres extending past the border into the southern part of Flint Township.

The letter of support by community partners said, "We support efforts by the Flint & Genesee Economic Alliance and local and state leaders to attract an advanced manufacturer to our region because it will create thousands of local jobs, spark investment, and create opportunities for young people right here in Genesee County."

Who can argue against creating jobs?

Except opponents of the Mega Site development say Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer is trying to build plants to support the push for electric vehicles with environmental pollution as collateral damage. More than $680 million went to Big Rapids where a company from Communist China wants to build a battery plant. There has also been talk of a battery plant or chip-making plant coming to Mundy Township. Opponents, however, say either idea would bring with it severe damage to their groundwater by run-off from toxins. They also fear that the millions of gallons of water would drain a natural drinking water resource in Lake Huron within a short number of years.

Opponents to the idea of any kind of advanced manufacturing plant say Mundy Township is a community known for its farm land, and they want to keep it that way.

If Ed Benning  didn't get authority to support the project from his board of directors, he's gonna be in hot water with at least two of them  — County Commissioner Ellen Ellenburg of Burton and County Commissioner Charles Winfrey of Flint. Both face re-election races right now.

That's dangerous when a group of Mega Site opponents on Facebook includes 2,100 members and a track record over the last two weeks of making Mott Community College's Board of Trustees rescind its support while making two major businesses withdraw their names from the list of "community partners."

If a massive campaign of commercials is coming to target the MTA millage, we will hold off on our endorsement for the "yes" vote until hearing what the "no" voters have to say on the matter.

After all, tax dollars fund the MTA.

If enough taxpayers want to send a message to whoever blindly supported the idea of giving the Flint & Genesee Group more than $260 million without seeing so much as a plan, I'm willing to let them do it. 

If what Mott's trustees did isn't an example of what can happen, I don't know what is.

Let Ed Benning backtrack the MTA's support. I see he has a couple City of Flint officials on his board of directors. Maybe they were whispering in his ear about their friend Tim Herman, CEO of the Flint & Genesee Group.

Herman's guy, Tyler  Rossmaessler who is Director of Economic Development for the Flint & Genesee Economic Alliance, has admitted to state officials and to Mott's trustees that he does not yet have a plant on board to build anything in Mundy Township. All his organization has is more than $260 million of our tax dollars, and a letter of support from "community partners" such as Ed Bennett of the MTA and Mott Community College's former President although Mott's trustees have now rescinded their institution's support.

READ TODAY'S EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK COLUMN
 

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Mike Killbreath appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning newspaper columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

FLINT TWP. (CCN) — Retiring U.S. Congressman Dan Kildee of Flint Township announced at a press conference Tuesday (July 2, 2024) that he's endorsing Kristen McDonald Rivet to become his replacement in the upcoming election.

She's on the August ballot in the primary for Democrats against former City of Flint Mayor Matt Collier and current State Board of Education Trustee Pamela Pugh. Mary Draves, Anthony Hudson and Paul Junge are running in the August Republican primary.

 “I said I'd do everything I could to elect common sense, principled, results-oriented leaders,” Kildee told union leaders and campaign supporters of Rivet. “That's why I'm speaking out, supporting and endorsing Kristen McDonald Rivet to be your next member of Congress.” 

She was also recently endorsed by another prominent state Democrat  — Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

 Elected to her first tterm in Michigan's State Senate two years ago, she's the first Democrat in over a decade and the first woman ever to represent the Great Lakes Bay Region in the Michigan Senate.  She led the charge to pass the largest tax cut for working families in Michigan’s history and has introduced a plan to address the growing childcare crisis in our state.

Her web site says "Kristen has fought to protect abortion rights for women, and, in one of her first acts in the State Senate, passed a commonsense gun violence prevention bill that requires safe storage of firearms around children. Now, as inflation and corporate greed have made the Michigan Dream increasingly out of reach for too many Michiganders, Kristen is running for Congress in Michigan’s 8th District to help level the playing field. Known for her pragmatic approach, Kristen has a record of moving policies to lower the cost of groceries, housing and prescription drugs, and to invest in childcare."

PHOTO CAPTION: Pictured above this story is candidate Kristen McDonald Rivet.

Thursday, June 27, 2024 Column

My recent Editor's Notebook columns are getting some national attention.

The New York Times has called. So, too, have Detroit media outlets. Local TV stations have reported the story although only WJRT ABC 12 TV featured comments by the organizer of the picket demonstration (Jennifer Arrand Stainton) last week outside a political fundraiser for Mundy Township Supervisor Tonya Ketzler 

Nothing but crickets out of MLive and The Flint Journal though. We will see how later today how View Newspapers reports on the controversial picket demonstration last week by protesters angry about the proposed development at the Mega Site location in Mundy Township on a 1,200-acre location bordering Linden Road, Jennings Road, Elms Road and Maple Road.

Michigan News Source quoted by column in a story today about a proposed $250 million gift of our state tax dollars to the Flint Genesee Group to build something on the Mega Site. No details. They need the money first before they tell us what the plan is out there.

It's nice to see some statewide attention focused on Governor Gretchen Whitmer's budget. I don't like my tax dollars going to support building plants to support the electric vehicle industry. Gretchen's current TV commercials make me sick.

They're paid for by a climate change PAC out of California. They admitted to me there was a major donor out of our area to make the TV commercials happen on our local TV air waves.

Any guess on who the donor may have been?

By the way, Gretchen proclaims that Michigan is leading the charge with battery plants across out state employing thousands. Um, no battery plants have been built yet.

Gretchen should also check with the Battery Plant Manufacturers Association of the United States. The average battery plant in our country employs an average of 92 people.

If it's a chip building factory headed to Mundy Township, the numbers are worse for jobs. They average 48 employees. Comments from CEO Tim Herman's representative on all this garbage have led us to believe thousands of jobs are coming.

Why not locate them at vacant old GM plants in Flint? Or is all the pollution that comes with them too much for a city where its water was poisoned 10 years ago? Time to poison people around the Mega Site location out in Mundy Township?

A battery plant or chip building plant would produce thousands of gallons worth of toxins. Do they just drain them into the groundwater to ruin the properties of neighbors?

There are environmental experts warning that extensive use of ultra pure water would lead to draining Lake Huron and eventually end its use as a water supply for so many Michigan communities. Ask Atlanta how the impact from similar plants has destroyed their water supply.

 and contaminated nearby properties.

Are we ready for another Flint water crisis? Are we ready for another Berlin & Farro catastrophe?

READ TODAY'S EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK COLUMN
 

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-----------------------------------------------------

Mike Killbreath appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning newspaper columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

Wednesday, June 26, 2024 Column

Chief Matt Bade sat mostly mute two days ago as residents took turns taking shots at his Metro Police Authority during a meeting of the Mundy Township Board of Trustees.

He invited residents to attend today's Police Commission meeting to air complaints and ask him questions.

And a half dozen or so showed up to do so.

Jennifer Arrand Stainton, organizer of a picket demonstration last week outside a political fundraiser of Mundy Township Supervisor Tonya Ketzler, complained to Chief Bade and the seven Police Commission board members about "nine cop cars" being dispatched to "discourage the picketers from being there" to show opposition against a proposed development at a 1,200-acre Mega Site bordering Linden Road, Jennings Road, Elms Road and Maple Road.

Chief Bade attempted to immediately provide answers to citizen Leah Davis after her comments critical of the way police officers behaved. He was shouted down by audience members, however, after being told by Stainton he was "out of order by interrupting public comment."

Swartz Creek Mayor Dave Krueger, who is Chairman of the Police Committee, told Chief Bade he would let him speak after public comment was finished. He also allowed Mundy Township Manager Chad Young to speak after public comment despite the agenda calling for public speaking to be followed by board member comments from the Police Committee.

Flint Township community activist Jerry Roberts was at the meeting because his neighborhood is near the border where the Mega Site sits. He noted, "Roberts Rules of Order requires a vote to change the agenda. It appears they just make up the rules to benefit themselves."

Roberts was miffed that Krueger refused to allow attorney Dan Andoni to have a second turn at speaking to respond after Young's comments.

Attorney Andoni had earlier told board members they were not following the agenda and also in violation of the Michigan Open Meetings Act requiring agenda packets to be available to the public for inspection before voters are taken. "It's like you are operating in secret," said Andoni who also complained that audience members could not hear board members speaking because they did not use microphones.

Krueger said the Police Committee is not accustomed to having so many residents show up at its meetings. "If we knew a crowd like this was coming, we would have used a different room or used microphones," he said.

Chief Bade took a second attempt at answering questions after the audience members were finished complaining about how police handled the protest event.

Chief Bade declared, "I'm in charge" to reject accusations he was "taking orders" from Ketzler when dispatching police patrols last week when picketers staged their protest.

Chief Bade told Stainton he called her because her name was on the flyer. He says he saw a flyer about "crashing the party" of Ketzler's fundraiser and added: "I had heard Flint people were coming and we wanted to be proactive in case 200 people showed up."

Township Manager Young chimed in that he was once part of a picket where police arrested protesters and he didn't want to see a riot in Mundy Township by Flint residents.

Three community activists organizing picketers told me none of their recruits showed up because of Facebook comments suggesting there would be a "strong police presence." They tell me there are more than 42,000 outstanding warrants in Flint, so leaving the city limits is dangerous if confronting police anywhere else in Genesee County.

The picket protest organized by Stainton had a two-fold reason behind it as I see it. She's running against Ketzler for the township's top job and she's among 2,100 members of a Facebook group opposing a plant to support the electric vehicle industry on the proposed development at the Mega Site.

The Flint Genesee Group has already bagged more than $10 million in tax dollars to develop something out there. CEO Tim Herman was approved two weeks ago for $250 million more by the Michigan Strategic Fund and final approval may happen before the end of the week. The State House Appropriations Committee voted 17-9 on Thursday (June 20, 2024) to move the bill to the House floor as part of Governor Gretchen Whitmer's budget. She would apparently then sign the budget into law after it clears both the House and Senate chambers.

Stainton has questioned the claim that thousands of jobs are coming to the Mega Site and she noted numerous environmental concerns.

But she's now vowing to take her complaints to the Genesee County Sheriff's Department and the Michigan State Police 

Chief Bade made a pretty good attempt at defending his department's actions, saying he contacted the owner of Gateway Center which he claims is private property.

My question to his board was that if it's private property, how can they condone police patrols there? Protesters say Chief Bade dispatched 9 cop cars (I counted 7) buzzing around the roads inside the Gateway Center to keep picketers from parking at businesses.

I cited a state statute prohibiting police patrols on private roads and a 2011 bill approved by the state legislature to permit owners of private roads to petition cities, villages and townships for police patrols if they can strike a financial deal.

Otherwise, 911 calls or a police investigation into a crime are the only reasons why police can be on private property. Period. It's the law.

So if the owner of Gateway Center told Chief Bade he didn't want picketers parking on business parking lots inside his development, isn't Meijer located next to Gateway Center and isn't the Lafontaine dealership across the street?

Yet at least one cruiser was parked across from the picket demonstration on Hill Road at all times, sometimes two of them. And yet police confronted  "suspected" picketers in the Meijer parking lot.

Stainton said she talked to a Meijer official who said it was okay for anyone to park in their parking lot and that people "always do." I've talked with two business owners who say they had no problem with the idea, but police told them it was not to be allowed.

Last time I checked landlord law, any business leasing an office from the owner at Gateway Center is under the jurisdiction of certain rights by state law. The landlord has no right to come on their property unannounced and he certainly can't tell them who can use their parking lot.

Chief Bade ought to know this. Many years ago, he was one of two Burton officers who showed up on my property that was being rented out to a minister. He kept making promises to pay his rent until the bill exceeded $3,000. He slammed the door in my face and told me to get off "his" property when trying to collect the overdue rent.

I broke down my door and he called Burton police when I threatened to beat his ass if my money wasn't delivered in 30 minutes.

Bade and another officer arrived shortly thereafter and explained to me that it was "his" door and "his" property until I went to court and got an eviction to throw him out.

So Chief Bade understands landlord law.

Nice try on your explanation about getting around not being able to patrol on private property by saying you talked with the owner of Gateway Center. He just doesn't have authority to speak for his tenants. That's the law.

My suggestion is to issue an apology to avoid the ACLU or some other law firm slapping a lawsuit on your department as Stainton has said may happen. Issue an apology in writing and be sure to include a clause that "Flint people" are welcome. Some suggest to me that's code for "black people are not wanted in Mundy Township." Then total the hours for police patrols (whether it was 7 or 9 officers), add up how much gas cost at $3.89 per gallon that day and write a refund to the taxpayers.

If you are in charge Chief Bade, do it.

Otherwise, I have three applicants with State Police command staff experience who tell me they'd like to apply for your job after you are fired or forced to resign in disgrace.

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Mike Killbreath appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning newspaper columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

Thursday, June 20, 2024 Column

I'm not even back on the air yet and one local politician already fired off a nasty e-mail response to my request to talk to her about what's going on in her community. "I won't go on your show," she declared twice among several texts via Messenger.

Tonya Ketzler has a big fundraiser tonight at Redwood Lodge off Hill Road, near U.S. 23. She wants to be re-elected as Mundy Township Supervisor. She is completing her first term after previously serving as the township clerk.

Her first term as township leader ends in November and my grade for her performance so far would be an absolute "F" grade.

I first me Tonya when she operated flower stores known as Ketzler Florist. She once had locations on Hill Road in Mundy Township, Grand Blanc and Swartz Creek. All the stores are now closed up.

She was once an occasional guest at a "Mafia Club" dinner group of community leaders. I think her last visit was when she voiced opposition one night outside on the patio at Flint Golf Club about comments I made on the radio blasting her police department for arresting Mateen Cleaves on a phony charge that had big time political overtones. Let's just say the only folks who needed to be charged and thrown in prison as far as I'm concerned were some local chiefs, a few cops and several from the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office.

I predicted to her that the case would be dismissed. She was outraged, especially so when everyone at the table agreed with my assessment of things.

Frank Manley, one of America's very best defense lawyers, indeed won a dismissal at the preliminary exam stage  —  something of a rare event in court rooms. It essentially means he proved to a judge that the prosecutors and police had no evidence to charge Mateen Cleaves.

Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton recused his office, yet our local taxpayers got stuck with the bill as Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy staged an all-out war to put Mateen in prison. Don't let any facts get in the way of some positive big time PR. She was coming off a national scandal in the media over thousands of untested rape kits her office was sitting on. She wanted to look "tough on rape" by going after Mateen. The problem was that Flint's once national champion basketball player at MSU wasn't guilty.

My investigation proved that before Frank Manley ever staged an all-star performance to get all the charges dropped at the preliminary exam. Worthy appealed and former Genesee County Circuit Court Judge Archie Hayman overturned the district court decision by former Judge Cathy Dowd. She was eventually justified in her decision when a jury awarded a not guilty verdict.

Where does Mateen go to get his reputation back? He lost his job as an analyst on TV with the Detroit Pistons. CBS dumped him from the March Madness panel on pre-game, halftime and post-game shows. A charity he used to help hundreds of children was damaged. Who wants to hire a guy accused of rape?

Prominent lawyers reached out to me about getting their hands on Mateen's case. All of them predicted a multi million dollar case against Tonya's police department and Kym Worthy's office. I passed on the information to Frank Manley but Mateen walked away. It probably had something to do with not putting his family through more media attention. The only thing Mateen was guilty of was cheating on his wife, yet she sat in the front row at almost every day of the trial . He spoke to the media with his beautiful wife at his side.

He eventually thanked God for clearing his name and not sending him to prison for 10 years. I think he needed to thank Frank Manley and his brother Mike Manley most of all, and he did pass out rave reviews to them for their hard work on his behalf.

Tonya dodged a bullet on the Mateen case. It could have bankrupted the township, in my opinion, depending on how their insurance policy is set up. The bad publicity alone of her police costing the township thousands of dollars would have doomed her political career.

She's now apparently in hot water with residents who don't like a proposed mega site bordered by Linden Road, Jennings Road, and Elms Road and Maple Road. Tim Herman, President of the Flint Genesee Group, has been given grants by Governor Gretchen Whitmer of $1.2 million, $9.2 million and $250 million to build something there. They will let us know what it is after they get the rest of the money. 

Governor Gretchen, according to media reports, has now given out more than a billion dollars to build factories to support the push for electric vehicles. She's currently featured in a TV commercial flooding the local air waves about how Michigan is leading the charge with battery plants across Michigan bringing thousands of jobs to our state because of her efforts. She doesn't mention that not a single job has been created yet because not a single plant is operating yet.

So all these plants around Michigan  —  funded by our tax dollars  — can be owned by companies from South Korea, Taiwan or Communist China? I say let them pollute their own part of the world. Ask Atlanta how they like battery factories and semiconductor chip making factories. The city notified factory owners some time ago that they've almost drained the water supply there.

It takes 22,000 gallons of water to cool down a single chip and rinse away all the toxins. So where do the toxins go? The climate change folks pushing to do away with gas engines are worried about the climate  —  just not draining out water supply and ruining the groundwater with poison toxins for homes around the mega site. A battery factory is also a huge offender of polluting the soil of their neighbors with their runoff of toxins.

I might mention that claims of creating thousands of jobs to support the EV industry is hogwash. The average battery factory in the U.S. employs 92 people. That's a fact from the Battery Manufacturers Association of the United States. Jobs in battery factories have declined by 2.1% over the last five years and the estimate is that they will employ between 10% and 15% fewer people over the next five years.

Dealers say they can't sell electric cars. The average American can't afford them yet. If a battery goes bad, it's almost as much as a new car to replace it.

Plus, answer this for me. The federal government was handing out warnings earlier this week because of the extreme heat. We were told to conserve using air conditioning because the overload on power grids may short-circuit us into darkness. That's with EVs making up less than 1% of registered vehicles in most US states, and accounting for less than 1% of all vehicles sold in the country in all of 2023.  So what would happen if the climate change PAC funding Gretchen's local TV commercials gets their way and we do away with gas-powered engines for our vehicles?

We pollute our soil around the plant for a man-made disaster that will make the Flint water crisis look like a little league event. We drain the water supply over the next five years, so then what?

So if the average battery plant employs only 92 people and only 24,340 are currently employed by 500 chip factories around the USA, how are we to believe these claims that thousands of jobs will be created in Mundy Township? My math computes to about 48 jobs for a chip factory and 92 for a battery factor. The trade-off is ruining our earth with these plants to save the earth from being ruined by gas engines?

With $260 million of our tax dollars going to Tim Herman's non-profit group?

Yeah, Tonya expect me to see you tonight at your fundraiser. I won't be paying $1,250 for a dinner to chip in for your campaign. Anybody who does should have their business boycotted by our residents of the Metro Flint regional area.

I will be out front talking to the good people with picket signs.

So you don't want to go on my radio show to defend your part in all this? Well, I have list of former politicians who can tell you how that went for them. Talk to your residents by answering media questions — especially from The Morning Gazette Radio Show — or go back to being a flower store lady.

I hear you hired one of ex Burton Mayor Paula Zelenko's folks to work in your office. Ask her how her old boss liked the public pressure when we turned the attention of our microphones on her goofy leadership ways.  My investigation led to State Police asking Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton for a warrant on felony charges of changing a union document to reward her campaign manager with a big raise for a union position as Chief of Staff. State Police alleged that she changed the document from "is a union position" to "is not a union position." 

The State Police investigation confirmed our declaration that the document didn't match old contracts of other former union members after she presented it to her Burton City Council. They voted 7-0, by the way, to demand a State Police investigation into my radio show claims. The six-year statute on that crime has almost run out, yet Prosecutor Leyton still has the document sitting on his desk. That's the comment on about a half dozen times I've asked Chief Deputy Prosecutor John Potbury about it .

Better yet. Read the recent story in the Detroit News about Prosecutor Leyton ignoring warrants from State Police troopers he called "liars" who were "too unreliable to put on the witness stand." The episode was touched off by our push to have former Flint Township Clerk Kathy Funk arrested for tampering with ballots. She pleaded guilty, yet got probation and was ordered to write an apology. Yet five elections were impacted by her illegal actions?

By the way, why is Prosecutor Leyton allowed to have the biggest campaign sign possible on Linden Road a few months before signs are allowed? I guess he won't want to charge himself for violating the state law that sets forth that it must be 45 days before election day. Campaign finance laws also require a posting on who paid for the sign. That's the law.

I guess the law doesn't matter around here. Ask Mateen Cleaves. Ask Burton residents who wanted Mayor Zelenko locked up. Ask all the hundreds who called my show and wrote letters demanding that Kathy Funk be locked up.

Yeah, I can't wait to get back on the radio.

READ TODAY'S EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK COLUMN
 

READ OLD EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK COLUMNS

READ THIS MONTH's FEATURED COLUMN

Click Here to Read Related Stories in a Mega Site Special Section at The Daily Gazette

-----------------------------------------------------

Mike Killbreath appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning newspaper columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

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