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Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024

We made endorsements on Friday in our local Township Supervisor races but there are other key contested races for Clerk, Treasurer and Trustee on their respective boards. We also have countywide races to weigh in on across the Metro Flint regional area in Genesee County, Oakland County, Tuscola County, Livingston County and Shiawassee County.

Here is a look at our remaining endorsements:

GENESEE COUNTY'S top countywide officials are mostly unopposed on Tuesday (Nov. 5, 2024).

We endorsed incumbents David Leyton of Flint Township and Domonique Clemons of Mundy Township in the Democrat primary for County Prosecutor and County Clerk /Register of Deeds, respectively. They do not have Republican challengers on Tuesday.

Democrat Sam Muma was our choice for County Treasurer in the primary to replace retiring Deb Cherry, and he's unopposed on Tuesday, too.

Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson, a Fenton Democrat, gets our endorsement again over Republican challenger Jeff Salzeider of Montrose.

Democrat Jeff Wright of Burton deserves to be re-elected as County Drain Commissioner over  David Niggemeyer of Burton who is running on the U.S. Taxpayers Party nominee on the ballot.

Democrat Kim Carlson is unopposed in his re-election bid for County Surveyor.

TUSCOLA COUNTY COMMISSIONER: Our choices here are for incumbents Kim Vaughn, Bill Lutz and Matthew J. Koch to be returned to office. Lutz is from Millington while Vaughn and Koch live in Vassar. All three are Republicans who have served their communities well on the Tuscola County Board of Commissioners.

CLAYTON TOWNSHIP TREASURER Rick Caruso, a Democrat, deserves to be re-elected over Republican Shelley Thompson.

We're disappointed to see Thompson leave her seat on the Clayton Township Board of Trustees, but there will be experience there with Republican  Thomas Spillane who chose not to seek re-election as Township Supervisor and the board's longest-serving Trustee  — Democrat Tammy Kapraun. We endorse Spillane and Kapraun for the four open seats with four-year terms and project they will be easy winners. Our other choices in the five-candidate race for the Trustee jobs go to newcomers Kenneth Engel and Douglas Sherman — both Republicans.

DAVISON TOWNSHIP has two crucial decisions on the ballot. They need to re-elect Matthew D. Karr and Lori Tallman as Trustees. Both are prominent lawyers who have served their community well as board members, including Karr for 20 years as the longest-serving board member. They are running as Republicans against Democrat Norman Fischer and independent Brent Darling. The vacant seats are for four-year terms.

FLINT TOWNSHIP has all unopposed candidates on the ballot Tuesday but four primary losers in the Democrat race have filed as write-ins. We don't believe write-ins have a snowball's chance to win, but if ever there was a time to consider writing in a name on your ballot  — Tuesday in Flint Township is the day to go to the trouble of doing it.

We endorsed Dave Huffman over Tom Klee for Treasurer in August and he filed as a write-in on Tuesday along with Kareem Snell. Klee won with 1,612 votes despite trying to raise taxes by 4 mills without a vote of the people in a special assessment last winter, then faced closed executive session meetings to discuss his behavior toward staff after allegations disclosed by The Daily Gazette for racial remarks and other disturbing actions. Snell was closer than Huffman (1,133-986) to beating Klee in the primary although neither ran a very strong campaign to expose Klee's record. We endorse Snell this time.

Primary losers Bill McKay and Mark White filed as write-ins for Trustee, and we endorse both of them along with newcomer Jenna McIntyre and 16-year incumbent Barb Vert who got our endorsements in the primary, too. McKay and Jerry Preston were our other choices in August.

FOREST TOWNSHIP has two open seats with four-year terms as Trustees on its board. We endorse Democrats Mark Martin and Al Sorge over Republican Steed A. Mills Jr. Martin and Sorge are incumbents currently serving as Trustees.

GAINES TOWNSHIP residents have a decision to make for Treasurer. Incumbent Diane M. Hyrman, a Democrat, is being challenged by Republican Robert Henderson. We endorse Henderson.

GENESEE TOWNSHIP has four seats up for grabs on its board. Five candidates are running, and we endorse Democrats Brenda Duplanty, Ashley Witte, Carrie Bock and Patrick Gerace over Republican Michael Link.

GRANC BLANC TOWNSHIP has contested races for Clerk, Treasurer and Trustee. Republican Dave Robertson gets our endorsement for re-election as Clerk, we go with long-time businessman Mike Yancho Sr as Treasurer and our choices as Trustees are Republican Joel Feick and Democrats Jude Raridan, Sarah Hugo and Paul White.

All are incumbents bidding for the four-year terms on Grand Blanc Township's board, except for Yancho. Current Treasurer Mark Kilmer did not seek re-election but his wife, Jet Kilmer, is Robertson's opponent.

Robertson brings a wealth of experience to the table. He has completed one four-year stint as Clerk after previously serving for more than three decades as a County Commissioner, State Representative and State Senator. It's the first political bid for Kilmer who previously worked as a  staff member for the Flint Area Chamber of Commerce before becoming Executive Director of the Grand Blanc Chamber of Commerce.

MONTROSE TOWNSHIP has six candidates vying for four open seats on its board with four-year terms. Our endorsements go to independent challenger Steve Shaski and incumbents Gary Keeler, Sam Spence and Gerald Cole. Shaski is taking on three Democrat board members along with Republicans Fred Christensen and Jim Coon.

MT. MORRIS TOWNSHIP will get a new Treasurer. We endorsed Jona May Kean in the August primary over Gayle Armstrong, and she won by a landslide (1,360 votes to 725). There is no Republican on the ballot on Tuesday but independent Pamala Green is challenging Kean. We again endorse Kean.

MUNDY TOWNSHIP has seven candidates running for four open seats on its board as Trustees. We endorse voting out incumbents Mark Gorton, Debra Ridley and Kimberly Jimenez and retaining only Kyle Ward. The first-term Trustee is the only current board member to go on record to oppose a proposed advanced manufacturing plant on a 1,200-acre Mega Site bordered by Linden Road, Jennings Road, Maple Road and Elms Road.

Republican Leah Davis is the only challenger for one of the four-year terms as Trustee who has been a vocal opponent of the Mega Site idea.

We endorse Davis, along with Republican Zack Sack and Democrat Don Morey to replace Democrats Gorton, Ridley and Jimenez.

RICHFIELD TOWNSHIP has contested races for Clerk and Trustee with four-year terms up for grabs. We endorse incumbent Democrat Teri Walker over Republican Cheryl Campbell-Hoberg for the Clerk job while we go with incumbent Democrat Keith Pyles and fellow Democrat Gerald Masters for Trustee over challengers John Minto, Don Harris, Justin J. Layman and Brandon S. Davis . MInto and Harris are Republicans, Layman and Davis are independents. Masters previously served 16 years as a Trustee but failed to get his name on the ballot by the filing deadline in 2020.

RICHFIELD TOWNSHIP has a full slate of four Democrats and four Republicans vying for the four open Trustee seats on its board. Our choices for these four-year terms are Democrat John Congdon and Republicans Julie Tack and Eric Gunnels. They are incumbents who should be re-elected and our endorsement to be the lone newcomer to the board is Republican Jeremy Kline.

VIENNA TOWNSHIP is electing three new faces as Trustees on its board. The lone incumbents  in the race, Republicans Sheryllynn Russo and Jeffrey Thomas, get our endorsement for Tuesday along with independent Jeffery Harrington and Democrat Richard Johnson.

Despite running with no party affiliation, we view Harrington as the top choice in the field. He has been involved with the  Vienna Township Business Development Authority since 2015 and he is well known in the community as a journalist and in advertising sales for his family business at the Genesee County Herald. 

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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 community newspapers. This fall marks 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.

Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024

Non partisan choices across the Metro Flint regional area are highlighted by two elections for local judge, a race to elect three Trustees to Mott Community College's board and a Flint City Council showdown for the 1st Ward seat.

Voters can't go wrong in two hotly-contested races to elect judges in Genesee County.

All four contestants are respected lawyers with a strong track record in the court system that demonstrates qualifications to act with honor and integrity if elected to serve on the bench.

MARY HOOD gets our endorsement for Genesee County 7th Circuit Judge. She has a slight advantage because of serving 22 years as a  family court referee under four chief judges. Hood also began airing campaign commercials on local TV stations with endorsements from Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson and Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton. 

Hood has been an attorney in our community for more than 33 years. She was a magistrate for the old Genesee County 68th District Court in Flint, spent two years as an assistant city attorney on the City of Flint's legal staff and she also worked as a staff attorney for Legal Services of Eastern Michigan. 

Voters can't go wrong with Hood's opponent either because Nancy Chinonis is a top notch lawyer. She comes from a prominent family, too, as the daughter of former auto dealership owner Dennis Chinonis. She currently works at the Flint law firm of Cline, Cline & Griffin, PC, with a primary focus on employment law, labor law, business law, medical malpractice and general defense. Her extensive background includes being elevated to a partner in the high profile law firm in 2020 before being elected to Co-Managing Partner earlier this year. Chinonis worked prior to that for another prominent local lawyer (Dean Yeotis) specializing in labor and employment law at his Flint firm. She began her law career as a

 Clerk/Court Officer under former long-time Genesee County Circuit Court Judge Judith A. Fullerton from 2007 until 2009.

JEFFREY CLOTHIER is our choice to become the next Genesee County 67th District Court judge. He's replacing Chief Judge Chris Odette who is retiring after more than 30 years on the bench. 

Most impressive about Clothier is how he has attracted strong support from numerous labor unions including the AFL-CIO and UAW Region 1D, endorsements from more than 50 local lawyers as well as from current and former judges.

Two former Circuit Court judges (Duncan Beagle and Archie Hayman) have put their support behind Clothier along with current Circuit Court Judges Chris Christensen, Brian Pickell and Mark Lachana, District Judges Vikki Bayeh Haley and Jennifer Manley, and Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Michael J. Kelly. Like Hood, Clothier also lists support from Prosecutor Leyton and Sheriff Swanson.

Opponent Amanda Odette, not related to Judge Odette, is the wife of former Burton Police Chief Michael Odette. She has been an attorney for 17 years and currently works as City Attorney in Burton, Montrose and Mt. Morris. She is also the Montrose Township Attorney and the Genesee Township Attorney as well as assisting with legal work in Fenton Township.

FLINT's MOTT COMMUNITY COLLEGE faces its most high profile election ever. It comes in the aftermath of a horrible travesty when the current board voted to hire an interim President who lacked the credentials to apply, in our opinion.  Shaunda Richardson-Snell was selected although she didn't have the doctorate degrees of other applicants and didn't have their experience in college leadership roles. In fact, she has never even been in the classroom as a teacher.

Two who voted to hire her (Chair Andy Everman of Flushing and Treasurer Jeffrey Swanson of Flint) are up for re-election in a 14-candidate field for three seats. The terms are for six years, so Tuesday's decisions will impact the college for a long time in a critical situation with Mott's staff packing a meeting to protest the interim President hiring as a disgrace when considering Mott's long tradition as one of the top community college institutions in Michigan.

We strongly urge voters not to re-elect Swanson to a second term and to reject Everman again. They dumped him in 2011 after a turbulent initial term after he was first elected to the board in 2005. He regained a seat on the board in 2017, and being elevated to the Chair position has led to some of the most controversial and heated meetings in Mott's history. Some of the behavior at board meetings has been outright  despicable over the past year, and three changes on Tuesday can hopefully end the nasty political battles that don't belong on a college board.

Michael Freeman chose not to seek re-election.

We endorse Anne Figueroa of Mt  Morris, Kenyetta Dotson of Flint Township and Perci Whitmore of Flint to replace Freeman, Everman and Swanson on the Mott Community College Board of Trustees Tuesday in an important election for the future direction of the college.

IN MILLAGES ON TUESDAY'S BALLOT, we endorse "Yes" votes everywhere. Voters in the City of Grand Blanc will be asked to approve a 0.5 mill proposal to support the parks system and Gaines Township is asking for 1 mill to support its fire department while four local school districts have ballot proposals for residents to decide on Tuesday. All four school districts face challenges to get their proposals passed in difficult financial times for voters but we judge their "asks" as warranted to support our children in getting the best possible educations.

CARMAN-AINSWORTH OFFICIALS are asking voters in their district to let them borrow up to a little over $62 million and issue unlimited tax general obligation bonds. The bonds will finance  all or part of the costs of "erecting, remodeling and equipping or re-equipping school buildings, including structures, athletic fields, playgrounds, or other facilities, or parts of or additions to those facilities; furnishing or refurnishing remodeled school buildings; preparing, developing, or improving sites, or parts of or additions to sites, for school buildings, including structures, athletic fields, playgrounds, or other facilities; purchasing school buses; and acquiring, installing, or equipping or reequipping school buildings for technology."

LAKE FENTON SCHOOLS is asking voters in their district to let them borrow up to a little over $65 million and to also issue unlimited tax general obligation bonds. The bonds will finance the costs of "erecting, remodeling and equipping and re-equipping school buildings and facilities, and additions to school buildings; furnishing and refurnishing school buildings and facilities; acquiring, installing, equipping and re-equipping school buildings for instructional technology; and preparing, developing, improving and equipping athletic fields, play fields, playgrounds, structures, facilities and sites."

SWARTZ CREEK SCHOOL OFFICIALS are asking to borrow nearly $39 million and issue general obligation unlimited bonds. The funding is to finance "remodeling, furnishing and refurnishing, and equipping and re-equipping school buildings; erecting, furnishing and equipping school support buildings; acquiring and installing instructional technology and instructional technology equipment for school buildings; purchasing new school buses; and acquiring, equipping, developing and improving playgrounds, athletic fields and facilities, sidewalks, driveways, parking areas and sites."

OFFICIALS AT WESTWOOD HEIGHTS want voters to approve a millage renewal of 17.7268 mills to operate the district.

CITY OF FLINT VOTERS have elections on the ballot in the 1st Ward and the 3rd Ward although votes will not be counted in the latter, according to Genesee County Clerk / Register of Deeds  Domonique Clemons.

Four candidates filed to challenge for Quincy Murphy's 3rd Ward seat in a recall but Clemons says state officials say the votes can't be tabulated because Murphy passed away before the election to recall him could be held.

A replacement needed to be named by the Flint City Council before 30 days, according to the City Charter but that did not happen. Voters can send a message who they want in the seat if their votes can be revealed to the public, and we believe Clemons has a duty to do that for residents.

Beverly Biggs Leavy ran the recall with Rich Jones, and both are on the ballot with A.C. Dumas and Kerry Nelson. We endorse Beverly Biggs Leavy.

In the 1st Ward election to name a permanent replacement to fill out the rest of the term of Eric Mays who passed away in February, we go with challenger Carol McIntosh. She's a former Flint Board of Education President.

Her opponent is Leon El-Alamin who was appointed to the 3rd Ward position on an interim basis. He has sided with Flint Mayor Shledon Neeley's agenda which was also supported by Murphy. Residents also filed a recall against Neeley supporter Eva Worthing in the 9th Ward and she didn't fight it, choosing instead to leave her seat. It was won by Jonathan Jarrett who has sided with Dennis Pfeiffer, Tonya Burns and Jerri Winfrey-Carter in opposing El-Alamin, Judy Priestly, Council President Dr. Ladel Lewis and Vice President Candace Mushatt.

That makes Tuesday's choices on the ballot important to determine if the Neeley supporters or opponents get control of the council votes.

DAVISON'S RACE FOR MAYOR should see voters elect Stacey M. Kalisz. She's currently on the Davison City Council and has demonstrated a track record of strong community involvement.

Businessman Mike Barrette and Davison City Councilman Chris Hinkley are challenging Kalisz to replace Tim Bishop as mayor. He's a local business owner who did not file for re-election.

CITY OF FLUSHING RESIDENTS will get a new Mayor on Tuesday after Joseph Karlichek made an unsuccessful bid in the primary for County Commissioner. Flushing City Councilman Edward Sullivan is unopposed to become Mayor. Danielle Smith and Nicholas Reitano are also unopposed for re-election to the city council.

Karlichek wants to be elected to the Flushing City Council as a write-in. We endorse Karlichek and we also endorse Kraig Kuehnemund for the other open seat.

LINDEN MAYOR Danielle N. Cusson gets our endorsement for re-election over challenger Liz Armstrong. She's  Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for Lapeer County specializing in crimes against children, and we believe her small community is lucky to have leadership like Cusson's in its mayoral post.

We are sorry to see Anderson leave the Linden City Council where she has been a bright spot for her city. Heather MacDermaid also chose not to seek re-election to the council, and she, too, will be missed for her community service.

Councilman Ray M. Culbert is the only incumbent running for re-election in a six-candidate race for three vacant four-year terms on the council. We endorse Culbert along with Greg Jones and Lawrence Allen.

Culbert, 81, is a 49-year resident of Linden who worked in management at General Motors for 46 years. He has a Masters degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Michigan.

Jones, 44, is the owner of a fish store in Linden known as  Sunset Corals. He's involved already on Linden's  Downtown Development Authority and attends Grow Linden meetings.

Allen, 61, is a registered nurse who vows to work hard as a councilman to bring jobs to Linden's community.

CITY OF MONTROSE residents should re-elect Colleen Brown as Mayor over challenger Thomas Banks. Robert Arnold, Andrea Martin and Aaron Burch deserve to be re-elected to the Montrose City Council. Arnold, Martin and Burch are among six candidates vying for three open seats with four-year terms.

THE VILLAGE OF GAINES has a village council member challenging Village President Connie Green. We endorse Green for re-election over Village Councilwoman  Valerie DeLaute.

UNOPPOSED CANDIDATES are on the ballot in lots of other non partisan races across the Metro Flint regional area.

 Barbara BakerOmerod is unopposed in her re-election bid for Village of Lennon President.

Three candidates are unopposed on Tuesday for the Otter Lake Village Council, Otisville Village Council, Goodrich Village Council and the Gaines Village Council. Two candidates are unopposed for the Mt. Morris City Council. Four are running unopposed for the Lennon Village Council.

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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 community newspapers. This fall marks 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.

Friday, Nov. 1, 2024

We endorse only one change Tuesday (Nov. 5, 2024) in local township leadership.

We gave an early endorsement for Jennifer Arrand Stainton to replace Tonya Ketzler as Mundy Township Supervisor.

We also endorsed against incumbent Paul Fortino in the Gaines Township Republican primary and against Jolena Sanders-Sims in the Mt. Morris Township Democrat primary, and both lost.

Two former Township Supervisors (Robert Cole in Argentine Township and Larry Green in Mt. Morris Township) were among our other choices in the primary.

Incumbents in Atlas Township, Flushing Township and Montrose Township resigned late in their terms while Township Supervisors in Clayton Township and Argentine Township chose not to seek re-election.

The most important race locally on Tuesday is in Mundy Township where a proposed advanced manufacturing plant appears headed for the so-called Mega Site on more than 1,200 acres bordered by Linden Road, Elms Road, Maple Road and Jennings Road. 

Unlike in the primary where residents followed our advice in two key races where we insisted the incumbents had to go, Ketzler will likely survive in her re-election bid. Stainton is running as a Republican in a heavy, hard core Democrat township, and her strong support for Donald Trump has likely turned off too many voters despite her voicing strong opposition to the proposed Mega Site.

Stainton was unable, too, to put together a slate to show she can have a chance to stop a foreign company from building something on the Mega Site. Flint & Genesee Group CEO TIm Herman's Flint & Genesee Economic Alliance got more than $269 million in state funding, and has utilized a strong PR campaign to proclaim the project as good for creating jobs. Even Governor Gretchen Whitmer weighed in on a commercial that flooded the local TV air waves to promote Michigan's forefront place in supporting President Joe Biden's push to replace gas engines with electric vehicles. It was funded by a California PAC promoting climate change.

Stainton and a group of more than 2,100 opponents to the Mega Site have done a good job without adequate financing to fight a foreign company possibly going in on the site  support the EV push and possibly do terrible damage to the environment around the site because of toxin runoffs that come from battery plants or semi-conductor chip making plants. 

 What bothers us most about Ketzler is that she refused to do a radio interview with us on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio or to participate in a debate. She won't answer questions about an alleged non disclosure she signed with the Flint & Genesee Group. A pitch to potential plant owners on its own web site says rezoning will be "fast tracked" by township leaders. It sure wasn't fast tracked in public, and it bothers us how so many closed door deals are utilized to steal our tax dollars in the USA's disgusting politics.

We gave Republican Jennifer Arrand Stainton our early endorsement in this race with hopes that it could help her chances in a heavy Democrat area. We believe her strong support, however, for Donald Trump dooms her with voters in Mundy Township. But we urge them to consider electing her because Ketzler has not opposed letting a plant be built with our tax dollars for an owner possibly from a foreign country.

Here's a rundown of our choices in all the local Township Supervisor elections across the Metro Flint regional area on Tuesday:

ARBELA TOWNSHIP: Edward Hunt of Millington is unopposed as a  Republican and we believe he will continue to help keep his community as one of the safest and most quiet places to live along the M-15 Corridor.

ARGENTINE TOWNSHIP: Jason Kosofsky lost the August primary by 4 votes to Robert Cole, asked for a recount and got the same results, then decided to run as a write-in candidate in the general election to challenge again. We endorse Republican Cole who is seeking to return to the top job in his township after three previous stints as Supervisor spanning 23 years. He served from 1988-1995, 1996-2000 and 2004-2016. Cole stepped up to fill a void when Brian Saad chose not to seek re-election.

ATLAS TOWNSHIP:  We endorsed Jim Busch in the August Republican primary and he won by a more than two-to-one landslide over challenger Katherine M. Vick (802-358). He's unopposed on Tuesday in the general election to continue in the position he was appointed to when long-time Supervisor Shirley Kautman-Jones stepped down earlier this year.

CLAYTON TOWNSHIP: We endorsed Ted Henry in the August Republican primary and he won by a more than two-to-one landslide over challenger  Dwight Jennings (521-215). Henry, who previously served as a Democrat on the Genesee County Board of Commissioners, is unopposed for the top spot in his township on Tuesday despite a decision to switch parties.

DAVISON TOWNSHIP: We endorsed Jim Slezak in the August Republican primary and he won by a more than two-to-one landslide over challenger  Randal Stewart (1,294-552) who is now mounting a write-in campaign in the general election. Slezak is a Yale University graduate and former State Representative who leads one of the best-run townships in the entire Metro Flint regional area. He distributed disturbing allegations, however, against Stewart in campaign literature during the primary when Davison Township Police Chief Jay Rendon turned over the case to Genesee County Prosecutor  David Leyton who has not yet ruled on it. If a warrant isn't issued, we will demand that Slezak step down after election day.

FENTON TOWNSHIP:  Republican Vince Lorraine was unopposed in the August primary and is unopposed in Tuesday's general election for re-election as the leader in Fenton Township which is one of the best-run and safest places to live in all of Genesee County. Lorraine is a businessman who has won the respect and confidence of voters to continue to lead his township. He was also unopposed in the November 2020 general election.

FLINT TOWNSHIP: Democrat Karyn Miller was unopposed in the August primary and is unopposed in Tuesday's general election for the second re-election bid in a row. Another four-year term gives her 20 years of leadership over her community. We've endorsed every election bid by Miller and only hope that a new board will bring more cooperation than we've seen in the last few years. The turmoil included former Clerk Kathy Funk resigning and eventually being convicted of felony charges for ballot tampering in her 2020 re-election bid and Treasurer Lisa Anderson stepping down after we revealed that she no longer lived in Flint Township but had bought a home and moved to Atlanta while still collecting a $63,000 annual paycheck here.

FLUSHING TOWNSHIP: Frederick Thorsby was unopposed in his re-election bid in the August Republican primary and he's also unopposed on Tuesday in the general election. That alone speaks volumes for the confidence voters have in him to continue leading Flushing Township. He was also unopposed in 202 after beating Democrat Maryion Lee in 2016 to win his first term.

FOREST TOWNSHIP: Mary Ann Price was unopposed in her re-election bid in the August Democrat primary and she's also unopposed on Tuesday in the general election. That alone speaks volumes for the confidence voters have in her to continue leading Forest Township. She was also unopposed in 2016 and 2020.

GAINES TOWNSHIP: We endorsed Daniel Jenkins in the August Republican primary against Leslie Casto and incumbent Supervisor Paul Fortino, and Jenkins is unopposed in Tuesday's general election to take over the top spot in Gaines Township.

GENESEE TOWNSHIP: We stayed neutral in the the Democrat primary between incumbent Supervisor Dan Eashoo and former Supervisor Steve Fohr because Genesee Township residents couldn't go wrong. Both men did fantastic jobs leading their community, and we trust Eashoo will continue to shine after defeating Fohr. He's unopposed on Tuesday because no Republicans filed to run.

GRAND BLANC TOWNSHIP: We  endorse Republican incumbent Scott Bennett over Democrat Monica Shapiro for Grand Blanc Township Supervisor. Bennett has done an admirable job during his first two terms and we believe he deserves to be re-election again.

MONTOSE TOWNSHIP:  Democrat Coetta Adams is unopposed to take over her first full term as Montrose Township Supervisor. She was appointed in June after Mark  Emmendorfer retired to end a 26-year career in the top post. 

MT. MORRIS TOWNSHIP:  Democrat Larry Green should be returned to office in the top job over independent Scott DeSilva who struck a deal in late September with the Genesee County Prosecutor's office to decline to take office if he's the top vote getter on Tuesday in the general election. DeSilva reached the deal after an investigation by the Michigan State Police determined that he did not live in Mt. Morris Township. Green won a rematch over Jolena Sanders-Sims in the August primary after she unseated him from office in the 2016 primary. We endorsed Green in the primary and hope that he ends all the bickering and disputes that have taken place over the last four years since he left. 

MUNDY TOWNSHIP: Democrat Tonya Ketzler won our support in her first bid for Mundy Township Supervisor in 2020 and we endorsed every campaign for her as Clerk before then. The former owner of Ketzler Florist has served residents with distinction until the current controversy surfaced over a proposed advanced manufacturing plant. We believe Jennifer Arrand Stainton offers the best chance to prevent the plant from being built as presented above. We urge Democrats to vote for Stainton despite her Republican stances, or we fear the Flint & Genesee Group will continue steamrolling over their wishes.

RICHFIELD TOWNSHIP:  Joseph Madore was unopposed in his re-election bid in the August Republican primary and he's also unopposed on Tuesday in the general election. That alone speaks volumes for the confidence voters have in Madore to continue leading Richfield Township.

THETFORD TOWNSHIP:  Republican Rachel Stanke got our endorsement in a four-candidate field in the August primary that included former Supervisor Gary Stevens, and we urge residents to elect her in the general election on Tuesday over Democrat Tammy Batterbee and independent Richard Russell.

VIENNA TOWNSHIP:  Democrat Joseph Rizk is unopposed for the fourth straight election which shows Vienna Township voters are confident in his abilities to lead their community.

READ OLD EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK COLUMNS

Read This Week's Featured Column

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

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 community newspapers. This fall marks 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, Oct. 31, 2024

We endorse veteran leadership being returned to the Genesee County Board of Commissioners.

Two candidates — Delrico Lloyd in the 1st District and Charles Winfrey in the 2nd District — do not have opposition in Tuesday's (Nov. 5, 2024) general election and we believe that shows voters are satisfied with their county board.

That's also why we endorse incumbents being returned to office in seven other races. 

This group of county board leaders rank as one of the best we've seen in our more than 35 years of making endorsement decisions.

The only incumbent we went against in the August 2024 primary was Commissioner Michelle Davis in the 9th District. She won as a Democrat in 2022, then switched to run as a Republican in 2024. We endorsed Brian Flewelling over her in the primary for Republicans while going with Mo Aboneaaj on the Democrat side.

Aboneaaj lost to Wendy Smith Wolcott who does not deserve your vote over Flewelling in Tuesday's general election.

She is facing a recall as a first-term Trustee on the board for Flint's Mott Community College after joining a controversial decision to hire an interim President who lacked the credentials of other finalists for the job. They had doctorate degrees and previous experience in college administration positions. Wolcott and three others chose Shaunda Richardson-Snell who has never been a teacher — let alone served in an administration leadership role at a college or university.

Her kind of thinking does not belong on the Genesee County Board of Commissioners to determine how millions of tax dollars are spent. We go instead for Flewelling who has a strong record of decades in public service. He's the current Davison Fire Chief.

He also has a strong endorsement from Davison's David Martin who previously served as the 9th District Commissioner before going to Lansing where he has been elected twice to a position as his community's state representative.

FLEWELLING WILL GIVE will give the county board a second Republican voice in addition to Shaun Shumaker who deserves to be re-elected in District 6.

District 9 on the county board represents part of Davison Township, part of Burton and all of Richfield Township, Genesee Township, Forest Township, the Village of Otisville and the City of Davison.

COMMISSIONER SHUMMAKER has been the most impressive board member at doing his homework and always being on the top of key issues. Giving him another Republican on the board will elevate many of his ideas for closer consideration by hopefully offering a second to his motions.

District 6 is in the southern most part of Genesee  County in Fenton Township, the City of Fenton, Argentine Township, Gaines Township and the City of Linden.

OTHER REPUBLICAN challengers for seats across the county failed to mount any strong campaigns. They were mostly token candidates with very minimum financing to fuel their bids and no visible door-to-door push to reach voters.

With county board seats now for four-year terms instead of two-year terms, it's no time to gamble on inexperience with a major shake up.

COMMISSIONER LLOYD will return for a four-year term after being appointed to fill rest of 1st District  representative Bryant "B.B." Nolden's term after he passed away. The 1st District area covers north Flint in the county's biggest city where his fellow Democrats carry a huge majority.

Lloyd previously served as a Flint City Councilman and his job at the United Auto Workers includes serving as the top chief assistant to UAW President Shawn Fain. That offers plenty of power for the Flint native. We would like to see his colleagues elevate him to county board chairman.

COMMISSIONER WINFREY got our endorsement in his primary race last August and he brings a wealth of active community involvement to the table to understand how many decisions impact his constituents.

The 2nd District represents parts of the City of Flint where he is unopposed as a Democrat on the ballot Tuesday.

DEMOCRAT ELLEN ELLENBURG is the longest-serving Commissioner. Her public service began as a city council member in Burton before she was elected to the county board in 2016 to represent District 3 which covers most of Burton and part of Davison Township. Her service on Burton's council began in 2009. Commissioner Ellenburg was the first woman to serve as Vice Chair since Deb Cherry and she followed three terms in that role by becoming the first woman chair of the county board in 2023. She didn't seek to return to the leadership role in 2024. 

That kind of respect from her peers means she should be re-elected to the board although Gary Goetzinger is an intelligent challenger with a strong grasp of important issues. He's a retired administrator with the Grand Blanc school district.

DEMOCRAT DR. BEVERLY BROWN is facing her first election in District 4 which represents residents in parts of Flint Township and the City of Flint as well as Mundy Township and part of Grand Blanc Township. She was appointed to her seat when Domonique Clemons stepped down for the seat to become the County Clerk / Register of Deeds after his fellow Democrat John Gleason was forced to resign due to facing multiple felony criminal charges.  

Dr. Brown is being challenged by Steve Minnock who won big in the Republican primary over  Michele Sheeran but he hasn't been very visible in the community.

DEMOCRAT JAMES AVERY is also seeking his first full term after being appointed to replace fellow Democrat Mark Young when he stepped down from representing residents in the City  of Grand Blanc, Village of Goodrich, Atlas Township and part of Grand Blanc Townhip last year because of health reasons. Avery served as President of the Grand Blanc Board of Education and as a member of the board for the Genesee Intermediate School District (GISD) before taking a county board seat. We like his community involvement with young people which also includes serving in a leadership role with the Youth Quest program with the Flint & Genesee Group.

Challenger John  Wellington had no opponent in the Republican primary and has done little to challenge Avery for his position. Avery also obviously has the respect of her peers on the board who elected him as Chairman this year. 

DEMOCRAT MARTIN COUSINEAU is a former county board chair who lost his seat in 2020 to Flushing Republican Meredith Davis but regained it by beating her in 2022.

 Lutullus Penton is the Republican challenger this time but he hasn't come close to mounting the kind of strong campaigns Davis ran against Cousineau for the District 7 seat that spans part of Flushing as well as the City of Clio, Vienna Township, Thetford Township, Montrose Township, the City of Mt. Montrose, Mt. Morris Township and the City of Mt. Morris.

DEMOCRAT DALE WEIGHILL is a former city councilman in Flint who won his first term on the county board with a strong campaign in 2022. We don't always agree with his positions but respect his intelligence and commitment to his beliefs in a mission to make our community a better place to live. He represents residents in District 8 which spans Clayton Township, Flushing Township, the City of Flushing, the City of Swartz Creek and part of Flint Township.

Weighhill fought off a strong challenge from Flushing Mayor Joe Karlichek in the August Democrat primary with one of best organized and well funded county commissioner campaigns we've ever seen. He should have little problem easily beating Dennis Cramer of Swartz Creek in Tuesday's general election because Cramer didn't come close to running the kind of campaign that wasn't enough by Mayor Karlichek.

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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 community newspapers. This fall marks 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, Oct. 30, 2024

We've never endorsed a write-in candidate for a state legislature race, dating back more than 35 years to our roots with print editions published under the banners of FAME Newspapers and Tri-County Publishing.

But this year is an exception.

We endorse write-in Michael Clack of Flint for the 70th District seat held by Democrat Cynthia Neeley. She won in a special election in March of 2020, then won a full term in November 2020 before being re-elected in 2022 and winning the August 2024 Democrat primary against Clack.

Amazingly, Neeley did it without doing interviews or participating in debates, and many say her lack of credentials to be in Lansing is the impetus behind an effort to force candidates to do debates by a coalition that counts many powerful political people across our state.

Clack lost to Neeley when the incumbent used a war chest of money funding her campaign.

'

The last campaign finance report showed she raised more than $70,000 compared to Clack filing a waiver that he didn't plan to spend more than $1,000.

Her husband, Sheldon Neeley, formerly held the 70th District State Rep. seat before becoming Mayor in the City of Flint. He was chairman of the state's black caucus in the state legislature while serving in Lansing from 2015 until 2019. He previously served on the Flint City Council before defeating former Commissioner Omar Sims of Flint to take the State Rep. job. 

Republican  Rob Waskoviak also did not plan to spend more than $1,000 on his campaign to win the 70th District seat.

Public service is in Clack's blood. His parents (Floyd and Brenda Clack) both served in the state legislature and his mom also served on the Genesee County Board of Commissioners. 

DEMOCRAT JASPER MARTUS of Flushing is our overwhelming choice in the 69th District over Flushing's Patrick Duvendeck.

Duvendeck has been a frequent candidate for office but has never been serious about it with all of his campaign attempts seeing no more than $1,000 being raised to promote himself.

State Rep. Martus has voted along strong party lines in Lansing where Democrats control both the State House of Representatives and the State Senate.

He voted to give Michigan residents the largest tax cut in state history.

That act alone gets Martus our endorsement to go back to Lansing to represent residents in Flushing Township, the City of Flushing, Flint Township, Clayton Township, Mt. Morris Township, the City of Montrose, City of Mt. Morris, City of Clio and City of Swartz Creek, as well as the southern portions of Montrose Township and Vienna Township.

IN THE 72ND DISTRICT, Republican Mike Mueller gets our nod for a third term. We've endorsed Mueller every election, as we did for his father Charles Mueller during two decades of service as a State Rep. in Lansing.

Both represent residents in Fenton Township, the City of Fenton, City of Linden and Argentine Township.

Mueller, a former deputy for the Livingston County Sheriff's Department, has been a strong voice in Lansing for Republican residents in his area as a member of the minority party for the past two years after working in the majority during his first two-year term.

We expect big things from Mueller in the future, including a possible bid for the State Senate or for a seat in the United States Congress.

Democrat John Dolza did not respond to any of our e-mails or phone calls about his campaign.

OUR M-15 CONNECTION edition endorsed all four incumbents in their respective races in bids to return to the State House of Representatives. The four are Republicans David Martin of Davison,  

Clarkston's Mike Harris, Millington's Phil Green and Vassar's Matthew Bierlein.

Martin's opponent in the 68th District is Democrat  Matt Schlinker of Goodrich who didn't join the race until original candidate TIm Sneller passed away in July.

Martin's 68th District stretches beyond the M-15 Corridor communities of  Davison Township and the City of Davison. His area also covers the City of Burton, the City of Grand Blanc, Grand Blanc Township, Village of Goodrich, Atlas Township, Genesee Township and Groveland Township.

Harris is opposed in the 52nd District by Caroline Dargay of Clarkston;  Anissa Buffin of Lapeer is challenging Green in the 67th District; and Bierlein is being challenged by Mark Putnam of Caro in the 97th District.

OUR CHOICE IN THE 71ST DISTRICT is to return  Brian BeGole to office. The Republican spent 32 years in law enforcement before going to Lansing.

BeGole served for six years as the Sheriff in Shiawassee County to continue a family tradition of public service. His brother was a U.S. Customs Agent and his uncle, Lee, was in law enforcment for 40 years, including becoming the first police chief in the City of Novi. BeGole's father, George, was an attorney for 34 years and served as a judge for 16 years in Shiawassee County’s 66th District Court.

Democrat  Mark D. Zacharda of Owosso hasn't impressed us with his campaign. 

BeGole and wife Tammy have roots in Shiawassee County, raising their children on family land in rural Antrim Township. His mother, Carol, still lives on the land, just down the road in a brick farmhouse that’s nearly 150 years old.

When home, he enjoys working on his barn he and fellow community members worked to build with wood and other materials salvaged from farms across Shiawassee County. The work preserves the area’s history and protects its heritage. BeGole also restores vintage snowmobiles and is an avid snowmobiler and boater. He also collects World War II artifacts and actively studies its history after his father and two of his uncles served. One uncle, William, flew 41 combat missions and was killed after his B-24 bomber crashed in Venosa, Italy.

The 71st District spans Argentine Township, Gaines Township and part of Mundy Township as well as Shiawassee County's Corunna, Durand and Owosso.

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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 community newspapers. This fall marks 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.

Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024

Residents need to endure only one more week of their radio and TV air waves being filled with campaign rhetoric from various candidates who want your vote on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024.

Early voting in person has already begun with local Clerks setting up areas across our area and absentees went out earlier this month.

We will present our endorsements for seats in the State House of Representatives on Wednesday in our Campaign 2024 Special Section.

Thursday's focus will be on races for the Genesee County Board of Commissioners.

We will present our choices in Township Supervisor races on Friday.

Saturday's endorsements will be presented in local non partisan races.

We will offer our recommendations on some of other key races across the Metro Flint regional area on Sunday.

We will review all our endorsements in races where we weighed in with an Election Eve summary along with our annual Monday Endorsement Show on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio at 8 am with The Morning Gazette Radio Show.

READ OLD EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK COLUMNS

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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 community newspapers. This fall marks 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.

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!"