Grass roots support analysis of financial disclosures of Democratic Ypsi City Council candidates

UPDATE: I spoke with the county clerk's office, who explained that there were so many filings at the last minute, there were significant delays in getting them online. Coupled with a scanner that broke on July 25 that required a service call, many reports appeared online late even though they were filed on time. So, the fact that some of these showed up later than others should not be construed against any candidate. The clerk confirmed that all the City of Ypsilanti filings were on time, and the clerk's office confirms that all that were received are now available online. WARD 3 Pete Murdock leads the pack in grass roots support of his candidacy, with the most locals contributing and the most dollars raised Pete Murdock, running against Rod Johnson in Ward 3 (see below), has generated a ton of local support. Coming in just short of $5,000, the vast majority of his approximately 80 contributions are from Ypsilanti residents, with nary a handful from out of town (less than 5% of his financial support). Murdock's support for unions garnered him the nod from the UAW, who contributed $500. If you look carefully, you'll find my name on that disclosure, too. Grass Roots Support Grade: A Rod Johnson, good local support, but not as good as Pete's Rod Johnson has fewer than half the number of contributors as Murdock. The bulk of Johnson's supporters are locals, but his non-Ypsi financial support made up roughly 20% of his contributions, and he did not get financial support from a union organization. Notably, Johnson's list of donors is also a who's who of supporters for the failed income tax bid last year, though Johnson now claims he does not support the tax. Paul Schreiber, Karen Nickels (Bill's wife), Brian Filipiak, Cheryl Farmer, Mary Ann MacDonald, Barry LaRue, John Calder, Gary Clark, Jane Schmiedeke, Henry Prebys, Beth Bashert, Glen Sard, Richard Leyshock, and Joe Mattimore all appear as donors to Mr. Johnson's campaign, and all are listed on the literature handed out by the pro-income tax campaign. Grass Roots Support Grade: B+ WARD 2 Michael Bodary: Most support is local Michael Bodary, running in Ward 2 against John Gawlas, has raised about $2,000, virtually all of it from residents of Ypsilanti. His biggest single contribution came from the UAW, as he is well known as a union supporter. Grass Roots Support Grade: A- UPDATE: John Gawlas: Most support is local John Gawlas (running against Bodary above) received about 15% more in total financial support from about twice as many donors as Bodary. Gawlas' support is mostly local, with less than 10% of the total dollars raised from outside of Ypsi. Notably, he did not have any organized labor donations, and his donor base is similar to Johnson's (Ward 3) when it comes to income tax supporters. Grass Roots Support Grade: A WARD 1 UPDATE: Better local support than Turf, but much of it from out of town. Richardson, running against Megan Turf and Tyrone Bridges (see below), had over 30 donations, totaling more than $2,300, two-thirds of them from Ypsi residents. However, almost half of the money donated was from outside of Ypsi, mostly from Ann Arbor, giving her the highest percentage of money generated out of town of any candidate running in any ward. Her local support remained fairly strong with about three times as many Ypsi donors as Turf. Grass Roots Support Grade: C+ Megan Turf: Little grass roots support Coming in last of the five candidates who filed disclosures is Megan Turf, who is running in Ward 1 against Lois Richardson and Tyrone Bridges (Bridges didn't file a disclosure - see below). When it comes to financial support, over three-quarters of the money raised by Ms. Turf has come from her and others with the last name Turf. With a high percentage of non-Ypsi contributors, over 25% of her contributions came from out of town. The locals who did contribute are another who's who of the pro-income tax movement, including Mayor Schreiber and former Mayor Farmer, candidate for Ward 3 Rod Johnson, and 3rd warder, Glen Sard. Grass Roots Support Grade: D Tyrone Bridges (Ward 1) did not file disclosures Under Michigan's campaign finance laws, candidates who do not expect to raise or spend more than $1,000 are not required to file campaign disclosures. They are entitled to a waiver of the reporting requirements. Consequently, Mr. Bridges' grass roots support hasn't been publicly disclosed and is unknown, but we can reasonably conclude that he will receive less than a grand total of $1,000 and spend less than $1,000 during this election cycle.

McCain concludes telling the truth is a losing strategy

I saw my first McCain ad on TV last evening. It starts by advocating for drilling for oil here "at home" and then blames Obama for increasing gas prices. Trouble is, just about every single economist in America thinks that drilling in the U.S. won't have an iota of an impact on gas prices for a decade or more, and then, the impact will be limited to the low single digit percentages. What McCain (or his campaign or surrogates) seem to have missed is that some of the most basic, underlying principles of economics instruct us that when supply increases, prices decrease. When prices decrease, demand responds by increasing. When demand goes up, prices go up. And so on. Which means, in a nutshell, that McCain either has no clue what he is talking about, or he's exploiting the issue disingenuously for a temporary bump in the polls. Neither option bodes well for his campaign, or for a McCain presidency. This is all to fail to mention the hypocrisy of his other statements, i.e. that oil use threatens U.S. security and the environment, and that by increasing demand and lowering prices, that the threats posed by oil use will only INCREASE. I don't know, maybe he hopes nobody is noticing these gaffes. Like, for example, his most recent foreign policy "experience" gaffe, in which McCain didn't even seem to realize that Czechoslavakia hasn't been a country, certainly not with that name, since the 90s. Finally, McCain keeps running around the country, apparently jealous of Obama's trip abroad, calling him naive. This is the silliest of them all. No doubt Illinois voters put Obama in the statehouse because he was naive, then elected him to the U.S. Senate due that same naivete. No doubt he is raising multiples of what McCain is raising simply because he is naive. No doubt he locked up the Democratic nomination based primarily on his naivete. If that's what being naive is all about, then sign me up. Oh, and I almost forgot, he must share that naivete with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who agrees with Obama's timetable for the withdrawal of American troops. I can't wait for the debates, when we can see Mr. "Really-Really Old Liar Dude" up against Mr. "Young, Energetic, Smart & Naive Man." I think the American people want to know what the actual differences are between the candidates, not what the made up ones are or what the focus-grouped ones are. The more McCain lies, the more he looks like a desperate old man. I'll leave you with McCain's latest "association by picture" campaign of Obama and Fidel Castro. Apparently, Castro likes Obama better than McCain, which places him in a very large group that includes most Americans and the vast majority of the rest of the world. Not wanting to be left out, here are some picture associations of my own: Looks like the "Straight Talk Express" has more than derailed. The wheels have come off, and instead of making steam, all it can do now is blow hot air.

Insurance Company Rules

U.S. Court of Appeals: Nipples on TV are okay, just keep it under one second

Janet Jackson's nipple got it's day in court, and the nipple won. The FCC lost. Just yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals invalidated fines imposed by the FCC against CBS for the 1/2-second-long flashing of Janet Jackson's breast during a 2004 SuperBowl performance. Calling the FCC fines "arbitrary and capricious," the Court of Appeals stated that indecency must be so "pervasive as to amount to ’shock treatment’" to properly result in a fine. Noting that the flash of Janet Jackson's breast was just over one-half of a second, the Court of Appeals sent a clear message that it will be looking to see many more nipples on TV in the coming months. MSNBC has some fabulous commentary on the case. To vote in a poll about whether you'd like to see the FCC encourage more nipples on TV, click here. Now, in my view, the FCC played this all wrong. Had they fined CBS for showing that utterly atrocious nipple ornament (link not safe for work, unless you work for a TV station, court or the FCC), then I think they could have gotten the fines to stick. I think anyone caught wearing one of those ought to give up at least $550,000, if for no other reason, for exceedingly poor taste in body ornamentation. ;) Special thanks to Kate for sending the link my way.

Jim Vick to be considered for Ypsi High School administration position this Monday evening

A kind reader notified me that our own Board of Education will apparently be voting this Monday evening on whether to hire former EMU Vice President of Student Affairs, Jim Vick, as a vice principal and athletic director at Ypsilanti High School. Mr. Vick, as you may recall from news reports, is either responsible for a major Clery Act violation and a cover-up, for which EMU was fined $350,000, or is an unjustly accused scapegoat sacrificed to protect others in more politically powerful positions. Which conclusion is correct, of course, depends heavily on whose account you believe as to what occurred back in late 2006 following the unexpected discovery of a deceased student in her dorm room. The U.S. Dep't of Education's report dated June 29, 2007 provides some context: On December 15, 2006, a female student was found dead in her dormitory room on EMU’s campus in Ypsilanti, MI. Although the investigating police did not immediately identify the cause of death, initial reports filed by the County Corner's Office, and EMU's police department and other local law enforcement officials clearly indicate that the death was immediately determined to be suspicious in nature. On December 16, 2006, EMU issued a written statement to the campus community and the public regarding the death of the student and stated, "at this point, there is no reason to suspect foul play." EMU also assured the community that its campus was a safe environment, and asserted, "our campus officials will remain vigilant in ensuring safety for all members of our campus community." On February 23, 2007, a suspect was arrested and charged with raping and murdering the female student. Press reports and our interviews indicate that news of the arrest was a revelation to the campus community, as there had been no prior indication from EMU that a murder may have been committed on campus. In the ten weeks that elapsed between the time the student's body was discovered and the suspect was arrested, EMU did not provide any relevant information to the campus community that would alert it of a potential safety threat. EMU remained silent despite the fact that its university police department had identified a suspect and had been engaged in a homicide investigation with other local law enforcement agencies. Once the allegations of a cover-up came to light, EMU hired Butzel Long, a well-respected and experienced law firm to investigate the matter, and as a consequence of their investigation, Mr. Vick was, according to news reports, forced out and into retirement apparently due to his role in the above-described events. You can download that report here, but be forewarned that it is some 600 pages and about 80 megabytes. There is also an Executive Summary (thankfully much shorter). The U.S. Dep't of Education imposed the largest fine ever for a Clery Act violation (some $350,000). The fine was imposed for a number of reasons, not the least of which was EMU's failure to warn students of the commission of a crime and the potential threat to student safety in conformance with the requirements of the Clery Act. So, in my view, what we have here is quite the conundrum. Either Mr. Vick is innocent of the accusations made against him, and EMU and Buztel Long engaged in a cover-up of their own, or EMU is correct, and Mr. Vick hasn't been forthright about the role he played. It would seem to follow, then, that prior to hiring Mr. Vick, the Board of Education has a duty to satisfy itself that Mr. Vick is on the up and up. The BOE must be satisfied that the Butzel Long report is clearly wrong as it relates to Mr. Vick, and that all of the incriminating facts and conclusions set forth in the report are either mistakes, or out and out lies. The BOE must satisfy itself that the report issued by the U.S. Dep't of Education is not referring in any way to Mr. Vick's words or conduct, and that the fine issued cannot be attributed to anything Mr. Vick did or did not do. This strikes me as an extraordinarily difficult task, perhaps an impossible one, and I do not envy those on our BOE who will have the responsibility to conduct such an inquiry prior to making what would otherwise be a routine hiring decision, what with all the time, money and division such an inquiry stands to require. I do know one thing. Following the events of just over a year ago, the BOE cannot simply rubber stamp administration's picks for high school leadership positions. They will be considering significant changes at all levels of educational leadership on Monday evening, as they will be replacing two principals (Adams and East) as well as the two administrative positions at the high school. For those of you that monitor the BOE, no doubt the memory is fresh with regard to how well that approach worked out during the '06-'07 school year. Monday night's Board of Education meeting stands to be an interesting one.

Digital Mosaics

I downloaded a digital mosaic program called AndreaMosaic. It's a freeware program supported solely by donations. For all of the pictures on this post, you can click on them and, if your browser supports the feature, you can zoom in on the picture to see the little pieces. Some of them may be pixelated to an extent, as I had to reduce the size of the pictures to make them easily manageable. I first consolidated all the pictures I've taken in the last several years into a folder. There were over 2800. Next, I picked some pictures I'm fond of, and I tried various ways of changing the various parameters of the program to make different types of mosaics. In the lighthouses above, you can see what different size tiles do to change the overall appearance of the mosaic.

Perfect Weekend

The weekend could not have been more perfect. Thursday night, I picked up the girls and headed back toward Ypsi. We saw a hot air balloon, and we were mesmerized. As the freeway turned in the area of Battle Creek, we suddenly saw about 25 more! We got off the freeway and headed north, where most of them seemed to be landing. We came across a large festival, with the balloons landing en masse on the other side of the airport there. We watched for a while and shot a few pics. Next, instead of coming straight home, I branched off at M-14 and headed toward the Plymouth, Northville area. Having been disappointed by the cancellation of the Ypsi Fireworks (twice), I was having a hankering to see some fireworks, somewhere. Since it looked like I could just make it in time, I phoned Meredith and then my parents (who live in Northville). We met up in the parking lot of a Henry Ford clinic at M-14 and Beck Road, and watched the Plymouth Township fireworks from there. Here's some video I shot: Next morning, it was up for a big breakfast, and off to the Ypsilanti 4th of July Parade. Though I didn't get any pics, Johnny did, so you can visit his blog to see how it went. We went to a cookout, then to an ice cream social, and hung with friends. The next day, we spend the entire day at my parents fishing, cooking out again, and the girls got to do overnights, Hannah at Amelia's house, and Esme with Granny and Papa. I drove them to meet up with their mom today, and I smoked a wonderful cigar (Puros Indios) on the way back. A perfect 4th of July weekend. :)

SatanFest Moved under threat of protests

I came across a new poster yesterday, right next to the previous poster, in downtown Ypsilanti. Apparently, SatanFest has been moved. The new poster has a banner across the middle that reads: Due to very strong opposition in Ypsilanti to SatanFest 2008 and threats of protests and legal action, SatanFest 2008 has been moved to the Monroe County Fairgrounds in Monroe, MI. Previously sold tickets will be accepted at the gate. Tickets are non-refundable. So, it would appear that this bullet has been dodged. Evil-doers, devil-worshipers, ne'er-do-wells and others of their ilk will have to listen to that heavy metal noise they call music in someone else's town. Read that last line as if the Church Lady* said it. *I couldn't find a link without an ad -- sorry.