christinebarry.com

Thanks Again, From The Bottom Of Our Stomachs

Just want to give another shout out to our awesome commissioners. From the AP:

The number of Michigan households getting food stamps has risen 53 percent in the past five years, with one in eight state residents now aided by the nutrition assistance program, authorities say.

In all, 590,600 state households got food stamps in March, the Michigan Department of Human Services says. The households include 1.26 million people, or 12.5 percent of the state’s 10.07 million residents.

Nationwide, 27.7 million people received food stamps in January — or 9.2 percent of the nation’s 300 million people.

So now is a great time to cash in on hunger.

Posted in Shiawassee County | 1 Comment »

That’s Right - I Do Not Respect Dick Ball

I just left a comment over on this post at Right Michigan. Nick at RM is upset that Dick Ball opposes the recall of Andy Dillon, and suggests that Dick Ball has “switched teams.”

To which I replied, “we don’t want him.”

Well it’s no big deal, except for one person who sent me the equivalent of “Oh yeah??? Say that to our faces!!” Apparently this person questions whether I have the “intestinal fortitude” to face what must be an awful backlash, if I dare to say that I do not respect Dick Ball.

*sigh* Ok, here it is.

Dick Ball does whatever the last voice in his head tells him to do. Usually that voice is Craig DeRoche or some other member of the GOP caucus. As such, I don’t know why he introduced this bill.

Ball spent all of 2007 telling Shiawassee that we needed to raise taxes, but at the last minute, he voted against them. Why? Because DeRoche didn’t let him vote for revenues. (according to DeRoche, via MIRS) If I recall correctly, Ball also voted in favor of the MESSA-busting bill, which was contrary to his oft-stated opinion on it.

Most of your readers here would appreciate those votes, and even though I do not, it’s not those two votes that disgust me. It’s the practice of saying one thing but then doing another that disgusts me. Not to mention, the fact that he doesn’t have the courage of what he claims are his convictions. This is why I have no respect at all for him.

People who are really trying to make up their minds about Dick Ball should look at his voting record in its entirety. He usually votes along GOP lines. People think he’s a moderate .. that’s why he gets so many crossover Dem votes. However, the fact is, he just can’t pick a position. He just parrots what is being said around him. I’m sure he is good-hearted and means well, but if he ever had an independent thought he would probably spontaneously combust.

My 2 cents. Thanks.
~Christine

(ps Have a good weekend, hope you are well)

Hey, it’s nothing I haven’t said before. I watched him in the 2004 debates, I watched him all through his tenure as a Rep. I don’t respect the guy at all. However I am on record as saying that I would fight his recall, if Drolet had come after him.

(By the way, I am also on record in June of 2007 as predicting that despite what he said in public, he would vote with the GOP. He did exactly as I predicted.)

Is he evil? No.

Is he an independent thinker with the courage of what he claims to be his convictions? No. He proved that last fall, when he voted AGAINST what he SAID he believed in.

Period.

However, I didn’t think it was worth a post. It was just a comment on a story. But I guess if I have to repeat it here in order to prove something … well, there ya go.

Posted in Dick Ball | 6 Comments »

Shiawassee Profits From Hungry People

Cross posted at BFM

One lesson I keep learning over & over again is that I should never blog when I’m angry. That lesson just doesn’t seem to stick with me.

So yesterday our Board of Commissioners voted to indefinitely postpone the amendment to revert the food licensing and inspection fees back to what it was before it changed in December, 2007.

An act of pure cowardice and SLEAZE.

SLEAZE!!

Ok, for those of you who aren’t up to speed, here’s an excerpt from Tina’s March 26 diary…

Recent legislation passed in Lansing eliminated the exemption that was afforded to non-profits and schools for food licensing fees.

… while we want to continue to feed the hungry, the first $500.00 budgeted to this effort, must be paid to the County.

… Jack Johnson attempted to amend the motion to ‘roll back’ the fees to their previous levels (which I may add included temporary licenses for sales of food for non-profits) until the amendment proposed by Rep Ball was decided in Lansing. [Prosecutor] Randy Colbry felt this was not proper because the legal opinion he subscribes to does not allow for it. Pavlica just couldn’t get past that they might be ‘breaking the law’ in some way, the same went for Stewart.

In other words, our Board of Commissioners has voted to fine our Churches for feeding the hungry.

We’re not talking about a reasonable inspection fee. Most people agree that any kitchen that serves food to the public should meet certain standards put forward by law, and that organizations should cover the costs associated with maintaining those standards. We’re talking about fining the churches and non-profits the same amount as we would charge a school or restaurant. This is true even if the church is serving food at a funeral service, or at a ministry event, or feed-the-hungry, or whatever.

Same. Fee.

And our Board of Commissioners is ok with this, because George Pichette, the Director of our County Health Department, is demanding the revenue.

Now … the majority of the county board, led by Prosecutor Randy Colbry, says that it is not legal to charge a church less than they charge a school. The law absolutely does not allow this. Therefore, the county must do what Pichette wants. Wouldn’t want to be breaking the law.

To which Christine says, “Oh. My. G-”

I can’t even finish the last word.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Shiawassee County | 1 Comment »

Michigan Needs A Part-Time Legislature

Dick Campbell of the Argus Press has a great editorial today about the part-time legislature. This was an idea that I used to hate.

My objection to the part-time legislature is that good government is a full-time job. You simply couldn’t do the work part-time. I did, however, support a unicameral legislature. This is a one-chamber model, which would eliminate the Senate. After watching Lansing closely in 2007, my opinions on these two proposals have reversed.

I’ll start with the simple one; I don’t support unicam anymore because I watched Mike Bishop obstruct everything that the House and the governor put forth. I can’t imagine what the legislature would be like if he were in charge of the whole thing. We just can’t risk something like that. Admittedly I’m a little biased, since he’s the guy who cut off access to my other blog. But still, Bishop was nothing but an obstructionist, as evidenced by the fact that he wouldn’t even vote for his own tax cuts. He was just trying to stop progress and show off his swagger.

So, unicam is definitely a no-go for me. (I’m sure there are plenty of people who also would not like to see an Andy Dillon in charge of the whole thing either)
Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Politics | 1 Comment »

Commissioner Dan Stewart Under Fire

Commissioner Dan Stewart (D-1) is under fire for changing his mailing address to a location outside of his district.

Commissioners are required to reside in the district they represent. Stewart left his home a couple of weeks ago, when he and his wife agreed to end their marriage. Although Stewart has recently settled in to a house on Delaney Road, which is in his district, he has spent the a couple of weeks staying with different friends. Meanwhile, he had his mail sent to Stewart Graphics, the business belonging to his family. Stewart’s business office is located in the building.

Stewart has confirmed with County Clerk Lauri Braid that no one has filed a complaint about his address change, with the county clerk. However no one has confirmed whether a complaint has been filed with the state. Stewart has also confirmed that the Independent and the Argus Press will be running feature stories on his divorce and temporary displacement. Stewart has also expressed concerns about the many mean-spirited rumors that are circulating, slandering him and his wife.

Stewart is one of the Commissioners who recently criticized Sheriff Wilson for discussing an attorney-client privileged document, and for several other management problems in the Sheriff’s Dept. While it is speculated that Sheriff Wilson is behind these rumors and is calling for Stewart to step down, I haven’t found any proof of that. In fact I don’t have any evidence of who is trying to make the mountain out of this mole-hill. However it sure sounds an awful lot like the kinds of things that the Sheriff’s more enthusiastic supporters would do. Although there are partisan political ‘operatives’ who might see this as a chance to pick up a seat for the GOP, I personally can’t think of anyone who would be so dirty about it. Only the Sheriff’s supporters have employed tactics like this, in the recent past.

Best wishes to Dan Stewart. Watch for stories in the Independent & the Argus to come soon.

Posted in Announcements, Shiawassee County | 1 Comment »

15 Endless Minutes Of Fame

Greg Shire.

If you’re from here, you’ve heard his name. You’ve read about him in the paper, or you’ve talked about him with a friend. You might not remember exactly who he is, but you know you’ve heard the name.

For most of us in the area, we first heard about Greg last summer. One early morning, someone crept into the Washington Street apartments and started a small fire in the stairwell. While Greg slept, the fire spread, and stole Greg’s life away.

Greg is a part of my life now, because of what he left behind. His loved ones light up when they speak of him, and his friends wear his name on tattoos. They decorate their cars in his memory. Greg is a part of my life, because he was loved so much that I feel his loss.

I often wonder about Greg’s killer. Is his life divided up into “before the fire” and “after the fire”? Does he remember Greg’s name? Does he believe in God? Does he call himself a killer? Is he afraid to die?

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Owosso, Shiawassee County | 1 Comment »

Shiawassee Dems April Meeting

(Late notice, sorry …)

SHIAWASSEE COUNTY DEM MEETING

APRIL 22, 2008

DOORS OPEN 6:30 PM
BUSINESS MEETING CONVENES 7:00 PM

MEETING PLACE CHANGE

OLMSTEAD MEETING ROOM
LOCATED AT THE BACK OF THE
CORUNNA-CALEDONIA DISTRICT LIBRARY

210 E. CORUNNA AVE, CORUNNA
RIGHT BEHIND THE COUNTY COURTHOUSE
PARKING LOT

ENTRANCE AT THE NORTH SIDE OF THE LIBRARY BUILDING

Posted in Announcements, Shiawassee County | No Comments »

Coffeehouse this Friday. Yay!

COFFEEHOUSE AT ST. JOHNS UCC – OWOSSO

Friday, April 25, 2008

7:30 pm to 9:30 pm

Donations: $5.00 to attend and/or play

Come join us for an evening of acoustic music, coffee, tea, hot chocolate and snacks.

Family friendly, relaxing atmosphere to enjoy talented musicians and music for all ages.

Musicians interested in participating feel free to come as you are, no prior scheduling necessary. If you have any questions, please contact Jack Johnson.

Posted in Announcements | 1 Comment »

6 years later …

Note: Some of you won’t understand this. That’s ok.

I’m really fortunate to have the audience here that I do. I get judges, lawyers, police officers, reporters, commissioners, and a whole lot more, here at cbdc. I know they don’t come to read about me … that’s fine. That’s good, actually, because I don’t like to talk about me. But today I’m going to take advantage of having all of you here, to ask you for a favor.

I know some of you are hearing all kinds of stories about me. I’m going bankrupt, I’m going to jail, I killed my little brother, I’ve threatened to kill a bunch of children, I run a sex-crime ring, I’m a pedophile … I know that’s not all, but that’s just what I’ve been hearing lately.

I know who’s behind all this. I know he’s supporting the Sheriff, and that part of the reason he’s attacking me now is to punish me for criticizing the Sheriff. But mostly, he just wants to hurt me, because I hurt him a long time ago.

Some of you know who I’m talking about. Some of you don’t, and I’ll just leave it that way. (You might end up being really confused. Sorry about that. This post really is only for a handful of people.)

If you hear a story about me that sounds ridiculous, it probably isn’t true. If you believe it, or you happen to dislike me or think I’m of low character, that’s fine. I’m not going to spend my life playing whack-a-mole, trying to smack down every ugly rumor that pops up, and I’m not going to beg anyone to like me or believe what I say. Nope.

But I do ask you to consider this … the person who is starting all of these rumors, regularly goes out of his way to be in places where he thinks it’s likely that I’ll be. He hangs out on websites where he knows I am, and posts under a bunch of different user names and tries to pick fights with me. Offline & in person, he talks about me to anyone who will listen, saying whatever he thinks will hurt me the most.

Meanwhile, I avoid the places where I think he might be (chamber meetings, technology meetings, etc). I refuse to engage him online, even when he calls me out by name. I never speak of him, except in rare cases to address a particular rumor. And even then, I don’t speak of him … I don’t mention his name or say anything that would harm him or his credibility. I just tell my side of the story, and move on.

So the favor I’m asking is that when you hear that rumor, or you see that out-of-context piece of paper that “proves” that the rumor is true … please ask yourself, if what he’s saying is true, then why is he working so hard to be a part of my life? Why is he still trying to be near me physically or online, and why does he want me thinking of him?

Seriously … if you and your children were being terrorized by some crazy criminal pedophile bankrupt murdering bitch, would you be going out of your way to be in places where you think she will be? Would you be taunting her on the internet, trying to provoke a reaction? Would you interrupt a completely non-related conversation, so that you could talk about her? Is that how you would act, if you were a victim of all these crimes?

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Other | Comments Off

Dan Stewart Newsletter

Commissioner Dan Stewart has just published his March / April newsletter. You can download the 908KB pdf newsletter here.

And you can visit Dan’s website at http://web.mac.com/danthemanstewart.

Posted in Shiawassee County | No Comments »

Privileged Memo Leaked To Blogger

Good news! The May 4, 2007 letter that is supposed to exonerate Wilson, has been leaked to a blogger.

Chet Zarko reports that he received two copies of the letter, anonymously.

This letter was first requested via FOIA in December. At that time, the county simply ignored the request for the letter … in their response, they neither provided nor denied it. I didn’t know about the letter until the January 24 Argus Press article, in which Margaret McAvoy and Henrietta Sparkes both mention an attorney-client privileged document. Subsequent attempts to get a copy of the letter have failed.

Commissioner Jack Johnson has tried and failed to get the board to release the letter to the public. This is despite the fact that several people had already come forward and said that they have either seen the document, or had a copy of it. The other 6 Commissioners claim that the document has to remain a secret.

Zarko says he will publish the document sometime today. (Tuesday)

Posted in Shiawassee County | 3 Comments »

Enough Already

I was going through my old posts, and reflecting on everything that’s happened recently, and it occurred to me how really crappy our county government is.

I tend to blog about the things that I think are wrong, so I am almost always complaining about something. It may lead people to think that I hate this county, but that’s not the case. I love this place and the people who live here. I wouldn’t get this irritated or spend this much time on something that I didn’t care about.

I just think this community deserves better, and I wish the people of Shiawassee understood that and believed it. I understand most people are busy just trying to live their lives, and they really don’t have time to deal with watch-dogging their county government. But the fact is, the county is a lot more powerful than they think, and the fact that it doesn’t feel bad doesn’t make it a good government. Shiawassee County does not have a good government, and we never will, if we wait for someone to just give it to us.

At some point the people of Shiawassee have to make the time and the effort to demand better. They have to stand up and say to this government, ‘you don’t get to prosecute fake crimes for personal vendettas anymore. You don’t get to enter into illegal contracts so you can carve out cushy jobs for yourselves. You don’t get to have secret meetings or withhold information or choose who you’re accountable to, just because that’s what is comfortable for you. You don’t get to use our tax money to pay tuition for someone who doesn’t qualify, just because you think no one is looking. You don’t get to go running to your incompetent attorney to write a legal opinion specifically designed to excuse your bad behavior. You don’t get to cut public services and cut county jobs, while protecting your own salaries or giving yourselves raises. And you sure don’t get to manhandle or abuse our county employees just because you have a temper. You don’t get to treat us like this anymore.’

I really hope the day comes when the people of Shiawassee will stand up and say that.

Posted in Shiawassee County | 1 Comment »

Propane Price Gouging In Shiawassee?

I hate it when bloggers blog about themselves, but this experience might help someone out there.

Ok. So I get my propane from McBrides / Northwest, and I just paid $3.59 a gallon.

This did not seem right to me, so a friend of mine called them to check on it. The current rate for propane is $2.59 if you own your own tank (I don’t) and $3.19 if you rent.

So I call McBride, and it takes them until the next day to have a manager call me back. No, he says, it’s $2.59/gallon if you own, but it’s never been $3.19, where the heck did you get that idea, and market price is $3.59 and that’s what you’re going to pay if you want heat and hot water. But if you get on the budget plan where you pay us every month, it’s about $2.59 a gallon.

I don’t want a monthly payment! I want to pay when I get the propane.

So, I guess I’m buying my propane tank. And I’m stuck with paying $3.59 this time.

And $1.00 per gallon to rent a tank? More than 1/4 of the payment goes to tank rental?

No wonder nobody can afford heat.

Posted in Shiawassee County | 16 Comments »

5 Simple Rules For Beating Obama

Not rules, really. I just needed a snappy title.

Human Events, the conservative online magazine, has an article on Five Ways for McCain to Beat Obama. The premise is that McCain should focus on these five points:

• National Security - Obama opposed Iraq war
• The Courts - Obama opposed the confirmation of Justices Samuel Alito and John Roberts
• Experience - Obama has only 8 years in the State Legislature and 3 years in the US Senate
• Independents - McCain is independent and conservatives don’t like him
• Change - McCain will give you better change than Obama

Of course I’m paraphrasing, you should read the article to get a good appreciation of what they’re saying.

They have a point about trying to reframe the issue of change, but it’s going to be tough to say that McCain will bring change to Washington when they’re also saying that McCain supported the war, supported the conservative courts, and has oodles more experience than Obama.

I’m still holding out for Hillary. I just can’t get into Obamarama. Of course if he is the nominee, I will flip flop like nobody’s business to support him.

Posted in 2008 Presidency | 4 Comments »

Anonymity Necessary In Shiawassee

There’s a letter to the editor in yesterday’s Argus, that’s a bit of a slam to blogs.

Don’t give us half of a year-old story that you picked up from reading blogs. That does not seem very professional as we all know blogs are anonymous and self-serving.

First of all I’m just going to apologize for all the self-serving stuff I’ve done on my blog. It’s been really good for me to publicly criticize the County Clerk, the County Administrator, the State Police, the Owosso Police, the County Prosecutor, the Drain Commissioner, the Board of Commissioners, the County Sheriff, and the director of almost every public department in Shiawassee. I can’t tell you how many friends I’ve made in the inner circles of power in this county. Words cannot describe the joy and comfort that this has brought to my family. Fortunately I’ve done all of this under the devilishly clever pseudonym of “Christine Barry” so I don’t have to fear retribution of any kind.

Jeesh.

Admittedly, the author of the letter was probably speaking to the comments made by the people on the forums, who are posting under nicknames. I find it ironic though, that she is using their anonymity in defense of a Sheriff who is punishing a newspaper for saying things that he doesn’t like. The Sheriff has completely validated the concerns of the people who are afraid to reveal their identities. There’s good reason to fear a Sheriff who will make up special rules for people who publish information and commentary that does not meet with his approval.

Posted in Politics, Shiawassee County | 1 Comment »

Commish Stewart Distributes Newsletter

I received a newsletter from Commissioner Dan Stewart yesterday. It looks like he’s going to try to publish these monthly. It’s a summary of what he’s been working on and what’s coming up.

I’ve converted it to pdf, and you can download a copy here - http://christinebarry.com/downloads/stewart_feb.pdf

Posted in Shiawassee County | No Comments »

Owosso Public Schools Lawsuit

There are a couple of threads over on the Shiawassee forums that should be of interest to anyone with kids in the OPS system. They revolve around the lawsuit brought against OPS by Jim McAvoy, former Technology Director for Owosso Schools. If I’m reading the info correctly, the lawsuits allege that McAvoy was dismissed due to his insistence that OPS file a police report over an incident in which a substitute teacher was caught viewing pornography on a school computer.

The police report was eventually filed, but not until after McAvoy had been non-disciplinary paid administrative leave. McAvoy alleges that the police report did not contain all of the information. As an example, McAvoy cites the fact that Assistant Superintendent Gary Bredahl admitted to Board member Jim Howe in an email on March 30, 2007 that the Emerson students viewed inappropriate images. This information was not included in the police report.

The substitute teacher in question is no longer allowed to teach in Genesee, Shiawassee, Clinton, Ingham, and Eaton Counties.

Read more on the forums -

• Owosso Public Schools Pending Lawsuit
• Did Owosso Public Schools Violate the Child Protection Law?
• Greg Gray!

Posted in Politics, Shiawassee County | No Comments »

Perry, Morrice Educators Thank MEA

If you recall, there was a ballot issue regarding the consolidation of the Perry and Morrice school districts, back in January. The consolidation was defeated with 73% voting against it. I didn’t follow the issue that closely, and I didn’t realize that the MEA was such an important player in defeating the measure:

MEA stood by their side throughout the campaign, providing legal and communications advice, daily guidance from UniServ directors and answering myriad questions. “Anything we asked for, we received,” Perry EA President Dave Myron said. “You don’t realize how much help MEA provides until you really need it.” Added Morrice EA President Cathy Edington: “The support we received from MEA was awesome. I’m proud of my state association and our local associations for helping defeat this consolidation attempt.”

That’s from the MEA Voice Today.

Congrats to the folks who were involved in defeating the consolidation.

Posted in Shiawassee County | No Comments »

Greg Gray To Stay In Owosso

I see that Owosso Public Schools Superintendent Greg Gray is going to stay in Owosso. Not by his choice, of course … he had been hoping to become the next Superintendent for Grand Ledge Public Schools.

“Me and my wife (Chris) are both from Grand Ledge,” Gray said. “Her family and mine still live there. I love Owosso, but Grand Ledge is my hometown.”

Unfortunately he was not a finalist for that position.

I can understand Gray wanting to be closer to his family, but I’m really tired of people using Shiawassee - and Owosso in particular - as a stepping stone to other things. Didn’t this happen with another Superintendent?

I’m not into public school politics … maybe there’s a problem with OPS, that they can’t keep a Super. But I’m of the opinion that if your guy is out interviewing for other jobs, then you should start looking for someone to replace him. If I was out interviewing for other jobs, telling the press that my employer isn’t my first choice, then I’d expect my employer to dump me. Yeah, it’s expensive and time consuming to replace a Super, but isn’t it better to have one who wants to be there, and who won’t be out embarrassing the district by telling the press that his current position is not the one he wants?

Related (kinda) in the forums:

Posted in Owosso, Shiawassee County | 3 Comments »

Sheriff Makes Good On Threat To Argus

A couple of weeks ago, I posted an article on my hometown Sheriff, Jon Wilson. The Argus also ran an article on the Sheriff, based partially on my investigative work. At the time, Sheriff Wilson told our local paper that they would not get any more information from the department, if they ran a story about him.

Today the Sheriff made good on that threat …

Before the story ran, Wilson threatened The Argus-Press, saying the paper wouldn’t receive any information from his department if it was published. He also told a reporter to be prepared to “take some responsibility.”

Sheriff’s officials confirmed a fatal traffic crash occurred Saturday morning but wouldn’t release any information. Multiple officials said a recent change in policy instituted by Wilson prohibits anyone from giving any information.

…

At about 4 p.m. Monday, a phone message was left for an Argus-Press reporter from an employee of the sheriff’s department stating “…this message is to notify you that if you would like any information for the press releases or any type of article you will have to FOIA them to our department.”

I tell ya what, if you wanted to point out that your local Sheriff is a bully, you couldn’t ask for a better reaction …

Posted in Shiawassee County | No Comments »