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 Where is the referendum about the Ortonville Police Departme

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WildnFree
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Where is the referendum about the Ortonville Police Departme Empty
PostSubject: Where is the referendum about the Ortonville Police Department?   Where is the referendum about the Ortonville Police Departme Icon_minitimeTue Jul 28, 2009 9:56 am

At the June 1, 2009 Ortonville City Council meeting Mayor Blair Johnson brought up the idea that perhaps we should have a referendum on the police issue. Councilman Steve Berkner agreed that the people should vote. See Welcome Bill Powell

The council voted to have the budget department look into it. Will they? Has anyone heard anything from them? Will the Ortonville City Council actually follow through and allow the people to vote?

The pattern of behavior of some members of the "Click Club" is to ignore it. Be quiet. Don't say anything until after the election. We don't want the people to vote on it. Just put it under a pile of papers and it will go away until next year when we will bring it up again after the threat of the election is gone.

Right now the Ortonville City Council has budgeted the police department to below starvation levels. Picture this. A concentration camp in Germany. The starved people looking out from behind a fence. That is what the Ortonville City Council has done to your police department. The police department is on a starvation diet while Commandant Lang is buying new mail inserts and postage machines for his office and Reich Leader Johnson is tooling around on what some people might think is his personal golf course paid for by the working people of Ortonville in between a card game or two with his "close associates" using his "hard earned" money from doing bookwork for the City of Ortonville. poker There is more police action on the golf course with the new golf ranger (golf cart cop?) that Reich Leader Johnson wanted. They pay for a cop to monitor the golf course but leave the citizens of this community unprotected?

If you want police protection you need to let your city council know you want the referendum because many of them don't care that they have budgeted the police below minimum maintanance levels. If you allow the city to eliinate the police through slow starvation and propaganda tactics don't be surprised when they are gone.


Last edited by Lady Hawk on Wed Jul 29, 2009 3:45 pm; edited 1 time in total
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WildnFree
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PostSubject: WOW!   Where is the referendum about the Ortonville Police Departme Icon_minitimeTue Jul 28, 2009 2:21 pm

I watch Ortonville from the sidelines, I listen to people talk. Ortonville is one corupt town! I am so.....amazed and furious at the the city and that 'Reich Leader Johnson' thinks he can get away with this! I can not believe a town can be this wack! I think we need a Drill Sargent up in here!

Two thumbs up and my thanks Lady Hawk!!!
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redrocket
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PostSubject: sounds like desparation   Where is the referendum about the Ortonville Police Departme Icon_minitimeThu Jul 30, 2009 12:32 am

One thing I know is when politics turns nasty nobody wins, but when it turns to who has more in the end, those without ultimately win. Thats right its better to have less!!! Let your brains do the work for you, because they continue to take until they have raped the city for all its worth. At which point they are unable to cope in life without having those things or favors. Friends and family abandon them and they fail to realize what has happened to them until it is all over and done. Kind of like jumping off the cliff wanting the feeling of a free fall but failing to remember you need a parachute to land safely. While those who were pilliaged walk by and fail to render aid or even acknowedge the accident becasue they took the sure and steady burro to the bottom of the cliff.

Moral of the story if you ride the burro you still have a way out!!!!

In this case they may have cut the budget but you still have the department!

Redrocket
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WildnFree
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PostSubject: Re: Where is the referendum about the Ortonville Police Departme   Where is the referendum about the Ortonville Police Departme Icon_minitimeThu Jul 30, 2009 2:00 pm

Thats a good way to look at it. One thing that bothers me about it though, is that we don't know how long this is going to take. Is this Novermber the new election? If it is i can NOT wait for someone else to be in!
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PostSubject: Whatever Happened to the Referendum?   Where is the referendum about the Ortonville Police Departme Icon_minitimeFri Oct 30, 2009 7:58 am

Mayor Johnson promised us a referendum on the police department. Where is it? Why is this issue not on the ballot?

Another promise broken and more importantly a Mayor that has broke the police department. I was in the police department last week.

It lacks staff and equipment. I suggested to the Chief that during the Christmas Holidays the Salvation Army may have some desk, tables and chairs he can use.

As the rest of the country received stimulus for their police departments, David Lang and Mayor Johnson sought grants for playground equipment. I am not saying that the playground equipment is a bad project.

I am saying our priorities are mixed up.

Fifteen miles away a city police officer saved lifes in a fire by being the first to respond. In Ortonville we have a playground.

What I am really saying is that we could have received both grants. We could have promoted jobs with more law enforcement or staff. How many jobs did the playground provide?

The mayor broke a promise because he and Lang keep reducing law enforcement to the point there is no city police department.
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Lady Hawk
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PostSubject: Does this website make a difference?   Where is the referendum about the Ortonville Police Departme Icon_minitimeSun Nov 01, 2009 11:08 am

I remember well that meeting where Blair Johnson and Nick Anderson talked about the referendum and contacting the Sheriffs department to find out the actual cost of outsourcing the Ortonville police department.

jorge016 you had made a statement that you didn't see any changes.
jorge016 wrote:
Lots of talk here-precious little action results from it.
See page 2 of How to judge a debate?

The following is an example of action resulting from this site.

Ortonville City Councilman Cunningham was resigning at the end of May and the city council needed to vote in a replacement. There were three contenders for the position. Mayor Blair Johnson along with some supporting members of the rat pack wanted Mr. Dan Oakes to fill the position. There was even an attempt to vote him in early, before Mr. Cunningham resigned, without all the council present. Mike Dorry stood against this and the attempt failed.

Over the Memorial weekend posts had been made on this website by Understood regarding the police department. The discussion was lively to say the least. See Only residents can speak? The dialog was six pages but very informative. In this dialog it was finally revealed that the report that was done by Mr. Artie Arndt and Mr. Dan Oakes never actually showed how much the city would save by outsourcing the police department. All they had done was look at other communities and said it worked there and it only cost them that much money. If we do it we will save money. There was "never' any cost comparison for Ortonville of actual figures. The truth was told. The report that had been the foundation of the claim to save money was proven to be nothing.

One week after this thread was made the Ortonville City Council met and Mr. Dan Oakes withdrew his name from the city council. In his letter to Mayor Blair Johnson and the same letter that was printed in the newspaper he blamed this website. At that meeting a humble Blair Johnson admitted that they needed to find the actual figures of how much it would cost to outsource the police department and Nick Anderson agreed. Mayor Blair also stated that they needed to have a referendum to allow the people to vote on this issue. That was another point that was stated on the thread. There is action that comes from this website. Even though some people hate to admit it.

The point I want to make here is this. As you can see nothing has been done. This is the modus operandi of members of the Ortonville Click Club. Pay lip service and then bury it and ignore it and it will go away. That is, it went away before this website came along. Now the words, actions, and promises of the council are here for all to see. The people wanted to vote on this issue. Mayor Blair Johnson and Nick Anderson said that it would be done. Now here we sit at the election and they have again effectively buried it and it would have been ignored if it wasn't for this site.

Some people have come on this site and complained of "negative." This site isn't the issue. (Politics is only one aspect of this site. There are many other aspects and I gratefully appreciate the many people who come on this site and use it for the good things that it was created for. Those people are the true backbone of this area and they have my deepest respect.) The actions of the city leaders is the issue. They do not have a leg to stand on so instead of replying to the issues and defending their position and showing where they are right they point a finger here and cry "foul!" If this site was not here one could assume that after the election was over then the police department would again be targeted and another attempt would be made to shut it down. The police department has been hammered on for ten years now and each time a little more of it is chipped away. We are at the crossroads and all that is left of it now is the skeleton. Another blow would finish it off. The only thing to stop them is this site. They are being watched. Personally I have better things to do with my time than to babysit grown men.
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PostSubject: Hey brother, can you spare a dime? (Golf fees)   Where is the referendum about the Ortonville Police Departme Icon_minitimeSun Nov 01, 2009 11:11 am

While we are on the subject of watching the city council, have any of the candidates for the city council stated that they will make the Ortonville Golf Course operate in the black? So far all I have heard is "We will raise the fees." Oh, really? How high? Will it be high enough to make the Golf Course self sustaining? It is unconscionable for the city council to be made up of business people who allow a business to run in the red year after year and make no attempt to make it profitable. (Blair Johnson is an accountant. How can anyone even think it is OK to allow a business to continually operate in the red?) Do they think that the people of Ortonville have open pockets that they can dip into anytime they want? We are told that the golf course is important because people from the cities come here to golf because it is so cheap. Why is it cheap? Is it because citizens who are having to work two jobs to make ends meet pay for it out of their taxes? Do the people who pay for it out of their taxes and can't even afford to golf themselves end up paying for the big spenders from the cities?

Let's get a visual on this. What this is like is having your adverage working citizen who can't even afford to go golfing standing at the airport or even standing at the gas station on the hilltop when the "Spender from the Cities" comes rolling in and the citizen hands them cash to subsidize their golf game. How outrageous is that? This would be like Blair Johnson and Nick Anderson who have homes next to the golf course walk by and take the money from the citizen to help pay for their golf game. (Hey, brother can you spare a dime?) Everytime anyone golfs on that course they are taking money from the other citizens in Ortonville. Many of them who cannot even afford to golf themselves.

I am appalled that members of the council can be so insensitive to the hardworking common folk of Ortonville. Blair Johnson and Nick Anderson have nice homes near the golf course and go golfing at the cheap golf course because they can have the citizens pay for it because they control the taxes? They then run for election on the platform that they will raise the fees? How about running on the platform that they will balance the golf course budget in one year or sell it to some intelligent business person who knows how to operate a business? Oh boy
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PostSubject: I had forgotten   Where is the referendum about the Ortonville Police Departme Icon_minitimeMon Nov 02, 2009 4:11 pm

I had forgotten that Mayor Johnson recommended a golf course police to keep those awful citizens who do not pay off of the course.

Although no dollar amount was mentioned, I suspect it was at least as large as the police departments budget and I am quite sure that the golf cart used by the police department was twice as much as the equipment at police departments.

I suspect most of the desks and chairs this year will come from the Salvation Army, so the rest of you if you need desks and chairs for Christmas you should get there early.
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Tassell Fritz Von Schultz
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PostSubject: Re: Where is the referendum about the Ortonville Police Departme   Where is the referendum about the Ortonville Police Departme Icon_minitimeMon Nov 02, 2009 10:17 pm

Sounds like the golf course is a pretty hot topic. Why does'nt the City council close the city Hall down. Since the golf course already has police protection, Install a jail on the property. All the prisoners can do the groundskeeping and maybe someone can teach small engine repair for the prisoners so they can learn a trade. While your at it why not have all the City council meetings at the club-house on the golf course, and anyone who want's to attend must be a member. There you have it a win-win situation. The city save's money not having a city hall, The council get's to spend the day at the golf course, They get free labor to keep the golf course up, And all the new memberships to the golf course.WaaaaaHoooo. It may even make the transition easier to prison life for some. Hmmmmm ?
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Zorro
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PostSubject: Re: Where is the referendum about the Ortonville Police Departme   Where is the referendum about the Ortonville Police Departme Icon_minitimeTue Nov 03, 2009 2:20 pm

Fritz
I think I know why that little keg under your chin is missing..... Where is the referendum about the Ortonville Police Departme Icon_lol
Very creative thinking -- I'll bet you drove your teachers crazy.
But seriously, it's that approach to thinking that will eventually yield great solutions to problems.
Welcome to the forum. I look forward to your future posts. Can't wait to see what you cook up next.
Where is the referendum about the Ortonville Police Departme 914896
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Tassell Fritz Von Schultz
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PostSubject: Re: Where is the referendum about the Ortonville Police Departme   Where is the referendum about the Ortonville Police Departme Icon_minitimeTue Nov 03, 2009 7:59 pm

It appears that the city of Ortonville is run with a "Golden Rules" type of Government. He who has the Gold makes the rules.
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Tassell Fritz Von Schultz
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PostSubject: Re: Where is the referendum about the Ortonville Police Departme   Where is the referendum about the Ortonville Police Departme Icon_minitimeWed Nov 04, 2009 4:54 pm

Maybe when the city of Ortonville get's it's new city council and new city administrators they wont forget that they are there for the citizens of Ortonville and the surrounding county,Instead of looking out for one's personal benefit or profit.It appears as that the persons in charge feel as though the citizens owe them for something. You are wrong, You owe the people who trusted you enough to vote for you.
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Where is the referendum about the Ortonville Police Departme Empty
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