New jail?!!! Communication "Muskegon County Board of Commissioners" style.

New jail-New Taxes?

These "planning sessions" are important discussions about our county's future and by law must be open to the public.

The only notification of this next meeting is posted outside of the 4th floor board room in the county building.

No mention on the website.

They really don't want you to attend.

They'll be talking about the need for a new jail. And they'd just as soon you sleep in!

Next time a county commissioner tells you they value citizen input, you should know they don't really mean it.

We at EyeOnMuskegon do want you to attend and here's how.
If you have time, I'll be at Carmen's Cafe (downtown Muskegon Clay/Terrace) from 12:30-1:15 and we can chat about the upcoming planning session.

Otherwise we'll meet at the South campus training room 202, 133 E Apple at 1:30.
Call me at 231-421-4409 if you have any questions or e-mail me at EyeOnMuskegon@gmail.com.

EyeOnMuskegon this Sunday-City bus service-Good deal or more money down the drain?

This Sunday, Oct. 23 we will talk about Muskegon's "MATS".

That's "Muskegon Area Transportation System".

The buses and trolleys we all see zipping around town.

The federal government spends millions on our system.

The state spends hundreds of thousands.

And Muskegon county taxpayers subsidize more hundreds of thousands to keep the system going.

Good deal or not?

My guest will be senior capitol correspondent Tom Gantert of the Mackinac Center. (http://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/bio.aspx?ID=597)
Tune in to WKBZ 1090AM this Sunday morning at 9:00 and join in our community conversation. 
Or listen on line at http://www.newstalk1090.com/main.html.
Give us a call at 231-830-3109 or just sit back and listen...and learn how your taxdollars are really spent!
See you Sunday!

Gordo's Musings

I always tip waaay more (%) for breakfast and lunch than I do at dinner. The servers work just about the same (or more!) but the total check is much less. Plus the servers seem to be more friendly. Who'd of guessed?

Do the leaders of Muskegon (city) really want folks to visit? The stop lights never seem to synchronized.
Plus all the stopping/starting because of the non-syncd lights uses more gas and pollution. I guess living "green" is for others if it involves effort on behalf of the city. Bummer!

It seems to me that the ads the USPS has run on TV and radio bleating about how tough it is to run their monopoly sort of lose credibility when they close on Columbus day.

Why do we even allow elections to happen in months other than November? Everyone knows they only have them in order to keep the vote down so the special interests can win an election they would otherwise lose.

Wow! 6000 hits!

Today's County commission-THE PROBLEM!

This "item for consideration" from today's county Ways and Means committee agenda is classic "Muskegon" politics.

1. "In an effort to be efficient with current resources...". What the heck does that mean?
2. What do these "reclassifications" mean to the county and to the taxpayer? More spending?
3. "General fund is a net zero adjustment..". OK...what does that mean?

The county's biggest problem is not "general fund" spending it is the unfunded "Cadillac" benefits given to employees and retirees that is tied to every raise that every employee receives. How does "reclassification" affect our biggest problem which is we are making promises we can't afford to deliver?????

Not one commissioner knows what the answer is to any of these questions.
I doubt that any will even ask and/or receive a clear answer from administrator Hammersley.
And the pay increase shifting will continue in stealth mode as the union insiders continue their stranglehold on our county.

Don't we expect our county leaders to know what they are voting for BEFORE they vote?

Is Nancy (But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.) Pelosi the role model for our elected county leaders?

Don't they know we trusted them to do their job with honesty, hard work and integrity? 

Don't they know we're broke?

This is going on in municipalities across the country.

And it is wrong!

Amtrak Subsidies vs. Megabus Private Enterprise

Amtrak Subsidies vs. Megabus Private Enterprise [Michigan Capitol Confidential]
If someone were to purchase an Amtrak ticket for a Nov. 7 trip from Detroit to Chicago and then return the same day, the cost would be $32 each way, or $64 round trip.
But Cox cites a 2008 study by the Pew Charitable Trusts that reports Amtrak lost $55 per rider on each leg of the Detroit-Chicago route.
.....By comparison, the same roundtrip from Detroit to Chicago and back again on Megabus would take two extra minutes each way, but the Megabus roundtrip ticket costs $25.

So we take taxpayer dollars to subsidize at choo choo train that puts a taxpaying business out of business.
And the same is true in cities like Muskegon with their bus system.
Take tax dollars from tax payers to put a tax paying business out of business.......it's the democrat way!

Occupy Muskegon

From their facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/pages/Occupy-Muskegon/277622115601345
Occupy Muskegon
General Assemblies everyday at 12:00 in Hackley Park!


EVERY day?!!!
It's startin' to sound like a job......I wonder how that will go over......

MORE ON THOSE UNDERFUNDED / OVER-GENEROUS PUBLIC PENSIONS

Instapundit » Blog Archive » MORE ON THOSE UNDERFUNDED / OVER-GENEROUS PUBLIC PENSIONS
In fall 2006, voters narrowly approved an upgraded pension plan intended only for uniformed officers in the Knox County Sheriff’s Office.

A committee that met outside public view later expanded the eligibility rules, according to records.
Key decisions were made in small committee meetings — meetings that some members today said they can’t even recall.

Little notice went out to the public as the plan came together, except for a piece of paper tacked onto a wall down a hallway of the City County Building.

And when it came time to bless the final package, one of the county’s biggest expenditures in decades, the Knox County Commission approved it without deliberation.
Some of those who voted for it directly benefited by it or had family members who would benefit by it.

And now, the Uniformed Officers Pension Plan, or UOPP, costs taxpayers $8.2 million a year — almost three times what was first projected, figures show. Funding costs are expected to rise even more.

This type of scam is happening EVERYWHERE in the country.
And the same tactics are being used here in Muskegon county.
Will we the people continue to allow it?

Letters: What if they gave an election and nobody came?

Letters: What if they gave an election and nobody came? MLive.com
Too many of us spend far too much time complaining about out of control government and far too little time actually doing anything about it.
This is your opportunity to run or support someone who is standing tall.

EyeOnMuskegon 10-16-2011 Tom Eaton

We Are The 53%

We Are The 53%

ITPP Tea Party Legislative Scorecard for Michigan

ITPP Tea Party Legislative Scorecard for Michigan - Michigan Votes
A public service of the Independent Tea Party Patriots (http://www.itpp.us/)
The Tea Party Scorecard only includes votes on tea party issues.

Very interesting!
Sen. Hansen doesn't look too good.
Rep. Hughes looks OK.
Who'd of guessed?

EyeOnMuskegon this Sunday Oct. 16-Success vs Failure?

A tale of two counties: Muskegon county vs Oakland county.

Muskegon county has $100 million in unfunded pension and healthcare promises to its workers.
The residents and businesses of our county will have to pay that debt or suffer severe cuts in services.
Or, most likely, both.

Oakland county, a far larger county, has ZERO unfunded pension and healthcare debt.
What are the leaders of Oakland county doing that our elected leaders in Muskegon county are not?

We will contrast the two counties.
Their leaders, their decisions and their finances.

My guest this Sunday is one of the architects of a fiscally sane governmental body, Tom Eaton, Oakland County Deputy Director of Human Resources 

Mr. Eaton was a featured speaker at the Mackinac Center's Issues & Ideas Forum "The Future of Unionized Government".
(video link http://www.mackinac.org/15711).

There is absolutely no reason our county should have enormous debt and no hope to reduce that debt.
Listen in Sunday  morning at 9:00 the hear the "secret" of balancing your county budget.

Excellent video created by an Oaklanc county leader:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3071161216271798982#


http://www.oakgov.com/index.html

Norton Shores city council election-Tue. Nov. 8, 2011

Norton Shores Ward 2 boundaries are Sherman Boulevard to the north, Henry Street to the east and Porter Road to the south.

If you want to run as a write-in candidate, last day to file Fri. Oct.28:
http://www.michigan.gov/sos/0,4670,7-127-1633_8721_11839---,00.html

Or even better, call Muskegon county clerk Nancy Waters or Kim Grimm at the Muskegon county clerk's office: Phone (231) 724-6221
Nancy A. Waters, Muskegon County Clerk
141 E. Apple Avenue, 2nd Floor*
Muskegon, MI 49442
Phone (231) 724-6221
Fax (231) 724-6262
Hours: M-F 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. (Closed Holidays)
*Our Office has moved.

Upcoming Election Dates:
October 11, 2011 The last day to register for the November 8, 2011 Election
November 8, 2011 Election Day

Absentee ballot info:
Requests to have an absentee voter ballot mailed to you must be received by your clerk (798-4391) no later than 2 p.m. the Saturday (Sat. Nov. 5) before the election.
Or print your own and mail it or drop it off at city hall:
http://www.michigan.gov/sos/0,1607,7-127-1633_8722-21037--,00.html

Musings

NBC continues to report the disastrous Reno airplane crash happened at an "airshow".

It did NOT happen at an airshow. It happened at the Reno AIR Races, not an airshow.

Eco-libs bias against airshows is legend.

Now NBC jumps in to rename an air race to pander to the followers of AlGore? Beware the lying MSM!

Why don't we hear more about how big government is damaging big and small businesses? Are business leaders cowards?

Remember "recovery summer" 2009? How's the hopey changey "recovery" thing affecting your family?

Honeybunch and I rented kayaks at Putters Creek in NM recently. Super fun and only $15/kayak for 1 1/2 hours. Easy to paddle and they're still open Sat/Sun.  

Carmen's/County board dates

We'll meet twice more this month at Carmen's Cafe:

County commission schedule for the rest of the month:
All county meetings are at 3:30, 4th floor county building.
Ways and means- Thr. Sep. 22-******note change!
Full board-Tue. Sep. 27

Musings

A friend who owns a local family owned, small business was just told their workman's comp insurance bill was jumping by $7000 and they had to pay the added bill this month.
Is this any way to keep local employers?
Is this any way to keep local employees? 


A local restaurant owner recently told me if Obama requires that they have to provide health care to employees, he'll close the restaurant.
They just don't have the extra profit to do it.
And they're not alone.
How many small businesses in Muskegon will have to close to make the ObamaCare zealots happy? 


The new "no smoking rules have devastated many local bars and restaurants.
And these are the local businesses local leaders say they want to nourish.
I'm thinking those local "leaders" care more about their own personal power than some poor business owner struggling to survive.


I just drove past the beautiful homes on Jefferson Ave. just N of Laketon.
I'd forgotten just how beautiful that area was.
The faded glory still shows but it's clearly a neighborhood under pressure.
More an oasis than a neighborhood.
Sad.

Last week Honeybunch and I rented kayaks at Putter's Creek in NM. $15 for an hour and a half.
Very easy to paddle and lots of fun.
We'll be back when the fall leaves get grand.

County board location change!!!!!!

BIG Location change!
The county board will meet at Blue Lake Township Hall today instead of the County Building.
Today transportation and community development/strategic planning committees meet.

Taxpayers deserve more information about public employee contracts

Viewpoint: Taxpayers deserve more information about public employee contracts MLive.com
Some recent union contract specifics might be of interest to those who will be paying for the contracts:
A union contract approved by the county board last February included an increase of four paid days off that brought the total paid days off for senior employees to 58.
Yes, that's 58 paid days off for the year.

You might note that we have 52 weeks in a year.

Or that 58 days is almost 3 months of work days.

CLICK LINK TO READ THE ENTIRE LETTER

New radio show in Muskegon!

Hi friends,
Yes, retirement does give one some free time and this one, me, has decided to start my own radio show right here in politically tumultuous Muskegon county.

My new radio show begins this coming Sunday, September 11.
Here's the data:

"EyeOnMuskegon" starts next Sun. Sept. 11.
Every Sunday morning from 9-10 on NewsTalk WKBZ 1090 AM.

WKBZ is a legendary Muskegon talk radio station now owned by Clear Channel, the same behemoth that just gave Rush Limbaugh his $400 million contract.
You can imagine that I'll be emulating my hero, Rush, in thought and deed so I'm already shopping private jets and Oxycontin.
Nothing like being prepared, eh?


I will be focusing on Michigan and Muskegon politics and how the decisions of our political leaders affects us here in Muskegon.
And the decisions they've made lately have gotten us in big trouble.
 It may seem to be a simple small town show (and we are thought to be podunk by some.....) but what happens in my small town is most likely happening in your town and state too.
The forces of spending and greed are not all that smart but they've been writing the rules while the rest of us have gone about our lives.
They mostly use the same crooked playbook and bet on us taxpayers not reading the book.
And so far, their bet has trumped ours.

If you live outside of Muskegon county you can listen on your computer.


We'll be live-casting on WKBZ's website: http://www.newstalk1090.com/main.html.
"Live-casting" means you can listen to the show, live, on your computer.
Just click the link http://www.newstalk1090.com/main.html,
then click "Watch and Listen" on the site,
then click "Listen Live" to hear EyeOnMuskegon on any computer.


EyeOnMuskegon will be a call-in show so I will take your calls.
If you want to call in, just listen on your radio or computer and give your old friend, me, a call.
I don't have the phone number yet (we just signed the contract Friday) but should have it shortly.
I'll announce it during the show.


We will also be "podcasting" the entire show so you can listen to the show ANYTIME on your computer.
How cool is that?!!
Simply click the link http://www.newstalk1090.com/main.html , then click "Watch and Listen" and then click "Podcasts".
I'm sure many of you will want to listen to each show multiple times........right?


If you could forward this info to your friends (enemies?) I'd appreciate it.


JetA and Oxy prices are going through the roof!


Your quiet old friend,


Jim Riley

         Eye On Muskegon
            With your host
  "The Mouth of Muskegon"

               Jim Riley

   Every Sunday morning 9-10

   NewsTalk WKBZ-1090 AM
       The Talk of Muskegon