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Owosso Township Recall - Part 1
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Owosso Charter Township Supervisor Richard Gute, and his wife and fellow board member Clerk Judy Gute face a recall vote on February 28, 2006. Leaders of the recall effort have framed their cause around the township board decision to bring Mobile Medical Response into the township to manage Owosso Charter Township rescue services. Until MMR was brought into the township in August 2005, Owosso Township Rescue (OTR) was a township run service. OTR staff members were township employees. When the township entered into the agreement with MMR, the OTR staff had to apply and interview with MMR in order to keep their jobs. Some of them chose to join MMR, some chose not to, and some weren’t able to meet MMR minimum requirements.
This transition for OTR came during a year filled with highs and lows for the OTR staff. In March of 2005, OTR was contracted to be the preferred non-emergency provider for Memorial Healthcare. OTR Director Kim Luckhurst was overjoyed with the contract. "My goal from the beginning has been to make OTR the most respected ambulance service in the county and I think this takes us one more step in that direction."
Just a few months later, OTR hit a new low when Luckhurst was allegedly involved in an assault. Luckhurst entered a guilty plea to assault in order to spare OTR the negative attention that would be brought by a trial. 
This type of pride and dedication was common among the staff, but it could not save OTR from its administrative and personnel problems. Staff members were working 80 hours a week to keep OTR running, and at one point the ambulance service was unavailable because there were no staff members on duty. The township nearly lost the ambulance license due to an OTR management failure to apply for renewal. An Administrative Director was hired to solve these problems, but he resigned after only a few months.
Against this background, it is easy to see why the move to MMR is a deeply emotional issue for the former OTR staff. There is no doubt that they would fight to protect their jobs and their organization, and that they would punish the people who took those things away from them. But there are some things about this recall election that suggest that it has nothing to do with OTR.
Next time: The Recall Petition
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February 23, 2006 at 7:08 pm
Excellent as usual Christine. You stay very focused, concise and simple.
Sometimes less really is more. I’m looking forward to the next installment.
Tina
February 24, 2006 at 1:24 pm
Fox news could learn a thing or two from you. No B.S., no spin. Just the facts ma’am, just the facts!
Kristi
February 25, 2006 at 11:24 am
Thank you both for the comments & support. I’ve worked very hard to gather the information, and explain it in such a way that others benefit from my work. This has been one of the more difficult and time consuming subjects I’ve explored … there are so many layers to peel in this story.
I am still hoping to hear from Citizens for Better Government, and other people involved in the recall. However I have had great success with Richard and Judy Gute, Jason MacDonald & the staff of MMR, and some bloggers and forum participants, and I want to be sure they are recognized for their assistance.