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Welcome Argus ReadersVernon Harvest Festival. Durand Railroad Days. Byron Family Fun. Laingsburg Spring Festival. Every year the people of Shiawassee gather to celebrate our communities. We come together to show off the food that we grow and the things that we make, and to compete in the spirit of fun and friendship. Every piece of our county has its own unique history and traditions, and faces its own kind of challenges. We are proud of our hometowns, and Shiawassee County is big enough for all of them.
Where is the truth?
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I came into this series of articles looking for the truth, and I expected to find it somewhere between the accusations of Citizens for Better Government (Citizens) and the responses of Richard and Judy Gute. After several days of research I can say with certainty that I am still missing some of the pieces. I do not have all of the truth. But of the truth that I did find, none of it was on the side of Citizens.
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Members of Citizens have stated repeatedly that this recall is about the contract with MMR, but the facts of this recall contradict their claim. Why have they only targeted two people, instead of all five who voted to bring MMR to Owosso Township? If the cause of the recall was the August vote on MMR, then how could the recall already be underway in May? Why did Sherman Garnett mention the “city fathers” and “the group” when he first mentioned the recall?
I am not interested in calling anyone a liar; in fact there are some members of Citizens whom I used to call friends. But those friendships were outside the realm of politics, and many years have passed between us. Nevertheless, I choose to believe that they are still the good people I knew long ago. That leaves me wondering, why are they doing this? What are my old friends really after?
Nor do I want to suggest that the former employees of Owosso Township Rescue are insincere. They worked very hard and took great pride in OTR, and many of them were genuinely upset by the transition to MMR. But their passion for OTR cannot make August 2005 precede May 2005. Their anger can fuel the legwork of this campaign, but it cannot put truth in their accusations. Do these former members of OTR really believe the things that they are saying? Were they promised something in return for a successful recall? Were they assured the return of the former OTR, or a merger of public safety services with the City of Owosso? Have they engaged in some ‘secret maneuverings’ of their own?
The leaders of this recall have been dishonest about many things. They’ve been dishonest about equipment, they’ve been dishonest about jobs, they’ve been dishonest about ‘secret meetings’, and they’ve been dishonest about MMR. They haven’t even been honest about the number of people who circulated their petitions.1 I approached this subject from every angle, and still found layer upon layer of deceit. If there is a good reason for this recall, it is buried deep beneath these lies.
Blackball
One of the most disturbing scenes I have ever witnessed in Shiawassee politics is the campaign of defamation against MMR. In April 2005, Bill McNamera publicly claimed that the “county will blackball MMR”. And “blackball MMR” they have, to the point of going door to door and allegedly telling residents that a person died because of MMR. On September 3, 2005, Shiawassee County dispatch took nearly 2 minutes to tone MMR after receiving a 911 call.2 Why did it take so long?
No one wants to suggest that such a delay was intentional, but how can we avoid asking that question?
MMR was invited to Owosso Charter Township by a majority vote of the township board, and has invested thousands of dollars into local rescue operations. MMR has hired the qualified OTR staff members and provided them with the higher wages and employee benefits that Owosso Township could not afford to provide. In exchange, MMR was met with an unbroken chain of malicious attacks on its integrity and competence. This is not how my Shiawassee welcomes newcomers.
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It is clear to me that this recall has nothing to do with MMR/OTR. The situation with OTR provided an event to demagogue and gave Citizens a pool of grassroots labor. Ironically, some of the people fueling this recall were involved with Team 21, and later, SEDP. The mission of SEDP is to bring jobs and wages to our community. Isn’t that what MMR has done?
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Gatekeepers
What Citizens lacks in honesty, it has made up for in the persistence of its message: ‘only paranoid people question our motives’.
Perhaps, but it doesn’t take a paranoid person to read a calendar. The cold hard fact is that something that happened in August could not have caused Sherman Garnett to start a recall three months earlier.
In part 4, I said a charter was like a gate that protects the township from a large neighbor. The township board then, is the gatekeeper, keeping careful watch over what comes in, and how much tax money goes out. The board decides under which conditions the gate is opened.
I spent most of Tuesday, Feb 21, at the Owosso Township Hall in the company of Judy Gute. I looked through township board minutes and the contracts relevant to MMR. I asked questions, and she answered. When she couldn’t answer a question, she gave me the name of someone who could.
And then we started talking about how her husband Richard worked his way up the corporate ladder; sometimes making the right decisions, and sometimes not. We talked about how she and Richard were on unemployment for awhile, but still managed to provide for their young children, and save a few dollars each week. We talked about how her son came home from school one day feeling sad for a classmate, because her family was so poor that her mom had to make her clothes, and the girl was always being teased by the other kids. We talked about how much it can hurt to grow up in Shiawassee when you don’t come from the ‘right’ family. We talked about how frightening it can be to face our golden years on a fixed income.
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Judy is one of the gatekeepers for Owosso Charter Township. Is it any wonder that the township was able to pay cash for their drain assessments, saving residents approximately $65,000 in interest payments? Is it any wonder that the township is able to build a new fire hall without any new assessments or millage requests?3 |
Some of the Citizens have accused the Gutes of being arrogant. I spent a lot of time with Judy Gute and never felt that I was in the presence of an arrogant person. If anything, I thought Judy had been humbled by the harsh realities of life. Like most of us, she understands what it means to be beaten down by circumstance, and she is fiercly protective of the residents she serves.
Looking back on that conversation I can see why some people wouldn’t like Judy Gute. Not because she is arrogant or treats constituents like children, as some have accused. No, they don’t like her because she asks questions. She challenges people. If you want her support on a project, then you have to convince her that your project is right for the people of Owosso Charter Township. That’s not the same thing as convincing her that your project is right for your city.
Endgame
| We all know the story of the Trojan horse: despite many victories in battle, Odysseus could not break down the walls of Troy. So instead of breaking them down, Odysseus decided to trick the people into opening their gates. He built a large, hollow wooden horse and hid his best men inside. To create the appearance of peace, he sent his ships away and presented the horse as a gift to the people of Troy. The people opened the gates to the city and brought in the horse. Odysseus then conquered Troy. |  |
Tomorrow, the people of Owosso Charter Township will decide on whether they will accept Citizens’ gift of the large hollow horse. If they do, they will greatly weaken their protection against an aggressive neighbor.
I have always believed that we, the people, are all in this world together, and I have a particular fondness for the people of Shiawassee County. We are all connected by the things we hold most dear; family and friends, employers and employees. Memories of the houses where we grew up, and the parks where we played. We are all bound to each other by this web that we create as we live our lives. It is because of this web that our generosity and our love for each other can cross boundaries and span generations. It is this web of relationships that brings us together every year to celebrate our communities. It is this web that makes the fabric of Shiawassee so precious to me.
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But there is a spider in our web, and it is spinning a new landscape for Shiawassee; not one that is based on cooperation and trust, but one that is based on trickery and deceit. One where the resources of the townships are sacrificed for the good of the cities. One where people have fewer choices, but pay higher taxes. One where money flows from the pockets of the people to the coffers of the power brokers. When a man starts a recall because the “fathers” of the neighboring city do not like his township government, could it be any clearer that we have a spider in the web? |
This threat must be seen for what it is, and it must be contained. Had we in Caledonia done our jobs a few years ago, the threat would have been stopped here and the Gutes would not be facing a recall now. But we didn’t see it for what it was, and now it preys on the people of Owosso Township. If it is successful there, it could be just a few years before the city of Owosso provides all of us with water, sewer, safety, and other public services. It could be just a few years before our townships start giving away our land. It could be just a few years before the townships subsidize the cities.
It could be just a few years before Shiawassee County is only big enough for Owosso.
1"Over 60 active supporters have joined our program to date. These citizens went door-to-door, obtaining signatures on the petition for recall." –Sherman Garnett, Letter to the Editor, February 18, 2006. Contrast this statement to the legal record of petitioners. You can view the record in this zipped excel spreadsheet or at this website.
2 http://owossotownshiprecall.blogspot.com/2006/02/74.html, February 23, 2006
3 http://owossotownshiprecall.blogspot.com/2006/02/77.html, February 27, 2006
Thank You so much for all your work on this.It is very eye opening, and I think you have this 100% correct. I hope the right people have seen your work. Thanks Again. MJL
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Thank you very much for taking the time to comment. It means alot to me.
I certainly learned alot writing this series!
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Not only has this series been well researched, but the graphics are great!!
Again, I can’t thank you enough Christine for all of your hard work and dedication.
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Considering the fact that I too grew up in Shiawassee, I can relate to those who were made fun of as they either didn’t have the right clothes, a new car or fit the mold that others expected. It is a lesson that I carried with me as an adult. I knew of the pain it caused and vowed to never make anyone feel insignificant.
I have watched over the years, the factories that were expected to be here for generations to come disappear, while the leaders of the community saw fit for those jobs to be outsourced to Mexico. This county needs the pride and protection like to Gute’s have offered and it is a shame that such a “witch hunt” has taken place. I only goes to show that the wrong kind of unchecked power corrupts and the power of persuation sometimes is too much when the facts are not known. Thank you Christine for you tireless effort to educate the citizens of Shiawassee to the truth as well as we may ever know it and cutting through the “spun web” of corruption and distraction.
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Tina – thanks! I use (& recommend) Stock Xchng (http://www.sxc.hu/) for royalty free photos. Great site!
NB – Thanks for the comments. My family moved here when I was in 4th grade, and I remember how I longed to be accepted. 5 years after we moved to Corunna, my little brother was at his 4th Grade Field Day (Elsa Meyer). He wandered over to his teacher, who was sitting with some parents and their kids, and his teacher told him to “go away, you don’t belong over here.” I’ll never forget that, and I’ve never forgiven that teacher for saying that to him. I actually thought about calling that teacher after my brother died, to let him know that I remembered what he did. But that was for no other reason than to lash out at him, so I didn’t do it.
When I was at CHS, I used to think that I’d like to go to Owosso HS because at a bigger school, everyone would be equal and you wouldn’t have little groups of favorites … pretty naive of me, eh? That was an interesting discussion with Judy Gute, as her children went to Owosso HS and had experiences similar to my own.
After high school, many of my classmates went to work in those factories that are now long gone. I had a discussion with someone who told me that those employers had the right to take their jobs and leave, and they didn’t owe us anything. I couldn’t have disagreed more. I think that when you come to Shiawassee and you use our labor (best in the state, thankyouverymuch), and our tax incentives, and our natural resources, and we build your product and we make it competitive in its market, then you do owe us something. If not legally, then morally. I can’t think of anyone in a leadership position who wouldn’t have worked with those employers to help keep them competitive in the new global marketplace. I feel that the American middle class was sleeping while the world changed, and we definitely overslept.
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