Shiawassee Weekly – March 11, 2007

Shiawassee Weekly – March 11, 2007

(It’s been so long since I’ve written a weekly that I ought to call it a quarterly)

Beauty and the Beast

I’m going to kick off the weekly with big props to the Owosso Players for their production of Beauty and the Beast. If you’re a BB fan and you haven’t seen it on stage, you are really missing out on an awesome show. This is the third time I’ve seen it on stage, and I find something new to enjoy each time. I haven’t seen it in the same place twice … once on Broadway, once at the Fox, and this time in Owosso. Broadway and Fox didn’t strike me as being very different — both were visually stunning and left me wondering how they did certain things. Gaston and Be Our Guest were incredible; you can catch a glance of each in the video preview at the Disney site.

Back to the Owosso production — The Lebowski fire on 2/13 destroyed their stage, props, and costumes. On 2/14 or 2/15 (not sure which), the Players received approval to move the show to the Owosso Middle School auditorium. The show debuted only 10 days after the fire. We hit the matinee on Sunday, March 4.

Overall I was impressed with the show. The production had to replace so much of their stuff and they had so little time to do it, and I really sold them short on their ability to do this. I left that show feeling like a real idiot for not knowing better.

I do wish I could’ve seen the show at the Lebowski, because the stage itself seemed too small for the show and that distracted me a bit. I haven’t seen anything at the Lebowski since I was a kid, so I don’t remember the size of that stage, but the OMS auditorium seemed so inadequate for certain scenes. I cringed during Belle, when all of the townspeople were on stage … I was feeling claustrophobic and I wasn’t even up there. It wasn’t chaotic or anything. It just seemed so tiny.

Lebowski Fire

The fire at the Lebowski Center is now believed to be a result of arson. I’ve been trying to write about this for a week and I don’t know what to say.

I’m just so relieved that no one was in the building during the fire. The Players had been rehearsing every night and this fire started shortly after they left. I don’t want to think about what would’ve happened had they been there when the fire started.

I noticed on Monday, 3/5, that there were reward signs posted outside the theater. Another local blogger, Kulardenu, commented here that the nearby bank cameras may provide some info on the events of that evening. I hope this case is solved quickly and someone tells us where the fun is in burning down a building like Lebowski.

On the other hand, believing something is a result of arson is not the same as knowing it to be arson. So there’s a possibility that this was an accidental fire. I know a woman who owned a bar that was destroyed by fire, and it was ‘believed to be arson’ as well. After a lengthy investigation, it was demonstrated (by surveillance video!) that the fire was the result of an electrical problem.

Owosso searches for a new City Manager

Owosso is on the hunt for someone to replace Gregg Guetschow, who submitted his resignation on Feb 5. (discussion on that here, here, and here)

The council is looking for a firm to conduct this search. In this letter to the editor, Owosso resident Kevin Brown weighs in on the consideration for a new manager:

Owosso is not a large city. Our population is less than 20,000 people and has been for as long as the 57 years I’ve been around.

I read of the plans to spend money to engage a “Search Firm” on the scale of what we did while looking for a new Police Chief. Where did we “find” Michael Compeau? Flint. His assistant, Michael Rau? Flint. The Deputy Director for Fire, Michael Bradley? I don’t remember, but I’m pretty sure he didn’t come from much farther.

We recently did a similar search for our Superintendent of Owosso Schools and LO! and BEHOLD! Greg Gray, who worked his way up through the ranks at Owosso Schools, was given the job and just received a very favorable evaluation from our board of education.
So, why do a major, “NATIONWIDE” search for a new MANAGER for our little burg? Why not keep our search closer to home? Run ads in the Argus & Independent, maybe in the Flint, Lansing, Grand Rapids and even Detroit papers and try to give the job to someone who is already nearby?

As far as the “change” referenced by the speaker at the city council meeting, wouldn’t a LOCAL search meet that “vision”? We don’t need someone coming here from Chicago or Los Angeles or New York City to HELP RUN our town….. I’m sure we could find someone without spending all that $$ on a “Search Firm”.

I don’t know the costs of hiring a firm for the search, and I’m not a resident of Owosso so I don’t have much of an opinion on this anyway. But I will say that a business that specializes in searching for employees can efficiently and effectively run background checks that can prevent losses later. An internal staff that has little experience in this area may use more man hours to do the same work.

However I do understand the concerns of spending more money on the City Manager problem, and Kevin makes some excellent points to consider. The problems with Gregg Guetschow have cost the city a lot of money already. (discussion here) And although I am not an Owosso resident, I do have an interest in them acting intelligently on this matter. Unfortunately, when Owosso is struggling, she usually turns her eye to the nearby resources in her neighboring townships.

County Layoffs

The Shiawassee Health Department announced that it was going to lay off workers as a result of a $500,000 budget shortfall, caused by a dispute between the state and federal governments. Of course, the first thing that this county does is demand that the state send us a check, as we originally expected.

I’m all for funding these programs at the county, state, and federal levels, but the Commissioners need to face the fact that the state doesn’t have any money. It’s obvious to an idiot that you can’t run a county from paycheck to paycheck, yet that’s what these people do. Frankly I’m more than a little irritated by Commissioners asking for asking for state handouts to fund county programs, after they have approved increase after increase after increase in personal salaries and perks for the County Coordinator Administrator and Health Department Directors and other county officials.

I admit, it’s tough to find $500,000 in a hurry. But if this was the Kingdom of Barry and I was in charge, I’d revert funding on certain offices to the 2005 levels and recapture excess funds:

That’s over $272K right there, and I haven’t touched FOC ($56.2K) or Buildings and Grounds ($161.2K). Also notice there are no cuts to social services, sheriff, or jail.

(aside: I hear that Animal Control is raking in quite a profit)

Sure, those are harsh cuts. But let’s be real about this. Has the county realized $132,000 of additional benefits from our court system since 2005? How is your prosecutor doing? Does he need additional resources, or should he just be a little smarter in using what you gave him two years ago? I bet that extra $71K since 2005 went a long way toward taking care of Bernie Butcher. I’m pretty sure I’ve already been clear in my position on the Administrator’s contract.

Now someone will come along and whine about insurance, retirement, competitive salaries, blah blah blah. Costs go up. Stuff happens.

In Barryland, these folks would have to demonstrate a legitimate need that is greater than that of the Maternal and Infant Care Program. If that need could be demonstrated, they would get the money to meet that need. If not, maybe I’d give them a sandwich or something, so I wouldn’t have to send them back empty-handed.

This county hasn’t made an intelligent budget decision in 3 years. Cut back on the fat, and then you won’t have to cut the muscle … like, say, those nurses who work the Maternal and Infant Care program.

And by the way, am I the only one who thinks it’s ridiculous to ask Ball and Garcia, both Republicans in the state legislature, to fund a county program? Republicans in the state legislature are the ones demanding even more cuts to Michigan’s already gutted budget!

(If the board had passed a resolution opposing Republican budget cuts prior to needing these funds, I would’ve been proud of that leadership. This is just bush league.)

Useless Info

The Owosso Independent of Sunday March 4: 29 deaths, 10 births, 26 foreclosures, and 9 jobs.

Check out this old Shianet post, in which I (cpdc) state with all my authority that they probably won’t charge Bernie for anything. I sure pegged that one, didn’t I?

That’s it for this week.

Click here for a copy of the 2007 county budget.

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