Republican Shiawassee Prosecutor Randy Colbry faces Ann Gamboe Hall this November. Ann is the Democratic candidate and an Owosso attorney. You can see the Argus Press article on this race here. The thought of Colbry winning this one just makes me sick. Randy Colbry should have been recalled after the way that he handled the situation with Drain Commissioners Gary Holzhausen and Bernie Butcher. ...

So I’ve been meaning to write about this grievance that was filed by Seargent Harkness (Road Patrol), regarding a schedule change. The grievance went before the board last week. Apparently the Department changed some work schedules in violation of the union contract. Sgt Harkness was required to go to training on a Friday, which would have required that he be paid overtime for that day. ...

    A few months ago, a group of us bloggers decided to target Shiawassee County during Sunshine Week. We were going to flood the county and the municipalities with requests for public information. Of particular interest were documents relevant to the Drain Office case and the County Administrator’s budget. We were going to target both Democrats and Republicans … ...

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 t...

Forums have been busy this week –     ·Discussion on the various dog laws in Shiawassee     ·Lively debate about Iraq, America, Clinton’s legacy, etc.     ·The drain office thread is revived     ·More on the validity of Margaret McAvoy’s contract     &mi...

    Some recent press …. The Argus Press Blog Calls McAvoy Contract Into Question (1) (512KB jpg) Blog Calls McAvoy Contract Into Question (2) (127KB jpg) The Flint Journal Ex-Drain Chief Raises $2,000 To Help Fight Charges (271KB jpg) Drain Office Case Full Of Holes (my letter in response to the Ex-Drain Chief article) (175KB jpg) ...

    Just a few thoughts on county attorney Bonnie Toskey … First of all, Ms. Toskey signed Margaret’s contract. Ok, she’s the county attorney … no big deal. Then she’s asked to render a legal opinion on the validity of that contract. Ok, she’s the county attorney … no big deal. Then she reportedly gives the opinion to Margaret McAvoy pr...

Regarding the McAvoy contract … In the article in today’s Argus, Dawn Phillips Hertz is reported to have said that the question of the contract is open to interpretation of the state statute. “The question is whether (McAvoy) signing the contract is essential. The negotiations were already done. Was her signature just a formality?” Hertz is an attorney with the Michigan...

It’s possible that Margaret’s August 24 contract, which is backdated to March 22, will expire on March 22 2007. The contract is written to be valid through March 22, 2009. This appears to be in violation of state law. The applicable state law is as follows: The term of the employment contract may extend beyond the terms of the members of the county board of commissioners. The term ...

It’s all politics as we head into the August 8 primary … Steffes V Walden is really heating up. Shiawassee District 3 voters will decide on Tuesday which one of them will face Democrat Jack Johnson in November. Steffes has rallied support among the people who are sick of Walden’s do-nothing attitude and willingness to go along with executive handouts. Walden, a pastor, has supp...

Four updates on the Power Grab series: 1. Finally, the mass media speaks! The Flint Journal reported on this story here: County coordinator could get raise, new title. This article reports that: “Although McAvoy’s job title would change, it doesn’t come with more power or different job responsibilities, labor attorney Bonnie Toskey said.” Contrast this with what Margar...

Note: Please pardon any typos & grammatical errors … I am trying to whip this out before running off to work for the day. On July 2nd I blogged the contract status of our current County Coordinator. As I mentioned in the article, I submitted a FOIA request to get the supporting documents. The county invoked the legal extension to delay my request, putting the deadline for their r...

Power Grab! County Coordinator Plans Move To CEO By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes. –Second Witch, Macbeth Shiawassee County Coordinator Margaret McAvoy is said to be the real decision maker behind the County Board of Commissioners. She moves money between funds to pay the bills. She directs the commissioners and the prosecutor on how to handle the political a...

Tony’s editorial on the outdated assessments is interesting. In his article, he stated that Todd Holzhausen was pressured out of the drain office by the Board of Commissioners. Obviously he doesn’t believe the Holzhausens’ story that Todd quit due to “lack of work”. It seems like Hornus would do an editorial about unemployment compensation fraud. Hornus has no probl...