Merger Studies

Eleven years ago the Cities of Iron River and
Stambaugh and the Village of Mineral Hills
became the first local municipalities in the
State of Michigan to combine into one entity.

In view of the State of Michigan’s financial
condition, is the time right for more of these
types of mergers for other cities, villages and,
in particular, school districts? In a period of
declining populations, merged entities would
be better able to provide the taxpayers good
police protection, fire protection, etc, when the
State is proposing reducing revenue sharing for
everyone.

I am not advocating this as a solution, but I am
advocating the study of the advantages or
disadvantages for mergers as a possible solution
to declining municipal income.

The City of Iron River Commissioners voted at
their March 2010 meeting to study and evaluate
the City’s charter. Maybe this is the time for
others to talk and conduct similar studies as well.

Ben Smith

====================================

The 2010 census numbers are finally available. The
City of Iron River experienced a reduction of about
10.5% for the decade. The 2010 population was 3029.

The Iron County population shrank as well, with a new
total of 11,817 representing a decrease of about 10%
for the decade. For both the city and county, about 1
person out of every 10 you know now will not be here
for the 2020 census.

Considering that the published state estimate for Iron
County's population was 11,633, we didn't lose quite
as many as had been estimated.

You can find the census data on the internet at:

http://www.michigan.gov/cgi/0,1607,7-158-54534-252541--,00.html

Bill Vajk

Northstar Hospital Report 2010Q4

The fourth quarter financial report for the
Northstar Hospital in Iron River is now
online and available. The reason the public
has access to these reports is because
Northstar requested and received the
proceeds from a municipal bond in the
amount of $23,150,000 with a total of
$25 million authorized.

The latest report may be found at:

http://www.firstriver.com/continuing-disclosure/PDFs/NHS_FY2010Q4DisclosurePackage.pdf

The loss from operations is $2,609,000 for
2010. The word "default" appears in a number
of places throughout the report.

What is interesting is that on a total revenue of
$ 34,484,000 the operation resulted in a deficit
of 2,282,000 of revenue compared to expenses.
That approximates a 6.6% loss. The historical
record shown by the report on page shows that
annually the deficit has been increasing since
2007, the last time the ratio was positive instead
of negative as it is now.

The report makes much of the new agreements
between Bellin Health of Green Bay, WI.

With an aging population in Iron County, we hope
that Northstar turns some of the numbers around
quickly.

Bill Vajk

Here We Go Again!

With all the hype presently in the news about
outdoor burning in the state of Michigan, I
went about looking at the information available
on the internet and one of the things I found is
a model ordinance put out by the Michigan
Townships Association in conjunction with the
Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
This document may be found at:

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/deq-ess-caap-modelordinance_312507_7.pdf

There's a seriously troubling part. Local
governments in Michigan, the MML and the
Townships Association appear to exhibit no
common sense where it comes to codifying
known constitutional violations, and the
ordinances stand until challenged in the
courts, usually at significant expense to
some taxpayer, the courts, and the
taxpayers at large whose tax money is
expended to attempt to defend the state
or municipality encroachment on our
civil rights.

The model ordinance promotes warrantless
searches by law enforcement officials in the
following paragraph:

"SECTION 15: RIGHT OF ENTRY AND
INSPECTION

"15.00 Right of entry and inspection.

"The Fire Chief or any authorized officer, agent,
employee or representative of the [Pick one:
county, city, village or township] of [name] who
presents credentials may inspect any property
for the purpose of ascertaining compliance with
the provisions of this ordinance."

The fourth and fourteenth amendments to the
US Constitution and Paragraph 11 of Article 1
in the Michigan Constitution quite clearly prohibit
such actions.

"The Fourth Amendment (Amendment IV)
to the United States Constitution is the part of
the Bill of Rights which guards against
unreasonable searches and seizures, along with
requiring any warrant to be judicially sanctioned
and supported by probable cause. It was adopted
as a response to the abuse of the writ of assistance,
which is a type of general search warrant, in the
American Revolution. Search and arrest should be
limited in scope according to specific information
supplied to the issuing court, usually by a
law enforcement officer, who has sworn by it."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

Michigan's constitution says:

"Sec. 11. The person, houses, papers and possessions
of every person shall be secure from unreasonable
searches and seizures. No warrant to search any place
or to seize any person or things shall issue without
describing them, nor without probable cause,
supported by oath or affirmation."

The final sentence of this section, that is here omitted,
was declared void as non-complying with the US
Constitution in 1969 and 1970.

http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/publications/constitution.pdf

What is sadder yet is that the individuals who pass
such ordinances are usually immunized for authorizing
legislation they know in advance to be illegal. that
doesn't seem reasonable.

But the story doesn't end there. The alleged purpose
of banning garbage burning is to reduce pollution by
sending our trash to landfills. Rural Michigan has been
burning trash, or illegally burying it, for more than
100 years.

Let's look at the alternative, that is, to send all
household trash to landfills. It seems, when all the
elements are examined, to be a false economy in
terms of the ecological costs.

First, a large parcel of land must be dedicated to
being a landfill. If it wasn't excavated for some
economic reason (a mining operation of some sort)
the land must be excavated, and lined with a water
impervious barrier. Usually the barrier is several
layers thick with sand or gravel or clay in between
and an array of leakage sensors installed that has
to be monitored "forever!"

Next, the household trash must be collected. That
has not been done in rural areas such as Iron
County's because generally the population density is
very low, resulting in long distances driven by rubbish
collectors to collect relatively small amounts of trash.
Consider the labor required for this activity and the
amount of pollution caused by the trucks thus
involved.

Once collected, the trash is dumped at a transfer
station where larger vehicles take up the load. Once
again heavy machinery is involved and more
pollution in handling the trash a second time.

Now the trash makes a journey to the landfill, with
more truck pollution as a result. How much pollution
depends on how far away the landfill facility is.

At the landfill, the trash is dumped, but then it is
further processed and buried using heavy machinery
with more resulting pollution form those machines
that aren't subject to any sort of pollution regulation
since they're never used on highways.

With the trash buried you'd think we're done, but no,
actually we're just at the beginning of another type
of cycle, the biochemical deterioration of the trash
some of which goes on for at least decades, some
for centuries.

The first product is methane. If not tapped using
well style equipment tons and tons of the stuff,
a carbohydrate gas (CH4), spews into the atmosphere.
It is a greenhouse gas. Even where tapped and used
for electrical generation one primary end product is
carbon dioxide. The carbon component is not reduced
in the burning process.

In the end, all that transferring household trash to
landfills does is to increase the net pollution by
whatever it takes to transport trash from the home
of a consumer to a landfill. The pollution content
of the trash always remains the same, and over time
all of it ends up back in the environment.

To require household trash to be buried in a landfill
is simply relocating the pollution out of sight of
the neighbor who complains, in their ignorance,
about the burning of trash. That relocation costs
all of us significant money with a cognizable increase
in the overall pollution in exchange for our efforts.

When I visited England in 2000, homeowners in the
midlands city of Heanor were burning coal in August
to take the chill off the early morning air and to heat
domestic hot water. I'll bet they threw trash in there
to save on the amount of coal they were burning and
to reduce the overall pollution resulting from their
trash being hauled to a landfill.

It seems to me the more "civilized" (a misnomer that
should be read "regulated") we become the more it
costs us, and nothing we've achieved has significantly
reduced the amount of pollution each of us contributes
to the whole.

Bill Vajk

Airport Committee Meeting

The minutes for the Iron County Ad Hoc Airport
Committee meeting of 3/10/2011 are posted at:

http://www.angelfire.com/planet/iron-river/110310-airport.pdf

This is a hot topic here in Iron County, Michigan.
We will keep our readers appraised as information
becomes available.

If suitable justification can be found to support
a new airport that presents it as more than a
convenience for a few businessmen then we
should all embrace it. At the moment it seems
unlikely the committee members can legitimately
make a valid case for county involvement.

In any event, there's no reason the businessmen
who would benefit the most cannot create their
own private airport. If a new airport is such a great
idea, then it should present a business opportunity
that can afford the businesspeople involved a viable
profit center.

If it is to be a money pit, Iron County needs to
steer clear. It would be interesting to see a written
justification for county involvement in the existing
airports that, absent a justification able to
withstand public scrutiny, should probably be
closed and sold off. The money currently spent
on behalf of a select few would be better spent
subsidizing badly needed public transportation
in Iron County.

Consider the absurdity of a county with a collapsing
economy and a collapsing population (estimated to
be smaller than 12,000) supporting two airports
with a third airport proposed.

Vilas County, Wisconsin, has recognized that the
largest part of their housing is occupied only for
part of the year. It would be interesting to know
how Iron County would fare if a similar census
were undertaken.

Bill Vajk

Tri-County Meeting Announcement

Contact: Wendy Gehlhoff
Phone: 715-528-3294

Contact: Bruce Orttenburger
Phone: 906-774-2002

ENTREPRENEURS & INVENTORS CLUB
MEETING

Aurora, WI-- “Taking the Fear out of
Financing Your Business” is the topic
for the next Upper Menominee River
Entrepreneurs & Inventors Club meeting
Thursday, March 31st, from 6:00pm –
7:30pm. The meeting will take place in
NWTC’s Woodland Kitchen and Business
Incubator large classroom at the Hillcrest
Elementary School located at the
intersection of County N and B just west
of Aurora, WI in Florence County.

Do you have a great idea for a new business,
but are unsure how to get the start-up
financing you need? Does sitting down with
your local commercial lender make your
palms sweat? Then why not learn directly
from a commercial lender what information
lenders require, what pro forma financial
statements are and why you need them,
and how best to present your financing
request. Our speaker, Chad Skinner, has
been with CoVantage Credit Union in Crystal
Falls for ten years, the last six as a
Commercial Loan Representative. Prior to
that, he took time to gain retail experience
in small business. As a commercial loan
representative, Chad spends most of his
time working with business owners to find
solutions that improve their unique financial
situations. CoVantage Credit Union strives to
be the “Best of the Best” at providing its
members outstanding value and exceptional
service.

After our speaker’s 30 minute presentation,
there will be question and answer time followed
by informal group networking. Taking time to
network with other business owners,
entrepreneurs and business resource people
to learn from their experiences will help you
improve your current business, start a new
business or develop an invention. These
meetings are free for Wisconsin or Michigan
residents. Sponsoring agencies include Florence
County Economic Development, Dickinson Area
Partnership, Marinette County Association for
Business and Industry and NWTC.

For more information or to request special
accommodations, please call Wendy Gehlhoff
(Florence County Economic Development
715-528-3294) or Bruce Orttenburger (Dickinson
Area Partnership 906-774-2002).

Question

The following letter was submitted to a number
of newspapers around the state for publication in
their "letters to the editor."

I am facing a decision whether to pursue an
appeal in the federal courts. It is a costly and
time consuming exercise to undertake. Or
should I permit very bad case law to
permanently do the following.

First: Decide the entire issue of “fee for service”
as opposed to penalty or tax in favor of
municipalities any time they write “This is a fee
for service” into any ridiculous ordinance they
decide to pass. The effect of this is to strip most
of the protections against fund raising initiatives
presently forbidden by Michigan’s Headlee
Amendment and the Bolt vs. Lansing case.

Second: Strip some significant protections of
the 14th Amendment. Municipalities and states
would to longer have to take you before a judge
in order to demand payment for a parking or
speeding ticket or ordinance violation. There’s
a speed limit sign posted, you were speeding,
pay the penalty, no court is necessary! Under
the new federal court judgment, they can simply
write an ordinance requiring payment in 30 days.
If not paid, they would be allowed to charge that
penalty against your water bill. Then, if that’s
not paid, it will go against your property taxes,
and the county treasurer will collect. You’ll
eventually pay the penalty, even when you
weren’t responsible in the first place. Maybe
the police officer wrote down a wrong license
plate number. You’ll have no option other than
to pay, but wouldn’t that streamline the courts
and make things easy for the cities?

The case is #2:10-cv-114 in the Western District
of Michigan. Google “Vajk v. Iron River” to access
the judgment in question. I’d appreciate your
opinion mailed to me at 413 Plum Street, Iron
River MI 49935. Thanks. Bill and Gloria Vajk


Bill Vajk

The Iron County Poison Pen Chronicles

It is to the misfortune of Iron County residents
that we have a number of poison pen chronicles
in our midst. Although the definition of poison pen
usually invokes cowardly anonymity as a hallmark,
that isn't always the case.

As usual Wikipedia is on target with their
discussion of this topic:

"A poison pen letter is a letter or note containing
unpleasant, abusive or malicious statements or
accusations about the recipient or a third party.
It is usually sent anonymously. Poison pen letters
are usually composed and sent to upset the
recipient."

Our own local "Shadowman" has reared its
nastiness once again. I probably shouldn't
give this coward a second thought, but its
rantings have actually become slightly amusing
of late.

The quotes that follow were posted on a discussion
forum that's run by "Mr. not ready for prime time
John Faccin," under the auspices of Yahoo's
IronCountyIndependent. Reading what's been
written there lately there's nothing "independent"
about it.

Shadowman professed: "Reading the minutes of
the February 25th and March 4th Special Meeting,
it is not hard to draw a conclusion as why the Board
wanted to eliminate the Animal Control ordinance
and that was expressed by John in his post. There
was no notice of a hearing or acquiring input from
the public on this issue just present a resolution,
accept it and bingo.....problem solved..."

Here's an alert for Shadowman. If the meeting had
been held with no notice, that would be in violation
of Michigan's open meetings act, and Shadowman
should be filing a complaint with the county
prosecutor. But being as anonymous as he deigns
to remain, that becomes impossible, leaving
Shadowman merely a low caliber blowhard.

The facts are, as usual, somewhat different from
the poison pen rantings from Shadowman. Ben
Smith knew of the meeting in advance because
it was announced, and he was able to attend,
thereafter promptly filing his report for this
publication. The Iron Mountain Daily News
published a story about the meeting the very
next day. By the bye, that newspaper justified
the termination of the position by recognizing
two things that are important.

First, the position of dog catcher in Iron County
does not require a full time employee dedicated
to that work. After all we have fewer than 12,000
souls living here.

The second aspect is that a beginning deputy
sheriff in Iron County earns a good bit less than
Tom King was being paid.

Mr. "not ready for prime time" Faccin let loose
with irrational rhetoric, stating among other
nonsense that, "Mr King is Certified by the
State of Michigan to be qualified to do the job."

Let's remember that Tom King was, till recently,
the dog catcher and he most certainly was not
certified as qualified to do the job. Nor did Iron
County obey state law in creating the position
in the first place. The complete record needed to
understand that unlawfulness is available in two
files that IronCountyDoings provides:

www.angelfire.com/planet/iron-river/certification.pdf

Be sure to read all three pages, including the state
law in MCL 287.289b that's included for your
convenience.

and

www.angelfire.com/planet/iron-river/foia-no-education.pdf

that clearly shows that Tom King did not have the
requisite education essential to the certification by
the State of Michigan regarding his qualifications for
the job.

I want to note for the record that Ben Smith and I
are as opposite in political philosophy as is possible.
Ben is an idealistic Democrat and is active in
supporting the Democratic Party and agendas.

Although we disagree on almost everything political,
we share one commonality that makes friendships
by polar opposites not only possible but also
necessary in Iron County. We share an extreme
dislike, dare I say disgust, of the political corruption
we experience in this region. To compare Iron
County politics to those of Boss Hogg in the once
popular TV series "The Dukes of Hazzard" would
be unfair to Boss Hogg.

Shadowman and John Faccin are supporters of
the corrupt administrations that the rest of us
in Iron County hope will soon be nothing but a
bad history. Having participated in support of
that past, they hope to be eventually rewarded
because they believe that similar corruption will
arise again

Newsflash: Not in the lifetime of anyone who is
reading this publication in real time.

Bill Vajk

Iron County Overcharged for Permits

In part the meeting minutes from the Iron County
Finance Committee meeting of January 6, 2011,
states:

"New Business:
Iron Conservation District’s County Enforcing Agent,
Bob Gussert, presented the Iron County Erosion
Control Annual Report for 2010. There were 49
total permits: 39 were Residential, 10 were Non-
Residential and there was also one Gravel Pit
permit. There was $13,855.50 Total Fees collected,
and the Expenses for 2010 were $8,698.34, leaving
a Ending Balance of $5,157.16. This balance will be
applied to the 2011 program for active 2010 projects
and other expenses. Lind made a motion, seconded
by Camp, to accept the 2010 Erosion Control
Report. On Voice Vote, the motion carried."

It is clear that the cost of regulating that which the
permits were designed to oversee was significantly
less than the "fees" collected. The overcharges
amount to roughly 40% of the total charges. As
such, under the laws of this state, the excessive
charges must be refunded because any excess
amounts to a tax prohibited under the Headlee
Amendment to the Michigan Constitution.

Although there are a number of judicial cases
involved in creating the "case law" that is
controlling of this case, the primary one that
spells everything out is Bolt vs. City of Lansing,
587 NW.2d 264 which ca be found on the
internet at:

www.michbar.org/opinions/supreme/1998/122898/Bolt.html

Briefly, the Michigan Supreme Court identified
three primary criteria that differentiate a
legitimate fee imposed by government as
opposed to a tax or a penalty:

"The first criterion is that a user fee must serve
a regulatory purpose rather than a revenue-
raising purpose."

"A second, and related, criterion is that user fees
must be proportionate to the necessary costs of
the service."

"..this Court articulated a third criterion:
voluntariness."

Obviously those who sought permits did so
voluntarily. But the fact that there was a 40%
overcharge, beyond the cost to government of
regulating, places the charges out of the realm
of a legitimate fee for service because the
charges are not proportionate to the costs of
the service.

The Bolt case refers to, and embraces, another
older finding by the U.S. Supreme Court:

Nat'l Cable Television Ass'n v. United States,
94 S.Ct. 1146.

"In that case the Supreme Court held that, "The
public agency performing those services normally
may exact a fee for a grant which, presumably,
bestows a benefit on the applicant, not shared
by other members of society."

It is clear from the minutes of the Iron County
Finance Committee meeting that benefits will,
illegally, confer advantage to other members of
society from the excess proceeds of the "fees"
charged by a division or a department of the
Iron County Board.

Will this County Board do the right thing and
refund the excessive charges without someone
actually suing them in a court of law to force
this issue? This will provide a measure of the
honesty of the Iron County Board.

Bill Vajk

Finally!

Today, March 4, 2011, the Iron County Board
of Commissioners met with one commissioner
absent (Rosalie King.) Associate Editor Ben Smith
attended this morning's meeting and promptly
filed his report. No other reporters were present
at the meeting.

After discussion, the Board issued a letter to
Mr. Tom King and passed a resolution

Terminating the Funding and Legal
Status of the Animal Control Department
and Repealing the Iron County Animal
Control Ordinance

We have published several times about the issues
surrounding the Iron County position of
Animal Control Officer, speaking out against
the functioning of that office and recommending
the very action that the Board took today. The
June 1 and June 19, 2010 articles are notable,
and Mare Peterson submitted an article about
a prosecution which took place in the Iron County
Trial Court that we published on July 27, 2010.

In short, the position and the problems it
created were nothing short of a mess. That
mess is now finished.

The documents can be found and read at:

www.angelfire.com/planet/iron-river/finally.pdf

The copies were the draft of the documents
approved by the County Board and are marked
DRAFT for that reason.

We congratulate the Board of Commissioners for
the action they took today.

Bill Vajk

Schools in Iron County

We have two school districts here in Iron County,
Michigan. At one time, when transportation was
much slower, and therefore more difficult, we
had more, but consolidation of schools seems to
have arrested just in time that we are presently
stuck with two, along with a continuously
declining population. Unfortunately the official
census numbers for 2010 are not available as
yet, but the estimates we have predict a poor
future for us.

The State of Michigan has published an outlook
for population. Beginning in 2000, we had13,138
souls living here. By 2009 the official estimate
was 11,633, a decline of about 12%. We
experienced a corresponding decrease in student
population for the same period. The West Iron
School District has closed one school and
eliminated at least those programs that the new
Windsor Center says they’ve taken over and are
requesting tax money to fund. In a way, the
school district “mined” the middle school as an
asset by putting off replacing the entire roof on
schedule because they knew they were divesting
themselves of the building. Similarly other
maintenance was avoided or minimized, yielding
some financial advantage to the school district.

That school building was erected in 1929,
providing maintenance issues that will eventually
demand its demise.

Looking at the realities, population has declined,
but the amount of property in Iron County has
remained the same, ergo, the tax base providing
funding our school districts has not experienced
a corresponding decrease. In short, the West
Iron School District has fewer students, fewer
teachers, one less building, and has cut some
after school programs, while having essentially
the same property tax based income.

Shouldn’t our school taxes be reduced since
costs have been dropping? If West Iron School
District had a total student population of 1,
what would happen to our school taxes? Exactly
when do the savings due to a consistently falling
student population, along with a reduction in
services, get reflected in our taxes? Could this
school district justify school taxes if there were
no students at all?

In the past few days, Associate Editor Ben Smith
brought House Bill 4214 to our attention.

“Introduced by Rep. Al Pscholka (R) on February
9, 2011, to add to the conditions that can trigger
the appointment of an Emergency Financial
Manager for fiscally failing municipalities and
school districts, and greatly enhance the powers
of EFMs. They would have the power to cancel
or amend existing government or school
employee union collective bargaining
agreements and other contracts. School EFMs
would have authority over academic matters.
An EFM could also order new borrowing, or put
a property tax millage increase on the ballot.“

http://michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=131260

It is clear that some sort of parachute must be
in place to manage those taxing public bodies
that are failing. Instead of flatly embracing this
bill as the republicans are, or issuing a blanket
condemnation as the democrats have been, it
appears that some elements of the bill are
appropriate. The balance of the bill should be
the subject of negotiation, with significant input
from those whose business is education. The
first time the state thinks the solution to
resurrecting a failing school district is by
voiding contracts we will be in for the ride of a
lifetime involving the three branches of
government, executive, legislative, and
judicial. The resulting lawsuits wind their way
all the way to the US Supreme Court.

Here, in Iron County, we’re doing ourselves a
significant fiscal disservice by maintaining that
artificial East vs. West “better than thou”
dispute that’s gone on beginning at the
establishment of the county. Iron County has
seen the school consolidation many times
before. It is already several decades past the
time that the final consolidation should have
been done, and we should have a single school
district for the entire county.

It won't be a very big school district either!

All that needs to be done initially is the
consolidation into a single administrative arm
running all our schools, with one school board,
initially consisting of all the currently elected
members from both. Eventually the size of
the school board must be reduced to a more
manageable size. That final school board, as
the elected representatives of the people of
Iron County, should be the ones ultimately
making all the decisions about closing buildings
and divesting the responsibility for them.

The situation that exists here in Iron County,
with two school districts for a total population
of less than 12,000 souls, is absurd. It needs to
be fixed. Ultimately, school taxes could probably
be cut by 1/3 without impacting the quality of
the education that the children are receiving.

In fact, less focus on administration means
more attention could be given to the quality
of education.

Here, in Iron County, we are probably far
away from having an “Emergency Financial
Manager” come waltzing in to take over
either of our school districts. Still, we are
very far away from the sort of fiscal
responsibility we’re entitled to.

But it is up to the voting residents of the
county to force such changes.

What’s that going to take?

Bill Vajk

We Need a Secure Broadband

President Obama visited the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
on Thursday, Feb 10th and spoke at Marquette in the
Vandament Center. His purpose was to promote his program
hopeful of enhancing the availability of broadband accessibility
using WiFi as a vehicle in all of rural America

The President praised this country’s spirit for tackling major
and difficult programs to improve communications and
travel in the U.S.A. He began by citing the building of the
transcontinental railway in the mid 1800's, followed by the
CCC programs during the Great Depression, then he
continued with the building of the Interstate highway
system as proposed by Pres. Eisenhower.

(Editor's Note: At Philadelphia's 30th Street Station, formerly
belonging to The Pennsylvania Railroad, is a huge relief mural
entitled The Age of Transportation that begins with man
walking and ends with the airplane. It was a beautiful piece
of art originally commissioned for the Pennsy's Broad Street
Station but moved to 30th Street when station originally
housing the mural was demolished. It was completed in the
1920's or 1930's when the airplane was the latest mode known.)

He then made a comparison with Pres. Kennedy's " Ask not
what your country can do for you, ask rather what you can
do for your country" and explained the historical relationships
of our past endeavors as a nation to the program to make
broadband internet available to the sparsely populated rural
areas of the U.S.A. The once novel requirement that every
home in America should have telephone service available
now extends to the internet.

In a lighter mode the the President asked if their were any
Green Bay Packer fans in the house, and mentioned he was
happy to be among so manyYOOPERS.

Ben Smith was the only reporter from Iron County in
attendance.

Ben Smith

Editor’s Note: We are pleased to have been represented
at this historic event in Marquette by Ben Smith. More
recent events about the internet raise altogether new
challenges to our country with the government proposing
to give POTUS (President of the US) a kill switch to the
internet in the case of a national emergency.

Some years ago (maybe 15) your humble correspondent
and Glen Roberts investigated and wrote an article for
Glen’s publication "Full Disclosure" concerning the
government taking matters into its own hands by
prosecuting children (hackers) who managed to acquire
copies of telephone company practices instead of insisting
that telephone company providers better manage the
security of their online servers.

The same exact problem exists today, with the
government jumping in to secure essential services for
the citizens by wresting an ultimate control tool where
much better, and much safer, alternatives exist. They
cite matters such as power plant control that shouldn’t
be subject to hacking by foreign interests intending to
do our nation and our culture harm.

It is clear, and has been for several decades now, that
in order to maintain security over such matters, a
secondary “internet” must be established that is
connected to only such “trusted systems” (there’s an
entire world of research and discussion available on
that topic) as are of national interest and in deed of
protection from general access by the world at large.

Giving POTUS a kill switch is for a preventative
measure can be taken only once the horse is already
out of the barn. Consider that on 9/11 the terrorists
entire program was executed within a few hours, and
that grounding all aircraft in the US was too little too
late.

Granting POTUS a kill switch for the internet is more
of the same, but worse because it leads to a false sense
of security.

And what is worse yet is that there is no safety built
into the existing system of disseminating information
that promises security for a transmission that transfers
large amounts of money around the world, should the
entire US suddenly go off line during a significant
transfer. At the moment the internet goes dark, who
knows whether or not that transfer was successful. In
fact, who knows where that money actually is? Nobody.

There’s much more to this issue, and it will doubtless
be discussed in depth elsewhere.

But heads up, readers, turning off internet communications
isn’t anything like turning off the lights in your home. We
cannot transfer control of the internet to a single point
command where so many diverse interests are involved
with such repercussions as would fill volumes if cataloged
for discussion.

Who is responsible for my late payment if POTUS kills
the internet just as I am making an on-time payment to
a credit card, or a utility? What happens when my bank
has deducted the money for my account but the payee
never received it?

Bill Vajk

How Does Population Decrease Affect Us?

We keep talking about Iron County’s loss of population but
very few people have looked at the numbers. Unfortunately
the 2010 census numbers aren’t available but the estimates
seem reasonable.


2000 2009 change
Iron County 13,138 11,633 -11.9%

Out of every 10 people you knew in the year 2000, more
than 1 of those people isn’t in Iron County any more.

The most stable is Mansfield Township, where the loss is
5.8%. In Mansfield Township out of every 20 people you
knew back in the year 2000, roughly 1 is no longer with
us.

The source for these numbers is:

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/cgi/cgi_census_cvtr0009_327587_7.pdf

Closing Camp Ottawa cost Iron County 51 jobs. For all the
money spent by government on the new sawmill at Amasa,
how many jobs did that get us in the county?

http://www.senate.michigan.gov/sfa/Publications/Notes/2009Notes/NotesMayJun09lh.pdf

There’s also some concern that the Central School project
that’s supposed to convert that facility into apartments isn’t
going to be funded after all.

With another 11.9% decrease in Iron County’s population
coming in this decade, perhaps someone can explain to me
why anyone in their right mind can think it might be a good
idea to build a new, fancy, expensive airport. Even if it
costs the Iron County taxpayers nothing to actually build
it, what of recurring maintenance and security costs?

And what if it gets partially built and funding dries up,
as it appears to have for the Central School? Can we board
over an airport, partially built? And once partially built,
how do we then manage to get the land back on the tax
rolls?

Bill Vajk

Arport Committee Meeting Report

The Adhoc airport committee of Iron County

met on February 3, 2011. They decided to

continue seeking information concerning the

establishment of a new private airport for the

Iron County area.

To do so they appointed a subcommittee to

recommend a presentation to be made to the

Iron County Board of Commissioners in support

of their position that Iron County can get a grant

funded airport to provide local industrialist owners

with a better and SAFER place to fly their planes

into Iron County.

The meeting was attended by a representative of

U.S. senator Carl Levin, and newly elected State

Senator Casperson. The local media except the

Iron County Doings was NOT in attendance!

Associate editor Ben Smith, who attended the

meeting, also published this article on his web

page at IronCountyVoice.

The adhoc committee spent the entire evening

explaining their position that a new private airport

was needed to accommodate the larger planes of

the local business owners that wished to fly their

JETS or TWIN engine airplanes into Iron County.

During the meeting comments made by members

of the public were attacked routinely by members

of the adhoc airport committee. The only piece of

information received by the committee without

rancor was when this reporter submitted his

credentials.

The committee was unclear as to whether any

funding was still available from a previous grant

to study an airport location. This reporter was told

by a committee member (John Faccin) that I knew

how to get the information (USE THE FOIA

process) that I had requested.

The meeting was attended by three members of

the public plus the representatives of and the

elected senator. The committee is planning on

telling the county commission of their desire to

build such an airport for the benefit of the local

industrialists

Submitted by Ben Smith

….....................................................................................

Editor's Comments:

This was the second meeting of the newly appointed

Airport Committee. The last meeting produced one

page of official minutes that appear to have taken 15

minutes of meeting time. It would be nice to have had

a legitimately thorough set of minutes for the remaining

hour and a quarter that the meeting

took.

It sounds as though this committee was configured to

produce a rubber stamp solution to the desires of two

or three businessmen who are seeking public funds for

their own convenience.

The only questions that are important in these regards is

whether or not the plane owning businessmen will fold up

their tents and move their businesses elsewhere of they

don't get their way.

The answer is, probably not. Hovey Companies is locked

in by contract to renovations for two buildings in Iron

County. They are not unlike the courthouse and hospital

renovations in that relatively little local employment is

implicit in their projects.

Oldenburg Group has a factory in Iron River that would

impose a significant cost to relocate. They have a relatively

new contract that precludes them from moving at this time.

Is it crucial for Oldenburg and a few others from corporate

headquarters to visit the Iron River facility frequently?

Probably not.

Krist Oil is Iron River based. If they moved corporate

headquarters to Eagle River or Kingsford, how much of a

difference would it make in local employment? Probably

insignificant. The Krist Oil management isn't stupid, they

would retain everyone they could even if they moved.

Other than the concerted effort by the three businessmen

to get Iron County to do their will, there's no real incentive

for our public body to become involved in this airport

project at this time.

On the other hand, if the three businessmen were to

contract with Iron County to completely fund all maintenance

and security all objections to a new airport would be disappear

with the posting of a sufficient bond to provide for contract

bound agreement covering the first ten years.

Unfortunately that's not likely to happen.

Bill Vajk

Iron County Population Shrinkage

If you've attended the web page I recommended
in the previous article, you have been exposed to
some ideas about migration. That includes the
generally accepted premise that the most
monetarily aggressive individuals leave regions
that are economically less viable and migrate to
locations that hold better promise for opportunities.

That certainly is true of Iron County. The individuals
we lose are the ones we actually need to keep the
most. These are the people who, with the support of
friends and family, are most likely to be able to start,
or maintain, viable local businesses.

Just as important, if not more so, is the attracting
home of people, families too, who have successfully
acquired experience outside this region. They would
be the ones who could probably most successfully
import new ideas into our community.

Several years ago I proposed a project that would
have brought money, and people, into this community.
It was rejected, in the end, because our local gentry
were unable to figure out how they could personally
profit from the project, and bringing more people
into the community is generally frowned on. Heaven
forbid that new residents (such as myself) might not
see things exactly the same way as members of the
existing power structure!

We desperately need more people in Iron County,
people who work and earn and can move this community
forward.

Have you asked yourself lately what it is that the
Iron County Economic Development Corporation has
achieved for you and for your neighbors? What growth
in this community have you seen in the past 10, or 20,
or 30 years?

How about some input of ideas on how to help the
population, and the economy, of Iron County grow.

A new airport isn't the answer. A new airport would
benefit a few businessmen who are already doing all
the business they can locally. That's a no win project
with the "Airport Committee" being headed up by
the individual who stands to gain the most by the
county building a new airport for him.

So long as our population continues to shrink, there's
nothing we have to offer the economic world that
can't be had elsewhere. Growth begins with having a
well educated, think on their feet, workforce that is
eager and willing to work whenever required. We need
to stop giving the best economic gift we have to other
areas of the US. In Europe they used to call it "the brain
drain" because most of their best emigrated to the US
for better opportunities. Our situation is similar.

It looks like Iron County presently lacks the leadership
necessary to improve our economic situation. If I
were a member of the local leadership I'd get so mad
about the situation that I'd do something positive to
crack the shell of impassivity, and to drive progress
for this community.

Instead the local leadership sits back in their chairs
and promotes rumors like, "Bill Vajk is out to destroy
Iron River" because rumor mongering is easier for
them that doing something, anything, that actually
works towards progress.

Well your rumor is as much hogwash as the progress
you've managed to bring to this community.

Bill Vajk

about some numbers

The personal preference from the standpoint
of writing this newsletter is to avoid you-tube
and other similar presentations. However one
came to my attention that is difficult/impossible
to ignore because the presentations are quite
well thought out and smooth.

http://numbersusa.org/

I hope that everyone reading here will play
out the brief videos that the web page presents
because tomorrow I'll be writing a paper that
considers Iron County in light of the discussions
brought to us by Mr. Beck (and no, that's not
Glenn Beck.)

Bill Vajk

Term Limits

Representative Sharon Tyler (R) Niles, has introduced
a bill to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot
for the next general election that could allow the doubling
of the number of terms that Michigan legislators can
serve. (House Joint Resolution C.)

Currently the limits are 3 terms (6 years) for state
representatives and 2 terms (8 years) for state senators.

The measure is cosponsored by Reps. Greg MacMaster,
Peter MacGregor, Al Pscholka, Matt Lori, Kevin Cotter,
Kenneth Kurtz, Mike Shirkey, Mike Callton, Ken Yonker,
Gail Haines, Hugh D. Crawford, Kurt Damrow, and
Wayne A. Schmidt, all Republicans. There's one list
of "must replace immediately" politicians to be ousted
at the first opportunity.

It looks as though the Tea Party message of the last
election was not received by these legislators. In 1992,
Proposal B that imposes the term limits, was passed by
58.7 percent of the voters. What the public wants is
representation by fresh faces, eager to do the best for
their constituents, rather than prototypical jaded career
politicians who eventually burn out and become more
apt to see to their personal interests than those of the
people.

This philosophy should expand to local governments in
Michigan as well.

The Soviet period philosophy had "people's judges"
appointed a year at a time for much the same reasons.
They did not want the judiciary becoming complacent
in their positions and amassing any significant personal
prestige and power. Common sense prevailed. The
understandings of their rule of law translated succinctly
in the courtroom absent all the superfluous technicalities
we are experiencing in the US today.

Nobody ever made the mistake of claiming that the
soviets were stupid. In this they appear to have been
much smarter than we are. We have only to look at the
incestuous relationships between the various political
bodies in Iron County to understand the dangers of
allowing a small group to run local government over
long periods of time.

We, as a people, should establish term limits for every
elected office in the state.

Bill Vajk

New Iron County Airport

Roughly ten years ago, the populace of Iron County,
Michigan, let it be known that they wanted no part of
the county taking on a new airport. They did this by a
large representation at a County Board of Commissioners
meeting where they let their voices be heard. There was
no doubt about their wishes.

But our two main proponents wanting a new airport for
their own purposes, Messrs. Atanasoff and Oldenburg,
were not dissuaded from the pressures they've continued
to exert on the local political structure.

Oldenburg has a factory at 1520 W. Adams Street in
Iron River. He has his tax exemptions in place and things
are running smoothly for his business that has several
other locations in the region.

The Atanasoffs have a good sized facility at 303 Seldon
Road in Iron River, and has gas stations throughout
northern Wisconsin and the upper peninsula. Recently
Krist Oil, the corporation owned by the Atanasoffs has
started asking for a tax exemption for a tractor rebuilding
facility.

Both are viable, ongoing businesses in Iron County. Both
use airplanes for their corporate purposes. Neither has
given up on pressuring the county for a new, more luxurious,
airport funded by the public. There has been an occasional
mention in county board minutes about a new airport. In
fact, the county board set up an "Airport Committee" that
took the bit in its teeth, illegally appointed additional members
on its own, and failed to hold the public meetings required
by state law. This is what can generally be expected when
an arm of government cowtows to private interests rather
than complying with public interests. The existing committee
was dissolved by the County Board of Commissioners with
an eye to installing a new one, that will operate while complying
with state law, in January 2011.

Despite the absence of any formal County Board approval,
work on a new airport has apparently continued unabated.
It appears that Oldenburg's pilot recently visited the former
state prison in Iron River Township which has been reported
as a potential site for the proposed new airport.

There remain two problems. First, although it is proposed
that a new airport would cost the taxpayers nothing, there
is no plan in place to support ongoing expenses such as
maintenance without added taxation. The taxpayers in
Iron County will never stand for supporting a new airport
that is nothing more than a plaything for those wealthy enough
to own aircraft.

The second is that no satisfactory justification for building a new
airport has been offered by anyone officially involved with Iron
County. The only justification offered reads more like a cargo
cult mentality than anything real.

The two corporate entities that are interested cannot rationally
support an airport. There is no reason the public should support
one for them. When enough usage is demonstrated, a publicly
funded airport should be built. We have not reached that day.
Given our collapsing population and economy, that day doesn't
appear to loom in sight during this century.

Bill Vajk

Windsor Center - history and taxation issues

The Windsor Center is the former Middle School at
Iron River, Michigan. The building was built in 1929
and served, till recently, as a school. It became
surplussed because of a long term depopulation in
this part of the country.

I recommended demolition of this building. The
City of Iron River and the Iron County Economic
Development Corporation (EDC)thought it could be
made into some sort of community center along
with commercial rental properties. I was urging
that the citizens should be asked whether or not
this building should be reused as envisioned by
the few who seemed to think it a good idea.

However the powers that be plunged headlong into
creation of a consortium was that assembled to take
over the ownership and operation of the property as
a not-for-profit operation. The City of Iron River
and adjoining townships were asked to participate.
In the end, interest and participation was limited.

On March 31, 2010, the EDC held a meeting at the
Windsor Center. An excerpt from the local newspaper
had this to say:

"The tour followed a request from the Joint Public
Building Restoration Authority for financial support
from the EDC in funding an engineering feasibility
study to determine the “needs and wants” regarding
upgrading, renovating and remodeling the building.
U.P. Engineers agreed to conduct the study, at a
cost of $6,900.

"The EDC approved accepting a grant request from the
Building Authority."



By May, Second Wave Media reported:

"Development of the former West Iron County Middle
School into a thriving business and community center
is well underway, with new businesses moving in and
an engineering study planned for remodeling this month. "




At a City of Iron River open meeting on July 23, 2010, the
following activity appears in the minutes:

"Articles of Incorporation for the Windsor Recreation Authority
-Rick Commenator: The Joint Public Building Restoration
Administrative Board, which oversees the former WIC Middle
School building is in the process of forming a Windsor Recreation
Authority. The Authority will have the ability to seek millage to
operate, maintain and/or improve the public auditorium and
recreation facility. Commenator explained it is the objective of
the Authority to give voters the opportunity to voice their
approval or disapproval concerning the preservation of the
building by proposing a ½ mill for 5 or 10 years on the
November 2010 ballot. The three other participating
communities (Stambaugh, Bates, and Iron River Townships)
have adopted the Articles of Incorporation. Commenator
noted the WIC School District will not administer the
Recreation program next year."



In our opinion, that approval should have been sought at
the beginning, not so near the end that will result from
voter disapproval!

Last fall a flier was sent out offering educational
opportunities, entertainment, and commercial space
for rent. A request for millage was on the ballot in the
November 2010 election. All millage requests were
generally voted against in that election. The electorate
is quite obviously unwilling to pay additional property
taxes in order to support Windsor Center.

The results of the election have been posted on the Iron
County web page at:



And then the EDC announces:

"Two projects which will be taken off the EDC’s agenda
are the Crystal Manor/Crystal View Apartment project
and the Windsor Center support."



Now that the voters and the EDC have abandoned ship,
and the claim as made to the voters that Windsor Center
requires taxpayer support, what's going to happen to it?
Is the City of Iron River, along with participating three
townships, on the hook for whatever happens to the
property from now on?

Now to the issue that tweaked my interest in the Windsor
Center this time around.

The building has commercial, read "profit making"
businesses as tenants. The property is owned by a not
for profit entity. The rent for commercial space is,
in our opinion, artificially low considering the included
heat and utilities.

What is the tax status of the property. With all the
available vacant commercial properties in Iron County,
it seems that unfair competition is occurring if the
costs for commercial space rental fails to include
property and personal property taxes.

It seems to us that if tax abatements are sought by
the businesses leasing space at Windsor Center, each
of them ought to have gone through the process because
it appears that the building has been put to mixed
usage including retail space which is not subject to
tax abatements.

The process required to achieve tax exemptions is
nicely stated in plain English at:



The Midland MI text follows:

"The State of Michigan’s Public Act 198 of 1974 allows
local governments to grant tax abatements that reduce
both real and personal property taxes on new plants or
investments that rehabilitate obsolete facilities and
equipment. Historically, local governments in Midland
County have been pro-business, granting abatements
for the full twelve year period without terms for large
and small manufacturers.

"The abatement will reduce the amount of real and
personal property tax paid by the company for the
project by roughly 50 percent each or in the case of a
plant rehabilitation project, the obsolete SEV is frozen
and the investment on improvements is 100 percent
exempt from property taxes.

"Eligible businesses include industrial plants that
primarily manufacture or process goods or materials
by physical or chemical change. Related facilities of
Michigan manufacturers such as offices, engineering,
research and development, warehousing or parts
distribution are also eligible for exemption. Schools
are generally not affected due to the school foundation
grant. All or half of the State’s six mills for education
may be abated by the Michigan Economic Development
Corporation (MEDC) if the project warrants and is
approved by the MEDC.

"To receive tax abatement under P.A. 198, the eligible
business must complete a two-step process. The first
step is to file a written request with the local
municipality, before starting the project to be abated,
to establish an Industrial Development District or
Plant Rehabilitation District. After a public hearing,
the legislative body of the local municipality adopts a
resolution establishing the district.

"The second step for the business is then to file a
request with the local municipality to receive an
Industrial Facility Tax (IFT) Certificate, which
entitles the facility to exemption from ad valorem
real and/or personal property taxes for a period of
1 to 12 years. After a public hearing, the legislative
body of the local municipality adopts a resolution
granting the exemption. The approved application is
then submitted to the state of Michigan Tax
Commission and the Michigan Economic
Development Corporation for review and final
approval. Applications are due to the State Tax
Commission by October 31 to be eligible for
exemption in the following year. The State Tax
Commission is ultimately responsible for final
approval and issuance of certificates."

We will send Mr. Jeff Sabotta, the City of Iron River
assessor, a copy of this article with a request that he
provide us with the current tax status of the Windsor
Center since the tax status of that property is generally
unknown at this time.

We will publish his answer here as soon as it is received.

Bill Vajk

Financials and Other Issues - Northstar

Northstar is the name of our local hospital on Ice Lake
Road in Iron River, Michigan.

A municipal bond was authorized and it has been funded
at $23,150,000. The hospital has continuously
experienced a net loss from operations since 2008. We,
in Iron County, should all be concerned.

The second and third quarter reports are available online
at http://tinyurl.com/24os4hw

The reported cumulative loss from operations is identical
for the second and third quarters, standing at $1,087,000.
That probably means that in the third quarter, the hospital
broke even, a significant (positive) advance in their status.
It all depends on how book keeping was done and reported.

The second quarter report contains information provided
by consultants hired to improve the operations of the
hospital. Hiring of a consultant was predicted in an earlier
report in the series. I've read it and recommend it to
anyone who is interested.

The reported increase of the emergency department from
1500 square feet to 9000 square feet seems somewhat
of an overkill. But the purpose here is not to tear the recent
expansion apart because that's a done deal. Current and
future business practices need to be looked at by a cross
section of the community larger than the board of directors.
Unfortunately in the closed setting of such a board of directors,
they are usually spoon fed such information as the CEO and
CFO chose to provide. It would be nice to know more about
how this hospital, such a crucial part of life in Iron County, is
actually operated.

One of the MBA school discussions (master in business
administration) holds that a good manager will supervise
employees by frequent surprise appearances when and
where least expected. A CEO, for example, will come in
through a back door and appear in a production area (in
this case, anywhere that services are provided) without
appearing to notice anything out of line. The mere presence,
and immediate understanding by employees or staff that
their job performance was just reviewed is usually adequate
to instill focus on their individual job related tasks.

When some performance defects are noticed, that information
should be retained by by the CEO, and if improvement is not
noted during later visits, the next higher tier of supervision
should be invited in for a chat with the CEO. The point isn't
to instill fear in employees or staff, but to remind them that
they're part of a larger team that has a mission statement to
live up to.

In reading the consultant review of hospital operations, it
was obvious to me that a corporate culture that grew out
of this hospital beginning as a politically operated entity has
not yet been overcome. Every hospital ought to be operated,
within the confines of the mission statement, as though it were
a profit making business. Good business practices achieve
strengths in those areas that have a demand for services, and
attract their clients through competence.

As a former consultant, I've witnessed companies that hire
expendable consultants for the sole purpose of continuing
business as usual. When the financial situation fails to improve,
the company blamed the consultant, hired an new consultant,
and repeated the cycle several times until a board of directors
either replaced senior management, or the worse case scenario
unfolded and the company went completely under.

The second quarter report can be accessed at:
http://tinyurl.com/2ga55ho

I'm not suggesting that to be the case here and I remain
hopeful that it is not. The next few quarters will tell all of us
whether or not Northstar can become a financially successful
not for profit institution. The economic success of the hospital
is important to our community.

Bill Vajk

Merry Christmas

Data Mining and You

Even those of us who have been involved with
computers long before the general public
became aware of PS's and eventually purchased
one are occasionally surprised by the depth
of the invasion into our personal business
that computers have brought about.

Whose business do you think it is that you
buy certain prescriptions from your local
drug store?

In a recently decided Vermont case, represen-
tative of what's going on everywhere, it turns
out that by the mere act of having a prescription
filled, your information no longer belongs to
you, even if you paid for the product using
cash.

Insurance companies have always gathered
information.We expect that. But there's a
plethora of "data mining" that goes on with
pharmacy information.

Law enforcement regularly reviews the information.
If you are getting more pain controls than they
think appropriate, you're going to be investigated.
Fortunately I've found a non-narcotic medication
to control my back pain. But then, I never did
need enough to raise any eyebrows.

It doesn't end there.

Data mining companies buy the information from
your local pharmacy. It is sold to, among others,
drug manufacturers who then dispatch sales people
to visit your doctor. They're equipped with a full
listing of every prescription your doctor has
written, so they know what drugs to talk your
doctor into prescribing more!

If you're willing to dismiss this as another of
the paranoid "conspiracy theory" sorts of
articles, perhaps you want to take a look at
this court case recently decided in Vermont.

http://tinyurl.com/2eezxoj

"Big brother" isn't very far away.

Bill Vajk

Sticker Shock

It was past time to buy new tires for the
snowplow truck. I always try to reward the
best service oriented businesses with
purchases. That means, in the case of tires,
that I will deal only with a firm that stocks
the items I need and that maintains a large
enough a staff to service all who come in
through the door without relying on making
an appointment for another day.

That's not the way things are done in Iron
County for tire sales. I don't accept a
restaurant requiring me to come back another
day when it is more convenient for them, or
a grocery store, or any other commodity
provider for that matter. I drop firms that
make such demands, and refuse to do business
with them.

If we reward those who provide the best service
on a regular basis, then the entire industry,
whatever it might be, has goals that the
providers can look at as targets. The entire
idea of accepting second best, for the
convenience of a businessman, is self-
defeating over the long haul. We can never
expect better service unless we demand it,
and enforce our demands.

I found that the prices were consist no matter
where I went, a number close to $800 for a
set of four tires, mounted, balances, new
valve stems, and installed. The dealer who
can't get to it till tomorrow because he
doesn't stock the item, or because he doesn't
maintain the manpower to do the installation
today, or whatever excuse he has, charges the
same as the dealer who not only inventories
the product you need but has the manpower
necessary to serve you within a reasonable
amount of time after you walk in his door.

That isn't right in so many ways.

I got my tires and came home thinking about the
experience and the price. President Obama had
announced in September of 2009 that a tariff
would be imposed on tires imported from China.
The first year was taxed at 35%, dropping after
a year to 30% and after 2 years to 25%.

Researching the effect this has had on employment,
the excuse for imposing the tariff, has proved
fruitless. The most recent real numbers I found
available are for 2008. According to the bureau
of labor statistics, there were 21,400 tire
builders employed in the USA and the projected
2008-18 employment change is that this number will
decline rapidly.

If any significant improvement had taken place in
the tire industry we'd certainly have heard about
it from our government a year and two months after
the tariff was imposed. There has been no report
of improvement, or even one of stability in the
industry. Instead the average prices have merely
increased across the board for tires by
approximately 20%.

That means that the on the tires I paid approximately
$800 for, I would have saved about $160 had I bought
them two in August 2009, not very long ago.

Unfortunately few of us outside the US Government
have the information available to determine the
overall effects this huge price increase has had on
us as a country. It seems that in the end, government
has achieved a windfall in taxation, and those
manufacturers who have not exported their high end
tire manufacturing to China have benefited. That
doesn't mean that they didn't ship some of their
manufacturing off shore, only that they didn't send
the work to China, the only country hit with this
tariff.

The odd thing is that the tire industry didn't complain
about jobs going overseas, it was the steel industry
unions that was losing employees as tire manufacturing
moved away.

And apparently it didn't do them any good.

China keeps growing as an industrial power because, at
this moment, they're competitive. In the case of the US
the converse is true, and that, unfortunately, is why
our economy is shrinking.

It is a shame I couldn't buy these tires in Iron County.
There's certainly some competition among our local
providers. But they're all "tomorrow" sales. Not one
is prepared to stand and deliver today with any regularity.

We can never get anything any better unless we demand it.

Bill Vajk

Annual Discussion About Using Christmas in the Name

It is that time of year again. Iron River
will have its "Holiday in Lights" parade
on December 4th. The first year it was called
Christmas in Lights because the objector
wasn't around to quash Christmas in the name.

This year, using the internet, I searched
for communities in our region that use the
word Christmas in the names of their
celebrations. Here's that list I compiled,
doubtless one could find more:

Antigo Bessemer Boulder Junction
Crystal Falls Eagle River Florence
Iron Mountain Ironwood Ishpeming
Rhinelander St. Germain Tomahawk

Just goes to show that it can be done, all
that's necessary is wanting to. The question
is, why doesn't Iron River want to use
Christmas in the name of the celebration? Is
Iron River all that commercial?

Bill Vajk

Michigan's Sacred Cow

The automobile industry has been Michigan's
sacred cow for a long time now. The "Big 3"
market share has been shrinking for a long
time, and it is past time that Michigan
recognize that we cannot afford to skate along
as a one major industry state any longer.

I find that David Littman's analysis of Michigan's
automobile economy is on target while the one from
The Center for Automotive Research has once again
taken a head in the sand political approach to
looking at economic problems.

Michigan had better get used to the idea that
either all large scale manufacturing will
eventually leave this state or right to work
will have to be implemented here. Political
imposition of will over investment capital
only works in the short term. Eventually
capital must flee when faced with such
restrictions as we see in Michigan today.

For those of us old enough to remember
John L. Lewis and the coal miners' union,
we're facing very similar problems here in
Michigan today. The mining industry wanted
some of the corporate profits to be spent on
research and development for new products
from coal to replace the heating demand that
was falling off because it was being replaced
by cleaner oil and natural gas. Lewis and the
union insisted that the workers get every
cent that was available, and that led to the
eventual demise of an entire industry.

Yes, the public always has to support, in
one way or another, the next generation of
industry.

Another alternative might be the unbridled
growth of industrial robots. As time has gone
on, such robots perform increasing percentage
of production jobs. It could come that an
entire automobile assembly plant might employ
a few dozen workers, with all the real work
of assembling cars done by robots.

Yes, taxation of such facilities would be
favorable for the state and local governments,
with lots of income and very few people
demanding services in exchange. But then
where would such equipment be built? China
perhaps?

Do we end up with legislated limits on
reproduction such as China has, and has
had for some time now?

We need people work. And to get that we need
rational growth of both industry and population.
Government bailouts, and subsidies, don't get
us there.

Please read the web page I refer to below. And
as you do, remember the TV commercials that had
Lee Iacocca standing in the foreground while
they imploded an obsolete manufacturing facility
in the background? The thinking in among our
government officials looks only so far as the
next election cycle. We need thinking for this
lifetime, and the next.

http://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/14046

Bill Vajk

P.S. Taking a page out of Iacocca's book, Iron
River's Middle School should probably be
demolished. Are the local governments going to
keep coming back, hopeful of wearing down the
voters who have now spoken on the issue, and
harass us till we comply with their visions to
support a decrepit building (needs a new roof!)
that was built during the Great Depression some
80 years ago?

What of the vision that the voters have expressed?

It isn't as though there aren't enough vacant
buildings in Iron County to house such business
as are presently inhabiting the Middle School.

Statistically Speaking

No place on earth can be reduced to a statistical
description, but statistics do tell us a lot about
a community.

Every once in a while I run across an interesting
web page about Iron County, and the one I'm pointing
the reader to is one of those. Knowing a little
about local government, you have to wonder where
they got some of those numbers.




Bill Vajk

Non-Legal Retribution

On Saturday I filed a motion in the Federal
District Court at Marquette, Michigan. It would
probably be inappropriate for me to comment about
it while the case is before the Court, but I can
share the document with the readers because it
is, after all, a public document and by now all
the parties should have received their copy.

The document may be viewed pasting the following
URL into your browser search line.

www.angelfire.com/planet/iron-river/stay-doc.pdf

Bill Vajk

Another Real Estate Tax Issue

Another issue relating to real estate taxes in
Michigan has been brought to my attention.

State statute relating to one aspect, public
utilities, was ruled on by the Michigan State
Supreme Court on February 5, 2008 in a case
called "Toll Northville Ltd v. Township of
Northville" 734 N.W.2d 902.

State statute MCL 211.34d(1)(b)(vii) reads:

"(viii) Public services. As used in this
subparagraph, "public services" means water
service, sewer service, a primary access road,
natural gas service, electrical service,
telephone service, sidewalks, or street
lighting. For purposes of determining the
taxable value of real property under section
27a, the value of public services is the
amount of increase in true cash value of the
property attributable to the available public
services multiplied by 0.50 and shall be added
in the calendar year following the calendar
year when those public services are initially
available."

The statute can be found at:

http://tinyurl.com/3yknqcx

The Supreme Court held:

"Because public-service improvements located
on public, easements or land that ultimately
becomes public do not constitute 'additions,'
as that term was understood when Proposal A
was enacted, we affirm the judgment of the
Court of Appeals that MCL 211.34d(1)(b)(viii)
is unconstitutional."

The court's opinion may be found at:

http://tinyurl.com/32g8nan

Are most of the properties in the State of Michigan
appraised too high as a result of this court verdict?

Bill Vajk

Midterm Election

There's a midterm election tomorrow. Please
vote. Conservatively speaking, it's the right
thing to do!

It wasn't that long ago that a large portion of
the population in Iron County was riled up and
involved in a recall petition. Wouldn't you think
that for this election the same people would have
candidates all lined up and running for offices?

I haven't seen a sample ballot for this election.
Most places I've lived the newspapers published
them about a week in advance. No such luck here.
So most folks are going to the polls with no idea
about who to elect other than to vote a straight
party ticket and go home for two years.

"If we don't get the millage we asked for, our
municipality will be broke!" That's the news that's
fit to print in this part of the United States.

I guess it is time that the "Taxpayer's Association"
be resurrected, along with the "Upper Peninsula Better
Government Association" in order to foster some
badly needed changes in Iron County. The primary
purpose of these two groups will be to work over
the next two years in order to have no less than
two candidates for every elective post. Both of these
organizations are registered with the Iron County
Clerk, it only takes interest by a few to get them
going. We're not interested in political parties
at all. Each group will accept any political
persuasion so long as there is an interest in filling
all the open spaces on our ballots.

The person who is assured that they will keep their
job no matter how badly they perform always makes for
a lousy employee! That's today's political situation
here in Iron County.

Look at the City of Iron River. The most recent
addition to the City Council couldn't even achieve a
simple majority of the available votes, that is to
say, 15 votes in a city like Iron River. Personally
I'd be ashamed to take that seat, and I would leave
it vacant! But apparently we don't have to worry
about personal pride among our elected representatives.

In any event, the two groups will start on November 3,
2010, with all the hopes that such groups can muster.

I've been quiet with this publication of late. Our
federal lawsuit has been taking some of my time, and
at this stage, with one exception in the next few days,
silence about matters has seemed appropriate. My
apologies to the readers for my preoccupation, but
please bear in mind that this lawsuit itself was
designed to have broader ranging effects. Readiness
to serve fees on water bills are widely utilized by
governments in the Upper Peninsula. Services such
as water, sewer, and trash are the few areas in
which municipalities can, for the most part, skirt
around the Headlee Amendment and Proposition A
which restrict the availability of funds to local
governments.

Can we maintain the financial grip on government
growth that those two people's mandates have imposed?
Bearing in mind the conservative bent that the people
of the state had when imposing those restrictions, how
is it that political mindsets intent on growing large
governments have managed to take over this state at
almost every level?

It is past time to have these discussions, and as our
president says, to get "fired up!" We need to get
fired up locally. Candidates with a fire in their
belly to improve the situation are being sought, but
so far by not enough people. That's what we need to
do, to gather a group that's set to better our community.

My email is bill.vajk@gmail.com

I'd like to hear from you on these matters.

Bill Vajk

Blue Cross in Michigan

In a copyrighted article, the Washington Post
yesterday reported:


"The federal government sued Michigan's largest
health insurer Monday, alleging it abused its
market clout to inflate health-care costs and
impede competition.

"The government alleged that Blue Cross Blue
Shield of Michigan negotiated contracts that
prohibited hospitals from granting deeper
price discounts to other insurers."

The complete article can be found at:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/18/AR2010101805257.html?wprss=rss_business

For less typing, use:

http://tinyurl.com/24j9wj4

Bill Vajk

Iron River Township - Sewer Availability Fee

In recent times, Iron River Township began charging
a fee to all township properties where it appears
that there is a building within 200 feet of an
existing sewer. They have claimed that the authority
for this lies in state law. Please see MCL 333.12757

However, in the case Smith v. Township of Norton,
138 N.W.2d 522 (1965), the court held that:

"Anyone using the services of the township water
system by implication contracts to pay the rates
including charges, fees, and rentals. To charge
nonusers for services made available by its presence
without regard to whether any use is made of the
service or facility is in legal effect a tax and
can be effected only by complying with the statutory
requirements and not by creation of a charge within
the rate structure of the public service."

The facts are the same despite that in Iron River
Township's case the pipe holds sewage instead of
potable water. In short, in my layman's opinion,
Iron River Township must provide all the approvals
required for taxing those who own a building within
close proximity to an existing sewer and comply
with the mandates of the Hadlee Amendment to the
Michigan Constitution in order to charge them for
an "availability of sewer."

Bill Vajk

Better Information

I’ve previously gone on record favoring a new
airport for Iron County, however I can only
support the current proposal if there's a
reasonable economic justification for it.
There’s a newly surfaced rumor that there
are commitments from large corporations and
the pilot's association to pick up the
County’s "match money." Let's have a full
disclosure of the complete story, and trot
out enforceable contracts if they exist. What
of the longer term? Who is destined to pay
security and maintenance for a new airport?
I’d like to see a ripe proposal before
county commitment is made, wouldn't you?

Any place I've lived before moving to Iron
County the travel time to the nearest airport
has been from one to three hours and the
scenery en route has definitely not been as
pretty as it is here. It seems to me that
the real problem is that our local officials
are tired of ferrying economically important
guests to and from the airport at Kingsford
and spending the day with them.

Do the plans for the new airport include
opening manned Chamber of Commerce and the
Economic Development offices next to an
airport security office? Is the addition
of sheriff’s deputies, and equipment,
included in planning and budgeting? Can Iron
County really afford everything this big
beautiful airport entails? Have we gotten
10 people required to hanger their planes
at Iron County to sign lease commitments for
hanger space? Please show me, so I can
believe that the proposed project will
benefit all of us. I want to get behind
those already supporting this project. I
like growth for the County. But general
promises lacking substance aren’t enough to
help me sleep well at night.

This airport project has been in the
background for years. Why isn't more complete
information available? Is it because the
pressure that's coming from the few plane
owners is being poorly answered by the county
rather than our crony network learning to say
"no!"?

Or are our appointed officials simply
representatives of a cargo cult mentality in
Iron County?

"A cargo cult is a religious practice that has
appeared in many traditional tribal societies
in the wake of interaction with technologically
advanced cultures. The cults focus on obtaining
the material wealth (the 'cargo') of the advanced
culture through magic and religious rituals and
practices."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult

Another thought on the matter has long been
expressed by the adage, "If wishes were horses,
beggars would ride."

How is a county that can't afford a new public
service vehicle without a receiving a grant going
to provide ongoing support for an airport that
will only be used by a handful of wealthier
individuals? If the county, through our Economic
Development Corporation, manages to round up 10
individuals who actually want to hanger their
airplanes here, why not encourage those 10 to
pony up an build their own airport as an investment
in the community?

After all, Iron County doesn't own any aircraft!


Bill Vajk

Status of Federal Lawsuit

Our personal federal lawsuit brought complaining of the
Michigan Municipal League, The City of Iron River, and
County of Iron, Michigan is progressing.

All the documents to date are on the internet in two
places, one is at the PACER files in the federal court
system, the other files, put on the internet by the
undersigned, are listed below.

Please copy the url addresses below in order to read the
relevant documents. I have placed them in alphabetical
order.

www.angelfire.com/planet/iron-river/complaint.doc

www.angelfire.com/planet/iron-river/county-dismiss.pdf

www.angelfire.com/planet/iron-river/error-motion.pdf

www.angelfire.com/planet/iron-river/ir-mot_dismiss.pdf

www.angelfire.com/planet/iron-river/mml-mot_dismiss.pdf

www.angelfire.com/planet/iron-river/plaintiff-answers.pdf

www.angelfire.com/planet/iron-river/plaintiff-judgment-on-pleadings.pdf

Bill Vajk