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

Iron County People's Voice-page 2

I received an reply from Mr. Mark Eakin, the General
Manager at WIKB, that is worthy of being shared.

"I read your Iron County Doings, thank you for the copy
and for listening. Telephone Time has never to the best
of my knowledge accepted any political talk, candidates
are not allow to advertise doing that time nor do we
speak about issues. The main reason for this is because
we would be swamped and would not have time to put
items on the air or for people looking for items nor our
regular advertisers. Plus those that did not get on would
claim we did not let them on purpose. It would be a no win
situation for us. Our AM station 1230 is talk radio and we
hope to in the near future put a local show on that these
issues can be discussed.

"Thank you again for the copy, I did enjoy reading it.

"Mike Eakin CRMC RMA
General Manager
WIKB 99.1fm WFER 1230am
Iron River Mi."

WIKB cannot be faulted for the position they take, a
position that was easily predictable. The owners have
invested money and can legitimately expect a return
on their investment, and to be sure, a small station in
a sparsely populated region doesn't have the sorts of
return that a similar station in a densely populated
region can achieve for a similar investment.

They're doing the best they can, and we cannot expect
them to give voice to the community's needs any more
than the Iron County Reporter does. I wouldn't hold my
breath for call in political discussions on the AM radio side
of the operation. I take Mr. Eakin's prediction to be more
about discussions about Medicare and so forth by
"experts" in the field, not our local population because
the exact same management views that he expressed
about Telephone Time apply on the AM station.

So the question, and the challenge for the community is,
do enough people want a voice in what happens to all of
us enough to do something positive about it?

Those of us who have been doing a lot of the pulling in
this community are tired of being out there alone with no
support or backup except for rare occasions. If we can
interest enough people, no one will have to carry a large
burden. But it takes the sorts of numbers that only rarely
come together in Iron County for some single issue that
infuriates many people.

I've been relatively silent for the past few weeks because
I am engaged in a federal lawsuit with the City of Iron River,
the County of Iron, and the Michigan Municipal League as
defendants. I am doing all the work on that suit, I have no
lawyers on my team. While I am doing this lawsuit for me,
I am also doing it for everyone who lives in Iron County.

Since all the documents in lawsuits are a matter of public
record anyway, I'll be making all the pleadings in my lawsuit
available online over the next few days. Or you could go to
PACER, which is a courts web page and read it, but there's a
charge involved to each person for that service.

Right now, I've submitted my papers for this go-round, and
have a brief period of peace and quiet, so here I am
working on current issues. The "new county airport" needs
more discussion. Do you want to pay taxes for the maintenance
that airport will require forever in the future? Will you have
any personal use out of it? Can it actually ever improve the
local economy? Or is it just a plaything for a few rich folks
to have the convenience of flying in and out with a shorter
drive to reach destinations in Iron County maintained at your
expense?

I'm not asking anyone else to get quite so heavily involved
as I am, but there's no reason why we can't get some
newsletter and perhaps a monthly, or at least a quarterly
meeting started for folks to formalize their gripes with the
government, and present their ideas of potential solutions.

Please send me email if you have some ideas about creating
a mechanism for the population at large to be heard, and
don't be shy, volunteer if you are able. I promise that if this
thing, whatever it becomes, gets off the ground, nobody will
be asked to donate any more time than you're comfortable
with. You should be aware that we can create a series of
television programs and have the cable providers air them
on the required local access channels, but that sees a highly
limited viewership. Nevertheless it could be a starting point.
And DVD copies are quite cheap as a method of distribution,
cheaper even than print copy.

On the other hand, if you're happy with the way things are,
send me email about that.

My email address is at the top of the page.

Bill Vajk

Where Can People in Iron County Find a Voice?

I was listening to radio station WIKB's "Telephone Time"
program this morning when some old sounding soul
got on the air with Kurt Paro. Among the first words
out of this man's mouth was the word "Medicare" at
which point Kurt cut the line and said something like
"you're not going to get away with that." The average
listener had no idea, from the few words uttered by
this older sounding man, what he was going to say.

I don't listen frequently enough to know whether the
caller has been a regular troublemaker, but I have
listened enough, and talked to enough local people, to
know that Kurt typically quickly censors political any
conversation whenever he's the host on the show,
which is most of the time.

Four things spring immediately to mind as a result.

1) This is an election year with the mood in the USA
is one of great political unrest and a desire for
conversation.

2) Where and how can the people of Iron County voice
their concerns? The local newspaper, The Iron County
Reporter (which I consider a social rag supporting the
local old-crony network and oligarchy) uses a significantly
heavy hand in deciding what they permit to be published,
whether it is on the opinion page or even in paid ads. For
example, the last paid ad I put in the paper was published
in a tiny, almost unreadable, font surrounded by a terrific
amount of white space, typical Iron County corruption at
work. And they actually had the nerve to take my money
and treat me like that.

We have little voice there, unless you're lining up behind
the people who run municipal or county government.
The radio station apparently affords no voice at all unless
it is something people want to buy/sell/give-away or a
paid commercial unless it is something approved by the
local oligarchy.

3) Our Iron County population is aging more quickly than
the rest of the nation, because our young people mostly
can't afford to live here with limited to no job opportunities.
As such, we're significantly interested in hearing anything
and everything about Medicare.

4) While a commercial business like WIKB has a right to
establish the guidelines for what will and will not be permitted
to air, they haven't published that or taken the trouble to
provide notice to the listeners what's fair game.

It seems to me that in a 15 or 30 second announcement once
or twice a week the station could do that, and people wouldn't
hang on for 30 minutes to get on the air only to have Kurt
(shouldn't that be spelled curt?) hang up on them in 5 seconds
or less. Come on, Kurt, fair is fair, and hanging up on a man
like you did today wasn't fair or reasonable.

I'm providing a copy of this article to Mr. Mark Eakin, the
General Manager at WIKB, tomorrow morning. All the
folks at WIKB need to remember that the only reason for
their success is listeners, and satisfying the listeners needs.
Maybe WIKB should think about having someone host a
political call in show for a few hours a week. Or think about
setting aside a fixed half hour time slot of Telephone Time a
few times a week dedicated to political discussion!

If the people of Iron County aren't given a voice somewhere,
they'll eventually find one, and it might end up being one
that WIKB and the Iron County Reporter (more merged
than not these days) don't like.

Frankly I don't care where it is the people find a voice,
I'll support it, so long as they have a voice.

Bill Vajk

At a dinner held at the George Young Recreation
Center on the evening of September 18, 2010, the
Iron County Democrats gathered to meet their
nominees for the upcoming election on November
2nd.

As is a tradition with the local party, the dinner
was held to honor the former chairman of the
County Commission, Lawrence (Larry)
Harrington.

A local attorney, Stephen Tinti, acted as master
of ceremonies. Candidates for the upcoming
election present included Scott Dianda,who is
seeking to succeed. Rep. Mike Lahti, who is
running for the senatorial position for district
#38, was represented by his campaign manager
Jack LaSalle.

Gary McDowell campaigning to succeed Rep. Bart
Stupak, who chose not to run for re-election,
was also present and made an appeal for
support from the Democrats present.

No reporters from the traditional media were
present to interview candidates and interesting
guests.


Ben Smith

N ew Airport - Not Again!

Iron County, through the Economic Development
Corporation and Julie Melchiori is once again
proposing that the county build a new, much
larger, airport. Unfortunately the reasons for a
new airport haven't changed since the last time
when a lot of people showed up for the county
board meeting to voice their opposition. If there
were some legitimacy for a new airport, other than
county funding for a private flying club for a few
wealthy individuals, I would be supporting the
concept.

In general, the public doesn't care about the money
needed to build an airport, perhaps 5% of the total
cost, but what of the ongoing expenses, with no
significant user base to support those costs.

Melchiori told then press that "corporate customers
don't want to make the long drive from Iron
Mountain airport." I have to ask, whose customers
are they? Three names are mentioned by
Melchiori, Hover Companies/Crystal View Place,
Oldenberg Group, and Pine River Hardwoods.

Each of those corporations are already doing business
in Iron County with specific financial and tax
advantages previously granted to entice them here
in the first place. Now they're double dipping at the
taxpayer expense? Get smaller airplanes if
you're coming to Iron County so you can use the
existing airports, yes, count them, two airports
already here. If they don't want to buy another
aircraft and hate the drive so badly (I know for a
fact that Julie Melchiori has provided free taxi
service for Hovey at taxpayer expense) then
rent a smaller aircraft the few times a year that
they actually come to Iron County on business.

Pine River Hardwoods personnel live nearby in
Wisconsin, not a fly-in situation. Oldenberg has
another fifteen or so years tax incentive to keep
the Iron River facility going, so he's not locked
into a new airport to come here. Besides, he has
facilities in nearby Wisconsin and Kingsford,
where he can easily rent a small aircraft if he
wants to fly into Iron River.

There's no justification for a new airport.

By the way, did anyone notice that as a prelude
to the new thrust to building an airport, Krist
Oil dropped the price of gasoline at Iron River
and Crystal Falls to match the regional prices.
Iron County Doings has asked for their
justification for charging typically 15 cents
per gallon above regional prices, driving
many who live here to buy their gasoline in
other counties, damaging the local economy
through reducing the road taxes collected and
available to our road commission. I didn't
really get an answer, but I never expected one.
But the timing of the price reduction is highly
suspect.

There's a lot more discussion on this topic
but alas I just don't have the time for it as
I am embroiled in a federal lawsuit against
the city of Iron River and Iron County. I
am specifically seeking articles on this topic.

In the meantime, if you have "No Airport"
sign from the last time this community fended
off building one, please put it out. I took this
photo today.


Bill Vajk

Why did this take 10 years?

In February's Manager's Report to the city council,
city manager John Archocosky wrote about the
Department of Public Works (DPW):

"I have also asked that they begin evaluating
equipment that is no longer needed or used by the
City, so it might be placed up for auction. By selling
the unused items, I believe we can consolidate the
remaining items into fewer storage areas, and
therefore can sell the storage buildings that we will
no longer need. This will result in less insurance
and maintenance costs for the City. Further, once
the buildings are sold, they can then be placed on
the tax roll.

"The City crew has also begun to downsize through
attrition, and therefore we no longer have need or
use for some of the older plow trucks, pickups,
and other equipment we acquired through the
consolidation of the three communities in 2000. I
have been meeting with our DPW foreman Dick
Anderson, and our head mechanic Ed Rauterkus
to develop a plan whereby the City can eliminate
some of those unnecessary items, and as with the
buildings, will result in an overall savings. By selling
several of the older pieces of equipment, we will be
able to use the proceeds to make some upgrades
and still reduce the overall size of the fleet. I will be
reviewing this plan with the Council in the near
future, and hope to receive your approval to move
forward with a sale process very soon."

Why has it taken 10 years for the city to begin the
steps to consolidate equipment and services? If
the DPW can get by with less equipment and
fewer personnel, what have those persons been
doing for the past ten years that is of benefit to
the taxpayers?

The March 2010 manager's report provides us
with the results of the auction:

"Following last month’s approval by the Council,
the City DPW has been working on the plan to
eliminate excess equipment and to consolidate the
remaining assets and inventory into fewer locations.
By doing so, I anticipate that the City will be able to
sell two or three of its current storage facilities,
saving both on maintenance and insurance costs.
Further, when these properties are sold, the real
estate can be placed on the tax roll. The recent
auction that was conducted for the City by Nitke
Auctions produced about $14,000 in sales of
equipment that no longer was of use to our DPW.
The miscellaneous revenue that was generated by
the auction will be reinvested in upgrades and
repairs to our existing fleet."

Spring cleaning should be an annual event, no?

Bill Vajk

School Consolidation Revisited

Things are pretty hectic at the moment and I will
eventually have time to write specific comments,
but I thought reading this we page and the places
it leads might get things going.

A beneficial school consolidation requires public
participation in holding costs down.

http://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/13389

Bill Vajk