When Elections No Longer Matter In Bridgeport

MAYBE IT DOESN'T TO THE ELECETED OFFICIALS IN BRIDGEPORT,  BUT IT SHOULD!!!

I have posted multiple times in the past my feelings and thoughts about Lee Carpenter being snuck back onto the Bridgeport Trustee Board under the cover of darkness, without voter knowledge or approval.  You can read my previous posts here on this matter:

Posts concerning Lee Carpenter

There has been an election held since I wrote those posts and of course Lee Carpenter was elected.  That is what happens when someone runs in a democrat stronghold, with no chance of anyone running against them.  I wonder if his buddies knew that was the way things would work out when they snuck him back onto the board in 2019? 

You are probably all sick of hearing about Lee Carpenter, so lets move onto another incident of elected officials in this township disregarding the will of the voters. Let's talk about John Rhines.

John Rhines was a member of the Bridgeport Spaulding School Board and served as the Treasurer.  In the November 2020 election, he clearly lost his bid to be reelected.  Did he lose the confidence of the voters?  I would suspect that is part of the reason that he lost?  Here are the results of that election:

Who you may ask is now sitting on the Bridgeport School Board serving as Treasurer?  Well, that would be John Rhines!  How you may ask did that happen?  Well, another school board member ran for a seat on the Spaulding Township Board in the November 2020 election and he won that seat.  He then resigned his position on the Bridgeport School Board.  That left a position open on the school board.  You would have to ask the school board members themselves how exactly they chose John Rhines to fill that open seat after he had just clearly been voted off the school board by the voters of this township.  I am sure it was all legal, but was it ethical?  Not in my opinion! 

Voters Be Damned In This Township!

My top two blog posts of all time may explain why in my opinion John Rhines should have never been elected to the school board in the first place; and those, with the election results,  why he never should have been put back on that board after his election loss.

Dismissal Of John Rhines' Lawsuit Against Martha Sageman And The Bridgeport Spaulding School Board

The $5,000 Cost Of John Rhines To The Bridgeport Spaulding School District

A 2021 Thank You!

I will be back to posting here and was just reviewing my blog stats.  Over 62,000 views on this blog since I started it back in 2014,  Thank You!!

Here are my top 2 blog posts of all time:

Here are the links to these two posts for those that haven't read them or would like to re-read them:

Dismissal Of John Rhines Lawsuit

The $5,000 Cost Of John Rhines To The Bridgeport

March 10th, 2020 Election In Bridgeport Township

Just a reminder to all Bridgeport Township residents that there is an election on March 10th.  It is for the presidential primary and there will also be three Saginaw County millage & tax proposals on the ballot.
I was unable to find any information about the election on the Bridgeport Township website so I went to the Saginaw County website to get the election information.  You can view all the information on the election at this link:
https://www.saginawcounty.com/departments/county_clerk/elections/index.php

You can also check here to make sure you are registered to vote and also see a sample ballot:
https://mvic.sos.state.mi.us/ 

Bridgeport Township DDA Board Meeting September 11th, 2019

On the agenda:
New Business -
1. Beautification Sub Committee Report begins at 2:05 (no audio until 6:10)
2. Preliminary Draft of Grant Program begins
Old Business - 11:53
1. Demolition of 4418 Williamson Update begins at 24:18
DDA Coordinator's Report begins at 25:20
DDA Member comments begin at 31:15
© 2019 Carla Citizen All Rights Reserved

Bridgeport Township Board Meeting September 3rd, 2019

On the agenda:
Adoption of Agenda begins at 1:37
Approval of Minutes - August 6th, 2019 Regular Meeting begins at 2:06
Special Orders -
1. Ordinance 19-02 - Rezoning Parcels 09-11-5-25-1002-003 & 09-11-5-25-1002-001 begins at 2:45
2. Ordinance 19-03 - Consumers Energy Contract begins at 6:03
3. IFT Application - Sweeney Metalworking Parcel # 09-11-5-17-1012-000 4450 Marlea  begins at 8:44
Public Comment begins at 9:47
Unfinished Business -
1. Ordinance 19-02 -  Rezoning Parcels 09-11-5-25-1002-003 & 09-11-5-25-1002-001 begins at 29:58
Accounts Payable Checks begins at 31:17
Police Department Report begins at 32:51
Fire Department Report begins at 34:01
Manager's Report begins at 37:53
Board Member Comments begin at 40:45
© 2019 Carla Citizen All Rights Reserved

DDA Informational Meeting August 27th, 2019

On the agenda:
Review of Projects Completed and On-going
1. Beautification Sub Committee (Flowers) begins at 0:15
2. Dixie Hwy. Resurfacing Phase 1 begins at 2:18
3. Cass River Trailhead Park begins at 5:53
4. 4418 Williamson begins at 9:40
5. Update of DDA Board Bylaws begins at 11:15
Projects Proposed for 2020
1. Dixie Hwy. Resurfacing Project Phase 2 begins at 12:05
2. Proposed Parking Area next to Post Office begins at 12:16
3. Possible Business Grant Program begins at 15:48
Public Input begins at 16:52
© 2019 Carla Citizen All Rights Reserved

This was an informal and very informational meeting.  They will be holding another informational meeting later this year, possibly in November.  There were some business and residential people at the meeting that came and asked questions and provided input.  It would be nice to see all the seats full at the next meeting.  The items discussed involve our community and this is the communities chance to ask questions and provide input.  You can always contact anyone in the township anytime you have a question, concern, or suggestions; but this is also a very nice platform for doing it all at one time with more people and the information is shared with a larger audience.

One of the items discussed was the resurfacing of the Dixie Highway from I-75 to Airport.  I will say I think it is very nice and am glad it is done now.  It is really nice to drive on and looks fantastic!  They also discussed the future plans for the resurfacing to be done next year which will be from Airport to Junction, and maybe sometime in the future it would extend farther on Dixie to the Bridgeport Township boundary line it sounds like.  That would be fantastic!!  Especially if it was also done all the way into Birch Run.  It would be lovely to drive that section of Dixie without it pounding on your back & wearing out your vehicle.

Another item that would probably interest residents is the discussion of putting in a parking lot next to the post office.  I know it is a nightmare there for residents trying to get to the post office or other businesses there.  I don’t really have an opinion because I can see, and argue, both sides of the debate on this issue.  If it happens then there will be some happy residents.

Some of the other items discussed were the possible grant program to help local businesses, updates on the property and some possible future plans for the land next to the park area by the historical bridge, updates on the old hotel behind Night Flight Fireworks, Candlelite, and the gas station by Damores toward BV, the portable speed limit signs around Bridgeport.  Please take the time and listen to the meeting, and hopefully more residents will show up at the next meeting.

Bridgeport Township DDA Meeting August 14th, 2019

On the agenda:
Presentation by Marissa Irish - Saginaw County Road Commission per the Dixie Hwy Project Update begins at 2:00
New Business -
1. Miller Group Listing of Properties begins at 9:26
2. Business /Facade Grant Program begins at 12:54
3. Saginaw Future Contribution for 2020 / Budget Discussion begins at 15:42
4. Business Survey begins at 22:47
Old Business -
1. DDA Informational Meeting Tuesday, August 27th @6:30pm begins at 26:08
2. Demolition 4418 Williamson Update begins at 27:00
3. Proposed Parking Lot State Street (next to Post Office) begins at 28:01
DDA Coordinator's Report begins at 40:12
DDA Board Comments begins at 41:15
© 2019 Carla Citizen All Rights Reserved

Bridgeport Spaulding School Board Meeting August 12th, 2019

On the agenda:
1. Building& Grounds/Finance Committee Report begins at 0:44
2. Atkins and Thomas White roof replacement discussion begins at 2:57
3. Consent Agenda - check registers and meeting minutes begins at 4:09
4. Strategic Plan Timeline with MASB Representative Debbie Stair begins at 4:44
5. Facilities Update - Superintendent Whelton begins at 49:58
6. Board and Superintendent Comments begin at 55:58
© 2019 Carla Citizen All Rights Reserved

This meeting was over one hour long because there was a workshop with the MASB representative.  Every minute of this meeting is worth listening to and I hope the community and family members of students will take the time to listen.  The building & grounds, roof replacement, and facilities updates are very informative and shows where the taxpayers money is going and the major progress our school system is making.  The workshop with the MASB rep was very interesting and this is one part that I really hope everyone will take the time to listen to.
Some of the things that were brought up were the lack of community and parental involvement and support, the misperceptions about our schools and students.  I have seen multiple outright lies told and shared online about our students and schools and it makes me angry. 

I am going to share my opinion on something here, fence-sitters, and it may offend some people, but that's life, and you can't please everyone all the time.  Back in the day, many years ago, when I attended Bridgeport schools our community and parental involvement and support for our schools was fantastic.  Our student involvement and pride in our schools was outstanding.  Nowadays there are too many people in this community that say they support our schools, support our community, yet they send their children to schools outside our district. I do understand a parents desire to do what they feel is best for their children, but what about the rest of the children?  When students that live in our district attend school in another district, it hurts our school system and our students.  I believe it also adds to the misperceptions about our district when others see that happening.  Especially when it is done by so called leaders in our community.  If you truly feel that our schools are not good enough for your children, then why don't you get involved and help make our schools the best around our area?  If you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem!
And then there are those that just praise our students and programs like the athletic programs, at least sometimes they do.  If there is a little incident that wrongly gets blown up into a major controversy, then they suddenly pull their support from things like the athletic programs. You never truly supported them did you?  You see all the "rah rah" cheering for our sports teams, as long as they are winning anyways.  If they are not winning, then are you trash talking them?  You people really get on my nerves!

There is No Fence Sitting when it comes to supporting our students, schools, and community.  Either you support them or you don't.  Bridgeport residents need to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Bridgeport Spaulding School Board Finance Committee Meeting August 9th, 2019

This was a meeting of the Building & Grounds and the Finance Committee. The school board members met with representatives of the Wolgast Corporation to discuss current and future projects for the school system, like roof repairs and remodeling projects inside the schools like kitchen and lunchroom facilities.
© 2019 Carla Citizen All Rights Reserved

I have to apologize because it was a last minute decision to attend this meeting and I went unprepared.  Had 2 cameras, one with no memory card, the other with a low battery and no external microphone.  I got all but the last 10 minutes maybe of the meeting recorded. There will probably be a summary of today's meeting presented at the regular school board meeting on Monday, August 12th.

Friday Musings

And You Will Often Stand Alone 

 

The Truth Behind Lies