On Wednesday, July 10th, before the Bridgeport Township DDA board meeting started one of our elected officials stopped to have a talk with me. Another township employee had the same kind of talk with me back in early May. Both of these talks were about my opposition to the township bringing back Lee Carpenter, the man recalled by the voters in 2011, as the new township clerk in April of this year. Both of these talks left me a little shocked. I left that meeting today just shaking my head and asking if he really said those things? My mother attended the meeting with me today and heard every word that was said and she is still shocked also.
The conversation started out normal. He said he was hoping that perhaps he and Lee could sit down and have a meeting with me sometime. I wasn't receptive to that for several reasons. I may not be able to recall everything that was said word for word but I will try to share as much of the conversation with you that I can.
One of the things he said was that he suspected I was getting information from people and he feels that information is wrong. Actually I am not getting information from other people. I am not being influenced by anyone else in this township, not by the people they consider the "naysayers". Someone asked me back in April who was the new township clerk after Darlene Miller retired. My response was that I had no idea, I haven't been going to the meetings, haven't even been reading the emails from the township. So I decided to find out who it was and when I found out in the meeting minutes for April that they had brought Lee Carpenter back I was upset. I have been writing about it ever since, and those posts are my personal feelings and thoughts, and information that I am finding from old news articles and some of my own videos of past meetings etc... The only information I have been getting from "others" is their feedback to my posts that they are as upset as I am that Lee Carpenter has been brought back. Some are more upset than I am. This elected official and his other township friend keep telling me what a good man Lee is, but guess what, not everyone in this township feels that way about him. Whether he is a good man or not is irrelevant. The issue is that he was recalled by the voters, then brought back by his friends in the township government. This is the point that the township government can not seem to understand as to why the voters are opposed to what they have done.
Another thing that was said was that I think this is some kind of conspiracy, plot or whatever by the township government in the handling of bringing Lee Carpenter back. Actually I have been trying to give them the benefit of the doubt in this. When I stand back and look at the whole picture though, step by step, it does look like some kind of conspiracy possibly.
Step 1 - Darlene Miller resigns as the township clerk and the township government never posts an opening for the position. The township government did not appear to make any effort to seek out applicants for the township clerk position. 21 days after Darlene resigns, Lee Carpenter supposedly applies for the position. 3 days prior to that another township resident did apply but was not even granted an interview because she did not have prior experience.
Step 2 - During my "talk" with the other township employee back in May, she admitted that they had a discussion before hiring Lee Carpenter and that they knew his being previously recalled would possibly be a problem with the voters.
Step 3 - Today the township official talked about the lack of interviews and search for other applicants. I believe his remark was "why interview 15 other people when we already knew who we were going to hire?". BINGO!! It sounds as if they were only ever planning on hiring Lee Carpenter, and no one else but him. This remark was one of the ones that shocked me.
Step 4 - After the township board approved the hiring of Lee Carpenter as the new township clerk on April 2nd, there was no official announcement put out by the township government. I would have thought that announcement would have been in the very next issue of the Birch Run Herald. Still no official announcement to this day that the board voted to bring back the man the voters recalled.
So does the lack of the township looking for qualified applicants for the clerk position, the acknowledgement that they knew Lee Carpenter being previously recalled would be a problem, the fact that the township has never announced his hiring, combined with the fact that no profile page was put up for the new township clerk like there is for every other township official until July 9th, equal a conspiracy? It sure could appear to people that the township had no intention of ever hiring anyone else other than their friend Lee, and that they were trying to keep it quiet because they knew the residents might get upset since they had voted to recall him from that very office.
What could be another possible theory for all of this? That they are all just so totally incompetent they are not even capable of running the township?
Another part of the "conspiracy" discussion was about my comments that there may be some that voted for Lee Carpenter because he is "family" and/or "friends" with some of these township officials. I said he voted for him because he is his friend. He didn't disagree. The shocking part of that discussion to me was that it seemed as if he didn't see anything wrong with that. The friendship between Lee and these township government officials clouds their judgement in my opinion.
Another part of the discussion today with this official involved the recalls of 2010 & 2011 and the voters. This part really boggled my mind, and really reaffirmed my belief that it is their arrogance that makes them so out of touch with the residents, so disdainful of the voters. I believe it was during this part of the discussion that I tried to tell him that they do not see things from the voters point of view, they seem to be incapable of seeing that. The voters chose to recall Lee Carpenter and they had no right to bring him back. I feel the township officials truly believe the recall was wrong, that they were in the right. He was going on that it was all based on lies, the voters were basically hoodwinked. Some comments he made I believe were "how many voters do you know that are really engaged?" "how many really care?" "how many really know what is going on?" "those voters almost recalled the entire board". I can't remember every thing he said during this part because it truly upset me. But I felt there was no mistaking the tone of his voice, his disdain for the voters of this township. My mother says this was the most shocking part of the entire conversation, his unmistakable disdain for the voters. I think that the township officials don't feel they have done anything wrong by bringing Lee Carpenter back because they feel the stupid voters were wrong in recalling him.
Another comment made multiple times by this official was along the line of "I can see that this is going to be an issue with you". It is an issue with me, and one that I feel strongly enough about that I will continue speaking out against it until the 2020 election. The voters recalled Lee Carpenter, the township officials brought him back against the voters wishes. I think they will find that it is going to be an "issue" with other voters in this township also.
I don't know if I am able to adequately relay the underlying tone I picked up during this conversation with the township official today. You would have to of been there and heard and seen it for yourself. I left there thinking that talking to them is like beating a dead horse. They will never understand how the voters feel and think, they are incapable of doing so. They are so arrogant, so set in their ways, in their little clique up there, and they will never change. It seems like they stick together, they watch each others backs, they don't want people that might be a threat to their little clique there. The residents of Bridgeport need elected officials that will watch the residents backs, not each others backs. The only way for the voters to see any change in the direction of our township is to vote these people out of office. To be able to vote some of these people out of office we first need honest residents that will step up and run for election, residents that will actually serve their fellow citizens for the citizens benefit, for the entire townships benefit.
Here are my thoughts on the first "talk" that one of our township officials had with me about my opposition to them bringing Lee Carpenter back into our government. My Personal Feelings
The conversation started out normal. He said he was hoping that perhaps he and Lee could sit down and have a meeting with me sometime. I wasn't receptive to that for several reasons. I may not be able to recall everything that was said word for word but I will try to share as much of the conversation with you that I can.
One of the things he said was that he suspected I was getting information from people and he feels that information is wrong. Actually I am not getting information from other people. I am not being influenced by anyone else in this township, not by the people they consider the "naysayers". Someone asked me back in April who was the new township clerk after Darlene Miller retired. My response was that I had no idea, I haven't been going to the meetings, haven't even been reading the emails from the township. So I decided to find out who it was and when I found out in the meeting minutes for April that they had brought Lee Carpenter back I was upset. I have been writing about it ever since, and those posts are my personal feelings and thoughts, and information that I am finding from old news articles and some of my own videos of past meetings etc... The only information I have been getting from "others" is their feedback to my posts that they are as upset as I am that Lee Carpenter has been brought back. Some are more upset than I am. This elected official and his other township friend keep telling me what a good man Lee is, but guess what, not everyone in this township feels that way about him. Whether he is a good man or not is irrelevant. The issue is that he was recalled by the voters, then brought back by his friends in the township government. This is the point that the township government can not seem to understand as to why the voters are opposed to what they have done.
Another thing that was said was that I think this is some kind of conspiracy, plot or whatever by the township government in the handling of bringing Lee Carpenter back. Actually I have been trying to give them the benefit of the doubt in this. When I stand back and look at the whole picture though, step by step, it does look like some kind of conspiracy possibly.
Step 1 - Darlene Miller resigns as the township clerk and the township government never posts an opening for the position. The township government did not appear to make any effort to seek out applicants for the township clerk position. 21 days after Darlene resigns, Lee Carpenter supposedly applies for the position. 3 days prior to that another township resident did apply but was not even granted an interview because she did not have prior experience.
Step 2 - During my "talk" with the other township employee back in May, she admitted that they had a discussion before hiring Lee Carpenter and that they knew his being previously recalled would possibly be a problem with the voters.
Step 3 - Today the township official talked about the lack of interviews and search for other applicants. I believe his remark was "why interview 15 other people when we already knew who we were going to hire?". BINGO!! It sounds as if they were only ever planning on hiring Lee Carpenter, and no one else but him. This remark was one of the ones that shocked me.
Step 4 - After the township board approved the hiring of Lee Carpenter as the new township clerk on April 2nd, there was no official announcement put out by the township government. I would have thought that announcement would have been in the very next issue of the Birch Run Herald. Still no official announcement to this day that the board voted to bring back the man the voters recalled.
So does the lack of the township looking for qualified applicants for the clerk position, the acknowledgement that they knew Lee Carpenter being previously recalled would be a problem, the fact that the township has never announced his hiring, combined with the fact that no profile page was put up for the new township clerk like there is for every other township official until July 9th, equal a conspiracy? It sure could appear to people that the township had no intention of ever hiring anyone else other than their friend Lee, and that they were trying to keep it quiet because they knew the residents might get upset since they had voted to recall him from that very office.
What could be another possible theory for all of this? That they are all just so totally incompetent they are not even capable of running the township?
Another part of the "conspiracy" discussion was about my comments that there may be some that voted for Lee Carpenter because he is "family" and/or "friends" with some of these township officials. I said he voted for him because he is his friend. He didn't disagree. The shocking part of that discussion to me was that it seemed as if he didn't see anything wrong with that. The friendship between Lee and these township government officials clouds their judgement in my opinion.
Another part of the discussion today with this official involved the recalls of 2010 & 2011 and the voters. This part really boggled my mind, and really reaffirmed my belief that it is their arrogance that makes them so out of touch with the residents, so disdainful of the voters. I believe it was during this part of the discussion that I tried to tell him that they do not see things from the voters point of view, they seem to be incapable of seeing that. The voters chose to recall Lee Carpenter and they had no right to bring him back. I feel the township officials truly believe the recall was wrong, that they were in the right. He was going on that it was all based on lies, the voters were basically hoodwinked. Some comments he made I believe were "how many voters do you know that are really engaged?" "how many really care?" "how many really know what is going on?" "those voters almost recalled the entire board". I can't remember every thing he said during this part because it truly upset me. But I felt there was no mistaking the tone of his voice, his disdain for the voters of this township. My mother says this was the most shocking part of the entire conversation, his unmistakable disdain for the voters. I think that the township officials don't feel they have done anything wrong by bringing Lee Carpenter back because they feel the stupid voters were wrong in recalling him.
Another comment made multiple times by this official was along the line of "I can see that this is going to be an issue with you". It is an issue with me, and one that I feel strongly enough about that I will continue speaking out against it until the 2020 election. The voters recalled Lee Carpenter, the township officials brought him back against the voters wishes. I think they will find that it is going to be an "issue" with other voters in this township also.
I don't know if I am able to adequately relay the underlying tone I picked up during this conversation with the township official today. You would have to of been there and heard and seen it for yourself. I left there thinking that talking to them is like beating a dead horse. They will never understand how the voters feel and think, they are incapable of doing so. They are so arrogant, so set in their ways, in their little clique up there, and they will never change. It seems like they stick together, they watch each others backs, they don't want people that might be a threat to their little clique there. The residents of Bridgeport need elected officials that will watch the residents backs, not each others backs. The only way for the voters to see any change in the direction of our township is to vote these people out of office. To be able to vote some of these people out of office we first need honest residents that will step up and run for election, residents that will actually serve their fellow citizens for the citizens benefit, for the entire townships benefit.
Here are my thoughts on the first "talk" that one of our township officials had with me about my opposition to them bringing Lee Carpenter back into our government. My Personal Feelings
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