There are two issues that Bridgeport residents need to be aware of and speak up about.
The First Issue:
The person that the Bridgeport Township board is in negotiations with to hire as the new township manager. His name is Chris Shannon and just recently resigned as the Gladwin City Manager. He was also a commissioner I think in Bay City for years and was the Bay City Mayor for 5 years. This all sounds good at first and you are probably wondering why this man would be interested in coming as the township manager to a small town like Bridgeport. Well maybe all the news articles about what some may find as his troubling history might be the clue. I will try to put them in chronological order but I should probably start with his drunk driving arrest in December 2022.
There are more articles about it but this one seems to have the most information. I haven't found the outcome of his arrest yet,
I will skip the interview about him and his band and how he got into politics. This 2014 video from MLive is about some of his time in Bay City.
This article from 2023 is about a lawsuit filed by the Gladwin City Mayor and several council members against Chris Shannon for a FOIA violation.
This lawsuit was just settled but the story is behind a paywall.
A lawsuit filed by a Gladwin employee against Chris Shannon for violation of Americans With Disabilities Act? Another story behind a paywall.
It looks like this above lawsuit is still ongoing,
More recent articles about Chris Shannon and his time in Gladwin.
“I agree, 100 percent. People make mistakes all the time,” Gutierrez
said. “Chris Shannon does not ever take responsibility for his mistakes,
he turns around and he blames it on somebody else at all times. He
lies, he goes behind people's backs and he does play games. He is
playing a political game. I will never, ever vote to renew his
contract.”
"At the Dec. 16, 2024 council meeting, several employees from City Hall
spoke out on what they called a "toxic work environment" that resulted
from a lack of decision making and a lack of a clear direction for the
future of the city."
"At the meeting on Feb. 17, City Attorney Michael Gildner told the
council that he had recently received inquiries from several council
members, individually, regarding a complaint accusing Shannon of
violating the Fair Labor Standards Act. The complaint came from Police
Chief Eric Killian and claimed Shannon was "interfering or coercing
police employees' rights to organize a union."
"The action came after several residents spoke during public comment and
urged council to make Shannon’s resignation effective immediately."
"I think our council made a decision that we have to start detoxifying a
situation so there is respect for all people," says Kile."
There are many articles about Mr. Shannon from the newspapers in Midland, Bay City, Gladwin County, Huron County, ABC 12, MLive. MLive stories are behind paywalls and I refuse to pay them. This sampling of news about Mr. Shannon is not a complete history but I believe it is enough to cause concern if he was hired as the manager here in Bridgeport. We have enough problems, we do not need more! I think Bridgeport deserves better than this gentleman as manager, but then again maybe he is exactly what Bridgeport deserves? There are people in Bridgeport township employment that I don't feel should be there. There is one employee that I feel should have been fired years ago. This person is a nasty, loud, abusive, arrogant bully. This person has gotten away with this behavior for years because no one stands up to them, and from what I hear is getting even worse. I don't think Mr. Shannon would be bullied by this fool. There are a few people at Bridgeport that need to be gone, need to be put in their place, and maybe Mr. Shannon would be the person to do it? A bigger bully to handle the little bullies and the incompetent fools and manipulators and liars. Just that thought alone almost makes me think we should hire him, but then I think about some of the truly outstanding employees we have that have been having to suffer the fools there for years and I don't know how much more they can take. Oh the stories I could tell you all from the disaster that is known as Bridgeport Township Government. Stories that make me angry and stories that make me sad. Bridgeport needs a strong, principled, honest and caring leader, but also with a backbone of steel, and that is what we do not have at this time. I am at the point where I just don't have any F's left to give anymore about it, and I also have no hope left for this township government.
The Second Issue:
The discussion that seems to keep coming up about possibly closing the voting precinct 3 and combining it with precinct 1. That should never happen!! I believe that would probably disenfranchise more than a few voters from precinct 3. Unfairly so. I don't have the total voter numbers for these precincts but it seems like it would put more of a burden on precinct 1 with the increased number of voters coming in. Supposedly Eddie Fox wants to do this to save money. Call me a cynic but I have my doubts. After a lifetime of following our politics and 11 years now of covering them, I have become a suspicious cynic. Maybe he is sincere, maybe there are some other ulterior motives??? Maybe something personal? There may be some people that question whether this is being done because precinct 3 seems to be the strongest Republican voting precinct in our township, a township that overall seems to be very strong democrat. I have noticed that voting trend in the past when looking at the precinct breakdowns of election results and I took a look at the last election and it seems to still hold true. I have seen some truly low down dirty political shenanigans in my lifetime and I would hate to think that something like that could happen in Bridgeport. No matter what the reasons are for wanting to close precinct 3 are I believe it is not fair. The voters in precinct 3 need to step up and speak up! Make your voices heard if you want to keep your precinct open! You must contact all the township officials and tell them. Show up at meetings and tell them. Do not just allow them to railroad you over and do it without your consent.
