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Letter blasts supervisor
To the editor:
Attached is a copy of a letter I
sent to Richard Reaume, supervi-
sor of PlymouthTownship.
DearMr. Reaume,
As you are well aware, after sev-
eral months of protests from our
residents and a court battle, the
Plymouth Township Board of
Trustees has finally acquiesced to
the pleas of their constituency.
Following a court order they have
finally placed the issue of preserva-
tion of the current 24-hour, 7-day a
week, fire and EMT services on a
Feb. 28, ballot, albeit not to their
liking.
I applaud and admire the noble
efforts of the grassroots citizens
group, Concerned Citizens of
Plymouth Township. If it were not
for their earnest work in bringing
this critical issue to the forefront,
the question would not be on a
public referendum and your plan
to disband the fire department,
exposing the very people you are
supposed to represent, serve and
protect to imminent danger, might
have succeeded, uncontested and
unopposed.
People elected to public office
should represent the people and
wishes of those who elected them.
The position your board of trustees
has assumed regarding carrying
out their administrative and moral
responsibility to assure the protec-
tion of life and property within our
township and hear the voice of
those who elected them is shame-
ful.
Most informed citizens now
realize there were many other
opportunities to balance the budg-
et in our township to cover the
shortfall you claimwill occur when
the City of Plymouth's decision to
terminate the joint fire/ EMS serv-
ices becomes a reality. Many of
your claims have now been
exposed as ludicrous in their disin-
genuousness.
What they don't know is that you
are planning to replace the town-
ship fire department with volun-
teers on call from as far away as 15
miles, and hire the HVA
Ambulance Co. for $1,600,000 annu-
ally to respond to EMS calls, some-
times with and sometimes without
Advanced Life Support para-
medics onboard.
What they don't know is HVA
was selected, without an inquiry or
request for a competitive-sealed
bid-quotation.
What they don't know is why you
adamantly refuse to permit the
township fire department to trans-
port patients and allow this outside
company, HVA to duplicate the
service, bill the patient and retain
all the revenue.
What they don't know is your
plan to pay for all Plymouth
Township police officers to be
trained as Public Safety Officers-
first responders, sans ALS certifi-
cation, after the township invested
over $450,000 in 2001 for education,
training and equipment for the
township fire fighters to become
paramedics trained in Advanced
LifeSupport.
What they don't know is that you
flatly rejected a government grant
from FEMA that would have pro-
vided $880,000 with virtually no
strings attached, unlike the City of
Westland who last month accepted
the SAFER grant and were able to
hire nine additional fire fighters.
What they don't know is why a
15-year successful relationship
with the City of Plymouth for
shared fire/EMS services fell apart
and ended so abruptly.
Even more insulting to the peo-
plewho elected you, with the facili-
tation of your legal counsel, you
have now found a way to finagle
the ballot language and wording to
say youwill require amaximum .10
mill tax increase, when the .1 mill
increase on the petition language
will raise $1,600,000 or $650,000
more than the annual $950,000 City
of Plymouth contribution you stand
to lose.
Shame on you Mr. Reaume, and
those other electedmembers of the
board of trustees who are also fail-
ing in their responsibility to pro-
vide both leadership and manage-
ment in the best interests of the
electorate, but are succumbing to
those who impose their will
throughout township government
by intimidation and innuendo.
We can only hope to educate our
residents and inundate them with
the truth before the February elec-
tion, and remind them again in
August.
DonHoward,
35 year Plymouth
resident and taxpayer
A
SSOCIATED
N
EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
4
January 5, 2012
There is nohiding fromthe badnews in theworld.
Politicians betray our faith and trust and commit corrupt or
improper acts. Our fellow man perpetrates horrors on inno-
cents, often children. Authority is misused and power wielded
as aweapon. There are disasters in theworld, floods, tornadoes,
epidemics of illness.
Horrible atrocities are committed and terrible things hap-
pen, usually on a daily basis.
Unfortunately, it is a part of life. An unpleasant part, but still,
a part of the world in which we live. Even more unfortunately,
we need to be aware of these instances and circumstances if we
are to protect ourselves and thosewe love.
We have all here been subjected repeatedly recently to the
old refrain, “I don't read the papers or watch the news on TV,
there is just too much bad news.” Do these people have any
idea of the selfishness, the shallowness, the arrogance of such a
statement? How wonderful for them that they can live their
lives above all the suffering and poverty others face. How elite
and superior to the rest of the world they must feel, never hav-
ing to acknowledge the hardships and pain of their fellowman.
And how eerily convenient to be able to escape any feeling of
compassion or empathy, much less any feeling of responsibility
to help effect change. Their delicate sensibilities simply cannot
bear the realities of life here on Earth and their statement also
makes it clear to listeners that they have the security to stay
above the fray of the mere mortals who are subject to the daily
vicissitudes of life.
Ah, they argue, what can I do? It is just all so terrible, how
could I change anything?
They can change things, we all can, because believe it or not,
most things are, in some small way, subject to changes each of
us is able tomake.
When politicians betray our trust and fail to represent us
properly, we can exercise our rights, here in America, and
recall them or campaign against them in the next election. At
the very least, we can use our vote against them. But if we don't
knowwhat they have done, if theirmalfeasance and failure isn't
brought to our attention in a credible and objective way, minus
all the party politics, howcanwemake changes for the better?
When disasters strike, we can help. We can donate funds,
clothing, housewares that we might normally simply cast off to
those who have been left homeless by fire or flood or other
calamity. We can support our local charities and civic groups
withour time, ourmoney or both.
When crimes against innocents occur, we need to know that
those evils lurk among us so that we can protect those we love
from them. When the economy has failed and so many are
homeless and jobless, howcanwehelp if we don't know?
How could we ever keep our family, our children, our sen-
iors, even our pets safe from predators if we had no idea that
such aberrations of the humanmind existed? Simply, we could-
n't.
Yes, we know, the bad news is difficult towatch and read and
hear. That difficulty, however, is the price we need to pay for
being a part of the solution, of the improvement, of the better-
ment of theworld and of ourselves as a race.
We knowhowdifficult this type of news is becausewe face it,
every day. We have an obligation and a trust to bring all the
news we possibly can, both good and bad, to those we serve. We
cannot hide behind the mantra of “good news” to cheer those
who deny their responsibilities in the world and promote those
who may hide their errors or crimes beneath a cloak of
respectability.
We too, despise sensationalism. We, too, find the partisan,
political tripe that at least one major news station, and some
newspapers, drape around themselves abhorrent. Their credi-
bility, their objectivity, goes as far as the next stockholders' meet-
ing or balance sheet.
The news is the news is the news. Often it is good, but much
of it is bad. One does not exist without the other and it is the
knowledge of the bad that provides us with the power to do
good.
That's our mission and philosophy. We will continue in this
new year to attempt to bring all the news to those who are com-
passionate, intelligent and thoughtful enough tounderstand it.
Good, bad and often ugly – it’s the news
Mildred
was right
There I was,
so desperate
for the last few
gifts on my
C h r i s t m a s
shopping list, I
was reduced to
perusing the internet looking for
ideas, or better yet, the actual
gifts, when I realized the error of
myways.
It suddenly occurred tome that
I was committing one of themulti-
tude of sins my mother always
taught me were worthy of her ire
and shameful in the eyes of the
remainder of civilized society.
Hypocrisy.
Yikes. If Mildred were still
here, she'd smackme right upside
my head and let loose with a few
choice, probably obscene, com-
ments about my behavior. She'd
have let me know that sitting in
my comfy chair searching for a
bargain was a pure act of
hypocrisy from somebody always
urging others to buy locally and
support local businesses.
She'dbe right, too.
She'd have toldme to get off my
rather generous backside and go
look for those last fewgifts at local
stores who depend on other local
businesspeople to support them
rather than the big box or depart-
ment stores. She'd have also told
me that a bargain is only a bar-
gainwhennobody gets hurt.
She'dbe right about that, too.
There isn't one of my fellow
local entrepreneurs who doesn't
complain, at least a little, about
the big department stores cost-
cutting and super sales which
take their customers away.
Hey, I'mnot criticizing anybody
searching for a bargain, I'm just
saying that we could all do a little
to help out the local guys who pay
local taxes, who are part of the
neighborhood and who are a vital
part of every community we
serve.
One had only to look at the
lines at midnight and 4 a.m. on
Black Friday to see how crazed
Christmas shoppers were charg-
ing into the big department stores
to find a bargain----I mean every-
body wants to save a buck, right?
And in this economy, who can
blame them?
Well, maybe the guy who lost
his job because of the move of his
work to Mexico or China. He's
probably the most desperate for a
bargain because he has so little
income now to buy anything. Talk
about a vicious circle.
But it wouldn't hurt each of us
to remember these local shops
andmerchants.
These people need the support
of local residents if they are going
to continue to be part of the com-
Letters
See
Mildred,
page 5