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A
SSOCIATED
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EWSPAPERS OF
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ICHIGAN
P
AGE
6
October 17, 2013
Once again, the unions that rep-
resent the Inkster police officers
and command staff have sent a
lengthy and detailed complaint
about the conduct of Police Chief
Hilton Napoleon to the latest city
manager.
We're hoping, this time, that
there actually will be some action
taken to correct the abominable
conditions in which thesemen and
women are forced to work and the
environment of hostility, retribu-
tion and disrespect somehow cor-
rected. There is no excuse or
rationalization for some of the
recent actions of Napoleon who
has provided much of the fuel gen-
erating the current hostility and
mismanagement of resources in
the city.
While the city is paying for
repairs to the chief's car, officers
cannot get necessary supplies to
perform their jobs. They claim that
they can't even get toilet paper for
the men's room or jail cells. The
damage to the chief's car may or
may not have occurred as a result
of his professional duties, but the
officers interpret the repairs in the
worst possible light, as that is what
they have come to expect of
Napoleon.
Officers who anger him are sub-
jected to retaliation, both petty and
personal. Should any other mem-
ber of the department use the
racially-charged and profane lan-
guage Napoleon reportedly does
when screaming, purple-faced, at
employees, there would be conse-
quences up to discharge.
It appears that Napoleon, how-
ever, has the full support of the
mayor and the members of the city
council, who continue to condone
and support his actions which are
compounding the problems the
city currently faces. It would
appear they simply do not know
the right thing to do, therefore, opt
to do nothing about his egregious
conduct.
We are well aware of the budget
problems and failure of financial
management in Inkster which was
more severely impacted by the
downtown in the economy and the
housing market crash than many
others. Inkster is a city on the brink
of financial collapse, if the current
reports are to be believed. It could
be, according to some observers,
one of the next to see a state-
appointed emergency financial
manager.
Those financial problems aren't
improved by the continued and
ongoing lawsuits filed by police
employees who have won hun-
dreds of thousands of dollars of
city funding in court decisions.
These officers have taken
repeated pay cuts, reduced bene-
fits and work with a skeleton crew
and still manage to get the job
done in a high-crime area. They
should be treated with the respect
due them as professionals and the
common courtesy due them as fel-
lowhumanbeings.
A very smart man of my
acquaintance recently went a little
nuts during one of our business
conversations.
Seriously nuts.
This guy has always been, to me,
a little off-center, but in a good way.
I've always enjoyed his take on cur-
rent events and really, life in gener-
al. He is one of the smartest men I
know and his life view is almost
always skewed from the accepted
majority opinion. What I'm trying to
say is that he's a very smart guy
who is often difficult to get along
with but is always, always interest-
ing.
We were having a conversation
about mortgages and my friend
went off on the Republicans whom
he blames for the entire govern-
ment shutdown and the lack of
adult and professional conduct in
Washington D.C. To say he used his
most colorful language and his
most sonorant tones is like calling
the Pacific a puddle. He was espe-
cially displeased because he has
always been, up to now, a
Republican Party member and a
supporter of the Republican phi-
losophy of governance.
While I am certainly not in his
intellectual league, I knew enough
not to contradict him during his
diatribe, but the more I thought
about it, themore I decided that his
take on this isn't accurate.
A rare occurrence, but nonethe-
less true.
What we are seeing and experi-
encing right now in America isn't
the fault of or a true representation
of the Republican Party. It just isn't.
The Republican Party has been
hijacked by a group of various spe-
cial interest crazies who have no
sense of responsibility for our
country. Yes, allowing that to hap-
pen is the responsibility of those
chosen to lead the party like John
Boehner, the Speaker of the House
of Representatives, who has failed
miserably. The extremist zealots in
office today are not really
Republicans, no matter what they
say. They just aren't.
They try to pretend and espouse
the Republican philosophy with
statements like, “less government”
and “curtail spending” but they
have no real idea of what those
doctrines actually mean. They just
continue to spout whatever dogma
and propaganda is on their sheet of
daily talking points to try and
excuse their conduct.
They want to eliminate the hor-
rible threat theAffordable CareAct
presents----except not one of them
can actually predict what that is,
not with any true or accurate data.
They quote surveys and statistics
that are incorrect or fantasy-based.
They actually believe the stuff they
see onFOXNews.
Boehner is so indebted to and
enthralled by the big money boys
like the Koch brothers and terri-
fied of the mafia-like TEA party
leaders, he's about as effective as
Bozo.
Real Republicans, despite what
my friend thinks, are not evil,
black-hearted devils. The true
Republican philosophy, when not
covered with the slime and ichors
of self-interest, bigotry, extremism
and just plain stupidity, isn't
destructive or counterproductive.
It is based in sound economic prin-
ciples and has proven, when prop-
erly applied, to be an effective sys-
tem of gover-
nance. Real
Republicans
actually care
about the economic health and
prosperity of the country. The
entire country, not just the special
interest groups they need for fund-
ing their next campaign. Real
Republicans want good sound gov-
ernment, not some kind of theocra-
cy or bully-pulpit.
To disagree with basic
Republican principles is a matter
of political philosophy. It is not one
or two provocative, emotion-fueled
issues used to divide and ultimate-
ly shut down a country.
To disagree with the disgusting,
demented, foolhardy, self-aggran-
dizing, uneducated and just plain
stupid conduct of those pretending
to be Republicans in Washington
D.C. right now is a matter of simple
common sense. If you have any, you
can see through all this pedantic
rhetoric towhat is really going on.
HarryReid, theMajority Leader
of the Senate, and Boehner came
to an agreement on a balanced
budget months ago. They shook
hands on it and agreed that it
would pass without conflict in both
the House and Senate by a majori-
ty vote of each of the parties they
represent. It was a done deal.
Then the crazies, the bigots, the
religious zealots and the fat-cats
decided that Boehner should go
back on his word and the entire
RepublicanParty should be embar-
rassed by this public display of
incompetence, arrogance and lack
of integrity that shut our govern-
ment down.
Perhaps my friend is right about
the legitimacy of the current elect-
eds' parenthood, reproductive
capacity and anatomical sexual
preferences. They are all that he
claims they are andmore.
But
they
sure
aren't
Republicans.
Taxpayers in theCity ofWayne are in a tough spot.
Due to a continued drop in property values and increasing
cost of doing business throughout the city, they'll be asked in
November to approve a tax increase to help fund city opera-
tions.
Abig tax increase.
On the ballot Nov. 5 is a request for up to 7 additional mills
for 10 years to fund, according to the city administration and
literature on the election, police and fire retirements. If
approved that would bring about $2.6 million in 2014 and be
subject to theHeadlee rollback after that.
Residents will have to take a hard look at their own
finances as they weigh this request. City literature says it will
cost taxpayers with a home with a taxable value of $36,000 (or
$72,000 market value) about $21 every month. That will be a
personal decision based on their own financial situation and
what they think they can afford.
Here's why we wouldn't vote for it: this is the wrong time to
be asking residents to take more out of their pockets. The
request is too much money, for too long, wrapped up in mes-
saging that is disingenuous, at best-and city officials have done
little to prove that they can budget properly, no matter how
muchmoney they have.
This would be an easier sell if the city had taken additional
steps years ago, not just to reduce legacy costs, but to prime
the city for additional development in an attempt to bring in
more revenue. It's true that the work force has been slashed
and the administration recently has entered into some joint
operation agreements with Westland-such as the fire depart-
ment and the parks and recreation department-but those con-
tracts are so unpopular that already city council candidates
are talking about the need to re-open them and renegotiate
them.
It would be an easier sell if the city had not already asked
for other recent tax increases-like the Headlee Rollback and
police/fire millage in 2010-and imposed others: a special
assessment to fund streetlights and increased fixed costs on
water/sewer bills that are now among the highest in Wayne
County.
Many critics of the millage are rankled by the message, too.
It is billed as the fundingmechanism for police and fire retire-
ments, rather than a mechanism. Those pensions will be paid
for, anyway. This will open up a different funding source that
will allow the city to use general fund dollars on city services
rather than on those retirements. It is fairly common practice
for municipalities to do this and it is not illegal, but we've
never been a fan of attaching a uniform to a tax increase
request simply because it increases the odds of approval.
Besides that, take a look at the recent mailer that went out
to city voters. What are the only two words unnecessarily put
in all caps: EIGHT and FOUR, as they relate to the number of
police officers and firefighters that will be impacted, respec-
tively. This pushes the boundaries of the information that
municipalities are allowed to use as they educate citizens (but
at least they didn't use bold type, too).
This millage request has the potential to do more harm
than good in the long run. There are plenty of good volunteer
efforts under way to promote the downtown and spur develop-
ment-and those efforts would be undermined by an excessive
tax base on top of innovative fees charged to keep the street-
lights on and overly burdensome fixed water and sewer fees.
Simply put: it'll be cheaper to do business elsewhere.
Here's why we wouldn't vote for it: this
is the wrong time to be asking residents
to take more out of their pockets.
”
Wayne taxpayers cannot afford millage request
Police chief is
out of control
What we are seeing and experiencing
right now in America isn't the fault of
or a true representation of the Republican Party.
”
These fools sure aren’t my idea of Republicans