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EWSPAPERS OF
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ICHIGAN
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AGE
4
November 8, 2012
Now, it's time tomove on.
The people have been heard
and the choicesmade. Whether we
are in agreement with themajority
of voters at the national, state,
county or local level, it is time to
move on and work together to
make things better at every level.
It is time, way past time, actual-
ly, to put partisan politics aside,
subjugate our differences of phi-
losophy and opinion and attempt
to do what we can to encourage
and promote the best governance
we can at all levels.
Well, nobody ever said it was
going to be easy.
The amount of vitriol and heat-
ed rhetoric, along with untruths
and flat out lies, that accompanied
this election won't easily be forgot-
ten.
But for our system of govern-
ment to work, putting all that aside
is exactly what we all need to do.
No matter who sits in the White
House, he is the President of the
United States of America and we
all owe him the respect due his
office and the courtesy of respect-
ing the majority of voters who put
himthere.
The same is true of our local
elections and offices.
There is plenty of room for dis-
agreement and discussion. We cer-
tainly do not encourage a con-
stituency of uninformed lemmings,
blindly following the policies or
plans of any elected leader.
Disagreement in government, at
every level, is a good thing. It pro-
motes discussion and from discus-
sion comes new ideas and often
better, more efficient solutions to
problems.
What we do urge is civility and a
respect for the opinions espoused
by others during these discussions
and an openmind toward differing
ideas.
It is time to put away the cam-
paign signs, buttons and literature.
From Jan. 21, 2013 on, we need to
be Democrats or Republicans only
afterwe are all Americans.
Finally, finally I will be able to
watch television without being bar-
raged with unceasing propaganda
about Proposal A, Proposal B, the
bizarre behavior of judicial candi-
dates and the need to unionize
home health care workers. I can't
wait.
I'm writing this before the elec-
tion results are in, but by the time it
hits the street, it will be over, I hope.
Perhaps the electronic news
media will be able to find something
else to talk about too, rather than
what some politician said as
opposed to what his body language
reveals he reallymeant.
Truly, this election season just
plain wore me out. I am exhausted
after the constant commercials,
each with contradictory informa-
tion. The busiest people this elec-
tion season weren't the country-hop-
ping candidates, they were the fact
checkers and the political ad pro-
ducers.
These ads may have reinforced
opinions, but nobody changed his or
her vote due to any of these mes-
sages. Seriously, they didn't.
American voters may have differ-
ences of opinion and a candidate
may be able to fool them for awhile,
but we aren't stupid. Most of us are
way smart enough to know when
these guys are lying to us.
A few things just left me shaking
my head in wonder though. Like, for
instance, whendid facts develop two
sides? I mean, I always thought that
facts were facts. This is the truth, it
has been proven, this is the way it is
or was….there should be no dispute
over facts. Once a fact is established
as true, we need to all accept that
and act accordingly. Facts, like, oh I
don't know, say for instance fishhave
gills. Indisputable facts like a yard is
36 inches, there are 16 ounces in a
pound and politicians lie. Stuff like
that.
Those are all now, to me, indis-
putable facts. It is absolutely
unquestionable that politicians
these days will say and/or do just
about anything to get elected. Facts
do not seem to enter into the equa-
tion with most of them. If a state-
ment has any basis at all, of any
kind, these guys just keep repeating
it over and over and over until they
believe it themselves. Even when it
is patently false, if it furthers their
agenda or argument, they just keep
shouting it at the top of their lungs.
Then the fact checkers on the
news channels announce that the
statement is false, which one would
think would have some impact on
the situation. Well, it does, really, I
guess, it seems to make these jerks
repeat the erroneous information
more and more often and try to
defend their statements.
And another thing.
I amway, way incensed at the bil-
lions of dollars (yeah, you read that
right) theBILLIONS of dollars spent
on this election.
When there are children in
America who go hungry every day,
when our poverty and illiteracy lev-
els are an embarrassment to any civ-
ilized person, I take serious offense
to this flagrant display of self inter-
est anddisdain.
When there are Americans suf-
fering in one of the worst natural
disasters ever to strike our country,
when hundreds of homes have been
destroyed, thousands of homes
severely damaged, businesses
wiped out and
people without
heat or water or
food, unable to
escape the devastation of Hurricane
Sandy, these political action commit-
tees and candidates still thought the
best use of their hundreds of mil-
lions of dollars was in producing
and airing political ads aimed at
thosewith the IQof a gerbil.
One of my favorites featured a
woman who was allegedly seriously
worried about her finances and
bills. Then when the camera pans
down to the document she's holding,
presumably a late notice or bill,
she's wearing a $20,000 diamond
encrustedRolex.
I'm just glad it's over because that
kind of hypocrisy isn't good for my
bloodpressure.
Municipalities throughout the area have been feeling the
effects of reduced revenues and have been re-evaluating
budgets and reducing spendingwherever possible.
In Westland, however, Mayor William Wild and other offi-
cials are discussing the construction of a new city hall which
could cost asmuch at $8million, depending on the location of
the proposednew facility.
Strange as it may seem in these economic times, we agree
that this is a good idea and one that should have been pur-
sued several years ago. What many citizens don't realize is
the disastrous condition of the current city hall, mainly
because officials haven't previously made it a public issue.
There has been standing water and mold in the basement
since it first began to floodmore than 40 years ago. The struc-
ture, built in 1966, is actually unsound and it won't be much
longer before it will actually be unsafe for both city employ-
ees and citizenswho need to transact business there.
Wild and other officials will undoubtedly claim that this is
overstating the case and that things aren't really all that bad,
the situation can bemanaged for awhile longer. We, however,
believe it is time citizens should know exactly how serious
conditions really are in the building that houses the city
records, files andwhere nearly all city business is conducted.
It's amess.
For years, officials have attempted to put the best face on
the building and it is always kept as neat and clean as possi-
ble, despite the amount of public traffic every day. Those
efforts have been primarily cosmetic, however, and the
underlying problems with the structural integrity of the
building remain treacherous. Those problems have been
there for a long, long time nearly since the building opened
46 years or so ago.
Nobody wants to point fingers or allocate blame. What
they do want to do is engage the community and elicit sup-
port for a new city hall building. They are attempting to do
that with town hall meetings during which Wild explains the
need for a new building and offers several alternatives for
the new construction. One possibility is property the city
already owns near the library or the new building could be
built at the current site, or other property in the city could be
located. Wild also has a plan to place the building in a Tax
Increment Financing District which would save on costs
tremendously for residents.
These are tough times, financially, and there are mainte-
nance expenses that can be delayed or deferred and there
are those that have reached the stage where action is neces-
sary for the health, safety and well-being of everyone
involved.
In the case of Westland City Hall, that time is now and we
applaud the efforts of the administration to find away to fund
the expense without placing an increased burden on taxpay-
ers. It is, after all, the residents' city hall, and it should be a
place that adds to their community, not a building that will
soon become an eyesore and a blight on the community land-
scape.
Westland has done a good job keeping up appearances at
the current site, but we agree that it is far past time to take
action to protect the health, safety and even the image of one
of the largest cities in the state.
Wild's next Town Hall Meeting regarding the new city hall
is planned for 6 - 8 p.m. next Tuesday, Nov. 13 at Cooper
Upper Elementary School on Ann Arbor Trail. We urge all
Westland residents who are able to attend, ask questions and
helpdecide the city future.
Now we
move on
I'm just glad it's over because
that kind of hypocrisy isn't good
for my blood pressure.
”
For years, officials have attempted to put the
best face on the building and it is always kept
as neat and clean as possible, despite the
amount of public traffic every day.
”
At long last, the political ad plague will end
New Westland City Hall plan is long over due
Bankruptcy position questioned
To the editor:
I need someone to explain to
me, what the difference is between
a bankruptcy filing by GM/Chrysler
vs. one done by the City of
Detroit/AllenPark/Flint etc.?
Romney says GM should have
gone through "normal" bankruptcy;
that they didn't "need" government
guaranteed funding. Governor
Snyder says no Michigan city can
file bankruptcy because it would
affect the entire state; and thus we
need an EFM (Emergency
FinancialManager) law.
Are the Republicans in favor of
bankruptcy or not? Which way is
it? They can't have it bothways!
TomKelly,
Plymouth
Letters