What’s Really Behind All These Ridiculous Recalls?

DEMOCRACY IS FANTASTIC!  It give each of us the freedom and opportunity to participate and vote for people we believe have our best interests at heart.  It also gives people the power to remove elected officials who have forgotten that they work for us.

Shelby Township voters kicked out Skip Maccarone and his big-spending "vision" for our township back in 2008.  We did so for good reason.  Skip's ideas would have dumped $50 million in new spending on the backs of taxpayers, at a time when median family income in the township was falling by 26%.  That figure comes from a Detroit News report that we have covered previously.

Maccarone's plan would most certainly have bankrupted our township — or at the very least forced huge tax increases on residents who have already seen their personal incomes fall and foreclosures skyrocket.  In Skip's world, just go ahead and spend and spend and spend - and we'll figure out how to pay for it later.  The people said no and told Skip he should go!

Residents were stunned that Maccarone (backed by Trustee Lisa Manzella) would take an insane position that the people have no right to vote on whether we should be forced to pay back $50 million in bonds for new spending.  As they saw it, the politicians know best and the flock should just trust them to do what is right for us.  Yeah, right!  This political overreach and arrogance is what finally sealed Skip's fate.

Today, some ill-informed people are going around complaining that Maccarone was defeated by a campaign of lies.  To some extent these people are correct.  It was a series of lies that ultimately led to Skip's political downfall:
 • Skip's LIE that Shelby Township was not facing any financial difficulties, even though forecasts showed a financial storm brewing.
• Skip's LIE that the people's voice doesn't matter when it comes to spending money, because we are all just members of a "peanut gallery" anyway.
• Skip's LIE that we could easily spend $50 million for a "campus" without new taxes.
• Skip's LIE that a $20 million justice center is required to maintain order and protect residents from all the evil criminals running rampant on our streets.

So those people who are sobbing about Maccarone being defeated by "lies" are right in one respect.  However, the lies that beat Skip came directly from his own lips.

Since losing their grasp on power, the losers from 2008 have been working nearly around the clock to get back into power.  They are spreading lies and rumors.  They have started a blog to boost their ego and try to keep their handful of followers connected -  one that claims to be the so-called Voice of Shelby Township.  Finally, in a clear act of desperation these people have even pulled the "recall threat" out of their bag of dirty tricks.  Editor's note: We've done our research about this so-called Voice of Shelby blog and will expose the person behind this in a future column.  

Are we suggesting that nasty revenge politics and petty personal agendas are what is driving the recall madness in our township?   If we did, would that surprise you?

Think about it.  Politics is the only thing that seems to make sense.  Elected officials vote and those who disagree with their vote are lashing out.  They pack the Board meeting hall to try and muscle their way and intimidate township officials.  When they lose, they lash out again and race to file recall petitions, all the while receiving aid, comfort and behind-the-scenes assistance from the very people who lost in 2008.  It all makes sense.  In fact, it's the ONLY thing that does make sense.

What these recall advocates don't realize is that they are falling into a trap.  These ordinary "residents" are plucked from obscurity and instructed to send recall petitions to the Macomb County Election Commission.  Don't bother reading them, just send them in.  Why?  So the newspapers will write about the recalls to try and strike fear into the hearts and minds of our elected officials.

As long-time Shelby Township residents, we applaud those Board members who have been the targets of this ridiculous routine for standing their ground and not caving into these attacks.  The antics of a few misinformed people carrying the water for political hacks with a vendetta are bothersome, but in the long run these people are nothing more than a political nuisance.

Whenever stories about recalls appear in print, we appreciate how reporters make it a point to say that the Election Commission doesn't consider the validity, or truthfulness, of the petitions.  Their only job is to make sure the wording on these petitions is clear.  Are words spelled correctly?  Does the sentence make sense?  Is the punctuation right?  As long as this criteria is met, nothing else matters.

Okay, so think about it like this.
• Some resident, at the behest of someone else, could file a petition seeking to recall a township Board member for masquerading as a human when in fact he or she is a reptile from an alien planet (yes, much like the TV show "V").  As long as the language is clear and understandable to the average person, it would be approved.
• A petition could seek to recall a township official for voting to increase taxes even though taxes actually decreased.   Just as long as people could read it and understand it, the petition would be approved.
• Someone, acting on the advice of a shadow politician, could seek to recall a Board member for believing the world is flat, or the sky is pink, and as long as the petition is readable and clear, the Election Commission would give their thumbs up.

Just imagine being forced to spend money on such outlandish schemes because someone wanted to try and score some political points.  What would you think about forcing us to pay tens of thousands of our tax dollars for a recall election based on blatantly false statements?  Yet that is what some people are trying to do.

Democracy is one thing.  But making a mockery out of the democratic process, as these people are doing with their persistent chants of recall, is quite another.

Last year, when the first ridiculous recalls reared their ugly head, we came across a definition of RECALL that we found both humorous and interesting:

RECALL:  
Ridiculous
Effort to
Create
Anomosity by
Ludicrous
Loudmouths

Some resident, wise to what is really going on in our township, used this acronym to accurately characterize how he or she felt about the weirdness making waves across the township.

Previous recall drives against Shelby township officials have failed.  Why?  Was it because the people put up as the face of the recall movement didn't believe in what they were told to believe in by someone else?  Could it be that their anger did not connect with ordinary taxpayers who see the many good things our township elected officials are doing?  Or could it be that the recall was little more than a publicity stunt?  What do you think?

So what do these recall raiders really believe in?  What is their true motive?  Do they even know what they are doing?

The newest recall champion, resident Tom DeLies, has admitted that not only does he not know the township officials he is trying to recall, but moreover that he really doesn't care to know who our township officials are.

"I don't even know these guys," DeLies told the Macomb Daily in its September 28, 2010 edition.  Does DeLies not realize that Trustee Paula Filar, a woman, is one of the "guys" he is talking about?  Perhaps DeLies doesn't care about the facts of gender difference either.  Clearly, DeLies is the lead stand-up comedian in this newest sitcom.  DeLies and people like him are so blinded by the personal publicity that their recall frenzy is creating that they ignore the truth.  Perhaps it is because, as Jack Nicholson said in A Few Good Men, “You can't handle the truth!”

As we expected, DeLies’ recall petitions were rejected.  Surprise!  DeLies filed 19 petitions to try and kick five Board members out of office.  At the clarity hearing DeLies was slapped down by the Election Commission.  After being shown the door he said that he won't give up.  Instead, DeLies said he will try to figure out what the Commission wants.   Oh really?  He actually wants the Election Commission to tell him what he needs to do to get his stupid petitions approved?  Good luck dude!

Hey Tom, here's a suggestion...what about the truth?  Will that work?  What about a real reason for the recall, not some trumped up political attack?  Given his attitude, DeLies has demonstrated that he is a amateur stand-up comic - and his jokes stink!

Tom DeLies, like all residents, is fully entitled to his opinion.  He is free to hate anyone he wishes.  However, DeLies and his ilk are NOT entitled to their own set of facts.

Sorry...but DeLies will never trump De-Truth!

Yes, recalls are part of the democratic process.  They are genuinely American.  Nowhere else in the world can you find a process where a small minority of people, upset with someone for whatever reason, can file a petition (even one based on false information) to try and get rid of a duly-elected government official.  Shelby Township is not unique when it comes to recalls.  Disgruntled people everywhere have tried to push their view of "democracy" by attempting to kick people out of office.  More often than not the people pushing the recall button are those who lost an election and who are still stinging from that defeat.

Is that what is happening in Shelby Township today?  What do you think?

Finally, we leave you with this poem.  It tries to crawl inside the mind of a person bent on political recalls for the sake of recalls.  We hope you enjoy it, but more importantly we hope this sheds a little light into what is really going on.  Some people just don't get it - and probably never will.

Recalls and Revenge Politics

Recalls, recalls everywhere.
The only thing, they're just hot air.
Crazy people acting out,
Ranting and raving, with a baby pout.
Those who lost power just won't admit,
The people have spoken, so get over it.

Skippy and Lisa and their minions too,
Scheming and scamming, spiteful and blue.
All geeked up and ready to strike,
Against anyone and everyone they just don't like.

I hate your car.  I don't like your cat.
I despise your opinion.  I think you're fat.
I think you're a jerk.  I feel that you're wrong,
I'll keep this dumb recall thing going all day long.

If I don't have a reason, then I'll make something up,
Recalls are a great way to fill my blood cup.
I don't care about facts or even the truth,
To me those are like an abscessed tooth.

Whatever the reason, no matter how small,
I love to create chaos, so I'll start a recall.
Then the politicians will shudder, they'll shake and they'll quake,
From the vengeance and venom that spews from a snake.

Until next time...