Save Shelby’s Social Network Smear Exposed; Residents Rise Up Against Ridiculous Recall

Political blogging is one important way that ordinary citizens (like us) can use a powerful tool (the Internet) to make our case and argue our points.  Some people try it and don’t like it (it does take work).  Others do it and don‘t do it well.

The best way you can tell if you are having an impact is by the public response you receive, or the criticism you get from people who read your blogs and are outraged by what you write.  Although we do maintain statistics on our audience, it is difficult to get a reading about how we are being received.  There is no Nielson tracking abilities for weblogs.

Since we first began this blog back in 2008, the Inside Out has had our share of loyal (and ever-growing) followers.  As you might expect, we have also had a small sect of detractors who resent us using the First Amendment to convey information to the public.

What has surprised us over the years is the lengths that other township residents are going to help promote the Inside Out.  We thank each and every one of you!

For example, editorial cartoons (see copy at right) are a great way to advertise.  This cartoon appeared in the June 7-8 issue of the Source newspaper.  Including our blog address makes this ad stronger.  We sincerely thank all individuals who are helping promote our blog, by either word-of-mouth, e-mail alerts, text messages, flyers, or print media.  We also thank you for sending graphics, ideas and suggestions directly to our e-mail address stopskip08@aol.com.

In addition, a Shelby-Utica Patch blogger named Matt Guarnieri generously included the Inside Out in a June 6th Shelby Utica Patch report he posted concerning Shelby Township political bloggers.

In his list of blogs we noticed that someone has tried to copy the name of our blog (shelbytwptruth) perhaps hoping to confuse people.  However, as readers of the Inside Out will attest to, we may be imitated, but we will never be duplicated.  However, we certainly welcome the public debate!

Speaking of the public, response to the June 1st INSIDE OUT, where we exposed the activities and comments on the Save Shelby Facebook page, was so overwhelming that we decided to keep the ball rolling this week.  Keep in mind that what we reprinted last week was just the proverbial tip of the iceberg.  There is much more interesting reading ahead.

What is this Shelby Township recall thing all about anyway?  That is the big question, and the answer depends on who you speak to and what day of the week it is.  Some people believe it is about a zoning issue, while others claim the recall is about DARE, taxes, crossing guards, excessive spending, an unneeded police building and other ancillary items.  Heck, at the Tuesday, June 8th Board of Trustees meeting, resident John Holeton said that the recall is due to the Board’s actions on so-called “smart meters.”  Smart meters?????

We ask again: what is this Shelby recall thing really all about?

Could the people spearheading this recall crusade for power (Nightingale Towing, township police officers, and outsiders) be misleading residents into believing lies as truth?  If so, for what purpose?

Some residents we have spoken to (remember, names and addresses of the signers appear on the petitions) have told us that zoning was never even mentioned.  They seemed perplexed when we asked them what the recall is all about.  To our amazement, some had no idea.  “I just signed it because they asked me to,” is what one resident said.

The recall advocates themselves can’t seem to get their story straight.  They aren’t following their talking points.  Consider Shelby resident Tom Delise. While we disagree with his undying thirst for recall (remember, this guy filed more than 40 petitions over and over and over until he FINALLY got one approved), we applaud him for standing up for what he believes in (right or wrong).  Our neighbor Mr. Delise feels this recall is justified, and genuinely feels the recall is being pushed along by a zoning issue that he started.

Here is what Delise wrote to the Shelby Utica Patch about the recall:
“Rezoning! That’s what the petition reads and that is why the majority of the residents signed the petitions. ( period)”

Really?  The whole recall is just that simple?  Is anything in politics that simple?  Perhaps instead of ending with the word “period” Delise should have written “question mark?”  While Mr. Delise thinks his position is solid, could he be a puppet in a much larger scheme by special interests with a darker agenda?  Is Delise being played like a fiddle by Shelby’s “Fiddler on the Roof?”

Is this recall about zoning?  Not according to Trustee Lisa Manzella.  Manzella, a close associate of Delise and vocal advocate of the recall, wrote on the Shelby-Utica Patch that there were “20 bullet points” circulators used as they walked door-to-door (see screen capture above).

Wait a minute, did Manzella just say 20 points?  Yup!  So what happened to Delise’s comment about the recall being about a zoning issue and that’s why people signed petitions “period”?  If it truly is that simple, why did the recall radicals need 20 talking points?  Once again, Manzella has confirmed what we had long expected: the excuses for recall go far above complaints about zoning.  In fact, the 20 talking points have nothing to do with zoning.

As we said a moment ago, residents have reported that zoning was never even brought up by the circulators.  However, issues like the new police building, DARE, taxes, spending, smart meters, and a host of other things were.  Why?  Was someone trying to trick residents into signing a petition?  No one would play that dirty of a trick, would they?

Remember, we are talking Shelby township politics, not reality!

Speaking of people out of touch with reality, we move on to the Nightingales.  They have claimed that the reason they are so behind the recall has nothing to do with TOWING.  They want us to believe them, but very few people do.

If towing is not the real issue, why did they scream “recall” after the Board voted unanimously (7-to-0) to seek competitive bids for towing?  Why did the Nightingale family go out in force circulating petitions?  Why are the Nightingales so active on the Save Shelby recall Facebook page?  Why are the Nightingales coming to Board meetings accusing Trustees of being unethical, criminal, and anti-democratic?

Claiming that this recall has nothing to do with towing would be like us telling a bald man a hair-raising story?  A totally ridiculous proposition!

Now, for the GOOD STUFF...

Below is a Facebook exchange that took place back in March involving Marsha Nightingale.  This exchange also features Joanne Brazel-Wheatcroft.  As we previously reported, Joanne was kicked off the Save Shelby Facebook page shortly after posting these comments that challenged the foundation of the recall.  Below we have copied and pasted the actual exchange as it took place.  When you read them you will see why someone with Save Shelby decided to silence her.
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Marsha Nightingale

GREAT NEWS FOR SHELBY RECALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!FB friends please attend.We can make shelby a better community.Meeting at Esplendido's on 23 mile and mound March 23rd at 7:oo.   March 28

Joanne Brazel-Wheatcroft - REALLY???? Your family should be ashamed of what they are doing to this community! You lost, move on!  March 28

Marsha Nightingale - Looking forward to seeing you at the meeting Joanne Brazel-Wheatcroft!!!!!!  March 28

Marsha Nightingale - Love you Joanne  March 28

Joanne Brazel-Wheatcroft - The next election is next year, wait it out and let the voters make their choice, just like they did in the last election. We cannot afford to hold a special election people!!! One more year!!!   March 28

Joanne Brazel-Wheatcroft - Here's another interesting fact. On their website your group is pleading for money. They ask that all donations be sent to a house on Huling Street in Shelby Township. The obvious question is, "Who lives at 46822 Huling?" So we went on-line to Shelby Township's website and, after scanning the township's assessing records (public information), got the answer.  

According to Shelby Township tax records, the owner of that home is Noel Ryan Nightingale.  If you don't believe us, go to the township's website and check it out yourself - this is public information
March 28

Joanne Brazel-Wheatcroft - Very interesting huh?  March 28

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Joanne must have really gotten under their skin and as a result, her comments (above) were deleted.  “Hey, just take her off and we will pretend it never happened.”  That revisionist approach may have worked for Vladimir Lenin, but a trick like that fails in a democracy like Shelby Township.  The Save Shelby group deleted the comments, but we copied them for all to see and read (aren’t we stinkers?).

Once again, we applaud Joanne for her bravery in calling into question the intent of this recall.  Her comments were deleted to try and keep people from seeing the truth.  But the truth always finds a way of breaking through the noise of nonsense

Speaking of people who denigrate our township officials, we turn to Linda Maccarone.  It has been more than speculation that Skip and Linda Maccarone are both very much embedded in this recall.   Both have taken high profile positions supporting the recall.  Both Skip and Linda must view this recall as “payback” time.  Why else would Skip write a scathing editorial in the March 25, 2011 Source newspaper applauding the current recall.  Why else would Mrs. Maccarone take to Facebook to rant and rave about our township?

What we find amusing is that whenever Skip Maccarone’s name comes up, the recall addicts make a public spectacle of distancing themselves from him.  For example, take this comment by recall rebel Tom Delise posted on the Shelby Utica Patch Internet newsletter:

SHELBY UTICA PATCH
Thomas Delise
10:31pm on Wednesday, June 1, 2011
“What does Macarone have to do with any of this? I don't know if that is true or not,but it sounds to me like you're ok with what's good for the goose is good for the gander.”

While we are not quite sure what the second sentence of his comment refers to, the first one is pretty clear.  What do the Maccarones (Mr. and Mrs.) have to do with the current recall.  PLENTY!

First, we include a post that Linda Maccarone made in response to some Save Shelby supporters deciding to “unfriend” themselves from the site.  Mrs. Maccarone blames us (and others) for exposing the truth as reasons that people dropped off the site.  Could it be that these “friends” couldn’t stand the heat after we exposed the truth in our January, 21 2011 Inside Out.

Interestingly, after this post was circulated, people like Clerk Terri Kowal, Laura Porter (administrator for the 41A District Court) and others took their name off.  Each made up an excuse for why their names appeared on the “friend” list in the first place, ranging from a mistake, to a misunderstanding, to (in Kowal’s case) “my son did it.”

If this was all just a mistake in the first place, why did Linda Maccarone get so  upset when people dropped off?  No one demanded that names be removed.  Don’t blame us Linda, we’re just doing our public service and informing Shelby residents about the people and motivations behind the recall.

We were also surprised to read Mrs. Maccarone publicly calling for an “overthrow” of the government!  Doesn’t that sound a bit extreme and radical?  Is this how the recall group hopes to take back power — through a selfish recall?  We have speculated that Shelby’s recall radicals are following Lenin’s laws, and this talk only reinforces our belief.

Then, there is this exchange started by Linda Maccarone.  Once again, Joanne Brazel-Wheatcroft (pre-deletion phase) got involved to challenge the recall addicts.  This is a lengthy exchange, but it certainly makes for interesting reading.

This exchange continues below...

Boy did Mrs. Maccarone get angry.  As you can see, she is now trying to blame Supervisor Stathakis and Treasurer Viar for exposing the truth.  Hey Linda, what about us??  We’re doing our part so why not attack us too?  Besides, we love hoisting people by their own petards.

By the way, Mrs. Maccarone’s laughable contention that her husband left Shelby Township in strong financial shape flies in the face of financial reality.  We nearly fell off our chair when reading that.

The truth (for those who choose to forget) is that Mr. Maccarone’s bad spending habits nearly bankrupted this township.  He refused to even talk about cutting spending.  As a result, the current Board is being forced to make tough choices to reduce spending, protect vital services (like fire, EMS and police protection), and not raise taxes.  Certainly a tough task, but the Supervisor and Board are doing their job and for that an overwhelming majority of real taxpayers (who vehemently oppose the recall) say THANK YOU for a job well done!

The Facebook post below shows how people who are NOT Shelby residents were encouraged to jump on the recall bandwagon.  This confirms that Linda Maccarone was among those walking door-to-door with petitions (for anyone who still doubted our information):

The thought that people are peeking into the activities of Save Shelby has gotten some of their supporters upset.  They obviously feel secure in making comments in private (like Facebook is really private?) but cringe when their “private” conversations leak into public view.  Case in point:

As you can see, the mere thought that ordinary township residents may actually know what the recall radicals are saying and writing has Save Shelby and their supporters freaking out.  Trustee Lisa Manzella even chimes in attacking township residents.  Such a class act!

Below is another post from Mrs. Maccarone.   This time, Mrs. Maccarone tries to educate a new resident about township government.  As you can see, Mrs. Maccarone wants to get rid of every elected Trustee except (predictably) for her friends Terri Kowal and Lisa Manzella:

Mrs. Maccarone’s hatred for Treasurer Viar dates back to when her husband was running the township.  Treasurer Viar was the voice of opposition against Skip’s massive spending schemes.  Viar opposed the Maccarone “campus”, voted against Maccarone’s priority of spending millions of our tax dollars for two pedestrian bridges, and was persistent in his demands for budget cuts at a time when Mr. Maccarone was advocating larger township budgets.  This puts things in perspective and explains why she views Treasurer Viar as “the biggest problem.”

What will this recall election cost Shelby taxpayers?  Conservative estimates are $30,000 for the recall election and, if the recall succeeds, another $30,000 election to fill the vacancies.

That means this election could cost Shelby Township $60,000!  Now add in the extra costs to verify signatures, and you can see the bigger noose around the neck of taxpayers.

The tentative date for a township recall election is November.  Then, another election (if needed) would likely be held in February 2012.  Then, just six months later in August 2012, the regularly-scheduled township primary will take place.  This means that within a nine-month period, we could realistically have THREE ELECTIONS for the Board of Trustees.  Does any of this make any sense at all to anyone (except those seeking power)?

Costs are an obvious concern to residents facing tough times.  The recall advocates know the costs involved going in, but pressed on anyway.  Now they are getting nervous and are trying to blame others for the costs of their recall.  They even have the audacity to publicly claim that THEY are the people who are trying to save our township money by not having a recall election.  Ridiculous logic from a bunch of pure phonies!

Some of the Save Shelby recall crowd, fearful of public backlash against their unnecessary recall, are trying to hide this fact or spin the truth:

Tom Delise either can’t, or won’t, answer the question about COST.  Why?  What does he have to hide?  Recall advocate Jill Bleeda is on record saying, however, that the election will end up costing taxpayers “nothing.”  So Shelby taxpayers will be having all this recall fun for FREE?????

Sorry Jill ... but that is absolutely FALSE.  Even Clerk Terri Kowal (your Save Shelby recall buddy) has said that a recall election will cost taxpayers $30,000 (plus the additional costs of verifying the signatures).  Once again, your group is lying to people about your recall.

Whenever you hear members of the Nightingale family, Tom Delise, Val Alspaugh, Jill Bleeda, Lisa Manzella, Linda Maccarone, township police officers, or other recall advocates complain about the costs of the election, remember who started all this.  The costs for this recall rests solely with the Nightingales, the police union, and the Save Shelby recall fanatics.  No one else is to blame.  They supported the recall, and all the unnecessary costs that go with it, and now we are all going to be forced to pay money for their selfish little game.

So the next time you pay your taxes remember that the Nightingales and other recall fanatics are going to cost Shelby taxpayer tens of thousands of dollars just to fulfill their political fantasy.

Until next time...