Save Shelby’s Snake Oil Solution Will Erode Taxpayers As It Emboldens Union and Special Interest Control Over Shelby Township Government

“Friends don’t let friends drink snake oil!”

Back in the “good old days” of yesteryear, a snake oil salesman would ride into town with a guaranteed promise to make everything better.  “You need help and I hear what you say, I have what it takes to make your problems go away,” the pitch would go.

People were told that one gulp of this magical elixir was all that is needed to eliminate aches and pains forever.  Never mind the fact that this snake oil was a bogus fraud — the salesman’s pitch was enough (in his mind) to make this medicine a tasty solution for those eager for a quick fix.  Never mind that it was formulated from the venom of rattle snakes.  “You need a cure and we have it for sure.”

Looks like history is repeating itself here in Shelby Township.  The Save Shelby solution for our township resembles that classic snake oil pitch from generations ago.  The special interests and people who are powering the Save Shelby attacks are counting on ordinary residents (people like us) to buy what these politically-motivated individuals are selling.  Lead by their top snake oil saleswoman Trustee Lisa Manzella, and group spokesman Richard Batchelder, the Save Shelby gang has come to town with a promise to bring “something different” to our township.  “Just go ahead and drink up!”

Keep in mind that this Save Shelby snake oil may taste good at first, however the bitter aftertaste and resulting hangover will make you sick as you endure higher spending, expanded union control, higher employee pensions, higher employee health care costs, greater special interest control over our tax dollars and, ultimately, higher taxes on all of us.  This is why, using history as a guide, Shelby Township residents are strongly encouraged not to drink the Save Shelby snake oil kool-aid.  Doing so will lead to heartburn, headaches, nausea, misery and financial pain.

Desperate to take power away from the people and give it to themselves, the Save Shelby gang keeps trying to sell this stuff to the general public.  They are getting increasingly frustrated by the unwillingness of the people to buy it.
• They tried it with their numerous recall efforts, spewing all sorts of lies to support their campaign.  Their recall was laced with fraud, and the result was FAILURE.
• They have done it by trashing our township officials, calling them “corrupt“ and “criminals” — statements based on allegations that were fully investigated and dismissed with no charges of wrongdoing.  Yet, the Save Shelby gang keeps attacking our elected officials with words like corruption and wrongdoing — two elements which have absolutely no basis in reality.
• They have tried to sell their snake oil over the Internet, with written condemnations of our Board, claiming they have failed to represent residents.  Actually, an overwhelming majority of township residents understand how our current Board has stood up and fought aggressively to protect the interests of taxpayers.  The current Board has stood strong against union bully tactics and special interest intimidation.  They have given control of our township back to the people, and this has angered those special interests who want to take the power back for their own, personal reasons.

Each of their attempts to try and seize control of our township has fallen flat.  The bottom line is that most Shelby taxpayers aren’t interesting in drinking their snake oil.  Just like those who exposed snake oil as a fraud, township residents see the Save Shelby “supercure” for what it is: a BIG LIE.  Sure, Save Shelby has received plenty of media attention lately — the squeaky wheel gets the grease and these people have been squeaking a lot recently.  However, when the cameras go away and the newspapers move on to more important and relevant stories, Save Shelby’s message evaporated.

This group and their handful of supporters, people like Clerk Terri Kowal and her family, Skip and Linda Maccarone, Brent Freeman, Clarence Cook, Tom Delise, Richard Batchelder,  Joe and Lisa Manzella, the Nightingale family, and a few others with personal goals, will likely continue to smear our township, and the Board of Trustees, in the hopes of reclaiming their empire.  Their hopes will fade as residents push back against these bullies and stand up for the majority on the Board of Trustees who have made real progress these last three years building a stronger township, preserving essential township services, reducing overall spending, and working for Shelby Township taxpayers.

THE SAVE SHELBY GOAL:
“Change THEY Can Control”

The real gripe the Save Shelby proponents seem to have comes down to one word: CHANGE.  They don’t want it - they don’t like it - they will fight it tooth and nail. 

These people don’t acknowledge what the Board of Trustees has done to change the spending habits of the township.

They don’t like how the township is saving money instead of spending money.  Trustee Manzella said it would be better to spend money than save it in the bank.  At the September 6th Board meeting Manzella’s good friend, Brent Freeman, went one step further said that saving $22,000 is not a big deal.

WTF?  Not a big deal?  Oh sure, it is only $22,000!  But come on Brent, are you really that disconnected with reality?  Are you that blinded by political ambitions (and hatred for the current Board) that you ignore savings like this?  And you honestly want taxpayers to elect you Treasurer?

Freeman’s “anti-new people” message is not being well received in the general public.  Some residents are appalled by his political grandstanding.  Meanwhile, some in the Board room yelled out “what’s wrong with new people?”  A very good question which Freeman did not answer.

We should all remember this logic in the 2012 elections when Freeman, Manzella and the rest of their Save Shelby gang will want to replace effective, conservative and EXPERIENCED township leaders with new people for the sake of new people.  Tisk...tisk...tisk...will these people ever learn?

The Save Shelby gang does NOT appreciate how the Board’s change from liberal to conservative priorities has paid off for taxpayers.  This is due to the strong conservative views of Supervisor Stathakis, Treasurer Viar, and Trustees Flynn, Filar and Wozniak.  These five are the only Board members who understand financial forecasts and who have worked tireless to keep spending in check, make government smaller, and protect the vital services residents expect.

• Save Shelby doesn’t want changes to towing services, including competitive bids.  This is why when the Board of Trustees voted to implement a bidding process, the Nightingale family went ballistic and the recall craze began.

• Save Shelby doesn’t want changes made to high-cost employee union pensions.  This is why when the cost of these pensions was exposed by Treasurer Viar, and the Board of Trustees began working to reduce these costs, the police union went ballistic and joined the recalls.

The Save Shelby group’s true feelings about change in our township is best be summarized by what Save Shelby advocate, and rumored Save Shelby Treasurer’s candidate, Brent Freeman said recently.  Speaking at the Tuesday, September 6th Board meeting during Business from the Floor, Freeman was griping about not getting reappointed to his volunteer, unpaid position on the Sidewalk Committee.  Why?  Because Shelby Trustees wants to make a change and bring new people into the process. 

During his self-righteous lecture, Freeman said the following:
“It makes no sense to me that you're going to allow new people to come on to replace people who have experience, with new members.”

This proclamation goes along with what we have been hearing from Save Shelby for the past several months.  Save Shelby gang’s believes:
• They are entitled to do towing work for as long as they want, without change.
• They are entitled to receive high-cost, budget-busting employee union pensions for as long as they want, without change.
• They are entitled to maintain committee seats for as long as they want, without change.
• They are entitled to keep their power in the township as long as they want, and will work like hell to stop any change.

When you think about what they have been saying and doing recently, perhaps the name “SAVE Shelby” is an appropriate name for their group after all.  Could the letters S.A.V.E. really stand for: Supporting All Variety of Entitlements?

S.A.V.E. SHELBY = Supporting All Variety of Entitlements, Shelby!

Back in our August 18th Inside Out we discussed why the Save Shelby “Liar Society” will be dangerous and disastrous for our township.  If Save Shelby gang gets their slate of special interest candidates elected to the township Board in 2012:
• Will the Save Shelby candidates get tough with employee unions on cutting township spending, or will they simply roll over and give the unions everything they demand in order to stay on good terms and avoid future recall threats?
• Will the Save Shelby candidates try and reduce budget-busting, jackpot union pensions, or will they simply go along to get along and keep giving the unions higher pensions?
• Will the Save Shelby candidates support competitive bids for contracts, like towing, or will they give in to special interests and hand out contracts to their friends and supporters without bids?
• Will the Save Shelby candidates support taxpayers, or put taxpayers secondary to the demands and desires of special interests?  Remember, the recalls were prompted by special interests and the unions, so appeasing them would likely avoid any talk of recalls.

The Save Shelby gang rejects change, has contempt for change, and believes that the only good change is change that directly benefits themselves and their political needs.  This group’s deep-rooted hatred for the current Supervisor began when Mr. Stathakis trounced the liberal-spending Skip Maccarone back in 2008.  This change, brought about by concerned taxpayers, really irritated these people.  Did the Save Shelby feel entitled to hold this elected position for as long as they wanted?  Given their feelings on everything else, it makes you wonder.

The Save Shelby “get even” campaign began shortly thereafter, and their nasty attacks have continued ever since.  Supported by people like Linda Maccarone, who have publicly stated their desire to “overthrow the government” of Shelby Township [as documented in our June 8th Inside Out post detailing the Save Shelby social network smear campaign] and you can see just what kind of change these people will bring to Shelby Township.

It is truly scary when you stop and think about what the Save Shelby gang will do, what they are willing to say, and how far they will go to try and sell their poisonous snake oil.

The Save Shelby swindle has been exposed, and we predict their efforts will fail as miserably in the future as they have in the past.  Why?  Because their countless lies have been exposed, their political motivations have laid bare for all to see, and their repeated smears and character assassinations have no foundation at all outside of the Twilight Zone.

Until next time...