Transparency?? Shelby’s Current Board of Trustees Is the MOST TRANSPARENT Board Taxpayers Have Had In Township History

A Commitment to Enhanced Transparency and 

Openness Has Made Shelby Township A Stronger, 

More Financially-Secure, More Accountable and 

More Taxpayer-Friendly Place to Live and Work!

The 2012 election season is here.  How can we tell?

• Residents who have plans to run for township office start magically appearing at televised Board of Trustees meeting so they can get their face on television.

• Political gadflies ratchet up their uninformed attacks against our township officials - elected officials who have upheld their promises and done the job that Shelby taxpayers expect.

• Special interests groups — with a political goal or an axe to grind — start making lots of noise at Board meetings (shouting, swearing, disrupting meetings, etc.) to push their agenda.

We are going to be hearing a lot about TRANSPARENCY this election year.  Why?  Because those who oppose the current Supervisor and Board of Trustees desperately want to make it seem as though the township is not transparent - even though the facts speak differently.

Truth be told - our current Shelby Township elected officials are the most transparent, most accountable, most proactive, most open and most conservative Board we have seen in more than five decades.

Supervisor Rick Stathakis and the Board of Trustees have done a remarkable job of trimming costs, reducing the size of government, protecting services, and avoiding tax increases on struggling residents.  Shelby Township stands as a shining example of what a local government body can do when the values of taxpayers come before those of special interest groups who feel “entitled” to some kind of government benefit — be it a paycheck, a pension or a towing contract.

The Inside Out applaud Supervisor Stathakis and the Board for their commitment to transparency, and for consistently looking for ways to open the doors of government to the people, expand our understanding of spending issues, openly discussing ways to reduce costs and protect the integrity of the township’s budget, and expand public access to information that impacts us.

When you look up the word “transparency” you will find several other words:  Openness.  Accountability.  Communication.  Candidness.  Straightforwardness.  Each of these words explains how our Board of Trustees has worked to expand transparency and get ordinary taxpayers more directly involved in government in ways that were never done before.

So just how have Shelby’s Trustees expanded transparency?  Through teamwork, persistence, and an unwavering commitment to doing what is right for taxpayers.

(1) Expanding public access to information.  Supervisor Stathakis and the Board have placed the township’s budget, revenues and expenditures, online for easy access via the Internet to all anyone with a computer.

(2) Giving residents and business owners a greater voice.  Supervisor Stathakis and the Board have established “Priority Meetings” to give Shelby residents and business the opportunity to help set annual township goals and objectives.  This process is unique to Shelby Township.

(3) Ending past practice (begun by the previous supervisor) of holding Board votes during untelevised work sessions.  Today, all votes on issues (with exceptions for emergencies) are done in an open meeting on television - so all Shelby residents can hear and see the discussions which go into making these important decisions.

(4) Improving the township’s bidding process.  Supervisor Stathakis and the Board have demanded competitive bids for all township contractors, including towing and engineering services.

(5) Upholding a commitment to fiscal responsibility. Supervisor Stathakis has been totally transparent and responsible when it comes to his own salary.  He voluntarily cut his pay by 5% and took an additional voluntary 20% reduction in health care costs.

(6) Enhancing the township’s financial tools.  Stathakis and the Board introduced the FIRST EVER yearly forecasting tool for township budgets.  This helps elected officials, department heads and employees more accurately and effective control costs.

(7) Framing the discussion about Shelby’s future.  The Board unanimously adopted the first ever MISSION STATEMENT to help guide the Board and give residents an idea of how Trustees are working for them.  Key elements of this mission statement include: balance the budget with a minimal use of reserve funds, no increase in taxes, no reductions in essential services, such as fire, EMS and police, and work diligently every year to meet the township’s top ten annual priorities, as outlined with assistance from residents and business owners.

(8) Educating residents about current issues and events during Board meetings.  Previously, Shelby residents were kept in the dark about what the Board was doing to address their concerns and issues.

(9) Exposing false allegations for what they are - political attacks.  Supervisor Stathakis made public an alleged “harassment” complaint filed against him by a township police officer.  This complaint was dismissed as “unfounded” and Trustees voted 5-0 (Stathakis abstained) to dismiss the alleged “harassment” charge.  This “harassment” complaint has been dubbed “The Great Shelby Cookie Caper.”

(10) Welcoming and encouraging public comment/debate.  Watch the televised Board meetings and see for yourself how a handful of residents conduct themselves.  They come up and gripe about, smear, trash and condemn our township officials.  This handful of people (most of whom are running for office of supporting the BOBLEMAN BUNCH) scream obscenities from their seats, rush the podium (we are waiting for one of these goons to jump the Board table and start fighting), and spend their time telling us how much they know about everything (Mr. Cook and Mr. Holeton come to mind) and how little the Trustees know about the township.  Then, these same people have the nerve to say Mr. Stathakis is trying to silence public debate (by telling the wild gang to show civility) and is depriving people of their right to free speech (because they can’t use four-letter words in their rants).

While Supervisor Stathakis and the Board have been working for taxpayers, what about that other group called the “BOBLEMAN BUNCH”?  What have they been spending their time doing?

As much as their leader, BOBLEMAN, talks about transparency, it is clear that his talk is little more than political rhetoric - and it is clear that his rhetoric is much more important to him than facts.  He once worked for the township, and knows very well how transparency has improved since Supervisor Stathakis and the Board has been in charge.  He may now try to deny this fact, out of political expediency and his drive for another township job, but his denials will never override the truth.

Sure, BOBLEMAN will bounce the word “transparency” around like a beach ball at a summer picnic, saying he can do better.  However, BOBLEMAN’s complaints that Supervisor Stathakis and the Board are not transparent is pure political nonsense.

The fact is, BOBLEMAN wants to silence transparency when it comes to letting taxpayers know how much money we are spending for jackpot union pensions.  While admitting (now) that pensions are a problem, he offers no suggestions for how to correct them.  Why?  Because he doesn’t want to anger his union buddies who are giving him campaign money?

Where is the so-called BOBLEMAN transparency?

BOBLEMAN also says he will keep him promises to the people.  Really?  Consider this:  a few hours before a staged event at the township hall to hand in signatures for his race for supervisor, BOBLEMAN’s campaign had already broken one of his first promises.  Here is what BOBLEMAN told the Shelby-Utica News on January 18, 2012:

A “very clean” campaign?  A campaign based on “facts and things happening in the township?”

A pledge that he is “not going to run a dirty campaign”?

OOPS...someone obviously forgot to tell BOBLEMAN’s campaign consultant, John Johnson (we will discuss Johnson’s baggage and background later).

BOBLEMAN’s CAMPAIGN OF FRAUD & DECEPTION

Seven months before the August 2012 township primary, and just a few hours before he officially filed his petitions to run for supervisor, BOBLEMAN’s campaign had already engaged in deceptive dirty tricks not “based on facts.”  We predicted that the Leman/Johnson crew would bring their Detroit-style bag of dirty politics to Shelby Township.  We just never thought they would be so deliberately deceitful this early.

On January 26, 2012, BOBLEMAN, through his campaign surrogates, paid for a robocall to Shelby Township taxpayers.  This was a deliberately false political attack disguised as a so-called “TAXPAYER ALERT”.  It was clearly designed to create anger and confusion among the public that something shady was going on at the township hall, when nothing was going on at all.

How in the world can BOBLEMAN talk about transparency, and expect anyone to listen to him or believe anything he says, when his campaign is hiding behind deliberately deceptive attacks like this? Secret meeting?  How can it be secret since the Board knew about it; residents knew about it; the meeting was posted (as required by law) in the township; our local newspapers knew about it; and even the robocall guy knew about it?  Fair and open bid process?  Since the BOBLEMAN BUNCH want us to think that the township’s bid process is unfair, BOBLEMAN should come clean, be transparent, and tell us specifically where the process is not fair and how he will fix it.

Come on BOBLEMAN, where is all your self-professed transparency now?

How can we trust BOBLEMAN and his slate of candidates when his campaign lies so casually like this?  How can we expect teamwork from a group that believes lies are truth, rumors are facts, and division is unity?  Since BOBLEMAN and his Nightingale/Save Shelby gang obviously lives in an alternate universe, how can we trust them to effectively run our township?

BOBLEMAN’s campaign is a fraud.  Period!  He clearly hopes to bamboozle Shelby residents with the illusion of transparency.  Beware of the BOBLEMAN/Save Shelby snake oil!  Just one tiny sip of this elixir will leave a burning aftertaste in your mouth.

Look at BOBLEMAN’s record (we will explore that later) and it will tell the real story.  BOBLEMAN and his crew hopes to win election through the politics of spin and distortion disguised as “transparency.”  Talk is cheap, and when it comes to “transparency” BOBLEMAN and his bunch are taking the cheap way out as they try to take power away from the people.

Here’s another interesting topic worthy of reporting, for it says VOLUMES about the candidates for township office and who we can really trust to stand up and do what is right for taxpayers.

On the same day that he announced his campaign for supervisor, BOBLEMAN was joined by his “loyal” supporters.  These supporters included two prominent, big-spending Democrats who proudly backed the budget-busting spending agenda of the previous supervisor:  Clarence Cook and Dub Hearon.  Cook and Hearon are pictured standing to BOBLEMAN’s right in the photo which appeared in the Shelby-Utica News.

Many of our readers who are Democrats have written to us saying that they totally reject the Cook/Hearon approach to township government.  Cook and Hearon both subscribe to the notion that “the government that spends the most, governs the best.”  In fact, Clarence Cook once told the Board “yous [stet] need to understand...you work for us.  The people.  If you need more tax money then do what you have to do.  You have to do what the people want.”

Mr. Cook will obviously disagree, but the truth is that Supervisor Stathakis and the Board have done exactly what the majority of the people want.  We want government spending reduced; we want reductions in budget-busting pensions; we want union employee health care costs brought down to more realistic levels; and we DO NOT support the notion of raising taxes to support higher spending.  The people want a township government that understands the economic realities we face, and that works within those confines to provide quality services we expect without breaking the budget or forcing higher taxes.

On behalf of the overwhelming majority of taxpayers who don’t go to meetings to make fools of themselves by screaming and swearing in public, we thank our Board of Trustees for a job well done!  Don ’t let angry outbursts from a few loudmouths dissuade you from doing what we elected you to do: serve as a voice for taxpayers.


Election 2012 is fast approaching, and the BOBLEMAN BUNCH is trying to pawn themselves off as the voice for Shelby.  Actually, they are a voice of a faction within our township that believes in special interest power grabs, big spending agendas and higher union pensions all paid for with higher taxes.  This group represents a vision that will take Shelby Township backward to the days of bloated budgets, project deficits and threatened tax increases.  They support the status quo when it comes to spending, employee payroll, health care and pensions.  They seem to care more about morale among township employees, and working with the unions to give these employees union contracts with higher pay and benefits, than they do fighting for the interests of hard-pressed Shelby taxpayers.

Transparency will become a hot political buzzword in Shelby Township this election year.  You see, desperate candidates out to achieve a vindictive political goal will try anything they can to win.  Considering the challenges Shelby Township faces today, especially during these very tough economic times, we offer this advice to township residents...

...When you hear the word “transparency”, examine the record of the individuals and candidates who are complaining about transparency.  What is their motive?  What is their hidden agenda? What is the truth about their record and its impact on township taxpayers?

...The next time you receive one of those phony “taxpayer alert” robocalls laced with lies; when that anonymous flyer smearing our township appears on your car windshield; or when that nasty campaign literature from an unknown organization arrives in the mail personally attacking our township officials and distorting their record of achievement, keep in mind that these shenanigans are coming from the BOBLEMAN BUNCH.

...Remember, that the people who cry the loudest about a lack of “transparency” by the current Board are the same people who are trying to hide their record, their hidden agenda, their motivations and their actual political goals.

Until next time...