Why Taxpayers Distrust Skip Maccarone?

If there is anything that Supervisor Skip Maccarone has shown us since his election (besides his liberal spending) it is the value of trust. However, in this case, we have learned that trust is earned and not freely given -- and, quite frankly, Skip has lost any trust that he had with township residents.

There comes a time in almost every politician's life when people get tired and want something different. That time has arrived here and now in Shelby Township.

Taxpayers are simply TIRED of Skip Maccarone, and are eager to embrace a new leader who can move our township forward. In particular, we are tired of his ego-antics and his constant need for self-promotion. We are tired of his "I am the center of the universe" way of thinking. We are tired of his condescending attitude. For seven long years, we have listened as $kip reminds us, constantly, that he knows EVERYTHING.

Skip's leadership (if you can call it that) is troubling and tiresome!

Not only that, but Skip's dictatorial approach to governing (his "my way or no way" attitude) has really gotten old. He looks down at residents who have questions (don't we have the right to question?) and sees concerns by his fellow elected officials as "pointless" or "uninformed."

Skip Maccarone has said and done many things over the years which have given Shelby Township residents good reason to no longer have confidence or faith in him as Supervisor. Simply stated — Skip has let us down! This is not something that happened overnight, it has occurred over a period of years...

(1) When Maccarone was challenged about the costs of engineering for road improvements in the township, $kip went nuts. "I don't think the average taxpayer gives a hoot how much the engineering costs when they can get some (traffic) relief." Macomb Daily, December, 6, 2003. Skip obviously doesn't care, but rest assured that taxpayers (and voters) do "give a hoot" about how $kip is spending our loot! And he has spent a bundle!

(2) When challenged about billings by AEW, the township's engineering firm, at the February 5th, 2002 Board of Trustees meeting, $kip went on the attack AGAIN. Here is how the Macomb Daily reported Maccarone's outburst in the March 2, 2002 issue: "I don't care," Maccarone said (about AEW's billings) "I never did. I don't see anything wrong with AEW's billing practices." Obviously, $kip didn't care, or didn't see any reason for the questions about costs paid by taxpayers. If $kip doesn't care about the costs of the engineering bills paid for by taxpayers, then we certainly need someone who does.

(3) We have all heard $kip say this at a Board of Trustees meeting when discussing one of his controversial spending proposals. "Let's just approve it tonight and we'll figure it out somewhere down the pipe." In other words, just vote "yes" to spend the money now, and we'll shift the money around, from account to account, later to find a scheme to pay for it. If you ask us, Skip is certainly smoking something in that "pipe" of his!

(4) Soon after taking office, Skip issued a directive (via memo) to all Township Department heads NOT to speak to other elected township officials without his approval. Skip claimed this policy was to guarantee efficiency and accuracy of response. Taxpayers, however, saw this for what it was -- a power grab by $kip to control the flow of information in the township. Acting like a little dictator, Skip wanted to make sure that nobody dared voiced their individual opinion without his preapproval. Outrage by the six other duly-elected Board members, along with some bad press, convinced Skip to send another memo shortly thereafter rescinding this power-grab directive.

(5) When residents come to speak at Board meetings, they should beware. If you have a complaint that $kip doesn't want to hear, he will rule you out of order, claim that your concern is not "Township Business" or simply say you are misinformed. Another trick is to tell a taxpayer with a concern to "call my office tomorrow." This is because Skip can't stomach talking about issues on television in the public's eye especially if it reflects poorly on his leadership (which it usually does). Talk over the phone, and nobody will hear what's really going on. Slick trick Skip!

(6) In the Monday, December 17, 2007 issue of the Detroit News, $kip talked about the burden of asking Shelby Township residents to pay more money for cable television. In this article, $kip condemned Comcast Cable's decision to move the Shelby government TV channel from the previous channel #5 up to channel #915, accessible only with a digital receiver. To get this channel, Comcast subscribers would have to upgrade their existing analog service to a digital receiver, at a slightly higher cost.

"It's a great inconvenience to ask people to pay more money," Skip said.
Grand-master Maccarone lodged a similar complaint against Comcast in the December 2, 2007 edition Source Newspaper: "I, as an analog customer of Comcast, will have to obtain a box, whether or not free, and after one year, pay for that box in order to receive the same service I am receiving today."

Skip went on to rant that people rely on government TV for information, and that (according to $kip) changing channels will deny residents vital information. Maccarone wants us to believe this change by Comcast will devastate Shelby Township?

Skip wants us to think that this is a life and death decision by Comcast. Really? What about those township residents (and, yes, even township officials) who don't even have cable TV? Are they, somehow, deprived of information? Do they not know what is going on? Come on!

If you ask us, Skip's anger at Comcast is more for personal reasons. The change means that people will not be able to to watch his performance at Board meetings (as arrogant as it may be) or watch Skip's self-promotion program Shelby This Week.

Why is it an inconvenience, as Skip says, to pay more for cable programming, but it is not inconvenient to pay more in township fees and assessments to support Skip's excessive spending? What about the projected $20 to $25 million spending for Skip's police and court building? Isn't this massive spending (combined with Skip's plan for a $50 million campus) an inconvenience on people?

Next time you see Skip Maccarone, ask him that important question...and watch his facial expression and body language as he grasps for a politically-correct answer.

Meanwhile, if you want to join our campaign to Stop Skip Maccarone, send an e-mail to stopskip08@aol.com. Election day 2008 is fast approaching...