Brick thrown through window of GOP office is sold off at GOP fundraiser

Apparently, the investigation over the brick thrown through the window of the Michigan Republican campaign “fix it” office in Genoa Township near Howell is over.

Howell radio station WHMI is reporting that at the Livingston County Republican Party’s annual Lincoln Day dinner Wednesday night the actual brick thrown through the window was auctioned off at the fundraising dinner.

CORRECTION:It was pointed out to me in the comments section that the brick allegedly thrown through the Republican campaign office and auctioned off was not the one in the possession of the Sheriff's Department and the chair of the Livingston County Republican Party. The sentence I misread said, “A highlight of the evening came when a symbolic brick of the type thrown through the Republican Party’s local “Fix Michigan Center.”

The incident occurred less than a week ago, and they got rid of the evidence?According to a report in the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus, the brick has the words ”Long Live the USA” and “God Bless the USA” scrawled on it, according to Livingston County Sheriff’s investigators.”

WHMI reported the winning bid of $275 was made by Republican Livingston County Commissioner Dave Domas. The money will go toward items for American troops stationed in Afghanistan.

I’m a little surprised it was released. Perhaps it was never turned over to the Sheriff’s Department, and it remained the property of the GOP broke it center. As I said before, the second ranking officer at the Livingston County Sheriff’s Department, Mike Murphy, is also the chair of the Livingston County Republican Party.

Regardless of how the brick was obtained, there is a clear conflict of interest, and the investigation - if it’s not over - should be turned over to the Michigan State Police.

It’s ironic that the keynote speaker at the fund-raiser was U.S. Rep. Thad “Mad Thad” McCotter, R-Livonia, - known for his inflammatory and false rhetoric against Democrats. McCotter is one of the first people to push the death panel lie, and he has been active at “tea parties” where much of the hate against Democrats over the health insurance law has been ginned up and has led to violence and vandalism.

Halloween fun demonstrates how popular mass transit can be in Livingston County

Howell -- A fun seasonal weekend in Livingston County demonstrated why Washtenaw Livingston Line (WALLY) commuter rail line will be successful.

The plan is to establish a Howell-to-Ann Arbor rail link using the existing tracks owned by the Great Lakes Central Railroad. A coalition consisting of Washtenaw County, the City of Howell and the Greater Brighton Chamber of Commerce are behind the project.

Downtown Howell was overrun Saturday evening with more than 7,000 children and families dressed in their Halloween costumes for the 6th Annual Legend of Sleepy Howell. Grand River Avenue and the surrounding streets were closed down and kids went trick or treating, and there was a haunted alley, costume contests for both canines and people, hayrides, broom ball, scary story telling and even marshmallow roasting. One of the most popular attraction was the “Dreadful Depot and Terrifying Train.”

The train was actually one of the 10 stainless-steel bi-level passenger cars that will be used on the WALLY line. One half of the car was decorated, and one was not. People could tour the car, and many, like me, took advantage of the opportunity to see what it could be like reading the newspaper while traveling to work in comfort. I can’t wait to get a seat on the upper level. I already commute to work in Lansing with the Michivan, and I am just one of 12 people who ride the van. I like it, and it saves me money and hassle. It is so popular, that starting this week we are getting a larger van. Since I started riding in November, we have added two new riders.

I know the WALLY train will travel north and south, but someday, hopefully, the rail line will travel east and west.

Getting the train on line will not be easy, and the Livingston County Board of Commissioners decided not to provide any money to the project or to be a part of the coalition that wants to form a taxing authority. The shortsightedness of the all Republication board is just stunning. It seems ironic that the Livingston County GOP is spending some $20,000 to brag that the county has the lowest tax rate in the state and second highest bond rating with TV ads and billboards.

They should also get one that says the county has virtually zero services, and they are ensuring Livingston County is a bedroom community where people do little more than sleep here. If their children want post-secondary education they have to leave, if they want to go to a county park or want any of the other things neighboring counties like Washtenaw, Oakland or Ingham offer they must get in their car and drive out of the county. If gas had not fallen dramatically below the peak of $4 a gallon the county would have started to lose population as people had to move closer to their jobs out of economic necessity.

The good news is some people realize the benefits of mass transit, and they are putting their money where their mouths are. Howell Mayor Pro Tem Steve Manor and Council member and former Mayor Paul Rogers are paying for some 4,000 brochures with information on the WALLY line out of their own pockets that they will distribute.

They know that for every $1 invested in transit projects, $6-$8 is pumped back into the local economy. Among the things the brochure talks about is the $74 million of development that has taken place within three blocks of a new Grand Rapids transit center since 2004. Public transportation also reduces auto fuel consumption by approximately 1.5 billion gallons annually, lowering the nation’s trade deficit and reducing dependence on foreign. The fuel efficiency of a fully occupied rail car is 15 times greater than the average commuter single-occupant auto.

To see what kind of opposition the project is up against we have this quote from Livingston County Commissioner Dave Domas. He’s against the project even before the study was started. Domas is usually a very level-headed official who I have a lot of respect for. This is just further proof we need an alternative voice or two on the board.

"I was opposed to WALLY almost from the earliest phase when it was presented to us," Republican Commissioner Dave Domas said in a recent interview. "I don't mean to suggest the people who proposed or supported it were not being responsible or anything like that — in my judgment, a railroad line that runs, what, 27 miles with several stops in between is like a toy train system."

The race for Livingston County’s two term limited House seats begins

Although the primary election for the Michigan House is still 16 months away, the jockeying the seats has already begun with both of Livingston County’s two House seats term-limited in 2008

The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus is reporting Republican County Commissioner Steve Williams, 45, is running for the 66th District seat that will be vacated by Chris Ward, R-Brighton. The district includes the townships of Brighton, Genoa, Marion and Oceola, and the city of Brighton in Livingston County and Milford Township in neighboring Oakland County.

Williams has only been on the board since January 2005, but this will be his third attempt at the 66th District seat. He nearly unseated incumbent Rep. Judy Scranton as an unknown in the Republican primary in 2000, losing by only 721 votes. He ran again in 2002 when the seat was open because of term limits, but he dropped out before the primary when the military intelligence officer was recalled to active duty.

Williams is very conservative, and he really played on that in his race against Scranton, a rare moderate Republican and an even more rare pro-choice Republican. It’s rare in Republican-dominated Livingston County that a Republican incumbent is challenged, and Williams is the only one I can recall in the past seven years.

It’s ironic that when Ward, then the chair of the Livingston County Republican Party, ran for the open seat in 2002 there was not even a primary challenge for the seat, knowing that a primary win almost guaranteed a general election win. Some quality candidates began falling out of the race as the primary approached, including Williams, Rick Chrysler – the son of former U.S. Congressman Dick Chrysler - and former Brighton Mayor Kate Lawrence. What we got were six years of questionable ethics.

When Williams first ran for the seat, the 66th District included almost all of Livingston County. A few townships in the western part of the county were in the 67th District then held by Republican Paul DeWeese. But following the population growth in the fastest growing county in the state and the gerrymandering by the GOP, a new seat was carved out of Livingston County. Instead of making the two districts a logical east/west split of the county which most people already identified with Republicans carved out the 47 District seat by illogically cutting a big C in the county with the inside of the C being the 66th District.

When the 47th District was created, we saw a six-person primary that had a few well-known candidates that peoples knew, such as Hartland Township Supervisor Greg Bogdanski, Hamburg Township Supervisor Howard Dillman, Chair of the County Board of Commissioners Dave Domas, Daily Press & Argus editor Buddy Moorehouse, John Sheppard and Joe Hune. The unknown Hune won the primary by just two votes over Domas.

This goes back to the question of why an incumbent is never challenged in this county like they are in other places where one party dominates. Domas was well respected and able to work with a wide-range of people, and in a county that offers very little services he actually implemented a discount prescription drug program. Despite losing by a mere two votes and Hune’s very thin legislative record, Hune has never been challenged in the primary.

At this point, Williams is the only candidate that has publicly announced his intention to run, and he is the only person even rumored to be considering a run to date.