House Democrats choose leaders

LANSING - - Rep. Kathy Angerer, D-Dundee, was chosen as the Majority Floor Leader Thursday for the 2009-10 legislative session that begins in January as current, term-limited and Democratic Representatives-Elect gathered in caucus to choose their leaders.

Angerer will replace term-limited Rep. Steve Tobocman, D-Detroit. The Democrats retained House Speaker Andy Dillon, D-Redford Twp, as Speaker of the House. Rep. Pam Brynes, D-Chelsea, was chosen as speaker pro tempore. The votes cast for all three positions were unanimous.

Both Angerer and Brynes - in their third and final terms - took the next step up the ladder. Angerer was the Assistant Floor Leader and Byrnes was the associate speaker pro tempore. Byrnes will be in the chair during floor sessions, and Anger will set the agenda from the floor.

Angerer unseated an incumbent Republican when she won her first term in 2004. Republicans, who controlled the House, were so incensed that she wore a target on her back for two years, and Republicans refused to let her even get the simplest of resolutions passed. The same Republican she beat spent the next two years in the district campaigning and raising money.

In the meantime in Lansing, Angerer proved to be a tireless worker, and her constituent operation was the best in Lansing. She earned the respect of colleagues, opponents, staff on both sides of the aisle and House employees down to the janitorial staff. In the 2006 rematch Anger won by an even larger margin than in 2004, and she was named the chair of the important Health Policy Committee when Democrats took control of the House.

With their seats safe this year, Angerer and Byrnes helped other Democratic House candidate’s campaigns and the Democrats picked up nine seats to give them 67 seats.

The caucus did not elect a caucus chair and assistant positions. Republicans also did not choose its leaders, and they are expected to do that next Wednesday when the Lame Duck session resumes.

News of DWI arrest of incumbent Republican House member does not break until after election

Two days after the election, subscription only MIRS is reporting that Rep. Kevin Green, R-Wyoming, was arrested for Driving While Impaired (DWI) in an incident that occurred some two weeks ago in Saginaw Township.

Speculation by the online newspaper is that it would not have had an effect on the election in the predominantly Republican area near Grand Rapids, but that should have been up to voters. He won with 62 percent of the vote, but I wonder why it was not reported in the Grand Rapids Press or the Saginaw News.

Green is the Republican Caucus Whip, and he was mentioned as a candidate to succeed term-limited Craig DeRoche as the House Minority Leader. What this will do to that candidacy is also unknown. In fact, the Republican caucus, as well as the Democratic caucus, is meeting right now to possibly elect new leadership for the upcoming session that begins January 6.

Diversity Council celebrates 20th Anniversary with special event

It seems fitting that the Livingston Diversity Council will hold its annual awards event on its 20th birthday, just days after the first African American President was elected.

The celebration will be held from 7-9 p.m. Friday at the Hartland Music Hall, 3619 Avon Road. It is free and open to the public, and the celebration will feature awards, a video about the group and entertainment by the Men of Grace, a musical ministry of Grace Gospel Fellowship.

The members of the group are currently in or have completed the one-year rehabilitation program at Grace Centers of Hope. The gospel-blues group performs spirituals, hymns, traditional and contemporary styles and personal expression. Grace Centers of Hope is Oakland County's oldest and largest homeless shelter.

The Livingston 2001 Diversity Council is a grass roots organization made up of business people, private citizens, educators, government officials and clergy who live or work in Livingston County with the mission of making the community ever more welcoming, harmonious and prosperous for people of all races, creeds and backgrounds.

The group was formed in 1988 in response to a cross burning in the yard of a black family in the county, and it was initially called Livingston 2001. It was so named because the children in kindergarten when the ugly incident occurred would be graduating from high school in 2001, and hopefully, entering a world where that kind of hate and prejudice was just an ugly footnote in history. A few years ago it changed its name to reflect its mission after 2001, but the mission remains the same.

One way the group meets its mission by bringing diverse people and forms of entertainment to the county. The group and community leader's have worked hard to live down the county's undeserved racist reputation, but when anti-gay hate groups like the so-called "LOVE" group- Livingston Organization for Values in Education- pops up it just reinforces that reputation.

Livingston County Democrats willing to give their obsolete phone booth to state GOP

To quote the late great Jackie Gleason, How sweet it is. Tuesday's Democratic electoral victories were sweet, and our quote of the week really reflects that.

This is a quote we Livingston County Democrats have heard directed at us for many years, and I believe it was first put forth by an editor at the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus who once ran for the state House of Representatives as a Republican. Something to do with local Democrats can hold their meetings in a phone booth. But when you consider more than 42,000 people in the Livingston County voted for President Barack Obama, and Supreme Court Justice Diane Marie Hathaway actually beat incumbent rightwing Republican Cliff Taylor in the county it will have to be a big phone booth.

Perhaps we can lend that phone booth to the Michigan Republican Party since we have not needed it for a few years.

"We Republicans are caucusing in a phone booth."I'm enthused that we will rebuild our party but it's going to take some time." -- Republican Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson. Gongwer November 6, 2008.

Only negatives in historic election are local

I feel like I'm on a roller coaster ride, but it's heading up.

I went to bed just after midnight after Election Day elated that there is a President Obama, the ballot proposals I supported won and we increased our majority in the state House, but I was also disappointed that despite a great showing Democrats in Livingston County who worked so hard still do not have any local seats to show for it and the one candidate I supported by actually going door-to-door for, state Sen. Mark Schauer for the U.S. House, appeared to have lost. I blogged in support of many candidates, but he was the only one I expanded physical energy for.

But low and behold when I looked at Gongwer this morning my spirits soared. Not only did Schauer win, but Gary Peters is now Congressmen-elect Peters. Add to that a historic win by Judge Diane Marie Hathaway over incumbent rightwing activist judge Cliff Taylor. Speaker of the House Andy Dillon won both the recall election and re-electron. Now, maybe Leon Drolet will crawl back under the rock he came from, or better yet, he will be prosecuted for the illegal activity during the recall campaign.

Election Day began for me at 6 a.m. at the polls in Howell Precincts 1 where I was working my first General Election as an election official. The turnout was heavy from the moment the polls opened until around noon when it surprisingly fell off. It was a weird feeling being at the polls all day because there was a virtual news blackout at the polling place.

I was tunnel versioned between tearing off the top of the voter's ballot and helping them run it through the tabulator and checking off names in the poll book. Traffic picked up around 2 p.m., and traffic was steady but not overwhelming until the polls closed. I didn't leave the polls until 9:30 p.m. after we had closed everything out.

The good sign was that Obama had won Howell precincts 1 and 2 in predominantly Republican Livingston County.

Locally, the Buckland family was carrying the torch for local Democratic hopes. Dave Duckland had the best chance of putting a fresh voice on the all-Republican Livingston County Board of Commissioners, but he fell just short. Debby Buckland had a great shot at Hamburg Township Clerk in the county's most populous township where she fell just 322 votes short. She was actually leading with about half of the votes counted.

The incumbent clerk, Joanna Hardesty, lost in the GOP primary, but she launched a spirited write-in campaign. She got 2,239 votes, but her less than honest campaign continued to the end. A costumed giant pencil gave away pencils with her name on them outside the polls. That was legal, and it is even legal to take them into the polls. What it is not legal to do is to leave campaign material at the polls, and people were leaving the pencils behind on tables where the ballot application was being filled out and at voting booths. Since Hardesty was running the election, she knows better. Perhaps that's one reason she lost.

A person who is very close to the campaign told me this morning that if Hardesty had not been in the race Buckland would have won because the opponent is so disliked. I find that hard to believe, and I think the opposite is true. My hope was the two Republicans would split the Republican vote allowing Buckland to win, and it almost worked.

While I am still digesting the election news, it's hard to find much negative, and the only negatives are local. I guess we will remain a county with low taxes, but absolutely zero services.

Come celebrate with the Livingston County Democrats on election night

Livingston County Democrats are conceding nothing, and they have been working hard knocking on doors, making phone calls and stuffing envelopes from soon-to-be President Obama all the way down to Democratic township board candidates since last spring.

There is still a change to volunteer and make a positive difference in your community and the world. Volunteers are still needed to phone bank and go door-to-door in the all-important Get out the Vote activities. We Know Sen. Barack Obama is leading in all the polls, but if we don't get out and vote it's all for naught. Do not be complacent. For somebody who has done a lot of phone banking and knocking on doors, it can be a fun experience. The good news is the weather is perfect, and you will only be dealing with the many Obama supporters in Livingston County to remind them to vote. You will not have to deal with the kind of McCain supporters who would take candy away from children and are rude to dedicated volunteers.

Shifts are available today from Noon to 4 p.m., and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tomorrow, Election Day, shits are available from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Noon to 4 p.m., and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Post-8 p.m.

After the polls close at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, volunteers in the post-8 p.m. shift will go to the precincts and keep voters in line to vote rather than allowing them to become discouraged and leave. The party also needs people on Election Day to be poll challengers and to give rides to the polls. I was a poll watcher/challenger in 2004 and 2006, and it was such a positive experience and I got along so well with the election inspectors at my polling place, that I took the next step and am now an election inspector.

Once we have done all that we can to get our people elected and get this country headed back in the right direction, join all the volunteers and supporters to watch the results come in. An election return watching party will be held at the joint headquarters of the Livingston County Democratic Party/Barack Osama's Campaign for Change at 10321 E. Grand River, Suite 600, of the Fonda Place Office Park, in Brighton, just east of U.S. 23.There will be soup, chili, lasagna and soft drinks available. Bring a dish or snack to share. I have been to many of these potlucks, and I can tell you this, Democrats can cook.

For information or to volunteer for a shift, please call the office at (810) 229-4212, email at livcodems@sbcuc.net or stop by the office at 10321 E. Grand River, Suite 600.

Extremist group spends $100,000 to prop up sagging extremist Walberg in final weekend before election

In a last-ditch effort to keep their bought and paid for candidate in power, the extreme rightwing group Club for Growth announced Friday that it was pumping an additional $100,000 into the 7th District Congressional district race over the weekend for more false attack ads to prop up extreme Republican Tim Walberg, according to subscription only Gongwer.

Michigan Senate Minority Leader Mark Schauer, D-Battle Creek, continues to lead the race over the incumbent, and Club for Growth is spending furiously to protect their investment in the final weekend before the election. Schauer, meanwhile, continues to pick up support in the far-flung 7th District that covers more land area than any of Michigan's 15 Congressional districts.

On Sunday the daily Jackson Citizen Patriot endorsed Schauer, saying, "Schauer is nothing if not effective, however. He has shown throughout his political career — as a Battle Creek city councilman and spending six years in the state House and six years in the Senate — that he cares about improving people's lives in a personal, tangible way."

Remember to vote for Mark Schauer for Congress tomorrow.

Clerk write in candidate puts out false flyer less than a week before election

If you want an example of a politician that will say and do anything to get elected and keep their job, you just need to look at Joanna Hardesty and the race for Hamburg Township clerk.

Hardesty lost the Republican primary, and she is running as a write in candidate. She is holding fundraisers, spending money, buying advertising going door to door in the quest to keep her job. Basically, she’s doing the things she should have done before the primary instead of trying to coast on her incumbency.

Just five days before the election, the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus is reporting Hardesty put out a false flier falsely claiming that Democratic opponent, Debby Buckland, has been unemployed since 2006. The fact is that since Buckland left real estate in 2006, she has been a political campaign field director for several candidates, including the presidential campaign of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in two states, including all important Iowa.

Buckland says Hardesty knew the accusation was not true, and the facts bear that out. Buckland put that information out at the forums and debates held, her activities were even published in the local newspaper and it was even on her campaign web site. That makes Hardesty a liar or not capable of doing the most basic of fact checking.

Infighting on the all-Republican board has been a staple of the township recently, and it may have contributed to all but one of the seven incumbents losing in the primary, as well as the trustee who won the supervisor primary.

Many have put the blame on ousted supervisor Cindy Pine, but I find that very hard to believe. I dealt with Pine when I was a reporter and she was the chair of the Livingston County Republican Party, as well as the time I spent covering the township. I know her to be an intelligent reasoned person. She was far more truthful and civil than the current chair, and just as successful by treating people with respect and not wasting money on ridiculous billboard and commercials.

The good news is a write in candidate rarely, if ever wins, and Hardesty and the Republican challenger will split the GOP vote, and the township voters may have a different voice that is a team player, an experienced administrator, has a positive outlook and can work with a diverse group of people on the board in Buckland.