Breath of fresh air?

There is a new Facebook page regarding Troy issues worth looking into. You can find it here. It appears to have been started by some TCU folks with integrity who came to understand that many legitimate voices were being blocked and honest dialogue was being stopped by the people who secretly manage TCU. I want to thank and honor their efforts at trying to start an honest discussion. That's all this blog has ever aspired to accomplish.

For those who might be new here, who have been denied access to the data that I've presented here in the past, many times, I wish to point out that there has been a legitimate "Option 3" on the table since May 9 (updated since May 6). Most of the Troy City Council and several of the senior administrative staff have been exposed to this directly, more indirectly. This plan is not for the ideologues and weak-spirited because it argues for across-the-board cuts (which balances the budget) and does so to make the point that that the city had broken faith with the voters and must, simply must, make dramatic and possibly Draconian cuts (~25%) per department to demonstrate good will and reestablish credibility within the community. Only then will it be possible to ask for what is necessary: additional revenue that are needed to back-fill at least some of the lost revenues to insure this community remains in the top tier of SE Michigan communities and poised to compete when the economy finally turns.

This is not an easy argument to make. Essentially we are saying, have been saying, that both sides are as right as they are wrong. I remain hopeful and confident that the good citizens of Troy will understand this nuance and given the complex times in which we live will "get it."

In other words, I have more faith in you than either the city or TCU has. Again, please review the alternative plan we call Option 3 (and Option 3a) and be sure to look closely at the Supplemental Data that demonstrates the City of Troy has had an operating deficit since 2002.

Study this, ponder this and come to the discussion better informed.

Happy Thanksgiving

I have a lot to be thankful for and I thought that given the extreme anger and bitterness in our community lately, I would say a few things about my own thankfulness. Much of this is quite personal, though I think knowing I'm real with real issues and a real family might make me somehow more real to you.

And so, I'm thankful for:

1. My ability to return home and help my mom in her daily challenges of living with her condition and her continuing health degradation.
2. The doctors who have kept my mom alive, who help her breathe, who have been supportive and helpful in getting medicines neither one of us can afford.
   
3. For my older sister and one of my older brothers who have helped my mom and I stay in the condo we live in through their financial assistance.
4. For the VA doctors trying to save my other older brother's life, and maybe his leg.
   
5. The fact that all my five other siblings are alive.
6. The medicines that help my older sister live (Google "suicide disease" to see why).
7. The woman I love, who drives me crazy and leaves me flabbergasted. And yet I couldn't imagine my life without her.
8. The knowledge that my younger sister has not only survived breast cancer, but fights hard daily to save her marriage and believes there is value in the struggle. She is a beacon of light to her sons. And me.
   
9. The jobs I have, which while below my skills and experience, are decent, honorable jobs that allow me to serve the public, which is what I love the most.
10. The city of Troy, which is dysfunctional, angry, bitter and broken, allowing us all the opportunity to come together as a community, a family, and come to terms with that which we don't wish to compromise. We will. And we will force them to, as well. It must be so.
11. For God, the Force of life within us all, the Power that animates our otherwise empty vessels, filling with both fear, anger, sadness and retribution, but also joy, love, empathy and forgiveness. Why both? Because we must understand our weaknesses to appreciate our strengths. This is the path to our better selves.
    

I love this holiday because it's still mostly pure. We only wish to pause and give thanks, to our loves, our friends, our families or our God. Maybe a parade, with the kids. Or maybe a football game, with pals. But no shopping. No gifts. Just families and friends spending time at the dinner table with one another.

Maybe we can come together at another table, in a conference room somewhere, and give thanks for the community bequeathed to us, the community we are responsible to heal and grow. I give thanks for the belief that this is still possible.

May you all have a peaceful evening and know the true thanks we must all recognize we owe someone in our lives.

How I see it

I'm sorry if it seems like I'm not engaged. These issues are very intense, potentially explosive, and quite controversial. And that's why this site is about the truth. I could say something every day about the latest "news" or did you hear what so-and-so said. But that's not how I operate. It's been a time for reflection and deliberation for me and I wish more people would do that more often. I think we'd have a better understanding of things if we thought more and talked less.

Regardless, now 14 days after the fact, here's what I see:

1. City council won. Yes, that's right. TCU did not win. City council won because they got what they wanted - continued control over the library issue. I tried to warn everybody about how this outcome would just create more dysfunction within our community, but evidently not enough people saw it this way. Just wait until you see this go on a few more weeks/months and once city council acts, or doesn't, then we'll get to see TCU hyperventilate and act, based on city council, and the game that cleaves this community will continue. Remember, I warned you. Several times.
   
2. No one at TCU has a plan, a clue, or even a thoughtful idea to move us toward a solution. It's just more of the same "get your financial house in order" nonsense. This is nonsense because there are no actual suggestions on how to do that. I'm sorry, but gutting the few egregious pensions is a drop in the bucket and, while a nice political gesture (TCU's stock in trade - all show, no go), does not fund the library. The devil is in the details, as the old saying goes. To that end, there needs to be a real plan.
   
3. There is a real plan. Clint Meyer and I submitted a plan back in early May. Our plan, the one we call "Option 3" and "Option 3a" is not rocket science. It's across-the-board cuts that balance the budget and saves the services, if not all jobs. Yes I know others have suggested across-the-board cuts, but they listened to the city council and the city manager talk about $22.6 million "deficit" and so they argued for a 7-10% cut. It seemed logical, though it wasn't. The city manager just sat there and repeated, "That won't work" without saying why. He still hasn't. Why won't it work? Check out the numbers: the actual deficit is over $82 million! Our plan is backed up with numbers, the city's financial data, and a rationale for action. It spares no one, but it destroys no one either. No one else has produced such a plan, to my knowledge. It's very tough medicine, at around 25% cuts per department, based on where we were in May, but it's the only path forward and the only path to demonstrate good faith to the community. This is something entirely lost on the council majority and the city manager. Until that broken faith is restored, we are lost. And eventually, even the police department will be cut dramatically because they'll be the only ones left.
   
4. The Ed Kempen "plan", which really is only a wish, will either be ignored by city council or if it's seen in concert with the 15,000+ Yes voters, not to mention the other 1,546 possible Yes voters on the other proposals (the difference between total ballots cast and the total number of Yes and No votes cast on Proposal 1), it might yet have some political influence, though I don't see it moving a fourth vote. We'll see.
   
5. The past is not to be ignored unless we wish to continue in this broken manner. I'm not arguing for placing blame. There is no value in that. But the past is where we can clearly see the errors that led us here, the obfuscation that hid the truth from us, and why we must act with full knowledge of the past to fix the present.
   
6. The people behind the bogus proposals, whether TCU, the Troy Tea Party, Frank Howrylak, Bob Gosselin, or all of them, stole the election by subverting democracy and they should be ostracized from the conversation. They have no place at the table. They are not interested in dialogue (they continue to block me from their Facebook page to avoid the truths I present). No one should be surprised by this. Not now.
   
7. Martin Howrylak's letter was not honest, his timing was no accident, and his previous commitment to me (and Clint) about supporting a library-only initiative "as long as it was below one mill" was a commitment we reported to library supporters and relied upon. Martin denies this, tells me ether I misunderstood him or he did not make himself clear. I could buy that, except that Robin Beltramini informs me that he told her the same thing and has publicly stated this in the recent past. So I'm not wrong in understanding Martin's artifice. I like Martin, personally, although I know that puts me in the minority in this town. He's a fascinating character, has a firm grasp on more things that people give him credit for, but he's not being forthright here and I don't respect that.
   
8. It's inevitable that the police department will take real financial hits - at some point. The fiscal situation is dire and the truth is that our Option 3 or something very close to it is going to be the only path to getting the budget balanced.
9. And lastly, thank you Rhonda Hendrickson for your efforts.
   

Look, there is a lot of blame to go around on both sides of the issue. I don't care about that now. I only care about getting a plan that begins to solve our city's problems and sets us up for the future. We've put such a plan on the table and it's high time people actually read it. It's not a gift to any "side" in this argument because while it hits the city hard, requires strong leadership to push the unions into cuts they don't want to absorb (not to mention city administrators who appear to be the actual main obstacle to this solution), it also demonstrates that this fiscal crisis is very real and will require additional tax support from the community to back-fill the significant loss in revenue that appears will continue for another couple of years. This is real. Mr. Szerlag is not lying to us, even if he's done a very poor job of communicating it and chosen a cynical political strategy (threatening the library/museum/nature center) to make his point. If you want the city you live in to survive and be positioned to thrive once the economy recovers, you had better look closely at real facts, not the useless nonsense of the uninformed, like TCU, who act from emotion instead of data. Both sides must now face the truth of the reality of the mess and the necessity of honest communications. We all need to pitch in. Please start by reading our Plan.

Still processing

I'm still too mentally and emotionally exhausted to offer value right now. But thankfully Sharon isn't. If you haven't checked into her blog, please do. You can find her here.

There are two things I'd like to say, though:

1. Thank you to the Troy voters who supported us, who understood the actual stakes in this enterprise and who were not fooled by the deceptive strategy of TCU. Less than 700 votes out approx. 30,000 cast is frustrating, but not as frustrating as realizing that there probably 1,546 Yes votes on the other proposals that can't be attributed to "everyone just voted Yes on all proposals." That's their line and it's false. More on that when I'm up to it.
   
2. For anyone still naive to think we can run the library on $2.2 million, please know this, and take from someone inside who knows the drill, but we're starving to death. We're bleeding staff and we're beyond maxed out in duties. Service is beginning to suffer and the only reason we haven't keeled over yet is that this is a highly dedicated, very professional and deeply caring staff.
   

Have a great weekend and don't forget to check in on Sharon's blog. And hold onto your hats Monday night.

Finally...

Here it is, Monday night, Election Eve, with a long road yet to go to resolve our whole fiscal mess (and I'm not implying additional tax revenues), but with the first important and necessary step immediately before us - saving the funding for the library and removing it from the political shenanigans that disgust us - so we can rise above together, put our differences aside, and support a citizens-initiated, citizens-funded, and citizens-managed campaign to save our wonderful library and come together to support that effort. What could be more conservative, or liberal, than that?

Do we, the supporters of Proposal 1, feel manipulated into this action? Of course we do. Should it have come to this? Of course not. But now, none of that matters. In case you've been asleep the past six months, the city council eliminated funding for the library next year and forever more, after essentially halving it this year. Not just jobs, but careers and dreams were lost this year. Much more will be lost next year.

Let's face it: Is there anyone in Troy not ready for this thing to end? The attacks, deceptions, manipulations, as well as all the flyers, earnest calls for support, calls, ringing door bells, etc.

Well, guess what? If you want this to be over, really over, and not just begin the next round of argumentation, campaigning, posturing and to somehow find a way to stop Troy from looking like the embarrassing regional drunkard living on past glories who just won't stay down on the ground because he thinks he can still get up and kick your butt, then vote yes on Proposal 1 so we can all get on with saving Troy from itself.

Otherwise, it continues. The library won't, but the arguing, name-calling and that awful feeling that is gnawing at you as you think, "What happened to Troy?" will not go away.

Tuesday we begin the process of taking back our city. Stand up, man up and recognize the gift this library is for the entire community and, yes, pay the reasonable and measured amount necessary to keep it alive and vital. We don't need a book warehouse. We need a library staffed by librarians who have served this community and know you, know your children, and know how to serve information to them. Damn it, we deserve a library and all that it implies in the modern information age. And then that reasonable "cost" will be seen then for what it is, a small investment that pays significant dividends, quarter after quarter, year after year, for what was and will once again be the wonderful community of Troy, Michigan.

We haven't felt much like that lately, have we? That's why it's up to us to change the narrative, adjust the message, and remember why we came here in the first place.

Vote Yes on Proposal 1 and only Proposal 1 tomorrow. It's not the perfect solution. It's just the only solution. Pass it on.

Children in the sandbox

If there is any good to come out of the deceitful letter from Councilman Martin Howrylak and the incredibly overreactive response of the Mayor (THE DAY BEFORE THE ELECTION!!) it is this: This is exactly what I've been talking about for months. Two political views, both of which have little to do with what most of us think, are hellbent on destroying each other, the hell with you, me or the library.

Remove the library from the cancerous battles of those who care more about their egos than our community. Free the Troy Public Library. Vote YES on Proposal 1 this Tuesday.

Meaning

Working at the Troy Public Library is an honor, a mission and a very serious responsibility to the community in which I've lived for many years. And it provides a fascinating perspective of our community, a place where you can hear a dozen languages spoken within five minutes (with little children who speak pitch perfect English, btw), see literally tens of thousands walk through the door each month, and watch young children squeal with delight at being in the "libary." We get to see elderly residents fulfill their lives with culture, study, entertainment and conversation, and sometimes we get to steady a young mother who desperately needs information on the cancer she was told she has, or the condition her child was just diagnosed with. And these days, we seem to be helping an awful lot of people write resumes, search online for jobs, and file their unemployment claims on our computers. If we were not here, where would they go?

This is what is at stake on November 2; nothing less than our community soul.

There lies before us, found in the records, narratives, stories, sacred texts and histories written through the ages, a great sweep of history; of enormous hardships, incredible heroism and tragic outcomes. And we live in their shadow, affected by their existence and outcomes, here today because history brought us here. And they can all be found in one place, under one roof - right now - with guides and servants we call librarians, who will show you were they can be found (hint: most are not on the Internet - though we'll guide you there too). At times this is done in good humor, yet in others it is done with profound reverence. These servants gauge your request, purpose and meaning to determine how to appropriately respond to your need - even if your actual request even fulfills your need and whether they can direct you to a more appropriate resource - Google that! It is their training, their understanding and their judgment that makes them true professionals and guardians of that which we hold dear - human knowledge and understanding.

In this context, the City of Troy and its current internecine battles for our way of life seem almost mundane, even pedestrian. How in the name of history can we even begin to compare our trivial issues with a past that includes the entire scope of history? But there is nothing trivial about this dispute.

This is our history, our moment. If we let those who would exploit this community asset for political purposes, to manipulate a specific financial outcome and carry the day, tax or no tax, we are finished as a viable community of decent people who have built upon two generations of earlier decent people with vision, a world-class library.

Think about that: Troy, Michigan, our hometown, our little suburb in Greater Detroit, has what can legitimately be called a "world-class library." Why this isn't the focus of our community pride for everyone is mystifying.

Is a mall more important than that? Are a few less potholes more important than that? And is having our police department racing around in sports cars more important than that? Outside of our school system, which by the way is perfectly complementary with the mission of the library, there is no more important aspect of our community. This isn't mere hyperbole, but a factual and data-based reality.

This is a library. This is not a political, financial or egotistical lever. This is our community's face, it's soul presented to the world. In it we tell those who would listen, business people, new home buyers, even our local community neighbors aspiring to live here, who we are. And today we can tell them, we are special, not because we think we are, or because we say we are. And not even because objective third-parties say we are, though they do. But because those who know us, who know libraries, pause in respect and say "The Troy Public Library, well, you can't even park there."

This debate isn't about how mad you may be at the city council. Yes, we agree it was unconscionable for them to support the city manager's Option 1 that included defunding the library. And yes, we feel manipulated. So is closing the library the answer??

And it isn't about whether money can be squeezed from other departments, thus starving or killing them (the fiscal reality is beyond those who would seek to deny reality, namely the Troy Citizens United), or punishing those that have won the pension lottery (it doesn't save the library and besides, half the city employees and almost all the library employees are part time with no benefits). It isn't about whether you are a good conservative or Tea Party person. And it surely isn't about whether you are mad at President Obama or the Pelosi Congress. Those things are all real, all legitimate, and utterly beside this moment's point.

The only thing that now matters, the only question that is before us, is do we, the residents of Troy, deserve a world-class library and are we willing to pay a reasonable price for it?

I think the question is absurd. Of course we do and of course we are. Make no mistake, Proposal 1 saves the library and nothing else will. The effort to "save" the library with no new taxes might save a shell of a library, but we deserve better than that. We've invested too much over the years to let that happen. The reckoning for the city council and this administration is next November, through the ballot box, the way democracy is supposed to work. Make your case - up or down. No cowardly manipulations of the process. If you don't have the principal of your convictions behind you, just shut up. But the reckoning for the Troy Public Library is Tuesday - and it's all or nothing.

Please, support Proposal 1 and allow history to continue to unfold for all of us who choose to follow and study it for the lessons of tomorrow and those of us who are not yet here, those for whom we build this legacy: our children's children.