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EWSPAPERS OF
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ICHIGAN
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AGE
6
March 1, 2012
Anybody else see that almost
matronly singer who performed at
theSuperBowl recently?
Could that have been the same
woman who shocked us senseless
30 years ago with her risqué cos-
tumes, outlandish lyrics, blasphe-
mous videos and unbridled person-
al conduct?
Yep, there she was in her mid-
thigh, full skirt with high bootsmak-
ing no move more outrageous than
an assisted cartwheel or two. At one
point, she needed help from a back
up dancer to get up onto the second
level of the stage. Her dancing was,
to put it kindly, restrained…sort of
like that I-don't-want-to-break-a-hip
move usually seen in convalescent
homes or icy parking lots.
This from the woman who
shocked us all when she used reli-
gious icons in her now decades old
videos. The woman who posed
nude at public places throughout
New York for a book of photos. The
woman who simulated various sex-
ual acts while strapped to a cross in
one of her videos. Wonder if her
kids have seen those yet?
And there, you have it. Madonna
is now the mother of a teen girl and
two young sons. To say her values,
priorities and view of morality and
acceptability have probably
changed would put it mildly----like
saying thePacific is a large puddle.
She can deny it, and probably
does, but there can be no doubt that
ole Madge has reinvented herself
one more time----this time with
restraint and respectability.
Seen the interviews with her
lately? She's polite, extremely artic-
ulate and her intelligence crackles
around her like static electricity.
And she hasn't
dropped the f-
bomb once late-
ly.
Like most of the rest of the
world, Madonna has been irrevoca-
bly changed by the responsibilities
of parenthood. She is now well
aware that she is not the most
important being in her universe----
her children are. She can no longer
indulge her every whim, no matter
what it might be, because she has
children for whom she needs to set
an example of appropriate conduct.
Not for herself, for them, so that
when they leave home and enter
the mainstream of society, they will
know how to behave properly fol-
lowing the example she has set and
the rules she's taught them. She
hopes.
Whether they choose to exercise
those lessons will, of course, be up
to them, just as it was to her when
she spread her wings (now, now)
and began her long hiatus from
respectability andpolite society.
Say what you will, nobody has
ever criticizedher parenting.
Remember when she was every
mother of a pre-teen girl's night-
mare? Remember when emulating
her style of dress or, perish the
thought, singing her lyrics, would
send a parent into apoplectic
This week, Judge Richard Hammer dismissed all
charges brought against Christopher Sanders by the Wayne
County Prosecutors office after a complaint by the City of
Wayne.
That decision restores our faltering faith in the justice
system.
Apparently there is still some common sense on the judi-
cial bench which can see political silliness and a waste of
taxpayers' money for what it really is: An effort to silence
critics through litigation.
The City of Wayne was the original complainant in the
case charging that Sanders had fraudulently signed peti-
tions as the “circulator” when, in fact, others had actually
solicited some of the signatures.
The petitions, by the way, were an effort by Sanders to
require minimum staffing at the city fire department in
accordance with federal and state standards, something the
city was attempting to avoid. Sanders, from the very onset of
the situation, admitted freely that he did not, in fact, obtain
all the signatures, that some were obtained by others. He
signed each petition as the “circulator” he said, because
those were the instructions provided to him by Matthew
Miller, theWayneCityClerk.
This situation escalated when Miller signed a complaint
on behalf of the city which then went to the Michigan State
Police. Three state police investigators spent more than 80
hours on the case, managing to prove, beyond a doubt,
exactly what Sanders had admitted and stipulated all along.
Only it required 80 hours of their time to do it to the satisfac-
tion of county prosecutors. One can only wonder how many
other hours at the county and local level were spent prepar-
ing for this nonsense case that went nowhere and couldn't
survive the most cursory requirement of proof of wrongdo-
ing onSanders' part.
Sanders' attorney, Ronald Ruark called the Wayne City
Clerk's office “a font of misinformation,” and said that the
city disgraced itself with this prosecution.
He also claimed that the entire prosecution was political
retribution against Sanders' efforts to stand up for citizen's
rights.
While we certainly understand courthouse rhetoric and
have seen enough legal posturing to last a lifetime, we have
to agree withRuark. This was amisuse of power and a face-
tious prosecution from the beginning until the judge called
ahalt to it.
Sanders comes with his own baggage in the situation,
baggage that cost him election to the city council last year
and has tainted his reputation in the community by both
exaggeration and overzealous gossip.
But the man still has the right, under the constitution of
the United States, to speak out against what he perceives as
wrongdoingwithout the fear of criminal charges.
Many objective observers were aghast at the audacity of
the city to continue such a silly effort at retribution against
Sanders, particularly when there are so many other serious
issues facing that community right now.
When a community attempts through legal machinations
and connivance to silence dissenters and activists within
their borders, it is time for voters to take a long look at those
they have elected andplaced inpositions of authority.
It is people who are willing to take action, to speak up, to
criticize and question the actions of community leaders who
provide a safety net for the remainder of the community. It
isn't that the critics are always right, it is that they discomfit
those in authority into ensuring that they remain above-
board and far from the appearance of wrongdoing in their
actions.
These public activists and critics perform the distinct
and necessary task of keeping honest people honest and
reminding municipal officials that they should and do
answer to the publicwho elected them.
An attempt to silence even one of them with contrived,
expensive, selective and distracting litigation is a disservice
to every member of the community and an assault on both
Bill of Rights and theFirst Amendment.
We agree with Ruark on this one: Every citizen of Wayne
shouldbe outraged.
The new
math in
city hall?
Thosewho like towatch theCity
of Wayne council meetings online,
may want to tune in to the Feb. 7,
2012 video, which is available on
theweb site.
The discussion centered around
the proposed elimination of the
personal property tax and how leg-
islators in Lansing were trying to
balance the state budget on the
backs of local municipalities. Until
they learn to fix the financing up
there, so the discussion went, they
would continue to push back and
takemore fromthe locals.
An interesting concept, but not a
new one. In fact, Wayne residents
may want to revisit that comment
when the city looks for ways to
approve a special assessment dis-
trict to pay for street light mainte-
nance and operation.
Earlier in that meeting, the city
council learned that, because the
estimated value of personal prop-
erty taxes fell much short of expec-
tations, the city would need about
$1.2 million to balance the 2011-
2012 budget.
Their response to this budget
hit was to add to the payroll-replac-
ing a contract withPlanteMoran to
provide finance services with a
full-time finance director/treasur-
er. The salary for that position
would be $81,500, but CityManager
Robert English assured residents
that that figure was cheaper than it
would be to hire the accounting
firm to be on duty five days a week,
not three, as the contract currently
stipulates.
What's more, the city adminis-
tration assured residents that they
are doing everything they can to
control costs and presented the
additional salary as a savings
because they won't have to pay the
$15,000 or so to provide benefits
because he already receives them
through his retirement agreement
withanother community.
That's quite a mixed message,
and residents have nothing but the
word of the city administration to
go on. We can't recall any request
for bids to determine exactly how
much the additional days would
cost.Was the positionposted?
It's hard to believe this will pres-
ent any long-term savings for resi-
dents.
Part of the reason why the city
chose to go the route it did with
Plante Moran was to save funds,
but frankly, we liked the outside
look they provided. We think that
was important for residents-as
important as the administration
saying they are doing everything
they can to control costs, and fol-
lowing throughwith it.
Her dancing was, to put it kindly, restrained…
sort of like that I-don't-want-to-break-a-hip
move usually seen in
convalescent homes or icy parking lots.
”
Who was that middle-aged matron?
See
Madonna,
page 7
”
Abuse of power should generate outrage
When a community attempts through legal
machinations and connivance to silence
dissenters and activists within their borders, it is
time for voters to take a long look at those they
have elected and placed in positions of authority.