| Author
|
Post |
 
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
Tim Skubick: Emergency manager ballot proposal could be in danger
Published: Tuesday, April 10, 2012, 7:40 AM Updated: Tuesday, April 10, 2012, 8:12 AM
By Tim Skubick | Politics Columnist for MLive.com
Organized labor did what it needed to do. It gathered enough petition signatures to secure a ballot spot in November to block the emergency manager law.
Unions are against the law because one of its most controversial elements is the power to impose new contracts, or break existing collective bargaining agreements.
The anti-labor folks, read the Republicans, concede that enough names were obtained.
Ah but.
State law is pretty clear when it comes to the form of petition drives. And a group, fronting for the GOP, has found a technicality that could stop the ballot drive dead in its tracks.
Are you sitting down?
The type size on the petition was too small, the group asserts.
The law says the type size "shall" be 14 points. The anti-labor folks will ask the State Board of Canvassers later this month to block the issue from ever getting to the ballot based on that and perhaps four other irregularities.
The board will never do that on such picky grounds?
Oh yes it could. The four member board has two Democrats and two Republicans. Any vote that goes 2-2 automatically kills the measure and dollars to donuts the two R's on the board have just been handed a convenient "excuse" to deny labor a ballot slot.
But another "ah, but."
The story does not end there, as labor will quickly scoot into the courts to find some judge to overturn the tie vote and clear the way for a November vote.
But yet a third "ah, but." Eventually whatever lower court decisions are rendered, ultimately the case will land in the Michigan Supreme Court, where the Republicans have enough votes to send the unions to the showers.
No one is predicting that partisan politics will enter into the ruling...no one except the entire political world.
Watch Off the Record with Tim Skubick online anytime at video.wkar.org |
|
|
Tue Apr 10, 2012 8:26 am |
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
BREAKING: Major conflict of interest for elections panel member reviewing Emergency Manager petition challenge
By Eclectablog on April 10, 2012in Emergency Manager Law, GOPocrisy
Conflict of interest much?
As I have been reporting on (HERE and HERE), the effort to repeal Public Act 4 — Michigan’s Emergency Manager law — is being challenged by a group called Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility. The group is asking elections officials — the Board of State Canvassers — to throw out all of the petitions because the heading is in the wrong font despite the fact that the petition printer’s affidavit says it is in the correct font. The challenge will be heard later this month by the Board. And one member of the panel has a major conflict of interest.
Citizen’s for Fiscal Responsibility is, as Michigan Radio reported yesterday, headed up by a guy named Bob LaBrant. Labrant, a retired head of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, currently works as the Senior Counsel for Sterling Corporation.
The Sterling Corporation also runs a group called Michigan Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility. Not the Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility. The MICHIGAN Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility. Two different groups. According to the Michigan Radio piece, LaBrant says that’s just a remarkable coincidence. Right. Sure it is.
As it turns out, Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility shares an address with Sterling Corporation. In other words, they are basically one in the same or, perhaps more accurately, if you include Michigan Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility, THREE in the same. One of the partners at Sterling Corporation is a guy named Jeff Timmer.
In addition to his position with Sterling Corporation, Jeff Timmer is also one of four members of the Michigan Board of State Canvassers, one of two Republicans on the bipartisan panel. As I said at the beginning, this is the group that will make a decision on whether or not Stand Up For Democracy’s petitions will be thrown out on a font size technicality. In other words, one of the people on the panel that will decide whether or not to throw out over 225,000 petition signatures is part of the same group that filed the complaint in the first place and is actively working against the repeal of Public Act 4.
According to elections officials, Timmer will decide for himself if he has a conflict of interest and must recuse himself, leaving a 2-to-1 Democratic majority on the panel.
So the question is this: will Jeff Timmer, a man with a clear and blatantly obvious conflict of interest, step aside and recuse himself?
Magic Eight Ball sez: Outlook not so good.
By the way, the other Republican on the Board of State Canvassers is Norman Shinkle, Deputy Chair of the Michigan Republican Party.
[CC Facepalm image credit: Cesar Astudillo | Flickr :: CC Exclamation Point image credit Simon Adriaensen | Flickr]
Share on facebookShare on google_plusone
Share on stumbleuponShare on emailShare on printShare on redditShare on favoritesShare on gmailMore Sharing Services
Follow Eclectablog |
|
|
|
Thu Apr 12, 2012 9:04 am |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Register
Profile
FlintTalk.com Forum Index
> Political Talk
