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CAVEAT:
This article is one of a series of editorial articles that express personal
opinions and views. They are written with no pretensions to be error free. I
will gladly correct substantial errors of fact. My opinions can change,
depending upon my awareness and understanding of changes in factual
information. It is my intent to remain focused on specific public issues,
regarding the personalities involved. For all I know, all the characters are
saints, concerning their private lives and other public business...
Changes may be requested by e-mailing the details to pmarkham@manistique.org 11/24/08 This evening, the following, with a few minor updated edits, was submitted as my written public comments to Manistique City Council: "During the Winter of 2006-2007, I reported to Manistique Public Safety a problem I had with snow plowed from the parking lot of Rob's Windows, and gravel and rock plowed out of my driveway onto my lawn. The plowing onto my property stopped after my complaint to Public Safety. In late Spring of 2007, I reported the consequential vandalism of the snow plowing, and requested that the owner of the business I believed to be Mr. Robin LaCroix, remove my driveway gravel and crushed rock, and the city alley asphalt, that he or his agent plowed onto my lawn. Shortly after my 2007 Spring complaint, a feeble effort was made by someone to remove some of the gravel from my lawn, and leave it in 2 small piles in the driveway. Subsequently, to promote desirable lawn growth, I spent some 10 hours of my life raking and picking up the gravel and rock, some 7 wheelbarrow loads. During that time, and later, because I saw his pickup truck arrive and depart his business, and because I heard not one word of apology, I assume Mr. LaCroix found acceptable, and desirable, that which I had to do as a consequence of his hostile and inconsiderate behaviour. During the Winter of 2007-2008, after the first snowfall of consequence, I found, once again, that some vandal had plowed snow and gravel onto my property, from Rob's Windows parking lot. I complained to Manistique Public Safety. As in the previous winter, after my complaint to Public Safety, plowing onto my property ceased. After this past snowfall, I found, again, that some vandal had plowed snow out of Rob's Windows parking lot, and, I assume, more of my driveway gravel, onto my lawn. After two years of open, deliberate, and contested vandalism, promoted by a local business owner with little concern for the consequences, I am forced to address Manistique City Council with my concerns. Would someone tell me if Mr. LaCroix is a brain dead client or employee of Hiawatha Behavioral Health, immune to the legal, social and business requirements of a civilized community? Is he a juvenile, motivated by some testosterone driven angst that compels him to display his manhood by the equivalent of pissing on others' property? Is their some city ordinance that allows him, and his ilk, to trespass, vandalize, and use the property of others, with impunity? As I understand the situation I described, city government has failed its responsibility to keep a predatory businessman off my property and out of my life, and I cannot afford to hire a lawyer to deal with public business that is the responsibility of the city, and for which I pay taxes. That leaves me with several unappealing options that come to mind: 1. I can do nothing, and allow predators, and their supporters have their way with me. 2. I can take community advertising photographs and video of me conducting armed patrols of my downtown property, as is required in many lawless Third World regions of the world. 3. I can vandalize Rob's Windows property, with the interest due for past expenses incurred by the owner's and-or agent's open disregard for my legal property rights. 4. I can victimize the predator victimizing me, and end the continuing foolishness, immediately. From an ethical and moral perspective, I have no problem with options 2, 3, and 4. You might ask, if you care, "How does "snow plowing" lead to consideration of armed patrols, and other uncivilized retaliatory behaviour?" The answer to that question is the same in Manistique as it is in any uncivilized community where the rule of law becomes subservient to special interests. Those that are denied the protection of the law have little choice beyond remaining silent victims, or considering options for which they have the reason, motivation, resources, knowledge, will, and ability. At a wiser 62, I find I am far less inclined to tolerate the predatory and threatening behaviour of a rogue operator of a local business. As I get older, and wiser, I am less forgiving of those that allow groups of hormone addled high school students to trespass and smoke dope during lunch time, on my downtown property. As I get older, I find myself less able to deal with the potential consequences of confronting groups of juvenile delinquents or groups of dysfunctional clients of H.B.H., trespassing, smoking, and doing who knows what on my property. As an "Ol' Geezer", who has learned much about deceiving, bullying, domination, coercion, extortion and mental midgets, I refuse to be intimidated by those that would victimize me, as sanctioned by their supporters and apologists, and the default approval of a silent public. If it takes armed intervention by an aging unwilling victim, so be it, because I am up to the task, and I am not about to risk my life or limb by taking ignored words to a potential stomping, or worse. Taking a knife to a potential gun fight is a fool's errand that I am not about to embark upon. Those that consider me little more than a helpless victimized means to their ends are nothing more than a threat to my health and welfare, and from my perspective are of less value than a dead rat, to me, and most of the universe. There is no room in my life for deliberate trespassing, physical threats, vandalism, uninvited sexual activity, attempted breaking and entering, and chemical abuse related behaviour on my property. Just because some employees and officials of the City of Manistique, or members of their families, or family members of others, engage(d) in similar sanctioned behaviour, and worse, elsewhere, does not give anyone else the right to practice the same activities on my property, at my liability and expense. Of course, the city could purchase the property and let others do with it as they wish. That option, or purchasing Warshawsky's property, makes a lot more sense to me than the D.D.A.'s recent attempt to purchase a $200,000 corner lot, its past attempt to purchase a $200,000 public shithouse, or its expressed desire to build a $6 million 50's tourist gimmick "museum", while my crumbling neighborhood water and sewer lines have been waiting years since ex-City Manager Housler first announced their pending replacement... but I digress to another topic that galls. I offer my thanks to various members of Manistique Public Safety that did their job, as I expected, regarding several issues I have been involved with during the last few years. The targets of this evening's comments are those that sanction the uncivilized behaviour of predatory adults or juveniles, and those that expect Manistique Public Safety to bare the burden of "baby sitting" known outlaws of all ages and mental development. My justified rant completed, does city administration, city government, H.B.H., Manistique Area Schools, and any and all members of the various business, social, political, fraternal, and religious organizations intend to do little more than pay deceptive lip service to what I perceive as a growing degree of lawlessness in the community? I told a city cop, some time ago, that while living in Manistique I never considered it necessary to carry a weapon, concealed or otherwise. Unfortunately, my perception of the increased defiance of basic rules of civilized behaviour, and, as I age, my increasing physical vulnerability to bad folk, is forcing me to reconsider my self-protection and property rights options. The bottom line is the following: I have no desire to test Michigan's Self Defense Act 309 of 2006, but, if push comes to shove, I do not intend to take a whipping, quietly, and I do not intend to live in fear of adult and juvenile delinquents, while those with the responsibility to keep them under control do little to nothing." Edmund Burke is alleged to have penned: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing". That goes for the abundance of criminal trespass, vandalism, drug abuse, assault, predatory lying, fraud, theft, sexual abuse, spouse abuse, all the way to genocide; because others at the scene choose to do nothing. Only evolution changes human nature. Except for the mentally crippled, individual behaviour is readily modified by community peer pressure, but that takes focussed action, not empty lip service. © 2008 Manistique.org |