Thank Goodness It’s Almost Over
Many of you are familiar with the statement, “It ain’t over till the fat lady sings”. It is a colloquialism steeped in operatic history. It means that the opera has not been completed till a rather robust lady enters the stage and bellows out the last aria. Well, here in Orion, we are hearing the melodic strains of residents who are singing, dancing and whistling because the first phase of the most contentious, confrontational, bellicose campaign in memory has ended and all of us now are able to relate to the fat lady but it ain’t over yet! Disconcertedly, we will have to endure some of the same pugilists as campaigning for the Nov. election begins in the next few weeks.
Once all the campaigning scrappiness ended, we re-elected Penny Shults as Township Clerk but unfortunately current Treasurer Mark Thurber did not make the cut. Supervisor Barnett campaigned heavily against his re-election and it seemed like a personal vendetta. In my opinion, Thurber brought a high level of professionalism to the position and, other than Trustee John Steimel who is a shining light in an otherwise dim and foreboding atmosphere, Thurber had more talent, more experience, more accomplishments, and more educational credentials than the combined lackluster talent of the remaining board. He is a good man and will no doubt move on to a more responsible position in business and will be interacting with people who have similar forward thinking interests and who are not so petty.
Chances are, unless the Board gets back acting like adults and responsible individuals, the backbiting, bickering, and personal attacks will continue for the next four years. The role of those in political positions is to articulate a vision for the community in order to sustain, improve and strengthen the values. Evidently some on the Township Board of Trustees lost sight of that dictum and thus they were more interested in destroying the careers and reputation of some fellow Board members. With the emergence of two new Trustee candidates in the mix, (Sliwinski and Birney) perhaps there is a better chance of sanity in the twice monthly meetings.
From conversations I have had with Lake Orion residents, some of whom have actually come to our door to express their dissatisfaction with Township government, hoping that I would craft a column about the “unfriendship in the Township”, many residents are fed-up with the childish antics of our local politicians. Our only hope is that come November we have another opportunity to make some changes and elect candidates who have our best interests in mind. Hope is fleeting though and as Mark Twain so aptly said: “Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason.”
Bill Kalmar
Lake Orion resident