The polls will open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. for the Aug. 7 primary election, according to Orion Township Clerk Penny Shults.
For those voting absentee Orion Township Office will be open Aug. 4 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
‘There is no other business going on that day so we ask they enter the building at the Joslyn road entrance that way we can see them coming in,? Shults said.
The two sided ballot will include voting for representatives at the state, county, and local level.
At the state level voters will vote for United States senator, representative in congress eighth District, and representative in state legislator 46 District.
After state leaders redrew district lines Orion no longer has two congressional districts, said Shults.
‘That would (currently) be Congressman Mike Rogers for the entire Township,? she said. ‘Congressman Gary Peters had a portion of it until this year.?
There will also be a judicial vote on Judge for sixth district circuit court. At the county level voters will weigh in on county executive, prosecuting attorney, clerk/register of deeds, treaKevin King said he was ashamed.
‘Not because I lost my job, I have an education I’ll find another job,? he said. ‘I’m ashamed of our board, I’m ashamed of our administrators the way they’ve dumped people and the way they’ve handled this. They’ve done it with a smile on their face. They disgust me.?
As a taxpayer and voter he is upset because he believes he was lied to by some school board members who said ‘privatization wouldn’t happen on their watch.? King believes the district let the custodians go in order to save their own salaries, most of which he said are too high.
‘If it’s all about saving money and we’re in a budget crisis then let’s get rid of the high salaries at the board office and bring Kelly Services in,? he said. ‘Instead of coming after the lowly people who are the lowest on the pay scale if we’re all supposed to give and everything else how come they’re not? We were willing to take a 20 percent pay cut.?
King spoke highly of his fellow custodians, saying many worked on weekends for free or took money out of their pockets to buy paint simply because it needed to be done.
‘They were there for the children they were there for the schools and they took pride in what they did,? he said. ‘That’s not going to happen no more,?
King said bringing in a private is brining in the unknown and he is concerned not only about the performance of the job, but safety of the children as well.
‘They (the administration) said education comes first, but protecting the children should also come first. These parents and the citizens of this district trusted us at night no matter events were going on to be around their children,? he added. ‘I believe now you’re going to have nothing but thug in these buildings with poor background checks that aren’t even real.?
Even if he wasn’t a custodian, King said he wouldn’t support what’s been done because it’s ‘union busting? and he believes that’s wrong.
‘We truly were the better fit and they’re going to find that out the hard way,? he said.
Larry King agreed.
‘They lost a great bunch of people,? he said.
AFSCME Union President and custodian Kathy Sandstrom said she was proud because kept their work ethics right up to the end even knowing they were losing their jobs.
‘We fought with dignity and we left with dignity.?