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O/E: CC Candidates' Voting Records; Some Quick-Step Around Voting Records
Topic Started: Sep 6 2009, 12:31 PM (363 Views)
Ms. AK
Veteran
http://www.hometownlife.com/article/20090906/NEWS10/909060465/1027/Council+candidates++voting+records+mixed

Council candidates' voting records mixed
BY KEN ABRAMCZYK • OBSERVER STAFF WRITER • SEPTEMBER 6, 2009

Livonia City Council candidates are asking for your vote Sept. 15, many of them saying every vote counts. But how often have they themselves voted in the past five years?

Three of the 11 candidates — Joe Laura, Jim McCann and John Pastor — have perfect attendance; one candidate — Lucas McGrail — missed more than half of the elections, according to voting records, a figure he disputes. The others fall somewhere in between.

According to City Clerk Linda Grimsby's office, Laura, McCann and Pastor have perfect attendance at the voting booth in the past five years, voting in all 18 elections.

Fourth on the list is Lynda Scheel, who missed two elections in the last five years, a Wayne County parks millage vote in August 2005 and a state primary in August 2004.

Rounding out the top five is Maureen Miller Brosnan, who missed three elections out of the 18 in the last five years. One was last year's presidential primary when the Democratic vote was not used to count delegates because Michigan Democrats moved up the date of its primary. Two other elections she missed were a school millage renewal in February 2005 and a school board election in June 2004, according to records from the city clerk's office.

MISSED ELECTIONS

McGrail missed 11 of 18 elections, including this year's school board election, the state primary and annexation on the Northville Township property in August 2008, a city primary in 2007, and three other school board elections since 2005, along with a school millage renewal.

McGrail said that those records are not accurate and wanted to double check them at the clerk's office.

“When the annexation came up, I thought it was preposterous from the start,” McGrail said. “I remember my wife and I voted at Grant. I question the accuracy of those records.”

Later in an e-mail, McGrail said he couldn't remember voting in the May 2008 school board election or the county parks election in 2005, but believed he voted in the May 2008 school board election.

He didn't vote in May 2005 and August 2004 because he was living with his mother-in-law for family reasons.

On the other missed elections, McGrail said: “I can't explain as to why I would not have voted. The only way I would not have voted is if I was out of town on vacation or business.”

McGrail looks at voting like it is jury duty — a civic duty. “If you want to participate in the process, you have to vote,” McGrail said. He added that the only way people can change policy is to vote or run for office, if they feel that strongly about it.

McGrail wanted to look at the voting records from the other elections before commenting on them. “I'd have to sit down and really think about it,” McGrail said. He wanted to cross-reference voting records to ensure their accuracy.

At the request of the Observer, Grimsby double-checked voter applications and the precinct list as to whether McGrail had voted in last year's annexation election. Voters are given an application to vote, which they sign; then their names are highlighted in the precinct books by election workers. “His name is not highlighted, and we do not have an application to vote from him,” Grimsby said. Grimsby said the number of applications and the number of residents who voted were the same at 428 voters, so she had all of the applications.

Most of the others voted in the city, state and national elections, but chose not to participate in many of the local school elections. Voter turnouts for school elections during this five-year range fell between 5.2 and 11.3 percentiles of the district's registered voters.

VOTED IN HALF

Mark McCusker voted in nine of 18 elections.

McCusker voted in the presidential election, the annexation and state primary and presidential primary in 2008, the city general election in 2007 and a school board election in May 2006, but missed five school board elections in 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008 and in May 2009, along with the county parks millage in August 2005 and school millage renewal in February 2005.

“That sounds low,” McCusker said. “I'm pretty religious about it.” McCusker said he missed one election for a family funeral and on another occasion when his father-in-law was in the hospital. “I think it would be more like 14 or 15 of 18,” he said.

“We're lucky to have a democracy where we have the right to vote, and if we have a disagreement like we did in the Bush election, we go to the courts to resolve differences, where in other countries people are fighting for that right to vote,” McCusker said on the importance of voting.

Glenn Moon voted in 10 of 18 elections.

Moon voted in the presidential election, the annexation and state primary, and the school board election in 2008, but missed the May 2009 school board election, along with four board elections between 2004 and 2007, a school millage renewal in February 2005 and a county parks millage in 2005.

Moon called this access to information “abuse of my personal freedom related to my U.S. citizenship.”

Moon added that the Observer had “absolutely no right whatsoever” to know when he voted unless he chose to provide that information.

Moon said he votes for a school board candidate “who will pursue legislation that will force every pension-receiving retired teacher administrator or employee of the Livonia school district to attend a certain number of local Livonia school board meetings in order to continue receiving their pension.”

Stephen Crosby voted in 10 out of the last 16 elections since 2004. (He wasn't old enough to vote in the June or August elections of that year so those elections were excluded in his count.) Among elections he voted in were this year's school board election, last year's presidential election and the annexation and state primary in August, and the presidential election in 2004 when he just turned 18 earlier that year.

Crosby did not vote in the school election last year, the city general election in November 2007, city primary in September 2007 and the city regular election in November 2005, along with the county parks millage in August 2005 and the Livonia school board election in May 2005.

11 OF THE 18

Conrad Schwartz and Christopher John Martin voted in 11 of the 18 elections in the last five years. Schwartz voted in last year's presidential election and presidential primary, and the city's primary and general elections in 2007. Schwartz missed last year's state primary and annexation election and school board elections in May 2008, May 2006, May 2005 and June 2004, along with a school millage renewal in February 2005.

Martin voted in this year's school board election, last year's presidential election in November, the annexation and state primary in August 2008 and the council election in 2007, but missed a school board election in May 2008, a city primary election in September 2007, a state primary in August 2006 and a city general election in November 2005.

Laura called voting an obligation instilled in him by his parents at a young age. “My parents taught me that it was a mandatory obligation,” Laura said. “Voting is a privilege and an obligation so I make sure that when I'm out of town due to work obligations, I vote absentee.”

AK: What concerns me is that still, even for long-time politicians, BOE/school issue elections just don't rate enough to bring them out to the polls. If so-called "informed" politicians don't even make it to the polls, it's high-time that the BOE stop running stand-alone elections in February and May.
Krome on Cars

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Doctor_Bojangles
Advanced Member
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One question, does Moon have to yell everytime he is asked a question? From the looks of it, he is yelling again. I watched the debate on Cable over the weekend, he is obnoxious.
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