Public Relations or Public Propaganda
IN COURT AGAIN: Embattled Township Supervisor Richard Reaume waits for his attorney in the Plymouth 35th District Court last week.
Mar. 11, 2015 PLYMOUTH VOICE.
Plymouth Michigan News
OPINION
There must a new department at Plymouth Township Hall and we think it might be called Public Relations or Public Propaganda …..
Recent news stories about the expert management and decisive actions of the current board of trustees and administration are filling up our email and mailbox…not to mention the front pages of the township pet newspaper. One local publication is filled with accounts and quotes from Supervisor Richard Reaume while seeming to ignore the huge elephant sitting in the lobby of township hall most days and often right on the table behind which the trustees sit during public meetings.
We’ll get to that in a minute.
In the meantime, well the good news just keeps on coming.
It’s almost as if the seated officials are attempting to cut the legs out from under the group attempting to recall them by screaming about all the great, wonderful, terrific things the current township administration is accomplishing. The subliminal message in all this “news”? Don’t worry about the Department of Justice Investigation of the Police Department; the chief was just named to a state committee. Don’t worry about fire safety, the township just bought new ambulances and fire gear; Don’t be concerned about City of Detroit taking back the $8 million piece of land the township attempted to appropriate, the lawyers are filing an appeal; Do not concern yourself with Treasurer Ron Edwards’ verbal assault of a recall worker, he just spent $20,000 to buy a snow machine for the park.
And it goes on and on and on.
We might not be so troubled by the whole situation except we fear that many people might actually believe this nonsense. Is any of it untrue? Nope. Is any of it disingenuous or less than complete. Yes, indeed.
The police chief was named to a new state committee, but that appointment is no reflection on the federal investigation that continues in the township; the township did buy two new ambulances, both under-equipped and certainly less than medically state-of-the-art for many emergencies; the new equipment for the fire department replaces devices the board members refused to buy until the situation became life-threatening for the firefighters; the township is filing an appeal of the judge’s decision to return the DeHoCo land to Detroit. Of course, the law the township violated to “purchase” the property is so decisive and clear, Detroit attorneys filed a single brief with the court and didn’t even have to argue their case. And while municipalities across the country are banning sledding hills due to the 20,000 or so head injuries that occur every year, Plymouth Township will spend taxpayers’ money to install an attractive nuisance that will bring in potential injury lawsuits from miles around.
The current recall effort, gaining support and steam every day, is like the elephant in the room at every township board meeting…it’s there, influencing every action these elected officials take and every comment they make, not often in a positive way.
Obviously, somebody in township hall got some pretty good public relations advice in an attempt to quell the growing dissatisfaction of residents as they learn more and more about the people they elected. They plan to continue their positive publicity campaign to lure those same voters back to their support groups.
But here’s the thing. Most of those positive actions and that good news is camouflage at best and at worst, well, politely put, it’s pachyderm residue…about 50 Tons of Grey.
Plymouth Voice.
