Cabal of Indecency, the Albion City Council – to Censure Mayor Snyder

Editorial

Written by John Face

All Photos Property of John Face Cover Photo of Donivan Williams 1st Precinct Council member.

December 18, 2023

Here we go again. The ‘Cabal of Indecency’ didn’t listen to the comments made by a margin of 4 to 1 in support of Mayor Snyder at a standing-room-only special meeting on Dec. 2. Tonight at the city council meeting, this ‘Cabal of Indecency,’ or the gang of 4 are at it again and plan to pass a resolution to censure the mayor and ‘soberly request Mayor Snyder to submit her resignation’ tonight at the council meeting.

Numerous residents gave of their time on a Saturday morning to show up and speak up at that special meeting to support Mayor Snyder and ask that the council focus on work that moves the city forward. Did they hear what was said? Nope. They only listen to two people, and I bet you can guess who those two are.

In 2017, a resolution was brought forward to censure then-Mayor Garrett Brown for usurping the city managers’ authority. Ultimately, the resolution was withdrawn in the interest of not creating more division in the city. It would be nice if this city council would play by those rules and do things that were not divisive. I ‘soberly request’ they withdraw their resolution for the good of the city.

Gang of Four

At the special meeting, Council members Nora Jackson, Lenn Reid, Marcola Lawler, and Donivan Williams clung to the talking point ‘Right is right.’ Do they think their actions, individually and collectively, fit that mantra? This seems to be mostly about keeping Economic Development Corporation (EDC) President Virgie Ammerman employed at an eye-watering and potentially illegal cost of $70,000. Not to mention a $10,000 investigation the gang approved to spend into why Ammerman was fired. (News flash—she’s not good at her job).

All told the city will most likely have spent more than $120,000 to keep Ammerman employed, and the question MUST BE ASKED—WHY? Just watch the recent video she posted on the EDC Facebook page, and you can see firsthand how good she is at her job. Rotary membership has collapsed under her leadership, and many local merchants and officials will not meet with her without a witness present.

Right is Right

Is that the kind of leadership at the EDC that should cost the city $120,000 above and beyond her annual salary of $105,000, car allowance of $500 a month, and expense account of $100,000? Double-dipping must be right, then. Firing duly appointed board members (EDC) must be right, then. Re-hiring someone fired with cause by a duly appointed board must be right, then? Spending city money on egregious investigations to determine why someone was fired even with cause by a duly appointed board must be right, then? Going against the advice of the city attorney must be right, then? Spending city money on an outside law firm because they went against the city attorney’s recommendation must be right, then?

Come on. Mayor Snyder was RIGHT to try to limit the egregious spending. Mayor Snyder was RIGHT to write a letter to bring in $50 million in grant funding to support the city. This reeks of an attempt to exact revenge against Mayor Snyder. The only good thing to come out of the meeting on Dec. 2 was that several people have thrown their names in the ring to run for council, including Tom McClure in the third precinct.

Stand up and Be Heard

Once again, show up, speak up. Council members Jackson, Reid, Lawler, and Williams continue to demonstrate zero interest in doing what is right. I don’t believe Mayor Snyder intends to cater to their ridiculous request to resign, but this NEEDS TO STOP for the good of Albion.

Below is a copy of what we assume is a Garrett Brown written resolution. I say this because he tends to have the same writing style and makes the same errors whenever he writes and misspells words.

The meeting starts at 7:00 P.M. in the council chambers tonight. Show up, speak up, recall, and run for office. These four need to go.