Written by John Face

Opinion 

November 3, 2023

The Albion Economic Development Corporation (EDC) Board met Thursday morning and proceeded to rehire fired EDC President Virgie Ammerman. With a 3-1 vote with Jerome Harvey, Vicky Clark, and Ben Wallace voting to rehire Ammerman after being fired in August with a super-majority board vote to release her. The lone no vote to rehire was Albion Mayor Victoria Snyder. In the weeks following her firing, the Michigan State Police opened an investigation into Ammerman’s illegal actions of copying and stealing private EDC records via email after she had been fired. Click here to read the City Watch article regarding that.

Why do They Care, It is Not Their Money

During the Thursday morning EDC meeting, they discussed approving the rehire of Virgie Ammerman; even after Mayor Snyder asked them to table that decision, a vote was taken, and as already stated, poof, Ammerman is back in.

Ammerman was fired on August 10 of this year, with her severance equaling six months of pay. As reported by City Watch, click here to read the article; on October 11, 2023, the City of Albion paid Virgie Ammerman $47,891.50 for her contractual severance pay. That means Ammerman was paid essentially; well, let’s count: September 1 month, October 2 months, November 3 months, December 4 months, January 5 months, and February 6 months, six months beyond her firing. It’s a pretty good deal for someone potentially committing a felony by possibly stealing documents from the EDC. But wait, there’s more.  

Wallace, Harvey, and Clark Need to be Investigated

Ben Wallace, Jerome Harvey, and Vicky Clark also voted to give Virgie Ammerman back pay. To the tune of $23,825. So, let’s figure this out:

Severance pay $47,891.50 paid in September

Back Pay $23,825 Paid out now

Equals $71,716.50 since August 10 of this year.

On top of this, she started to get paid a wage at the rate of $105,000 per year, but since there was no copy of the contract she was supposed to sign in the paperwork for the meeting yesterday, it’s anyone’s guess what, and how much she is being paid.   

Well, according to sources, there is nothing wrong with giving her back pay for not working for the EDC and collecting her severance. This is why people hate lawyers. She is collecting almost $72,000, and I am almost certain most voters out there will say giving her this amount of money is disturbing; at least this writer does. Ammerman goes merrily along, grinning because she hit the cash bonanza with the EDC. Hell, she is taking more money than our former convicted felon Cty Manager Rufus did. Thanks, Dave Atchison, for fixing that problem.

This Needs to Stop – Time for an Investigation by the County or State

Our Albion City Council has proven they will not stop the actions of the EDC. They are complicit with the three EDC Board members, and all are nothing short of helping with the fleecing of Albion. Wallace, Harvey, and Clark are giving away money that we can’t get back. I have had several people reach out to me today asking about this, many wanting to contact those involved. I have a couple of suggestions.  

Start today by calling your council member every day demanding the reinstatement of the four fired EDC Board members. Demand they call for an investigation into the EDC and the money that appears to be misappropriated. Second, Email the three EDC Board members who have no problem pissing away good money on a President who almost everyone says is incapable of doing the job they hired her for.  

My concern is that Vicky Clark received a no-bid contract to clean at Albion College by Mathew Johnson in what appeared to be a favor for voting his way on council items. I’m pretty sure this is not the type of person Albion College should be doing business with. Ben Wallace is the principal of Marshall Public Schools Opportunity High School, located in Albion. Someone tell me he has no responsibility regarding spending money at the schools, please.

More to come soon. Here are the emails for Vicky Clark shephardcareservices@gmail.com

Ben Wallace bwallace@marshallpublicschools.org

Jerome Harvey jerome@glwal.com

Being the good stewards of the community, it’s time they answer to you, the voters.

Written by John Face
November 2, 2023

Six years ago today, I wrote an article reporting on how Albion City Manager Sheryl L Mitchell Theriot had rescinded her resignation letter during the Albion City Council meeting a few days before. It was a story that gripped Albion at the time as the City was locked up by a hostile, lawless City Council trying to run her out of town. She would eventually leave Albion, and I must admit that would be the best thing for her. She has gone on to bigger and better things than Albion, Michigan, but she is still, and always will be, one of “us.”

From that one article, I started reporting on what was happening in Albion, good and bad. I had no journalistic training before all of this. Many would tell you my writing shows that. I have been accused of being a racist, a misogynist, and a liar. I have had, at last count, 13 death threats from the community, all because I reported on things in Albion that needed to be exposed.

Haters Gonna Hate

My supporters cheer me, thank you all, and those who hate me go out of their way to speak ill of me in public. Just this past week, I heard a horn crossing the street, and as the car drove by, I saw a hand with a middle finger staring at my face and heard the words “fuck you, Face” It was real. I recognized who it was; they were not fans. If I had a nickel each time my name was mentioned in anger in a council meeting, I could buy a good dinner for me and a few friends at Galazio of Albion.

I have gone from strictly Facebook-based to just over a year ago launching my City Watch NEWS Blog website. I have been told by many over the last several months that the quality of my writing has improved; thank you. I do this because I want to. I do this because it has given me the opportunity to meet some really cool people. I do this because, I hope, I have made a change for the good in our little town.

So celebrate with me today. I am not stopping, no matter how many times I get flipped off.

Happy Anniversary City Watch NEWS

Written by John Face

October 29, 2023

One of Many is a motorcycle group of veterans who came together to help each other but has grown to help many of their own.  As I sat and spoke with Scott Shiery, he explained what the group was about.  Shiery said that it was formed by his old Staff Sergeant, Jeremiah Jones, with the idea of creating a motorcycle club for Vets to have fun riding, get together, talk, and network with each other.

Shiery’s name may sound familiar to many in Albion.  As a lifelong resident of the area, most know his mother, Barb Shiery, a long-time educator at Albion Public Schools.  He grew up in Albion and started his journey, which eventually led to his being asked by Jones to join his new group, One of Many.

Military Connection

That journey for him saw a few tours of duty in the military.  His military journey was, well, different.  He joined the Navy Reserves, then joined the Marines, and after 9-11, enlisted in the Army National Guard.  He was doing two tours of duty in Iraq when a roadside bomb injured him.  Despite those upper body injuries, he would return to his guys to finish his deployment. Scotts time in the Military in total was 15 years.

It would be during one of those tours in Iraq that Jones would call him.  He said, “Jeremiah called me and said he was creating a motorcycle club for just Vets and wanted me to join.”  He said, “Jeremiah, I don’t own a bike.”  Jones’s reply was simple, “I guess you get one.”

One of Many – What They Do

I asked him what the club meant to him and its members.  He said that initially, we just supported each other, which was good.  “I know I needed to be around them. There were times I would tell them it was time to get together.  Getting together made it easier for me and the others, too,” he said.  They became a 501c3 non-profit and began sponsoring benefits to raise money. They sponsor an annual poker run and the chili contest.

How They Help

Now, their club raises money specifically for Vets and families.  He said we wanted to help where the VA (Veterans Administration) ended.  “Don’t get me wrong, the VA does good, but there are things they can’t help with,” he said.  I asked what kind of help the club offers; he shared a story as an example of what they do.

“We had one vet who was young; he had been injured in an accident, was doing rehab, and just didn’t have enough to pay off some of his utilities, so we stepped in and helped him out.”  He went on to say that they adopt a Vet family once a year.  They had one Vet they wanted to help.  She and her husband have 6 kids.  When they got there to help, they doubled the amount they were giving. They just needed it, he said.

He said they really check into the people thoroughly so the money gets to those in need.  So far, their group has given over $10,000, and they are proud of that.    

The Benefit

On Saturday, November 11, One of Many will host their annual chili contest from 11:00 A.M. – 3:00 P.M..  This year it is being held at the Albion Elk Lodge located at 10725 28 Mile Road, also known as M-99.  Easy to get to, follow Superior Street south out of town.  The event is open to all.

If you want to enter your chili in the contest, it will cost a $10.00 donation.  If you just want to show up, taste, it is a $5.00 donation. Check out the flyer here for more details.  Scott wanted everyone to know that every penny raised in the benefits goes to Vets; they pay their expenses through their annual member dues. 

Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023

Rural Assault Investigated

On October 25, 2023, Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a report of an assault in Burlington Township. At approximately 6:15 p.m., a woman who lives on 11 1/2 Mile Road stated that she pulled into her garage, went around to the back of her vehicle to get her belongings, and an unknown male pushed her from behind causing her to hit her head on the vehicle. She was able to retrieve her concealed carry weapon, which led the suspect to take off running. She did not recognize him, and said that he was early to mid-30s, white male with sandy-colored hair. He was wearing a dark-colored flannel shirt and possibly muck boots.

After deputies responded, a K9 track was conducted and the suspect was not located.

The Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office asks residents in the area to check trail cameras or home monitoring systems for any suspicious activity or sightings of the suspect. Please contact the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office at 269-781-0880 or Silent Observer at 269-781-9700 if you have any further information.

All Photos by John Face

Written by John Face

Opinion

October 23, 2023

On Thursday, August 10, the Economic Development Corporation Board (EDC) met in the City of Albion Council chambers for their meeting. The main focus of their meeting was the status of their President and CEO, Virgie Ammerman. After a three-hour meeting, the EDC Board voted for Ammerman’s removal. That action began a non-stop series of meetings and attempted meetings over the last two months. Members of the EDC were illegally removed by the Albion City Council even though their legal council told them they couldn’t do that. Click here for a link to the City Watch Series on the EDC.

Money for Nothing

On October 11, 2023, the City of Albion paid Virgie Ammerman $47,891.50 for a severance package stipulated in her contract. Ammerman receiving this money is perfectly legal. It would take what happened since her firing that will push the boundary of legality to the edge. Almost immediately after being fired, Jerome Harvey, Interim EDC Board Chair, Vicky Clark, EDC Board member and former Albion City Council member, have worked to rehire Ammerman.

Harvey and Clark have been trying to give Ammerman an employment contract, making it virtually impossible to fire her in the future. Harvey used an illegal interpretation of an EDC Resolution and installed Ammerman forcefully without board approval on October 9 but as an unpaid volunteer EDC contractor acting as the EDC President. Take note that Harvey didn’t tell anyone except Clark and Ammerman about this move until, wait for it, October 11. Just so you understand, there is no proof that the document sent on the 11th to other EDC Board members and City Council was written on the 9th.

Many questioned why she would do this for free; now, it’s easy to see that she has been living off her severance pay.

Fired? Take Severance? Repay?

Yeah, the amount of questions that have come up in the last few days has been many. But let us address a couple. Ammerman was looking to get herself rehired with Harvey and Clark as co-conspirators, with back pay built into the contracts they were offering her, but with zero mention of paying back her severance. So, let me make this clear. They had every intention with each attempt at having an EDC meeting to hire Ammerman and pay her thousands in back pay for not working after being paid a severance. In any public discussions of the “new” contract offered, none of these three mention $47,891.50.

If you or I take a severance from our employer, then get hired as a volunteer at the organization doing the same job, then get offered another contract with back pay built-in BUT no mention of repaying that severance you took, I am pretty sure there is some law being broken.

Who is Supposed to be Overseeing This?

The Albion City Council, which is happily spending tax money to fight a lawsuit regarding their actions in removing the EDC Board members, is entirely responsible for overseeing the EDC Board. The council will not stop Harvey, Clark, and Ammerman from taking money from the taxpayers. They have thumbed their noses to the voters in Albion, who do have the power to make changes via recall, but this has yet to happen.

Harvey, Clark, and Ammerman’s actions appear illegal and must be addressed by State Authorities such as the Attorney General or Michigan State Police.

All Photos by John Face

Written by John Face

October 18, 2023

Cascareillis (Relli’s) of Albion has hit many milestones, and today, we saw another. The Greater Albion Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau (Chamber) took the time to honor them with their Century Celebration award. It was in 1923 that the Chamber was formed; over the last century, it has come and gone, but there were five businesses whose names were on that first list that are still around today, and Cascarelli was one of them.

So, today, Chamber President and CEO Billy Beers presented Nancy and Jim Cascarelli, Relli’s owners, with a plaque recognizing their membership with the Chamber. Congratulations to Nancy and Jim, their family, and staff.

City Watch and a few community members were present today as they celebrated this accomplishment.

October 17, 2023

Press Release

Albion, MI – Halloween is coming up fast! The Greater Albion Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau is hosting the 3rd Annual Sweets on Superior on Sunday, October 29, 2023, from 1 – 3 p.m. in downtown Albion. Sweets on Superior was established in 2021, where businesses, organizations, and nonprofits festively set up along Superior Street for Trick or Treating.

This year’s Sweets on Superior will include a Decorating Contest with the theme of the Halloweentown Movies. Participating businesses can win First, Second, or Third place prizes by decorating their 10’ x 10’ vendor space located on Superior Street or storefront windows if they’re a downtown business owner. See the Business/Nonprofit Application to register! The deadline to submit your application is Friday, October 20, 2023. Applications are available on our Facebook page and our event calendar. You can email the application at the address below or drop it off at P.O. Box 238.

“It is so wonderful that our community comes together for Trick or Treating,” said Visitor & Event Specialist Bradley Arndts. “Albion continues to provide fun activities for everyone!”

Sweets on Superior is a great family event. We hope everyone can attend Sweets on Superior this year!

For more information, visit Events at greateralbionchamber.org or the Greater Albion Chamber at 517.629.5533 or bradley@greateralbionchamber.org.

Click on this link for show times and dates plus to make reservations. Pictures from the Bohm opening night Friday October 13, 2023