Local, Regional, National News and Opinion
Written by John Face
Photos Courtesy Marshall Public School website
Below is the written opinion by Judge Brian K. Kirkham stating that the recall decision of the County Elections Commission was correct. Signatures may now be collected.
Written by John Face
Editorial
March 13, 2022
Most likely after realizing that Shane Williamson can’t be removed immediately from office as she thought he could with their redistricting game until December, council member Linda LaNoue submitted along with the backing of Nora Jackson and Marcola Lawler a request for a public hearing of the council. The purpose is simply put to get rid of Shane Williamson now thus keeping him from voting.
I have put the “charges” that LaNoue submitted at the end of this article. Warning, don’t be drinking or eating as you may spit it out laughing at her game.
On Monday March 21 in the council chambers these three along with their two other partners will attack him and try to censure AND they will also vote to remove him from his precinct with gerrymandering. I recommend that you, the public, start calling and emailing all of these members of council and let them know there are consequences for their actions and games they are playing.
Here are the listed phone numbers and City emails of the council members as found on the City of Albion website. Feel free calling them or email AND make sure you plan on attending the meeting March 21st, they are hoping you are apathetic and stay home. Time to speak up and tell them during the meeting that enough is enough. Please let City Watch know if they take your call or return the email.
2021 – 2022
(734) 236-9058
dwilliams@cityofalbionmi.gov
Precinct 2-Lenn Reid
2018 – 2022
517-629-2283
lreid@cityofalbionmi.gov
2020 – 2024
810-545-7045
2020 – 2024
517-206-4252
Precinct 5-Linda LaNoue
2020 – 2024
llanoue@cityofalbionmi.gov
313-312-4282
Friday, March 10, 2022
Submitted by L. LaNoue, 5th Precinct City Councilmember
With the support of Mayor Pro-Tem N. Jackson (3rdPrecinct) and Councilmember M. Lawler (4th Precinct), as required by the City charter.
This document serves to provide ten (10) days’ notice to all Albion, MI city council members that a public hearing is being called for Monday, March 21st, during the regularly scheduled city council meeting. The following is a written summary of the facts giving rise to the alleged violations of City Council member Shane Williamson that warrant the public hearing.
Abuse of power and Not Acting in the Public’s Interest
o On Tuesday, March 1, 2022, Councilmember Williamson verbally abused and acted aggressively against his fellow councilmember, after a city council study session in the council chambers.
o His aggression that evening (3/1/22) was witnessed by residents of the community who were concerned about the well-being of the verbally abused councilmember.
o Threatening and disrespectful behavior is part of a pattern that Councilmember Williamson has used to wield abusive power.
Use of a personal, electronic device during official city council proceedings. He has continued to use his cell phone for private, electronic discourse during city
o Background: In September 2021, Councilmember Williamson was asked and agreed to discontinue use of his personal cell phone during city council meetings, study sessions, and MML coaching sessions.
o When asked during the Monday, March 7, 2022 special meeting to put his phone away while in the act of SMS texting, Councilmember Williamson lied about the use of his device. Found during minute 27:00 on YouTube recording.
o Use of an electronic device and private discourse during city council proceedings are both violations of the City of Albion’s Rules of Procedures for city council members.
o This is also a violation of the Open Meetings Act as there is documentation of egregious messages being sent by Councilmember Williamson to fellow council members during city council meetings.
The recommended imposed sanction for this behavior is a verbal reprimand and censure.
The primary goal for this public hearing is to publicly document the continued wrongdoing of Councilmember Williamson against his fellow councilmembers.
Written by John Face
March 8, 2022
At Monday night’s City of Albion council meeting one thing was sure, and that was Garrett Browns redistricting map was going to pass and Shane Williamsons seat was going to change from the 6th precinct to the 5th precinct. The council voted 5-2 in favor of the plan that eliminated Williamsons seat from precinct 6.
Now City Watch has found out that there is an attempt by this group to force Williamson from his seat as early as April. Even though he was elected to a 4-year term and that redistricting changes don’t happen until after the general election. Which should mean his seat is good until December 1st which is the normal starting date for council members. It appears the plan is to get another sycophant of Mat Johnson and Garrett Brown appointed to council.
City Watch reached out to Mayor Victoria Garcia-Snyder for a comment regarding last night’s vote, she voted against the proposal that was adopted last night, and here is her reply:
“As the Mayor who has sworn to serve the Community of Albion, I feel that the actions taken by the City
Council at last night’s meeting have left the residents of precinct six without a voice in City government.
The City Council has spent close to $10,000 of taxpayer money for training that we had all agreed that
we needed to better understand our roles as elected officials as opposed to the role of the City
Manager.
I had expected that the other council members would have taken the information we had
received in that training as we considered the redistricting issue. However, last night’s process and
decision clearly went against everything that we learned as a council, as we did not allow the City
Manager to fulfill her responsibilities with respect to the redistricting task.
There were other options available to the council that would have created much less disruption and
confusion for our voters that still fell well below the standard deviation of 10%. It was clear from how
the redistricting proposal was initiated that the best interests of the citizens of precinct 6 were not of
primary concern. This action was taken solely for political reasons, to facilitate the removal of a City
Council member who had been duly elected. This is a sad day for our City Government, and a sad day
for Albion.”
I contacted Williamson and he sent me this statement:
Last night’s move by city council most certainly was a political and personal attack on me and my character. It is a completely disgraceful move to use a process meant to preserve and protect a citizen’s access to adequate representation to score a political touchdown on a colleague they don’t like.
Even worse, how will council ever attract the talent to public office it needs of these are the games folks are willing to play?
There will be a second reading and there must be a legal ruling as to when this redistricting plan can legally go into effect. All this was playing out as recalls are being readied against members LaNoue, Lawler and Jackson.
City Watch will update this story as needed. City Watch can confirm that legal action most likely will occur.
Written by John Face
March 7, 2022
As in the past Albion City Council members Lenn Reid and Marcola Lawler have submitted a last-minute addition to the council meeting agenda. They have submitted their version for the redistricting of voting precincts in Albion. They have every right to do so but there is a process that normally happens in Albion.
Changing voter precincts is done every 10 years after the Census. In Albion everyone agrees there needs to be change as Precinct 6 has fewer residents than other precincts, the precinct is currently represented by Shane Williamson. There is a process involved in Albion takes into account several factors most of all is getting an equal number of residents in each of the 6 precincts.
Other factors have always been to account for current council members in each precinct. As a rule, the changes are minor enough that members rarely get placed out of their current precincts. Since precinct 6 is expanding there is no logical reason to make drastic changes other than to increase size.
The City Manager, City Attorney and Clerks office work on proposed changes based on the law, census and the above factors. They completed their request for change and now Reid and Lawler miraculously come up with a new map they want to be put in place instead of an intelligent no politics involved map submitted by Snyder. Now City Watch has been told that former Mayor Garrett Brown has a map that he had drawn up and that has yet to be submitted.
This is called gerrymandering when politicians try to change districts to punish others, and this should concern citizens of precinct 6 and the entire city. There is no secret when people say Williamson has been a voice of reason on the council along with Mayor Snyder the last year and a half. It appears that council is going to try and stick it to Williamson. Time to show up and stick it to them folks. Meeting happens at 6:00 P.M. at City Hall.
Written by John Face
March 5, 2022
Albion City Council member Nora Jackson is Director/President, of a non-profit she started called Divine Ministries, INC, DBA Difference Makers. The organization is a mentoring program for children stressing character building, personal training, relationship building and community service. Her organization which was licensed on June 17, 2019, has been operating in the Washington Gardner (WG) school on Michigan Avenue.
Former Albion College President Mat Johnson allowed Jackson to run her program for free at the WG school. When I asked Johnson last year during my interview if he was giving her special treatment or can any non-profit in town use the old school for free, he said he had no control over her usage as that was a deal, she had with the YMCA out of Battle Creek. The interview story that referenced this usage for Jackson was published on September 12, 2021, on City Watch Facebook page and subsequently on this site as well.
City Watch was supplied a copy of emails between Jackson and Jill Kingsley Hinde, Chief Executive Officer of the YMCA in Battle Creek. City Watch did not edit the emails in any way other than to remove the email addresses of the individuals mentioned. The email Jackson sent CC Mathew Johnson for some reason.
Here is the original email sent by Jackson on September 29, 2021, to Hindes:
From: Nora Jackson
Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 2021 4:26 PM
To: Jill Hinde
Cc: Mathew Johnson
Subject: YMCA- Difference Makers
Jill,
We Difference Makers would like to know if we could continue our program in the space we used during the summer months? I have many childrens and families wanting to know when we can start back up again! I would like to begin in November if possible? I would like to be able to hold a couple of meetings next month to talk with parents as well. Can you please let me know if this is possible?
Respectfully,
Nora Jackson
Difference Makers
Hindes replied to Jackson the following day on the 30th:
From: Jill Hinde
Sent: Thursday, September 30, 2021 11:15 AM
To: Nora Jackson
Cc: Mathew Johnson
Subject: RE: YMCA- Difference Makers
Nora—my approval is not necessary or required. The Y does not own the space at Washington Gardner and we have no authority to approve or deny a request for its use. The use of that space is a decision made between you and the College. Happy that hear that Difference Makers may be starting up again—I know it is a very successful program. Take care, Jill
Jill Kingsley Hinde
Chief Executive Officer
As you can see Ms. Hinde made it clear she had no control over Jacksons’ usage of the school and that proved Johnson mislead this reporter and the public. Why Ms. Jackson saw fit to attempt to get Hinde to state something that was untrue can only be answered by her. All this is important to remember because of what Jackson is trying to do now.
Jacksons’ non-profit is funded much like others with donations and grant money. Everything City Watch has heard about the program has been positive. Though limited in the number of participants and it being a faith-based program they are considered to be successful. That brings us to early this year when Jackson was talking with City Manager Haley Snyder about her Dream Makers program via emails. City Watch was made aware of these emails and requested a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) with the city for copies of emails between Jackson and Snyder.
That FOIA was sent by this writer and acknowledged by city staff as received. The series of emails and attachments from Jackson was for using City of Albion Recreation tax money to fund her program. She submitted three different proposals for $26,456, $36,403 and the lowest being $25,779 for a grand total for the year $88,638. The budget proposal asked to cover everything from staff, bus rides, food etc.
Once I received the requested items, I spent time reviewing the information.
After reading the FOIA City Watch saw that Jackson is looking to have the City of Albion to pay for her programs with tax money. Now there are several questions such as can a faith-based program receive tax money and should a sitting council member get tax money for her personal non-profit. Responding to Jacksons’ request Snyder stated in an email, “please note the language for the Recreation Millage is very specific on what/how funds can be utilized” Snyder went on to write that if after reviewing her budget and making sure it was legal, they could get this on the February 21st meeting agenda.
This writer reached out to Snyder to ask where this stood, specifically if she had approved the request to move forward to council. Snyder said the proposal has since been withdrawn by Jackson. When asked when and why she said it happened shortly after my FOIA was sent to her (Jackson) to reply with emails.
Council members can place anything on the agenda up until noon on the day of a meeting. This has been a tactic several current and past members of council have done as this gives the public little chance to know what is happening. There really is nothing to stop council from doing this again.
I have spoken with a real attorney, unlike the one I used in the past and they said this was this certainly inappropriate for an elected official to receive tax money for their non-profit and that could rise to the level of a criminal investigation. Follow City Watch for more of this story.
Introduction written by John Face
February 19, 2022
Final story of a 3-part series regarding the Albion College Board of Trustees.
Mr. Greenhalgh reached out to me expressing his concerns for his beloved Alma Mater. As you will see his bond to Albion College is deep and personal. I could have used his letter and reported on it but there is no way I can show you, the reader, the love he has for his school as well as his own words will.
There will be criticism of his letter in City Watch, but this according to him is what he has written publicly. He has however, reached out privately to key players that are referenced in this letter over the last few days, so this is not a “hit job” or “surprise” on the Board of Trustees by him.
In my conversation with him I found that he cares deeply for Albion College and the city of Albion as they are an important part of his life. Hopefully someday I will be able to meet him in person, shake his hand and thank him for this heart felt letter to the Editor. It takes courage to do what he is doing by risking friendships decades old. He felt these words had to be said.
About the author:
A Pontiac native, Stephen Greenhalgh earned his bachelor’s degrees in 1974 at Albion College in anthropology and sociology then earned his law degree from Washington & Lee University in Virginia in 1977. He is now retired and living in Boulder, Colo. with his wife Susan Brochu Greenhalgh, a ’75 Albion Alum after a career with the Bodman Law Firm in Detroit (where he was a corporate attorney for the Detroit Lions among other clients). He served on the Albion College Board of Trustees for 11 years stepping down in 2019.
One of the shortcomings of a nonprofit organization like a college is that it has no owners with a financial stake in the enterprise who can hold the board to account (i.e., remove it) when it fails. Sadly, this is all too true with respect to Albion College; no for-profit company owners would have tolerated the board’s failures over the last decade-including the loss of over $100 million and now after the embarrassing Mathew Johnson debacle which has been covered extensively in many damaging articles in the national higher ed media.
I may not have an ownership interest in the College, but I love the place and my family connections to it go all the way back to its founders in 1835. Samuel Dickie, president from 1901-1925, was a cousin on my father’s side and his wife, Mary Brockway, was the daughter of W. H. Brockway, a founder of the College in 1835. So, I have a stake.
I don’t know what you trustees are doing (or not doing) on the board. But I have to say that I have watched the value of my diploma decline since I quit the board in 2019. It hasn’t been pleasant. Whose idea was it to stick the board’s middle finger up at the almost 2,000 signers of the Johnson recall petition? Did you really think this was a good thing that would calm the waters?
It’s not my place to tell you what to do or not do. But I can say that if you had anything to do with the ridiculous “Resolution of Support” for Johnson adopted by the board in late October (2021), followed weeks later by his ignominious departure while chairman Harrington relentlessly cheered him on as he walked out the door, you should resign from the board and give someone else a chance to clean up the mess.
The board has failed miserably since Don Sheets became chairman eight years ago. It is inept and entrenched as the ruling minority have all served as trustees longer than the term limits provided in the College’s bylaws, which they themselves voted to approve. Board meetings are scripted infomercials designed to silence hard questions. The leaders do not listen; they are an echo chamber, an advertisement for the importance of board term limits.
The board is by far the largest problem facing the College; no improvement in the College can be expected until it is replaced. As the farmers say, “It’s time to grab a shovel and clean out the barn” at the board of trustees
You are all friends. But as trustees you are not above criticism, and friends speak frankly to friends, hence this letter.
Respectfully
Stephen Greenhalgh
Written by John Face
February 17, 2022
On Wednesday February 16 Mat Johnson sent an email out to individuals at Albion College. His 4-page long rant (posted below) has made its way to the internet and now, as he most likely wants, is causing a stir in Albion.
In his email he makes fantastical claims about the millions he is responsible for while artfully stating without saying it was all him. The fact is Mat, Maurie Ditzler was responsible directly for many of the claim’s you make in this email. Claiming responsibility for bringing in millions of fundraiser pledges, money pledged while Ditzler was here, shows the depth you will go to make yourself look good. Especially since those pledges were made long before your very short tenure here.
I wanted to just write and write about all the inaccurate statements. I wanted to remind all my readers that when reading this the author of the email is a highly educated man who appears to be desperate because his actions were stopped because people fought back against his tyranny.
I highlighted the line a sentence down where he implies Hazel Lias must be stupid because, according to him, members of this secret group who worked against him “manipulated her” to tell the story of how he went after her. Ms. Lias has never been manipulated by anyone Mat and this one statement alone shows how little you knew about people in our community and again, how low you will go to change the truth to make yourself look good and save your career.
For the record I did not change anything in the following email except that I changed to bold print where he says Ms. Lias was manipulated.
Dear Friends,
By now you have probably heard that I resigned the presidency of Albion College. You may have also recently heard that the Chair of the Board, Michael Harrington has resigned his position as Chair and as a member of the Board. After some time to reflect, I am writing to you to set the record straight and to begin sharing my story. Sharing my story is part of the healing process for me and my family, and we hope by sharing it others, like the college president’s who have reached out because they are facing similar campaigns, will find something useful in it.
I am grateful to so many of you who have offered words of support and encouragement. I am also grateful to those of you who have encouraged critical self reflection in this moment. I have thought much about the tensions between a perspective that asks if we tried to do “too much, too fast”, and a competing perspective that sees clearly the urgency of racialized attacks on students, racialized educational outcomes, unfair housing, substandards schools serving primarily Black children, inadequate healthcare and effective municipal services in the face of a pandemic, and a dearth of economic opportunity in the Black community. The resistance we faced was and remains embedded in racialized, gendered, socioeconomic, and other social dimensions worth examining. Thanks to each and every one
of you.
I did not resign because of anything I did at the college or in the community. To the contrary I am proud of what we accomplished under incredibly difficult circumstances. Albion College is now poised to emerge as an innovator and national leader in the increasingly competitive small liberal arts college marketplace. This is because we executed on the priorities the Board of Trustees and I shared in common:
We made very significant progress on these priorities in part because of the courage and strength of the Board of Trustees. I regularly shared with presidential colleagues across the country that I felt incredibly fortunate to have the courageous Board I had as we moved swiftly ahead. I am confident the Board has the tools needed to move this agenda and that we were able to lay a robust foundation and chart a clear path forward in my time as President.
We significantly increased the financial health of the College. By following a disciplined and principled approach to strategic change we were able to meet budget projections for the first time in 12 years; move the institution from near financial paralysis to a BBB+ bond rating from Standard and Poors; realize a significant reduction in annual debt cost; eliminating debt related covenants on the endowment; and access >$9m for new capital investment. Our careful and direct analysis yielded an overall reduction in operational cost while providing the largest faculty raise pool in the college’s history and providing significant increases in compensation for over 18% of the staff workforce. Our efforts to increase financial resources completed a $100m capital campaign early and over the goal, and raised an additional $20m after the close of the campaign and during the pandemic including $13m in honor of the inauguration.
We significantly increased the facilities stewardship and investment in the campus. By developing a
Comprehensive Infrastructure Plan we set priorities and began a once-in-a-generation level investment in campus including a >$2m investment in technology infrastructure; rehabilitation and recovery of the historic but derelict buildings including St. John’s Parish to become a new Alumni Unity Hall, the former Huntington Bank to become the Center for Community, and the Washington Gardner School to become the Body and Soul Center; transformation of the Stockwell and Seely-Mudd Library complex into a leading edge active learning hub for the Cutler Center for Student Success, an integrated one-stop-shop campus helpdesk; major investments in athletic facilities supporting existing athletics and new wrestling and e-sports programs; and investments in the look and feel of campus to retire a significant portion of the deferred maintenance that had accumulated. Over the next several years major investments will be made in new residential facilities and in the renovation of existing residential facilities through the new funding made available through the successful bond refinancing. Over the next several years, Albion will build on the significant energy savings that we accomplished through our strategic movement toward green technology and sustainable management practices. This investment and turn towards sustainability will allow Albion to emerge as a leading small college in facilities innovation.
We built new and successful approaches to recruitment, retention, and success of our most significant asset, students. Through the $8m investment in the creation of the Cutler Center for Student Success, through new investments in marketing and communications including a new web presence, through cultivation of a new “students first” approach to campus planning and resource allocation, and through new resources devoted to integrated wellness and cultivating student leadership, we created a more focused approach to providing students with the resources and the experiences they want and need to be successful. On the academic side we introduced more new academic programs than had been introduced in any similar prior period over the last two decades including programs in data science, public health, and a Master’s degree in accountancy and a post-baccalaureate pre-medical certificate.
We founded the School for Public Purpose and Professional Advancement to provide an integrated and robust home for experiential learning and founded the Curtis Institute for Race and Belonging to sit alongside the existing institutes on public policy, medicine, and business. This new school, together with the Curtis Institute and the newly created Community Collaborative set the stage for Albion to become a shining example of how to live the liberal arts.
We turned toward and leaned into the hard work of becoming an anti-racist institution. Beginning with my first public statement as President-Elect in which I called upon the campus to “Become Boldly Anti-racist,” I charted a path toward unwaivering examination and action to move the institution toward becoming the anti-racist. It needed to do so to succeed in the new diverse reality of liberal arts education. We listened deeply to faculty, staff, students, and community members from historically underrepresented backgrounds and identified sets of policies that needed to be changed to eliminate barriers that reflected white privilege and created inequitable outcomes that reinforced subtle notions of white supremacy embedded in all social institutions in our country by virtual of our shared national
history.
We ended inequitable access to resources that was encoded in the institutional bureaucracy. We significantly shifted the diversity of the College administration including moving the Cabinet to the most diverse mix of life exereince in the College’s history (race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, etc.), and introduced new policies and programs to diversify the faculty over the next five years. We instituted a campus change program called the Blueprint for Belonging that charged every office with developing its own public plan for how they will change their approach to their respective institutional contributions so as to maximize their contributions to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. And we created the first Cabinet-Level Chief Belonging Officer, a bias reporting system, and a bias response team.
We turned toward excluded segments of the local population and built partnerships to address the urgent needs in the community including equitable schooling, healthcare, and citizen oversight in the use of public funds and the approval of local economic and community development efforts. We launched an on-campus NAACP Chapter, invested in historic Holland Park, partnered with the Marshall Public Schools to advocate for a new elementary school serving largely Black families and to work towards a workforce development strategy to redevelop the former highschool. I am incredibly proud of all of this progress, even more so as we did it while managing the continued on-campus residential liberal arts education Albion is known for in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This level of change, even in non-COVID time, even when the necessity for change is existential, is incredibly challenging for any organization. The changes we needed to make cut at the fabric of a social system that afforded a small group of people privilege, power, resources, and control over the Community and to a large degree the College. Because the policy changes were grounded in the principles of equity, accountability, and proven best practice, it was untenable for that small group to oppose them publicly. So, they carried out a 12+ month campaign to smear me personally and attack members of the College administration and Board of Trustees. As we introduced new policies, new organizational realities, new approaches that centered equity and inclusion and strengthened the
College’s financial and organizational health, a small group of individuals launched a plan from the shadows of anonymous social media to kill change. In the context of extremely limited social interaction created by COVID measures, the virtual campaign to spread lies and promote false narrative took root and spread like wildfire.
I am also proud of the work I have led to develop the Carnegie Elective Classification in Community Engagement and associated projects over the past several years. Among the many accomplishments of the team working on these projects included partnering with colleagues and institutions in Australia and Canada to pilot and develop nationally relevant versions of the classification; working with colleagues at the Doerr Institute for New Leaders at Rice University to develop a new elective classification in Leadership for Public Purpose; and planning for new elective classifications in Sustainability and in Racial Equity. I am particularly grateful for the partnership with Dr. John Saltmarsh, Dr. Matthew Hartley, Georgina Manok, George Luc, Verity Firth, Dr. Joanne Curry, Matthew Grant, the members of the National Advisory Committee, and so many others who supported the expansion and development of the elective classifications.
I was excited to have the Foundation announce that the Basic Classification would also be located at Albion College as part of a new Commission led by Dr. Marisol Morales. As I stepped down from the presidency of the College to assume the presidency of the Commission, the smear campaign turned toward the Foundation and, with assistance of a few key individuals, was able to create the idea that the Foundation was facing reputational risk to such an extent that the Foundation decided on a different direction. I remain hopeful that Dr. Morales and the team will be able to remain part of the leadership moving ahead and grateful that ACE has agreed to host the classifications providing stability.
In the post-Trump world, saying things loud enough, often enough, to enough people, no matter how untrue or outlandish, can create a false narrative that can have real and dangerous impact. This small group banded together to paint each policy and organizational change as indicative of a character flaw. A generous voluntary early retirement program for faculty was twisted into a plot to undermine shared governance by eliminating faculty with the most experience; attempts to bring more control to campus vehicle access to protect Black students from drive-by racial assaults got twisted into an attempted take-over of the City; a unit-based business review process that led to the elimination of some staff positions and the creation of new upskilled positions, got twisted into a story about capricious retributive firing of people; reorienting the College toward an ethic of transparency in community relations and toward the needs of the Black community got twisted into the College, and me, being portrayed as bullies in the community; a plan to thin the library collection through retirement of circulating volumes became the President throwing books in the trash; and many many others. While each individual accusation is
ludacris on its face and in light of true facts, the volume and intensity of the campaign began to create a reality in perception.
From the shadows, the group painted me as a caricature of an unethical leader who was out of touch with the people of the town, with students, and with faculty. They mobilized the most vile remnants of overt racism among some community members and some alumni. They strategically targeted Board members with false information and created fraudulent surveys of the community and of the faculty. They accused me of running a sex trafficking operation out of the President’s home, of harboring goats at the home against city ordinances, of starting a construction company owned by me to personally profit on the investments in campus, of disrespecting and assaulting an elder of the Black community at a basketball game, of bankrupting the College, and of many many other things that are entirely, provably, false. Most importantly, their campaign stoked fear in the community that anyone could be attacked in similar fashion.
Words have consequences. They mobilize our better angels or the most vile and violent spirits among us.
In the end, I resigned because that strategy had made the environment unsafe for my family and others, and endangered the College as it headed into the closing of the refinancing bond and the reaffirmation of accreditation processes. Those responsible for the campaign manipulated a member of the community into making allegations against me that have now been proven to be false. Nevertheless, the allegations became a clarion call used by the campaign to target me and my family. When it became clear that the College and my family were in danger I decided to leave the role of the College President to protect them both. We faced threats of violence against me and my family that required the college to hire private security to protect us. The need for such protection was born out in the threatening slow drive-by of tinted vehicles, drone footage of my home and family, and ongoing false reports to
Campus Safety of criminal behavior taking place at my home. That may sound extreme. But it is the truth.
Some of those most deeply involved in initiating the most significant changes have now left or are in the process of leaving the College for similar reasons. Others have been positioned well and empowered by the College to continue the work in the face of the ongoing campaign of resistance. I am confident in the rightness of the College direction and the leadership of those remaining behind to bring it to fruition provided they can overcome the campaign. This story is not unique. It is playing itself out across our country against government leaders, school boards, principals and superintendents, library directors, and other college presidents. January 6th, 2020 and its aftermath have marked perhaps the most highly visible and openly hostile attack, but Governor Whitmer and the Michigan legislature faced armed invaders prior to that day and other leaders are facing openly hostile inflammatory and racist attacks across the country daily. The attempts to delegitimize through slander, libel, public character assasination, and ultimately intimidation, are a powerful new strategy in the social media age and lead to exactly the types of
violence we saw on January 6th and threats of the same that led the College to hire personal security to protect my family.
I feel compelled to push back on the smear campaign and set the record straight with truth and facts. In the coming days, weeks, months and beyond I will do whatever I can to fight this kind of campaign. If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch.
Best,
Mathew Johnson
Written by John Face
February 15, 2022
With Richard Lindsey’s recall language approved by a 3-0 vote for his seat on the Marshall Public School Board, he along with Shawna Gamble and Matt Davis are appealing their recalls. This is their right to do but there appears to be no real path for them as the claims in all three recalls is simple and true. Fortunately, they all are represented by Lindsey’s law firm out of Jackson according to sources.
What we have are three members of the School Board who should know they have done wrong but are willing to piss away voters’ money in order to save their reputations. Lindsey who has aspirations of running for state office from what he has told this writer can’t afford an ugly recall that may unseat him. Any opponent would quickly use it as a point out why he should not serve in higher office. I know I would. Maybe it’s time all three took the high road and resigned to save our district from more conflict.
Soon according to organizers of a recall group they will work to get the signatures needed and let the voters decide. Democracy in action.
Written by John Face
February 14, 2022
As Albion College slowly recovers from the short tenure of Mat Johnson there are still issues. For those inside the College it is the biggest secret that everyone knows about, Albion College is in financial turmoil. Years of deficit spending using the Colleges endowments to cover shortfalls has placed the school in danger if the ship isn’t righted soon. What I am talking about is around $100 million in deficit spending using the endowment as a savings bank. From college Presidents to the Board of Trustees (BOT), it appears no one wants to stand up and acknowledge they have screwed up.
Today Mike Harrington is no longer President of the BOT. He, along with J. Donald Sheets, Thomas Ludington, Jeffrey Ott and Jeffrey Weedman have had a unique hold on the BOT. They have forced members of the BOT to follow their leadership and been happy with losing money, of course to question their business acumen is sacrilegious. On the college website they laud Harrington’s accomplishments but fail to remind everyone he was directly responsible for bringing Mat Johnson to Albion. City Watch has learned that Harrington is facing some health issues, let us hope this is not true and if so, we wish him well, but whatever the reason for his leaving, the college is much better off.
Now a new start for the Board as Joanne (Joey) Miller takes over as President of the Board, having to fix the mess left from her predecessor and other current members of the BOT. Ms. Miller is a 1975 graduate of Albion College and has served on the board previously. She has a reputation of being fair, honest and willing to work with and listening to others. If she is able to wrestle power away from BOT members who have spent many years on the BOT, some of whom should have reached their term limits she may be able to lead the school and bring much needed stability.
The main issues facing Albion College beyond the BOT members who have been here way to long is that the interim President Joe Calvaruso has yet to relieve the Mat Johnson appointees who continue to cause fear in staff. One staffer stating, “not much has changed, Joe just kind of floats along waiting for direction from the Board, and Mat’s people keep watch over the school for him (Johnson)”. Oh, and yes, they have to find a new President.
Now City Watch would love the opportunity to speak to Calvaruso about this and other issues. Maybe a leadership change on the board will rattle his cage, certainly my several emails and phone calls have not.
Recall petition language for Richard Lindsey, President of MPS Board of Education Approved 3-0 Today
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