Grand Blanc Watchdogs

Lonnie and Monica talk about all the problems that have come to light SINCE the language for the recall was approved. Anthony Hudson told the board back then that we'd be wathing the and urged them to "act better." Well, folks, they haven't. After the incident at East Middle school where a mother was told it would be two hours before an ambulance would arrive, the board acted on limited information to approve a substandard ambulance contract - Geofencing - that does NOT guarantee response times, and leaves our community, of 40,000 people with 14 daily calls with only two ambulances to cover our needs. Why? because Patriot Ambulance is owned by donors to Scott Bennett's campaign. On the fire front we now have two lawsuits: one over the 160,000 dollar foia charge, (COVERUP) and a second one brough by firefighters over retaliation by Mr. Liimatta for speaking out in support of Chief Jent. The board has ignored Chief Jent's recommendations and are still planning to hire consultants instead.They've added a 125,000 administrative assistant to the already over-compenstated Mr. Liimatta, they've added several new positions in PR and DPW desk jobs without finding any money for the needed full-time firefighters. Mr. Bennett simply shrugged in the face of flooding caused by our 87 year old storm drain system.They are not listening to the many people who came out to protest the Fenton Road Diet. Petitions start circulating May 2. Email at [email protected] or call (815) 4RECALL if you'd like to have them brought to you or your neighborhood.

The Firefighter Lawsuit - four firefighters sued the Board and Dennis Liimatta for "retaliation" . We thank them for reminding the public that the problems in the Fire Department are very much ongoing. Mr. Liimatta is still trying to control and punish our first responders rather than work with Chief Jent to create the kind of Fire Department this community deserves. On another public safety front, Mr. Liimatta and Mr. Bennett never allowed the Board to decide for themselves if they thought the Exclusive Contract Model might be better for our township than Geofencing. Hint: there's no contest. The only reason we have substandard Geofencing model (which does not guarantee response times!) is that Patriot Ambulance owners are major donors to Mr. Bennett's campaign. We give you a chance to hear the facts on the two Ambulance Contract models from Bruce Trevithick, the director of the Genesee County Medical Control Authority - a presentation the Board ought to have had before they approved Geofencing. We discuss the storm drain situation and various potential solutions based on Monica's ongoing research into how other communities are managing to update their own aging storm drain systems.

April 11 Metro Flint News Talk Radio broadcastMajor floods the first weekend in April; The shocking lack of leadership by Supervisor Scott Bennet, some challenging questions for Drain Commissioner Jeff Wright and a lot of information about what needs to be done and how difficult yet not impossible the solutions are.#JeffWrightDrainCommissioner

In this second part of our School Millage discussion, Monica interviews her daughter Dara, a GBHS Graduate and current high school teacher. She has a Master's degree in education from Columbia Teachers College. Dara has taught in the New York City public schools and in the LA Unified School District and now a Charter school in Los Angeles. Dara shares some great insight into our Millage and Grand Blanc Schools in general.

This was part two of our second CCN radio show, in which we discussed the upcoming School Millage Renewal vote. Key points - Grand Blanc Schools have gone down in the annual US News and World Report on US high schools. We were perennially number one in Genesee County; this year we are number Eight. The millage is for a lot of flashy stuff but nowhere does the School Board address this academic decline or propose any solutions. Plus, voters need to be reminded that while renewing the 6.3 millage won't mean your taxes will go up; a no vote means your taxes will go down. On a 270,000 dollar house (median home value in Grand Blanc) this means a drop of 880.00 per year. However, Monica attends a meeting held by the school board and is almost convinced by the very excellent plan for a performing arts center. Still, there is no reason the Board can't go back to the drawing board on this one. They'll survive a year without that hefty 6.3 Mil... Would love to hear everyone's comments on this one! We'll be revisiting the topic soon!

This is part one of our second CCN Radio Show, in which we discuss the Township meeting where Chief Jent gave his comprehensive year end review and and outlined future plans for the Department. Mr. Bennett thanked him for his presentation and as if he hadn't spoken, talked about how the Fire Department Task force consisting of Bennett, treasurer Yancho, Clerk Dave Robertson and Superintendent Liimatta (no Chief Jent) had had multiple meetings and would soon announce they were hiring a consultant - no doubt for the cost of hiring a full-time firefighter... As well they voted to deny a couple a liquor license for their wedding venue business, despite having had seven liquor licenses gathering dust around the township since the 2020 census, a decision which will cost them half their profits. Also Mr Liimatta added a thousand dollar fee to the cost of applying for a liquor license, and stated that if this couple reapplied they would have to pay the new fee as well as whatever the fee used to be.... Business as Usual for this Board!

Warwick Hills has been trying to get its roads fixed for many years. If you've been to the Ally Challenge lately you know exactly how bad the roads there are. After trying, and failing to get the project off the ground in 2020, the Warwick HOA had managed to obtain the proper petitions (not easy when the DPW is handling instead of the clerk - many delays and problems - in fact Warwick has been struggling with this project since late 2024 and the delays and setbacks mean that costs have gone up and the project won't be scheduled until 2027 at the earliest. Just before the first hearing to establish the Special Assessment District they were notified that they had fallen below the threshold needed to qualify to give the Township 5M to do their road project. This podcast is all about what happens when the Board is led by an unelected official - Dennis Liimatta - with an agenda, who deliberately misinforms them as to what their powers are. And when they turn to an "expert" their municipal attorney for further guidance and he has zero knowledge of the state statute and hasn't bothered to look into it before turning down a neighborhood of volunteers who have worked for months to establish their right to PAY 5 million dollars to fix their own road. Listen to how this Board fought back and how one Grand Blanc Watchdog discovered the amendment to the statute that made all the difference.

This was our first show on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio - listen for us every Saturday at 1pm-2pm on internet radio. But in case you miss it, we'll post it by the following Monday right here at GB Watchdogs. Lonnie and Monica discuss the Patriot Ambulance "geofencing" agreement with the township, which seems inferior in every way to what an exclusive contract with Medstar is offering the eleven Genesee County communities that have entered into it. Why are they against? They say fear of liability... which doesn't seem to concern those eleven neighbors of ours... and the real reason seems to be that presiden and vice president of Patriot Ambulance were top donors to Scott Bennetts campaign. Meanwhile, at least part of the patriot agreement was in place - the part in the City - when the incident at East Middle School occurred - a young lady was injured and her mother was told it would be 2-3 hours before an ambulance would arrive... Also discussed, the new full-time PR staff member to clean up this an other messes this board is getting itself into. The fact that this board can never be swayed. The only public comment they listen to is ego stroking. No suggestions, no exciting proposals, no problems the township might conceivably try to solve if they cared...Finally we discuss the recall, which is an aspect of the democratic process that we are lucky to have in our Michigan Constitution. If you want change, sign the petitions! This uneresponsive rubber-stamping board could be ousted two years early.

Our first (and so far only) video podcast with Genesee County's own Democratic Candidate for Governor, Sheriff Chris Swanson!

Here's a little mini episode about our pre-meeting bet for 11/11, Veteran's Day.

All about the First Responder's Day meeting where the public came out in force to support Chief Jent!

Lonnie and Monica discuss Township Superintendent Dennis Limmatta's inept blunder. One month after the shooting and fire at the Church of Latter Day Saints, Limmatta announced he was placing Fire Chief Jamie Jent on administrative leave and that his termination would be on the Board Agenda at the meeting on October 28. Foolishly Limmatta assumed he could count on the Board to rubber stamp his decision to fire our Hero - ironically enough, on first Responders Day.In this episode, recorded before the meeting, Lonnie and Monica make a bet on what the board will do when asked to vote on Liimatta's recommendation. Unfortunately, public outcry was so intense and immediate that Scott Bennett decided to remove the item from the board's agenda and made a statement that Jent had been reinstated. At the time of the meeting Jent still had not received anything in writing, and had in fact been given an ultimatum by Mr.Liimatta. "Agree to six more months of probation or resign." !!!!! Mr. Jent sent a counter proposal, which hadn't been answered by the time of the public meeting. The board didn't have to go against Limatta publicly, and Mr. Limatta was allowed to continue to attempt to bully and put down Mr. Jent privately. The story reveals a lot about what's wrong with Township leadership. Stay tuned for Part II, which covers what did happen at the Board meeting.

In this episode Lonnie and Monica do a deep dive into how Grand Blanc Township is working - and not working. We talk about our Superintendent, Dennis Limatta, “the CEO of Grand Blanc Township” whose attempt to fire Chief Jent is just one example of his inept handling of “the business” of Grand Blanc Township. We discuss the many ways our township government lets its residents down.

Always fun! Lonnie and Monica take apart the muddled claims and ideas presented in our Spring and Summer newsletters....This is not the latest Message - that would be the summer one - but it was a doozy. This was the one where Mr. Bennett claimed that Townships all over Michigan do not receive funding for their roads! Huh? So what's the 57M in road work that we've seen since Mr Bennett took office in 2016? Answer... of course we receive road funding! It's just administered by the Road Commission. And our Supervisor has been negligent in making sure that these projects reflect the desires of our community to have our roads designed with accessibility in mind. Many, many opportunities have been squandered due to lack of interest in the MDOT policies in place to encourage non-motorized development. It's also the one where Mr. Bennett helpfully supplied a QR code so that residents could complain directly to the Road Commission if they had complaints about public roads. Again, this is a place where the Supervisor should be going to bat for residents at the County level. Listen to the crazy response a young mother received when she tried to get a stop sign installed near the bus stop in Williamsburg Farms! Buck passing at its finest. That's what you can expect from Our Supervisor.Once again Mr. Bennett pats himself on the back for "not raising local millage" . But the bulk of our local revenues come when our assessments go up by a rate set by the state. So Mr. Bennett hasn't raised your taxes, but your taxes sure have increased! Without any increase in local services and amenities! We're paying more but he's still giving us excuses, and telling us we need a millage for any parks improvements, or any help with Special Assessment Districts. Oh, but 120,000 of that increase went for a branding consultant to give us our new swirly line logo and our motto "A community in motion." A community in motion, all right, out of Grand Blanc Township. Another 120,000 for last summers survey where statistics were scientifically massaged to give our township government very high ratings of satisfaction across the board. Bravo! 240,000 that could have given us five foot paved shoulders on Grand Blanc Road... spent to tell us how happy we all are, swirling around "In Motion". Even though we cant' walk or ride bicycles to get to school or work or play. Great job, guys!

Over 750 residents participated in the Master Plan Survey. Many of us attended workshops and made comments on the drafts. The resulting document was pretty great! But the two main priorities identified in it have been backburnered: "non-motorized access to our roads" and "Improvements in the North End" While the Township goes full steam ahead on stuff none of us said we wanted, or only reluctantly agreed to: "DDA district/Enterprise Park/Technology VillageAt planning meetings when residents try to protest zoning changes or site plan approvals they are greeted with the bogus "Our hands are tied" by the Master Plan! This is never, ever true . Master Plan ties no ones hands. When we ask, why aren't we making any progress on our two priorities? we get told there's no money, Master Plan is only a wish list, not a zoning document, etc. You might ask, what is the point? Good question, at least for this Board. Which by the way is supposed to update the plan every five years and currently has no certified planner employed to conduct this process.

Watchdogs do a deep dive into the potential for a 230 acre park in the center of our two communities (City and Township) and how it "was never on the Township's radar."In a competition between City's leadership and Township, who's winning? City Mayor John Creasey, hands down.Lonnie rants about Code Enforcement (and Monica agrees with him)!

The last thing we want is for this administration to have even more of our tax money to spend irresponsibly, without giving us anything we want, need, or should have.This episode has been edited. The first version misstated the cost of the firetruck. It is two million, not four million!

Favorite moments from the current episode!

In this episode Lonnie Adkins and Monica Shapiro discuss the 24M Firestation/DPW Building and the major amount of debt township took on to pay for it.