Crooks in the Backyard

The American’s patience is wearing thin with all the corruption discovered on a daily basis.

In Flint, MI, you don't have to gaze far to find the inmates running the asylum. Mayor Don Williamson, a convicted felon in 1962, currently is running the show. The “Don” served a little over three years in prison for writing bad checks and purchasing items that were never paid for.

Mr. Williamson has managed to run the City similar to a crime boss with an attitude of “my way or the highway.” Heaven help the people who have tried to block his path. They have been publicly scorned and left to blow dry in the wind by the Mayor.

Williamson’s criminal past has never been expunged. As a result, under the law, he has lost these rights:

1.The right to bear arms
2.The right to vote
3.The right to serve on a jury

Keep in mind, in the State of Michigan, a convicted felon’s rights to vote are restored once his or her prison sentence is completed.

Does it make sense that when you have lost these basic freedoms, you also should lose the right to hold public office? When elected, officials have moral obligations to the citizens who have elected them. With the current status of our Country, the right for convicted felons to hold public office, at any level, should also be rescinded.

The Don has made his millions riding the coattails of General Motors, under the disguise of his cheerleader wife, Patsy Lou, as well as his company Colonel, Inc.

Over the last 35 years, Williamson’s hair brained schemes, to win favor, have never come to fruition. Examples of these include a plan to convert the old (now demolished) Winchester Hospital into a Veterans Center and open the great Casino/Racetrack complex to be located at I-75 and Mt. Morris Road (now an aggregate producing site).

Now that the Mayor is facing a recall election on February 24, 2009, he is plastering his goodwill throughout the media. One means is by appearing in full-page ads in The Flint Journal (a publication he once vowed he would never spend another cent with) twice a week. Each solicitation informs Flint’s residents how Patsy Lou plans to keep jobs in the area by residents purchasing vehicles from her dealerships.

For those of you not residing in the Flint area or in Michigan, I am assured, you have read or heard stories of corrupt elected officials in your own backyards. The corruption may not involve a mayor. It may have featured a school board member, a council person or an elected law official. The point is – these incidents occur at all levels of government.

I leave you with one burning question. Have you ever filled out an application for employment or been offered a job that asked if you were a convicted felon, had a criminal past or were subject to a criminal background check? Should our public officials be held to the same standards of a person working for Mac Donalds?

Our beloved Mayor will,in the near future, make the perfect candidate for Governor of Michigan!