THE RIVER CITY CODE OF SILENCE

On Tuesday 2nd Ward City Commissioner Rick Tormala declared that he is running for mayor of Grand  Rapids.   

In his announcement there was some indication that he is willing to break the code of silence on the de facto right of first refusal and special tax breaks city officials give the River City oligarchs, namely Rich DeVos and Peter Secchia, on large downtown real estate deals.  The city manager’s office under Kurt Kimball is the center of this corruption, and Tormala railed against Kimball’s usurpation of the City Commission’s role in setting policies and priorities – albeit obliquely – and incumbent Mayor George Heartwell’s acquiescence to this diminution of the people’s elected representatives – more pointedly.

That’s a start.  Until Tormala or some other candidate for city office defines the crimes against the public trust and names the names of the perpetrators, the reform message will not resonate with the voters and its messengers will not win the election.   

The voters need to be informed about how the city government has become a tool for DeVos and Secchia to use either to get control of downtown deals or to wet their beaks in the them.  The voters need to be informed how they got their hands upon the levers of government power by anointing themselves as kingmakers, as the men who claim they can either make or break the ambitions of city officials, and nothing more.

For example, consider the girlish giddiness of Heartwell over the prospect of Secchia endorsing his re-election as mayor or the chastening of 1st Ward City Commissioner Jim Jendrasiak who opposed a taxpayer-subsidy for DeVos’s ritzy J.W. Marriot hotel project and was then challenged in the next election by a DeVos-Secchia backed candidate.   Even four years after exiting three terms as mayor carrying water for DeVos and Secchia, Logie still pushes their agenda with the hope that these Republicans will back his Democratic run for the U.S. Congress once Vern Ehlers retires.  Then there are the rumors that City Manager Kimball and his assistant Eric DeLong have been promised cush jobs after they leave their posts.

The voters should be shocked at how cheaply their public servants go for these days.  Look at what DeVos and Secchia got in return for some kind words, a few promises, a couple of bucks, and the occasional excoriation behind closed doors.  Public funding of the arena and convention center (which boosted the value of nearby DeVos and Secchia properties like the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel which climbed $20 million or more), the nixing of a Monroe North parking ramp needed by a competing developer in favor of a ramp DeVos wanted for his project, the bargain Secchia got on the City Center, the legal defense of the Toxic Towers developers (financed by Secchia’s bank and assisted by DeVos’s property management firm), taxpayer subsidies to DeVos for the Marriot hotel project and the Chrisman medical complex on Michigan Street, and so on.

Then again, maybe not so shocked.  Going along to get along is Logie’s legacy from his long reign as mayor of Grand Rapids.  Over a dozen years Logie accumulated personal power by holding several board and commission seats tied to real estate development and didn’t hesitate to bully and intimidate the weak sisters among our public servants on behalf of DeVos and Secchia.  People got used to doing what was expected of them by Boss Logie to avoid confrontation.  Old habits die hard, and it’s no help that a phony progressive like Heartwell has tried to carry on the Logie oligarchic tradition for the past four years.

It’s well past time for a shake-up at City Hall.  The old guard at the city manager’s office must go, as well as the politicians like Heartwell who abet their corrupt agenda.

A shake-up won't happen if no one calls them to account.  The media’s not going to do it, especially with the newspaper of record run by a publisher who wants to be DeVos’s pal.   Even the brave new world of the internet has plenty of old-fashioned cowards.  For instance, the message board on UrbanPlanet.org that was critical of Secchia’s designs on downtown Grand Rapids disappeared into the ether.   Of course, we’ll bark, but we’re not the big dog. 

To get this job done it is up to politicians like Tormala and other candidates for city office to name the names of those who have abused the public trust.

The sixteen-year-long code of silence must be broken.

Comments

[Annick]

Looks like some of the guilty ones are already listed:

DeVos
Secchia
Logie
Heartwell
Kimball

If Tormala truely wants to win and gain serious votes, he will need to bring to light the rest of the names of those who are getting favors and gains that none of the local citizens are getting.

If Tormala wants the status quo to remain in place, he will keep quiet and loose.

Interesting article. Keep posting this kind of information since it appears everyone else runs from the truth screaming in fear like little girls.

[The Editor - Bridget]

Hello Annick,

We have listed some, but without a doubt, more are to follow if the code of silence finally gets broken.

The big guys in this town have a lot of money and plenty of personal power to get what they want, when they want it and how they want it. That's pressure that the average person and business man/woman does not want to contend with every day. Thus, silence rules the land.

As we get leads and information to share you can count on us posting it for the readers to view. We believe in freedom of the press and the internet. We'll be fair and honest. You can count on that.

Thanks for your input!