Byce & Associates presented the proposed Facilities Master Plan to the Antrim County Board of Commissioners on June 3rd. This plan includes several options for new or renovated Antrim County jail and administrative buildings. 

The one-hour presentation regarding the options can be found at 42-minute mark of this video.

The topic of a new or improved jail and administrative facilities has been shelved during the pandemic, and the original studies need updating. However, the trained and smooth consultants remain very convincing about the need for new facilities.

Several of the commissioners asked the right questions, which are some of the same questions I have.

These are my questions, in no particular order:

1. Does the county still need more room for its administration if there is now a policy allowing working at home? The county parking lot has been quite empty lately when I drive by. Do they even know what their work-at-home policy will be?

2. Have the needs of the jail changed since the study was last completed? The state has legalized marijuana, and they are promoting the Stepping Up Program to promote options to jail, which does nothing to rehabilitate anyone.

3. Whenever I hear consultants talking about industry standards, it reminds me of people trying to keep up with the Jones. Why don’t we just evaluate our own needs versus comparing ourselves with others? For example, an office of 100 square feet might be fine, until the consultants tell you that industry standards are higher, and convince you that “other counties” have bigger offices.

4. I was concerned about Ed Boettcher’s comment at the previous meeting, regarding how terrible the jail is for the employees. He repeated over and over that the break room was in a closet and was unacceptable, and stated that he wouldn’t want to work there.

My response would be that regardless of whether we value our police, most people in this county do not get special break rooms, or even breaks. If jail employees choose their place of employment based on the break room, we have a problem.

5. Will the new jail cost us more or less to operate? If it is safer and more efficient, it should be able to operate with fewer employees. Can Sheriff Bean adjust his operating budget to help fund the jail?  Sheriffs in other towns have modified their operating budgets after the building of newer and more efficient jails.

Of course, we all want the newest and the best, but the Commissioners need to be very careful spending taxpayers’ hard earned money on these projects.

A simple summary of the options is found here.The complete and complicated proposed Facilities Master Plan can be found here.

This is the fifth in a series of articles about “How to Get Elected as a Libertarian.” This article focuses on how to effectively use media and social media in your campaign.

In summary, having an effective and organized media campaign is extremely important for a Libertarian who is running for public office. Remember, your job as a candidate is to convince voters to know, like, and trust you. Obviously, you can’t meet every voter in person, so you need to use the tools that allow you to communicate with them.

Websites, social media, and traditional media are separate but related areas. You should be active on all these media throughout your entire campaign. 

Website
It is important to have an easy way for people to find you on the internet. Having a website is the first step. It’s also good to be able to send your website address to the media.

Your website doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive. GoDaddy is a great place to start, as you can buy your domain name there, and also create your website. You can also create a free website on websites such as Wix.

Of course, the more extensive the website, the better. However, at the very least, your main page should have contact information and information about your background, and why citizens should vote for you.

Ideally your domain name would include your name and position, so that google picks it up. The text throughout your website should include any phrases that your voters might search for on google.

Having one good webpage at an early point in the campaign is more important than taking extra time to build and launch an extensive website. You can add webpages as your campaign progresses, or even add sections such as “events” or “issues.” These website pages about issues and events can then be promoted on social media.

Social Media
Always remember that voters are watching you on your social media, even on your personal pages. It is important to always present the image of a professional person who the voters can relate to.

You can promote your campaign by providing information and statements on your personal pages, whether Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram or anywhere else you will find voters. Just don’t overdo it, and be sure you continue to have posts which are not about your campaign. Also, it is always important to show interest in others. Respond to any questions or comments, and engage them in conversations on their page. Social media is two-way. Don’t just use the media to promote yourself!

Neighborhood websites or neighborhood “pages” are also excellent places to introduce yourself to voters. Just be careful not to take over any of these pages, and post according to the rules of the administrators.

The best way I have found to reach voters is to create a separate Facebook page for your candidacy. This allows you to pay a very reasonable rate to reach people outside your circle. Again, the title of the page should include your name and the position. Include links to your website, pictures of you, and information about your candidacy. Build your audience by posting daily. Again, mix news about your stances and candidacy with human interest pictures and stories about the area, meetings, issues, etc.

Invite all your friends to like your candidate page, and tell everyone on your other social media about the new page.

Last but not least, not many people will see your page unless you pay to promote your posts. It is very cost effective to pay for Facebook ads, as they are a fraction of the cost of other media. You have to jump through Facebook’s hoops to be approved as an advertiser. However, once you are approved, for just a few dollars you can target people in your area and make sure that they see your messages.

Traditional Media Campaign
Even if you have a website and social media, it is important to have a traditional media campaign. Even if you don’t read a newspaper, many voters still do, particularly senior citizens who vote at a high rate. The same is true for traditional radio and television stations.

Start by making a complete list of all newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations in the area that you are targeting. Most of these media have websites with contact information, and some even have a special email address where you can send press releases.  Add each of these email addresses to your list.

Start out by writing an announcement about your campaign, combined with a decent professional picture. Also, include your website and social media addresses. Email the announcement and picture to each person on your media list. Take the time to write each email personally, rather than copying or blind copying each person.

Each week, think of a newsworthy event and send it to each person on the list. This could be information about events you are attending, things you are doing for the community, or statements that you make about issues in your area.

In summary, while campaigning as a Libertarian, it is vital to use the internet and traditional media to build your presence in the community.

As an elected Libertarian for a Township Trustee in a small rural northern Michigan town, I believe that the Libertarian Party of Michigan should recruit as many qualified, freedom loving candidates as possible to run for similar local roles across the state.

The topic next month will be about political signs. I welcome ideas and questions at any time at dokrieg@gmail.com.

Series: How and Why to Get Local Libertarians Elected: 

Libertarians: Start Now to Choose a Winning Race

Creating Your Campaign Plan

Networking: Attend Community Events / Government Meetings  

Media campaigns including social media

Political Signs

Organizing Door to Door Campaigns

Mailings

This is the fourth in a series of articles about “How to Get Elected as a Libertarian.” This article focuses on creating your campaign plan.

Once you choose a winnable race, it’s time to plan your campaign. A campaign plan does not have to be complicated or lengthy. It is simply an outline of what you hope to accomplish as you attempt to persuade voters that you deserve to be their leader.

Your campaign plan should have specific achievable goals, broken down as much as possible. Each campaign plan should include the following details:

1. Voter research: Obtain a list of voters from your county clerk and find out how many likely voters there are. How many votes do you need to win? Who is your opposition?
2. Campaign workers: who will volunteer to help you? What will each of them do? Will you designate one person to be in charge?
3. Messaging: what issues will you stress while campaigning? How will you showcase your strength and experience?
4. Future articles will be more detailed regarding signs, mailings, social media, print media ads, door to door campaigns, and more. For your business plan, you should outline how much you will spend on each of those areas, and when/where/how you will spend it.a. How many signs do you want to put up and where? What is the sign ordinance in your area? How will you find places to put up signs? What is the cost of signs, and where will you obtain them?b. How many media ads do you want to run, and in which publications? When should you run these ads? What should they look like?
   c. A website is necessary for promoting your campaign. What will this website look like? Who will create and maintain it?d. Social media is very helpful and necessary to be competitive in a contested race. Which social media will you use? Will you create a special page? Will you spend money on ads? Again: when, where, and how?e. Door to door campaign: Every Libertarian who has ever won a contested race has run a strong door-to-door campaign. Future articles will discuss this in detail, but take a look at that list you got from the county clerk and make a goal for how many households you will visit each week.f. Mailings: These can be expensive, but may be necessary if you plan to reach every voter. You can use the same list of voters that you use for a door-to-door campaign. There are many options for mailings, which will be discussed in a future column.
5. Campaign fundraising: how much money will you need to accomplish your goals? This calculation will involve adding up the amounts you will need for signs, mailings, media ads, and any other expenses. Once you estimate how much money you will need, how will you obtain this money? Will you self-fund, or ask others? How many people will you need to donate to reach your goals?

Obviously, your campaign plan must be flexible, as it will be modified many times as the campaign plays out. Optimally, you would review your campaign plan weekly to see how things may need to be changed.

In summary, having a campaign plan is necessary if you are running in a contested race for public office. Hopefully this article helps you start thinking about what this plan might be. As a recently elected Libertarian for a Township Trustee in a small rural northern Michigan town, I believe that the Libertarian Party of Michigan should recruit as many qualified, freedom loving candidates as possible to run for similar local roles across the state.

The topic next month will be about networking: attending community events. I welcome ideas and questions at any time at dokrieg@gmail.com.

Series: How and Why to Get Local Libertarians Elected: 

Libertarians: Start Now to Choose a Winning Race

Creating Your Campaign Plan

Networking: Attend Community Events / Government Meetings  

Media campaigns including social media

Political Signs

Organizing Door to Door Campaigns

Mailings

 

By now, the 2020 Christmas season is in full swing, and most Americans have accepted Joe Biden as the new president. In fact, many of us are tired of hearing about the divisive 2020 election. 

However, the ongoing saga of what happened and is still happening with the Antrim County, Michigan election results has many local citizens concerned about the integrity of our future elections, especially the operation of the Dominion voting machines.

Of particular concern is a lawsuit filed against Antrim County regarding election irregularities, which has not been resolved and continues to gain national attention.

FORGET TRUMP: LOCAL ISSUES ARE CRUCIAL
As a Libertarian, I do not support either of the major two party candidates. However, I am interested in and knowledgeable about local issues, and I was actually on this particular 2020 ballot. 

I also administer a citizen discussion page following the Antrim County Commissioner meetings, and county issues. This page has had postings and comments from many people directly involved in the investigation, including Commissioners, State Representatives, people who worked on the election and recount, and more.

These election issues are difficult for most of us to grasp at a national level, but at a local level they become real. In addition, there are many ways that we can impact local officials. For example, we have important leadership changes coming up on the County Commission, and new voting machines are being discussed at the local and state level. In addition, Commissioner Dawn Lavanway made a motion to have the prosecutor look into what happened to the deleted files on the Clerk’s computer. This motion was inappropriately tabled.

Below is a summary of the facts, with links to much more detail. Even though people are tired of this issue, it is not going away soon! It is very important that we all stay informed. 

SUMMARY OF FACTS
Antrim, a tiny rural county in northern Michigan, gained national attention on the day after the election, when an issue skewed the initial election results for the presidential race. Initial results showed Joe Biden winning the county, but corrected results showed President Trump winning the county by more than 2,000 votes.

The issues, according to the County Clerk and Secretary of State, were due to human error and a failure to properly update software when there were ballot changes.

These same voting machines were purchased by many counties through the state of Michigan, utilizing a grant managed by the state. They were first used by Antrim County in 2018. The Michigan Senate and House has held oversight hearings about these machines, recently questioning both the county clerks and officials from Dominion Voting Systems.

LAWSUIT FILED
While the Senate hearings were occurring, real estate broker William Bailey, a Central Lake resident, filed a lawsuit against Antrim County.

Bailey’s statement said: “I have believed since the day after the November 3^rd general election that voter fraud may have happened in Antrim County via the Dominion Voting Systems and other electronic voting equipment used in Antrim County. Approximately 6,000 votes flipped in Antrim County all helping Joe Biden. This should have never happened. I do not believe this was human error. I never bought into that narrative.”

Bailey asked to being his cyber-security experts into the county, to do a forensics report on the voting machines. “No matter what side of the political aisle you reside on, we all want/need to know that our votes count and that our Electoral Process in Antrim County is secure,” he stated.

AUDIT MADE PUBLIC
On December 4, Judge Kevin Elsenheimer ruled that Antrim County had to give Bailey’s team the information requested. The cyber-experts flew into Antrim County, while the county officials scrambled to manage the publicity and logistics of the audit.

The experts’ report was authored by Russel Ramsland, a cybersecurity analyst and Trump supporter, who is part of the management team for the Allied Security Operations Group. On December 14^th, Elsenheimer ruled that the plaintiff could release the results of the report to the public, with redactions.

Ramsland’s report said analysts found a 68 percent “error rate” in the tabulation log of the server. “We have the Dominion logs, the judge made us redact them,” he explained. “Dominion’s own logs state that there were Excel files for adjudication uploaded and downloaded. However, adjudication records are gone, though they are there for previous years.”

When John Poulos, the Dominion CEO, testified before the Senate, he called Ramsland’s report “categorically false and technically incomprehensible.”

During all the back and forth, the state of Michigan joined in the lawsuit, which continues. At the last county meeting, Ed Boettcher, Chairman of the Antrim County Commissioners mentioned that there were many questions that the county is required to answer, as part of the interrogation process.

Despite what he feels is hard evidence, Ramsland is not convinced that the courts will ever settle this issue. “I think it’s going to be settled by legislators.” he said.

SECRETARY OF STATE MANAGES RECOUNT
Based on the findings, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson ordered a hand recount of the county’s presidential election ballots at the Kearney Township hall in Bellaire, MI, where Bailey’s Attorney Matthew DePerno and 6 officials from Benson’s office were present to observe and ensure the volunteer poll workers did not stray away from their objective.

A video of the audit shows a volunteer questioning “multiple ballots with the same signature.” The official in the video can then be seen asking the volunteer to ignore what they believe is voter fraud, and count the ballots in order to move forward. “We understand that there is a concern with this precinct—but this is not a time for you to be investigating right now,” the official stated.

Bonnie Tipton Robbins, a township trustee and deputy clerk for Helena Township, was the person in the video asking the questions of the Secretary of State official, who happens to be a registered Democrat. Her partner in the recount was Greg MacMaster, a former Republican State Representative.

“Audits do not investigate potential fraud or irregularities and the Board of Elections representative clearly stated they were not concerned with facts, or had any intention of trying to get an accurate, factual finding,” stated Robbins. “Truth was not needed in this audit and not the goal of the audit.” 

COUNTY BOARD MEETING REQUEST FOR CRIMINAL HEARING
While the Secretary of State feels that the audit put all questions to rest, the lawsuit continues and many questions remain unanswered.

Public comment went for well over an hour at the December 17^th Antrim County Commissioner meeting, with many citizens calling for County Administrator Pete Garwood to resign over some of his actions while managing the litigation. In addition, the following questions were asked by various citizens regarding the election and the report: 1. Who deleted the adjudication files? 2. Who deleted the maintenance file? 3. Who on November 21st tried unsuccessfully to delete files? 4. Who removed 1329 votes for Biden after election on the computer files?

At 1:02 in this video of the December 17^th county meeting, Boettcher remarked: “There was misinformation during public comment that were inaccurate, but I feel we had to let that slide because we are in litigation. There are many questions that we are being compelled to respond to in the lawsuit, and we will and we are. Pete was directed by the Board to follow the Court order. He never contacted Dominion, and never proposed that Dominion come in prior to or with the forensic group. Just because it was said on a website does not make it a truth.”

Commissioner Dawn LaVanway then stated that she was not even made aware that the experts were coming to Antrim County. “I don’t feel that I had a say on anything. I didn’t tell Pete to do anything. There is a lot of misinformation between all of us. I am not aware of a lot of stuff. I find out after the fact.”

“There were a lot of questions asked by the public tonight, and I think it’s important that we find out what happened,” she continued. “Don’t you think we owe it to the voters to answer questions that the public might have? Isn’t that the role of the prosecuting attorney?”

LaVanway then made a motion to have the prosecuting attorney look into the questions of who deleted the files. “It’s not about whether the ballots matched the tabulator. What happened to the maintenance file? What happened on November 21^st?”

LaVanway’s motion was seconded by both Terry Vanalstine and Josh Watrous. However, before the motion could be brought to a vote, Karen Bargy moved to table it, citing ongoing litigation. Even though there was no second to Bargy’s motion to table, Boettcher allowed it.

The Chair and Vice-Chair did not allow all Antrim County citizens to be represented by a vote on this motion. They disrespected their fellow commissioners and the citizens by making the decision on their own.

When I asked Boettcher why he did this, he stated: “I allowed the motion to be tabled because our board rules, as agreed to by all commissioners, allows for any one commissioner to table an action not on the agenda and not allowing commissioners 3 days to research.”

He continued: “The clerk is elected by the people. The prosecutor is elected by the people.The board has no control over elected positions. We can’t direct the Prosecutor or the Clerk to take any specific action.”

At the January meeting, the Commissioners will vote for a new Chair and Vice-Chair. Hopefully they will elect people who does a better job respecting the others, and respecting the voters.

Boettcher and Garwood also told us that “we” will answer the questions in the lawsuit. However, will they keep the public informed of these answers? My fear is that they will play their usual games, and claim that privacy is necessary. Then all of this will be swept under the rug. We deserve better.

Opinion Article by Donna Gundle-Krieg 

Summary of Resources

Voter Files Lawsuit Against Antrim County Over Dominion Election Equipment

Forensics Report Voting Equipment Antrim County Michigan

MI Sec of State Official Caught On Video Telling Volunteers To Count “Multiple Ballots with the very During “Audit” Of Votes In Antrim County

Antrim County clerk testifies before The House and Senate at about 2:43

Full Video: Dominion CEO Testifies at Michigan Legislature Hearing

Antrim County Commissioner asks for criminal investigation into election misdeeds at 1:02 in this video

Antrim County Citizens Discussion Page

 

Central Lake resident William Bailey has filed a lawsuit against Antrim County, asking that County Clerk Sheryl Guy turn over “digital imagery of all the county’s voting equipment used in the 2020 general election.”

“I’m not a member of any political groups in Antrim County,’ stated Bailey, a local real estate broker. ”I’m fighting this battle because protecting our Electoral Process is sacred to our Limited Government Constitutional Republic.”

Bailey also said that he’s willing to drop the lawsuit “if they let the team of cybercrime/cyber-terrorism experts that I’ve secured simply take digital imagery of all the county’s voting equipment used in the 2020 general election.”

When asked, Bailey was confident that voter confidentiality will not be affected by the cyber-review process . “The cyber forensic team will take digital imagery of the voting equipment. They will not see any actual ballots that are sealed,” he explained.

“Once the cyber team is done, we will know if our equipment was safe during the election or was compromised in some way. We need to know that answer because we will most likely be voting on this same equipment in 2 years. I can’t vote again without knowing our equipment is safe.”

Bailey is asking for citizens to contact Sheryl Guy, County Clerk, as he believes she has the ability to give him the data he is requesting. Click here for Bailey’s unedited public statement regarding the lawsuit.

Bailey’s lawsuit is similar to lawsuits being filed by Trump’s lawyers across the country. Sources say that the Board of Commissioners will discuss Bailey’s request in closed session some time during their meeting on Thursday, December 5^th.

Clerk Guy believes that Antrim County has nothing to hide. She recently testified in front of the Senate Oversight Committee regarding the election tabulation issues. See her testimony at 2:36 of this tape.

“Incorrect election reporting of the unofficial results was a result of human error facilitated after two ballot corrections,” she explained. “We reprogrammed tabulator flash card for Mancelona township. We did not realize that we had to reprogram all the tabulator compact cards for all the townships. The error caused the election night program to not load correctly.”

“What was missed, you know, is on us,” Guy told the Traverse City Record Eagle.  “That’s a very hard lesson to learn. But this will never happen in Antrim County again.”

The Michigan Secretary of State’s office released a statement corroborating Guy’s account, stating that it was an isolated incident: “Even a widespread error would be caught during county canvasses.”

Additional Resources:

William Bailey’s Complete and Unedited Statement Regarding the lawsuit that he filed against Antrim County 

Link to Lawsuit Against Antrim County Filed in 13^th District Court

Sidney Powell GA Lawsuit Demands Every Voting Machine Be Seized and Undergo Immediate Forensic Audit  

King v. Michigan Lawsuit

Video on Donald Trump’s Website: Dominion-izing the Vote

Senate Oversight Hearings, where three Michigan county clerks testified. Antrim County Clerk Sheryl Guy starts testifying at 2:36 of this video.

Disinformation Agents Were Watching and Waiting to Exploit an Error Like Antrim County’s