Creative Conservative Martin Howrylak for State Representative
It’s rare to find a candidate you can support completely. I’d offered to write a letter to the editor supporting Councilman Martin Howrylak if he chose to run for State Representative, so I was pleased to get the postcard announcing his candidacy for the Republican nomination.
He’ll Write Good Laws, Not Just Vote for Them
It’s one thing to vote conservative, quite another to write a solid law and persuade others to vote for it. During his twelve years on the Troy City Council, Martin Howrylak voted against property tax abatements as being unfair to other businesses who are paying the full rate and explained his reasons quite well. Other conservatives viewed that as just the way things are; the city council can’t change it, so they voted for them.
As State Representative, Howrylak will have the opportunity to write a law preventing Troy, Sterling Heights and Warren from granting favors to businesses to lure them from neighboring towns while keeping it fair for cities that truly need economic development like Detroit, Pontiac and Flint.
Tested by Fire, a Gracious Professional
You need a thick skin and a cast iron stomach to serve on Troy’s non-partisan city council, which has sometimes been highly partisan, subtly from other members and viciously from others in the city. Howrylak has responded with grace and professionalism, never attacking his critics, only defending his ideas and pointing out the flaws in the logic of others.
In twelve years on the Troy City Council he worked well with those of opposing political views. He can disagree without being disagreeable. I can see him cooperating with urban Democrats on meaningful property tax reform.
I have never heard him speak ill of a fellow Republican (Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment). He had a typical gracious response when I criticized someone in a private conversation. For that matter, I’ve never heard him attack anyone, only ideas in a gracious manner.
No Enron Accountant – Library Funding Debate
Licensed and practicing CPA Howrylak is a fiscal conservative with a Masters degree in accounting from the University of Michigan, so he understands the budgeting process. His desire for limited government (which today means smaller and more efficient) has earned him praise from supporters and unfounded attacks from critics. He understands that budgets are one big pot and having a separate tax for every service reduces flexibility and is overall a bad idea. This was highlighted in the recent library debate.
He wrote a letter at his own expense opposing the dedicated millage increase and creation of a separate library board (more government). Mayor Schilling tried to discredit his letter on the eve of the November 2010 election to influence the outcome. The millage and her censure attempt failed.
In 2011 he and Councilman Fleming proposed a budget which funded the library without a tax increase. It was dead on arrival in the council which was then dominated by progressives who ignored the clear desires of the people for public safety first, then the library, then other items way down the list.
The liberals on the council allowed the library to close rather than rework the budget. Finally slightly more than half the people voted to pay the extra taxes to reopen the library, a service nearly everyone in town wanted as a high priority.
The electorate was so fed up with the library funding drama that there is now a 4-3 conservative majority on the council. One of the first actions of the new mayor and council was to direct the library to reopen on Saturday, the busiest day. The new conservatives also campaigned in opposition to the Troy Transit Center.
Wasteful Spending no Matter Which Pocket it Comes From
Unlike most in government, Martin Howrylak understands that it’s all our money, no matter where it comes from. He was just as careful spending federal or state money in Troy because he realizes that we are all U.S. taxpayers. If we don’t need the project, let’s not spend the money and pile debt on future generations. Just because some other town might get the funding doesn’t mean we should take the money if we don’t need it. He voted consistently against the Troy Transit Center while he was on the council and explained why.
Entrepreneur and Eagle Scout – Character Matters
Councilman Howrylak understands the needs of small businesses, having built his own landscaping business as a teenager without debt. He operated with low overhead, walking and riding the mower to many of his jobs instead of using the typical truck and trailer. By the time he sold it and its loyal customer base, he had reinvested the business profits to buy commercial landscaping equipment. The new owner only had to keep up the reliable service they had come to expect from Martin Howrylak; I know firsthand, because he mowed our lawn for several years when we were gone on vacation.
As a hardworking teenager, Howrylak also earned his Eagle Scout badge, which requires steady effort towards a goal over a long period of time. Gerald Ford is our only President who was an Eagle Scout; it’s not surprising that Richard Nixon was not. It’s no guarantee of being a good leader, but generally Eagle Scouts learn to own the Scout Law, which starts out with Trustworthy, and follows with Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean and Reverent.
Eagle Scouts don’t usually end up in prison. I don’t know if Kwame Kilpatrick or Rod Blagojevich were even in the Boy Scouts, but I’ll bet you a quarter that they didn’t make it to Eagle.
Get Involved
To learn more about Councilman Howrylak’s campaign or to sign up for a yard sign, visit www.martinhowrylak.com. You might not agree with him on every issue, but he can be trusted to look out for the best interests of the people of Michigan. We need creative ideas from all different perspectives. By combining our best ideas, we will find the best way forward in these times of limited resources.
Conclusion
Term limits in the Michigan Legislature cause the cream to rise to the top. It would not surprise me if Martin Howrylak is elected Speaker of the House during his six years as State Representative. He could someday even be our governor. He would also have my vote for President of the local chapter of the National Eagle Scout Association if the Boy Scouts had such an office.
Abbey
8:51 am on Monday, June 11, 2012
You have every right to be Marty's head cheerleader, Dale. But you can't go re-writing history. Marty was incredibly rude to fellow council members in his last year. He missed countless budget sessions, and then tried to appear as though he knew what was good for everyone by presenting a last-minute budget on the very day the council was voting on the one they had discussed in his absence. His reprehensible letter to residents regarding the library was full of misleading half-truths, clearly also meant as a last-minute power grab.
Those are not the honorable behaviors I would want to see in any scout, much less an Eagle scout.
Daffy Noodnicks
9:24 am on Monday, June 11, 2012
Mr. Murrish:
You state that "slightly more than half" of the electorate voted for the library millage when it passed. This is absolutely positively completely not true. It passed by 58%. When voters were given a clear unobfuscated choice the proposal passed resoundingly. Go to the Oakland county website for the actual facts. You have said this before, and it is false.
Abbey
9:52 am on Monday, June 11, 2012
Here's the biggest sham about the library and the mayor: she wanted it open on Saturday at an additional cost to taxpayers above and beyond the millage. She "directed" the council to do that, as Mr. Murrish states, then voted down her own resolution. Not only that, she promised seven-day service in her campaign. Do we have that? No. It was just something she said to convince voters she supported that library, when in reality she knows nothing about it.
Randy Jasky
2:36 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
The "...biggest sham about the library..." was that the money to fund the library was already in the City's ledger, and would not have required a millage increase. Of course, the previous Mayor had other plans for those funds, so naturally they couldn't be used for the library. Any guesses as to what she wanted to spend the money on? (Her plan was never stated, so all we can do is guess.)
CC
2:49 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Sorry, Randy, but even the Mayor admitted (in the budget sessions meetings) that the money was not there. If it WAS the case, don't you think your mayor would have at least found some money beyond the additional millage funds to open the library on Fridays? Didn't she campaign that she would have the library open 7 days a week, or is that a campaign promise we are ignoring?
Randy Jasky
11:25 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Sorry CC...the money is STILL THERE...and can be located (if you're interested in bothering) by checking out the City's budget: http://troymi.gov/Budget/2011-2012//2011-2012%20Budget.pdf
CC
10:08 am on Monday, June 11, 2012
58.2 percent of voters approved the five-year dedicated library millage request by 12,246 to 8,799 votes. That is not "slightly more than half". At least try to maintain some journalistic integrity when you are skewing facts.
I hope anyone that is considering voting for Howrylak would first do their homework on him. Make sure to review his record for shenanigans (and attendance for that matter). I am pretty confident they will discover that his half truths, misleading information, and blatant lies have no place in our government.
(Side note: Try doing a quick google search with "eagle scout convicted". Does the name Marion Barry ring a bell? I congratulate Mr. Howrylak on this accomplishment, but it is absolutely no indicator whatsoever of a persons character)
Boo Radley
10:46 am on Monday, June 11, 2012
I agree with everything Abbey and Daffy have written regarding Mr. Howyrlak's behavior. I sat through numerous council meetings over the last 2 years and witnessed it firsthand. I would also add that keeping close company with those who would put three bogus library proposals on the ballot in order to deceive and confuse voters is NOT someone who embodies the character of a true Eagle Scout.
cookiepro2
10:51 am on Monday, June 11, 2012
Mr. Murrish says: " One of the first actions of the new mayor and council was to direct the library to reopen on Saturday, the busiest day."
Here is the voting of the mayor and council for that resolution on Nov. 28, 2011:
Vote on Resolution I-5 b) Proposed Resolution for Six-Day Operation of the Troy Public Library – Closure Day Friday
Resolution #2011-11-274
Moved by Slater
Seconded by Campbell
b) Proposed Resolution for Six-Day Operation of the Troy Public Library – Closure Day Friday
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That Troy City Council hereby DIRECTS City Management to continue six-day operation of the Troy Public Library with the day of closure being Friday effective the week of January 1, 2012.
Yes: Tietz, Campbell, Fleming, Henderson, McGinnis, Slater
No: Daniels
MOTION CARRIED
Glenn
11:32 am on Monday, June 11, 2012
Can't all you naysayers quit focusing on history and facts and just try to see the world as Mr. Murrish would like you to see it? Why fret about Martin Howyrlak's poor attendance, voting and ethics records and concentrate on the positives. Like, I heard that after a hard day's work crunching numbers that confirms the existence of imaginary money to pay for libraries and police officers so Troy taxpayers won't have to, he puts on his Eagle scout uniform and relaxes in the awesome blanket fort he built in his parent's basement to think up all of his creative conservative plans. Also, I think he has pledged, if elected, to conserve fuel by riding his lawnmower to Lansing unlike all those free-spending liberals who would probably drive a gas guzzling car on the tax payer dime.
Wiley Coyote
11:48 am on Monday, June 11, 2012
You just knew this was coming. Really, Troy Patch, do you have to give space to these kinds of columns, then leave it up to citizen comments to have to rebut?
Martin Howrylak spent his entire City Council career grandstanding. You could count on Marty to take 20 minutes to make a one minute point. Hurricanes have less wind. His "self-funded" letters were filled with misinformation, and traded on his supposedly trustworthy status as an elected official who should be "in the know." In fact, his creative way with "facts" were usually self-serving opportunities to build his political base and status with his libertarian party pals--he knew the real truth--that the budgets he continually blasted with accusations of slush funds, etc., were real and correct and yet he continued to do so just because it served his purpose.
There was a widespread belief among many in a position to know, that Howrylak didn't even live in Troy nearly the whole time he was a councilman--that his real address was in Ann Arbor. I googled him once back in 2010 and did indeed find his address listed there--with nothing in Troy. Wonder if he's still living in his parent's basement now?
Jen Anesi
12:44 pm on Monday, June 11, 2012
Wiley, these aren't columns, they're blog entries. You are more than welcome to blog, too, just like Dale does. Let me know if you're interested :)
Daffy Noodnicks
1:15 pm on Monday, June 11, 2012
Ms. Anesi:
If I may make a suggestion, perhaps when someone posts an opinion piece it may help clarify things if the title led "Opinion: (title)". Just a suggestion. I appreciate your work keeping the community informed.
Jen Anesi
3:56 pm on Monday, June 11, 2012
Good suggestion, Daffy. Most blog posts aren't categorized as opinion (or anything else, usually) because they are all opinion pieces, really. Bloggers can write about almost anything, as long as they adhere to our Terms (and as long as the post has a local angle or is applicable locally). Bloggers are not paid, and they are not columnists or reporters – they write when they want, about whatever they want, whenever they want to. They are our Local Voices :)
Letters to the editor, however, are a different because they are put together by the editor from reader submissions and run as actual articles – and they are categorized as "opinion." If a person submits multiple letters to the editor, I will ask them to blog instead in order to share their opinions with other readers. You can tell if something is a blog post because it will have the thick green bar at the top that says "Local Voices."
Would you like to blog, too, Daffy? You'd have to use your real name, though :) You can apply here: http://troy.patch.com/blog/apply
CC
4:04 pm on Monday, June 11, 2012
Jen -
How do you know Daffy Noodnicks isn't his real name? HA!
Daffy Noodnicks
6:57 pm on Monday, June 11, 2012
Thank you for the invitation to blog. Work, family, and other commitments would prevent me from devoting the time I believe would be necessary to blog as I would not do so without thoroughly researching and citing whatever I'd be blogging about.
I am happy to give my name out to anyone who wants it (Matt Goodman). The pseudonym amuses me (no it does not take very much to do so).
Wiley Coyote
1:07 pm on Monday, June 11, 2012
Thanks for the clarification, Jen. You guys do a wonderful and difficult job keeping us up to speed on what's going on in our community, filling a big digital hole. My big issue with the local media in Troy and Oakland County is that for years, there has been no fact-checking whatsoever. Let's hope the next election cycle sees more scrutiny of speeches, columns and literature by all the candidates.
Randy Jasky
11:28 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Fixed it for ya, Wiley:
"Thanks for the clarification, Jen. You guys do a horrible yet imaginative job keeping us confused about what's going on in our community, filling a big digital hole, with digital BS. My big issue with the local media in Troy and Oakland County is that for years, there has been no fact-checking whatsoever. Let's hope the next election cycle sees more scrutiny of speeches, columns and literature by all the candidates."
John Madden
3:28 pm on Monday, June 11, 2012
Mr. Murrish,
In your blog you make the following statement:
"As State Representative, Howrylak will have the opportunity to write a law preventing Troy, Sterling Heights and Warren from granting favors to businesses to lure them from neighboring towns while keeping it fair for cities that truly need economic development like Detroit, Pontiac and Flint."
Are you saying that Martin Howrylak has said that if he's elected he will introduce a bill in the legislature preventing Troy, Sterling Heights and Warren from offering tax abatements? His website does not say that and while I have heard nothing about his campaign, do you know he has said he will offer such a bill? Has he said this to you?
Dale Murrish
7:54 pm on Monday, June 11, 2012
I was making the broader point that Martin Howrylak understands how the different levels of government work together to increase overall spending. He would be able to write meaningful property tax reform, a state issue for which he argued eloquently at the city council level. Other conservatives just viewed that as the status quo, moderate Republicans don't see the need to restrain the growth of government, and liberal Democrats are worse: they see lending more money to small businesses as economic stimulus.
The conservative Democrats in Congress mostly lost their seats in 2010 as a backlash from voting for Obamacare. Just ask Bart Stupak and other Blue Dog Democrats.
Our country is spending 40% more than it is taking in; the debt we are piling up for our kids and grandkids to repay is immoral. The sooner we recognize the problem and start doing something about it the easier it will be to climb back up the slippery slope we're on.
I'm just one of many voters making suggestions. Councilman Howrylak listens to everyone's ideas. His platform is posted on his website. I don't know if he will want to take on property tax reform during his first term.
CC
4:07 pm on Monday, June 11, 2012
If he wants to write legislation that will aid Detroit, Pontiac, and Flint, then wouldn't it make more sense for him to represent those areas instead of Troy, Sterling Heights and Warren? The whole point of a State Representative is to represent his constituents. I would venture to guess that is why they use the word "representative" in the title.
Randy Jasky
11:37 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
If Detroit, Pontiac and Flint benefit, so do Troy, Sterling Heights, and Warren...or do you not realize that they're all fiscally connected?
John Madden
6:28 pm on Monday, June 11, 2012
Mr. Murrish,
You stated in your blog: "I have never heard him speak ill of a fellow Republican ". Yet Howrylak has criticized fellow Republicans regarding their ability to conduct a fair debate. Howrylak posted this on his campaign website: “Voters deserve a fair and honest discussion with the candidates on the variety of important issues facing us this election cycle.
I look forward to having that discussion with the voters, and my fellow candidates for office, over the course of this campaign. We owe it to the voters to have an honest, open and vigorous debate about the issues facing Michigan.
Unfortunately, there have been serious and very legitimate questions regarding the fairness of the debate that is being hosted tonight. In addition to the questions that have been raised regarding fairness is the fact that the organizer of this debate has already made an endorsement in this race. Because of these questions regarding fairness, and the endorsement already made by the organizer, I will not be able to participate. I believe the voters of this district deserve better.
Again, I look forward to a vigorous and fair debate with my fellow candidates, but rather than participating in the event tonight, I will be out knocking on doors listening to the voters and discussing their concerns one-on-one."
** This statement is in reference to an event for Republican primary candidates in the 41st State House seat, to be held this evening at 7 pm in Troy.
Dale Murrish
8:10 pm on Monday, June 11, 2012
Thanks, everyone for your comments. I'd forgotten the exact percentage of the library millage vote; I remembered it was in the 50's. You're forgetting that this is an opinion column that I'm writing for free. I could have written "only 58%" of the people voted for the millage. I don't consider that a resounding victory.
I personally know many people who held their nose and voted for the millage and then voted for the new conservatives on the council. When I get my facts wrong, I'm happy to be corrected. My interpretation of the facts is obviously different than many who comment regularly. It's a free country, and the editor has invited you to blog yourselves if you wish.
I wrote about Howrylak's Eagle Scout badge because I believe him to be trustworthy, despite the vicious personal attacks he has endured from political opponents. People who know him trust him.
Daffy Noodnicks
9:20 pm on Monday, June 11, 2012
Mr Murrish:
Your opinion is your opinion and you are entitled to it. The problem I have with your blog(s) is when you cite facts that are incorrect and use them to tar people who disagree with you politically. That is not opinion, or an interpretation, that is misrepresentation. The larger point you make that the millage led to the election results is therefore completely erroneous.
To cite another example, elsewhere you also used incorrect information to brand the environmental movement as complicit in millions of deaths, which was absurd and offensive to me personally.
No matter how you spin it, 3,447 votes is a very clear majority. If 58% is a small margin, then by that logic Janet Daniels was barely elected, receiving a MUCH smaller majority.
If you simply said "I like this candidate, I think he is a good guy, and I like his politics", that would be your opinion. You do not stop there. You bring in a bunch of erroneous and misleading information as if it were factual. You can't produce things which are demonstrably wrong in order to attack other people you disagree with and expect not to be challenged.
Abbey
6:50 am on Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Facts leave no room for interpretation -- that's part of your problem, Dale. You come out of the gates making insulting comments about anyone who disagrees with you, face correction over and over, and then always back-peddle by saying, "Well, I was just trying to compliment Mr. Howrylak" or what have you.
You can't have it both ways. You claim you want the rudeness to stop, yet you are the first one at bat every inning.
Inner Voice
8:50 am on Tuesday, June 12, 2012
"Facts leave no room for interpretation". Abbey, I agree 100%. When you get right down to it there are very few true facts in this world. Facts are something that are true and they aren't negotiable or arguable. Most things that people think are facts are actually opinions or perceptions or beliefs. There can't be 2 (or more) sides to a fact. A fact is. The truth is. There are no ifs ands or buts about facts.
Glenn
10:35 am on Tuesday, June 12, 2012
"Eagle Scouts don’t usually end up in prison. I don’t know if Kwame Kilpatrick or Rod Blagojevich were even in the Boy Scouts, but I’ll bet you a quarter that they didn’t make it to Eagle." - Dale Murrish
Hmmm. I wonder what Dale would wager regarding some of these infamous Eagle Scouts? (FYI- the following list is by no means extensive or complete. Try googling eagle scout + convicted)
1. Charles Whitman - Texas Tower Sniper
2. Mark William Huffman - Forger and Murderer
3. Arthur Gary Bishop - Serial Killer
4. Marion Barry - Crack Addict and Drug Dealer
5. Karl Armstrong - University of Wisconsin Bomber
6. Daniel Alstadt - Murdered Family with hatchet
7. David Seesing - International Drug Smuggler
8. Lesley Lee Gosch - Murderer
9. Wendell Williamson - Chapel Hill Sniper
10. Michael William Brescia - White Supremacist and Bomber
11. Larry Matthew Puckett - Rapist and Murderer
12. David Brian Legg - Murderer
13. Gerald Johnson - Murderer
14. Daniel Altadt - Murderer
15. Brandon Smith - Arsonist
16. Stuart Jason Orr - Arsonist
17. Daniel Gaynor - Rapist
18. Ryan James Frazier - Murderer
19. Gary M. Hirte - Murderer
20. Douglas Sovereign Smith, Jr. (This is my favorite) - Child pornographer who worked at the Boy Scouts National Headquarters and served as staff adviser to the Youth Protection Task Force.
Dale Murrish
7:38 pm on Tuesday, June 12, 2012
I'm endorsing Howrylak for the reasons in the article and because I've known him personally for almost twenty years and can vouch for his character. I included the Eagle Scout for the benefit of those who don't know him as I do. Just because you can find 20 criminals of thousands who were Eagle Scouts doesn't mean the majority are.
Martin Howrylak is an honest man and does not deserve the abuse he has gotten from his political opponents.
Glenn
8:46 pm on Tuesday, June 12, 2012
There are thousands of examples of felonious Eagle Scouts. Like I said, try googling it. Likewise, just because a majority of Eagle Scouts may be good citizens, doesn't mean Howrylak is. That's what is so ridiculous about your inclusion of that fact. It's meaningless. Having observed Marty and his political exploits over the years, I can assure you that anybody other than a fellow Tea Party kool-aid drinker finds him a dishonest, conniving twerp. Although I could be wrong. I mean after all, he never mowed my lawn.
Dale Murrish
10:41 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Glenn, we'll have to let the voters decide. That's what elections are about. Insults and ridicule don't convince thinking people.
Glenn
7:44 am on Friday, June 15, 2012
What thinking people? I was talking to you Dale.
Cathy Fucinari
11:13 am on Saturday, July 7, 2012
He still lists his parents' house as his address. He's married now. Does he live in the basement with his wife? If not, Where do they live? That is a simple question that any voter has the right to know and one that, in this case, demonstrates his character. I am willing to bet he has not paid a dime in taxes to the city of Troy.