I received in the mail today a political mailer from the opponents of the Mayoral recall effort. Now, I probably wouldn’t be writing about this here, except that imagery on the mailer demands a response. As I make this response I need to say up front that while I am a local pastor, in this case I’m speaking here as a private citizen. And I will also note that while I did sign the petition to recall the mayor and will vote for her recall, that’s not why I’m writing today. The reason I’m writing today is the use of the story of Daniel in the Lions’ Den to describe her situation.
There is great power in using religious imagery for political gain. It works because we know these stories. We may not remember the context, but we get the gist. So, what is Janice Daniels comparing herself to Daniel and City Hall to the Lions? If you know the story, Daniel was a Jewish man who had gained notice among the Persians for his wisdom and ability to interpret dreams. He rose to a high position in the government, and jealous members of that government hatched a plan to get rid of him. So, they convinced the king to create an idol and require all citizens to bow before it on the penalty of death. They did this because they knew that Daniel, being a righteous Jew, would never bow to such an idol. When the day came, he did refuse, and though the king was displeased by this turn of events, he had to execute Daniel by throwing him to the lions. Now, God intervenes and Daniel is spared, and then the king causes his enemies to suffer the fate they intended for him. That is, they and their wives and children are thrown into the Lions’ Den, where they are killed.
As I retell the story do you get a sense of the story that Janice Daniels wants to tell us? Do you not hear her saying to us as the citizens of Troy, that she is the righteous one? She is simply doing the work and will of God here in the city. Unfortunately there are evil partisans lurking in City Hall, who are seeking to do her in. And who are these evil partisans? It’s the employees of the city from the City Manager on down who, along with their “extremist” friends, have plotted to do her in. But there is good news, because she is righteous and is standing up for the things of God, which appear to be new taxes and promising to maintain services like libraries and snow removal without raising revenue, God will deliver her. And how will God deliver her from her evil enemies, she believes that the voters will follow God’s leadership and deliver her from the mouths of these hungry lions. I’ll leave the rest up to your imagination – that is the fate of her enemies.
The reason I decided to speak out is that I saw the mayor using biblical imagery inappropriately. She’s drawing the line between good and evil and putting herself in the middle. Whether or not you agree with the mayor on taxes or even gay marriage isn’t the point. Ask yourself why she’s using this kind of imagery; why is she holding herself up as the righteous victim of evil plotters. I think this raises question of character that need to be taken into consideration. I’m also speaking out because she is attacking the men and women who work hard – the “big government bureaucrats” at city hall that make sure our streets are plowed in winter, safe and secure day and night, provide educational and recreational services, attract businesses to the city, and more. The mayor doesn’t do this work. She’s running the city. She’s one vote on the City Council. But the people who work for the city, the people who work for us, do so as efficiently and as effectively as just about any city work force, which is why this city is honored by Money Magazine as a great place to live and work.
The use of this imagery raises questions as to whether she can work effectively with the employees of this city, including the new City Manager. Therefore, it’s up to us, the voters of this city to decide whether she is fit to serve in this important symbolic role on our behalf. Although the mayor doesn’t run the city, the way the city is perceived both inside and outside the boundaries of the community is often reflected by how the mayor is perceived. And as for me, she is not the righteous victim standing up for the things of God – whether or not I’m in agreement with her political views.
You insinuate that HIV/AIDS is primarily a "gay" problem, but that is not true. It is a risky behavior problem (for gays and straights). From the CDC, "Heterosexuals accounted for 27% of estimated new HIV infections [in the US] in 2009 and 28% of people living [in the US] with HIV infection in 2008." While gay men accounted for "49% of people living [in the US] with HIV infection in 2008". http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/factsheets/PDF/HIV_at_a_glance.pdf We know risky behavior is what puts people at a higher risk of contracting STDs, not their sexual orientation. While it is true that gay men are disproportionately affected by HIV in the US, it is also true that gay women are among the least affected groups. Believe it or not, straight people can get HIV like anyone else. HIV is not a "gay man's disease" and actually affects a greater number of heterosexuals worldwide than homosexuals. Africa suffers from a massive epidemic and the majority of the people are straight. ( http://www.avert.org/women-hiv-aids.htm#contentTable0 ). I'd suspect having little or no access to protection is how it spread to so many. Anyone, gay or straight, who lives a monogamous lifestyle is far less likely to contract HIV/AIDS than someone who leads a promiscuous lifestyle. (These are the appropriate uses of the word "lifestyle").
Wow. Who wants to bet that URA Fool is Janice herself? Sounds like her. By the way, Janice, You work for us now. By your own admission, it is good management for us to call you out on your absurd performance as mayor. Bigotry, predjudice, and hate speech should not be used by government officials. To say nothing of your lack of knowledge regarding your responsibilities. Remember, this is "We The People" talking.
First off, recalls are not for criminal activity. In fact, the Michigan Constitution specifically prohibits recall for "judicial" reasons, and specifies they must be for "political" reasons. There are other procedures for criminal activity in the charter (removal). Also, nothing on the petition is about her Facebook comment. She has every right to say whatever she wants. It is the citizens' right to hold elected officials accountable for their words and actions. People have different reasons for supporting the recall. For me, the main reason is that during her office hours she spoke false antigay rhetoric to high school kids. She repeated them on the radio. She mailed them to my house. False rhetoric like she has spouted has the effect of reinforcing false sterotypes and is used to justify unfair treatment of many kinds. It also is hostile to gay people. I'm not gay, but I don't want my city to be seen as hostile to anyone. Whatever anyone may think about gay people, it is wrong for our mayor to spread false information about a group of socially marginalized people. Gay people live and work in Troy, kids in Troy have gay parents, there are gay business owners, perspective homebuyers are gay. The mayor is acting inappropriately by making any of these people feel unwelcome. That's the main reason for me as to "Why Recall?"
I'm glads you agree holding officials responsible is "fair game". That is what the recall is doing.
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Anyway, vote as you will. I know how I will vote
It most certainly was not one comment, it was numerous comments, and they keep coming. The city of Troy should not have tolerate this nonsense for another 3 years. What business activities and which jobs? How is the mayor responsible for them? Please share any facts if you have them, or are you just making stuff again? My family is not going anywhere. Sorry to disappoint you.
She's not a good working representative of the conservative cause. What good does her voting do if it is always against the majority? A true leader would be pragmatic and work for compromise. When you're between a rock and a hard place with opposing sides you need to come up with a common sense solution that gets SOME consensus all around. That's good governance, not "my way or the highway" attitude. Take the transit center, we're still getting it..but what bitterness sown by her grandstanding position paper. Yes, she got to vent, but at what cost. Maturity involves looking three steps ahead and looking at consequences. And governance is not war, but building bridges. I also don't care for the "Janice Daniels will never vote for taxes or tax increases". To me that smacks of politicking. I might want a tax increase if it means maintaining my No.1 priority as a resident, safety, not a decimated police force in the interests of a penny pinching, grandstanding Mayor & city council. It is troubling that she was the only NO vote on the current budget which had a nominal increase (pass through from Tringali) on refuse collection.
As to the comment about "low and behold they find a slug of cash," again, reality shows that to be a rather misinformed statement. Anyone paying attention KNEW there would be some cost savings realized from some early retirements. What was unknown until that process concluded was how much...and the result was NOT enough to fund a library ongoing through the years. Vote YES to stop this type of inaccurate spin.This new sheriff has shown she is unable to understand and manage a city like Troy -- said so herself. She finds the budget "overwhelming," and she complained she didn't have enough time to understand it. Umm...well, time to step down, Mayor.
Also, I may be mistaken but aren't the city's books audited by an independent accounting firm periodically? And with the city's checkbook online (accomplished just before the start of Daniels's tenure) wouldn't it be even more difficult to hide/embezzle/misuse funds? One more thing, that "huge fund balance" is what is enabling the city to have a balanced 5 year budget, no? Meanwhile it's important to encourage new businesses to come and occupy our vacant commercial buildings, and current businesses stay to rebuild our tax base...as well as keeping up our fine city services so that Troy remains an attractive location for people to move to. I honestly think Troy is on the right track for economic recovery, I just don't want a loose cannon possibly gumming up the works.
I don't agree she was goaded during her office hours, but even if she was: she was not goaded by a friendly radio host, or in her campaign materials. It is difficult to move on when she keeps bringing it up. It is interesting that you find 'rough edges' endearing. I find competence endearing. I see no sign of smoothness after a year. I never implied I was perfect, but I am also not the mayor. If I offend a great many people unnecessarily, I apologize and I make an effort not to repeat it. She has done neither. And by the way, is bringing up the truth and facts 'fly specking'?
You keep saying that "being gay is more dangerous than being hetero" and that is just not true. What facts are you basing that on? If you say, "hello, AIDS", then you're ignorant to the fact that "heteros" account for the majority of infections worldwide. HIV/AIDS is indiscriminate to sexual orientation and is the result of risky behavior (unprotected sex, sharing needles, etc.), period. I'm unaware of the Founders "anti-gay comments". Do you have examples? The Founders were not perfect people and very well could have been bigots. You realize they were also racist and owned slaves, right? They determined that slaves were only worth 3/5 of a person, until the Civil War and the 13th Amendment (Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Madison and many others owned slaves). As far as the Mayor goes, no, I don't respect her for clinging to her bigoted views and injecting them into the public. If she wants to be a bigot in her personal life, that's her business, but she has presented these ideas in office (the same ones you are pushing here) and every respected medical expert disagrees with both of you. It's one thing to cling to a policy or economic idea, it's quite another to slander and demonize a group with falsehoods and stand by that. I wish I could give her credit for one good thing she's done, but I can't think of one. Maybe her "Mayor for a Day" contest with the kids, but that doesn't help the city.
Being gay is not more dangerous than being hetero. What are you talking about? I couldn't possibly care less about your absurd position regarding the righteousness of being anti gay. Your biblical interpretations are meaningless. My opinion is being a good person means you aren't anti anyone. A lot of people think being antigay is profoundly unchristian. The founders, some of whom owned slaves? Yes they were bigots. It was a different time then. Our society has progressed a little since, for some people. What you call 'courage' I call bullheaded stubbornness, and a refusal to admit wrong in the face of ridiculously inappropriate behavior. I don't think the national media has seen her actions as heroic perseverence. Where are you getting that? I don't see the 8,800 people who signed the recall petition as an outspoken minority.
I'll also answer your other questions: 1. Why would you recall her? For her gay comment? Yes, as one of the reasons. We all have the freedom of speech, where the government cannot punish us for our speech, but we are also accountable for that speech. As an elected official, she is pushing damaging misinformation and is being held accountable by those she governs. 2. Why would you recall a Mayor over political opinion? (like the transit center) Per the MI State Constitution, Recalls are used to remove elected officials for poor political decisions, not criminal behavior. So yes, I'd support recalling her for the way she handled the transit center discussions (using racism, bigotry, & fear) in addition to baseless fiscal arguments. 3. For keeping the library open longer? She moved the closed day from Sat to Fri, which keeps the library open the same amount of time and costs the city an additional $35,000/yr. (http://troy.patch.com/articles/troy-public-library-to-offer-saturday-hours-will-cease-friday-operations) She really has done nothing positive for the City of Troy. If you can name one good thing (that's true) then I might revise that statement. The US Constitution does not allow for recalls, but the MI Constitution does, as long as it is based on political reasons, not judicial reasons. She has committed no crimes, which is why people have gone the recall route, otherwise she would be prosecuted like another recent Mayor of Detroit.