|
welcome
to
the home page of
John
Anthony &
Jennifer La
Pietra! |
| . . .
come to the
Fountain 1~3pm on Saturdays and Stand for Peace The Farmers' Markets only lasted through October (thanks for your support of Peaceful Pastries -- and watch for updates about how and where Jennifer's goods may become available in restaurants or stores near you!) -- but the Stand will go on, weather and health permitting. BUT -- bulletin -- the Stand this weekend will be on Sunday, not Saturday . . . because Jennifer has two business-development activities on Saturday. Thanks also for your support for our runs as well as our Stands, no matter what the Enquirer said, or rather didn't say, about our campaigns. jalp surveyed local clerks to figure out how busy our polling places will be on Nov. 6, and posted updates to his initial analysis (in Excel or PDF format) of all the responses so far. (jalp also revived his 2008 inquiry to the Bureau of Elections, and found out they still have no documented reasons why they decided ID card X was "generally accepted" and eligible to be voter ID at the polls, but not ID card Y.) And, fortunately or un-, we got a few more invitations to forums alongside other candidates than our Green Presidential ticket: Jill Stein and Cheri Honkala! It's good to have candidates who care about people, jobs, and justice -- about elections run and public records managed for the people . . . who want to bring good food to their community, and equally healthy policy to the local political scene. But, as promised, we'll still find time to Stand for what we believe in. Mind you, we may have to be flexible . . . so if you don't see us Saturdays, keep an eye out for us Sundays -- like this week. Still, it's as important as ever to spread the word every day, all through 2012, that peace is patriotic. We also thank all who came to see jalp & Jennifer at the Franke Center 1-4pm Sat 11/12/2011 at our post-wedding reception. Apologies to those who aimed to see us Standing on Sun 11/13 (we were exhausted from the rigors of our Saturday adventure). And thanks again (always) to all the folks who support our Stand for Peace each week and help us spread the message that peace is patriotic . . . and the wiser choice, no matter which of the big parties in the White House or Congress isn't making it. (Some of you must have supported us more than once -- we've now topped 30,000 honks, waves, nods, peace signs, and other signals of definite enthusiasm.) And please remember to plant a tree the next chance you get, in honor of the late Wangari Maathai. BTW . . . we're now sharing that purple peace symbol a young woman brought jalp back last January, when the weather was too cold to wear it over coat & hats & hood & scarf and all. But Jennifer has an even bigger one on her purse. . . . The Calhoun County Apportionment Commission has drawn a new map of County Board districts, based on the 2010 Census. It may not be as good a plan in all particulars as it could have been, but it met the basic legal requirements well enough that it seems nobody has sued over it. For a general description of how the Commission worked -- and links to the state law that sets the rules for that work, and information including maps and a jalp-created spreadsheet gathering the Census data so you can try to draw your own maps -- go to this Webpage. City Council rezoned 223 N. Marshall to POSD on Dec. 7, 2009, and the variances on neighboring lots also went into effect, despite confusion at the ZBA as to the proper standard for granting a use variance. For future reference, jalp gave Council copies of the opinion he quoted at the Oct. 15 ZBA meeting, the case that one was based on, and a newer case also involving a use variance and a parking lot. Suggestions at that meeting (by jalp among others) led then-Mayor Smith to found a Hospital and Neighborhood Committee whose initial goal was "To determine a plan to accommodate possible hospital expansion that is satisfactory to the Community and the Hospital." jalp was appointed to that committee -- but his life got busier, and the Committee's goal shifted somewhat, and between those two factors he ha to resign his seat. But he still hoped for a process to build openness and trust between and among segments and members of the community. He sees that as essential to keeping a good hospital and a healthy Historic District in Marshall. And he'll still keep working for that, no matter what actually results from the work of the Committee. More
FOIA
Information Here!
jalp
e-mailed a survey July
4, 2010 to Calhoun County and all the cities, townships, villages,
school
districts, and library districts in it about their procedures and
guidelines for charging fees on FOIA requests. (Hey, it does stand for Freedom
of Information Act!) He plans to post results too, when he
has
them -- and now the first
second third
installment of responses is here
(HTML) or here
(PDF).
jalp has posted some of the Michigan Freedom of Information Committee (MFOIC) compilations of state FOIA caselaw. A FOIA Reference page, with links to those notes and other useful sources of FOIA information, is also on line here. Enjoy! Update: The City adopted a new FOIA policy statement on Jan. 3, 2011. (If I do say so myself, it's a good bit better than the old one.) Remember the Nuisance Ordinance? If you want information on that issue which used to be posted here, please feel free to e-mail me! (Tell me what you're looking for, as best you can.) Name This Project! Information on local governing boards across Calhoun County (meeting dates/times/places, contacts for agenda information, etc.) can be found here (HTML) or here (PDF). Updated 2010/03/19. AND (also 2010/03/19): info on local governing boards' FOIA and public- comment policies: here (HTML) or here (PDF).  interests
wordsnumbers ideas languages music humor theatre politics law & order and justice (not always in that order) learning good things meeting good people . . . & other ways to combine two or more of the above (a work in progress; more
will be coming eventually . . . in the meantime, here are a few
assorted Webpages we visit fairly frequently)
Ballot Access News If you've noticed that bi-partisanship isn't the same as non-partisanship, this is a good resource for following how people of other parties (and people of no party affiliation at all) are being treated by the system built by and for the only two parties we hear about.  Japanese sound and state/condition words A good way to look up examples of Japanese onomatopoeia (giongo) and mimesis (gitaigo), which is very useful if you like manga and anime. We're fans of Maison Ikkoku -- which you can find out about here and here, among other places. (The first link is also closely tied to the discussion board where jalp met Jennifer.  )And the author of Maison Ikkoku, Rumiko Takahashi, has a new series -- Kyôkai no Rinne. That's 境界のりんね if your browser can show you the Japanese characters, though they're using rôma-ji to spell out RINNE (or RIN-NE, to emphasize the multi-syllabic Japanese pronunciation). And it's being posted on line in English almost at the same time as its publication in Japanese. You can read it from here. (Update: The series is now at 11x chapters and counting as of 9/11/11, but the Japanese publisher hasn't let its US partner post the English translations of the last 25 chapters or so since the Fukushima incident.) You can come talk about it here at this Takahashi-centric discussion board where we found some kindred souls . . . including, as mentioned above, one who now is literally kindred. (If
you want to look back that far, you
can see jalp's rash
attempt to match imaginations with Takahashi-sensei
. . . his first
thoughts about where the story
might go.)Michigan Compiled Laws Here you can do an advanced search of the Legislature's database of state statutes. (And from the menu on the left side, you can also find out about current and past bills, and other activities at and around the Capitol in Lansing.) "One Court of Justice"/Opinion Search This is the page on the "Michigan Courts" Website where anyone can search through case decisions by the state Supreme Court and the four branches of the state Court of Appeals. There are also links to court rules and other useful categories of information. Weather Underground The link is set up to show weather information for Marshall, Michigan where we live. But you can put in your own town name or ZIP code. (If you prefer the site's "classic" look, use this link instead.) |
Activities
jalp
& Jennifer's
activities
include: Green Party
the Ten Key Values of the Green Party -- summarized by jalp
in 300
words (in HTML
and PDF
formats) Green Party of Michigan (which held its nominating convention June 2-3 in Mount Pleasant) Calhoun
County Green Party (jalp is
GPMI's Calhoun
County Co-ordinator)
jalp
was
nominated at this June's Green Party of Michigan convention in
Mount Pleasant as its 2012 candidate for Calhoun County Clerk
& Register of Deeds! And watch this space for news
of Jennifer's campaign for the 6th District seat on the County Board of
Commissioners. If she can get jalp onto Facebook,
she can do anything!
Dark
Earth Hour
. . . turn off unnecessary lights 9~10pm the third Thursday of
every month! Law jalp graduated cum laude from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in May 2008
jalp
passed
the July 2008 Michigan State Bar examination; admitted to the State Bar of Michigan
Nov 2008 letters to editors and guest editorials: · some letters to editors and "Roses" posted or linked below · more may be coming soon columns for the Marshall Review (now defunct): · several are now (finally!) posted, and linked here; we may make room for more someday other writings -- for example: · "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Surgeon General" -- a parody (of what, we wonder?) dating way back to 1998! . . . HTML or PDF (1 page) · two tales of Maison Ikkoku-related fan fiction: "Find Your Voice" (jalp) and (co-authored) "Ace no Ikkoku" (episodes 1 & 3 so far) · more will be posted as appropriate and available Peaceful Pastries Don't miss Jennifer's sweet and savory vegan treats at the Marshall Farmers' Market 8am~12 noon almost all Saturdays between now and October! (Update: Thank you for your support -- and watch for more news of how Peaceful Pastries may grow into a business whose products you can find in stores and/or restaurants!) it's a good time to remember this rose jalp sent to the Battle Creek Enquirer 3/11/2010: A ROSE . . . . . . to the Michigan Press Association’s Dawn Phillips Hertz and Robin Luce Herrmann — for “un-covering” KCC’s presidential search process. Luce Herrmann is right: if the advisory committee hasn’t exercised authority subject to the Open Meetings Act and the Freedom of Information Act, it’s wasted time and public money. (KCC’s carefully-worded legal opinion rests on Board minutes saying nothing about authority to interview candidates.) Celebrating Sunshine Week (March 14-20), I’m adding KCC to my FOIA-subscriptions project (see http://members.triton.net/jalp) . . . and urging MPA members to open their election coverage freely and equally to all candidates and parties. John Anthony La Pietra Calhoun County Coördinator, Green Party of Michigan 386 Boyer Court Marshall, MI 49068 269-781-9478 jalp@triton.net sent to the Battle Creek Enquirer 1/31/2010: A ROSE . . . . . . to those Calhoun County public bodies who have fulfilled my requests for subscriptions to their board-meeting agendas under the state Freedom of Information Act. I’ve been subscribing (or trying to) for over a year now, and I just updated my reports on how open our local governments are being to us. See how the county itself is responding – your favorite cities, townships, villages, school boards, and library boards, too. Visit my Webspace at: http://members.triton.net/jalp Then try subscribing yourself! . . . John Anthony La Pietra 386 Boyer Court Marshall, MI 49068 269-781-9478 jalp@triton.net
Update
. . .
12/13~15/2009 To
show the unnecessary hardship necessary to support the granting of a
use variance, the landowner must prove the land cannot be put to a
reasonable use or yield a reasonable return under its current zoning
classification. The hardship must be unique or peculiar to
the particular parcel and cannot be the result of general neighborhood
conditions. Finally, the use variance should not be granted
if it alters the essential character of the
neighborhood. Puritan-Greenfield
Ass'n
v Leo, 7 Mich App 659,
667-674; 153 NW2d 162 (1967). The unnecessary hardship test
for use variance is equivalent to the confiscation standard for
regulatory takings. Unnecessary hardship amounts to a taking
of the land unless a use variance is granted.
John J. Rae, editor, Local Government Law and Practice in Michigan (1999), Michigan Municipal League, Michigan Association of Municipal Attorneys, at 10-12. (I happened to see the volume while I was waiting for an unrelated bit of legal business to begin.) I also gave Council a copy of a 2007 case, Americorp Financial Grp, Inc v City of Birmingham (again, caution: some links may not work). It's unpublished, so it can't be precedent -- but it does cite Janssen, and it involves a use variance and a parking lot, so I thought it might be relevant. And mine was not the only voice calling for a better way to address town-and-hospital-gown conflicts before they happen . . . so it was a good time to bring a sign-up sheet for volunteers to start meeting on that. I got about a dozen signers, and have now mailed or e-mailed them all a full list of each other's contact information. Maybe we'll get to try to open up the process somehow. * ======= * The school board's workshop and community forum was held at 7pm Wednesday evening 12/9/09 at the Middle School cafeteria (despite the weather) . . . and there was a little more information on individual projects that may be in the bond issue (or issues) we'll see on the ballot next May 4. But it's still not to the summary-page-on-each-project level of detail I've been asking for -- and even designing a draft summary sheet to start the ball rolling. Still, I do have a newer four-page summary showing the kinds of information that are now being put out. And an 11-page slide show that was shown at a previous Board meeting, I believe. And, if anyone wants to see a 44-page slide show from a few weeks ago, well . . . I can't post that -- I don't have that much storage space, my ISP tells me -- but I can e-mail the 8MB PDF file to someone if they want it. Just say so, please. I still believe showing the work would help MPS do better at convincing the public that it has needs, it's properly identified them, and it has a well-thought-out plan for fulfilling them. If they get closer to that, I'll try to let you all know. UPDATE: The Board met 12/14/09 and unanimously adopted a bond program, after voting 6-1 to make expansion of the high-school auditorium a separate second question. I mentioned in the initial public comment period that I hadn't seen the program as proposed/recommended by Superintendent Davis made available for the public. A few agenda items later, an updated draft of the handout from the 12/9 community forum -- reflecting some discussion there -- was handed out to the audience (and more copies left alongside the agendas and comment forms in case anyone came in later). I took an extra copy of this updated handout, marked it up to show as best I could the changes the Board made, and have now posted it here. (*Caution:* This is obviously NOT an official "mark-up". I have asked for an official version -- and for its address on the district's Website -- and I will let you know what comes of that dual request.) * ======= * And the weather didn't stop last Saturday's "Stand for Peace" 1~3pm at the Fountain Circle, though I did bring a broom to brush off a small standing space. (I even used it to clear off a bit of the manger scene -- let's face it, a blanket of snow is not exactly good swaddling clothes.) I'll be back again next Saturday (after celebrating another monthly Dark Earth Hour 9-10pm Thursday evening by turning off unnecessary lights and power). I don't expect to be on that eastern corner of the Circle the day after Christmas, but after New Year's Day -- sometimes celebrated as a feast of peace -- I do plan to be back. And I invite others who know Peace Is Patriotic to join me in thinking globally and acting locally . . . to come Stand for Peace with me. John Anthony La Pietra 386 Boyer Court * Marshall, MI 49068 269-781-9478 jalp@triton.net http://members.triton.net/jalp/ Something YOU Can Get for FREE at City Hall! 4/17/09 (left up as a reminder . . . this charter subsection applies to all ordinances) A copy of the City's proposed new noxi- . . . um, *nuisance* ordinance! The one about which a public hearing has been scheduled at Monday's Council meeting. What do I mean, a free copy? Well, you wouldn't know it from the City's public notices for the hearing, but it's right there in the City Charter. Subsection 4.02(b) of the Charter says: ARTICLE
IV
LEGISLATION Section 4.02, Ordinance Procedure (b) Following introduction of any ordinance, the city clerk-treasurer shall publish a summary of the proposed ordinance in a local newspaper of general circulation in the city, together with a notice setting out the time and place for a public hearing on the proposed ordinance; the public hearing may not be held sooner than five (5) days after the publication; copies of the ordinance shall be distributed without charge at the office of the city clerk-treasurer;
You
can see this language
for yourself on page 12 of 32 here: This
Ordinance is established to eliminate health nuisances throug the
elimination of harborages and conditions that are conducive to the
causes and propagators of
unhealthy animals and plants.
I'll
hold on while you
pencil that in at the tops of your first pages. . . . §
92.12 REPEALER
Ordinance Sections 92.25 through 92.27 (Ord. 00-08, passed 9-18-2000) are repealed. (In case it doesn't come out right on your end, the character before 92.12 is a "Section" symbol -- looks like two S-es piled one on top of the other, kind of like the double-P symbol for "Paragraph".) This other addition is treated pretty casually, though. In fact, it's not even listed in the table of contents. Anyway, that's all you have to add to last year's draft to get this year's draft. But you don't have to use up your pens or pencils -- you can get a FREE copy of the new draft from the Clerk-Treasurer's office today! And if you do get a copy -- and you see something in there that you don't like -- maybe I'll see you at the Council meeting Monday evening. And we'll see if we can get Council to think beyond staff's twice-in-a-row recommendation: that Council hold the public hearing, hear public comments, and then go ahead and approve the ordinance amendment as is regardless of any comments. John Anthony La Pietra <jalp@triton.net> 386 Boyer Court
Marshall, MI 49068 February 28, 2009 To the editor: As I’ve mentioned in other letters, I've been working on a sort of "Public Participation Project" for Calhoun County. I've already posted pages on my personal Website with information on meeting dates, times, and places for county, city, township, village, school district, and library boards. Unfortunately, when the Enquirer posted last month's letter naming those Webpages, the double hyphens caused some confusion . . . so the addresses are now I’ve also been gathering two other kinds of information from our local governing boards: * the opportunities they
give citizens to
speak at those public
meetings; and
* their policies for working with Michigan's Freedom of Information Act. I aim to compile that information onto new Webpages by or before Sunday, March 22. Why that date? Well, it's the weekend after spring starts -- so it should be a good time for fresh air and new beginnings. And I've reserved the Reference Room of the Marshall District Library (124 West Green Street) that afternoon. Please join me there, starting around 1:30pm. I want to meet and talk with anybody who's interested in figuring out what to do next. And, better yet, willing to help do some of it. Should we expand to more public bodies? Committees and subcommittees? Find people to attend meetings and take "citizen minutes", and publish and post them? Or should we just start by picking a better name than the "Public Participation Project"? . . . If you want to RSVP, or suggest ideas for the agenda of this meeting, please e-mail jalp@triton.net or call 269-781-9478. John Anthony La Pietra jalp@triton.net (this letter in PDF or HTML) 386 Boyer Court 269-781-9478 Marshall, MI 49068 My January 28, 2009 letter to the editor -- on exercising our rights under Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) as well as our shoveling muscles -- is here (HTML) & here (PDF). My December 31, 2008 letter to the editor is here (HTML) and here (PDF). last updated: October 28, 2012 changes October 27, 2012: Stand for Peace shifts from Saturday 10/27 to Sunday 10/28 (update 10/28: Stand canceled this weekend -- but we'll be back out Standing in the future!) changes October 4, 2012: Stand for Peace shifts from Saturday 10/6 to Sunday 10/7 -- because Jennifer has a chance to tour a commercial kitchen which may help Peaceful Pastries grow! (and there's an update in the posted material for "Voting-Conditions Survey II") changes September 30, 2012: Farmers' Markets run through October, Stand for Peace goes on; jalp & Jennifer still running, too (early version of new voting-conditions survey material is up) changes August 15, 2012: Stand for Peace shifts from Saturday to Sunday -- so Peaceful Pastries can be part of the first annual Taste of Calhoun County at the Fairgrounds 2-6pm . . . also adding notes and links for a few Green candidate campaigns (with maybe more on the way!) change July 8, 2012: Stand for Peace (and Peaceful Pastries) canceled next weekend . . . because we'll be at the Green Party national nominating convention in Baltimore! change May 29, 2012: Stand for Peace (and Peaceful Pastries) canceled this weekend . . . because we'll be at the Green Party of Michigan state convention in Mount Pleasant! change Apr. 28, 2012: Stand canceled due to low-down weather and lower participants. change Feb. 27, 2012: Stand shifts from Saturday to Sunday next weekend (because we'll be at a GPMI Media Committee meeting in Chelsea on Saturday) change Feb. 7, 2012: no Stand this weekend; we'll be at a Green Party meeting in Bay City changes Jan. 21, 2012: shifting from cold Saturday to less-cold Sunday 1/22/2012 from 1~3pm! (well, that was the idea, anyway. . . .) ----------------------- changes December 20, 2011: we'll see you at the Stand next year, starting 1~3pm Saturday 1/6/2012! changes November 17: the Stand is back to 1~3pm Saturday (11/19); thanks to our friends who came to our post-wedding reception -- and sorry we missed you 1~3pm Sunday 11/13! changes November 7: this week's Stand is 1~3pm Sunday 11/13 -- because of . . . jalp & Jennifer's reception 1-4pm Saturday 11/12 at the Franke Center! changes October 5: next two Stands on Sundays (10/8 => 10/9, 10/15 => 10/16) AND -- the site is now under new joint management! :D change September 11: next Stand for Peace is Saturday 9/17 Sunday 9/18 1~3pm change August 1: updated Stand for Peace schedule . . .
change December 8, 2010: updated Stand for Peace schedule --
change September 27: updated Stand for Peace schedule (1~3pm Sunday 10/3) changes September 15:
changes August 2:
changes July 4:
changes March 19:
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