Resident Responds To City Clerks and Councilmans Attacks

On Friday, I had a meeting with Mr. Snow, Mr. Oliver and Assistant City Manager, Rozanne Scherr. The reason for the meeting was to resolve issues in regard to Mr. Oliver's stories to residents claiming I had a criminal record and was abusing children at my former candy store. Mr. Snow became involved in this lie by telling residents, who attended the last council meeting, that I had a criminal background.

I arrived at the meeting and was told to meet Mr. Snow and Mr. Oliver in the meeting room. I asked Kevin Anderson, City Manager, if he would be attending, and he said, "No, this was between the City Clerk and Councilman Oliver and you". I told Mr. Anderson that because Mr. Snow and Mr. Oliver are representatives of the city, I felt that he should attend.

Ms. Scherr agreed to sit in on the meeting. At the beginning of the meeting, the other person, who was at the meeting that Mr. Snow also told a lie about, asked him why he started rumors about them. Mr. Snow said, " I will deal with that later" and REFUSED to even discuss his lies with the other person involved.

After Mr. Snow refused to address the issue of his lies to the other person involved, I asked Mr. Oliver to explain why he would be telling residents that I had a criminal background.

Mr. Oliver said the reason on doing the background check on me was because he knew I do a lot of good things for the community, and he wanted to see where I got my experience from. I told Mr. Oliver that his excuse didn't make any sense. Mr. Oliver then admitted that he attempted to do a criminal background check on me using the internet. During the course of his investigation, he found someone with the same name that had a sealed juvenile record in Las Vegas. I find it odd that if someone had a sealed criminal record that anyone could find it with a Google search.

Mr. Oliver did say that the Howard Hall he found was not me. It was someone with the same name in Las Vegas, NV. Mr. Oliver than stated that he was sorry for spreading something that was not true, and he attempted to tell everyone that he told that information to that it was not true.

Next, I had the chance to ask Mr. Snow why he told people at the council meeting that I had a criminal record. Mr. Snow's answer was something close to the following:


"I said what I said but I didn't say what I said but what I said was said because it was said." I asked Mr. Snow what he was saying and he responded with: "I was there and said what I didn't say what I said when I said it and I said what you thought I said when I didn't say it."

I asked Mr. Snow again why he lied to residents who attended the council meeting. Mr. Snow said that "it is done because it was never started." Mr. Snow WALKED OUT OF THE MEETING ROOM at that point.

I have to give Junior Oliver credit for acting like a man and sitting down with us and explaining what he did and why. As far as Mr. Snow, you can see what he said, and it is clear that Mr. Snow acted like a CHILD that was caught stealing candy from a candy store. Mr. Snow doesn't deserve to have the position of City Clerk for the city of Dowagiac. As you can read on the post, I have given Mr. Snow many gifts for his collection of Presidential memorabilia, and I didn't deserve to be treated like this.

This proves that the city of Dowagiac doesn't give a damn about the residents of Dowagiac. They just do as they please knowing that most residents do not care what their elected officials do, or if they do care, they are afraid to oppose them because of what they can do to them. I believe that Mr. Snow needs to make this his last term as City Clerk and should consider making an appointment with his doctor. The way he was rambling with his answers was not the actions of an elected official, but actions of someone who was using very poor judgment and who may be in need of medical care.

I want residents to know just how the city of Dowagiac runs our city and controls our elected officials. I have been a resident of Dowagiac for about 8-9 years and listed below is the punishment given to me by the city of Dowagiac and its elected officials:


I had a police officer tell me that I was banned from downtown Dowagiac and was forced to get a handwritten letter from the Dowagiac City Attorney to be able to go downtown.

Over the years, I was given a multitude of blight letters, even for things that weren't on my property.

I was only allowed to talk to Jim Snow and pedophile, William Nelson, who was the City Manager at the time. Due to this, I had my electric disconnected for a day. Thanks to County Commissioner, John Cureton, a fair and honorable man, we got the electric back on the next day.

Received a traffic ticket while unloading the car at 3:00 a.m. when we were forced to move from the candy store because the building got condemned when the landlord didn't fix the roof. I was parked downtown in front of our new home so that I could carry heavy items from the car and up the stairs. The ticket clearly stated how much the ticket was. Later we got another ticket to replace the one we received, and it went from $19.00 to $75.00. Now the police have changed the instructions on this type of ticket to make it clearer for others.

Was called unfit to serve on any board by Mayor Don Lyons.

The former City Manager, William Nelson, had childrens' school records in his desk. When I filed a complaint with the city requesting them to investigate why MY childrens' records were in the possession of the city manager, the city ignored the complaint and refused to even find out why. A few years later, this same city manager was arrested for attempting to set up a date to have oral sex with someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl. Why wouldn't the city try to find out why this man had my childrens' school records? He didn't just have my childrens' records, but other childrens' records also. I asked the city again to investigate the records case after Mr. Nelson's arrest, but, once again, they REFUSED.

Dowagiac City Clerk, Jim Snow, filed Voter Fraud charges against me with the Michigan State Police. During the investigation the trooper told me that this was a waste of his time, and the Clerk shouldn't have even filed the charges.

For over a year, the Dowagiac City Council had police officers at the meetings in an attempt to intimidate me so I would stop going to meetings.

When I ran for City Council and lost by thirty votes, I requested a recount by the county of Cass. When I arrived for the recount, the Cass County Clerk informed me that the recount had to be stopped because there were more ballots in the machine than the number of people that voted on Election Day. This was the fault of the Dowagiac City Clerk, Jim Snow. How can someone with so many years of experience allow a voting machine to have more ballots in the machine than the number of people who voted? Was this an accident or is this how the city keeps control of the Council year after year? You decide!

Not long after the recount problem, the Cass County Clerk informed the Dowagiac City Clerk that the City of Dowagiac has been breaking Michigan law by counting their own votes, and the County of Cass follows state law and they now count the votes cast in all City Elections instead of allowing Jim Snow to do so.

The Dowagiac Informer requested to sponsor bed races for this year's Fun Fest. The Dowagiac Chamber ignored that request, so they can, once again, keep total control over the festival.

I could go on, but this gives you an idea of how the city goes after people who may disagree with them. In the past, there have been others who have tried to inform residents about the city, and they have received paperwork about being sued.

For the reasons stated above, this is why it is so important for residents to get involved in their local government. It is time for residents to replace these people who think they are above most of the residents of Dowagiac.

Why does the city of Dowagiac spend so much time and effort attacking me and others, when this energy could be used to fulfill the lie they have been telling residents about how Dowagiac is a great place to live, work and raise a family?

One thing I want readers to ask themselves and write into the post is: Do the actions mentioned above look like a Government which wants to do what is best for residents, or a Government that only cares about itself, and is willing to do ANYTHING to keep it that way.

After the meeting with Mr. Snow and witnessing his unstable behavior in that meeting, I perceive a threat from his actions.

If you look at what the city has done to attack me over the years, what Mr. Snow and Mr. Oliver did to me didn't surprise me at all.

With the lastest actions of City Clerk Snow and Councilman Oliver telling residents I abused children when I owned the candy store, what is next? What causes me great concern is that, over the years, the attacks seem to get worse. Now that the story of me abusing children didn't work, and Mr. Snow's threatening actions towards me in the meeting, I have serious concerns on just how far these actions will go.


Please e-mail in your thoughts to the forum on this story and tell us what you think of the actions of Mr. Snow in the meeting.

In closing, I would like to say one more time that, although I strongly disagree with what Mr. Oliver did by passing on incorrect information to residents, at least he acted like a man and sat down with me and said he was sorry. As far as Mr. Snow, I have lost all respect for him because of his actions in this meeting. He acted like a spoiled child, not an elected official for the city of Dowagiac. The next time you see Mr. Snow ask him why he spread these lies about me. Maybe you will hear him double talk like he did with me.

The entire city needs to band together next year and vote all of these people out of office. Dowagiac is prevented from becoming one of the best small towns in Michigan because of four problems:

It is hard to find good people to run for office. (Now we are beginning to see people step forward)

Not enough people vote. (Hopefully, these recent events will convince people to make their vote count)

In the past, hardly anyone attended Council Meetings. (That is changing)

Irregularities in elections. (Let's hope that the Dowagiac City Clerk, Jim Snow, makes sure that the only votes in the voting machine are actual votes cast by residents, and not ballots that somehow appear in the voting machine.)

Howard Hall

The Future Of Dowagiac Is In Our Hands

Things are slowly changing in Dowagiac. People are getting more involved in city politics, which is the only way that the city of Dowagiac is going to recover.

Recently, residents got involved because of the city's unfair utility deposit proposal. Your involvement needs to continue. If all of you hadn't shown up at that last council meeting, that utility ordinance WOULD HAVE PASSED!

We have witnessed the behavior of Junior Oliver and Dowagiac City Clerk Jim Snow, and we must conclude that the city doesn't like it when residents question the city's decisions.

The only way to make sure that the council really votes in the best interest of residents, is let them know that citizens are watching. This is done by attending each council meeting. If residents stop attending meetings after the new deposit ordinance is passed, one Tuesday you will read the Informer and find out that the council just passed another ordinance that will be unfair to residents. They've done it before, and they'll do it again.

Making a change in Dowagiac will not be easy, as you can see by the attack on me by the councilman and city clerk, but if residents keep attending meetings, it will make it harder for them to use slanderous comments again.

Elections for 5 council seats are in November 2011. It is very important for residents to keep attending meetings and reading the Informer to keep up to date on the actions of the city between now and the Election.

So far, there are commitments for people to run for Junior Oliver's seat and Jim Dodd's seat. We are still three people short of having someone running for every open seat. Now is the time to start thinking about running next year.

We will sponsor workshops for all candidates, provide an endless supply of volunteers, help design campaign literature, and even help you get campaign funds. With so many seats being open, residents can take back their city council and take back their city in one single election.

If anyone has concerns or questions about running for office, send us an e-mail.

Starting in August/September, we will start sponsoring workshops to get things ready for next year. We promise, if you make the decision to run, you will have as much, if not more, education, information and all the tools needed to run for office as someone running for a seat in state government.

When the Dowagiac City Clerk and Councilman Oliver start telling lies right in the middle of council chambers, it proves that arrogance is out of control, and it's time to replace these people. Some on the council have been in office for so long they forgot what it is like to struggle to pay bills.


If you were on the Dowagiac City Council, would you have even considered a $500 utility deposit?

Let's make 2011 the year that citizens BEGIN the process that requires that the Dowagiac City Council fairly represent the citizens of Dowagiac--and the councilman need to know that it is not enough to be a body sitting in a seat following orders.

Dowagiac City Clerk attacks resident with incorrect allegations of criminal record

At Monday's Council meeting 30 seconds prior to the start of the council meeting City Clerk James Snow approached me with the following comment. " I have a perfect story for the Dowagiac Informer."
Because Mr. Snow and I have worked together on stories in the past, I thought that he was going to suggest another story about Dowagiac years ago.
Mr. Snow said " maybe you can write a story about your criminal record".
It is my belief that Mr. Snow timed this comment so when he finished his comment the mayor started the meeting before I could question why he would say such a slanderous statement.
Mr. Snow had no facts to base this comment on and did it to do nothing more than to attempt to make me angry prior to the start of the meeting.
It is one thing to make a comment like this one on one but Mr. Snow made this comment so half of the Dowagiac City Hall council chambers could hear his comments.
I can only assume that Mr. Snow took the word of Junior Oliver who has admitted that his statement was not true in today's Dowagiac Daily News.
Mr. Snows action of spreading lies of me having an arrest record in the state of Nevada are the actions of a child,not someone elected as the City Clerk of Dowagiac.
If Mr. Snow thinks that it is ok to tell residents attending a council meeting incorrect information that could cause me to lose employment working with inter-city youth.
I am sure Mr. Snow wouldn't like the Informer to write stories or pass on rumors about him or his family that isn't true.
Mr. Snow needs to remember that what is Goodenough for Mr. Snow is Goodenough for others.
I am asking readers to call Mr. Snow at 782-2195 and ask him why he would try to ruin my ability to work with children because of him telling residents at the council meeting that I have an arrest record in the state of Nevada.
The only question I think I deserve from Mr. Snow is WHY would you do this in front of the residents at the council meeting.
Mr. Snow should at least step up to the plate and be man enough to write an apology like Councilman Oliver did.
This is just the beginning of this story. Next week we have a meeting with Dowagiac City officials, Mr. Snow and Mr Oliver to see where we go from here.
There has also been a story started about a much more severe allegations than a criminal record that we will write more about after the meeting with the city officials.

Dowagiac Area Firefighters Speak Out Over Takeover

lets see where do i start....this merger plan all started back when the so called free ambulance service was brought into play. It is not just the city of dowagiac that is pushing this merger it is also the supervisors of KEELER TWP, and SILVER CREEK TWP. Keeler twp. say that they can not keep operating with out this merger because out of the $60,000.00 budget they have $40,000.00 goes for payroll even though they have not payed Sister lakes fire dept. any money for several years now, unless payment has been made recently, but they run a medical first responder unit that does not make it to the scene before the ambulance, is this not a waste of taxpayer monies? Silver Creek Twp. does not like the fact that they have no control of the Two departments in their twp. because they are independent fire depts. Now the Twps. are having meetings trying to figure out how they can control the monies these depts. get from the taxpayers that is why they want the me
rger. If the taxpayers don't wake up and smell the roses your fire servce will end up just like the so called free ambulance service. Do the taxpayer understand that most of time this free service calls for the local fire department to help with patient lift assist, this takes money away from the fire depts.budgets for wages, fuel, and wear and tear on equipment, ect. Do the taxpayer know the ambulance authority renegotiated the ambulance contract one year early without notifying the taxpayers? Taxpayers need to wake up and stop this before it is to late. For the iso rating Dowagiac can not be a 5 as they call it, you can not get that rating having only one person on station, this does not even meet the requirements of NFPA. Our vol. firemen are dedicated to the people of the twps. not the pay check at the end of the week. One last thing i would like to know when did the taxpayers start working for the twps? I thought the twp officials worked for the taxpayers who put them
in office. DO I HEAR RECALL!!!!! This needs to be STOPPED.

Dowagiac taxpayers pays for $300 hotels stays and city claims to be downsizing to save money

As you all know, the city of Dowagiac has been telling residents that they don't have any money. Most recently there was talk of raising the water bills $6 to pay for street repairs. Now we have the council voting on increasing the utility deposit for new renters to $500.

Time and time again, the city says they do not have money for a senior center and youth activities.

We can understand if a city has financial problems that they need to pass the cost on to the residents of their community. At the same time, they need to tighten their belts as well. If there is a shortfall of money, the city of Dowagiac cannot be allowed to pass increases on to residents, and, at the same time, spend our tax dollars in a wasteful way.

Here are a couple examples of how the city spends our tax dollars in a wasteful manner, while telling residents they don't have money to cover losses on utilities or have programs for youth and seniors of Dowagiac.

On April 29th, a city employee went to Ann Arbor, Michigan for some kind of city business. The city paid $216.45 for a hotel at the Ann Arbor Marriott. Again, on April 27th, another city employee went out of town for training and stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge, which, according to Google, is an indoor water park. That cost was $359.43.

How can the city cry "BROKE" when it comes to shortfalls on utility collections, senior activities, road repairs and youth activities, and then put employees up in indoor water parks and the Marriott? Both places, as you know, are the most expensive places to stay. How many of you could afford to stay at these hotels if you went out of town?

When the City Manager approves trips for city employees for training, I am sure that he has to approve where they stay. Mr. Anderson, how can you tell residents that the city is cutting costs, downsizing employees, want to add $6 to utility bills and now want a $500 utility deposit from new renters when you allow employees to stay at the most costly hotels in the country?

We agree that training is important for city employees, but when you approve their travel, how about thinking about whose money you are spending. Put these employees in a Red Roof Inn and save the taxpayers some money.

It is a slap in the face to every taxpayer in Dowagiac, while many are struggling to pay their bills, to put these people in the most expensive hotels possible.
This is a clear example why the city, and some council members, don't think that a $500 increase in the utility deposit is too much money.

To council members: Prior to voting on the utility deposit, remember that most residents could never afford to stay in hotels that cost this much money. Most residents in today's economic crisis, struggle to pay their mortgages, rent and utility bills. A stay at the Marriott isn't even a consideration. It shouldn't be for city employees either.

Why is Dowagiac Raising Their Utility Deposits to $500.00

We have called over ten cities that run their own utilities. None of them go after the landlord for tenants' utility bills. The largest deposit we found was $175.00. To give you an example, the City of Niles charges a deposit of $100.00. If a customer gets disconnected, prior to their service being restored, they have to pay an additional $100.00.

When we asked these cities what they do with customers who move and don't pay their bills, all said they go after collections from the tenant.

The city of Dowagiac has said that it takes too much time to try to track down a tenant, and they would need additional staff to do that. Other utilities say the easiest way to collect is to get a judgment and get their money from state income taxes.

The other way they all cover bills that go unpaid, is they figure it into the cost they charge their utility customers. Dowagiac doesn't have the ability to raise the rate to cover their losses. This is because we are being forced to pay the highest electric rate in the area to pay off the two million dollar mistake made by the city when they bought out the electric contract.

This issue about raising the deposit has NOTHING to do with people leaving and not paying their bills and has everything to do with paying off the two million dollar mistake made by our elected officials. If we weren't paying off the contract, the city could cover their losses, like all other city utilities do--with a small utility increase. But, because of this mistake, the city wants renters to pay for THEIR mistake.

Another question that needs to be answered, is just how many of these unpaid utility bills are from foreclosed homes and not renters? What good will it do for the city to be able to put a lien on foreclosed property when the house may sit vacant for years before they get the money?

The councilmen need to consider the utility contract payoff before voting on this increase. It isn't the renters' fault the city made bad choices, but the renters are being given the bill.

Howard Hall