A Stunning Look at County Government

The Strange Machinations of Charlevoix County Government

In Charlevoix County the prosecutors and judges have a rather strange sense of justice as one can be charged with rape, plead down to false imprisonment  and serve only 6 months incarceration with no fines levied, while a person pleading guilty to abusing a cat, could, and did, get 9 months incarceration with fines in excess of $1,000. Something is wrong with a judicial system that allows such gross sentencing inequities.




In Charlevoix County, the former prosecutor, John Jarema, and the county were sued on multiple charges, including sexual harassment. They settled the suit out of court and kept the terms of the settlement
 secret while continuing to misrepresent county residents by putting the now former prosecutor on county payroll as part of a contract that adds him to the consortium of attorneys for the indigent.



In Charlevoix County, Allen Telgenhof, the county prosecutor, and John Jarema, the former prosecutor, can engage in behavior unbecoming an officer of the court and face no charges, no admonishment, no real penalties, while ordinary citizens and media are subjected to intimidation for simply questioning the workings of county government.

In Charlevoix County, the transit department is charged with keeping an eye on itself. The transit manager, Jill Drury, and one of her assistants are on the transit oversight board. Think about that. How does that make any sense at all to have the transit manager and her assistant sit on the board responsible for ensuring proper transit department operations? This is not a joke, and I would like to provide a link but am unable to find any.

In Charlevoix County, regular citizens are unable to access many public documents, as they simply do not exist on the official county website, while empty folders and a photo of a cat are readily available. This is a big red flag; what are they hiding that they must resort to withholding documents and intimidation?

In Charlevoix County, citizens can be excluded from public meetings and/or given access to the wrong proceedings. It happened to me when I sought to address the Charlevoix County Board of Commissioners.



In Charlevoix County, the Board of Commissioners has stated its approval of the leadership and operations of the transit department, as I was told at the commission meeting on November 9, 2016; even as the focus changed from public transit to that of tour agency, giving priority to tourists and bars over the needs of regular citizens.