Whether you see this issue as makes-sense or TWFW (too Warren for words) probably depends on . . . well, we're not sure. We report, you decide.
Weeds and untended grass are growing high in Warren, and Mayor Jim Fouts recently took to Facebook to explain why getting them under control isn't as simple as whistling up a crew and telling them to get to it. A simple post. Read like this:
It didn't take long for Fouts' constituents to ask an obvious question: Why not hire Michigan residents? Glad you asked, the mayor said. He replied:
They are not available. Very difficult to get workers also we award contracts based upon low bid and we can't tell them where to get their workers quickly.
More pushback and a couple of flapping-flag GIFs later, Fouts was still arguing:
Contracts are awarded by council based upon low bid. Not sure what we can do to change that? Council makes the final decision and we did have another company but they wanted lowest bidder to save taxpayers money.
And:
Lowest bid is the procedure for awarding contracts like this by the city council to save taxpayers money. This company replaced another company not the lowest bidder. I would prefer the best company but that being said it's difficult to get Americans to do this type of a job.
Soon it was a full Facebook pile-on, with everyone screaming past one another, slapping memes down, the usual. Make it a law! What about Mar-a-Lago? And so on.
Then Metro Times weighed in, calling up a woman running for Fouts' job for comment, because of course she has some helpful perspective to add. Kristina Lodovisi weighed in:
“This mayor has once again failed the residents of Warren by allowing a lucrative city contract to go to a vendor that hires foreign workers when there are plenty of able-bodied residents in this city looking for work,” Lodovisi said. “When I’m Mayor it will be my policy to not hire vendors that have a history of hiring foreign workers over available American labor. We need to reward those who hire our residents and do business honestly rather than those who are helping to undercut the wages and benefits of American workers.”
From the Help Wanted signs we see around here, we suspect Fouts is right. But it's good to know that when it comes to arguments not worth having, we can always rely on social media.
