Dan Plamondon's Blog

The vote is in.....NO!

2011-05-04T04:55:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's surreal to think that a mere 516 votes can drastically change the make-up of the city I work in. Last night around 9:30pm, the call came in from City Hall that the results from the Police and Fire millage were in......NO MILLAGE. What does this mean? Well, the city has to cut approximately 33% of it's budget, which equates to roughly 4.2 million dollars. Layoffs will occur, how many, time will tell. In just over 4 years of employment with this city, I've created a handful of professional relationships with co-workers across the different departments, and some of those people will be left without a job as a result of the millage-vote outcome. Why did the citizens vote it down???? My guess is they don't trust city government. What's equally disheartening is the fact that a number of communities around Garden City DID pass a millage for police and fire services. Why couldn't Garden City do this????? The next 6-8 weeks will be very interesting working in Garden City to say the least.

Millage Day

2011-05-03T09:40:00.001-07:00

So I thought I would give this blog thing a try again, lots on my mind and a lot going on in the world. Today is May 3rd, 2011. Why is this significant? Today the Garden City residents will vote on a 12-mil ballot proposal for Police and Fire services in Garden City. If the millage fails, the city could be facing devastating cuts to Police and Fire services, in addition to other departments throughout the city, including Parks and Recreation. My gut feeling is that my job is safe, but you never know. With a baby on the way, it would be overwhelming to deal with, but I'll have to find a way. I can only hope that either way if it passes or not, the city officials will do their due-diligence in making the RIGHT decisions for the citizens of Garden City. I'm sure I'll be posting more as everything unfolds.

Tiger Baseball

2009-04-20T09:10:00.000-07:00

So spring is here, sort of. It wouldn't be Michigan if you didn't get a 70 degree Saturday in April and 3 days later snow is in the forecast! Ahhh, the weather that makes Michigan...well, Michigan. Now that spring is here, it means Tiger baseball is back. There's something about watching this group of guys play that reminds me of the 2006 team. I know it's early, but there have some real promising signs of "good baseball" being played. As of April 20th they are 7-5, with 150 games left to be played. But the signs I see right now are a team that's going to fight and contribute when they have to in clutch moments. The starting rotataion has 3 solid starters in Galarage, Jackson and Porcello. If Verlander can get his head out of his ass, I think we're going to be alright. Time will tell!

Stay focused!

2009-02-18T06:12:00.000-08:00

So it's been way too long since my last post, I'm not doing a good job of maintaining this blog site. I could write a book about what's happened since my last post, but will reflect more on the past week or so. After meeting with the best real estate lady in the business, Kat and I realized that when it comes to wanting "out of our condo" and in a new home, we need to be a bit more patient and stay focused on other important things in our life. Sometimes it's frustrating to hear stories of families and friends that are "walking away" from their home and are able to find financing to purchase a new home. I know it's important to keep the big picture in mind and remind ourselves that this one of the most unstable times in our nation's history with the mortgage crisis, but more often than not it's extremely frustrating. Last night during our meeting there was a period of dialogue between Cathy and Rose and Kathryn and myself, where I just knew there wasn't a damn thing we could do to get out of our house. Not only did a bring a small tear to Kat's eye, but it brought one to my eye as well. I just feel like our hands are cuffed to that condo, and we're never going to get out. But the point of this blog entry is to remind myself that I owe it myself and my wife to stay positive and keep the big picture in mind, which is this...Tens of thousands of people are being laid off every day across the country, and especially in the Detroit area, these people don't know where there next paycheck is coming from, and if they'll be able to keep their home, and oh yeah, afford another home. It's so bad right now sometimes I can't even comprehend it. I also have to realize that Kathryn and I have a lot going for us right now, we have steady jobs, we have our health, we have supporting families and friends, and a lot of people don't have that. Until next time..., hopefully sooner than later.

An up and down week

2009-01-22T18:10:00.000-08:00

So where do I begin? Well, this week definitely had it's share of up and down moments. On Monday I woke up energized and ready for a very busy week at work. All kinds of things going on from district hockey games, spring hockey league planning, the zamboni/union transition, that's been a huge topic at work. I'm slowly becoming public enemy #1 in the eyes of many union members. What's sad is they'll never see the benefit this transition could mean to the city, and oh yeah, no one will get laid off as a result of the change. I think there was a new president that got sworn in on Tuesday, that's been all over the news and radio. But the my biggest surprise came on Tuesday evening, I found out that my favority radio station, 1130 am, laid off all of it's main staff, including all personalities. I can't express enough how shocked I was to find this out. As silly as it sounds, when you listen to talk radio, you get to know the personalities, and they become a part of your daily routine. Not only did I listed to this station in the morning and on the drive to work, but I listened frequently while at work as well. Ok, insert a joke here, at times it distracted me at work and I might haven't been the most productive, but it keeps me going and laughing throughout the day. It's good to laugh often. So little did I know that Tuesday at 12pm that the station would be pink-slipping all of it's staff. I didn't even listed to the last show because I was busy at work. I heard through a friend at work who knew someone at this radio station that the station director came in at 12pm, no notice, and handed pink-slips to everyone. No severnce, no notice, nothing. In these crazy times it's sad to think that something like this could happen. It makes me appreciate my job a little more each day, and to work hard, every day, and bust my ass at everything I do. I hope everyone at the station lands on their feet somewhere else in the area, because they were great at what they did.

Zamboni Driving

2009-01-15T18:22:00.000-08:00

So today was a big day at work. I found out that in 6 months (around July 1st), city union employees will no longer be employed in my ice rink. What does this mean for me? Well, I have to learn, i mean polish, my driving skills on a Zamboni. I will have a tremendous amount of responsibility added to my plate. I'll have to hire new drivers and train them. I have to build a new budget, and will have 100% responsibility for the ice maintenance for my ice rink. I'm ready for it. I've been waiting for this moment. It will give me a lot more job security in the crazy economy that we have to live in. All in all it's a good thing for the city, and the employees that are being taken out of the ice rink will not lose their jobs, they'll be absorbed in to the Water Department, so I'm happy for them. I'm nervous as all hell with the amount of preparation that needs to happen between now and then. I know there will be a lot of animosity towards me from the union, but the way I look at it is, hey, it gives all of better job security, and how can you argue with that! Sometimes people just need to get that bug out of their ass and focus on the more important things in life. Ok, I'm falling asleep due to a long week, and looking forward to some nice r&r, wait a minute, Dave, Connie, Sis, Rick, Ben and Lindsay are coming down on Saturday (Whoo-hoo!), comedy show, drinks and partying, can't wait, till next time!

To Be Continued

2009-01-12T19:04:00.000-08:00

So I've had a day to digest things and continue my thoughts since reading the article. I forgot to mention the other important thing that happened on Sunday, January 11th, I decided to act and do things in my life a little different than usual. After waking up and deciding to go to the gym instead of laying around my wheels started spinning about my life; how I spend my time, how much tv I watch, taking advantage of the positives in my life...my marriage, my health, my family. I'm tired of not living life to the fullest, and when I say fullest I don't mean signing up for a bungee-jumping lesson or jumping out of an airplane. What I decided on Sunday was this: I want to live my life by leading by example, I want to contribute to society in a number of different ways. I don't want to go through the motions, I have the drive and desire to not just do well, but to be a positive influence on those closest to me: my wife, my family, my co-workers, the people of Garden City, but honestly, the most important thing that went through my mind after sharing these thoughts with Kat was the way she responded. She was totally on board, supportive, and wants to do the same, together. I wouldn't have it any other way. She is my soul mate, my best friend, and if she wasn't on board with this new perspective of mine, I don't know if I could go through with it. I truly do admire her, and love her with all my heart. Sometimes when you write in these blogs you can totally get off track, which is a good way to end this entry....until the next time.

Detroiters Carry On

2009-01-11T15:39:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I'm new to this whole blog thing. It's been 5 minutes and my wife is already making fun of me for having a blog. So I woke up this morning and did my usual routine; feed the cat, had some breakfast, and watched a little news. It's a Sunday so I'm usually up a minimum of 2 hours before Kat gets up. She loves her beauty rest. Lately I've been consumed with the local news, in the paper and on tv. As a Michigander, owning a home, working in the public sector, you can't help but be cocerned about what's going on in the world, and even more so in our state. So I started reading the Free Press and on the front page was an article from Mitch Albom about his recent work he did for Sports Illustrated. The article in the Free Press was titled "Detroiters Carry On." In this article Mitch talked about how important it was being given the opportunity to write an article for a national periodical about the city of Detroit, and the state of sports in the city. My initial thought when I started reading the article was that it was going to be a sports article, I couldn't have been more wrong. This article made me go through every emotion known to man, and it would stick in the mind throughout the day, and to this very moment writing this blog entry. To be continued....