Alpena Chamber of Commerce Targeting Northeast MI for “Change”

A new “threat” arises from the Land of Mordor…

Oops, I mean, Lansing.  But, they’re not too dissimilar.  Objectively, there might be less evil in Mordor.  We’ll never know because Mordor doesn’t exist.  Sadly, Lansing’s swampy bureaucracy does, and they have their sights set squarely on our area.  This time, they’re using a local Chamber of Commerce to facilitate their dirty work.

Today we are beginning an exposé on the current narrative flowing out of Lansing that there is a “housing crisis” in our region and our state.  I’d like to remind everyone – the last few times we believed something out of Lansing, Flint’s water went to shit, dams in Midland broke, senior citizens died needlessly in nursing homes, and an untold number of small family businesses were shut down over a common cold.  Not all at once but, that covers the last decade or so.

Pretty good track record, eh?

Oh, and we’re still waiting for our crumbling infrastructure to be fixed.  Despite the rhetoric, you can drive and witness the truth.  Michigan roads & bridges still suck.  Even still, we’re glad to know that Michigan has a surplus of COVID bucks they wish to spend here! How generous.  You can learn what they are telling us about it here.

Before going any further, I’d like to ask you: Do you trust that Gretchen Whitmer and the Lansing Republican/Democrat “Bipartisan” Uniparty have anyone’s best interests in mind (aside from their own)?

Nearly 50 years in this beautiful state has taught me one thing:

Trust them at your peril. 

Lansing rarely does anything good.  If something good does make it out of Lansing, you can bet that it was probably a mistake or they’re buttering us up for a red-hot poker of some sort.

Our state government is inept, ineffective, and corrupt to the core.

Here’s what is shaping up.

So, now that’s out of the way – it has recently come to light that “Target Alpena” an Alpena Chamber of Commerce project is being used by the bureaucrats in Lansing to not only add government-funded housing to their county… They are being used to spearhead the forming of a regional coalition at the behest of the Whitmer administration’s MHSDA Missing Middle program.  In this plan, our region “E” is dubbed the “Northeast Housing Partnership”.  This “partnership” will comprise as of yet undisclosed persons and/or entities from all 11 counties in the “Sunrise Side”, including our very own Alcona County.

The entirety of the list is Cheboygan, Presque Isle, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Crawford, Oscoda, Alcona, Roscommon, Ogemaw, and Iosco Counties.

A page to promote this project in our county is called “Be the Change Alcona”. This page is not new.  Only newly renamed. In fact, it is the former ACCOA Facebook page ostensibly run by current Alpena Chamber of Commerce employee Lenny Avery.

So, what is all this?

In short, there’s a “surplus” of Federal COVID funny money in the state dockets via the federal “American Rescue Plan”, and the bureaucrats, politicians, NGOs, and favored contractors of our beloved government are chomping at the bit to spend every penny of our money on still more things we do not need.

They want to build a minimum of 5,000 government-funded housing units within our 11 counties and rehab more.  This will, at very modest estimations, increase the region’s population by 20,000 residents. 20,000 people are 10% of our collective current population (202,252).

That is not a small number – double the population of some counties in the area, and pretty much equal to the rest.

Northeast Michigan is in the Whitmer administration’s crosshairs.

It is clear to anyone who can see it.  Our region is being targeted for fundamental change.  They’re straight up telling us this.

Beware! These government-funded NGOs have a way with words.  Instead of a good plan, they’re adept at making it seem like only evil people who are opposed to progress would dare speak against them.  A distraction.  Don’t fall for it. It is the way they work.  They push bad ideas with nice words and then demonize opposition.  Just like with COVID (or any other government-contrived “crisis”).

Currently, they are in the narrative-building stage.  Here’s what their “Be the Change Alcona” introduction looks like:

“A new opportunity is coming to your area. The Northeastern Michigan Housing Alliance wants your feedback.”

How benevolent.

Going forward, this series will be comprised of documented, research-based editorials.  The intent is to inform folks as to the whole story outside of the flowery propaganda.  Both establishment Republicans and Democrats will use all kinds of half-truths & probably blatant falsehoods to push this project. This pattern of lies and omission is always the methodology that these types of NGO-facilitated government projects use to gain public support.

Just like they did with their COVID narratives and illegal mandates, they will use obfuscation, omissions, and where needed – outright lies.  This time though, it will be to push forward their agenda of progressive transformation.

(Lack of) jobs is reason number one that this is a terrible plan.

I’d like to begin this counterpoint by laying out some very precursory research I’ve done on this topic. I’ll begin with the most basic and rudimentary of all free-market economic principles.  Supply, demand, and jobs.

People can’t pay rent if they don’t have a good-paying job.

So, let’s assume that their initial plan numbers are truthful.  In the “plan,” they posit the notion that this program is going to produce upwards of 5,000 new housing units.  (Yes – there’s more to it.  However, we’ll use simply this for now.) Now, assuming that 4 people will live in each household (on average) this means an influx of 20k mouths to feed.  If a family of 4 has typically 2 adults, and 2 children that means a modest average of 1.5 workers per household is required to sustain the economic viability of that household.  A LOT of families these days will find both parents working to merely stay caught up.

On the low end, this means there will need to be at minimum 7,500 career-level jobs readily available to support these numbers.

What do you mean, career-level?

Below is MIT’s data on Michigan’s average living wage.  Their data stipulates that two working parents with two children need to make $27.46 an hour each to comfortably provide for their families.  One person working, according to MIT needs $36.39/hour.

So, there’s got to be thousands of jobs available, right? I mean, there’s a housing crisis, right?

On one of the largest job search websites in the US (Indeed.com) there were – at the time of this article – 896 job listings. These were added within the last 7 days.  It is showing every single job opening within 100 miles of Alpena – the region’s largest city.

How on earth can there be a housing crisis with less than 1,000 jobs available on one of the biggest job sites in the US?

By the way, the radius of 100 miles is significantly BIGGER than the regional area this housing plan is targeting.  Below is what 100 miles around Alpena looks like.  You can see this area extends to Grand Traverse County, and nearly up to Sault St Marie.  One of the LARGEST job engines in the US is showing less than 1,000 job offerings TOTAL in this radius.

So…

I’m no mathematician – but I do tend to follow logic where logic is present.  I’d like to ask: Where are the 6,700 other jobs to support this HUGE influx of mouths to feed?  I mean, this is a crisis, right?

Something isn’t right here…

In true free market economies, jobs produce housing growth, not government. Simply stated: if there are no jobs, then there is no housing demand.  It is that simple.  The only system in which housing comes before the jobs (on this scale) would be in full Socialist and Communist economies.  It (kind of) works in those archetypes, because there is no private economic risk; since the government will move in the workers to build the industry they wish to exploit.

Next, let’s look at the quality of those 884 job listings a tiny bit.  Keep in mind, the MIT data above.

Truly, only 162 of these jobs would qualify in this day and age as providing a “living wage”.  The rest fall under – maybe you can pay your bills this month.  Or, maybe you should get a second job.

But with 6700 new residents competing for that second job, good luck buddy!

Especially at “Missing Middle” rent rates. 

According to their documentation Missing Middle rent rates would be up to $800/month for those in Alcona County with a yearly income of $36,360.  That yearly salary equates to $17.50 per hour or, $700 a week before taxes.  Do the math. You’re not going to be able to afford gas money to drive 50 miles to work at those pay rates. Even if you can find a job that pays that much. Top that off with the other inflationary excess we are confronted with these days – exorbitant energy costs, crazy gas prices, food costs that have pretty much doubled from a few years ago, rapidly increasing loan interest rates, etc.

Then there’s this…

Did you know, that under Governor Whitmer’s reign, there has been precisely a 0% increase in total Michigan jobs? In 2019, 4.4 million.  In 2023, 4.4 million.  Go to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and check it out.  It is their data.

I think the crisis isn’t housing…

It’s the government, its puppet organizations, its NGOs, and a long-silent populace.

The more we look, the more this is shaping up to be an unmitigated disaster, and we haven’t even begun to dig.  And dig we will – into their other justifications for this illogical housing push – and any other fount of information we can find.

It is clear: big government simply needs to stop.  But they won’t stop themselves. We the People are the only ones who can stop it.

Always remember, that Detroit was once a beautiful, vibrant, and safe city.

Bad economic policy ruined it.  Government housing there, beginning in the 1930s ended up as a crime-riddled unmitigated disaster.  This is just like everything big government decides to meddle in.  As time marches onward, it only gets worse.

History is here for us to learn from.  It is up to us to learn from it!

The problem there was simple. When the jobs left Detroit, so did the need for housing. Same story as Flint & Saginaw.  Government mismanagement only ever exacerbates the issue, as it did there and in countless cities across the US.

And (lack of) jobs are the common denominator here.

Maybe you can begin to see the potential for massive future problems brooding here.  We’re only getting started…  This is looking like it will be a LONG series.

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