By God’s grace, baby Bella arrived safely ❤️ Ryan and I are in complete newborn bliss. We are so thankful for all the support we’ve received along the way. I successfully had a natural and unmedicated pregnancy, labor, and birth as planned. After birth, I did have excess bleeding and needed medication at that point to slow it down. It did the trick and I am healing well. Bella’s pediatrician said she is perfect from head to toe, but we already knew that. For safety, we will not be sharing personal details of her or her face online. So if you have a photo of her, please do not post it. We thank you for respecting that. There will be plenty of time for the rest of life’s responsibilities, but we only have this precious time once with our little one. We fully intend to enjoy it ❤️

Ridiculous.

How much does it cost to run for local office? Although I am under the $1,000 threshold to not have to disclose anything, I am running on a platform of transparency and want to be open. This is also informative for people who want to understand where money goes and what to expect if they are interested in running for office. In total, I’ve spent $874.78. I break down the specific costs in the video. Ultimately no amount of money matters if voters don’t like your platform. The voters in Holly have to decide if they are happy with where the community is at now, or if they are ready for change.

I’ve never posted so fast before. I received a text asking if I think the current local government is corrupt. I just knew people would accuse me of sending the text so I posted saying I had nothing to do with it. But I’m sure that still won’t stop people from accusing me of sending it. Messaging from me will always have a “paid for by” label as the law requires.

We are two weeks away from the election and I’m seeing large accounts telling people to stay home… I get it. You’re upset with the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, but the LAST thing you should do is sit this one out - let me explain why. First of all, your local government is more important than your reps in DC. They have jurisdiction over your roads, sidewalks, water, parks, fire, police, permitting, ordinances, and so much more. Secondly, many people have millage proposals on their ballot. Do you really want other people to determine if you should have a tax increase? And finally, your vote matters. It may seem insignificant in federal elections, but local elections can be determined by just a few votes. So only vote on the local matters if you need to, but please show up.

The First Lady announced an Executive Order to advance research into women’s health. I’ve been calling on this for years. It’s such low hanging fruit. Who would have thought that men and women are biologically different and require different research?

The $38 BILLION stain remover industry doesn’t want you to know this… Hanging clothes outside to dry wasn’t just out of necessity - it’s the best way to remove stains from clothes and get the whitest whites. This used to be common household knowledge, but the industry thrives on us not knowing. So skip the expensive products and grab yourself a clothes line and some clothes pins 🥼👖

My baby girl is 12 weeks. This is when most women go back to work. She stayed home with her dad alone for the first time for just three hours this week. Luckily I work for myself because I can’t imagine handing her over to a complete stranger for 40+ hours a week.

My opponents and their supporters keep telling residents that I don’t support our police and fire departments. But when you look at their own voting records, it shows they are just projecting their own actions on me. Throughout this campaign, they’ve tried to paint me as someone who is against police and fire because I opposed a “police and fire” special tax assessment. But I opposed the tax hike because we had no guarantee that the additional money would actually mean more resources for police and fire. And according to the budgets, I had every reason to be concerned. Before the tax increase, the fire department received $1.6 million. After the tax increase, that amount went DOWN to just under $1 million. The same thing happened with police. Before the tax increase, the police department received $2.1 million. After the tax increase, that amount went DOWN to $1.9 million. So residents are paying more in taxes for police and fire, yet the budget shows less funding. But it doesn’t stop there. Public records also show that my opponent and the rest of council approved changes that CUT pension benefits for several longtime police officers. These officers dedicated decades of their lives to our community. They could have gone elsewhere and made more money, but they chose to stay and serve Holly. And this is how we thank them? The pension changes also affected DPW employees, but I don’t get into that in this video. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I support our police and fire departments. But supporting them doesn’t mean blindly supporting every tax increase that has their name attached to it. Questioning how taxpayer dollars are being spent doesn’t make someone against police and fire. It’s called holding government accountable - especiallly one that’s proven to spend recklessly. So when politicians who have been in office for years tell you what they support, don’t just listen to what they’re saying on the campaign trail. Look at what they’ve actually done while in office. Because their record tells you a lot more than their campaign signs ever will.

I was supposed to be in court yesterday morning for my FOIA case against the Village of Holly. Instead of hearing arguments from both sides, the court canceled the hearing and issued a written decision. Unfortunately, the court ruled against us. What is most frustrating is that the ruling did not address many of the problems we raised with how the Village handled my public-records request, including: Not responding on time; Overcharging for flash drives; Charging attorney fees instead of using the proper employee rate; Leaving required appeal instructions out of its response; Failing to provide a real way to appeal the denial to the Village; and Requiring a 100% deposit before providing the records. We believe each of these actions violated Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act or made it harder to exercise the rights that law gives the public. But the court did not decide whether the Village acted properly. Instead, it ruled that I didn't sue fast enough. There are also serious problems with the ruling itself. The court dismissed the case under a rule dealing with whether the court had the legal authority to hear it, but then went on to decide other issues in the case anyway. We believe that was wrong, and it will be one of the issues raised on appeal. I am also disappointed that the scheduled hearing was canceled. A case involving access to public records and multiple alleged violations of Michigan law deserved careful consideration and an opportunity for both sides to be heard. This is not the first time important issues in this case have gone unresolved. Earlier in the case, we had a hearing scheduled over whether I could be forced to give a deposition—even though this case is entirely about what the Village did or did not do in response to my records request. Instead of deciding that issue, the court sent the case to mediation. That is why we have an appeals process. We intend to appeal this decision and ask the Michigan Court of Appeals to review what happened. FOIA exists so that ordinary citizens can find out what their government is doing. Those rights do not mean much if public bodies can overcharge people, improperly deny records, or make appeals difficult without being held accountable. This case is bigger than one records request. If government bodies are allowed to ignore FOIA requirements without consequences, it becomes harder for everyone to hold government accountable. I am disappointed in today’s ruling, but this case is not over.

When Secretary Kennedy said that some people with autism won’t ever have a job or live alone, he was referring to this level of autism 👇

🚨 New lawsuit just dropped in the Village of Holly, and no, it’s not mine. Months ago I reported that the coffee shop owner was falsely accused of putting $75,000 of tax payer funds in the wrong bank account. Through public records, I found that the Village Clerk gave her the wrong EIN number. But that didn’t stop the Village President from lying about the facts of the situation. Her lies did so much damage that some community members said Linda, the coffee shop owner, embezzled money. Yet the money was always in the bank account. When the clerk’s mistake was found, it was fixed. Not a dime went missing. Brandon had an opportunity to correct her *alleged* defamatory statement, but chose not to. So Linda took her to court. But that’s not all. Linda is suing Brandon personally, but Brandon’s attorneys are the same ones the Village retained for my lawsuit. So is the Village covering this lawsuit? If so, should tax payers have to take on the liability for something the Village President did on her own time? What I do know for sure, is that this isn’t the first time the Village President is being sued for spreading false statements about someone. That’s why I am also suing her in federal court as well.

While newspapers across the country have scaled back print or shut down their presses altogether, our local newspaper officially completed one full year in print 🗞️ We took a big risk going print only in this digital era. Not only did we survive, The Holly Post is thriving! We went from hand delivering papers for our first edition, to mailing direct to homes within a few months. Now this quarter, we added four hundred more homes to our delivery route, reaching about 9,500 homes throughout Holly, Rose, and Groveland Townships. Every edition is a labor of love. But it came together because of the people behind it: Amy Hillman and Hilary Allgeyer (and can’t forget our newest team member Baby Bella.) When I say I couldn't do this without them, I mean every word. This paper doesn't happen because of one or two people. It happens because of our entire team, our advertisers, guest writers, the people who send us tips and story ideas, and because of the people who keep picking it up and reading it. We're, especially grateful to Andy for trusting us to share the news that Andy's Place is opening its doors once again! This comes after a tragic fire in 2022 that closed the doors on several of our businesses. Andy opened up about how Andy’s Place started and we hope we did her family’s story justice. So cheers to another year of print🎉🗞️

New reality show idea: Think Undercover Boss, but for our elected officials. They have to live off of the median household income in their district with the average living expenses. They have to actually live in the district - go to the same gas stations, same grocery stores, same small businesses. No fancy fundraisers. No fancy international trips. Just regular life like the rest of us. Oh, and they actually have to interact with their constituents. Maybe then they would understand.

Should we fund public universities? Especially when they can afford to pay their presidents two million dollars? As an example, the University of Michigan gets $424,000,000 from taxpayers. Yes. That's the correct number of zeros. That comes out to $10,656 per undergraduate student. That's on top of the $19,000 tuition they receive from each student. So should we be funding them?

Bella wanted to tell you all about my new mega desk for my sewing room 🤠

Should for-profit companies receive tax payer funds? Billions have been given out over the years “to create good paying jobs.” But what if I told you that only 9% of the jobs promised were actually fulfilled? Would you still support corporate welfare then?