John Lio: When is Enough, Enough?

Today's letter is from John Lio, resident, stalwart volunteer, community leader and 2025 nominee for Harbor Springs Citizen of the Year. John writes about a letter from the Mayor and his son that perhaps many of you have received. It is written on Graham Real Estate letterhead.

𝙅𝙤𝙝𝙣 𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙨:

"𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙣 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙝𝙖𝙢 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙀𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙈𝙖𝙮𝙤𝙧 𝙏𝙤𝙢 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙝𝙖𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙉𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙝𝙖𝙢.

𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙬𝙤 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙧𝙪𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙡. 𝙄 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙪𝙖𝙡’𝙨 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚. 𝘿𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙮 𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙄 𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙚 𝙖 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙮, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙙𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩.

𝙈𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙮𝙤𝙧 𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙜𝙣 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙩𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩. 𝙄 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙪𝙣𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡. 𝙀𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙨, 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙈𝙖𝙮𝙤𝙧𝙨, 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨. 𝙃𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙮 𝙙𝙤 𝙨𝙤 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙮, 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙮.

𝙈𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙨 𝙜𝙪𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨 (𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙈𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙣’𝙨) 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙝𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙯𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙨 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙙 𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙜𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙡𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙈𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙣 𝘾𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙜𝙣 𝙁𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝘼𝙘𝙩 (𝙈𝘾𝙇 169.257) 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙝𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙘 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙜𝙣 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙮. 𝙑𝙞𝙤𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙡𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙮 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙖𝙧𝙙.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙞𝙘 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙣 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙝𝙖𝙢 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙀𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙝𝙖𝙢 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙀𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩.

𝘼𝙡𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙨 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜.

𝙍𝙚𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 - 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝, 𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝?"

-𝙅𝙤𝙝𝙣 𝙇𝙞𝙤

(Note from Danny: The attached image of the Graham Real Estate letter has been cropped to remove the primary content and candidate endorsement. The removed content only reinforces the concerns outlined by John in his letter posted here.

To be clear, I am far from a lawyer-so take this with a grain of salt, but in addition the legal concerns outlined by John in MCL 169.257, I found this in the Michigan Campaign Finance Act MCL 169.254:

𝑺𝒆𝒄. 54.

(1) 𝘌𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 55, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙟𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙘𝙠 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙮, 𝙙𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙣, 𝙤𝙧 𝙡𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙯𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙧 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙧 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 4(3)(𝘢).

(2) 𝗔𝗻 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗿, 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿, 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿, 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺, 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯, 𝘰𝘳 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙧 𝙟𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙘𝙠 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙮, 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙬𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙮, 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙪𝙧𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙨, 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙧 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙧 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 4(3)(𝘢).)