Letter to the citizens from Janice K. Allen
IS THIS THE SAME GUY? ARE YOU SURE?
The Michael J. Hoyt you all are talking about is unknown to me!
The Michael J. Hoyt I know is an active certified Advocate for Veterans and the disabled seeking to file a claim for compensation.
The first time I met him he asked my husband (Pete) if he was a veteran and received benefits? Pete replied he was but didn’t think he was eligible for benefits. Michael checked it out and was able to get Pete qualified for benefits including his new hearing aids.
He has done the same for other veterans and he recently attended a meeting at the VFW to offer his services.
The Michael I know stood at the commission meetings and proposed action on the bypass speed limits and clearer vision of the 12th street intersection.
Last spring one of our school busses was hit by a truck that had run a red light. The bus was carrying students but luckily there were no serious injuries.
Michael asked several times to cut down three trees on the west right-of-way that impaired vision of the traffic going from north to south; – when done, traffic from the north had a better vision of the light at 12th Street.
He also brought attention to the fact the warning lights on highway 69 were not working and we now have an agreement from KDOT for a $2M project to install all new traffic signals on 69 highway.
He also proposes a walkway over the highway at that same intersection.
This Michael proposed the destroying of guns that had been confiscated by our police and sheriff officers – rather than letting them return to circulation. There are organizations that pay a substantial amount of money for this service.
This is the same Michael that worked on the resurfacing of the city tennis courts by gathering supplies, and by bringing water and pizza to the crews at his own expense and donating funds. He also worked on the part of “the city cleanup” by gathering tools and supplies, ice and water for the 30+ college workers who worked on the repair of the failing stone wall at Buck Run that has been damaged by storm water runoff.
This Michael Hoyt is in favor of encouraging inmates at our jail to obtain a GED to help get employment for them when released.
This Michael Hoyt tried time after time to get the commissioners to pass a resolution to make the 1% city-wide sales tax compliant with the wishes of the voters in the 1986 election. The motion to pass was never seconded. It would have solved the sales tax issue and kept the revenue coming.
The mayor was heard to say, “I want the voters to vote on it.” Our City Attorney said he would do his best to convince the commission to pass the resolution. He said the Finance Director had told him the vote to repeal the resolution and place it on the ballot would cause the city to defund our police department and firefighters and she also told the commissioners that it would happen. She is the only one who has suggested that the police and fire dept. would be defunded but according to law we will have a paid police force and paid firemen. It was a scare tactic so the people would believe that would happen. .
Toward the end of a recent commission meeting there was a noisy disturbance on the street outside the commission building. People were yelling, cussing and making all kinds of statements. A passerby came into the meeting to tell Chief Sheldon about it; he started outside to check the problem. Michael heard the exchange and went outside right along with Chief Sheldon – he later said he wasn’t going to let him go out there by himself, not knowing the situation.
So maybe I just see things more clearly than the group who are blasting Michael on Facebook. That he is trying to help citizens and this city to become a better place.
By now many of you have been told that Fort Scott City Commissioner Candidate, Michael Hoyt does not own a home in Fort Scott, that he’s been in Fort Scott only four years, and that you should be suspicious of him as a candidate?
He is at least 18 years of age, a legal resident and registered voter of Fort Scott. These are the necessary requirement for being a city commissioner in the state of Kansas.
After moving here to care for his mother he became passionate about maintaining and preserving this town. He saw that Fort Scott Veterans could use help in applying for and navigating the paperwork that would result in them receiving much-needed benefits they were qualified for. He also saw a need for better management of city funds. He attended numerous City and County Commission meetings, work sessions etc.
Michael also led the fight to repeal charter ordinance 31, the ordinance that would have allowed the transferring of funds from the sewers and was struck down by the voters.
For the past month, Michael has worked with Pete in researching our city connecting link agreement with the state. They have found that the agreement was not understood locally and that the last two projects on Wall Street cost the taxpayers of Fort Scott approximately $200,000 for a mill and overlay. That was outside of the city’s responsibility for maintenance, and it should have been done under an agreement that would have been funded 90/10 with state funding, thereby saving the city $180,000. As a result of that research, a meeting with area engineers is now set for Monday morning here in Fort Scott.
Fort Scott is a community that those who live here and those who move here value. It is a lifelong home to many and has always welcomed newcomers with the hope those newcomers will soon see the value of becoming involved in supporting the maintenance and growth of their new home town.
Michael Hoyt is one of those who came, appreciated what he saw here and became actively involved.
Many “nonresidents” and some residents of Fort Scott who are opposed to Michael Hoyt, the candidate, are actively putting forth innuendoes, loaded questions and smears in order to sway votes away from him as a valid candidate.
Have these same people shown an interest in actively working for the betterment and survival of the town they appear to be so concerned about?
Have they devoted countless hours attending meetings and researching laws, statutes, resolutions that are a part of the fabric of our city?
Have they been volunteers spending their time assisting the veterans or other worthy groups needing help?
Fort Scott citizens need to vote for the city commissioner candidates they know will put their backs behind the hard work of guiding Fort Scott with integrity, a willingness to address the concerns voiced by the community, and with objectivity!
When voting for a new Fort Scott Commissioner are you looking for someone with the integrity to direct city funds to be used for the purposes intended.
Often voters are thinking more of “who they like” rather than “who has the skills” to be a city commissioner.
A city commissioner isn’t elected to be your friend or because they are your friend. They aren’t required to go golfing or to go out to dinner with you.
Vote for Michael J. Hoyt!!
Janice Allen, concerned citizen