[nfbmi-talk] Paper says "No plans for Tim Horton's," but

[Joe Sontag]

I have the following from a reliable source:

When a TV reporter and camera crew arrived at the BSBP Lansing Central Office earlier today, Director Ed Rodgers ordered his Staff to say that he was not present, while he hid in the conference room until the reporter and crew left the office.

Finally, if there are no plans for a Tim Horton's franchise, why is Bob Essenberg in Canada now, possibly for up to 7 weeks?  Has anyone seen Essenberg around the greater Lansing area lately?  If I were that reporter, I'd be trying to speak with Bob Essenberg, the newly hired 17-level Director of the Business Assistance and Development Program (BADP) within the Bureau of Services for Blind Persons (BSBP).
 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Joe Sontag 
  To: VENDORSMI List ; NFBMI List 
  Sent: Thursday, September 05, 2013 20:58
  Subject: Paper says "No plans for Tim Horton's," but


  State officials were reluctant to comment on reports regarding Tim Horton products
  going into the state capitol.
  The Director of Services to the Blind was unavailable for comment on
  this story
  , as a cone of silence descended. An
  employee of the Michigan House and a state licensing department official declined
  to talk, too, as they walked into a 2:30 strategy meeting on this issue Thursday.
  There was one state official who did talk, but not on camera. He points out, Tim
  Horton products would go into a room on the ground floor of the capitol, but the
  Tim Horton sign would not. Tim Horton employees would not be running the operation,
  but they would provide training to the visually impaired who would.
  However, the Tim Horton sign and products could end up in the House office building,
  right across the street from coffee shop competitor Biggby.
  Bob Fish runs the Biggby franchises in the area and was not asked to bid on the project.
  He is worried that franchisees may have their tax dollars subsidizing Tim Horton.
  "I don't think its a matter of signage or not signage," said Fish. "All of our Biggby coffees are taxpayers. It would feel a little awkward to us that
  we are paying our taxes and maybe that project is being subsidized somehow with our
  dollars. That sounds weird to me."
  As the licensing department director, Steve Arwood, came to the meeting, he was not
  very forthcoming on what exactly was unfolding as he walked past our camera.
  (Reporter) Mr. Director, would you help clarify what you are trying to do.
  "Discussions are underway and no decision has been made," said Arwood.
  (Reporter) Do you want to put a franchise in there?
  "Discussions are underway," replied Arwood.
  (Reporter) Is the state going to pay a franchise fee?
  "No decisions have been made, Tim," said Arwood.
  Fish contends that if the state does not pay a franchise fee, he has "a problem with that...
  it's unfair." We don't know if its unfair, because nobody was talking about it.