[nfbmi-talk] NFB BREAKING NEWS

[Fred Wurtzel]

Hi,

I second Christine's comment.  Let's get this out to the media.

Warmest Regards,

Fred

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbmi-talk [mailto:nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Terry
D. Eagle
Sent: Saturday, September 07, 2013 3:09 PM
To: 'NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List'
Cc: 'NFB of Michigan Vendors List'
Subject: [nfbmi-talk] NFB BREAKING NEWS

 

 

 

This is NFB of Michigan Breaking News 

 

State Officials Attempt To Cover-up Lies  

 

 

An unnamed source within the Nfb of Michigan, identified only as a board
member, has revealed that on Friday at 1 p.m. state officials pulled the
plug on a controversial civil service job posting for ten student assistants
to staff a proposed Tim Horton's coffee shop franchise in the Capitol and
Anderson House of Representatives office building in downtown Lansing.  The
job posting was scheduled to close Monday at 5 p.m.

 

"Could it be that state officials are trying to cover-up their lies, in
which they have  been caught with their hand in the coffee bean jar?",
questions the anonymous NFB board member.  The question arises following
statements made by state Licensing and Regulatory Affairs director Steve
Arwood, denying that plans exist and are moving ahead to establish a well
known foreign company coffee shop franchise in the two state buildings. 

 

As Arwood walked past a local television news reporter and camera crew, a
cone of silence descended.  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.

 

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, as reported by the local news reporter.

 

Arwood's denial that no decisions have been made comes two days after Bob
Robertson of the Bureau of Services to Blind people, distributed a memo to
the bureau's staff, announcing the civil service posting for the ten student
assistant positions to staff the franchise locations at taxpayer expense.

 

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.

 

The controversy has been a hot topic on media website blogs since the
planned Tim Horton's franchise news story was aired on Lansing's WLNS six
o'clock news on Tuesday, said the unnamed NFB board member.  "It should be
abundantly clear to all that Arwood's comments on Thursday, followed by the
early pulling of the student assistant position posting, is a deliberate
attempt to back-peddle and do damage control, for the failure of state
officials to think through the plan, and anticipate reaction to the plan.",
added the unnamed NFB board member.    

 

The Director of Services to the Blind and Department of Civil Service
officials were unavailable for comment on this story because of the weekend.
Also unavailable for comment was Robert Essenberg, as he is currently in
Canada for Tim Horton franchise training.  Essenberg is the newly appointed
state division director of the BADP, hired as a civil service employee at a
salary in the $100,000 per year range, to oversee operation of the two Tim
Horton franchise locations at 

the Capitol and Anderson House of Representatives office building. 

 

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