My first blog. I saw at least 2 typos...and 4 improvements I need to make. Ugh! I have to start somewhere:-)

Thank you, Joshua:-)

Here's another recent article that is relevant:
http://domemagazine.com/lessenberry/jl021012

Michigan NAMI Walk T-shirt Credit Kristen
Famiano?

Well written article Kristen. You are right to question Cooper and her antics. She has shown herself to be a petty, vindictive, and arrogant official who disregards the laws she doesn't agree with. Sadly, Bishop is almost an exact clone of Cooper so the citizens lose regardless of which one gets the office.

You are left with an arrogant and petty democratic candidate versus an arrogant and petty republican candidate. Real nice to see that both parties care so little what the citizens think or deserve, only their own ideology and terrible candidates. Time for the parties to either start running some better candidates, or fade into a much needed obscurity.

People need to disregard party when voting and vote for the best candidate. When you have two poor choices, it is time to vote none of the above. Maybe the parties will finally get the idea that the citizens deserve a better candidate, not just a partisan mouthpiece.

Actually, Mike Bishop is campaigning, in part, on restoring relationships with community- based resources like Sobriety Court.

Let's put Bishop in and get rid of McMillin. He is stinking this town up.

Voting straight party ticket is a bad choice! You should always look at the candidate and their stance/beliefs. The days of voting straight party should be long gone. That mentality of votin straight is why we are in such a mess. That is also why Jessica Cooper is able to act the way she does and get away with it. I would bet that she also receives some sort of financial gain by throwing nonviolent criminals in jail. It is time to clean house; Jessica Cooper and L Brooks need to go! When you no longer serve the people and instead serve your own interests you deserve to lose your position. Take the Brooksie Way for example of a politician serving their own ego and not caring what the citizens want. The citizens don't want their roads closed and they don't want to be blockaded into their subdivisions with no way out every year. Closing roads and blockading subdivisions is unacceptable. The marathon can be setup on the grounds of Oakland University or rerouted in some other way, yet L Brooks is too pompous to listen to the citizens.

This is an excellent article, it brought up some very important concerns with Ms. Cooper. I am very disappointed in hearing we have cut the Sobriety court. I am also 100% in favor of a mental health court. Until mental health issues are seriously addressed we are doing our community a huge disservice.

I had the same issue with Tim Mcmillen. He would not give me an appointment to discuss the issue.

No way to vote a straight ticket in this election. Bob Gosselin is spilling into Rochester area for Oakland County Commissioner. He has been convicted of solicitation of a prostitute and indecent exposure and yet he is a Social Conservative. Tom McMillin needs to move to Oklahoma. Jessica Cooper is pitiful.

I understand that, I just wanted NAMI Metro to be mentioned, not NAMI Michigan.

I became interested in this election when I found out that Mr. Bishop took money from Matty Moroun to delay a vote on the bridge (if he did that, what would he do as prosecutor?), so I checked into the sobriety/mental health court issue. Cooper did not have anything to do with its funding, she only stopped sending a prosecutor to the meetings because of cutbacks in her own office’s budget (I hear that she lost ten percent of her prosecutors through county imposed budget cuts). These courts are still there, and are still functioning to provide treatment to those with substance abuse or mental illness problems. I would suggest that instead of bashing a particular candidate, that efforts such as these be refocused towards Lansing, to ensure that the budgeting for these important services remain available in the future.

Having experienced Cooper as a public safety professional I have been so desensitized knowing that she has no social grace, she treats everyone as like an abuser if you tell you're in trouble, she is not a judge anymore but demands her staff address her as Judge. Rings of my history lesson when people fled Europe.
Mike Bishop on the other hand is educated, a parent, compassionate, and approachable. Mike has life experience, Jessica is a brat like only child who would delete this to avoid scrutiny and she sits far higher in life precluding her from acknowledging any of us let alone discussing something so important as mental health issues.