Cliffs Riffs - Stuph n Nonsense

I have known and worked with Cliff Yankovich for close to 20 years.  I play music for a living and he has appreciated music for a lifetime.  I know of his dedication to environmental issues; specifically, when it comes to fresh, potable water from our common source, “The Great Lakes”.   We may drink from opposite sides of “The Pond”, but the goals are the same.  I know Cliff to be a man of integrity and passion.  Cliff takes no PAC dollars.  That means he is beholden to no one except his own conscience.  His responsibility is to his constituents with no detours when it comes to money and/or loyalty.  He is that rare politician who comes with no strings attached..  Depending on how you view Cliff, he is either a “breath of fresh air” in a stale political arena, or a “clean and fresh drink of water”, in a time and place where water quality cannot be taken for granted.  I back him and his cause 100%. Jim Fox

June 2nd When asked what motivated him to seek election to the Michigan House of Representatives, Cliff Yankovich said, "Blame it on pipeline #5, our terrible roads, and the subject of Michigan's water in general. When I saw a video in 2013 on the condition of a now 63 year old pipeline moving almost a million gallons of crude oil an hour underneath the straits of Mackinac I was so upset I couldn't sleep. The condition of our roads and the way our legislators totally dropped the ball on that matter was the second motivator." The final push came from two water related items; lead contamination in Flint and reading about the sweetheart deal given to Nestle Incorporated to pump millions of gallons of water out of aquifers that feed Lake Michigan for little to no cost. "Water is the future," Yankovich went on to say. "The guy who made almost a billion dollars betting against the housing bubble put most of his earnings into things related to water...

If you are a voter in the 86th District - then I am YOUR man to represent you in Lansing. That is not an ego based statement - it is an affirmation that if you vote me into office, I will do my best to answer to YOU - not to the dollars of Political Action Committees (PACs). As a Green Party candidate I can not and will not accept any PAC money . My opinion and my vote are not for sale. The Green Party is not for sale - no one from the home office is going to call me and tell me how to vote because some lobbying group just cut a big check to the Green Party of Michigan. Can you see how vastly different this is from our current situation? My efforts on behalf of Michigan as a whole and the people who live in the 86th District ARE NOT FOR SALE. Why is this so important to you and the State of Michigan? Consider these three vital issues in our State and how they are being controlled by PAC money. 1. Pipeline #5 that threaten's the freshwater supply of MILLIONS of people ...

I went back to school a couple of days ago in an effort to solidify my understanding of the direction PUBLIC education is taking in Michigan. I found a dozen teachers who agreed to meet with me to a) confirm or deny my belief/understanding/assessment about the effort to privatize education and b) share their concerns with me. Since meeting with them I have been researching my butt off and had a very fortuitous visit from a customer yesterday who without any prompting from me proceeded to tell me how the Charter School effort is helping millionaires make millions. (He cited one example of a business man he knew who made millions in one business and is now making millions from Charter schools.) As to point a, I am sad to report that my general view of the current direction was confirmed. Let me sum up my findings with this sentence: Public Schools in Michigan are being crippled by our current legislators - especially at the House level.  I want to keep this kind of shor...

I need you to carefully consider what I have to say today. I believe there is enough of everything to do what needs to be done. What does this have to do with my effort to be the 86th District Representative? I believe there is enough to do what needs to be done in Michigan. We have enough resources, including the finances and manpower, to do what we need to do to preserve and protect what we have and to make the repairs to what is broken. There is enough to protect our water. We have enough to provide great schools to all children in Michigan. There is plenty to repair our roads. We have enough to repair our failing infrastructure. This is not some pie in the sky fantasy.  In fact, I believe this message has a lot more REALITY and truth in it than if I came before you and told you we do not have enough to get the job done. I would suggest to you that the constant drone of "not enough" is a smoke screen - and a very detrimental yet effective smo...