Sturgis Journal Article

Just an update on the article, David Moore resigned and took other employment.

was David Moore the one hired to replace McDonough?

Yes. John was going to keep David on staff but David decided to take other employment.

I am sorry to hear you have lost your job. Have you been able to find further employment?

No not yet. I am looking. I have a few leads but the fact that I have a house in Centreville makes things more complicated. I either have to find a job within commuting distance or find one that pays well enough that I could get an apartment and afford the home at the same time until I can sell it. With the housing market and economy the way it is, it has been a bit discouraging but I am trying to keep a positive outlook.

Thanks for asking,
Holly

Thank you Holly for all the hard work you have done for us citizens in St. Joe County.

I have a question for you, We all know John was fired for not keeping his promise when hired in the office, but why did he fire you? Isn't this how he won his election by standing on the grounds of him getting fired and would never do what Doug did? (or renew your contract)

Let's not forget that she is a fully qualified lawyer and could set up her own shingle if she so chooses. Plus with her experience at county level she could be of tremendous help if she opted to work as a defence attorney within the court system.

Nothing to stop her doing that as far as I can see.

Silent, Yeah Good reason not to keep your word and fire someone just because she can get another job.

Trading tales,

He fired me for "personal reasons" (his words). It had nothing to do with the quality of my work. I think that is the point Doug was making in his quote in the article about fairness. In October when he finally came to see me and told me he was not keeping me on, I did request to stay until I found another job. Although he said "he would think about it" he never provided me with an answer. Instead, I heard of my official termination by reading about it in the paper.

Silent,

You are right. I am an attorney. But I am a CAREER prosecuting attorney at heart. My grandfather was the victim of a violent crime and I was the victim of some financial crimes by my ex-husband. Those experiences have solidified who I am and what I feel comfortable doing. I always wanted to work within the criminal system and because my conscience and beliefs are all part of that it would be very difficult to do Defense work. Even if I wanted to do some of that work to tide me over until something else came along, the local Defense contract is already in place and is already fully staffed.

My only info on this "topic" is what I have read here (and on other "local" online news sites) but based on that reading, it does seem to me that the new PA has "basically" done to you what happened to him. I could understand it if you had had poor performance evaluations and knew that "trouble" was brewing based on that. But imho, this appears to be "politically/personally motivated."

If you are not "born and bred" in St. Joe County I personally think you are at a disadvantage when it comes to almost anything of this nature.

With that said, you are young and have many options. Unless you feel a strong tie to this county, spread your wings and venture out. There are probably many beautiful areas in the country which are in need of experienced attorneys in their county offices.

My question and concern stands to be simple. How can we trust our new Prosecuting Attorney of St. Joe County to best represent the "people" if he cannot keep his word with something as basic as being honest with his own teammates. He doesn't even have the backbone to be upfront and forthright with Ms. Curtis about letting her go immediately and not holding on to her until at which point she was able to find other employment. `

Next time I go to Yoder's I'll buy you a piece of cheese to go with your Whine historylight. If I remember you blow your mouth against John from the very beginning. Sounds like sour grapes too me.

It also seemed like you were mostly likely going to be Mr. Fishers successor after his two year term. You are young and capable. I am sure you can run against John in the next election.

"If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons." unknown

Pepa,

My whole point in posting the article was that I wanted people to know the FACTS. I cannot change what has happened here but I also don't think John's decision to fire me should go unnoticed. There are people like yourself who are/will be supportive of him no matter what. But I also hope there are others out there who will notice the hypocrisy.

Ellen,

I wish there were no boundary lines when it came to a law license but alas I am only licensed in Michigan. One of my leads is in Indiana but the catch there is I would have to be offered the job before I could apply for a license by motion. It is complicated but some states engage in reciprocity. The down side is they would have to be willing to let me go through the lengthy process of applying for a provisional license there.

Pepa,

What John is essentially done is forced me out of the local legal community. Despite his statement that he would shake the hand and "say more power to them" to someone who was willing to run against him, he is trying to prevent/interfere with my ability to do that. Elections cost money and when you can barely afford to just pay your bills (and that was when I had the job!) running for office is not something easily obtainable. And although I might wish otherwise, it has become very clear to me that people do not necessarily always get to their station in life based solely on merit. Anyway, I will leave it at that; I do not expect you are anyone else to feel sorry for me because that is not who I am or who I want to be.

Holly

That is a lesson that one does learn along the way; that merit isn't always the key ingredient when it comes to success in one's job. Unfortunately, I think that merit/hard work tends to be ignored far more in the public/government sector. But do not be disheartened by what has taken place. It happens to many I think.

Again, the dynamics of this past election from my own personal observation demonstrated imo the influence of "family connections" in a small county. It seems to me that this discussion to a degree overlaps with another topic on this forum about being an "outsider" if one was not born and raised in TR.

However, I do believe that in the end, we each stand alone, able to claim ownership only to our own actions - nothing more or nothing less.