Who is Roger Fraser?

The Herald Palladium, Whirlpool media arm, reported on a meeting held 2 days ago:

A meeting of the managers
Gov. Snyder to address city managers convention in St. Joseph Thursday
By John Matuszak July 27, 2011
St. Joseph - For the first time, St. Joseph is hosting a gathering of around 100 city managers and other government leaders from across the state and, also for the first time, Michigan's governor will speak to the organization...The highlight of the workshop event will be a "State of the State" address by Gov. Rick Snyder from 9:30 to 10:15 a.m. Thursday at the Heritage Center. Snyder is scheduled to review his first six months in office and talk about issues crucial to local governments.
...Benton Harbor Emergency Manager Joseph Harris will be part of a panel discussion Thursday morning on "Public Act 4: The Local Government and School District Responsibility Act of 2011,"...Harris will be joined on the panel by Roger Fraser, (emphasis added) deputy state treasurer for local government services and former city manager of Ann Arbor...
http://heraldpalladium.com/articles/2011/07/27/local_news/5828420.txt


Who is Roger Fraser? This is extremely important info for Michigan residents:


Snyder Treasury Appointee Who Implements EM Takeovers Abused City Credit Card,
Ignored Auditor Warnings & Plunged Town into Deep Debt
...the choice [by Gov. Snyder] of Roger Fraser for this very important role stands out as highly questionable at best. The fact is that the City of Ann Arbor was nearly a half billion dollars more in debt after his time [9 years]as City Administrator. This should be enough to raise some red flags. However, when you dig into the details of how these debts arose, the red flags begin to flap more vigorously. The shifting of funds, sloppy record keeping and irregularities associated with the use of credit and purchasing cards, some by Roger Fraser himself, call his credentials into serious question. Under Fraser’s guidance, the City of Ann Arbor was guilty of some of the very actions that the cities of Benton Harbor and Pontiac, both of which now have EMs, have been criticized for.
...He’s the last person Michigan residents should have expected to see evaluating which cities in our state will be taken over under the auspices of Public Act 4. Full story: http://www.a2politico.com/?p=9526

Whirlpool to Cut 20-25 Salaried Jobs in Fort Smith
By Lance Turner 7/27/2011

Whirlpool Corp.'s Fort Smith plant will cut 20-25 salaried jobs before the end of the year, according to a statement from the appliance manufacturer. "Demand for major appliances in the U.S. is at recessionary levels," Kristine Vernier, a spokesperson for Whirlpool, said. "Whirlpool has confirmed that a salaried reduction in force at its Fort Smith plant is necessary to better reflect current demand and volume.

"Approximately 20-25 salaried positions will be eliminated by the end of the year through layoffs or retirement," she said.

Vernier said Whirlpool employs about 1,055 people, including 105 salaried and 950 hourly positions.

The layoffs are the latest at the appliance-maker's Fort Smith plant, which has laid off and rehired workers as demand for its products rises and falls. The company had also shifted production of some of its Fort Smith products to a plant in Mexico.

As recently as 2007, Whirlpool was reported to be the ninth largest employer in Arkansas, with 4,200 employees at the company’s Fort Smith plant. But the number of employees working there has since declined.
Click here to find out more!
Click here to find out more!

A year ago, the company said it employed 2,150 people in Fort Smith.

http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article.aspx?aID=127769.54928.139911

All in the Family

Fred Upton, heir to Whirlpool, has a cousin named Aubrey McClendon. Upton and Whirlpool take Lake Michigan lakeshore from the public for a resort for the wealthy; McClendon copies his cousin Fred on nearby lakeshore land. In both cases, local residents cooperate with the corporation (in Berrien) and the two billionaires.

When a billionaire wants lakeshore land, a show of law enforcement must be brought in to intimidate the commoners.

Despite vocal opposition, Saugatuck Township accepts dune settlement with Aubrey McClendon July 23, 2011

"...Board members took less than 30 minutes to agree to the settlement deal.

'I think the whole thing tonight was a sham. They simply ignored the people who spoke who were overwhelmingly against the development and the settlement,' said Harris.

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/07/despite_vocal_opposition_sauga.html

Whirlpool swings to $161m loss

By Jeremy Lemer in New York, July 21, 2011

Whirlpool, the US household-appliance maker, swung to a loss in the second quarter as it settled a legal dispute and struggled to cope with a “difficult economic environment” characterised by higher raw material prices and volatile demand.
Jeff Fettig, chief executive, said consumer demand was being hurt by “high unemployment, low consumer confidence, and recessionary housing levels” in North America and Europe while high inflation was starting to hit emerging markets...
Whirlpool’s sales in North America slid 7 per cent to $2.4bn, but rose 14 per cent to $841m in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and gained 25 per cent to $1.3bn in Latin America.
Whirlpool shares closed down 3.8 per cent at $72.78. Over the year to date, the stock price has fallen about 17 per cent on fears that a sagging economic recovery would dent consumer demand.
The Benton Harbor, Michigan-based company reported a loss of $161m, or $2.10 per share, in the three months to the end of June compared to a net profit of $205m, or $2.64 per share, in the same period last year.
Much of the loss stemmed from $522m in expenses to settle a long-standing dispute with Banco Safra over an unauthorised loan undertaken in 1989 by an employee of a company that later became part of Whirlpool.
Excluding non-operating charges, Whirlpool earned $2.76 per share compared to $2.82 in the same period in 2010. Sales rose 4 per cent to $4.7bn, thanks largely to currency effects, but global shipments of white goods rose year over year.
Whirlpool, which makes the Whirlpool, Maytag and Amana brands of home appliances, employs about 71,000 people and had annual sales of about $18bn in 2010.
Mr Fettig said he expected “global economic volatility to continue in the near term”, and said the company was now forecasting record full-year raw material and oil related costs of between $450m and $500m – double the company’s estimate in early February.
But he added that the company would aggressively pursue margin improvements by raising prices, introducing new, less material-heavy products and by optimising its supply chain to reduce freight and warehousing costs.
Whirlpool reaffirmed its full-year guidance for operating earnings per share of between $12 and $13 and free cash flow guidance of between $400m and $500m, but said that the current environment meant it would likely hit the low end of the range.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/c06fff84-b3a1-11e0-b56c-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1T7EhbayW

Judge: No triple bill for ex-EM Blackwell -
Former Highland Park official may yet have to pay state's legal costs
Doug Guthrie/ The Detroit News, July 09. 2011

Detroit—A Wayne County judge rejected a Michigan attorney general's request Friday for triple damages against Highland Park's former state-appointed emergency financial manager.

But Arthur Blackwell II may be required to cover the state's legal fees for the civil lawsuit trial, where he was found liable for improperly taking $264,000 from the cash-strapped city, said Wayne County Circuit Judge Robert Colombo Jr. -Full article:

http://www.detnews.com/article/20110709/METRO01/107090328/1409/metro/Judge--No-triple-bill-for-ex-EM-Blackwell