Posted on 07/04/2005 7:36:17 PM PDT by Azzurri
FOODMAFIA.COM: HOW TO KILL A FAMILY BUSINESS
Thank you for visiting our site. This is a classic David vs. Goliath story. Northern Food Service has kept the big guys in check for 50 years and saved Michigan taxpayers millions of dollars. What did we get for this?
The State of Michigan breached our contract, cut our revenue in half, caused jobs to be lost, and has forced us to near bankruptcy. Amazingly enough, the primary beneficiary of these actions is one of the big guys, Gordon Food Service. All of this was done at the expense of Michigan taxpayers.
Please tour our site for the details and how you can help right a wrong. Watch for our trucks in your area and at special events throughout Michigan.
(Excerpt) Read more at foodmafia.com ...
Small food distributor tackles state in dispute
BY TOM WALSH
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
State bureaucrats have been called many names over the years, but probably not the "Food Mafia" -- until now.
That's what operators of a small northern Michigan business call staff members of the Michigan Education Department and state Attorney General's Office on a new Web site, http://www.foodmafia.com/, and on the sides of company vehicles that have become provocative rolling billboards.
These guerrilla tactics are an attempt by Northern Food Service owner John Battiste and general manager John Paulsen to draw attention to their contract dispute with the state over the delivery of food such as green beans, applesauce and peanut butter for school lunch programs.
"How to kill a family business and stick taxpayers with the bill," reads the message painted on the side of Paulsen's van and a Northern Food truck, along with the Web address.
Northern Food Service of Elmira has sued the state and won one round in court over its claim that the state cut Northern's food delivery volume by 42% despite the fact that Northern invested $2.5 million to serve hundreds more schools as initially required under its 2002 contract. The state has appealed, and while the parties await the next hearing, the future of Northern Foods and its contract is in limbo.
bttt
While I'm sympathetic to their cause, if you lay down with dogs, you wake up with fleas. Beware doing business with the government!
Hard to make much sense of the web site, but it appears they were involved in warehousing and delivery of government surplus cheese, etc., in the 80's. Maybe they "saved" a lot of taxpayer money, but they seem to have also taken a lot of it along the way.
Michigan politics ping.
This FReeper is shooting both barrels to the face (politically speaking) of this canuck transplant to rid this state of a cancerous political tumor in the next election. This tripe-ess is a puke fest - recall this import baaaawling next to Kerry bantering with tears in her eyes on how great Kerry is during the last election cycle. Maybe the worst gov in the U.S. So in this pathetic, highly unemployed state, she's ripe for re-election. rant over.
Michigan Education Department
The most misaligned and dangerous union in the nation.
"Hard to make much sense of the web site..."
bingo.
Very very poorly written and designed. They need to have lots of info on there, such as Free Press articles, etc. They have a bunch of legal decision on there, but most of us aren't gonna wade thru it.
The only "decision" I found there is a order giving leave to appeal some other decision. So either they lost something and were told they can appeal, or they won something and the state can appeal. Not sure who really "won," then.
Basically, it sounds like a (possibly legitimate) breach of contract suit, taken to the public area for political purposes. Not sure if that's a good strategy, but I can't say I feel any sympathy for the granholm administration. I also can't say how much sympathy I feel for the company, based on the available information. Being small doesn't necessarily translate into being right.
...and with a 'RAT governor...of course, "official" corruption/bribery (the extra $.30/per unit cost, has to go somewhere.) has nothing to do, with the awarding with these contracts.
note to Northern Food Service:
hire, if you can, friends and neighbors for protection
keep family pets indoors
don't fly in small airplanes.
don't advertise your travel plans
don't travel alone/small groups
don't take any checks
if you do fly, check your baggage when you leave.
don't take any walks, nearby wooded parks (Rem: Vince F.)
If they want to be taken seriously they need to re-design the site to capture my interest and keep it.
I don't want to read a lot of material just to see if it is something that I want to support all at once. They need some quick "sound bites" and then get more detailed as I go along.
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