If Burt Johnson can't pay his bills, how will he make a good Senator?

So I was doing my due diligence this weekend and researching the candidates running for our local races when I can across this interesting info:

www.bertjohnson4michigan.com

This is the current District 5 state rep, and Democratic candidate for State Senate District 2's campaign website. If you click on it, you will find something very interesting. It appears that Mr. Johnson didn't pay his Webmaster. The Webmaster has put up a big disclaimer of the grievances on the front page. Not a wise move on Mr. Johnson's part.

My thought is, if he decides to take advantage of a local web site developer, and delay paying them, even after a check has bounced, What other NON ETHETICAL things will he do if he is elected State Senator? I Admit I don’t know much about the candidate, as I am from the eastside of the district he is running from, but Its not a good sign to find this when i go to look up info on his website....

His name, and the link, is misspelled:

http://www.bertjohnson4michigan.com/

And that web developer rocks.

Correcting spelling of Bert Johnson's first name:

http://www.bertjohnson4michigan.com/

Interesting to note that Bert Johnson has also had his license suspended 24 times [[with 18 moving violations since he first got his license), and has served time in prison for armed robbery.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/44006.html
http://www.nationalreentryresourcece...-starting-over

Also, Bert Johnson is the friend to whom Kwame and Carlita sold their pre-mayoral house on Leslie Street in Detroit in 2003; Bert Johnson lost it to foreclosure in 2006.

http://apps.detnews.com/apps/blogs/d....php?blogid=22

[[Sorry Johnlodge -- I didn't see your post correcting the spelling.)

sorry everyone for the misspelling. I have corrected it. in the original link as well. Silly spell check.

Felony convictions, not paying bills, bad driving records . . . these things apparently get you bonus points in the D.

Tomorrow the City Council will pass a law that will eliminate the question about felony convictions on applications for city employment - with no public opposition. The ultimate goal of the proponents is to expand this requirement to city contractors. Older people grew up in an era when being a civil servant meant the person had led a pretty clean life since the requirements for civil service were thought to be pretty high. They need to be re-educated about this and exercise caution the next time the the water guy says he needs to check the meter in the basement.

As for extending this to contractors or vendors, like DTE, they should agree to this only if the city agrees to indemnify them from the negligent hiring lawsuits sure to follow.

Google cache of bertjohnson4michigan.com

If Johnson can hold on long enough to get to Washington DC, he'll be in good company. Most of those guys there don't have criminal records, but they deserve them. Just remember - they make the laws, they can do what they like. Every now and then, they'll sacrifice one of their own for blood, show and sport.

qdaddy, your tip was picked up by the Freep. Good job:

http://www.freep.com/article/2010092...nate-candidate

The webmaster has an update on the site, I guess Mr. Johnson contacted her 1/2 hour after the story posted on Freep....

www.bertjohnson4michigan.com

From the looks of the website [[behind the message) and the grammar used in the message, I'm not all that anxious to view the site anyway. The webmaster doesn't seem to be very talented at what she does. Everybody is a web designer these days, they're killing the profession! I can't find anything listed on her company either - I wanted to see some of her other work since that one isn't a good look at all. This must have been her first job. From the looks of things, it might be her last too.

Okay, I found her website - http://www.theinfinitillc.com

Just as I suspected, a novice. Her handling of this situation is going to cost HER more than Bert Johnson, IMO.

What I don't understand though, if these are her prices:

• A basic or personal web site with no maintenance; the cost is $250.
• A basic or personal web site with monthly updating is $250 for the creation and $10 monthly maintenance fee for 24 months.
• Web portals and Dynamic web sites are priced on a per project basis and price negotiated during consultation

How on earth does she charge $2800 for that mess she did for Johnson? Is that a typo in the news article?

DETWA,
The focus is now shifting in the wrong direction. First of all, the Free Press left out that the $2800 didn't just include the cost for the site. Mr. Johnson's site was custom done to his specifications and it was very classy. Mr. Johnson's webstie was shut off because he repeatedly promised to pay but only had excuses. Mr. Johnson didn't complain about his website, he ensured the link to his campaign website was added to every site that referenced him as a candidate. However; the bigger issue here is the fact that this man is currently a State Rep and wanting to be a State Senator but can not manage his own budget. He did bounce a check in June, a check he used to pay for his website. An expenditure that he didn't list in his campaign filings that is required. Take a look for yourself http://miboecfr.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/cfr/can_search.cgi

He can't even file his paperwork on time. Since his campaign started he has had [[2) two Late Filing Fee Notices and [[2) Failure to File Notices. This means each time he was suppose to file something electronically he was late. He's suppose to file Pre-Primary and Post Primary and both times he was late. His expenditures indicate he pays campaign staff...what is he paying them to do? They obviously can't file his campaign docs on time or pay his bills on time. His Pre-Primary was electronically filed [[7) seven days late and the Post-Primary was electronically filed [[12) twelve days late. Read the state records and the documents that he submitted http://miboecfr.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/cfr/show_img.cgi?doc_seq_no%3D331312%26com_id%3D515245 %26doc_stmnt_year%3D2010%26total_images%3D17%26ima ge_id%3D1%26doc_scanned%3D07/30/2010%26doc_date_proc%3D07/30/2010%26doc_type_code%3DP1%26caller%3D%26last_match %3D%26cfr_com_id%3D%261%3D1, in June he reported having $34,050 in his campaign account...why then did he bounce a check that was not even a tenth of that? Where in his expenditures does he list website design and hosting? You can do a search on other candidates because it is public knowledge. Check to see how many of them electroinically filed their paperwork on time or late. This shows character. If I don't pay my bills on time my credit score goes down. Policticians should be held to a higher standard as they control very large budgets that happen to be your tax dollars.

Maybe, just maybe Mr. Johnson doesn't have the money that he reported having in his account and that's why he can not pay his webmaster for her services. Remember, the $2800 was not just for the web site. Don't make her out to be the bad guy, she's not trying to run for office and manage your tax dollars.

If the issue is that Bert isn't paying his bills, and if they have a signed contract, then Mr. Johnson is a johnson.

If the question is on the quality of the Johnson site, well, that too gets back to their contract and what was promised vs delivered.

In looking at the webmaster's site, I can't give it very high marks; but, that is beside the main point that Bert Johnson is a creepy KK butt sniffer, a violent felon and another in a long line of criminals in public office.

ROFL fromtheheart, that site is/was anything but classy. It's amateurish at best. But if that's what he asked for, I guess he didn't know any better. You couldn't pay me to do poor work though, because ultimately MY name is on it. Even the message posted on the site is poorly written and full of grammatical errors. It couldn't have taken that much consulting to throw together a Silverlight cut and paste job. But if someone agrees to pay it, more power to everybody. It's hard out here for a pimp.

The focus is not shifting, I just saw some things that I felt like commenting on since that's my area of expertise. Bert's campaign will sink on its own, based on everything being revealed about him. But I still think the webmaster is sinking herself by her handling of the situation. Seems like they both lose in this instance.

Here's what I would have done if he didn't pay me and bounced a check - I would have taken the website down altogether while still retaining ownership of the domain. I would have purchased every other possible domain name so he couldn't go elsewhere and start another one without having to resort to www.bjformichigan.com. Then I would have simply sued him in small claims court and sent the notices to the media. That's the professional way to do things, let the news spread the story, not you. Imagine how potential clients are going to look at this, right or wrong, they're going to be turned off by it all. I posted about it in a web design forum and they all said the same thing, they wouldn't have handled a client like this. You both lose.

Beyond that, all of the other information you have about him, I would have anonymously spread that to ensure he didn't win the election. Then chalk it all up as a lesson learned. And next time, get half up front, and the final payment upon approval BEFORE launching the site live.

Another option, since you don't have a portfolio, you could have done a bang-up job on his site [[regardless of his tacky little opinion) and then used it to lure other clients. It would have made you more money in the end than you are losing now. And STILL anonymously ruin him on the backend.

You have to be more strategic in your decisions so you take down the enemy and come out smelling like a rose!

Silverlight was only used for the video portion of Mr. Bert's site. I will admit that NOW it is tacky and it was intended to be tacky after what had transpired. However, your original comment was the cost of the site and part of my reply to you was defending the site but as I stated the bigger issue is there is obviously more to the story than the public knows about. Additionally, I'm sure the webmaster's intent when posting that comment was to motivate Mr. Johnson to pay...who would have thought the Free Press would have got a hold of it and called her. I'm sure her intentions were not malicious. As for the payment, Mr. Johnson's payment for the website, originally Mr. Johnson paid with a bad check in June and made good on the check 10 days later. Mr. Johnson's cheif of staff wanted to only pay for [[3) months of hosting to make sure they got past the primary. After bouncing the check the webmaster retained ownership of the domain name to ensure that Mr. Johnson paid for all the services he received. After wining the primary Mr. Johnson no longer wanted to pay for the services because he knew he was going to win in November. He gave the webmaster the run around from August until she posted the sign on his site. What is very interesting is where in his Post Primary expenditures does it show he paid his webmaster? He bounced the check but he finally made good on that check in June but his expenditures do not reflect that!!! You also might want to know that after bouncing the check the webmaster told Mr. Johnson she didn't want to do business with him but he persuaded her to continue. The [[3) month contract was up and the webmaster stated that he could go somewhere else but insisted he would pay so she took his word. None of this would have happened if he had been truthful. He never had any intentions of paying her because she renegotiated her pricing on Monday at his request but he wanted to pay her with another check! When told it had to be certified funds he had another excuse and didn't understand why she wouldn't take his check. He could have taken his domain name and all his webpages elsewhere but still he didn't pay...and trust me it was less than half of the $2800 just to get rid of him. Again, rememeber $2800 was not just for the web site.

Now the owner's site is a template that needs to be refreshed at the recommendation of many friends. It's a site that has been there since she began.

You criticize this webmaster but you have no idea the person she is except that she is too trusting.

Also, what is www.bjformichigan.com.. Is this his new site?

I was being facetious. As in [[blowjob)for michigan, BJ [[bert johnson) for michigan. If no other appropriate domain was available with his name, he would be stuck with something that sucked, lol.

My criticism has nothing to do with your character. I'm speaking of the quality of the work itself and how things could have been done differently. Remember, everything you do is a reflection on YOU. Bert Johnson won't be your last non-paying client, trust.

Duly noted.

I will use this as a lessons learned and do much better next time and I will revamp my site to showcase my talent as well as add a portfolio section.