Vince Would Rather Barter Than Beg

Here's Vincent's response to the initial blog asking for help:

There's a reason there's not a crowd funding site page made for this cause. I'd rather barter for donations than to beg for them.

Once my driver's license is restored, I can drive myself to locations and, in exchange for your help, I can then help you out with a do-it-yourself project or something else you'd like to do that you need a companion for. The amount of assistance would be comparable to the donation, and you'd hafta cover gas expenses; but it's still a great deal and an awesome thing to have in your pocket when you need it: (that being) Some time with an authentic, real handyman who can help you with painting or landscaping or automotive and small equipment repairs and more.

For those who'd rather barter for lessons, I can teach you how to play lead guitar better than your competition and write leads from minor blues scales, freestyle, on the fly.

If you'd rather have help in some alternative way, I'm quite adept at making and producing videos (and I'm unshockable, as long as it's legal and nothing is harmed in the process).

I used to have horses as a kid, if you need farm help.

I have a strong work ethic and I prefer to do quality work.

I've held jobs as a painter, delivery driver, auto mechanic, truck mechanic, grounds crew member, landscaper, pool cleaner, general office worker, file clerk, hi-lo driver, machine builder, security guard, forklift mechanic, maintenance man, subcontractor, supervisor, golf course equipment mechanic, and various food service positions; for some background on my experience and abilities we can tap into. I've also done a lot of stuff in various forms of the entertainment industry that doesn't go into traditional work resume`s.

I haven't had a license since I was 18 years old. That was 32 years ago. I've been deprived of the independence other men can take for granted for my entire adult life. Then it's like a slap in my face that I still cannot get my license back while illegal immigrants are being given driver's licenses. I deserved to lose my license for a period of 4-7 years. That was a fair punishment for my retarded indiscretions of my youth. But the Driver's License Appeal Division (or Assessment Division or whatever it is they call themselves now) failed to afford me due diligence in my license restoration and has been sitting on it with a hold all of this time. I fulfilled their obligations to attend AA for a year, 4 times over, having attended it for 2 years to complete probation, twice. Even then, it was a violation of my rights because it goes against my religious beliefs to lie and claim that I'm powerless over something that I am NOT powerless over. I'm powerless over fudgesicles and homemade fudge; not alcohol nor drugs. I actually have an aversion to alcohol (physically); meaning that I cannot drink the hard stuff (at all) and have to force down a beer or 2 when being social with someone in drinking situations. I despise chemical drug use, on all levels, and never indulge in that. So to require me to attend AA or NA, NOW, over drinking as a kid is retarded and an abuse of power. The offenses that caused the corrupt judge to refer my license to that dinosaur agency in the first place happened while I was 17 and 18 years old, still a kid; the stereotypical retarded partyer with the car to transport the best friends that money, a ride, and grass can acquire.

So my hardship appeal is just that: I cannot reclaim my manhood or independence or give my wife the clean separation she wants as long as she's the only one who can transport me to the doctor and other places that I need to go. To free her up from that lifestyle of being my driver, my life got closed down. I'm never going to become a productive member of society again with my balls cut-off like this. 32 years is a long time to have people driving you around all the time. There were a few times that I drove on suspended. But I got caught at least once for every 3 times I drove. I completely stopped driving, years ago, thinking that justice would eventually prevail and the dinosaur agency bitches who refuse to do their jobs would grow a conscience and take the hold off of my license...But nope, no such luck. Gotta take it to court, after all this time. They don't even realize that they should be ashamed of themselves for this.

My wife found an attorney who'll start the hardship appeal for me for a reasonable rate and we're hoping that we'll be able to continue in the direction we're going.

So, you'll hafta wait until I walk it out in court for me to be able to reciprocate whatever help you can afford; but I'm honorable and good to show my gratitude when the option is available.

You can donate via snail mail at:

Vincent Ciofani

POB 105

Grayling, MI 49738

or with a site donation (all site donations are going to this battle)

from his response blog at http://bartering4liberation.blogspot.com/ 

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A Letter Vincent Wrote To A Judge

Vincent's wife did not know who to send this letter to, which is what started this campaign to crowd fund Vincent's attorney fees for his license restoration. The letter is very informative of his situation and his legal position. Any judge wanting to see justice in this case would rule in favor of restoring Vincent's driver's license...32 years is a long time to go without a license over bureaucratic incompetence.

The letter Vincent wrote is copied and pasted below. If you can get it to a judge or know of an attorney who'd assist Vincent in this battle, please forward a copy of it.

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Dear Your Honor;

My name is Vincent Nick Ciofani. I was born on August 31st, 1964 in Detroit, Michigan. I'm almost 50 years old now.

I lost my driver's license when I was 18 years old over drunk driving offenses I neglected to take care of. My case was given to the Driver's License Appeal Division (DLAD). I was later incarcerated for a felony offense and I received a letter from the Secretary of State stating that my driver's license was cleared and that I could reacquire it by presenting the letter to the Secretary of State upon my release from prison. But the letter was lost before it could be forwarded to me and, when I tried to get my license back, the DLAD was still on record with a hold on my license. I was on parole and was already fulfilling the requirements to attend AA to fulfill my parole obligations. I'd also fulfilled their year of AA attendance requirement the first time I was on parole, before I was violated for visiting my ex-wife and kids without permission from a parole agent (due to a glitch, when I transferred to the Detroit/Pontiac area from Ionia I was never given an agent to report to, which eventually resulted in the violation). So I scheduled a meeting and interview with the DLAD as required and was rejected by the interviewer via a letter.


My current wife and I then endured years of homelessness and I was unable to pursue reacquiring my license due to the harsh situations. Which, in turn, caused me to be turned down for good-paying mechanic jobs (that I was more than qualified for) simply because insurance would not cover me to move cars and trucks across the lot to the garage without a valid driver's license. Which made it all but impossible to fulfill my child support obligations at the time and my wife had to cover my payments for me for years.


I've endured not having a driver's license for 32 years. I admit that, due to my own lack of responsibility and regard for the law at the time, I did deserve to lose my license for a period of 4-7 years. But it's now 32 years later and the DLAD is still sitting on my driver's license like a tired old dinosaur with the same hold requiring that I redo all of the same stuff to re-fulfill all of the same requirements, which is ludicrous. It goes against my religious beliefs to lie and say that I'm powerless over alcohol at those meetings when the only 2 things I'm powerless over now are fudgesicles and homemade fudge...Oh, and my health issues (so that's 3 things, none of which are alcohol). I actually have an aversion to alcohol and very rarely can stomach even a few beers when I try to socialize with drinkers...Which is why I rarely socialize with drinkers. I never touch any of that hard poison I used to drink as a kid, back when I had the drunk driving offenses.


I was a retard as a kid. But I haven't been a kid for a very long time. I'd like to get back into the workforce and feel like I could possibly do something, if only part time, if I had the independence that others have. I look like a retard to potential employers with the transportation issues of always having to center my schedule around my wife's so that she can drive me to and from work. Try to picture it, if you will.



The reason for this letter is I'd like to find a Judge with the power to grant my license back who can see that this prolonged isolation has far surpassed the intent of the law. My only hope of getting my license back from the DLAD is to find that one upstanding Judge who'd like to see justice served in my case. Because, even if I do jump through their hoops again and fulfill their requirements a third time, they can still deny me at the interview like they did before (the guy disliked me from the moment we met). It's already bad enough that I'll incur reinstatement and retesting expenses due to how long this has drawn out. To require me to now attend AA for a year before considering me for an interview is ridiculous when you consider that I do not drink alcohol and have not drank alcohol in years, nor do I have a "problem" with alcohol (my wife's alcohol that she keeps around for entertaining friends never gets raided by me like it does by those who do have driver's licenses)...I kinda' can't stomach the stuff, to tell the truth.

If you can issue an order that my license be reinstated by the Seceretary of State, that'd save the taxpayers money in the long run and may even eventually generate some revenue from the taxes I'll eventually be paying when I do eventually find gainful employment again. After 32 years of being dependent on others, I can assure you that I'd never jeopardize my license by drinking and driving again.

May you accept this letter as me filing the appropriate motion or whatever fufills the requirement of the law and then rule on it favorably would be all that I could ask, Your Honor. And I thank you in advance for your time and consideration, regardless of what you decide.


Have a good one.


Sincerely;

Vincent Nick Ciofani

POB 105

Grayling, MI 49738

989-889-6506

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The Old Site Donation Button

Here's the old site donation button that Vincent's wife already had before PayPal started issuing the warnings about potential problems with fundraising online for those who do not have tax exempt status.

Help Vincent Get His License Back!

Anyone who has lost their driver's license knows how hard it can be. But imagine losing your license for 32 YEARS because the Michigan Driver's License Appeal Division will not release it. Well, that's exactly what's happening to Vincent. This blog is intended to rally support and funding for an attorney to take Vincent's case to a judge for a ruling to overthrow the DLAD decision. The cost for this was last estimated to be approximately $2500 to retain the lawyer and that the total cost would be somewhere between $5,000 and $7,000.

A donation button was created by Vincent's wife for this cause, but she does not have tax exempt status and may incur problems trying to retrieve donations given with the new button. So an old site donation button will also be posted. And a snail mail address will be posted for Vincent for those who'd like to make an anonymous or "off-the-grid" donation. That snail mail address is:

Vincent Ciofani

POB 105

Grayling, MI 49738

The donation button for the lawyer fund is: