On April 23rd The Plymouth Township Board Of Trustees Will Obligate Residents To 1.9 Million in New Spending

Plymouth Canton Community Schools Superintendent Jeremy Hughes showed up at the Plymouth Township Board of Trustees meeting on April 9th, and presented a slide show detailing the proposed bond sale that will be voted on by citizens of the school district on May 7th.

He did this in the interest of transparency.  He also attended meetings in the city of Plymouth, as well as Canton Township.  Transparency is a huge thing when entities are spending the people's tax money.

It is important to be above board, and show the people what you are spending their money on, and it is important to give them some time to mull it over.  You bring it to the taxpayers months in advance, so questions can be asked.  Sometimes people may point out things that the creators never thought of.  Tweaks can be made.  You never know.

The main thing is transparency.  Be above board.  Lay your cards on the table.  No Surprises.

By most accounts, Plymouth Canton Community Schools have done these things.  There has been the necessary transparency.  They have presented their plans to anyone who will listen.  They even visited the public meetings of trustees in Plymouth and Canton Townships, as well as the City of Plymouth.

Here is the funny part of the whole thing.  While they were asked some clarifying questions in Canton, and the city of Plymouth, they were met with skepticism and criticism at the Plymouth Township Board of Trustees meeting.  Actually, it was not funny at all.  It was boorish behavior by a board famous for it.

Now first let me say that I do not know nearly enough about the PCCS bond issue to make any comment either in support of it, or against it.  Personally I have no opinion about it either way.  The only reason I am bringing it up is because the browbeating that the Plymouth Township Board of Trustees gave to Mr. Hughes was the absolute height of hypocrisy.

You see, while Mr. Edwards was busy berating Mr. Hughes about the PCCS bond, he was also planning to ask for a special meeting to have the Plymouth Township Board of Trustees vote on a bond of their own.

Oh yes, a bond of their own.  1.9 million dollars to be exact!

They kept Mr. Hughes at the podium for over an hour.  For over an hour they criticized and browbeat this guy, all the while knowing they were going to vote on their own bond on April 23rd.

Mr. Edwards said, "My biggest problem with the school district over the years is they never tell the people what it is going to cost."  That's kind of funny coming from a guy who will not even tell people at a regular meeting that he is going to have a little bond deal himself, and it's going to cost taxpayers 1.9 million dollars.

They couldn't announce it that night.  Mr. Edwards, Mr. Doroshewitz, and Ms. Conzelman would have looked like hypocritical idiots had they brought this up after their debacle on April 9th.  So they had to call a special meeting at a different time than they are usually held, to vote on their tax increase. 

Transparency matters Mr. Edwards.

Mr. Edwards went on about costs by stating, "they say it's going to be this, (but) it rises.  This is another interesting, and hypocritical statement because the Board of Trustees voted 6-1 for a park pavilion, and the stated cost of the pavilion was $350,000.  Mr. Edwards voted yes for a pavilion, and told us that it would cost $350,000.   http://plymouthtwp.org/ReferenceDesk/AgendasMinutes/BOT/2012/120717.pdf  

Guess what the pavilion is going to cost?  $625,000.  Holy currency Batman!

$625,000 is almost double what Ron Edwards and the Plymouth Township Board of Trustees told us it was going to cost! 

So, in Ron Edward's own words, Plymouth Township "told us it was going to cost this, but it rises."  It rose from $350,000 to $625,000.

Maybe that is why Mr. Edwards asked for a special meeting.  It would look kind of stupid to berate Mr. Hughes in front of everybody when you are flat out guilty of the very thing you accuse his school district of.

And here's the thing.  He offered zero proof to back up his accusation.  He didn't give Mr. Hughes one instance of that happening, but it took me all of ten minutes to prove that Mr. Edwards and the Board of Trustees are lying about the costs of projects they propose.

It's interesting, because I knew it, and wrote about it when they voted on this pavilion project.  I knew that they were going to go over budget, because at the very least, they did not include architect fees in the $350,000 cost they promised.  I wrote in July of 2012 that this project would go over budget, they called me a liar, called me stupid, but here we are in April of 2013, and they went over budget by $275,000 on a project that they said would cost $350,000.   http://plymouth-mi.patch.com/blog_posts/should-plymouth-township-be-spending-so-freely-in-these-tough-economic-times

One thing I'll say about the Plymouth Township Board of Trustees, is that they are consistent.  They consistently prove me right.

No story is complete without Mr. Robert Doroshewitz Esq inserting his special brand of wisdom.  In a nice little display of "piling on" Mr. Doroshewitz said, " I really don't think the program, the finer points, have been worked out."  He was talking about the technology piece of the bond.

Well I have only one question for Mr. Doroshewitz.  Do you think by posting a piece of paper on the wall outside the Township Hall announcing that you are gonna borrow 1.9 million dollars, and then getting said money 45 days later is consistent with "working out the finer points?"

Do you think 45 days is enough time to "work out the finer points" of a 1.9 million dollar taxpayer expenditure? 

Heck, do you think it was cool to just post a piece of paper on the wall Friday, on your way out the door, to let the people of Plymouth Township know you are going to obligate them to a 1.9 million dollar loan on Tuesday?  1.9 million dollars before interest?

Do you think announcing a special meeting 3 days before you are going to obligate the citizens of Plymouth Township to a multi million dollar expenditure is in the interests of transparency?

Do you geniuses even know the definition of the word transparency?

Here is the bottom line.

Mr. Edwards, Ms. Conzelman, Mr. Doroshewitz, and the Plymouth Township Board of Trustees sat at their bully pulpit and badgered the superintendent of Plymouth Canton Community Schools about a bond that has been being discussed for months now, all while knowing that days later they were going to call a secret meeting to pass their own bond.

Where is the transparency?

Mr. Edwards accused PCCS of underestimating costs without offering any evidence that they have ever done this, all while knowing that he was going to call a secret meeting of the Plymouth Township Board of Trustees, and approve a bond that will almost double the publicly stated cost of a pavilion project at the Plymouth Township park.

Where is the integrity?

So, tomorrow evening at 6:00 PM, right around the time everybody eats their dinner, our elected officials will sit down and spend 1.9 million plus interest of your money.  They will do this without ever warning you that they were going to do it. 

They have never discussed it at a regular meeting, a special meeting, a committee meeting, or in a public setting of any kind. 

They made the time 6:00 PM.  Why 6:00 PM instead of 7:00 PM?

It says at the Plymouth Township web site that all Board of Trustee meetings start at 7:00 PM but not this one.  Maybe they meant all Board of Trustee meetings except those we don't want you to attend.  It's always the same smoke and mirror crap with these clowns. 

I went back and looked at the last 10 special meetings this board has held.  Eight of the  the ten were held at 7:00 PM.  The two that were held at other times?  One was held at 10:00 AM, and I believe that one was held to amend the golf club budget, which is an always touchy subject with the taxpayers, and the other was to approve a $96,000 corrective action to the new water tower pumping station.  The pump station is another touchy subject because, well, basically it doesn't seem to ever work. 

Oh, and I would be remiss if I were to neglect to point out that the infamous Plymouth Township Water Tower Pump Station, to borrow a phrase from Mr. Edwards, "was supposed to cost this, (but) it rose." 

Yes, the water tower pump house thingy has been a money pit since the beginning, and guess what?  There is another "corrective measure" on the agenda for tomorrow's very special meeting of Plymouth Township's Board of Trustees.  I wonder what that is going to cost?

So now that we know about the $625,000 pavilion, lets get to the rest.  Guess what folks!  Our friends on Haggerty Road are also gonna give us a quarter of a million dollar amphitheater! 

Maybe Supervisor Reaume will croon for us lucky folks next summer.  An amphitheater.  Quarter of a million bucks.  Unless it comes in over budget like the pavilion.  Could end up being a half million dollar amphitheater.  Who knows?

What the hell do we need an amphitheater for anyway!  Did they ask anybody if they wanted an amphitheater at the Plymouth Township Park?  No. 

Have they asked anybody if they want a $350,000 pavilion that costs  $625,000? No.

Have they had a meeting to even bring up the issue of obligating the taxpayers with 1.9 Million dollars before interest?  Hell No!

Let me tell you why there have been no meetings to ask opinions.  They don't care about your opinion.  They don't care about you.  They will care about you three years from now when they want your vote again, and they are counting on your short memory.  They are counting on your short memory and they are hoping you don't pay attention in the first place.

We can't have 1.9 million dollars in taxpayer obligations without addressing our supposedly self sustaining golf course.  $150,000 will go towards the boondoggle called Hilltop Golf Course.  Did I mention that it was supposed to be self sustaining?  Is that like saying it's gonna cost one thing but it rises?  Who said that Mr. Edwards?  "It's gonna be one thing, (but) it rises."  Oh yeah!  Ron Edwards said that!

Pavilion- "It's gonna be one price, (but) it rises."

Water Tower Pump Station- "It's gonna be one price, (but) it rises."

Hilltop Golf Course- "It's gonna be one price, (but) it rises."

Amphitheater- Good Lord this is getting scary!

A couple other interesting points about this deal.  One of the presenters of the bond project will be Tom Colis from the law firm of Miller Canfield.  Why do I consider this interesting?  It's interesting because Miller Canfield donated a lot of money to Treasurer Ron Edwards campaign for the 2012 election.  Did Miller Canfield get this job because they are the best firm to handle the legal requirements, or was it a quid pro quo.  Or was it pay to play?

Did Miller Canfield Pay To Play?  Well they sure did donate to Ron Edwards campaign, so make up your own mind.

One more thing that is typical of the way these people operate.  They are calling their meeting to order, voting on the consent agenda, approving the minutes, having the first round of public comments, and then going into closed session.  When a public board goes into closed session, the public has to leave the room.

Those who are attending the meeting have to leave the room, and cool their heels outside for who knows how long until the board goes back into public session to vote on the new money grab.

At any public meeting I have ever been a part of, and I've been part of quite a few, the closed session parts are always at the end for transparency's sake.  When I served on the Board of Education, we always did the public meeting stuff first, because once you go to closed session everybody leaves, and 99% of them don't come back.  If you were to have a vote on something when you went back into a public session, there would be nobody there to see it.  We never had a vote after a closed session, except to adjourn the meeting, and that was just protocol.

This is a predictable and despicable act by this Board of Trustees to make people wait in the parking lot for God knows how long in order to see exactly who votes for this tax obligation.  I got news for you ladies and gents, I'll be there waiting in the lot, because, bad back or not, I want to look these people in the eye when they vote, and what hear what they say to defend their actions.

In the end, on April 9th, the superintendent of Plymouth Canton Community Schools showed up at a Plymouth Township Board of Trustees meeting, and made a presentation on a bond issue.  He did it in the spirit of transparency.  Certain members of the Plymouth Township Board of Trustees did what they always do.  They sat in their ivory tower, and berated an innocent guy in order to take the spotlight off of themselves.

It was an embarrassing display, and a blight on the reputation of Plymouth Township...