This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Plymouth Township Supervisor Leaves The League of Women Voters Candidate Forum In Limbo

The League of Women Voters' nonpartisan candidate forum at our Plymouth Township Hall scheduled for July 16 is in doubt, because Richard Reaume has asked the group to rescind its request to have it.

It is election time, and all across America, campaign signs are sprouting up like weeds. Our mailboxes are stuffed with campaign ads from various candidates. Some are asking for support, some ask for donations, and some are attack ads, but all are designed to shape our views for the coming primary.

We are inundated with ads from every direction. On television, in the mail, and driving down the street. If you think about it, an amazing amount of money is spent every election season by these candidates, in their effort to get their message to the American voters.

Personally, I don't put a lot of stock in these ads, as most of them spin the message, and some of them contain blatantly false information, and are composed and paid for by folks that pretty much think the average Joe won't bother to check their facts.

Find out what's happening in Plymouth-Cantonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

With that in mind, I generally make an effort to watch the debates on TV for the big elections, and make a little more effort to attend the candidate forums for my local elections. Many groups have these candidate forums, but you have to really be tuned into the local scene to know when and where they are.

Not so with The League of Women Voters candidate forums. Their candidate forums are generally noted in the local papers, and on the popular local websites. You never have to search for the locations of the League of Women Voters candidate forums either, as long as you know where your City or Township Hall is located, because that is generally where they are held.

Find out what's happening in Plymouth-Cantonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

I gravitate toward the League of Women Voters candidate forums, because they have a reputation of being nonpartisan in these local elections, and that is what I am looking for.

I want to look the candidates in the eye, and hear their views in person. I want to see that they have the ability to think on their feet, and answer a question right there on the spot. In my opinion, if they stumble on a question, or give some sort of rambling, mumbo jumbo non-answer as their response, they are either not knowledgeable enough to hold office, or are flat-out lying. Either way, they lose my vote, and in some instances, my respect.

So it was with great interest that I found out that the scheduled League of Women Voters Candidate Forum, scheduled for July 16 at the is in danger of being canceled. I checked out its website, and it is on the schedule, but when I called to find out about this, I talked to Paula Bowman, who is the vice president of the Northwest Wayne County League of Women Voters. She informed me that Plymouth Township Supervisor Richard Reaume had called her and had conversations with her on July 6 asking her to withdraw their request for a candidate forum at the Plymouth Township Hall.

Well, hold on a minute! It is no longer a request. The League of Women Voters actually asked for, and received permission to hold this candidate forum. According to Paula Bowman, on behalf of the League of Women Voters, she contacted the township clerk's office to request permission for use of the township hall, and after consulting with the township attorney, Tim Cronin, the Plymouth Township clerk's office gave the League of Women Voters permission, and a date was set up.

According to Ms. Bowman, this is pretty much standard operating procedure for not only the League of Woman Voters, but also for city and township clerks' offices all over this country. This is not some extraordinary event. These candidate forums have been going on, I imagine, since the 1920s when the League of Women Voters was founded, shortly before the 19th Ammendment to the United States Constitution was enacted giving women in America the right to vote.

According to Paula Bowman, they have never had any problems like this in Plymouth Township's surrounding communities. No problems with getting Livonia's City Hall, they have already had their forum at Northville's Township Hall, and they have a candidate forum scheduled at the Township Hall in Canton on July 19th.

So to summarize, Livonia, Northville, Canton, and thousands of other communities around the state and country gladly offer their city and township halls for nonpartisan candidate forums, and have been doing so for generations. Why is this not so with Plymouth Township? This is the million-dollar question.

According to Bowman, she had conversations with Supervisor Richard Reaume, and Trustee Bob Doroshewitz. They told her that they wanted to create a policy outlining the Board of Trustees' ability to grant or deny permission to any group wishing to use the Township Hall for an event.

According to Bowman, they went on to tell her that if they gave the League of Women Voters permission for their candidate forum, they would be beholden to give permission to any type of group. Apparently they claimed that they were worried about fringe groups and radical organizations requesting permission to use the township hall.

So basically, under their logic, if they gave the League of Women Voters permission to have a candidate forum, like they do in thousands of municipalities throughout the country, they would have to allow any group the use of their facilities as well? I am going to go out on a limb, and guess that if some fringe group, or radical organization wanted to "occupy" the township hall, the people of Plymouth Township would support the trustees wholeheartedly if they were to turn them down.

This is the League of Women Voters. This is not the Nazi Party looking to have a forum. This not a Democratic or Republican Party caucus. This is a nonpartisan organization that does not endorse anybody, doing nothing more than facilitating a chance for us voters to get together with all of the candidates. It is democracy in action. It is a chance, perhaps the only chance, to see all of the candidates in one setting. It should be the right of the taxpayers of Plymouth Township to sit down with the candidates in the building that they paid for.

Another interesting thing Ms. Bowman pointed out to me, is that the last time the League of Women Voters asked for permission to have a candidate forum, they were denied, and the reason given by Mr. Reaume was that they had no policy dealing with groups using the Township Hall for activities such as this. He assured her that they were going to adopt such a policy in the future.

Thus far, Mr. Reaume has not made good on that statement, and we are seven days from the candidate forum. I am hearing that there may be a special meeting called on Thursday to deal with this issue, but as of today it has not been posted.

If Mr. Reaume does indeed schedule a special meeting on the 12th to adopt a policy for the use of the Township hall, it would be 4 days before the scheduled candidate forum, leaving no time to appeal the decision, and no time to schedule the forum at another venue. How very convenient.

To me, this would simply be a stealthy political shenagigan designed to limit the political damage for a classless act. How many folks reading this right now know that there is the possibility of a special meeting set up for Thursday designed to create a new Plymouth Township policy that will enable them to refuse permission to the League of Women Voters to have a nonpartisan candidate forum at our Township Hall?

It is important to remember that "special meetings" only have to be announced to the public by a notice taped on the township hall 24 hours before said meeting, according to the Open Meetings Act. The Open Meetings Act was designed to create more openness and transparency in government, and while Mr. Reaume is following the letter of the law, he is absolutely violating the spirit of the Open Meetings Act. The people deserve better from their government, and as Mr. Reaume himself once said, "this behavior from an elected official can not be tolerated."

OK, seriously now, I know that a candidate forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters will not be "occupied", by any radical fringe group, and I suspect that Richard Reaume knows this as well, so now we are back to the original question. Why has Richard Reaume asked the League of Women Voters to rescind their request to hold a candidate forum?

Has he, or his colleagues something to hide? Are they afraid to face questions from the citizens of Plymouth Township concerning their record?

Are they afraid of sitting down to have a frank discussion about the issues with candidates that would like a chance to make their case about why we should elect them over the current board?

We may not get the chance to ask these questions at the League's candidate forum, but we can ask them why they are considering giving the boot to the League of Women Voters if they choose to go forth with their "special meeting" that is apparently going to be held on Thursday to deal with this issue.

According to Ms. Bowman, the policy created, and passed at the "special meeting" of the Plymouth Township Board of Trustees would most likely take effect immediately.

This is the latest example of the crony politics that go on in Plymouth Township, and it is an affront to every citizen wanting nothing more than to vet the candidates they are entrusting to make decisions that affect their lives on a daily basis.

This is not some fly-by-night organization we are talking about. The League of Women Voters have a history dating back to the 1920s, for gosh sakes. They have been around for darn near a hundred years. They have sponsored presidential debates. In my opinion, any American, Democrat or Republican, would probably have no problem entrusting the League of Women Voters to be above board and honest in facilitating a candidate forum in their community, and that is why I am having such a hard time wrapping my head around this new controversy involving the Plymouth Township Board of Trustees.

If they go forward with this, it would have to be a slap in the face to any female candidate in this election. It is an insult to all women voters if you want my opinion, and one could even make the case that it takes Plymouth Township right back to the days of the Suffrage Movement.

The only time that I have ever heard a hint of controversy in local candidate forums sponsored by the League of Women Voters was when candidates actually decided not to show up. They were scorned for either being out of touch, or being afraid to face the voters.

If I were Mr. Reaume, I would welcome the chance to have the candidate forum held on "my turf" in the township hall. I would feel much more comfortable in that setting, so I am still left wondering about his motives. I mean seriously, this forum is a chance to get your message out for free. No postage to pay, no expensive lawn signs , no robo-calls to pay for. Why wouldn't he want to do this?

Let me hazzard a guess. I am guessing that he doesn't want to debate anybody at all. I am guessing that Richard and his cohorts are willing to stand pat on the attack ads that they sent out, even if some of the information in them is false.

Maybe Mr. Reaume is afraid somebody will ask him why he sent out false information to the voters on behalf of Nancy Conzelman, who by the way, is running against Plymouth Township Clerk Joe Bridgman. Remember him? He is the guy who, after consulting with the Plymouth Township attorney, rightfully gave the League of Women Voters permission to have the candidate forum. Maybe Mr. Reaume should have consulted with the township attorney before he started pushing his weight around?

Maybe they want to stand pat with the that 12-page glossy mailer that the Township just sent out touting all of the wonderful things our elected officials have done for all of us. It truly reads like a garden variety campaign ad, and the timing, right before the primary, is perfect. Actually, if you read it carefully, it pretty much only touts Mr. Reaume and treasurer Ron Edwards, with a small cameo shot of trustee Kay Arnold. The biggest problem I have with it though, is that it was paid for by the taxpayers.

These are the small nuances in politics that are easy to miss. You have the incumbents sending out perfectly timed newsletters, tooting their own horn, with pictures of certain members of the group and their awards, while talking about all of the transparency, and full disclosure, complete with charts and graphs, and splashed with pretty colors. Then, as quietly as humanly possible they attempt to bully the League of Women Voters into canceling an open and honest candidate forum.

They tell us citizens how fiscally responsible they are, but I would love to know how much that thing cost to produce and mail. I am sure the challengers would love to have that kind of ability to get their message out.

Instead, the challengers have to rely on their own resources, and the League of Women Voters' candidate forum would have been a nice free way to meet the folks, and have an opportunity to make their case to the voters.

If push comes to shove, the township supervisor and some of the incumbents will probably nix that opportunity and in the process leave us voters to fend for ourselves as far as getting any real information about the candidates.

I am guessing that by allowing this candidate forum to take place at the Plymouth Township Hall, it would put some pressure on the incumbents to show up and actually debate some of the challengers, and face questions about the decisions they have made on behalf of the residents of Plymouth Township. If you have this forum in your own house, you kind of have to show up, or be rightly chastized by your opponents. I think it is kind of a damned if you do, and damned if you don't situation for some of these incumbents.

To summarize:

The Plymouth Township Clerk's office gave the League of Woman Voters permission to have a candidate forum based on consultation (unnecessary, in my opinion) with the Township attorney.

These candidate forums happen in thousands of cities and townships every single election.

Plymouth Township Supervisor Richard Reaume called the Northwest Wayne County League of Women Voters Vice President and asked her to rescind the request to have the candidate forum at the Plymouth Township Hall, and as of Saturday, she politely declined to rescind the request.

Richard Reaume's reaction to this is to possibly schedule a Special Meeting of the Board of Trustees to create a policy on this matter on the 12th of July. The policy they create will apparently be effective immediately, and it would be a fair assumption that they will formally deny the permission that had already been granted for the League of Women Voters to have a nonpartisan candidate forum at the Plymouth Township Hall.

Anybody who cares about open and honest elections, or transparency in government should do their best to attend this special meeting, if held, of the Plymouth Township Board of Trustees to see what your elected officials decide. I certainly want to know how each member votes. I want to know how Kay Arnold votes.

I would very much like to know how the candidates in this election feel about losing the chance to sit down with the incumbents and their fellow challengers to share their views with the voters of Plymouth Township. On July 12th we could possibly learn how the incumbents feel about open and honest elections.

In the end, if this board votes to deny the permission already given to the League of Women Voters to have a nonpartisan candidate forum, they will be stifling free speech. It will be nothing more than an attempt to control and limit the flow of information to the voters in this election, and that can only hurt the democratic process.

I will be watching daily to see if the Plymouth Township Board of Trustees decides to call a special meeting with the purpose of adopting policy that would serve to deny the League of Women Voters the opportunity to have a nonpartisan candidate forum at our Plymouth Township Hall.

Mr. Reaume, it is not your township hall to do with what you please. It does not belong to you, it belongs to the people of Plymouth Township.

It would serve you and your cronies well to remember that very important fact, or you will soon be given the same treatment that you seek to give the League of Women Voters...

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

Patch Mayors are trusted local users who help moderate the Patch platform by promoting good local stories and flagging unwanted content. To learn more, click here.