Complaints About Township Pet Projects Fall On Deaf Ears

When will Plymouth Township taxpayers say enough is enough? I have lived in Plymouth Township since the beginning of 2010, after a lifetime in Livonia, and I continue to be stunned at the levels this Board of Trustees will stoop in completely disregarding the will of the taxpayers.

I saw some of the shenanigans they were pulling the minute I moved here, and it continued right up to the 2012 elections. I was flabbergasted that so many of them were reelected. You saw Ron Edwards on the Channel 7 News having a public meltdown on the 911 emergency line when he couldn't get out of the fireworks in front of everybody else, he made a curtain call when he tried to beat the heck out of the Plymouth Township Clerk at the township hall, which landed him on the Channel 4 News. Not to be outdone, Supervisor Richard Reaume got in on the action by getting caught on video stealing campaign signs right before the election, which also received extensive coverage on television. This is just the tip of the iceberg with these bozos too.

I personally broke the news of a letter penned by Mr. Reaume, which contained blatant lies about the former Plymouth Township Clerk, Joe Bridgeman. This letter was an endorsement for the current clerk, Nancy Conzelman, and her campaign was only too happy to pay for this letter full of lies to be mailed to every single resident of Plymouth Township. The Plymouth Observer covered this story after I broke it, and yet, through all of these childish shenanigans, the voters of Plymouth Township elected Nancy Conzelman, Richard Reaume, and Ron Edwards to the most powerful positions in Plymouth Township.

People thought I was crazy when I was opining on this behavior. Ron Edwards called me a liberal nut, even though I usually proclaimed at the end of many of my blogs, that as a proud Republican, I reject these people. Nancy Conzelman used a fake name (NuffSaid) at Patch to discredit me, her current Deputy Clerk, Michelle Lozier used a fake name (MsT) at Patch to call me a drug addled nut job, and Ron Edwards used a fake name (Ocelot Madness) to not only discredit me, but to urge voters to vote for him as well, and he did it during township working hours. So while you thought you were paying Big Ron for counting beans, he was actually making childish comments, and campaigning for votes.

The taxpayers actually pay these people good money, and what they do is sit around, make up silly names, and post ridiculous comments. I should probably correct that to say they used to do this stuff. Once the election was over, they clammed right up. I actually sent Fancy Nancy an email telling her that I was on to her fake name. The next day, she deleted her account at Patch, but not before I took screen grabs of all her ridiculous comments. Remember folks, the internet is forever. But I digress.

Anyway, it seems that the taxpayers are starting to catch on to these folks. It all started with a notice of a “special meeting” that was suddenly posted at the township hall on April 21st of 2013. The meeting was to take place at 6:00 PM on the 23rd, and folks who keep up on such things, dropped their plans and went to the meeting. Exactly 12 minutes into the meeting, the board suddenly went into closed session, leaving everyone cooling their heels, and wondering what was coming next. We had to cool our heels for over 2 hours before this board came back to drop their bomb. They were hoping we'd all get sick of waiting, and leave. Some did, but I didn't.  I was actually told they had food brought in.  I wonder if the taxpayers paid for it?

The bomb they dropped was a Notice of Intent to issue Capitol Improvement Bonds. 1.9 million dollars in bonds to be exact. This bomb was brought to you by the trio of Fancy Nancy Conzelman, King Richard Reaume, and Big Daddy Ron Edwards. The rest of the board knew nothing of these plans until the special meeting was called. No notice to the rest of the board, no notice to the taxpayers, and no public discussion from the taxpayers.

Bob Doroshewitz immediately moved to postpone this Intent To Issue Bonds, and was promptly voted down by Conzelman, Reaume, Edwards, and Arnold.

Long story short, the threesome, along with lapdogs Kay Arnold, and Mike Kelly voted for this expenditure, and the two responsible members, the ones who are actually representing the taxpayers, voted no. Those two are Trustees Bob Doroshewitz, and Chuck Curmi.

Bottom line is that this was done with no notice, at a hastily scheduled “special meeting” with no public input whatsoever. Those who were lucky enough to find out about the meeting, were made to sit and wait over two hours until the board chose to come back into open session to vote on it. This was a childish strategy to try to get folks to leave. It is a childish strategy to remove transparency.

Well this strategy may have worked for awhile, but eventually folks began hearing of the air conditioned pavilion they are building at a cost of $675,000, and even more people heard about the $350,000 amphitheater that they are building, and folks don't like it.  

Folks don't like it, and they are coming to the Board of Trustees meetings in large numbers to voice their displeasure. They are mad that they weren't informed, and they are mad that they were told the Township had no money for firefighters, and had to close down a fire station, but one short year later they are borrowing money for pet projects. Folks are especially mad over how close this amphitheater is going to be to their homes. What is angering them the most is that their concerns are falling on deaf ears.

In fact, so many folks have been showing up to complain about these pet projects, that in March, Clerk Nancy Conzelman took the unprecedented step of refusing to publish public comments in the official minutes of the board meetings. Folks have been continually coming to the board meetings and voicing their displeasure. Not one single person has showed up to support this 1.9 dollar boondoggle. Not one single person. So what does Conzelman do? She refuses to acknowledge that they even showed up to comment.

 This is a slap in the face to every single taxpayer in Plymouth Township. If I lived in any other community other than Plymouth Township I would be shocked. The fact that I live here, and know what goes on at that township hall, means that I am not surprised in the least at this ridiculous behavior.

I heard a very interesting comment come from Mr. Reaume at the May 27th meeting. You won't read about it in the official minutes of the meeting because they are not made public anymore, but it kind of brings home my whole point about these people.

Richard Reaume told a resident who is against the expenditure for these projects that “Proceeds are already in the township treasury, and there is a commitment behind the bond that these improvements be made. You can't take the money, and not do these improvements, there's a law against that too, so they have to be used for capitol improvements.” He made it seem like his hands were tied in this matter.

Well this is a very interesting statement, because at the July 23, 2013 meeting of the Board of Trustees, Mr. Reaume, in an attempt to calm down the taxpayers, stated that, “All items still have to return to the board for approval.” Well that was a very misleading statement. 

 So in July of 2013, he led folks to believe that all items would have to be voted on again, making folks think that they could end up being voted down. Now just months later, he makes it seem like his hands are tied, and he has to do these projects in order to follow the law. We wouldn't want Mr. Campaign Sign Stealer breaking the law right?

He was being disingenuous at best, and a bold faced liar at worst, and based on some of his previous moves mentioned above, I am leaning towards liar liar pants on fire. His nose is growing so long, Miggy could use it for a baseball bat.

So this is what I mean when I ask when is enough going to be enough for Plymouth Township residents? How many more times are they going to have to be slapped in the face before they decide not to take it anymore? I think we are fast approaching that point. Folks who used to think I was nuts, are now coming to me and admitting that I had it right all along.

Folks who thought I was just a conspiracy theorist, and malcontent are now looking to me for accurate information on this group of people. Heck, some of them are even suggesting that I run for a seat on this board.

I will continue to watch our elected officials, and I will point out right when I see it, as well as wrong when I see it. I would suggest that residents of Plymouth Township do the same. 

 Remember one thing.  These seven people have a very direct influence on your immediate life, sometimes even more so than the state and nationally elected leaders. They should be watched, and they should be told very forcefully when you disagree with their actions.

Remember, you pay their salary, so they work for you...