In A Fit Of Anger, Supervisor Reaume Stifles Board Debate On Amphitheater Project

So I'm sitting here trying to digest the Plymouth Township Board of Trustees meeting last night, which is basically like trying to digest a piece of raw fish that you found in a dumpster on a hot August day. I use the fish analogy simply because there is always something fishy going on at one of these meetings. Tonight was no different. I showed up late, and apparently missed some fireworks, but I'll get back to that this weekend. Suffice it to say, there will be an ethics investigation, and no big surprise here, but it will involve Treasurer Ron Edwards. Yes, Big Ron has stepped in it again.

Many stories came from this meeting, but the one that disturbs me the most involves Supervisor Richard Reaume. Our fearless Supervisor has a way of morphing into his King Richard persona when things don't go exactly his way, and he went all King Richard on everybody tonight.

It all started when his pet project came up. He has this fascination with having an outdoor amphitheater at the township park. I remember when he was trying to sell this cockamamie idea. He said it could be used for string quartets, and my personal favorite, one man plays. Call me what you will, but I seriously don't see the draw for a one man play. Unless of course I am the one man in the play I guess. Nope. Not even then. They couldn't afford to bring me in.

Anyway, this thing started out with a quarter million dollar price tag, and then like everything the township does, it has skyrocketed in price, apparently up to a possible $350,000 at this point. But who's counting? It's other people's money as far as Richie Rich is concerned.

So anyway, Trustee Robert Doroshewitz had issues with this proposal, and he has shared them here at Patch as well.   When the discussion began, Mr. Doroshewitz went through a thoughtful listing of potential issues involved with the creation of an outdoor amphitheater.

Basically, he just pointed out that there has been no effort to form a business plan, no committed user groups, and no revenue or future expense projections. Doroshewitz went on to remind the board that when this project was proposed, there was a promise that there would be no amplification system as well, which is hugely important to folks who live near the proposed site.

Well, Mr. Doroshewitz cleverly demonstrated the foolishness of this promise, by abruptly turning off his mic when speaking, pointing out that, "If you can't hear my voice in this closed room, how can people be able to hear anyone's voice in an outdoor setting, without amplification?" That was an absolute stroke of genius on the part of Doroshewitz, and suffice it to say, King Richard was not amused.

This is the point where King Richard turned into a tyrant. The moment that Doroshewitz concluded his remarks, Reaume jumped in with a motion to accept the roughly $30,000 dollar proposal for architect fees, and followed up with a motion to limit further comments and questions to a total of five minutes.

At this point Trustee Chuck Curmi questioned this bizarre motion. Curmi had not even had a chance to comment or have questions answered at this point. Curmi wanted to know if it was five minutes for each member, or five minutes total. Reaume indicated that because Doroshewitz had spoken for 15 minutes, he was making the motion to limit the rest of the debate from the whole board to only five more minutes before they would be required to vote on this $30,000 expenditure, for a $350,000 project.

The audience became incensed, Curmi was not happy, and Reaume then went off the reservation, and started castigating members of the audience, in what is another example of his total lack of professionalism, and inability to properly conduct a meeting of elected officials. To put it bluntly, it was a juvenile display from a man who is quickly losing the confidence, and respect of the taxpayers in this community.

So in a bastardization of Robert's Rules of Order, he immediately asked for a vote on his five minute motion. It was hard to hear what was going on, because the audience was grumbling, but Clerk Conzelman became confused on what to do. She was going to call a vote, but Reaume interrupted, and demanded a hand vote.  A hand vote? He made this ridiculous motion, and suddenly wanted a hand vote?

Look, I am no parliamentarian, but I really wonder why I have just witnessed my very first hand vote in Plymouth Township history. Did he not want the audio to show for posterity who said yes and who said no? Makes me wonder if he had the cameras shut off, so we won't be able to view this meeting on the Plymouth Township website.

There are those who think that will be the case. There are those who think that there will be a sudden “malfunction” of the audio/visual equipment used to record this meeting. Unfortunately, I wouldn't put it past King Richard to pull a  stunt like this.

 Richard Reaume is to transparency in Plymouth Township, what TASS was to news in the Soviet Union.

The bottom line is that in a hand vote, Reaume, Conzelman, Arnold, and Big Ron Edwards, voted to shut down discussion on this $350,000 boondoggle. They then voted to approve the architects fees to design our new “one man play” venue.

I have since called my agent, and told him not to take any calls from the township concerning any performances. I will not perform without proper amplification. And my own dressing room. Stocked with Twinkies and Mountain Dew.

So in the end, the township taxpayers are now on the hook for $350,000 for an amphitheater that will have an unknown continuing cost, with no clear plan to bring in performers. There will most likely be complaints from homeowners if they choose to spend more of our tax money on an amplification system.

Nobody was asked if they wanted this project, and what is really sad, is that Doroshewitz, who brought up valid concerns, was ostracized by the leadership of this board, for having the temerity to bring up concerns that taxpayers have brought to him.

Worse yet, Trustee Chuck Curmi, who always asks the right questions, and always has extremely valuable input on any project, was for the most part, left out of the entire discussion. All because a despotic little man like Richard Reaume had a hissy fit over folks asking questions about his pet project. Maybe he plans to book himself for a series of one man plays. If that was the case, at least I could understand why he spent the night with his claws extended.

All kidding aside, the proper board welcomes all discussion needed to reach a consensus on a project of this magnitude. The effective supervisor allows as much time as necessary for all opinions to be shared. The proper action of the Supervisor should have been to put this off for a month to allow questions to be answered. The proper behavior of the Supervisor is to recognize the trustees on this board for what they are, and that is elected officials, with a fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers who elected them.

The leadership of the Plymouth Township Board of Trustees continue to treat the rest of the trustees like second class citizens, and that is tantamount to treating every single taxpayer as a second class citizen as well, because it is the taxpayers who elected all seven members of this board. It would serve Supervisor Reaume well to remember this simple fact...