Reaume & Conzelman Disrespect Township Residents In Obstructing Transparency

I was at the Plymouth Township Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday, and it took me all of ten minutes to get peeved. Actually, I got pretty angry. I got angry enough to address the board, in the Public Comments & Questions portion of the meeting.

What infuriated me was Clerk Nancy Conzelman prattling on about how we should be proud about how Plymouth Township is adhering to recommendations from various organizations regarding the official minutes posted of the township meetings.

I made a mistake however in my public comments, and I am here to correct that error. I am one who will always call out the errors of my elected officials, so it's only fair that I call myself out when I screw up. In my comment, I referred to her as using the Michigan Townships Association (MTA) as her source on the recommendations, when in fact, Supervisor Reaume mentioned that organization. Conzelman used the Clerk's Institute as her source. I humbly stand corrected. Bottom line though, is that I am sick and tired of Reaume and Conzelman lying to the taxpayers.

They lie, they mislead, and they disrespect the collective intelligence of every single person that attends one of the shams that they call public meetings. Reaume goes on and on, banging his gavel, while scolding, and demanding respect from audience members, all while he disrespects us, and our intelligence.  I for one, am sick and tired of it.

This whole issue began on March 18th. Suddenly, after over 25 years of public comments being reflected in the official minutes of our Board of Trustees meetings, Nancy Conzelman, with the support of Supervisor Richard Reaume, decided without the permission or notification of the other Trustees, to exclude any mention in the official minutes, of the public's comments at their meetings. She went further, by censoring the Trustee Comments to include only those she agreed with. 

Seriously, it's like the TASS News Agency of the old Soviet Union.

When challenged on this issue by Trustee Bob Doroshewitz, at the May 13th meeting, Richard Reaume went on and on about open meetings, and the MTA, and even told us of an Attorney General ruling about how municipalities can no longer require that folks state their name when giving public comments. What Reaume was trying to do, was confuse the issue. The Attorney General's ruling has nothing whatsoever to do with including public comments in the official minutes of a public meeting, and Reaume knew this. He insulted our intelligence for even thinking we would fall for his nonsense. That is disrespecting the taxpayers.

Doroshewitz immediately told Reaume that this did not answer his question of who was responsible for this decision.

Doroshewitz stated that “It's insulting to 27,000 people.” He went on to say that, “It takes a lot of courage to step to the podium, there are many people critical of this board's policies, they want their name heard, and they're not there anymore.” He further indicated that “This is a dark day in Plymouth Township.”

Nancy Conzelman who by the way is quickly becoming known as “The Queen of Mean” answered by saying that “They strongly recommend not to include any summary of conversations, any summary of comments, any summary whether it's the trustees or the public.”

In further discussion, Nancy Conzelman stated that the “Clerks Institute” recommends that you do not include public comments or trustee comments in your minutes.”

Doroshewitz made a motion to include the public comments in the minutes.

Trustee Chuck Curmi for clarification stated that this motion was to “Revert back to what we did for 20 plus years.”

Nancy Conzelman doubled down by stating that “The Clerks Institute recommends “strongly” that you do not include public comments or trustee comments in your minutes.” Curmi correctly pointed out that while he “acknowledges that, it is only a recommendation.”

So Doroshewitz made the motion to revise the meeting minutes to include the public comments, and it was voted down, with Doroshewitz, and Curmi being the only board members to support public comments being reflected in the minutes. They were the only two who support transparency. The only two willing to give the public a voice.

Now let's get this straight. Conzelman stated that the “Clerks Institute” not only recommends against public comments, but they “strongly” recommend against including them in the minutes. Well pardon me if I am not impressed by this “strong” recommendation by the Clerks Institute.

I gotta tell you folks, I have seen Nancy operate, and I never quite trust either her or Reaume to be completely honest on any issue, so I took some time to investigate. I took some time to look at the MTA, and this “Clerks Institute” she speaks so highly of. Here is what I found, and I went to the MTA first:

The MTA is a group that in it's mission statement, promotes the interests of township government, they advocate legislation, and encourage ethical practices of elected officials, among other boilerplate things. They have an Executive Director, and a Board of Directors comprised of various elected officials from townships all over the state of Michigan.

Their Executive Director is Larry Merrill from DeWitt Township. So I went to the Charter Township of DeWitt website, and lo and behold, they put the public comments on their official minutes. Not only that, but I took the time to call them up, and while I couldn't speak to the clerk, I spoke to the deputy clerk, and this is what she told me. “We do that because of transparency. We actually do not get a lot of public comments because people respect the board, and the board respects the people.”

I thought that was a very interesting comment. The people respect the board, because the board respects the people. Supervisor Reaume should look in the mirror and ask himself if he is respecting the people. You gotta give respect to get respect Mr Reaume. I suggest you think for awhile about that.

I then went to the MTA Board of Directors:

The President is from Arcada Township, and their clerk stated to me that, “If it is a political statement from a politician, they do not include it, but if it is a public comment on township business, they most certainly do.”

1st Vice President is from Pokagon Township. Yes, public comments are included in the minutes.

2nd Vice President is from Union Township: Yes, detailed account of public comments including names.

Treasurer is from Roscommon Township. Their clerk told me that “I would never cut that portion out of the minutes. I want people to know what's going on.”

Secretary is from Sanborn Township. Their comments also reflect the names, and their clerk simply asked me, “Why have public comment if you are not going to put it in the minutes? We have a lot of public comments and I will always put them in.”

I even went to their Past President, who is from the Charter Township of Breitung, and they include the names, and the comments of their taxpayers as well.

So when Richard Reaume and Nancy Conzelman try to hand you a load of bullcrap about the MTA suggesting not to include public comments in the minutes, I just gave you examples of every member of the top leadership, and what they do. Every single one of them puts public comments in their minutes. Every single one.

Now lets move on to this “Clerks Institute.” I found the Clerks Institute that Nancy is so proud of, and basically the Clerks Institute is a part of the Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks (MAMC). Apparently, the Clerks Institute is part of the education arm of that organization, and they conduct training sessions and such things.

So maybe Nancy was right. Maybe the MAMC has a differing view on this than the MTA. We know that the MTA does not advocate removing the public comments from the minutes, at least they don't by example, but maybe the MAMC does. Maybe these folks don't include the public comments in their minutes. Stranger things have happened. So I decided to check out their Board of Directors, to see what they do, but had a problem finding the exact board members. I then looked at Past Presidents, which I was able to find, and here are the results:

Past President Dan Kasunic, City Clerk, City of Kentwood: Mr. Kasunic indicated to me that he does indeed include public comments in his minutes, and laughed when I told him that I can't find anyone who doesn't. He was not surprised by this revelation.

Past President Joel Hondorp, Byron Township indicated to me that “While the law states that you don't have to include public comments, I definitely include them in our minutes.”

Past President Evan Hope, Delhi Township Clerk: “Yes we do”

Past President Todd Blake, City of Fremont Clerk: “Yes we do, I have no idea where she would get that notion.”

Hartland Township “Yes we do.” And so on and so forth. I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea.

I have called over 30 municipalities, and not one of them, not one single municipality that I have called or viewed their website has refused to reflect public comments in one way or another.

I then gave Ms. Conzelman the benefit of the doubt yet again. I figured heck, I screwed up my comment at the board meeting, so I'll bend over backward to see if she is telling the truth. So on the premise that maybe those other folks just don't follow the “strong” recommendation of the leader of the Clerks Institute, I sought this person out. I sought this person out, and found the person who is responsible for these educational sessions.

I found that Rochester Hills Clerk Tina Barton is the Education Director for the Clerks Institute at the MAMC. Tina is the one responsible for all of this. Interestingly enough, Tina has twice neglected to return my phone calls, but I got her Deputy Clerk on the line, and confirmed that indeed, the City of Rochester Hills most certainly includes public comments in their official meeting minutes. So if the Education Director of the Clerks Institute includes public comments in her official minutes, what the heck is Nancy talking about?

Who is this mystery person that Nancy is talking about when she makes these bold statements? I have no idea.

Who on Earth is following this “strong recommendation” and not including public comments in their minutes? I have yet to find anybody.

There may be another township that does not include these comments, but I have yet to find them, and I asked these clerks if they had any ideas, and none of them could point me to any municipality that does not include public comments in their minutes.

So in conclusion, while I may have gotten it wrong by attributing MTA to Ms Conzelman's comments, I got it right when I stated that every single leader at MTA includes public comments in their minutes, and now we know that the last 5 Past Presidents of MAMC include them, as well as the boss of the Clerks Institute. So for Conzelman to tell the taxpayers that any of these folks “strongly” recommend against publishing public comments in their minutes, she is either being disingenuous, or she is lying.

I think her pants are once again, on fire. I think her nose is growing. Miggy needs a new bat, and she can supply it. One thing about Conzelman and Reaume is that they never let the truth get in the way of making a point. At least they are both consistent.

On another note, I found it interesting and refreshing, when in Trustee Comments, Trustee Mike Kelly reversed his previous position, and stated for the record, that he is in favor of putting public comments, and trustee comments back in the official board minutes. I am not sure what caused his change of heart, and I don't care. I am just happy that we have one more board member that is listening to reason, and supports transparency in this township.

It is now up to Supervisor Reaume, and Clerk Conzelman to do the right thing, and revert it back to what has been done for 20 plus years. Put our public comments back in the minutes. Do it because it's the right thing to do. Do it for transparency's sake. Do it because the people who pay your salary, and put food on your family's table deserve it. Show a little respect to the folks that you constantly demand it from.

Richard Reaume likes to brag about how Plymouth Township shows such great transparency. He brags about it on the website, and he brags about it in his newsletters he mails to us. Well in my opinion, the Plymouth Township Board of Trustees have the transparency of a 50 gallon drum of axle grease, and that has to change.

Do the right thing Reaume, and put an end to this charade...