01/30/2022
A second Letter to the Editor from Connie Taylor - Central Lake appeared in last week’s edition of the Elk Rapids News. The letter was referring to an anonymous ad appearing in the previous edition of the same publication. Since I posted the first, I thought it only fitting to post the second. My comments in the post will be included in [ ] after statements made.
Dear Letter to the Editor:
A healthy democracy is open dialogue and transparency
The Torch Lake Township Supervisor is fond of saying that his government is transparent. Really? Consider the following:
The Zoning Administrator was forced to resign after closed meetings in violation of the Open Meetings Act.
[Wrong. If you attended subsequent township board meetings you would understand that there were many complaints brought up in relation to the actions of that department. However, be that as it may, the Open Meetings Act does not apply to those hired as an employee. The Board however is governed by employer/employee law that prohibits them from publicly discussing an employee’s conduct.
Rather than questioning the current Supervisor’s lack of transparency might I suggest you do a little digging and look back in history where you will discover a long list of liable, overstepping from the PREVIOUS supervisor who, in my opinion, set the Zoning Administrator up to fail by not guiding her as he should have; thus setting this township up for lots of liability issues when it comes to zoning and the enforcement of said laws. ]
Fees for obtaining public records through the Freedom of Information Act have greatly increased. Why?
[WRONG. Fees associated for obtaining records through the Freedom of Information Act are not set in stone and never have been. They are based on: 1) how much time it takes an township employee to pull the requested information, 2) if the township attorney has to review the information and 3) if there is any fees incurred from secondary vendors to complete the request.
Maybe rather than implying the current Supervisor is doing something shady, you should take a look at why we now need at least three, maybe even four people to do the job of the Township Clerk. The previous Supervisor, now Township Trustee, has always defended the Clerk’s actions. Is this to insure he still has a vote that will mimic his? ]
There is minimal discussion of agenda items at board meetings. Have members discussed the issues beforehand and already decided how they will vote?
[WRONG. I have attended many meetings where open dialogue has taken place and where meetings have gone on for hours; some of these discussions have been meaningful and some drone on to the point of nonsense due to Trustee Martel’s unpreparedness or filibustering. ]
Names and emails of the Planning Commissioners and Zoning Board of Appeal members have been dropped from the township website. If you have any problem with the township you are asked to “Call the Supervisor” – everything goes thru him; website, “Constant Contact” emails, articles “From the Supervisor’s Desk” and now – “Torch Lake Community News.”
Zoning Administrator and Financial reports no longer contain details once conveyed. It is now impossible to tell from financial reports exactly how much taxpayer money is being spent and on what.
[SPECULATION. Emails not on the website or how the current Supervisor is choosing to communicate with the residents is by his choice since he currently holds office.
In my opinion, I believe upon being elected by voters, the Supervisor was handed a “mess” to clean-up from the previous Supervisor that choose to put people in key appointed positions that served his agenda alone and not necessarily the wishes of TLT residents. Remember, this is the same supervisor that failed to inform residents that the DNR was going to sell off a public access that the township could have acquired for EVERYONEs use, the same supervisor who wanted to gate off yet another public access or the same supervisor who used township resources for personal use. ]
If you are interested in neutral, unbiased, fair reporting of what is going on in the township, visit TLTCRG.org Torch Lake Township Citizens for Representative Government.
[While you certainly have a choice to join whatever organization you wish to associate yourself with, I would suggest that since you are looking for transparency, you go back and view all the meetings that the township has recorded since the new board was elected; or w**d out fact from fiction when trying to hold people accountable. I would also suggest you poll people within the group you mentioned to see where they are getting their information. Is the information coming from a past, disgruntled employee that feels slighted because she lost in a zoning battle or from a shady delusional board trustee who should stop wasting taxpayer resources and money to push his own agenda. Aren’t township officials and their appointees, supposed to be unbiased since they have to make decisions that will not only affect their friends but will impact all that live in TLT?
Don’t get me wrong, after the last election of the current board I was uneasy about the people’s choice for supervisor - and I’m still on the fence - but I do have to give the current Supervisor credit. He has been successful in many ways as is Treasurer Schultz and Trustee Merchant.
BTW Connie from Central Lake people are still wondering who is behind the organization you are promoting. Healthy democracy and full transparency would dictate full disclosure.]
