Recall August 2, 2011

Many of you may have received a letter dated, well not dated, but signed by Linda Van Dolsen, Marilyn VanVleet, and Cookie Arquette. My entire voting family received their own individual copies in the mail today. I just couldn't pass up some very flagrant & inflammatory statements in said letter. For instance:
"Several years ago the previous township board formed a committee that studied the issue of a new township hall. That committee and the previous board pushed a dangerous, financially irresponsible $300,000.00 proposal. In 2006, the public forced the board to place a measure on the ballot to see if there was support for this project. The $300,000.00 proposal would have required the township to borrow at least half the money and may have required the township to increase property taxes to pay off that debt. That's right, they wanted to increase our taxes."
Wow, this paragraph is fraught with fallacies; where to begin?
Well, there was no "pushing", in fact the public in numerous meetings requested certain things be added to our current structure, such as, but not limited to, a basement, and a larger auditorium for hosting banquets and family gatherings.
Neither did the public force the board to place the measure on the ballot, that was a completely voluntary decision by a seated board, and the result of the vote was respected by that same board, hence the building project was dropped.
Now a new board, with some current members who were VERY VOCAL in their campaign against a larger township hall, has decided that they alone hold the powers to spend the very monies that the township requested not to be spent on a larger facility, and to do so with NO BIDS, and LITTLE INPUT FROM THE PUBLIC WHICH PUT THEM IN OFFICE. This is not beneficial leadership.
Another fallacy, which I believe this board understands to be misleading, is that a seated board can raise your property taxes. This is just not true. Remember, we are not the federal government, and a township government has NO AUTHORITY TO RAISE TAXES. Any raise in taxes past the Headley Amendment Rollback, must be voted on by the taxpayers. This is plain 'ole fear mongering. 
Finally, this letter references people who want a seat on the board, but who is to say this is true. Who has said anyone wants a seat on this board? Who would voluntarily beat themselves up with their own severed arm.



Enjoy your week, and remember to vote your conscience on August 2nd.

Regularly Scheduled Meeting of Elk Township Goes Well, and Recall Goes On...

Notice the new links on the side bar:

Links to interesting websites

• BSA Software Information on Taxes
• City-Data.com for Lake County
• Epodunk: Lake County Profile
• Lake County Free Public Records Directory
• Lake County Official Website
• Michigan Department of Natural Resources
• Michigan government
• Michigan Interactive Map
• Michigan Legislature
• Michigan Townships
• Snopes.com
• Wikipedia for Lake County, MI

Just more information on the awfully hot, hot days of July...
Not much news info to share, just that according to the Fire Department Chair, the origin of the K & K Grocery fire was deemed "Undetermined" by the fire marshall,
and August 6th is the Annual Fireman's Ball, held again at Skinner Park.
There were motions made, seconded and passed to survey the rest of Lakeview Cemetery; renew our township's insurance policy; and turn the foreclosed township properties over to the county for selling (parcels which have not paid their property taxes).
 also...
 Sample Ballots have been printed for the Recall Election which will be held August 2, 2011 at the Elk Township Hall, the wording is as follows:
"Linda VanDolsen, Elk Township Supervisor (Marilyn VanVleet, Elk Township Clerk, and Frances Arquette, Elk Township Trustee), has demonstrated a lack of financial accountability and judgment when she committed Elk Township to spend $150,000.00 of cash reserve for a new town hall. She did not give due consideration to a less expensive proposal which would have extended the existing hall with new construction. The less expensive proposal would have added needed space and restored the integrity of the old building at considerable savings."

Let's all play together, nicely...

At the last regularly scheduled board meeting, the board put away the claws (mostly) and asked/listened to the public's opinions. Some highlights:

Summer taxes will be mailed soon, and must be received by the treasurer no later than Sept 14th in order to avoid late fees. The postmark will no longer be honored, it must be received by Sept 14th.

Lake County will have their own substance abuse counselor.

Thanks goes out to Chad at The Boat House for shutting up his shop in order to fix a pump on a fire truck in use at K & K grocery during the recent fire.

Recycling is going on every Sat at Sauble Twp and everyone's accumulated wealth is welcomed (no hazardous waste): paper, metal, plastic, and glass only.

Heritage Bay has made petition to pave their roads (again), and the board has made a commitment to look into the costs of such a project.


Midget Lake Special Assessment District has more than enough monies for treatment for this year, so the board made a decision to reduce assessments to $41/parcel.

TRASH DAY: JULY 23rd @ SKINNER PARK, 9-1 pm

TOXIC WASTE CLEAN UP: OCT 8th @ WENGER PAVILION in Baldwin, 9-12 noon

The Board agreed to have a long awaited structural analysis completed on the current township hall by Nordlund Associates; this business will provide a report with recommendations.

And, finally, Frances Arquette cleared up the reason for a closed session during the June 3rd special meeting:
She called a closed session for the board in accordance with the Open Meetings Act for the following reason:
"(1) ...to hear complaints or charges brought against a public officer, employee, staff member, or individual when the person requests a closed hearing."

NOW! What?

The Elk Township Board calls an emergency meeting, then holds an illegal closed session.
According the the Red Book, which is the Bible for townships,
"The right to hold private or executive meetings of the township board has been severely limited under the Open Meeting Act. For township purposes, closed meeting are limited to:
1) Dismissal, suspension or disciplining of, to hear complaints or charges brought against or consider a periodic personnel evaluation of a public officer, employee, staff member or individual agent, if the named person requests a closed hearing;
2) Collective bargaining sessions at the request of either negotiating party;
3) Real estate purchase or lease consideration;
4) Consultation with the township attorney concerning pending litigation, but only if an open meeting would have a detrimental financial effect on the public body's litigating or settlement position;
5) Review of an employment application, only when requested by the applicant, and
6) Other matters exempt from disclosure by state or federal law."
page 55 of Authorities & Responsibilities by John H. Bauckham , Jan. 2006.
From what I understand, none of the above criterion were met, so what is the justification for a closed session, or is this simply another measure of "We are doing things our way."?
This Board continues to raise more questions than they answer! Next regularly scheduled board meeting is this Tues, June 14th, 7pm

Memorable Quotes, shall we say right from the horse's mouth...

"Since I'm going to be recalled, I think we need to go through with this (speaking of the building project). That's one of my reasons."-Frances Arquette
"The tools to complete a successful building project are not in place."-John Fairbanks
"We've talked about getting bids, and that hasn't been done...I'm not in favor of doing anything without having a lawyer look at this contract."-Carol Draper
"I would feel more comfortable having an attorney look at this (contract)."-Marilyn VanVleet

and last, but not least Jackie McKellar addressing Linda VanDolsen,
"You are not looking out for the best interests of the people."

At this meeting there was a motion made, and seconded, to stop this building project and to pay Steve Riggs what is owed to him at this time. The motion passed by roll call vote:
Frances Arquette-No
Carol Draper-Yes
John Fairbanks-Yes
Linda VanDolsen-Yes
Marilyn VanVleet-Yes
Therefore, the building project is stalled for now.

Whatsup with this?

SPECIAL BOARD MEETING MONDAY 8am @ TOWNSHIP HALL TO DISCUSS THE BUILDING PROJECT

Cease and Desist Clearing the Land

This is looking from the corner of the Elk Township Hall to the south-east

Land has obviously been cleared of woods, and the trees have already been hauled away

You can see posts marking the corners of a proposed building site

At the latest board meeting, a motion was made and seconded and voted in the affirmative by a majority of the board, to cease and desist in building a new township hall until documents may be reviewed and looked at by a lawyer. The complete board did not have time to review contracts and plans before land was being cleared.

Controversy & Clash

May 10, 2011 meeting continued the controversy over a large, stand-alone building to be built without any bids, even after a discussion ensued concerning bids for lawn maintenance at the same facility but with a much lesser overall amount in question.  This month's controversy included questions asked between board members:

"Do we have a contract?"
"You did not ask for bids?"
"Who did you ask to review the project?"
"I see Steve Riggs was given $1,000, what was that for?"
"Did you ask for a signed waiver of lien?"
"Did an attorney review this contract? (implied understanding that the board has not seen this contract)"
"Is there a copy of the contract?"


Most questions were either not answered, or not answered satisfactorily. Most answers were "NO", or "I will not get anything else out for this meeting." If this township board has a contract, most board members have not seen it, and definitely have not signed it. The Supervisor maintained throughout the meeting that there was a legitimate contract on site within the town hall, but nothing was produced for review. Instead onlookers heard things like, "This smacks of hypocrisy...let's move on," and "I'm going to sit here and listen to you, and let me know when you're finished."

The end result of this board controversy was a motion made by Carol Draper, Treasurer, and seconded by John Fairbanks, Trustee:
"I would like to make a motion that any work on a new building be stopped until such time as we can review the contracts and make sure that a lawyer reviews them as well."
This motion passed with Frances Arquette, John Fairbanks, and Carol Draper voting in affirmative, and Marilyn VanVleet, and Linda VanDolsen voting against.

At the end of public comment, Linda VanDolsen was heard speaking over everyone else, "Sign the recall, recall me, whatever." 

And that is how the meeting ended...stay tuned...this clash is not over!

Recall Is Definitely Going Forward...

It took less than one week to obtain more than enough signatures to recall all three board members who voted to build a $150,000 building without any input from the taxpayers.  According to the Michigan Township Association Red Book, which is the lawyer's interpretation of township law, "Recall is initiated by a petition signed by registered and qualified electors within the township...The petition must be circulated by a qualified and registered elector who must attach a certificate of circulation to the petition. An official sought to be recalled continues to perform the duties of the office, until the result of the recall election is certified by the board of county canvassers in the county where the petition is filed...The election shall be held on the next regular election date that is not less than 70 days after the date the petition was filed."
The soonest recall may be voted on will be August, so this board still needs to hear from you concerning building a free-standing, pole-barn-construction, building adjacent to the current town hall. DO YOU THINK THIS BOARD SHOULD USE $150,000 OF TOWNSHIP MONIES TO BUILD THIS BUILDING?
Next Board meeting will be May 10th at the township hall at 7pm...hope to see you there!

Sad, but True...Recall is in the air

Recall is a tough and unfortunate process to let elected officials know they are NOT serving the public's good, or with the public's best interest at the forefront.  This should be a last resort at any governmental level.
Since the annual meeting for Elk Township, a recall petition has been approved by a board of three down at the county courthouse. This step may not stop a new free standing building being built, but it certainly will let the elected officials know that they have stepped over the line of public displeasure.
The wording on the petitions only vary according to the name on the particular petition, names include Linda VanDolsen, Supervisor; Marilyn VanVleet, Clerk; and Frances Arquette, Trustee:

“Has demonstrated a lack of financial accountability and judgment when she committed Elk Township to spend $150,000.00 of cash reserve for a new town hall.  She did not give due consideration to a less expensive proposal which would have extended the existing hall with new construction.  The less expensive proposal would have added needed space and restored the integrity of the old building at considerable savings.”

If you are interested in signing a petition, or would like to know more information about this step, you may call 266.8489