A contracted township employee, who sent a notarized letter to the township board this past August expressing concerns over his treatment by Parks & Recreation Director Rock Blanchard, said he’s running out of patience with how the township is handling the matter.
James Scharf addressed the board during the public comment portion of their Dec. 17 regular meeting. He holds the contract to mow township-owned fields.
His concerns, including a claim that Blanchard asked for a $2,500 kickback to keep his contract, were profiled in the Aug. 29 edition of The Review.
Blanchard has denied the kickback claim on multiple occasions, and an investigation by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department (which was requested by Township Supervisor Jerry Dywasuk) has not told the board anything new.
Dywasuk said the township simply cannot reprimand an employee (Blanchard) based on what appears to be a ‘he said-he said? argument.
Scharf’s work has since been moved to the Building and Grounds Department, headed by Reenae Tulip. He said harassment from Blanchard continued, however, after the move.
Scharf cited e-mails between Blanchard and Joe Bird, a member of the Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee, as one example of the harassment.
Bird addressed the board later during public comment and said his concern with regard to the issue was only with having the proper insurance on file for Scharf. He added that all discussions between himself and the Parks & Rec. director were under the jurisdiction of his committee.
Scharf said that the comments made by Blanchard have led to a loss of work. He added that there are no complaints about his work on file at the township.
‘I can’t believe that any board member would sit there and allow this to happen,? Scharf said. ‘This is my last little bit of faith.?
Scharf said that his next step would be to take the matter to court, but added that he’d ‘rather not go that way? and would like to resolve the issue cordially in order to ‘save face.?
Dywasuk said that based on the OCSD investigation, he’s not sure what basis Scharf would have for potential court action.