Dear Editor,

The Independence Township Board’s failure to appoint a replacement to fill the now-vacant supervisor position is a clear indicator a broader net should be cast and the deadline for the acceptance of additional applicants should be extended.
A vote for just that failed 3-3 at the special meeting of the board on September 27, 2021 with more of the same at the October 5, 2021 meeting.
Interestingly, Trustee Paul Brown voted against that motion. His vote against the motion is a pure conflict of interest because he is a candidate for the job. Where’s the township attorney? Brown’s goal is obviously to run out the clock and force a special election and win a low turnout popularity contest. Even worse, he’s calculating that the county (that’s right, not the township, but the county) Republican Party will nominate him for the job!
The county Democrats can do the same thing. Are you kidding?
That will prevent the need for a primary election and then we’ve lost all local control. Come on, Paul, you’ve already turned your back on the voters once when you resigned your full-time township treasurer’s job which you won in the 2016 election. You need to abstain. Brown’s failure to abstain and the self-serving conflict of interest it creates puts the township in jeopardy of a lawsuit for the political games being played.
Such shenanigans!
The township board has in hand three additional applications. They need to vote to give those candidates the opportunity for a board interview. A qualified candidate may be there! Time is now limited, but the board can accomplish it with special meetings. To not do so and to continue the stalemate will, by law, compromise the community into the $40,000/$50,000 needless expense of a special election.
Four of the six current board members were appointed to their present positions between the 2016 and 2020 elections. In 2020, they were elected on their own merit. They owe allegiance to the citizens of our community, not who originally facilitated their appointment. Do not squander our tax dollars on an unneeded special election when all remedies have not been exhausted. To enable someone’s insatiable quest for power when other potential qualified candidates are at the ready is not fair to those candidates or our community. Failure to reopen the opportunity for further interviews does not reflect well on board members who want to run out the clock, nor does it serve the community they were elected to represent.
Finally, if you’re on the township board and are in the running for appointment to the supervisor job, you must abstain from all votes that serve your personal advancement. Self-interest does not coincide with community interest.
Knock off the backroom nonsense and political games!

Sincerely,
Fred Ritter
Independence Township