Brandon Twp.- Saying she was ‘ordered? to do so, Treasurer Linda Owen apologized to two township employees at the March 5 township board meeting.
‘I have been ordered by the supervisor (Ron Lapp) to apologize for a statement I made at the Feb. 12, 2007 special meeting of what I was told and believe it to be true,? said Owen, after the township board approved 7-0 a recommendation by Lapp that Owen publicly apologize to Recreation Director Fred Waybrant, conveying to Waybrant and the public that the treasurer had no foundation for making an unsubstantiated statement related to the alleged improper use of the township vehicle and the implied assertion that Waybrant was responsible. ‘Fred, I apologize.?
Waybrant had requested the public apology in a letter to Lapp after learning Owen stated during the Feb. 12 special meeting to discuss policies that her husband, Ted Owen, had seen the township parks and recreation truck parked at ‘In Motion,? a fitness center located at 4 N. Ortonville Road, at 9:30 p.m., Feb. 1.
Waybrant asserted the vehicle was parked in the rear parking lot of the township’s municipal building from 5 p.m., Feb. 1 to 8 a.m., Feb 2, and a review of surveillance video used by ‘In Motion? showed the truck was not in the parking lot Feb. 1.
In his letter regarding the matter, Waybrant wrote, ‘It is both incredible and absolutely unacceptable that Ms. Owen, an elected official and Brandon Township treasurer, is allowed to sit in a public governmental forum uttering slanderous and faulty accusations using erroneous and uncorroborated hearsay as evidence. I join the ranks of others before me as I find myself defending my integrity and feeling compelled to prove my innocence while Ms. Owen skips away with her ill intentions and position intact, leaving a maelstrom of distress, anguish and discredited reputations in her wake.?
Ted Owen spoke during the public comment portion of the March 5 meeting, saying that he had been pumping gas the evening in question, saw a truck that looked like the recreation truck, and the matter had been blown out of proportion by an idle comment he made.
Owen said last Wednesday that she heard about the truck from her husband and ‘someone else afraid of losing his/her job.? She believed it to be true, but now is not sure because her husband is not sure.
After Owen made her apology to Waybrant at the March 5 meeting, the township board approved 7-0, a recommendation by Lapp that Owen issue a public apology to Township Bookkeeper Sue Chesnutt, regarding statements Owen made during the Feb. 12 special meeting, saying that her Deputy Treasurer Terri Darnall had told her that she and Chesnutt had a conversation in which she told Darnall she had entered the treasurer’s office in Dec. 2005 and went through the treasurer’s desk following the firing of former deputy treasurer Teresa Karsney.
Chesnutt calls the statement untrue and without merit. She adds that Darnall, at the special meeting, even said, ‘I never said that.?
Owen insists Darnall, who resigned last week citing a hostile work environment and stress, did say it. But she apologized in the same manner as she had with Waybrant, saying, ‘I have been ordered by the supervisor to apologize for a statement I made at the Feb. 12, 2007 special meeting of what I was told and believe it to be true. Sue, I apologize.?
Chesnutt and Waybrant were both asked at the meeting if Owen’s apology was acceptable, to which they both responded yes. But Chesnutt later wrote in a memo to all board members that she accepted Owen’s statement for what it was, ‘a statement, and in no way could that statement be construed as an apology.?
‘I have to stand up for my integrity,? says Chesnutt. ‘I’m a born-again Christian and that’s the basis of my integrity. I can’t stand by and let people slander me.?
At last Monday’s meeting, the township board also moved to amend its personnel policies to add that whenever time permits, elected officials shall direct all allegations regarding personnel misconduct to the supervisor or personnel director for investigation and, except in cases where the immediate public welfare in involved, not make public disclosure of such allegation until the investigation has been reasonably completed. Violation of this policy may result in public censure of the official. The motion passed 7-0.