Openness and transparency were the reasons Trustee Mark Petterson walked out of the executive session at the June 16 board meeting.
‘When I arrived at the township board meeting I was informed that there was an attorney opinion letter sent to all board members that day,? Petterson said. ‘This letter was then prompting an executive session of the board after the regular meeting.?
Topic of discussion was disciplinary processes in the township’s employee personnel manual, according to Trustee Larry Rosso.
Although officials would not say what specifically the meeting was about, memos reveal Supervisor Dave Wagner paid Building Department Director David Belcher two checks of $1,500 each in compensation for Belcher’s work on the hall.
‘I take full responsibility for authorizing the payments,? Wagner wrote in a June 9 letter to the board. ‘They were not made with any intent of hiding them from the board because memos were sent for payment with my signature.?
Wagner had sent a Dec. 8, 2008, and Jan. 16, 2009, memorandum to Renee Poole, assistance finance director authorizing the payments. Each of the payments showed up in the May 11,2009, check run for the new township hall as ‘Reclassify expenditures to proper account.?
When asked by phone on June 22 why each payment was labeled as such, Wagner said he couldn’t ‘answer that? and referred questions to Finance Director Susan Hendricks. She was unavailable for comment.
Belcher sent a memo to the board on June 1 saying he worked on the town hall ‘seven days per week with no additional pay.? When questioned at the June 2 board meeting about the ‘reclassified expenditures,? he replied he didn’t know what they were.
‘The night of the board meeting I was asked about expenditures that were labeled as reclassified. At that time I did not know what it was, there different amounts,? he wrote in a June 12 memo to all board members. ‘Now after the meeting I found out and now realize that two of them were payments by the supervisor back in December ’08 and January ’09, each for $1,500.?
When called for comment, Belcher replied ‘under the circumstances, I have no comment.?
When Wagner tried to issue a third payment of $1,500 to Belcher, Clerk Shelagh VanderVeen addressed him on the issue and said the payments needed to stop.
‘Unfortunately, I didn’t know before,? she said. ‘It wasn’t until the finance department came to me and told me and that’s when I went to him.?
VanderVeen said she felt the matter should have been brought before the board. However, Wagner said he didn’t bring it before the board because of the ’embarrassment? Belcher had suffered for the $2,000 he was already compensated for the senior center.
‘I wasn’t going to put him through that again,? he said.
Wagner said he had planned to pay Belcher somewhere between $6,000 to $8,000.
‘If the board wanted to give him more, that would be fine,? he said. ‘Personally I think the guy should have gotten $15,000.?
He also stated he did not need board approval to grant the payments as long as they were ‘under budget? because it was within his statutory duties as supervisor.
‘I don’t need to ask their permission to do it. Now should I go and ask them for permission for everything I do? That’s what they want,? he said. ‘I’m not going to do that.?
According to Michigan Townships Association, ‘as a general rule, compensation for employees is determined solely by the township board.?
‘In this particular instance there has been nothing done wrong, all within the guidelines of my job and I’ll stick behind it,? Wagner said.
Petterson told his fellow board members, June 16, there was no way he could have had time to review the attorney letter because it was sent while he was at work where he does not have access to a computer. After reviewing the letter, he felt there was nothing in the opinion letter that couldn’t be ‘discussed in open for the public? because the letter topic was a ‘matter of process.?
‘Everyone, especially the public, should know the processes the township takes for any matter. I felt as a board that expresses how much transparency is needed, this board was failing miserably to provide just that to the public. In protest I removed myself from the meeting,? he said. ‘I believe when in doubt, it is better to let the public know what we are doing than hide behind closed doors.?