By Shelby Stewart
Staff Writer
Come November, all of the Brandon Township board seats are up for reelection, including the Clerk, Treasurer and Supervisor seats. In addition, the current Clerk, Candee Allen, Treasurer, Teri Darnall, and Supervisor, Kathy Thurman, have announced they will not be running for another term and are retiring.
“It has been a great pleasure serving Brandon Township as supervisor for the past 11 years,” said Thurman. “I am immensely grateful to those who have supported me with their votes which allowed me to hold this office for three terms. As we draw near to another election cycle, it is with much thought and prayer that I have decided not to run for Supervisor for another term. “
While Thurman has decided not to run for supervisor, she has decided to run for a trustee seat.
“I am at a point in my life where retirement activities are becoming more appealing and would prefer working fewer hours,” she said. “However, I am not ready to cut my ties to township government completely. I feel I can offer the next Board important history and guidance that I was thankful to receive from other senior Board Members when I first became Supervisor.”
Some things the supervisor handles for the township include attending meetings and moderating meetings, developing the budget, coordinating FOIA requests, preparing proposals, overseeing the Parks and Recreation and Building departments, as well as many other tasks.
“The supervisor is the prime township representative and manager,” said Thurman. “Brandon Township Supervisor has been a very rewarding job for me. I will miss interacting with my amazing colleagues and the public on an every-day basis.”

Likewise, Darnall has decided to retire from her position, which includes a lot of workload as well, including having a working knowledge of the tax program through the county, being responsible for balancing the tax roll to the assessing roll weekly, daily tax batches, the March reports for the county, processing dog tags, balancing more than 50 bank accounts monthly, and much more that she does on a regular basis.
“As you can see, this is a full-time position,” said Darnall. “If this department does not follow the requirements cast on it by the state and county, the township can be put into receivership. So, if you want this job you have to know what you are doing from day one. Good luck.”
Allen has been clerk for 8 years, and felt similar to her coworkers.
“I am not running again for Clerk because it’s time to retire,” she said.
Allen, and her department, handle all of the elections as one of their many jobs, including the upcoming election in November. All of the seats are partisan, and will need to be filed to be elected in the August 4 primary. There are 4 trustee seats, as well as six library board seats.
All potential candidates must contact the clerk’s office to obtain the required forms at 248-627-2851, and the deadline to file is April 21 at 4 p.m.