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Did you know who really made no bid contacts the
standard in Brownstown?
Brownstown Township’s regular practice is to award no bid contracts including:
· For the past 40 years, there has never been a bid process followed for
the selection of the Township’s legal firm.
Approximate cost to the township - $260,000 per year.
·
Since 2002 the West Nile Virus Program was never open to competitive bid. Approximate cost to the township over $36,000
per year. The recipient of that contract is the Deputy Supervisor’s son.
· The Township Planner and Township Engineering Contracts have been renewed
for the past 32 years and were continually renewed without competitive bid. Average yearly cost to the township in excess
of $2 Million Dollars.
· In 2004, Brownstown Township put all old records on CD, this did not go out to bid before the company was chosen.
· The selection of the real estate representative for the purchase of the
Towncenter property was not put out for bid. The Township then paid 15 million dollars for property that the Township’s
own assessor said was only worth 3 million. The real estate agent made approximately 1.5 million of your tax dollars from
the sale.
Neither Diane Philpot or Ed Neal were on the Board of Trustees
when these contracts were awarded.
Did you know Brownstown
had an expense reimbursement that was enacted in 1987 which is very similar to the new expense policy just passed?
·
Since the 1987 policy was in place the Township officials have regularly been reimbursed for mileage they were not
entitled to. This practice stopped immediately when Diane Philpot became Treasurer.
· Township
officials have historically turned in expenses such as cell phone usage without having itemized proof that it was Township
business. This practice stopped immediately when Diane Philpot became Treasurer.
· Township
officials and employees regularly turned in meal and entertainment expenses without documentation. This practice stopped immediately
when Diane Philpot became Treasurer.
Neither the IRS or any law abiding company would allow you
or me to handle expense reimbursements this way. Now that Diane Philpot has been elected Treasurer Brownstown employees and
officials are no longer allowed to submit undocumented expenses in accordance with IRS guidelines.
Brownstown Township
has a history of not following their own ordinances and changing the interpretation to fit their own agendas.
Did you know that in 1993,
the Township Board discussed and adopted a legal opinion from the Michigan Township
Association about the expenditure of Township funds?
· This policy prohibits any expenditure that does not conform to the Uniform Budgeting and
Accounting Act.
· This policy prohibits expenditures to Little League, public or private
non-profits community organizations, mileage to and from the residence to Township Hall or meeting halls for Township officials.
· This policy also prohibits extra compensation to the Township Supervisor,
Clerk, and Treasurer for attendance at Township meetings.
Our Township Supervisor
was Treasurer at the time this policy was adopted. He regularly collected additional
compensation for Water and Sewer Commission meetings, has had expense reports rejected for including mileage from his home
to the Township Hall for Township business and could not seem to remember that this policy was adopted by the Brownstown Township
Board in 1993.
The new policy recommended by Treasurer Diane Philpot
just reinforced a decision made in 1993 by the Brownstown Township
Board of Trustees.
Did you know Brownstown had an expense reimbursement that was enacted in 1987 which is very similar to the new expense
policy just passed?
· Since the 1987 policy was in place the Township officials have regularly been reimbursed
for mileage they were not entitled to. This practice stopped immediately when Diane Philpot became Treasurer.
· Township
officials have historically turned in expenses such as cell phone usage without having itemized proof that it was Township
business. This practice stopped immediately when Diane Philpot became Treasurer.
· Township officials and employees regularly
turned in meal and entertainment expenses without documentation. This practice stopped immediately when Diane Philpot became Treasurer.
Neither the IRS nor any law-abiding company
would allow you or me to handle expense reimbursements this way. Now that Diane Philpot has been elected Treasurer
Brownstown employees and officials are no longer allowed to submit undocumented expenses in accordance with IRS guidelines.
Why did they really need
to recall Diane Philpot and Ed Neal?
\What do you really know about the Towncenter Project?
· The selection of the real estate
representative for the purchase of the Towncenter property was not put out for bid. The Township then paid 15 million dollars
for property that the Township’s own assessor said was only worth 3 million. The real estate agent made approximately
1.5 million of your tax dollars from the sale.
· The Township Supervisor signed purchase agreements
prior to the Board of Trustees providing him authority to do so. That was the only purchase agreement that did not have a
option for the Township to back out of.
· The Township Supervisor signed an as is agreement
to purchase the same piece of property that was known to be contaminated and in need of an environmental cleanup at taxpayer’s
expense.
· The DDA purchased a piece of property that is not within the Downtown Development
Authority boundaries and is therefore not legally allowed to be purchased with DDA funds.
·
The Township tried to change the boundaries of the Downtown Development Authority to include this property, but were advised
against it. Modifying the DDA boundaries requires the county and the State to reevaluate the boundaries and may have caused
Brownstown’s DDA to be considered an illegal application of the DDA act.
· The State of
Michigan in an effort to recapture tax dollars diverted from state tax rolls is investigating illegal Downtown Development
Authorities, Brownstown Township’s DDA is one of those “cornfield DDA’s” being investigated.
By exercising
your rights under the Freedom of Information Act, you can read and get copies of official documents that verify what the Township
is trying to
hide from you, the residents of Brownstown. All these things
occurred prior to the November election in 2004.
Did you know that the
Downtown Development Authority Act was enacted by the State of Michigan to aid in the redevelopment
of downtown areas troubled by economic distress and ageing infrastructure that prevents urban renewal?
· Brownstown Township created a Downtown Development Authority in 1994. It did not
define a downtown area until 2005. Clearly this was contrary to the laws allowing for Downtown Development Authorities.
·
In drawing the boundaries for the Downtown Development Authority, the Township eliminated from the district
existing subdivisions and newer developments because it would prevent them from showing significant increases in taxable value
to those properties; some of which are completely surrounded by the Downtown Development Authority District. This is contrary
to an Attorney General’s opinion on the process of developing boundaries.
Ask yourself,
“What else is the DDA trying to hide, and how much is this going to cost the residents of Brownstown?”
Since the November election, Brownstown Township has changed the way it conducts business.
The new board has given residents back the ability to stand up for their Constitutional rights without fear of retribution.
The OLD way:
·
Under the old Board, when a resident complained about the workmanship of the builder of their subdivision
in a public Township meeting, the Township prosecuted him for planting grass seed instead of sod.
·
Under the old Board, when a resident questioned the Township spending in the DDA, the Township ticketed him for blight
on his property.
· Under the old Board, a resident refused an offer to sell his property to
a developer and the Township sued him for non-compliance with the property maintenance code.
·
Under the old Board, a representative of the Township presented offers to purchase property from residents of the Township
and did not disclose that he was representing both the buyer and the seller during the purchasing process, which is required
by the State Board of Realtors. This is also State law.
· Under the old Board, appointments
and employment opportunities were given to family members and business associates and opportunities were denied to more qualified
applicants.
· Under the old Board, Township employees worked under the constant fear that if
they didn’t follow the appropriate direction they would lose their jobs, regardless of whether the desired direction
was in the best interest of the Township
By participating in the recall process, you were effectively supporting the way Brownstown Township conducted business under the old ways. Do you really want to go back to the way we were or would you rather strive
for a system that’s objectives are to provide:
·
Residents having the freedom to exercise their Constitutional rights and address issues when they feel
they are being taken advantage of.
· Township officials understand and abide by the County,
State, and Federal laws governing the United States of America and protect the civil and legal rights of the residents
of Brownstown.
· Township employees do not have to fear identifying and speaking out when they
believe a law or civil right of a citizen is being violated or not being followed.
· People
are hired based on the Ethics policy, their qualifications, and their ability to competently perform the functions of the
position they are hired for.
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