Neha Patel announced her candidacy as a Democrat for West Bloomfield Township Clerk on Wednesday. A West Bloomfield resident since 1994, Patel has been a member of the Township’s Woodland Environmental Board for the past three years. She is serving this year as Vice Chair of that board.

Patel and her husband Mark, have two children.  She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Toledo. 

She has held diverse employment positions, including that as a Project Manager for PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Covisint, and as the owner of a local insurance company, as well as a mortgage company.

“As a proven, accomplished professional and small business owner, I am running for Township Clerk to restore the office to the stature and high level performance exhibited under Sharon Law, the former Township Clerk,” Patel stated.  She added that, “the office under my leadership will provide a multitude of services in an efficient manner despite reduced resources.”

Although planning to run a positive campaign, Patel is critical of several actions taken by the incumbent Township Clerk, Cathy Shaughnessy, including:

• hiring of her political operative and campaign manager to be her deputy clerk
• her refusal to prepare closed session minutes
• her unilateral decision not to prepare verbatim meeting minutes, which are needed for historical purposes.

Patel is enthusiastically supported by West Bloomfield Township Supervisor Michele Economou Ureste and West Bloomfield Township Trustee Steve Kaplan, who asserted that, “We believe Neha Patel has the credentials to be a stellar Township Clerk, and that she will serve in a courteous, dignified, and respectful manner.”