Should West Bloomfield Candidates Ever Sue Each Other?
Township Board of Trustees candidates talk divisiveness and law at voters forum Wednesday.
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As the entire West Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees is essentially seeking re-election, a series of lawsuits which divided the board has been a hot-button issue during the campaign.
Candidates in the West Bloomfield Township Aug. 7 primary including those running for supervisor, clerk, treasurer, and trustee touched on that and a wide range of issues at the League of Women Voters-sponsored event Wednesday at the Main Library.
Jonathan Warshay, who is running for supervisor, was among many candidates pledging not to sue the township board majority.
Last month, the Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed the circuit court decision against the plantiffs — Supervisor Michele Economou Ureste and Trustee Steven Kaplan — of a suit brought against the township board majority. The suit sought ruling on four issues, most of them involving the power of the board majority against the power of the supervisor.
In weeks leading up to the election, Warshay has spoken at public meetings on numerous occasions decrying the suit, which has reportedly cost taxpayers more than $36,000.
Economou Ureste said that she spent $5,000 out of her own pocket on litigation. Kaplan suggested that the suit was a "last resort," in order to ensure good government.
"That didn't mean that other majority members should have expanded the legal fees by seeking omissions to dismiss and just let the ruling happen," Economou Ureste said.
Trustee Howard Rosenberg claimed that the suit was "the source of all the strife in the township."
However, other suits pitting board members against one another have been said to cause strife and a possible waste of resources.
Trustee Larry Brown made headlines in 2010 by filing suit against Economou Ureste for defamation of character and by filing suit against the West Bloomfield Police Department for failing to act properly on a Freedom of Information Act request.
"If anybody out there feels that if you're being slandered or libeled that you shouldn't do anything about it after a while, I'd like to meet you. But I think if you have a good reputation then you'd like to keep it up," Brown said.
The incumbents' responses to those questions did not satisfy Pearl Walker, a West Bloomfield resident who was among about 50 who made up the live audience at one point. Walker, 55, said that she was unimpressed by performances of the slate of candidates.
"I wish there were more to pick from ... I think that what happened is that we elected a lot of people (in 2008) who were just not qualified."
"Over the past four years, there have been some compromising positions and it has not been easy. You just have to do the best you can do, do the right thing, and hopefully through the election process we have the right candidates," Economou Ureste said.
For more on West Bloomfield Township government, visit the Elections 2012 page on West Bloomfield Patch.
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jeff sakwa
8:47 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012
Kaplan and Ureste must go! They sued the TOWNSHIP, that means the residents. In the circuit court ruling the Judge Rudy Nichols called it political in nature. They had the nerve to appeal and lost unanimously in weeks after hearing the case, unheard of in court. The township attorney told them they were wrong and said he had never seen a supervisor sue a township. SHE HAS ONE VOTE PERIOD! It is a township board not a mayor with a city council. If you live in West Bloomfield your day in court is August 7. It cost us over 40k to defend, wake up.
Mark Scott
2:51 pm on Thursday, July 19, 2012
Larry Brown sued the West Bloomfield Police Department so he should go as well unless there is a double standard here. The mantra has been that no trustee should sue the township (which the WB Police Dept is a department). All of these sitting incumbents seem to be after power and forcing submission. Let's add the Clerk Shaughnessy to the list of incumbents that should be voted out of office. The clerk failed to protect the integrity of the August 7th primary because of sloppy quality control. Has this ever been a issue in West Bloomfield? It's gotten enough press that Presidential candidate Mitt Romney has expressed disappointment and concern (see patch article).
The clerk also has wasted taxpayer dollars by sending out letters/stickers that merely communicated that the voters would soon get voter information in the mail from her that is actually useful. Another example of wasted taxpayer dollars. It's time to look at the Republican candidate Dennis Thomson.