Positions Open in West Bloomfield Government; Budget Adopted

As West Bloomfield is one of the most complicated voting jurisdictions in Michigan and with three elections on the horizon in 2012, the township's human resources director, Denise Maier, requested in a memo Monday that the Township Board fill the position of election specialist.

Maier also requested the filling of other positions in the Police Department and the Water and Sewer Department. The requests were approved by the board, along with a resolution to adopt the

West Bloomfield features 27 polling locations, many with different ballot styles at an individual precinct. The specialist position was vacated as Clerk Catherine Shaughnessy took elected office three years ago, but since then, she claimed in a letter to the Township Personnel Committee, dated Oct. 26, responsibilities have actually increased.

Customer service demands and new technology to administer, including the Electronic Poll Book, have made elections more time-consuming, she wrote. "I find it necessary to fill the vacated election specialist position in order to perform the high quality elections that voters deserve to expect," Shaughnessy wrote.

The absence of the position has saved about $100,000 in the budget  every year since it was vacated, but in anticipation of a presidential election and a township board election in 2012, as well as other added responsibilities, the change is necessary, according to Shaughnessy. The local has referred a "huge" number of applicants for passports, which, she wrote, is a time-consuming process.

To help pay for the position, Shaughnessy wrote, she anticipates a vacancy in another position.

"(Filling the vacancy is) highly needed to protect … the Clerk and the rest of the board from any election fraud that might take place," said board Trustee Larry Brown, who also sits on the Personnel Committee.

In the last presidential election November 2008, more than 76 percent of eligible voters cast votes. In the most recent November election, turnout was 19 percent.

Positions open in Police Department, Water and Sewer Department

As part of the same memo, Maier requested that the board approve a plan to fill vacancies in the with the hiring of five part-time dispatchers and the advancement of one existing part-time dispatcher to full-time status. The current staffing authorization allows for 13 full-time dispatchers and one part-time dispatcher; however, three full-time dispatchers have left within the past year for different reasons.

Police Chief Michael Patton wrote to the Personnel Committee on Nov. 30 that if money were not an issue, he would like to have 16 full-time staff. "I anticipate that this proposal will be essentially expense neutral," Patton wrote.

Maier also requested that the board approve filling one maintenence technician position in the .