Settlement Agreement Reached Between Township Board and Trustee Brown

A settlement agreement proposed by Trustee Larry Brown was accepted at the April 26 board meeting, ending a lawsuit Brown brought last May against the West Bloomfield Police Department for failing to produce documents requested under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

The documents were requested by Brown’s attorney in relation to an investigation initiated by Supervisor Michele Economou Ureste in December 2009. The inquiry began following Brown’s disclosure of a business relationship with an associate of the township’s single trash hauler, Richfield Equities. Ureste referred the matter to the township police department, who in turn referred it to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office and the office of the Attorney General. The case was closed when none of the investigating authorities found any evidence of wrongdoing. While the investigation was going on, Brown, who felt he was being publicly and unjustly accused and scrutinized, hired an attorney to look into the matter.

When attorney Mark Snitchler requested information from the West Bloomfield Police Department about their investigation of Brown, he was told that the documents were unavailable. The documents were subsequently produced, and Brown offered to settle the lawsuit for $2,000 and a public acknowledgment that Brown was innocent of any wrongdoing. His offer was rejected at a board meeting on July 19, with dissenting votes by Ureste, Trustee Steven Kaplan, and Treasurer Teri Weingarden.

The settlement proposed by Brown and accepted by the board on April 26 consisted of payment of one dollar and an admission that the township erred by not responding to the original FOIA request with complete in a timely manner. The payment was to be donated on Brown’s behalf to the township Water and Sewer Benevolent Fund, which Brown helped establish and support to assist residents unable to pay their water bills.

The agreement was accepted by a 4-2 vote, with Ureste and Kaplan in dissent. Prior to the vote, Kaplan proposed an amendment to add a contingency that Brown reimburses the township for its legal fees, which were approximately $25,000. That proposal was defeated 4-2, with Ureste and Kaplan dissenting.

Reading from a prepared statement, Brown thanked the elected officials, township employees, residents and friends who stood by him through the months of allegations and investigations.

“I hope that the Board can now move forward with the more important issues relating to township matters and not those concerning lawsuits,” he said.

After the meeting, Clerk Cathy Shaughnessy said that Kaplan’s amendment was “audacious” in light of the fact that he voted against settling the case last summer when the legal fees were less than $4,000.

“We are supposed to make decisions that are best for our taxpayers,” said Shaughnessy. “In any other case, we would have settled, but they (Kaplan and Ureste) made this personal. Voting no the first time and again today was a slap in the face to every taxpayer in West Bloomfield; it was irresponsible and unprofessional.”

The past year has been marked by continuing conflict among township officials, including angry exchanges during board meetings, a lawsuit by Brown against Ureste for defamation of character, an unsuccessful attempt by Ureste and Kaplan to have Shaughnessy removed as FOIA coordinator, and another lawsuit by Ureste and Kaplan against their fellow board members for actions which the supervisor felt violated her statutory authority. Brown’s defamation suit was dismissed, and, in a separate circuit court proceeding, the complaint filed by Ureste and Kaplan was found to have no legal basis.    

Shaughnessy added that she and the new police chief, Michael Patton, have been working together to provide FOIA law training for all clerical employees to avoid future problems.

Township will appeal federal court decision on proposed T-Mobile cell tower

During the same closed session, the board unanimously voted to appeal a decision regarding a 2009 lawsuit filed by T-Mobile over the township’s refusal to allow a proposed 90-foot monoplane cell tower on the southwest corner of Long Lake and Middlebelt. Federal Judge Denise Page Hood of the Eastern District of Michigan ruled in favor of T-Mobile last month.

According to Kaplan, township officials did not feel that T-Mobile had demonstrated sufficient need for the tower, which would have a negative effect on the aesthetics of the primarily residential area. The case will be decided in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is located in Cincinnati.