Recently several people who have served our township for many years on the Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning Commission were not notified when their terms were about to expire. They were not asked if they wanted to continue their service. They were not told that they were being replaced, largely by contributors to Supervisor Gonser’s campaign. Two of them spoke up about this at the Sept. 10th Board of Trustees meeting.
- George Platz, chairman of the ZBA for 15 years, a professional Land Surveyor and
- Carolyn Phelps, member of the ZBA for 12 years and formerly Township Clerk for 28 years.
Their remarks, as recorded in the publicly available video of the meeting, are shown below.
Jim Foulkrod
Oakland Township Watchers 
I do find it rather disturbing that these civic minded people were replaced in such a seemingly shabby fashion. Hopefully something was learned from this. I was also disappointed at the citizens at the Board of Trustees meeting who felt the need challenge Mr. Platz’s comments. Someone who has done a difficult job for us for so many years, deserves more respect from the community. I don’t know either Mr. Platz or Mrs. Phelps personally. Recently\ I watched all the on-line tapes of recent Zoning Board meetings and felt that both treated residents with dignity and respect as the board went about the difficult task of deciding if granting a zoning variance was warranted for a residents dream construction project. I hope they will find another avenue to help us make keep Oakland Township on track with its vision for the future as an unpretentious, rural-like, beautiful, respectful place to live.
I was disappointed myself in how the non-appointment was handled and in and the public comments to Mr. Platz at the Board of Trustees meeting. I hope Mr.Platz and Mrs. Phelps will overcome their hurt and find another way to help us keep Oakland Township on track.
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