At the August 12, 2014 BOT meeting, the Township Board made a number of appointments that, according to Supervisor Gonser, will have a significant impact on the character of our Township.  There were three appointments to the Planning Commission, one appointment to the Zoning Board of Appeals and one appointment to the Tax Board of Review.  None of the Planning Commission appointments were unanimously approved.  The other two appointments were unanimously approved .

At two points during the meeting, Supervisor Gonser stated that per Michigan statutes, the Supervisor “appoints the candidates subject to the Board’s approval”, indicating that only he has the authority to nominate the individuals for the positions.  

There will be another post on this website sharing the concerns raised by several Board members and citizens over the appointment of the Planning Commission members.

Here are the names and credentials for the various appointments:

Planning Commission Appointments

Danny Beer- approved 4 to 3

• President of Lyon Gear in Goodison
• Grew up in Goodison
• Currently not a resident of Oakland Township
• Lives in Clarkston, Michigan

Gary Kwapis-approved 5 to 2

• Lives in Oakland Township off Orion Rd in Southwest quadrant of Township
• Architect
• Owner of Hein and Kwapis Architects P. C.

Anthony Scaccia- approved 4 to 3

• Lives in Oakland Township near Silverbell and Gunn in Southwest quadrant of Township
• Home builder
• Real Estate broker
• Former member of Tax Board of Review

Zoning Board of Review

Lawrence Tomczak- approved 7 to 0

• Lives in Oakland Township near Silverbell and Gunn in Southwest quadrant of Township
• Engineer
• Previous member of Subdivision architectural review board

Tax Board of Review

Sandra Stefanski- approved 7 to 0

• Lives in Oakland Township’s near Silverbell and Adams in Southwest quadrant of Township
• Worked for AT&T
• Previously ran two small businesses

There will be an additional post regarding the concerns of several Board members over the appointment of the Planning Commission members.

Here is a video of the introductory comments the appointees made at the August 12th meeting:

Why is this important to the citizens of Oakland Township?  The appointments to the various Boards and Commissions are very important to the citizens because these individuals will be making decisions that will impact the residents of our Township.  In particular, the Planning Commission appointments are very important since we are currently involved in reviewing and updating our Master Plan.  The Planning Commission will now have only two people with any Planning training as the Township undertakes this critical process.

Richard Michalski