At the August 12, 2014 Oakland Township Board meeting, Trustee Giannangeli defended the appointments the Supervisor wanted to make to the Planning Commission by denigrating his fellow Planning Commission members.
At the September 2, 2014 Planning Commission meeting, Planning Commission Chairman, James Carter asked Giannangeli to explain his comments to the entire Planning Commission. John not only denied saying what he said, but called James Carter a liar and then refused to explain his accusations. He did not have the courage to express his concerns ‘in person’ with his fellow Planning Commission members.
During the discussions that occurred at the August 12 Board meeting, Trustee John Giannangeli made several negative comments about the Planning Commission. These comments were used to justify appointing three new members to the Planning Commission (in addition to the two relatively new members that they appointed previously). The Planning Commission consists of seven members. There are now only two experienced Commission members as they undertake revisions to our Township Master Plan.
Trustee John Giannangeli is a member of the Planning Commission. He made a recommendation at the Board meeting that the Township should set ‘term limits’ for the Planning Commission and other positions in the Township. He also made the following statement about the Planning Commission:
“They think they own the Township, not the residents. I sit on the Planning Commission and I listen to those comments they make sometimes and I keep my mouth shut.”
At the September 2 Planning Commission meeting, Chairman James Carter asked Trustee John Giannangeli to explain the comments he made at the August 12 meeting. Giannangeli denied that he recommended ‘term limits’ for the Planning Commission members, even though the recording of that meeting indicated that he had made that recommendation. Giannangeli even accused Carter of lying!
When Carter asked Giannangeli to explain his comment about the Planning Commission acting like “they own” the Township, Giannangeli got very defensive and refused to explain the comment he had made at the August 12 meeting. He appears to only have the courage or ‘backbone’ to express his opinion when he has others present to defend him!
Here is a video of the discussions that occurred at both the August 12 & September 2 meeting:
Why is this important to the citizens of Oakland Township? Oakland Township is a highly desirable community. This did not happen by accident. The past Planning Commission members played a major role in making Oakland Township what it is. Our Supervisor wants to change it by appointing new people to the Planning Commission.
John Giannangeli is an UNELECTED Trustee that Supervisor Gonser nominated for the position created when Trustee McKay quit. He is also the Board’s representative on the Planning Commission. This summer, John was voted in as a Republican candidate for Trustee for the fall general election. It was an unopposed primary race. There were two candidates for two positions, yet John Giannangeli received 31 fewer votes than the other candidate, Robin Buxar (1329 vs. 1360).
Did those 31 voters have a better understanding of who John Giannangeli really is?
The citizens will have an opportunity to vote for (or against) John this fall in the general election. Since there are two Trustee positions and no Democrats or Independents on the ballot, maybe a “write in” candidate could fill that seat and change the makeup of our Township Board.
We will have two more years of Gonser’s tyrannical leadership. However, we can impact our future NOW by finding a ‘write-in’ candidate to run against John Giannangeli this fall and take back control of the Board by replacing Gonser’s extremist ‘puppet’.
Richard Michalski
Here is a related link that is worth revisiting:
Oakland Township Watchers 