As reported earlier on this website, the Township Board approved Supervisor Gonser’s nominee for a Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) at the August 12, 2014 Board meeting.  The new appointee is  Lawrence Tomczak.  The person he is replacing is Charles Beach.  Charles in a Township District Chief firefighter.  

At the September 9th Oakland Township Board meeting, Gonser stated that he had discussions with Charles in July, where he claimed Charles indicated that he was not interested in being reappointed to the ZBA.  Gonser went ‘out of his way’ to stress that no emails were involved and communication was only verbal.  

Subsequent discussions with Charles confirmed that that discussion never occurred.  Gonser also did not inform Charles after the August 12th meeting that he was replaced.  It was not until August 19th, the date of the ZBA meeting, when a staff member informed Charles that he was replaced.  Charles was surprised at the decision.  Here is the video of the discussion that occurred at the August 19th meeting.

Here is Gonser’s statement from the September 9th Board meeting:

This is not the first time that Gonser has not contacted the incumbents before making his decision to replace a person on the ZBA.  Last year, two ZBA members commented on the manner in which they were treated by the Supervisor.  Here is a link to that previous post:

Gonser hears from former Zoning Board of Appeals members

Also, this is not the first time that Gonser has made statements at a Board meeting that were not factual.  At the April 15,  2013 BOT meeting, he stated that he made a request for an Attorney General opinion “as an individual”, not as the Supervisor.  Documentation later confirmed that he had sent a request, but it was 8 days after he stated he sent it. He was clearly trying to ‘cover his tracks’.  Fortunately, that time there were ’emails’.  Here is a post on that topic:

Supervisor Gonser’s false statement regarding Attorney General letter

Why is this important to the residents of Oakland Township?  This is yet another example of Gonser’s arrogance and lack of professionalism in dealing with people that have contributed to the Township.   Charles is a Township firefighter who places his life on the line for the residents.  He wanted to continue on the Board.  

Supervisor Gonser wants to place people on the various Boards and Commissions that share his views.  It is uncertain if the other Board members knew, or understood, who they were replacing. The other Board members need to thoroughly understand what they are voting on, and take the necessary actions to preserve (if it is not already too late) the professional reputation of our Township.  

Gonser never admits to past mistakes and as a result does not learn from them.  Hopefully the other Board members are capable of doing so.  I have come to expect unprofessional behavior from Gonser.  I hope the Board does not follow suit.

This wording once again applies to this situation:

Richard Michalski