Nothing states my position on this topic better than the words at Mike Bailey’s website: http://www.mikebaileysupervisor.com/. Mike is running for Supervisor and believes in our current form of government.

During the Fall of 2013 at the Nov 7th and 20th Board of Trustees meetings there were extensive discussions on the topic. And again, at the Board of Trustees meeting of Jan 13, 2015 a vigorous discussion resulted in the Board’s reemphasizing their desire for a strong Board/Township Manager form of government via a reaffirmation of Ordinance 97, only Mr. Gonser and Trustee Thalmann voted against. I as a resident participated in all of these discussions. I entered the discussion with an open mind and realized in short order how precious and prudent our current form of government is. I encourage anyone who has interest in this topic to review the videos of the above meetings at http://www.oaklandtownship.org/.

This topic of Governance is discussed in Item 10 below from Mike’s website.

Further, a very important reason why our current form of governance is a good one is pointed out in Item 11 below from Mike’s website. An errant Supervisor is very hard to get rid of once elected. We have an opportunity to do so on August 2nd. That is why I endorse and am voting for Mike Bailey for Supervisor. The incumbent Terry Gonser must go!

10. Change the Supervisor Not Our Government! The Board early on in its administration reviewed the benefits of our form of government which calls for a Township Manager, a government professional, who handles the day to day operations of the Township and reports to the Board of Trustees vs. having a four year elected Supervisor with oftentimes little experience in municipal government operations handling these functions.
It was concluded that a Township Manager would bring broad experience and knowledge to the job as well as gaining vital Oakland Township experience on the job that could span administrations.
Another advantage is that the Board can, based on performance of the Township Manager, either reward him/her with an increase in salary or fire him/her if their performance is not meeting expectations. The Supervisor, on the other hand, cannot be easily removed from office if performance is not meeting requirements. There are only two ways to remove the supervisor: 1) Recall petition which requires great effort by the citizens, or 2) Wait until the next election.
Our type of government is built into Michigan law. It is one that we have been operating with since 1992. A Township Manager is the preferred type for Oakland Township leaving the Supervisor and Board to focus on the bigger picture issues that will affect the future of our Township.
Mike Bailey supports our current form of Government and the incumbent Supervisor, Terry Gonser, does not. Andy Zale was not sure initially how he “felt” about our form of government and only recently has “decided” to support our current form of government.

11. The Incumbent Must Go! The current Supervisor has created an adversarial atmosphere at the Board level due to his dictatorial style of leadership. He has alienated members of the Parks Commission in his attempt to usurp their administration of Land Preservation Fund. He has verbally mistreated a former member of the Board for which he had to make a public apology. His overreach of authority has caused problems for Township Administration and for the Township Manager specifically. One Manager, upon submitting his resignation at a Board meeting, asked the Supervisor to consider doing the same in the best interest of the Township. The list goes on and on… On the other hand, Mike Bailey’s is a consensus builder; he has the respect and endorsement of all fellow members of the Board of Trustees and support of many members of all other Boards and Commissions including Parks. He possesses the knowledge, experience and leadership style that will serve Oakland Township residents well!

Frank Ferriolo