Tag Archives: Oakland Township Board

Township Board hears input from citizens on Draft Zoning Ordinance 16

The Oakland Township Board did not approve the Draft Zoning Ordinance at their September 26, 2017 meeting.

The current Zoning Ordinance was originally approved in 1976. It has been modified many times through the years. That Ordinance has played a key role in defining the character of Oakland Township. The Draft Ordinance was intended to include revisions in State Law as well as providing an opportunity for citizen input.

During the last three Township Board meetings (Aug 22, Sept 12 and Sept 26, 2017), the Board heard input from citizens regarding the Draft Zoning Ordinance (Ordinance 16) that the Planning commission had recently approved. The Planning Commissions under three Township Administrations had been working on the document for over 6 year. There has already been significant citizen input in the document. This ordinance requires the Township Board’s approval before it is official. The Draft Ordinance was on the agenda for the August 22 and September 26th Board meetings.

The ‘first reading’ of the Ordinance occurred on August 22nd. There was very little input from citizens. At the September 12th Board meeting, as well as during the ‘second reading’ on September 26, there was quite a bit of input from citizens.

As a result of the input from citizens, the Board did not approve the Draft Ordinance as it is. They will probably be discussing the ‘next steps’ at the October 10th meeting. Hopefully, the Board will provide their input to the Planning Commission regarding the issues raised by the citizens.

Here is a summary of the concerns raised by the citizens at the meetings. Most of these issues had been discussed at previous Planning Commission meetings and at the public workshops that the Board held with the Planning Commission. Some of these are not true, but they were raised by the citizens as issues and should be addressed at subsequent meetings.

Definitions – Section 16-200 to 227

‘Grandfathered use’ (no definition)
‘Rubbish’ (too vague)
‘Nuisance’ (no definition in ‘Definition’ section, but too vague as defined in Section 16-306F)
‘Goods sold in home’ (no definition)

Home Occupation – Section 16-323

Believed publishing home business phone number on Facebook, or phone book, was not allowed (this is not true)
Prevents publishing address of home business on Facebook or phone book
Wording related to preventing people picking up product at their home

Bed and Breakfast – Section 16-505

Do not see need to establish minimum room size of 120 square feet for sleeping area of Bed and Breakfast facility

Enforcement of Ordinance – Section 16-110 & 16-111

Enforced on complaint basis only– not uniformly enforced
Penalty is misdemeanor not civil infraction
Others that ‘participate, assist or maintain violation’ are also liable
Concern over individual having been jailed for violation in past
Concern over process to document the existing ‘grandfathered’ or non-conforming situations

Animals – Sections 16-202A & 16-306

2 acre limits for small animals (chickens and rabbits) is too restrictive – want .5 acre
150 pound limit for domestic animals is too restrictive for some large dogs

Test Plan – Section 16-343

Test plan definition allows for counting non-buildable land in establishing allowed density count

Cell tower – Section 16-416

Wording is too restrictive and prevents owners from having cell towers on their property

Home size – Section 16-312

Minimum home size of 1200 square feet is too restrictive – should be able to build smaller homes

Assisted Living facility for elderly – Section 16-408

10 acre requirement is too restrictive – should be less

Change in parcel size on gravel road – Section 16-403

Questioned whether Ordinance was made less restrictive by allowing 2.3 acre lots with 200 ft. road frontage vs. what was believed to be previous 5 acre on 350 ft. road frontage

In addition to the specific issues raised by citizens, several individuals expressed concerns that the proposed Ordinance was an infringement of their property rights. Here are some of the statements made by these individuals:

The Document is too large – it should be no more than 50 pages
Large acreage parcels should not have restrictions like subdivisions
Let the subdivision owner’s control their property through their deed restrictions
“As long as we have wonderful neighbors” no need for ordinances
Ordinance has contributed to ‘overdevelopment’ of Township

In response to those concerns, having been on the Planning Commission of Oakland Township for over 26 years, I made the following points at the September 26th meeting:

The current Ordinance was approved in 1976 and updated many times
- It has been modified through the years based on citizen input and State Laws
- The Draft Ordinance is less restrictive in many areas than the current Ordinance

Contrary to comment made by our former supervisor, the effectiveness of an ordinance is not measured by number of pages, but by its impact on the community.
- People like Oakland Township because of “what we are”.
- We “are what we are” because of 40 years of good ordinances

The Draft Ordinance has been under development for well over 5 years
- Input has been received from many citizens over that time
- The Zoning Board of Appeal (ZBA) participated in review of changes and provided input
- The ZBA is knowledgeable of areas where there have been citizen issues – they “feel the hot breath of citizens” through the appeals process
- The Planning Commission has included the ZBA’s input in the Draft Ordinance

Many rural areas in the state have very limited zoning ordinances resulting in issues in their communities
- Without ordinances there is no method to correct problem areas

Some residents suggested subdivision should not rely on zoning ordinances, but should rely on their deed restriction to control problems
- Deed Restriction enforcement requires sub owners to hire costly attorneys
- Township ordinances provide protection without added burden

Why is this important to the citizens of Oakland Township? The purpose of the ‘first and second reading’ is to provide citizens one last chance to provide input on the Ordinance. The Planning Commission and Township Board should consider the concerns raised by the citizens and make changes they feel are appropriate. However, a wholesale re-review of the Draft Ordinance in not warranted given the years of input that many other citizens have already provided the Planning Commission on the Draft Ordinance. Their input should not be ‘discounted’ as a result of those who just recently got involved.

The Current Ordinance has served us well. It needs to be ‘tweaked’ not destroyed.

Richard Michalski (former Oakland Township Planning Commissioner for over 26 years)

If you want to review the Draft ordinance click on the following link:

Click to access Final%20Draft%20CORRECTED%208-31-17.pdf

Controversial items on September 13th Township Board meeting

1 Reply

First of all we hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable summer. There have not been many posts on the website this summer, other than the results of the primary elections in August. However, Township business is picking up.

There are a number of controversial items on Tuesday’s (September 13) Township Board meeting. The topics that will probably receive the most discussion at the meeting include:

A developer’s request to extend an expiring sewer tap pay back program

A Pulte request to approve a Preliminary Site Condominium request for 57 units on the northeast corner of Adams and Gunn Road (across from Delta Kelly School)

2016 Millage levy setting

Hunting in Oakland Township

As always, resident input on topics may influence the decisions the Board makes.

If you have opinions on these matters, please either attend the meeting, or send an email to the Township Board with your thoughts on these topics.

Here is a copy of the agenda for the meeting:

September 13, 2016 BOT agenda

You can go to the Township’s official website http://www.oaklandtownship.org to read additional documentation on these agenda items:

Click on ‘Township Documents’ at bottom of page

Click on ‘Misc Documents’ on left side of page under Public Documents

Click on ‘BOT Packet Sept 13, 2016 part 1‘ & ‘2’ – scroll down to the topics of interest

Why is this important to the citizens of Oakland Township? These agenda items not only will have a financial impact on all of us and the Township, they will also have a long term impact on the character of our community.

The balance between the wishes of current residents of Oakland Township and property owners who want to develop their land is maintained by the State and Local laws and ordinances. The developers often want to ‘push the envelope‘ or ‘work the boundaries’ of the ordinances to their advantage. Having a well informed community support their elected leaders ensure the ordinances to the full intent of the law is essential in protecting our community. Your participation will help them do that.

Richard Michalski

Civility will return to Oakland Township! Our reputation restored!

7 Replies

Congratulations! Our collective efforts have been successful!

Here are the names of the unofficial winners of the Oakland Township Board positions for 2016-2020 – pending the results of the November election:

Supervisor – Mike Bailey

Treasurer – Jeanne Langlois

Clerk – Karen Reilly

Trustee – Robin Buxar

Trustee – Frank Ferriolo

Trustee – John Giannangeli

Trustee – Lana Mangiapane (only member of Terry Gonser’s ‘ticket’)

Here are the names of the unofficial winners of the Oakland Township Parks and Recreation Commission positions for 2016-2020 – pending the results of the November election:

Emily Barkham

Craig Blust

Dan Bukowski

Colin Choi

Cathy Rooney

Daniel Simon

Hank Van Agen

In addition, both the Parks renewal millage and the OPC transportation millage were approved.

Why is this important to the citizens of Oakland Township?

With these public servants:

Civil, ethical and professional behavior will be restored at both the Board and Parks Commission level.
Turmoil regarding the form of governance in Oakland Township will be eliminated.
The certainty of the position of Township Manager will enable us to have the most qualified professional municipal manager run the day to day operations in the Township.
Conflicts between the Board and the Parks and Recreation Commission will be eliminated.
The great reputation of our Township will be restored.

Will there be difficult and contentious issues our community will have to deal with? Absolutely! Will there be differences of opinion on how to resolve the issues? Absolutely!

However, we have seen how the returning Board members have developed and worked together as a team over the past few years. Our future looks bright!

Thanks to all the great candidates that chose to run for office! Thanks to the retiring Parks and Recreation Commission members for ‘vetting’ the new Commission’s candidates, so their legacy will continue! Thanks to the countless others that helped get the new officials elected! Thanks to all those who have been following this website! Thanks to all of those who contributed to the ‘Oakland Township Watchers Action Committee’ for helping to make the election results a success!

BUT, most of all, thanks to all those who voted!

YOUR VOTE COUNTED!

Richard Michalski & Jim Foulkrod

MUST WATCH BEFORE YOU VOTE: Gonser’s supporter’s ‘dirty politics’ caught on surveillance video

4 Replies

On August 1, 2016, a day before the election, a supporter of Terry Gonser was caught on surveillance video removing a flier from an Oakland Township owner’s door (although impossible to tell, it appears to have been an Andy Zale flier that is Red White and Blue) and then peered into the house for an eerily long period of time, scaring the children. She left a copy of Supervisor Gonser’s campaign flier on the door.

This is yet another example of the lack of integrity in Supervisor Gonser and his campaign. Please watch the following video. It should convince you not to vote for Terry Gonser. It was enough to convince the owner.

Why is this important to the citizens of Oakland Township?

THE VIDEO SPEAKS FOR ITSELF!

CAN ANYONE IDENTIFY THIS WOMAN?

Richard Michalski

Supervisor Gonser violated Charter Township Act in 2014!

Statistics on growth of “Board/Manager” form of community governance

3 Replies

Supervisor Terry Gonser is proposing going back to the form of Township governance our community had prior to 1998, where his position would be a full time position. There are several 2016 Oakland Township Board candidates that support Terry Gonser’s re-election candidacy, and presumably support his desire to make this change.

Statistics published by the International City/Council Management Association (ICMA) indicate that many communities are moving toward the form of governance Oakland Township currently has, not away from it. Their data indicates the size of a community influences the form of governance the communities choose.

After several attempts, we have not been successful in obtaining written statements from Supervisor Gonser (although his past actions make his position clear) , or several other Board candidates, regarding their position on this issue. The citizens of Oakland Township deserve to understand each candidate’s position before they cast their ballots. Unfortunately the following have been reluctant to provide their positions.

We have not received responses from:

Terry Gonser – Supervisor Candidate
Judy Workings – Clerk Candidate
Jayson Corey – Trustee Candidate
Lana Mangiapane – Trustee Candidate
Robert Ricketts – Trustee Candidate who has withdrawn from race

The statements from the other candidates can be read by clicking:

SEE 2016 CANDIDATE OPINIONS

Here is more information on ICMA and the statistics they provided:

The ICMA is an organization that:

“identifies leading practices to address the needs of local governments and professionals serving communities globally. We provide services, research, publications, data and information, peer and results-oriented assistance, and training and professional development to thousands of city, town, and county leaders and other individuals and organizations throughout the world. The management decisions made by ICMA’s members affect millions of people living in thousands of communities, ranging in size from small towns to large metropolitan areas.”

Here is a quote from their website regarding the form of governance in communities (note: the ‘board-manager’ form of governance for a Township is similar to the ‘council-manager’ form for a village or city):

“Since it was first created a century ago, the council-manager form of government has become the most popular structure of local government in the United States. While many new municipalities have been incorporated with managers from their beginnings, many cities and counties across the country have made a deliberate change from strong-mayor to council-manager. Appointing a non-partisan professional manager with the authority to carry out the policies set by the elected body has advantages for many communities, and several have recently made the switch.”

The ICMA has provided data on how the preferred form of governance changes as a community increases in size. Here is a graph of that data:

(click on image to enlarge it)

As you can see, when a community is small in size, it tends to have a “Mayor-Council’ or “Supervisor-Board” form of governance. As it grows, and the complexity of managing the community increases, it tends to move toward a “Council-Manager” or “Board-Manager” form of governance, where a professionally trained manager handles the administrative issues of the community at the direction of the Board. Once a community gets above 250,000 residents, the “Mayor-Council” form of governance comes back into favor.

Oakland Township’s 2010 population was almost 17,000. With that population size, 53% of the 1,847 communities surveyed have a “Board-Manager” form of governance, similar to what Oakland Township currently possesses. The reasons for the increase in popularity of this form of governance are expressed by many of the the Oakland Township Board candidates that support retaining our current form of governance, SEE 2016 CANDIDATE OPINIONS, as well as the Kalamazoo Township Board that is moving to this form of governance, SEE KALAMAZOO BOARD DECISION.

Why is this important to the citizens of Oakland Township? As previously stated, there are several 2016 candidates that support Supervisor Gonser. If they get elected, they may be successful in making his position a full time position. There are a few candidates (identified above) that have not provided their position on this critical issue. Please consider the information that is available when you vote.

Richard Michalski

Legal review underway to determine if Supervisor Gonser had authority to commit Township to significant financial liability without Board knowledge or approval

4 Replies

At the June 14, 2016 Oakland Township Board meeting, Treasurer Langlois disclosed that on September 3, 2014, Supervisor Gonser signed a safety path easement agreement with a property owner to transfer “all responsibility and liability for the safety path and boardwalk to the Township and its residents”. This agreement was done without any knowledge, or agreement, from the Township Board.

The agreement could result in hundreds of thousands of dollars of cost to the Township in repair and/or replacement of that badly deteriorated path. The property involved is on the Southwest corner of Adams and Silverbell Roads. The parcel is currently owned by a Moceri entity. It was purchased from the church on that corner approximately 90 days after the easement was signed. The easement document that the Supervisor signed indicates that it was prepared by an employee of a Moceri entity. (The ownership information was corrected after the initial post. The change in ownership was incorrectly stated as just the opposite of what is now correctly stated.)

Treasurer Langlois stated there is no evidence of a Board review, or a Legal review of this matter (the Township attorney did not appear to have any knowledge of the agreement). She also stated:

“I do not believe Supervisor Gonser had, or has, the authority to accept easements on behalf of the Township. Only the Board of Trustees has that authority. The document appears to show an overreach on the part of the Supervisor, and a complete improper action.”

Supervisor Gonser sat silent for almost 3 minutes while others spoke before he stated:

“Unfortunately I don’t remember why I signed it. I can only state that it certainly did not come in a vacuum. Someone had to present it to me and indicated it was appropriate to sign, but I don’t remember the specifics of it.”

He made no attempt at explaining why he did not bring it to the Board for approval, or even for information.

Trustee Ferriolo stated:

“No matter what was involved in the history and rationale for doing it, it should have been brought to the Board.”

The Township attorney has agreed to perform an investigation on this issue and will report out at the next meeting scheduled for June 28, 2016.

Here is a video of the June 14th discussion:

Why is this important to the citizens of Oakland Township? We certainly must wait for the results of the Legal investigation to be complete before we draw any final conclusions, but Supervisor Gonser’s signature, and lack of willingness to inform the entire Board of his actions, is consistent with previous behavior.

This website has reported that Supervisor Gonser has repeatedly attempted to change the governance structure of Oakland Township to one where he would become a full time “Strong Supervisor”. He has taken several unilateral actions without Board approval. The Board has repeatedly responded by reaffirming Ordinance 97, which limits the Supervisor’s responsibilities, and maintains a professional Township manager who reports to the entire Board.

Here are some key points:

This easement agreement will certainly result in significant added costs to our Township.
It appears to have been made unilaterally without Board knowledge or agreement.
Under normal conditions, Gonser’s action could have resulted in a recall campaign being held.
Gonser is currently a candidate for election on August 2nd.
The Absentee ballots are going out on June 29th.
It is essential that the Legal review be completed by the June 28th Board meeting,
It is absolutely essential that we get adequate press coverage immediately after the June 28th meeting, so people can make an informed decision prior to sending in their absentee ballot.

My recommendation is that the Board be prepared to issue a press release on June 29th to the Oakland Press and the Rochester Post informing them of the outcome of the investigation. If there are acceptable reasons for Gonser’s signature, there may be no need for the press release. However, the press release may still be necessary since Gonser should have brought it to the Board for information.

The citizens need to have a clear understanding of this situation before they vote!

Richard Michalski

Kalamazoo Township joins the growing number of townships with our form of governance

2 Replies

In December of 2015, the Charter Township of Kalamazoo approved a motion moving their township from a full time Supervisor form of governance to one with a part time Supervisor and a professional manager. They concluded their community would be better served by having a form of governance similar to Oakland Township’s.

Our current Supervisor, Terry Gonser, has spent three years trying to change our structure to what Kalamazoo is moving away from. Supervisor Gonser has called our current form of governance “bizarre” and “unworkable” in an Oakland Press article.

The Kalamazoo Board now understands the wisdom former Oakland Township Supervisor Joan Buser (and the Board at the time) had when our form of governance was changed to it’s current form in 1998.

In a recently published article on this website, Oakland Township Clerk Reilly indicated that other townships in the state of Michigan are moving toward Oakland Township’s current form of governance. One of our residents, Reg Brown, commented that the Charter Township of Kalamazoo was joining those ranks. On December 14, 2015, the Charter Township of Kalamazoo voted to hire a professional Township manager and a finance director to take effect in November of 2016.

The discussion that occurred at their Board meeting was similar to the many that have occurred at our Board meetings when Supervisor Gonser repeatedly attempted to change our structure to make his position a full time position.

Here is an excerpt from the approved Kalamazoo Board motion. It does a very good job of capturing the benefits of our (and soon to be their) form of township governance:

“The positions of the Township manager and Financial director would:

provide continuity from election to election assuring a stabilizing effect for the efficient Township administrative operations and procedures,

professionally address the complexity and sophistication of urban Township operations including an $8 million general fund budget serving nearly 22,000 residents and

would assure the implementation of policies and directives of the Township Board.”

One of their Trustee’s stated:

“This proposal is the best chance for professionally managing Township Operations.”

In 1998 Oakland Township Supervisor Joan Buser (who has a Masters Degree in Public Administration) worked with the Board to change our governance structure away from the “Strong Supervisor” form of governance to the current form of governance. She stated in a previous post on this matter:

“During my tenure I met with many supervisors in Oakland County. Very few were qualified for their position.

The results can be seen most dramatically in the zoning ordinances and ordinance compliance.

When you drive through the townships that lacked good supervisors you can see what happened when a supervisor was inexperienced and there was no professional manager to help.

Once a development occurs that is not compliant with township ordinances you have that eyesore forever.

Before running for office, I had worked thirteen years in various capacities for Oakland Township.

Holding a Master’s Degree in Public Administration, I did not need a manager, because I was, effectively, a professional manager and an elected Supervisor.

Very few citizens have such qualifications. That is why a qualified manager is needed to make things run properly.

The Board sets the goals for the township, and the manager facilitates the implementation of these goals.”

Many of her points are the same as those expressed by the Kalamazoo Board members. Their current Supervisor, Ronald Reid, was a strong supporter, and champion, for making the change in their community.

I strongly suggest that you watch the following video from Kalamazoo Township’s December meeting. The proposal passed in a 5 to 2 vote. Their clerk and one trustee were in the minority. In the clerk’s comments, he raised a potential concern where he could support the proposal. It is precisely a reason why we do not want a Strong Supervisor form of governance.

Joan Buser has a great mind and was a visionary!

Why is this important to the citizens of Oakland Township? This year’s township elections have several candidates who appear to support going back to the “Strong Supervisor” form of governance. If re-elected, current Supervisor Gonser will continue to push for making his position a full time position, despite the fact that he does not have the training to “professionally address the complexity and sophistication of urban Township operations” as stated in Kalamazoo’s proposal.

Trustee candidate Lana Mangiapane gave a presentation at the recent ‘Meet and Greet’ in which she claimed Joan Buser hired a professional manager because:

“With retirement on the horizon and wishing to become part time, Mrs. Buser hired Mr. Jim Creech to be the Township Manager in 1998.”

Lana failed to either understand, or acknowledge, the wisdom and fore-site Joan Buser had for the needs of our rapidly growing Township.

This website has posted the position and rationale of many Board candidates on this issue. One candidate, Jeaneane Landers, is still studying the issue.

The following candidates have declined to provide their position and rationale on this issue:

Terry Gonser – Supervisor Candidate
Andy Zale – Supervisor Candidate
Judy Workings – Clerk Candidate
Jayson Corey – Trustee Candidate
Lana Mangiapane – Trustee Candidate

The absentee ballots will be going out on June 29, 2016 in the mail. Please consider the candidates responses (or their lack of response) when you vote.

Richard Michalski

POSITIONS OF OAKLAND TOWNSHIP BOARD CANDIDATES ON AN IMPORTANT ISSUE

3 Replies

The editors of this website have reached out to all of the candidates that are running for Oakland Township Board positions this summer. We have asked for their opinion on an important issue facing our Township. The issue pertains to the form of governance Oakland Township will possess in the future. Will it be the “Board/Manager” form of governance that we currently have, or will it be the full time “Strong Supervisor” form that current Supervisor Gonser has been proposing since being elected in 2012?

Responses from 11 of the 15 candidates can be seen by going to the top of this page and clicking on the “2016 CANDIDATE OPINIONS” tab. A drop down menu will appear where you can click on, and read, each of the candidate’s positions on this matter. (For hand held devices, click on the ‘MENU’ tab, then the “2016 CANDIDATE OPINIONS” tab will appear.)

You can also view each of their opinions by clicking on their names here:

We have not received opinions from four candidates after repeated attempts (two emails and one phone conversation with each of the candidates who had not provided their opinion). This post is being published on the day each of them was informed the information would be posted. (Andy Zale’s response came in two weeks after the deadline.)

We have not received responses from:

Terry Gonser – Supervisor Candidate
Judy Workings – Clerk Candidate
Jayson Corey – Trustee Candidate
Lana Mangiapane – Trustee Candidate

Please consider the positions of the candidates on this issue when you vote on August 2, 2016. Also, please share this information with friends and relatives in our community. So far, this is the only forum where candidate opinions on issues have been shared.

NOTE: If you have another issue that you would like to obtain each candidate’s opinion on, please make that request by adding a comment at the bottom of this page. We will try to get responses from the candidates on the issue you raised.

Richard Michalski

Trustee candidate Lana Mangiapane misrepresents “Meet and Greet” meeting. Can you trust her as an Oakland Township Trustee?

9 Replies

The May 17, 2016 “Meet and Greet’ event that Trustee candidate Lana Mangiapane (and an undefined ‘women’s group’) set up was not the unbiased event that she claimed it to be. Aside from the brief comments from two of the three Supervisor candidates, it became a forum for Lana to present information supporting Supervisor Terry Gonser’s attempt at making his position a full time one in our Township. The event did not present a balanced perspective on this important issue. Lana is a candidate for Township Trustee this year.

On May 17, 2016 there was a “Meet and Greet” event that Trustee candidate Lana Mangiapane set up for Oakland Township citizens to meet this year’s Supervisor candidates for our Township. She claimed it was set up by a woman’s group in the community. The event was advertised in the “Community Lifestyles” newspaper that residents of Rochester, Rochester Hills and Oakland Township receive. Even though she had presented the meeting as an unbiased political meeting, the event ended up being a political campaign event for Terry Gonser. Lana’s presentation was supportive of Terry Gonser’s desire to become a “Strong Supervisor” for Oakland Township. Lana did not provide a counter perspective on the issue that is shared by the two other candidates for Supervisor.

Terry Gonser attended the entire meeting. Andy Zale were able to attend a portion of the meeting. He had another Township meeting he had to attend, so he left shortly after introducing himself and giving a short speech. Mike Bailey had a previous commitment and was unable to attend.

After Andy and Terry made their introductory comments, Andy left. Lana then gave a 10 minute presentation on the history of the Supervisor position in Oakland Township. The presentation focused on the fact that Oakland Township does not have a “Strong Supervisor” form of governance. Supervisor Gonser has spent the last 3 plus years trying to change Oakland Township’s form of governance into one where his position would be a full time position. He would eliminate the professionally trained municipal manager that runs the day to day operations in the Township.

The current Board has repeatedly rejected Gonser’s attempt to change the existing structure of our Township. Lana’s presentation was clearly attempting to influence the public into thinking that what we have is not appropriate for our Township. She did not provide a balance perspective that would have included the reasons the current Board used to justify why our current structure is in the best interest of our Township.

After Lana gave her presentation, I asked her if there would be a venue where the other perspective on the issue could be presented. She responded by saying:

“Today this presentation . . . it was just the information that was printed that we presented.”

She went on to say:

“This may be something that we take up at one of the meetings.”

Prior the ‘Meet and Greet”, there were attempts by others to get clarification of who were members of the the “womens group” that organized the event and when they met. Lana refused to provide any information.

After the formal presentation, I asked Lana who prepared the presentation. She responded by saying:

“It was given to me by someone.”

I then asked her who gave it to her. She refused to give me the name of the person, and then walked away.

On May 18th, one of the attendees posted a comment on this website’s Home Page regarding his attempt at getting a copy of the Lana’s presentation. Here is a copy of his comment. You can also read it under the Home Page comments.

“Yesterday I attended the Meet the Candidates for Township Supervisor. I found the presentation to be very informative and was hoping to have an electronic copy for my notes. I was told that I needed to put ‘Candidate’ next to my name on the signup sheet and I would have a copy emailed to me. When I went to go back to the signup sheet, the sheets were taken up and put somewhere. When I went back to the person who told me to add ‘Candidate’ she said that I was not allowed to have a copy of the presentation. Transparency and Accountability were two key words used and yet these actions do not support either…”

Why is this important to the citizens of Oakland Township? This summer’s election will have profound effects on Oakland Township’s future. The issue of whether Oakland Township should have a “Strong Supervisor” form of governance has become a central issue in this year’s Supervisor’s race. Supervisor Gonser has been trying to change the structure of Oakland Township for over 3 years. He wants his position to be a full time position, where he would take over all administrative responsibilities in our Township, including managing the many technical municipal management items for which he has no experience. The other two Supervisor candidates do not support that position. They want to keep the current structure, where the Supervisor and the Board rely on a trained professional municipal manager to run the day to day operations of the Township, with direction from the entire Board.

It appears there are a number of Trustee candidates, including Lana Mangiapane, who agree with Terry Gonser’s desire for a ‘Strong Supervisor’. If a majority of these candidates get elected, they will change the structure of our Township.

Lana’s attempts to use the “Meet and Greet” forum as a campaign event for Terry Gonser’s ‘platform plank’, while implying the the meeting as an unbiased political event, convinced me that she is not trustworthy enough to gain my vote. Her refusal to disclose:

who the ‘women’s group’ are,
who put the presentation together,
who gave her the presentation

were further examples of her lack of transparency.

To quote the person who posted a comment on our Home Page,

“Transparency and Accountability were two key words used and yet these actions do not support either…”

Here is a link to a previous post that references the “Strong Supervisor’ discussions that have occurred at past Board meeting.

Oakland Township’s ‘Manager’ or ‘Superintendent’ form of governance is growing in popularity in State

Since this is an important issue for the citizens of Oakland Township to consider when they vote on August 2nd, the editors of this website will reach out to each of the Trustee candidates to ask them to express their position on this important issue. Hopefully we will get responses from all of them.

Richard Michalski