Tag Archives: Personal attacks

Supervisor Gonser retracts his slanderous statement against former Township Trustee

3 Replies

At the January 27, 2015 Oakland Township Board meeting, Supervisor Gonser retracted the slanderous statement he made at the January 13th Board meeting against a former Oakland Township Trustee, and now private citizen.

His slanderous January 13th comments were made at the same meeting where he:

Gonser’s retraction may prevent further legal action that could be taken against him for his slanderous statement.

Here is a video of Gonser’s retraction statement:

Here is the background information:

At the January 13, 2015 Oakland Township Board meeting, Supervisor Gonser made a slanderous statement toward Judy Keyes. Judy is a former Trustee who resigned in September of 2013 due to concerns she had regarding the ethical behavior of several of the Board members.

Gonser publicly said to Judy:

“You are the most disruptive person I have ever met.  You have lied on this Board, you have cheated on this Board, you have stolen money on this Board.”

At the January 27, 2015 Board meeting, Gonser retracted his January 13th statement with the following statement:

“In the heat of the moment, I lost my composure and I made statements suggesting that Mrs. Keyes lied on this Board, cheated on this Board, and stole money on this Board.

I want to make a full retraction of each of those statements.  To be clear, I have no proof that Mrs. Keyes lied, cheated or stole money on the Board, and my statements to the contrary were made in the heat of the moment and were a mistake.

I apologize to Mrs. Keyes and offer this full retraction in good faith”

He went on to say:

“I apologize to the community for the comments I made.”

Treasurer Langlois stated:

“I would like to add, so that the record shows, that the Board was not silent on this matter.”

She then made a motion, that was unanimously approved, acknowledging the Supervisor’s retraction and apology to Mrs. Keyes.

In June of 2013, the Township Board passed a “Principles of Township Governance Excellence Policy”.  The development of that Policy statement was led by former Trustee Judy Keyes.  As previously reported on this website, the Board approved it.  However, only two members of the Board agreed to sign the document (one of them was Judy Keyes, the other Sharon McKay – neither are currently on the Board).  Trustee Thalmann refused to sign it.  Supervisor Gonser indicated that the Board members did not have to sign it.

Principles of Township Governance Excellence document

What follows is a copy of the “Charter Township of Oakland Conflict of Interest and Code of Ethics Policy”.   

Charter Township of Oakland conflict of interest and code of ethics policy

Ideally, a community should not need these type of documents.  It appears that, even if they do exist, they have no impact on the actions of our Supervisor.

Here is a video of Gonser’s January 13th comments:

Why is this important to the citizens of Oakland Township?  Slanderous comments are criminal and are never acceptable.  Having them come from  an elected official in Oakland Township not only reflect on Gonser’s character, but the reputation of our Township.  The citizens of Oakland Township, as well as the Board, have the duty to hold him accountable for his actions.

It appears that Gonser’s actions are ‘catching up with him’.  His comments and discussions at the January 13th meeting have apparently put him in an “attack mode”.  The saying “The best defense is a good (??) offense” appears to be his game plan.

Both Gonser and Trustee Thalmann continue to argue for a “Strong Supervisor” type of government in Oakland Township.  Gonser’s actions are a clear example of why we do not want a “Strong Supervisor” system in Oakland Township. This appears to be yet another ‘offensive” move (two interpretations possible and meant).

Another issue that needs to be clarified is whether the Township paid for the legal counsel Gonser received in developing his retraction. The citizens of Oakland Township must not be held accountable for his slanderous accusation.

Gonser’s actions cannot go unchallenged by the citizens of Oakland Township.  We certainly must remember this in the 2016 elections.

  • Can we trust the other Board members to hold Gonser accountable to his sworn oath of office and the “Principles of Township Governance Excellence”?
  • Have the citizens had enough to warrant a recall of Gonser?

Let us know your thoughts!

Richard Michalski

 

Supervisor Gonser attacks this website (AGAIN)

2 Replies

During the January 13, 2015 Oakland Township Board meeting, Supervisor Gonser, after being confronted with many issues and concerns raised by citizens and other Board members over his actions, accused this website of not being fact based and accused it of being full of lies.  This is not the first time that he has attacked this website.

Here are his comments:

“The truth just isn’t there!

Unfortunately it is more about ‘Gotcha’ and more about politics, and I am sick and tired of it.”

The author of this post made the following statement in response:

“I would like to challenge you, Mr. Gonser, to point out any false statement.

I would ask the citizens of Oakland Township to go to the website and make your own assessment as to whether the information presented is factual or not.  Everthing is based on information that is documented, opinions are based on that information.

The fact that you do not agree with the opinions doesn’t make the facts false!” (comment directed to Supervisor Gonser)

I will quote a comment posted on this website from a citizen that apparently watched the January 13th meeting:

“At the 1/13 BOT meeting, Mr Gonser implied that this website is a bunch of ‘Gotchas’. If Mr Gonser would run things ethically and with transparency there would be no “Gotchas” and in reality no need for this website.

Furthermore his statement about “Gotchas” is really an admission by himself that he gets caught doing things inappropriately.”

I could not have said it better!

Here is a video of the comments made at the meeting:

Richard Michalski

 

Trustee Giannangeli falsely accuses Planning Commission Chairman James Carter of lying yet Giannangeli was the one who lied

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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:

Township Board appoints John Giannangeli to vacant Trustee seat. Will the real John Giannangeli please stand up?

 

Supervisor Gonser violates Board Bylaws and Mrs. Keyes right to speak

10 Replies

Slide1

Voltaire quote

 

 

At the May 13, 2014 Oakland Township Board meeting, Supervisor Gonser unilaterally made a decision that violated the recently approved bylaws regarding citizen comments during Public Board meetings.  By doing so, he violated former Trustee, Judy Keyes’ right to speak.  He did not allow her to speak during the second “Public Comment” portion of the agenda, even though the bylaws specifically allow for residents to comment during the first and second “Public Comment” agenda items.

During the first Public Comment agenda item, former Trustee Judy Keyes pointed out that the Supervisor has been inconsistent in applying the rules during public comment. She stated:

“Over the past many months, Chairman Gonser has allowed certain individuals to stand at this podium to name call, slander businesses, make disparaging statements about other residents and even direct residents to stand up or sit down to show how they stood on a particular agenda item. All of this has been allowed, as many videos have now documented, with no intervention from Mr. Gonser.”

She went on to say:

“I am humbly and respectfully asking that Chairperson Gonser and the entire Board protect my Constitutional right to free speech without fear of intimidation, threats or slander and that your directives for citizen comments be equally enforced, and equally applied to all citizens, and that this be done not only by Chairman Gonser, but also the entire Board if he fails to do so, as you all swore to uphold the Constitution and the right to free speech, in it’s intending form.”

Later in the meeting, during the second public comment agenda item, Supervisor Gonser announced that only citizens who had not spoken during the first public comment portion would be allowed to speak.  THIS IS A DIRECT VIOLATION OF THE BYLAWS THAT THE BOARD HAD RECENTLY APPROVED AND AMENDED ON MARCH 25, 2014.

When Judy Keyes approached the podium, he would not allow her to make another public statement.  Supervisor Gonser said:

“You will not speak unless the Supervisor and Chairperson gives you an opportunity to speak!”

When Judy Keyes challenged his decision, since it violates the Oakland Township Board bylaws, Supervisor Gonser said:

“That is the standing operating procedures for all surrounding communities!”

Judy Keyes’ final comment was:

“I have more information that Supervisor Gonser does not want to get out!”

Gonser responded by threatening:

“Mrs. Keyes, don’t push the buttons!”

None of the Trustees challenged Gonser’s decision!!!!

Here is a copy of the applicable section of the approved bylaws. (click on image for larger view)

Excerpt from Oakland Township Board Bylaws

It explicitly states:

 “EACH PERSON SHALL BE ALLOWED TO SPEAK ONCE DURING EACH PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD FOR A MAXIMUM OF 3 MINUTES.”

Here is a video of what transpired during the May 13th meeting.

Two citizens pointed out to Supervisor Gonser that he violated the Board’s bylaws.

Why is this important to the citizens of Oakland Township? Supervisor Gonser made a unilateral decision to not allow citizens to comment during the second citizen comment portion of the meeting if they had commented during the first public comment portion.  THIS DECISION IS IN DIRECT VIOLATION OF THE APPROVED BYLAWS GOVERNING BOARD MEETINGS!  This decision violated Judy Keyes right to speak.  Unfortunately, none of the Board Members were willing to challenge Gonser’s decision.

Supervisor Gonser continues to feel he has the power to make decisions for which he does not have the authority.  Not following the bylaws is a clear indication of his respect for ‘the rule of law”.  Just because he discovered other communities may not allow citizens to make more than one public comment during a Board meeting, does not give him the authority to change the rules on how Oakland Township is governed.

It is also amazing, but unfortunately not surprising, that Supervisor Gonser violated Judy Keyes’ right of speech in the same meeting where she asked that both he, and the Board, protect her right to free speech .

It is absolutely amazing that the Board did not challenge him on this decision.  Are the citizens of Oakland Township really blind to what is going on in our Township? If you find his behavior reprehensible, please start getting involved, or at least send emails to other Board members encouraging them to stand up to him!

Richard Michalski

To review related topic:

Board refuses to sign ‘Principles of Governance’ Pledge

bot_bylaws_final_amended_20140325-4

 

Sorry Maureen, readers of this site have lots of company – 12,000 views.

1 Reply

10/25/13:

To all our readers,

We are pleased that your interest in our posts about Oakland Township’s new government has, as of early this morning, attracted over 12,000 page views.

We have irritated members of our government with Supervisor Gonser calling us cowards and Trustee Thalmann complaining about “another baseless article in our local amateur Media Matters website”

We are not insulted by the comparison to an established professional website.  With the ongoing issues before the Township, and how the Board has handled past issues, we anticipate the number of views to continue to grow in the future.

Thank you all for taking your time to come here and read about what is really happening in our township.

Jim Foulkrod

Supervisor Gonser attacks Trustee Keyes for doing her job!

6 Replies

At the beginning of the October 8th Board of Oakland Township meeting, Supervisor Gonser spent seven and one half minutes attacking Trustee Keyes for doing her job.  He accused her of wasting the Board’s time by raising issues that he thought were “trivial to trite and insignificant”.  He refused to allow her to respond to his attack.  He told her she could respond at the end of the meeting.  Five hours later, when she was allowed to respond, after almost all of the residents present at the beginning of the meeting had left, he tried to limit her comments to 2 minutes.

Supervisor Gonser attacked Trustee Keyes for challenging the accuracy of two vote counts from previous meetings that were confirmed to be wrong. 

He attacked her for raising issues because  he is not following the outdated Township Bylaws.  Yet earlier this year, Trustee Keyes made a motion to perform a review of all Township policies and procedures.  That motion was not approved by the Board.  Her intent was to identify issues, and update the policies and procedures as needed.

He attacked her for challenging several bills in public, and wanted the Board to raise billing questions outside the Board meeting and the public eye.  Yet Trustee Keyes’ previous questions went unanswered by Supervisor Gonser and Clerk Reilly for a month,  only to find out that Supervisor Gonser had indeed inappropriately authorized the work that was in question.

In Supervisor Gonser’s closing comments during the attack, he stated:

“I hope and pray that future meetings will be conducted professionally without attacks and the bludgeoning of consultants, staff and residents in a public forum.”

Supervisor Gonser violated his own statement by his treatment of Trustee Keyes in the October 8th meeting!!

Here is a more detailed review of the events described above:

Supervisor Gonser stated that Trustee Keyes questioning the vote count for the first reading of the parks rezoning at the September 10 meeting was “much to do about nothing”.

  • Supervisor Gonser stated that the vote count was 4 to 3.  Trustee McKay confirmed at the October 10th meeting that she had voted in favor of the motion making the vote count 5 to 2.
  • Even though the outcome did not change, Trustee Keyes was correct, and Supervisor Gonser was wrong.  It is the Chair’s (Gonser’s) responsibility to make sure the recording secretary gets the proper vote count.
  • Proper vote counts are very important in our governmental processes.
  • Trustee Keyes was trying to correct the error.

Supervisor Gonser accused Trustee Keyes of “bludgeoning” the auditor and questioning the accuracy of the vote count for the approval for filing the audit at the September 24th meeting.

  • Trustee Keyes had made requests to accept the auditor’s offer to provide training to the Board on the audit process.
  • The auditor failed to respond to her written requests.
  • Clerk Reilly indicated that her staff was “too busy” to schedule the requested training session.
  • One of the reasons Supervisor Gonser voted against approving the audit for filing was that he was unfamiliar with the audit process. (training??)
  • Once again, the recorded vote count was wrong.  Supervisor Gonser announced in the meeting that the motion had passed, but did not state the count.  He asked the recording secretary “Did you get the votes?”
  • The following day, at Trustee Keyes request, the staff reviewed the video of the meeting, and determined that the motion had actually failed in a 3 to 3 tie vote, contrary to what Supervisor Gonser had announced at the meeting.
  • Once again, proper vote counts are important in our governmental processes.  Trustee Keyes was trying to fix an error.

Supervisor Gonser accused Trustee Keyes of raising bylaw procedural issues since the bylaws were outdated and not being followed.

  • Trustee Keyes recognized that the bylaws were not being followed.
  • That is why earlier this year, she requested an audit of all of the Township’s policies, practices and procedures.
  • The Board did not support her initiative.
  • Trustee Keyes offered copies of the bylaws to all of the Board members several months ago.  Only Trustee McKay accepted her offer.
  • Apparently, the Board members (with the exception of Trustees Keyes and McKay) have been operating for almost one year without having either a copy or an understanding of the Township bylaws.
  • By having outdated bylaws, Supervisor Gonser feels empowered to make unilateral decisions, as evidenced by his October 8th assertion that:

“Meeting protocol is established by the Chair!”

Supervisor Gonser accused Trustee Keyes of having a ‘gotcha’ mentality because of her desire for public viewing of the bills.

  • Fiduciary accuracy is a major responsibility of the Board.
  • Supervisor Gonser indicated that questions by Trustees on billings should be raised and resolved prior the meetings.
  • However, at the August 13th Board meeting, Trustee Keyes asked a question regarding several bills.
  • Supervisor Gonser, Treasurer Langlois, Clerk Reilly and Superintendant Creech sat silent for 20 seconds.
  • Trustee Keyes had followed up with e-mails to Clerk Reilly asking for an answer to her question.
  • Clerk Reilly did not respond to her e-mail.
  • Clerk Reilly then sent a letter to the Board, the day of the following month’s meeting, asking the Board to approach the staff if they have any questions on billings.
  • It was not until after questioning by Trustee Keyes, in that Board meeting, that her question from the previous month had been answered.
  • The answer to the question was that Supervisor Gonser and Clerk Reilly had approved the actions that Trustee Keyes had questioned the previous month.
  • The approvals that Supervisor Gonser and Clerk Reilly had made were not appropriate, since those approvals should have been made by the Parks and Recreation Commission (Marshview Connector Park parking lot).
  • In the October 8th meeting, Supervisor Gonser stated

“All questions on bills have been satisfactorily answered!”

  • It was not made clear for whom, besides Supervisor Gonser, had the questions been satisfactorily addressed.
  • Questions on the appropriateness of the Township paying for Supervisor Gonser’s legal advice for his personal request for an Attorney General opinion on the Blossom RIdge matter still existed when Gonser made this statement.

Why is this important to the Citizens of Oakland Township?  Having accurate vote counts is a fundamental necessity for a governmental body. Considering their accuracy as “trivial and trite”, is not something we should expect from our Supervisor.   Making sure our Township is governed by a set of established procedures is critical.  We cannot have them established by the “whims” of the Supervisor.   The outdated bylaws should be updated as Trustee Keyes attempted to do earlier this year. The Supervisor’s efforts to “cover up” his own deficiencies by attacking a Trustee for raising good questions is totally unacceptable.  Supervisor Gonser appears to be attacking those who point out his own leadership deficiencies.  This from a leader who ran on “transparency”.

Richard Michalski