Recall Meeting Tonight

The recall committee will be meeting tonight prior to the Armada Township Board meeting. Anyone interested in participating in or getting more information about the recall effort is welcome to attend. Here are the details:

5:30 PM
Elly's Banquet Hall
14600 32 Mile Road
(about 1 mile West of Romeo Plank Road, about 1 mile East of M-53)
Washington, MI 48095

Immediately following the recall meeting, we will be attending the Armada Township Board meeting:

7:00 PM
Armada Township Hall
23121 E. Main Street
(downtown Armada, 1 block east of Fulton)
Armada, MI 48005

Even if you can't join us at Elly's, please attend the Board meeting. If you have any questions about why the three Board members should be recalled, you will be able to see for yourself what the problems are.

Hope to see you tonight!

PETITION LANGUAGE APPROVED!

The hearing was swift and decisive: approval on all petitions as presented! Dozens of copies have already been distributed and signatures are being gathered right NOW. I will post a detailed account tomorrow, complete with instructions. Stay tuned!

REMINDER: Hearing Tomorrow

The Election Commission will decide tomorrow morning if our petition language is of sufficient clarity to go forward. Anyone is welcome to attend the hearing. It will be held in the Jury Room of the Macomb County Courthouse at 9:00 AM.

I will post the outcome as soon as possible, so if you can't make it to the hearing, watch this site for the latest information.

UPDATE! Recall Petitions With A Twist?

I stand corrected, and many thanks to Leon Drolet of the Michigan Taxpayers Alliance for setting me straight. A federal court ruling in late 2008 found the residency requirement for circulators unconstitutional. Here's a link to Michigan Recall Procedures: A General Overview (.pdf file) from the Secretary of State's office which clarifies the rules. So. If we could afford to hire these women, I guess it would be legal. We can't, obviously, and it just seems to me like it shouldn't be allowed (paying outsiders), but there you have it. On the plus side, this ruling means that friends and family who don't live here CAN come in to help us. None of this changes my concerns about carefully following all the other procedures, rules and laws, though.

I received a very interesting phone call about 10:30 this morning. A woman who claimed to have obtained my home phone number from the "clerk's office" was inquiring about the recall campaign. Here's the twist:

She and her friend are very experienced petition circulators, she said, and they would be happy to help us gather the needed signatures on our petitions. They were most recently involved in a petition drive in Redford, and she could guarantee the quality and speed of their work. For a fee. I simply told her we are not in a financial position to pay, mostly because I couldn't quite believe what I was hearing.

Either this lady is ignorant of Michigan election law or she thinks I am. What she proposed is ILLEGAL. Neither she nor her friend live in Armada Township and are therefore most definitely NOT qualified to serve as circulators here. I quote from the list of instructions for circulators on the back of the recall petition form:

"Enter the name of the city or township where you are registered. You must be registered to vote in a city or township represented by the officeholder whose recall is sought."

No one who actually reads the rules could be confused. This may be just the beginning of attempts to trick or tempt us into breaking the law. DON'T BE FOOLED. If you are contacted by anyone (especially someone you don't know!) with brilliant ideas about how to run this recall, PLEASE check with us first! We have people who are well-versed in the law and recall procedures who can guide you to be sure everything is above-board and LEGAL.

No one should be circulating anything yet; our clarity hearing is still one week away. If we get approval from the Election Commission next Monday, then and only then do we begin gathering signatures!

No matter how badly we may want these folks removed from office, we cannot - WILL NOT - resort to behaving in any way which might discredit or negate the effort. If you have any questions, please use the contact information in the right sidebar to contact us. As always, check this site for any updates or new information.

Anatomy of a Recall, Part 1

I have lived in a wonderful, small, rural township at the base of Michigan's Thumb for the past 22 years. Many things are exactly as they were when I moved in. We still have the Flea Market twice a week in the summer and the biggest little agricultural Fair around every August. For Holly Days, local farmers string Christmas lights (and we still call them Christmas lights) on their combines and parade them down Main Street. In so many ways, this is a 'It's A Wonderful Life' kind of town. I love that.

Many other things have changed dramatically over the years. One of the more unfortunate changes occurred at the election last November, when our Township Board was turned upside down. The five members of our Board have been in office exactly six months and a recall campaign against three of them is already in progress.

How bad can it get in just six months? Well...pretty bad. There are a number of issues prompting the locals, including myself, to get angry and involved. In my next installment, I'll detail the impetus for the recall movement and the steps necessary to get it started. As it progresses, I will update the series so you will be able to see the process from start to finish.

Hearing Date Scheduled

We have received notice from the County Clerk that the hearing on our recall petitions has been set.

The Macomb County Election Commission will meet to determine whether the reasons stated in your recall petitions of Armada Township Treasurer Shannon Christoff, Armada Township Trustee Margaret Ruthenberg, and Armada Township Trustee Wayne Lobeck are of sufficient clarity. The meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 8, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. in the Jury Room on the 5th floor of the Macomb County Circuit Court Building, 40 North Main, Mount Clemens, Michigan.

The Circuit Court Building has an attached parking garage for your convenience, but there is a fee. Street parking is metered and there are several surface lots within walking distance.

Please put this on your schedule and plan to be there. You will not be allowed to present comments, but a show of support and strength is always welcome.

If you have any questions, please use the e-mail address in the sidebar to contact us.

Petitions Filed Today!

We traveled to the Macomb County Courthouse this morning to submit our petition language to the Election Commission. Two sets of proposed wording were submitted for each individual.

Within 24 hours, the County will notify all parties (by mail) that a hearing has been scheduled before the Commission. Michigan law states that the hearing will occur not less than 10 days, but not more than 20 days, from the filing, so we're looking at a date between May 30th and June 9th.

I'll post the date as soon as the notice arrives.

Recall Update

The recall committee held its first meeting Monday night; thanks to everyone who turned out on very short notice! We discussed the proposed petition language and agreed on two sets of wording. The petitions have not been filed with the county because Michigan law prohibits the recall of an elected official in the first six or last six months of their term in office:

168.951 Officers subject to recall; time for filing recall petition; performance of duties until result of recall election certified.

Sec. 951.

Every elective officer in the state, except a judicial officer, is subject to recall by the voters of the electoral district in which the officer is elected as provided in this chapter. A petition shall not be filed against an officer until the officer has actually performed the duties of the office to which elected for a period of 6 months during the current term of that office. A petition shall not be filed against an officer during the last 6 months of the officer's term of office. An officer sought to be recalled shall continue to perform duties of the office until the result of the recall election is certified.

So, what's next? We are continuing to gather documents and information needed for the effort while we wait for the appropriate time to file the petitions. I'll update this site as often as possible and necessary to keep you informed. If you have any questions, please use the e-mail address armadarecall@att.net to contact us.

May 13, 2009 Armada Township Board Meeting Videos

I will apologize in advance for the quality of these videos; they were shot on a Blackberry and they're a bit 'rough'. The first clip is 1 hour long and is presented here in its entirety to prove there have been no convenient edits. After the mundane, routine portion of the meeting has been completed, the public participation of the agenda addresses the proposed new noise ordinance. That section is very interesting and worth a watch/listen. I recommend you grab a cup of coffee and watch it all, because some casual items in the beginning of the meeting take on much greater importance later in the evening. If you don't watch the entire clip, skip ahead to 6:30 for the noise ordinance discussion.

Armada Township Board Meeting, 5/13/09
including public comment on new noise ordinance

The next clip is much shorter and includes the vote against hiring two full-time firefighters. The three 'no' votes were Christoff, Lobeck and Ruthenberg. For your reference, Trustee Ruthenberg is in the left corner of the shot, with Trustee Lobeck seated next to her. Supervisor Paterek is in the center, then Treasurer Christoff and Clerk Swiacki on your right.

Coming Soon: Recalling Armada Township Officials

Watch this space for information, documentation and updates on the effort to recall three Armada Township, Michigan elected officials: Treasurer Shannon Christoff, Trustee Wayne Lobeck and Trustee Marge Ruthenberg.