MUNICIPAL Funds changed to legal defense
Trustees to get consultant report By Lisa Brody
By Lisa Brody
Bloomfield Township Treasurer Dan Devine changed his campaign fund to a legal defense fund with the Michigan Secretary of State on July 22, citing “legal action to defend against removal from public office and relating to action taken on July 13, 2015 by Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees in resolution to censure township trustee Devine for 'official misconduct.'” Devine was censured by his fellow trustees at the Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees meeting on July 13, after making wild and unfounded allegations that supervisor Leo Savoie had “kidnapped his daughter and thrown her in the trunk of his car,” when she was actually at a substitute teaching job; for making a false police report against Savoie; accusing Savoie at the state level with accepting a bribe from a longtime vendor; for falsely claiming Savoie paid a former employee $30,000; and for lack of proper financial disclosure over fees paid to township pension financial advisors. A censure is a formal, public reprimand of a public official for inappropriate conduct or voting behavior. As Devine was publicly elected the township treasurer, he can only be removed from office by a citizen-sponsored recall petition, but cannot be recalled in the last year of a term in office; or by trustees requesting the removal by Gov. Rick Snyder. On September 10, Devine filed a whistleblower lawsuit in Oakland County Circuit Court against what his complaint says is his employer, Bloomfield Township, and co-worker Leo Savoie, alleging they have subjected him to retaliation because he reported suspected violations of law to public authorities. Campaign funds are limited in use to only campaign related expenses. However, by moving the funds to this newly created legal defense fund, one source said, “now he can use those funds to defend himself for any legal expenses, such as court filing fees, attorney fees, or any research he needs to secure his counsel.” As with a campaign fund, contributions can be accepted. However, while there is a limit of $500 to a township campaign fund, there is no limit on contributions to a legal defense fund. In the legal defense filing, he claimed $7,000 in contributions, with $5,000 in itemized expenditures, to the law firm Sommers Schwartz PC, for “retainer for law firm for legal representation,” leaving him with a downtownpublications.com
ew Bender PhD, a psychologist and consultant who has worked off and on for Bloomfield Township for the last 15 years, and was recently hired by township supervisor Leo Savoie to meet with elected officials and department heads in an effort to facilitate team work and tackle the challenges within township hall, reported to Savoie that “in light of recent circumstances, it wouldn't benefit anyone to spend the money” to proceed further with his services. Bender's reference is to the whistleblower lawsuit filed against the township and Savoie by treasurer Dan Devine, alleging they have subjected him to retaliation because he reported suspected violations of law to public authorities. Trustees on Monday, September 28, voted to request a written report from Bender, provided the report does not include anything that could be attributable to any specific individual or department head. Savoie said prior to this year, the last time the township had used Bender was 2011 or 2012. “A few months ago, I requested Mr. Bender to come in and meet with us to help us – all elected officials and department heads.” Since Devine's lawsuit, Bender told Savoie there would be no benefit to further pursuit in team rebuilding efforts, and asked him if he wanted a written report, or just a summary. In a committee meeting, one member, Savoie said, only wanted a summary. “That was me,” said Devine. “The concern was, the department heads were told their responses would be kept confidential. People who had given in a forthright manner were concerned about a written report. It didn't matter to me.” Savoie said it would be a written summary. “The confidentiality is not on an individual basis. The report will deal with the entire team, and how it can function better.” According to his website, Bender has over 34 years of research and training experience, and offers customized training programs, meeting facilitation, and workshops to increase the effectiveness of teams, and to tackle challenges in the workplace. At a township board meeting on July 13, when fellow trustees voted to censure Devine for making a false police report against Savoie and falsely accusing him of kidnapping his daughter; accusing Savoie at the state level with accepting a bribe from a longtime vendor; for falsely claiming Savoie paid a former employee $30,000; and for lack of proper financial disclosure over fees paid to township pension financial advisors, it was revealed that many department heads and police and fire officers find the township offices a difficult environment. “There's great concern and fracturing for the last 12 months,” fire chief Dave Piche' said at the time. “We have to go forward and do things for the residents. We have to put things behind us, but there has to be trust, and trust for the department heads that they can trust their elected officials,” Savoie said at that meeting. “I fully support the written report,” said trustee Dave Buckley. “It's disappointing that we won't be able to work through all the issues.” Trustees voted 7-0 to receive a written report from Bender.
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$2,000 balance on August 3, 2015. Devine had $17,937.72 in his campaign fund as of his filing in Oakland County with the Michigan Department of State Bureau of Elections. The legal defense report deadline closed on September 30, 2015, with filing report due on October 25, 2015, the same date as campaign fund
contributions must be filed. Even if a person puts in their own money into a legal defense fund, a filing is required. Currently, there are five other individuals on the Secretary of State website who have also converted their campaign funds to legal defense funds, including former state Rep. Cindy Gamrat who was recently expelled from the Michigan House.
DOWNTOWN
Library can proceed with drawings Birmingham's Baldwin Public Library can proceed with the development of construction drawings for the first phase of renovations at the building, for the Adult Services Department, located on the main floor in the Birkerts addition, but before city money is allocated for actual construction, estimated to cost $2.2 million, the library will need to work with the city through its approved budget appropriation process, city commissioners this week told library director Doug Koschik. Koschik made a presentation to the city commission at their meeting on Monday, October 12, along with the architectural firm Luckenbach/Ziegelman/Gardner (LZG), at which they presented conceptual plans of September 21, 2015 that had been approved by the library board of directors. Koschik noted that the library board had heard the voters in May 2014, when they voted down a $21.5 million millage request by Baldwin for renovations and an expansion. He said this renovation would be phase I of a proposed three-part renovation. “Phase I will be for the Adult Services Department, which is primarily on the main floor of the Birkerts addition,” Koschik said. “Next, we will proceed with phase 2 and 3, of the Youth Department, Circulation Department, add a small cafe and redo the main entrance. We would like it to interface with Shain Park and The Community House, which were points of concern to Andres Duany (urban planner and designer of Birmingham's 2016 Master Plan).” Architect John Gardner of LZG explained details of the design, saying the total would cost $2.2 million, including $540,000 for a band of windows which would open a wall of the room. “We started with the principal of 'Let there be light', of opening up the space and getting more light,” Gardner said. “We were creating more open spaces, increasing wayfinding, and moving the new computer lab from the lower lab to the middle of the room.” Koschik said the library would contribute $600,000 from its fund balance and trust fund. The timetable he described put development of the design and construction bidding to be done between fall 2015 and spring 2016; construction to begin in August 2016; with construction completed in the first quarter of 2017. Commissioner Mark Nickita 79