A Plymouth Township trustee resigned, alleging that the “deceitful nature” of some members of the board made it impossible to “serve the citizens under the current leadership.”
Mark Clinton’s resignation, which announced in a July 28 letter, is the fourth by a board member this year, according to Hometown Life, a digital news site. He was elected as a trustee to a four-year term in 2024 and served as the township’s treasurer from 2016-21 but resigned because of a “medical issue.”
Clinton in his letter said progress in the township has stagnated under the current leadership. He said the “final straw” prompting his resignation came when he claims he was “knowingly excluded” from the process of choosing a new trustee earlier this month to replace Jennifer Buckley. Buckley resigned, saying she had plans to move out of Plymouth Township. Clinton said he was not aware prior to the board’s July 21 meeting, when members voted to appoint Buckley’s replacement, that a candidate had been picked.
“As an elected Trustee, I expected to be included in decisions of this importance, and I believe the citizens deserve a process that is open, transparent, and collaborative,” Clinton said in his resignation notice.
The letter did not provide details about what progress he felt had stalled in the community. Clinton declined to comment in an email to The Detroit News.
Supervisor Charles Curmi couldn’t be reached for comment on Clinton’s claims.
The seven-member board consists of four trustees, the supervisor, treasurer and clerk.
Clinton named former Supervisor Kurt Heise, then-Trustee Bob Doroshewitz and former Clerk Jerry Vorva as having done a “tremendous amount of work” during Clinton’s time as treasurer. But he said “the deceitful nature of the Supervisor and two Trustees,” in the current administration was responsible for his alleged exclusion from choosing a trustee.
Clinton’s resignation is the latest in a series that has roiled the township government in less than six months, Hometown Life reported. There have been clashes at board meetings, a lawsuit and one former clerk candidate taking himself out of the running becase of the government’s “dysfunction.”
Clerk Jerry Vorva resigned in March because of a cancer diagnosis and a “hostile environment” in the township’s offices, but the township board delayed voting to accept his resignation until April. Treasurer Bob Doroshewitz said delaying the board’s acceptance allowed members to fill the vacancy by appointment rather than a special election.
But the process of replacing Vorva was contentious. Two trustees, Buckley and Sandy Groth, competed for the position and led to a deadlocked board. Members decided on May 13 to appoint Kim Gaedeke, a longtime resident who had led the University of Michigan’s Opioid Research Institute. Another candidate withdrew from consideration after seeing what he described as the board’s “dysfunction.”
Vorva has sued Trustee John Stewart, saying Stewart lunged at at him during a closed-session meeting, which Stewart has denied.
Doroshewitz said in a June 23 meeting he plans to resign late this year or early next year, but noted his decision was not related to the work environment or relationships on the board. Buckley resigned the next day, saying she had bought a home outside of the township. She said her decision was not related to tensions in the government.
jcardi@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Plymouth Township trustee resigns, citing ‘deceitful nature’ of board
Reporting by Julia Cardi, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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By Julia Cardi, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
