Army Bob: Erosion of trust results from eavesdropping

The use of a recording device is an area that can be abused to the point of being unlawful, especially when done by an elected official. We all need to take great care to insure we do not violate any state or federal laws when we tape people without permission.

No one will ever know for sure if the recording of the Dorr Township citizens after the Oct. 17 Planning Commission meeting was a mistake, a senior moment of forgetfulness by Trustee John Tuinstra, or a deliberate attempt to gather evidence to prove a violation of the Open Meetings Act. The infighting we find on the Dorr Township Board has created an atmosphere of distrust inside Dorr government.

The trustee in question just may not have meant to commit a felony; no one will probably prosecute him because the incident “lacks investigative merit,” meaning it is not a large enough story to get coverage on the cable news channels so county, state or federal prosecutors may do nothing. In fairness it may just be an oversight, a forgotten recording device. So, have you ever forgot a recording device and left it running in a public building?

The two-people mentioned as being taped in Townbroadcast, Mr. Robert Wagner and Mr. Larry Dolegowski, together have more than 70 years of public service (many of the years as firefighters) to the Township of Dorr. Perhaps we need to honor their service and not eavesdrop on private conversations?

We do need to ask, when was the last time you recorded a public hearing and then forgot the recorder you placed on a defibrillator some six feet off the floor? Please understand it is completely lawful, legal and moral to tape a public hearing; it is not legal to depart and leave the recording device working after the hearing is over, while three then two citizens are having a private conversation. Even members of an appointed commission in a public meeting room have the constitutionally protected right to a private conversation if a quorum of members doesn’t exist, which in this case would be four members.

The really devastating part of this incident is that an atmosphere exists in the Dorr government that renders what may have been in a normal setting, an oversight, a legally questionable act. The atmosphere of distrust has been extended to the Planning Commission, with a trustee on the commission attempting to unseat the elected commission chairman. Unlawful public hearings are being alleged as occurring after the scheduled meeting. This unlawful taping may be a childish, but unlawful attempt to prove that allegation.  

At the heart of this is a feud between Mr. Robert Wagner and a family member. We all have family members we are not happy with; the outrageous part is that three elected officials are being used as pawns in this family feud. The power of government is being abused to satisfy the desire to punish a family member by the self-appointed kingmaker in the Dorr areas (a relative of Mr. Wagner).

Now to be fair, those board members who opposed him will say that Bob Wagner has been serving the township for too long and must be term limited, and indeed they also attempted to remove one other experienced appointed official. Whether you agree with term limits or not, it has nothing to do with illegally taping a private conversation. The trustee (interesting word, “trustee,” the root word is trust) who unlawfully taped a private conversation was working in what appears to be a coordinated effort to play a political game to catch the Planning Commission in a violation of the Open Meetings Act, and should not be trusted.

If I sound angry to you it is because I am; I was the third person to be illegally taped Oct. 17^th. Experience as a commanding officer of two Army CID (Criminal Investigation Command) units in the United States and overseas gives me a clear understanding of the wiretap laws. If a member of law enforcement had committed this act, someone would be fired or incarcerated.

Civil remedies are also open to the five citizens (three Planning Commission members and two members of the community) were illegally taped; this just may end up costing the good folks of Dorr many tens of thousands of dollars we do not have to spend. It is the price we pay for an out of control caucus in Dorr government.