Boot, Sewers do battle for Dorr clerk; Senneker no-show

The showdown between Dorr Township Clerk candidates Brian Boot and Debbie Sewers was the only contest in Tuesday night’s forum at Crosswinds Community Church.

Supervisor Jeff Miling was left alone in the arena for evening when his opponent, Patty Senneker, failed to appear. No reason was given for her absence, and virtually nobody offered to speculate.

So Boot, seeking his second four-year term, and his former deputy, Sewers, were the only contentious part of the show, which also featured proponents of the fire improvement and road improvement millages joining Miling in having the stage all to themselves.

The sparring between the clerk candidates was interesting in that Boot fired Sewers earlier this year. When asked why by an audience member, Boot said he wrote in her personnel file, “Incompatibility of attitudes.” Sewers declined to answer the question.

Sewers said the main reasons she decided to run for clerk are lack of transparency and concerns money isn’t being spent wisely by the Township Board. She said the township should have set aside money long ago for roads instead of going after three mills in the Aug. 2 primary.

“The question is, is the board being fiscally responsible?” she asked.

Boot disagreed, saying the road millage request was reasonable and responsible.

“I am in favor of both dedicated millages, which are for those things only,” he said. “It’s for stability… it shouldn’t be a year-to-year thing.”

Sewers said, “I think there are some areas that could be cut back (in the budget).”

She gave as an example the replacement of flooring at the township hall, which was more expensive than it needed to be.

“And that would cover a million dollars for roads?” Boot responded.

She said, “The roads need to be fixed, but we need to figure out the best way to do that.”

Sewers said she wants the best equipped fire department to answer the bell in the event of a fire, but has reservations with how the proposal is worded.

Boot said the proposal’s wording is done entirely by legal counsel.

Sewers also said the township has been doing a poor job of publishing minutes of meetings on its web site.

She said she is better equipped for handling the clerk’s position, she has been trained and is more transparent and more accountable. She added she believes the clerk must help build a community that’s safe.

But Boot insisted the clerk also must handle the political part of the job, getting people to work together to do things individuals cannot do by themselves.

He said the Township Board in the past four years has been hampered “by a minority that doesn’t get their way because of their extremism.”

He was referring to Trustees Senneker and John Tuinstra, who often have been on the wrong end of 5-2 votes on a variety of issues.

Both Sewers and Boot had high praise with the progress in the parks, the library and maintenance.

Sewers said the clerk’s job is to be the record keeper of the township, to handle payroll and elections. She has proudly pointed to her record in working elections this year, in May 2015 and in 2014.

Boot, however, once again pointed to the “people” part of the job and asserted all members of the Library Board, Parks Board and Board of Review support his candidacy.

Billy Fifelski, speaking from a seat in the audience, asked why Boot needed to have a deputy clerk.

Boot said the state mandates a deputy to be in place whenever he cannot perform the duties temporarily.

Boot narrowly defeated Sewers in the 2012 general election and added her as deputy a little more than a year later. Boot succeeded Jodi Brummel, who decided against seeking re-election that year.

Miling won a free pass, a walk in the park. He sat next to an empty chair and answered a variety of questions from emcee Rachael Sadowski, Hopkins Police Chief. He showed himself to be an unabashed supporter of both millage requests and told everyone his main goal is “continuous improvement for Dorr, make it attractive.”

The supervisor echoed the sentiments of Boot in that he sees local government’s role is to “provide services to the community they can’t provide for themselves.”

When asked why voters should select him over his opponent, he jokingly held the microphone next to Senneker’s empty chair and quipped, “I’m going to let her go first.”

PHOTOS: Dorr Township Clerk candidates Debbie Sewers and Brian Boot don’t appear to be comfortable with each other on stage answering questions.

Township Supervisor Jeff Miling attempts to answer a question from the audience. Conspicuous in her absence is Patty Senneker, as evidence by an empty chair.