ACHTUNG: This is not a “fair and balanced” article. It is an editorial by the editor.
There have been three instances of changing home base for township boards during my 12 years of covering them.
Two, Leighton and Martin, went smoothly and steadily. Leighton even changed actual locations.
The remaining, which hasn’t occurred as yet, already has been plagued by some wailing and gnashing of teeth. I write of Dorr Township.
The Dorr Township Board meeting last Thursday evening was marred by some testy exchanges between Supervisor Jeff Miling and Trustee Chandler Stanton. While Miling is unabashedly in support of a project to expand the crowded current township hall, Stanton shows signs of dragging his feet, seemingly not willing to spend the money.
Leighton and Martin certainly approached their changes cautiously, realizing they were spending the public’s money for something that would help officials do their jobs more effectively with better facilities. Martin had a lot of public meetings mapping out plans for a proposed expansion, and eventually it was done.
Leighton’s was even more challenging because township officials were keenly in favor of building an addition to the township library in a different location. The result was a much better place for them to conduct business and have meetings.
Dorr Township is plagued by a couple of trustees who are more than suspicious about local government spending the taxpayers’ money. Both Stanton and John Tuinstra often seem to be running against government itself, borrowing a page from the playbook of former President Ronald Reagan.
There does seem to be a consensus that the current facility that houses Dorr Township officials, is getting overcrowded, not just for the clerk, treasurer and supervisor, but also for the fire department. So then what to do about it?
Miling was chided in the meeting when he presented opinions and data from an acquaintance about how much an addition might cost as opposed to a new building and location. Stanton told him he should have gotten more data from more sources.
But then tempers flared when Stanton told Miling he should go out and get at least three bids for architects to present drawings. Miling responded by saying he didn’t want to do all that work and then have the entire shot down by the likes of Stanton and Tuinstra, notorious in their anti-spending positions.
Indeed. When comparing what happened in Leighton and Martin, there was much more of a spirit of cooperation and a lot less suspicion about spending public money.
There are times public officials have a duty to be watchdogs against foolish expenditures. But what was hinted at last Thursday night was feet dragging, which actually could make any plans more expensive down the road. Add to that the prospects that Dorr Township in 2024 can use more than $300,000 in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to partially fund an expansion project. Those funds will dry up at the end of the year if they aren’t used.
It’s almost as bad as a dozen years ago when a road project on 142nd Avenue was accompanied by the idea of bringing in water and sewer as long as the road would be tore up anyway. That idea was greeted by a time- and money-wasting recall election that got downright personal and nasty.
The time is now to end the stonewalling and act cooperatively to build a needed addition as quickly as possible.
Miling not wanting to do the work seems to be a recurring theme of his. He didn’t want to do the work to get qualified candidates for board positions. He doesn’t want to do the research necessary to get the best outcome for the township. He probably just wants to hand over township money to one of his cronies and have them do whatever they want to…because he doesn’t want to do the work.
Statements are not true on this article.
Takes a period of time to generate (trial and error) a good policy and or plan to follow. Not over night.
Do you understand the difference between an editorial and an article?
In Dorr, the horse left the barn over ten years ago. Some, on or off the township board, realized this. Those who continue to wear blinders to the population changes in West Michigan, Allegan County in particular, can’t seem to negotiate as good stewards for the Dorr residents. Rather, they live in the past, as in 25+ years ago. That day is done. Dorr has a wonderful population of hard working people and families. Those wonderful people expect change, even welcome it. But counting pennies, as opposed to balancing land use, responsible governing and decent community policies are ill served by subjective age old biases that decrease services to community members. The same old Township fusses continue to fester among some Township officials whether its the cost of a mower for the parks, building a much better library for Dorr residents or any of a handfull of other Dorr improvements. Its tiresome and makes our successful community look more like cheapskates than chipholders. Like it or not, Dorr’s population will continue to grow and with that come choices in how to expand to meet community member’s needs.