Nepotism is Hot Topic at Sumpter Township Trustees meeting

Nepotism was a hot topic at the July 28 meeting of the Sumpter Township Board of Trustees as the matter of Supervisor Timothy Bowman appointing his son T.J. Bowman as his deputy supervisor came before the trustees again.

The trustees began the meeting as usual but then went into a workshop session not indicated on the printed agenda and spent the majority of the meeting in that workshop before returning to regular session to approve the agenda.

A workshop session allows a board to discuss agenda items and alter them or even delete them from the official agenda without having to commit to voting yes or no on an item after the discussion.

During the workshop session, Treasurer Bart Patterson questioned the propriety of appointing a relative to a paid position and wondered if the party should recuse himself from the vote in that case. The township’s attorney, Robert P. Young, gave an opinion that conflict of interest didn’t apply unless the person voting on a proposal would directly profit from its passing. Young’s opinion was that it was legal for Supervisor Bowman to appoint his son.

“My take on this is that I oppose the agenda item for multitude of reasons,” Patterson said. “I don’t have anything against Mr. Bowman’s son at all, but primarily because I believe the township has far more urgent priorities that should be addressed first. We’ve been without a township manager and finance director for nearly two months, and we’ve known about it for three months. We’ve been without dedicated payroll employees since the beginning of the year. Critical positions remain unfilled while this proposal is moving forward,” Patterson said.

At the previous trustee meeting, trustees wanted to clarify T.J. Bowman’s responsibilities and clarified that a deputy supervisor is only supposed to be involved in “statutory” activities mandated by law like passing budgets and signing contracts.

Patterson noted that Supervisor Bowman’s list of proposed duties for his deputy would include items like answering phones and managing buildings, and other duties that are already covered by other township employees.

Bowman said he would reword the list of duties, remove the item from the official agenda, and then appoint his son when they returned to the regular session.

“Then at the next board meeting, we’ll discuss his pay,” Bowman said.

Shortly before the trustees returned to the regular session, trustee Tim Rush asked everyone to look at the Rotary flag displayed in the township chambers and to remember the four-way test of what to ask yourself before you speak: Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

Rotary Flag

Bowman then immediately appointed T.J. Bowman as his deputing as soon as the workshop was over and the trustees returned to the regular session.

“I remember when you were first running, you ran on draining the swamp. Get rid of nepotism,” Patterson said. “I’m talking about what your words were. There’s too much nepotism, we’ve got too many family members being appointed family members.”

Bowman pointed that Clerk Don LaPorte’s daughter works for the township and other township employees are related to each other.

Patterson pressed Bowman on whether his stance on nepotism had changed.

“I’m asking you, has your opinion changed since you were running for office?” Patterson asked.

“If you want to put it like that, it’s changed,” Bowman said.

Nepotism was also on the mind of two residents who spoke during the public comment period.

Kristen McCray said she’d created a poll to ask the community if they “felt it was appropriate for elected officials to appoint family members for other paid positions in their city or township” and said the result was “a resounding no.”

“Just because something may be legal does not mean it is the right thing to do,” she said. She noted that an action could comply with the law but still violate a broader sense of justice.

“True integrity requires looking beyond what is merely permitted and asking what is responsible and morally sound. Mr. Supervisor, your tantrum and disruptive behavior at the last board meeting undermines the trust residents have with Sumpter Township officials,” she continued, referring to the fact that Supervisor Bowman threw down his agenda and pen and walked out of the last trustee meeting halfway through after they failed to approve the deputy supervisor appointment.

At that point in McCray’s remarks, Bowman attempted to cut her off, but she cited the Open Meetings Act and said she was going to finish. She said she hoped Bowman would apologize to the community and the other trustees for his behavior at the July 14 meeting.

A second community member, Bob Guttman, also spoke on nepotism and said it didn’t have anything to do with the character of the supervisor’s son but rather that he objected on principle.

“I don’t know whether the young man we’re talking about is a Rhodes Scholar or a gamer in somebody’s basement, but in the political environment, in the government environment, in the business world, when you hire family, it’s just causing problem. It’s causing consternation here today,” Guttman said.

“That’s where it starts, and it just continues. It’s not the right thing to do. If it were up to me, if I were king, there’d be a law against it.”

In other news from the July 28 meeting, the trustees:

• Accepted Trustee Tim Rush’s Parks & Recreation Report, a Water & Sewer Report from Department of Public Works Director Ron Tabor, and a Treasurer’s Report from Patterson.
• Heard a presentation from Jason Machiaski, CEO of the Senior Alliance, the region’s agency on aging. He presented the Senior Alliance’s multi-year plan serving 1 million residents, including 250,000 older adults. He indicated that only 11 people from the Sumpter area are taking advantage of the home delivery service Meals on Wheels. Machiaski confirmed that the rate was low and that they needed to do a better job of getting the word out to the public about the availability of this service;
• Approved the appointment of Tony Caldwell to the planning commission with a term expiring in November of 2027;
• Approved an addendum to the township’s water and service contract with the Great Lakes Water Authority;
• Approved the purchase of two super back alloys, 16-inch battery-powered PPV fans for the fire department at a cost of $12,078.96.
• Approved purchasing three used tablets at a cost of $2,958.43 total for all three, intended for building inspectors to use. The tablets will remain in the township offices and cannot be used by the inspectors in other municipalities.
• Approved a collective bargaining agreement with Sumpter Township Command Officers Association of Michigan through 2030.