Yellow brick road

Apr. 3, 2015  PLYMOUTH VOICE.

Plymouth Michigan News

OPINION

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain…

That was the obvious message last week when members of the Plymouth Township Board of Trustees followed the orders of the Wizard, danced down the yellow brick road and chose Treasurer Ron Edwards’ handpicked new leader for his growing Emerald City of acolytes.

Trustee Kay Arnold, Clerk Nancy Conzelman and Trustee Mike Kelly were all obviously under some kind of hypnotic spell as they blindly obeyed Edwards’ bidding to appoint Shannon Price as the replacement for beleaguered Township Supervisor Richard Reaume.

Reaume, who fell prey to Edwards’ influence years ago, would have resigned, we suspect, when he purchased his first Florida home earlier this year, but Edwards needed time to get his disciple, Price, moved into the township and the Republican leaders on board with his hand-picked candidate. How much black magic was involved, we don’t know, but we do know that the people of Plymouth Township had very little, if anything, to say about the choice for top executive in their community.

Arnold, reminiscent of the Scarecrow without a brain, demurred during the appointment of Price that she knew nothing about his pre-arranged coronation. She, and her purported ignorance, were ferociously defended by the Wicked Witch of the West who attempted to shoo off any suggestion of collusion or subterfuge raised by Trustee Bob Doroshewitz.

Doroshewitz had the unbridled temerity to attempt to actually shine a spotlight on the convoluted plan to ensure that Edwards will continue to control every department in the township. He openly questioned Arnold about when she knew Reaume was going to resign and who she was instructed to support as his replacement. While he kept tugging and tugging at the curtain behind which the Wizard was performing his nefarious acts of conspiracy, he was outmaneuvered and outmanned.

Doroshewitz’ efforts to publicly expose the behind-the-scenes plots and deals to ensure Edwards’ control were a valiant, albeit doomed, effort. This deal has been rumored and discussed for months and was the worst-kept secret since Dorothy landed in Oz.

Conzelman came close to calling in her flying monkeys several times during the meeting in response to verbal protests from concerned residents crowding the meeting room. Only the voice of reason from Police Chief Tom Tiderington seemed to calm her temper.

Those protests from the munchkins, no matter how articulate or on-point, were an exercise in futility. The decision about this appointment had been made months ago and is one more example of the arrogant, amoral and unprincipled environment that permeates the offices under the emerald green roof of Plymouth Township Hall.

Shannon Price now knows he owes this $111,000 a year job to Edwards and he also knows that he is expected act accordingly. What the Wizard wants, the Wizard gets and this Tin Man will offer no resistance. He may not have courage, but he does have brain power enough to know how he got this job.

He will, as Edwards already said, do the job in the same way Reaume did: Exactly as the Wizard orders.

These public meetings were no more than a charade, carefully choreographed to fool the public into believing the fantasy that democracy exists in Plymouth Township.

Plymouth Voice.