Recall group continues petition signature drive

Feb. 16, 2015  PLYMOUTH EAGLE.

Plymouth Michigan News

While Sandra Groth, a former Plymouth Township deputy clerk and township trustee candidate in 2012, declined to disclose exactly how many signatures the Recall 4 group has currently obtained on petitions, she doesn’t hesitate to repeat the comments she and others have heard from township residents.

The group, comprising local homeowners and business people, was organized last October and is targeting Township Supervisor Richard Reaume, Treasurer Ron Edwards, Clerk Nancy Conzelman and Trustee Kay Arnold for recall from office.

The group said there were a myriad of reasons the four should be

removed from office, but the most serious is the spending priorities exhibited by the officials which, the recall group contends, is not in the best interest of the majority of residents. The group cites the push by officials to spend $1.9 million on township park facilities despite the public outcry and protests. Recall supporters are critical of the spending without offering residents the opportunity to vote and point to this as one example of the way citizens were not being heard or respected.

Volunteers attempting to collect the 4,000 signatures required by Wayne County on each recall petition have now reached more than

100, Groth said. Recall signs now dot the township and volunteers sport black buttons with the letters, Recall 4 on their purses and coat collars. The group members have set up neighborhood petition signing stations and have been working long hours to collect the required signatures, she added.

Groth said many of the interviewed residents have expressed concerns about the overall financial stability of the township while others are more than willing to give credit to some of the elected officials for “…helping us get to where we are.”

“But they don’t seem as willing to just accept what they are being

told… they recognize there are real concerns with priorities, investigations from the Department of Justice, audit problems, citizen complaints, lawsuits and the way that citizens are treated by elected officials who are paid to assist them and provide a service.

Groth described the work as “a rewarding process” and said the group welcomes help from all registered voters in the township.

The group will be manning signing stations at Denny’s Restaurant on Ann Arbor Road from 4-7 p.m. Feb. 14, 15, 21 and, 28 and March 7. They will also be available at E.G. Nicks from noon until 5 p.m. Feb. 15 and Feb. 21.

Plymouth Voice.