Letter to the Editor: Ehman's Attacks on Dexter Township Candidates Not Accurate

Well, I have tried to keep the upcoming elections in Dexter Township on a positive note, relying on my previous experience and past dedication to the residents of Dexter Township and the area, but now comes a letter from Mr. Ehman which at best is confusing and at worse is typical of him.

At the time I took office as supervisor in 1984, Mr. Ehman was sitting as the chairman of both the Zoning Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals. Because of onerous decisions made by those boards, at least three members of the five-member township board voted not to reappoint him to those positions and it's been sour grapes for him every since.

In 1988, the good people of Portage Lake came to me to ask if the township would do a sewer project for them as many were having six-month deed restrictions placed on their properties and they could not remodel or rebuild. I took on the project even to the detriment sometimes to my family life. It was nothing to work until midnight to keep the project moving forward. We were not without our antagonists, as many simply didn't want to pay or wanted some special treatment which could not be offered.

The township board did put Mr. Ehman on the Sewer Authority Board but it certainly did not get rid of the detractors.

When the Multi-Lakes project came along, I agreed to take on that project and the same detractors followed the crowd to North Lake. They made the same negative comments, but thankfully for the residents of North, Half-Moon, Silver and Blind Lakes, we went forward and completed the much needed sewer project.

It is true that I was not appointed to the Multi-Lakes Sewer Authority Board. I did not seek to be appointed to it as my plate was overflowing. I don't know where Mr. Ehman gets his information that the Multi-Lakes Board is struggling, but if it is, it is because the current supervisor loaded the board with her followers, refused to give even a 50-cent per hour pay raise to the employees after no raises in three years, and the director who was doing all the managing, bookkeeping, billing, scheduling, etc. retired in disgust.

The board lead by Ms. (Patricia) Kelly then proceded to hire a new director at 50 percent higher wages than the former director. The new director worked only four days a week, and the board has farmed out the billing, bookkeeping, accounting to others, so now the people in the sewer district are paying twice as much in wages.

With Kelly it's not about good government, it's about control. Had Mr. Ehman checked his facts he would have known this.

Mr. Ehman then goes on to criticize Libby Brushaber for voting yes on the 2003 zoning ordinance and saying in her literature that she “wants revisions." Ms. Brushaber said that at the time the ordinance was passed but it was Supervisor Kelly who pushed it through saying we can fix it later. Sounds like (former U.S. House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi, doesn't it? Isn't it funny that Mr. Ehman can so easily criticize Libby Brushaber for a single vote in 2003, but 227 zoning amendments and nine years later and it's still not fixed. He says, “Give Ms. Kelly more string because she's honest.”

Change is needed in Dexter

The most condescending comment by Mr. Ehman is calling the congregation of North Lake Methodist Church “steeple people." No doubt he got that comment from Supervisor Kelly, because that's the way she talks about township residents behind their backs. Even Mr. Ehman's back. Just ask the clerical people at the township hall. The people at the North Lake Church were rightly angry because of the way they were treated and the fact that the zoning ordinance was so obviously out of touch with Dexter Township's community needs.

But Mr. Ehman wants to give Kelly four more years. Maybe if she didn't get the ordinance fixed in the first nine years, 13 will be the magic number. Ms Kelly has good reason to keep the zoning ordinance as restrictive as it is because that gives her more control over you and your property rights.

Marriage should not be a ballot issue

Mr. Ehman also mentions the fact that Libby Brushaber and I are married, therefore, it may not be democratic representation. Where was Mr. Ehman's concern when Warren Eisenbeiser was supervisor and Bill, his son, was clerk? And where was his concern when Earl Doletzky was trustee and his daughter Julie was treasurer?

Mr. Ehman has never run for elective office nor has he served in an elective position. Ms. Brushaber has served as an elective township trustee for 12 years and has always voted for the good of the community. To insinuate that just because she is now married she is no longer an independent thinking human being is degrading to women and to the state of matrimony.

Shame on you, Mr. Ehman.

I had the unfortunate experience of losing my wife of 40 years to cancer in 2009 and after recovering, I had the extremely good fortune of finding someone to spend my life with. And I can assure you Mr. Ehman, that neither one of us consider each other as “baggage."

Mr. Ehman recommends that Dana Bullen is “easily qualified” to be treasurer. Here is another one of Mr. Ehman's great selections. She has lived in the township for six months, has no accounting or bookkeeping experience, holds another full-time job, and she is going to collect and manage millions of dollars at the township? I'll bet Mr. Ehman wouldn't hire her to do his books and investing.

Mr. Ehman backed a 30-year-old renter for township supervisor in 1996, the renter won by four votes and lasted seven months before leaving with his tail between his legs. So much for Mr. Ehman's ability to pick good candidates. Now he wants you to follow him to the trough, drink the Kool-Aid, and vote for Kelly and Bullen. Better think twice!

James Drolett

Dexter Township Supervisor Candidate