Plymouth Township Must Heal After Contentious Primary: Outgoing Supervisor

PLYMOUTH TOWNSHIP, MI — The township needs to heal after a contentious primary election in which voters rejected top leadership and elected a new slate of candidates for the Republican ballot in November, Supervisor Shannon Price said at Tuesday’s Plymouth Township Board of Trustees meeting.

Accordingly, Price asked the man who defeated him — current state Rep. Kurt Heise, a term-limited Republican — to lead the Pledge of Allegiance, The Plymouth Observer reported.

“The community has to come first,” said Price, a former Wayne County commissioner who was appointed supervisor in 2015. “We have a great community,and we all need to work together going forward.”

Price and two other township officers, Clerk Nancy Conzelman and Treasurer Ron Edwards, were also defeated, by Jerry Vorva and Mark Clinton, respectively.

Voters also rejected incumbent Trustee Michael Kelly.

Two incumbent trustees, Charles J. Curmi and Bob Doroshewitz, got a vote of confidence from Republicans in the primary. Rounding out the GOP ticket in November are Jack Dempsey and Gary Heitman.

Clinton will face Democrat Mary Siefert in November in the treasurer’s race. Libertarian Joseph LeBlanc is also running for one of the trustee positions.

Heise told The Observer he appreciated Price’s gesture.

“I think it was a good first step toward moving forward on a smooth transition,” Heise said.
At Price’s invitation, Heise will meet with township staff in the coming months for one-on-one briefings on critical issues.

“That’s what the taxpayers expect,” Heise said. “We’ve got to put politics aside and we’ve got to work together for a smooth transition.”