Supervisor's Erratic Behavior A Driving Force Behind Recall Effort

So I take a break for awhile, and things go crazy in Plymouth Township. Well, things are always kind of crazy in the township, but it’s getting stupid these days.

On the recall front, we now have dueling recalls. Most folks know that the taxpayers finally got fed up enough to recall four of the seven township board members. Clerk Conzelman, Treasurer Edwards, Supervisor Reaume, and Trustee Arnold are all under threat of recall. Fancy Nancy Conzelmen led them into court, striking her fanciest lawyerly pose, in her Von Maur wardrobe. She prattled on, citing legal precedents, and other legal gobblygook, and promptly got her butt shut down by the judge.

Supervisor Rich Reaume didn’t even bother to contest the language on his recall petition. It states that he lied to the Department of Treasury of the State of Michigan, and he knows that he did, so why bother fighting it. The other three though, have challenged their recall petitions with all of the proper amount of righteous indignation, and the judge’s decision will be handed down on November 21st I am told. If the judge overrules the challenge, recall petitions will soon be circulating around the township, with a possible recall election in May.

Whether you agree with recalls or not, the reasons for this recall effort are many, and obvious. The four members getting recalled have shown a complete lack of transparency, a complete lack of ethics, and a willful neglect of taxpayer money. Reaume has lied to the State of Michigan Department of Treasury, among others, and most important, this foursome has shown a total lack of respect to the folks who pay their salaries.

It has been ugly, and truth be told, Richard Reaume has been the ugliest of all, these past several months. I won’t lie, I have my doubts that the recall would have actually happened had he not been so gosh darn rude, and condescending towards residents that just wanted answers.

Personally, I think old Richard has lost his marbles. I think he has gone bat poop crazy. It wouldn’t surprise me if he pulled a Charles Pugh, and just disappeared into the darkness of a cool Plymouth night.

Why do I think this? Well, it’s actually been a series of events. First we find out that he’s been living in a house with nothing but a bed and a TV in it. Then we find out he sold his house, which could explain his rather spartan living conditions I guess, but I find it strange nonetheless. Then we find out that he bought a singles pad in the Sodom & Gomorrah of Florida. The Villages in Florida is definitely not your run of the mill retirement community. Oh no, not by a long shot. Reaume chose carefully.

The Villages in Florida is the largest gated, over-55 community in the world. Folks don’t even drive cars at The Villages, (residents call it TV) they drive golf carts, some costing upwards of $25,000. They had a golf cart parade, and it set the Guinness Book of World Records for longest golf cart parade. So far, so innocent right? Unfortunately, there are other very notable things about The Villages as well. It seems that it is like a seniors frat house gone bad. The New York Post actually labeled The Villages, “Ground zero for geriatrics getting it on.” The article further stated that, “There is a thriving black market for Viagra, it is common place for folks to get caught getting it on in the golf carts, and even two cases of folks being arrested having sex in the public square.” Of course this has caused an alarming increase in sexually transmitted diseases at The Villages. Seriously, you just can’t make this stuff up.

Now I am not going to pass judgment on Mr. Reaume’s sexual proclivities, bizarre or otherwise, but this is not the Richard Reaume I thought I knew when I moved here 6 years ago. My impression of him back then, was that he was dapper, polished, always in control, but kind of a chameleon. He drove around town with a Vietnam Veteran license plate, and that angered me to no end, because he never set foot anywhere close to Vietnamese soil. He was a Democrat before he decided to be a Republican so that he could run for office in Plymouth Township, which has never elected an identified Democrat to the Township Board. He tended to obfuscate rather than answer a direct question. Like I said, he is a chameleon. He has a closet full of secrets, and apparently, the man is ready to head to Florida to open up that closet. Again, it really wouldn’t surprise me if he either resigns, or just up and leaves.

Reaume has also been exhibiting some very bizarre behavior at meetings of the board as well. At the Board of Trustee meetings, he began to get very combative with residents when they made public comments. He steadily became very condescending, and more confrontational with the very taxpayers that paid for his new frat house in Florida.

Then he took to banging the heck out of his gavel at people. He angered Trustee Curmi so much at one meeting, it prompted Curmi to utter a few choice words at him about his gavel. After that, he abandoned the gavel, and went back to screaming, lecturing, and basically trying to belittle folks in the audience. He has also taken to walking out in the middle of meetings and coming back with police, which is not only childish, but further illustrates his growing paranoia.

So he has been exhibiting all of these strange behaviors for months, and they have been ratcheting up steadily, culminating in his most bizarre move to date.

The man just awhile ago, decided to draw up a few recall petitions of his own. The first was against Trustee Chuck Curmi, for voting against an Edwards motion to abstain from entering into any agreements or authorities with the City of Plymouth until their terms are up at the end of 2016. The problem with this is that Reaume voted the same darn way that Curmi did!

How can you recall a man for voting the same cotton pickin way that you voted on an issue? He then sought a recall for Trustee Kelly for voting in favor of Edward’s ridiculous motion. Guess Richard wanted to cover all his bases. It makes no sense

The recall language for Trustee Doroshewitz is a little trickier. In an argument with Treasurer Edwards, Mr. Doroshewitz felt that Big Ron was accessing Doroshewitz’s private information, and making it public. Doroshewitz, in anger stated that he would sue the township for what he probably considered malfeasance, or any other unlawful name you may want to attach to this behavior. They were words spoken in anger, but just words. Mr. Doroshewitz never sued, and nothing ever came of it. Apparently that’s not good enough for Mr. Reaume, because he now wants Doroshewitz gone.

The thing about it, is that neither of these men were in any way a part of the original recall. I have not heard any of them opine on it in any way, shape, or form. They have kept publicly mum on this thing, and rightly so.

So in the end, we are left to wonder what the heck is going on? Is Richard Reaume really losing control? Or is this some kind of strategy? He can’t be serious, that much is obvious. I’m of two minds on this.

Part of me thinks that Reaume has simply checked out mentally. He is paranoid, and lashing out. If the taxpayers are going to recall him, he is going to recall the people that he thinks the taxpayers support to pay them back. To get even. To get revenge. It’s really hard to tell these days, because the man is just acting so strange. I don’t scare easily, but I won’t lie, Reaume actually creeps me out a bit these days.

The other scenario is that this is a strategy cooked up to muddy the waters. Maybe Reaume, or even all of them came up with this dueling recall strategy. They start passing out dueling recall petitions, and hope that folks get so confused by all of it, that they just throw their hands up, and refuse to sign anybody’s petitions. It certainly could work I guess.

Either way, these are desperate strategies, conjured up by a desperate person, or persons. Reaume has gone from having a bit of respect in this community, to being a laughingstock. There are folks who outright hate the guy, there are folks who laugh at the guy, and there are even folks who are really concerned about him, based on his increasingly erratic behavior.

No matter what group they are in, they all agree on one thing. He needs to go. Some say in May, and some say in 2016, but most everybody realizes that he needs to go.

For the good of our community...