$10K Deficit in Fireworks Show Headed by Clinton Twp. Trustee in FBI Corruption Probe

CLINTON TOWNSHIP, MI — Clinton Township officials announced Tuesday that about half of the sponsorships for the 2016 Fourth of July fireworks event have yet to be paid — leaving a $10,250 deficit. The event was overseen by township Trustee Dean Reynolds, who the FBI arrested earlier this month in a long-running investigation into public corruption.

Township documents show the budget for the fireworks event is $24,000. So far only $13,750 has been collected from sponsors, yet the event came in over budget, Clinton Township Supervisor Robert Cannon told The Macomb Daily.

Various township vendors have sponsored the fireworks event since 2008, including Rizzo Environmental Services.

The FBI believes Reynolds allegedly took between $50,000 and $70,000 so that Rizzo Environmental Services could get an $18 million contract extension without an open bid process.

“We know the fireworks is an added value to the community and something we want to keep going in the future,” Elizabeth Vogel, deputy supervisor, said, according to The Macomb Daily. “But we also know there is no good policy or procedure in place for the sponsorships. The board has an opportunity to correct a program that should be run out of a township department.”

See Also

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In previous years, sponsorship money is paid throughout the year. But with the election coming up and Reynolds' bribery charges, officials are concerned whether the sponsors will be paid.

“We are in some unusual circumstances,” Vogel said. “We need to find out who did pay and who did the collecting of funds.”

Cannon asked Debbie Staller, an aide to the township Board of Trustees, to give a report on the deficit at Monday's meeting. Staller plans to report the sponsors who have and have not paid and how the sponsorships can be paid to the township, Macomb Daily says.

Reynolds will appear in court Nov. 3 for a preliminary exam. According to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court, the FBI also believes Reynolds took thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for votes on municipal contracts.

A Macomb Township trustee was also arrested earlier this month on similar charges. Clifford Freitas, an elected Trustee of Macomb Township, was arrested on a criminal complaint and charged with engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, including demanding and accepting money in exchange for official acts as a Trustee.

Photo illustration using photos from Shutterstock and Clinton Township official website