Mullett Township Board Remains Ethically Challenged

Conflicts of interest and ethics are in the news. President Trump has challenged the beliefs of many, refusing to release his tax returns, choosing business leaders and associates for high-level cabinet positions and employing a son-in-law as a close advisor. I can remember from my childhood the controversy when President Kennedy, our first and only Catholic President, chose his campaign manager, trusted confidant and brother, Robert Kennedy, as Attorney General. 

If we have the choice, it is human nature to choose likeminded co-workers to complete a task. Government seldom has that option. We have all seen dysfunctional elected and appointed boards and committees. People tossed together by election or appointment who constantly bicker or in fight. It is sometimes contrariness of one or more members. Teams work best with a good leader, but that leader has to be open to participation by all. Everyone must have the ability and ethics to set aside personal agendas, desires for personal benefit or gain, and their ego for the good of the team.  Ahh, an ideal world.

Here in the real world of Cheboygan County, where elected township officials are often family dynasties, some think nepotism is a birthright.  That is not the principles or ideals of our founding fathers. When we see it, we must speak out against these destroyers of democracy.  Mullett Township has been an unashamed example of all that is wrong at the local level. There have been changes in the player roster over the years, but the culture survives. The Mullett Township Board continues to hire relatives or friends of Board members, seldom seeks competitive bids, and the next Board salary raise just waits for an opportune time.  

For years, one elected Mullett Trustee decided when to cut grass or install, remove, or repair docks. That self-appointed Trustee/handyman then paid himself or a relative, father to son, from the township coffers for personal benefit and gain. That is the legal definition of a conflict of interest. When this became a public issue in 2011, the Mullett Board hid behind a legal loophole, Public Act 566 of 1978. That Act allows small local government units, less than 40,000 people, to pay elected officials for extra work performed in addition to their statutory duties. Our state lawmakers wanted to allow an essential worker, perhaps a First Responder or Fireman, to serve as an elected official. That is what the Act protects. The Mullett Board circled the wagons, lawyered up, and passed a formal Resolution endorsing their unethical behavior.

Mullett Township then suffered through four years of dysfunctional leadership with a new Supervisor. She still brags on her Linkedin resume, “I was elected to Mullett Township Supervisor, defeating the incumbent 2-1”. She came out of the gate as a disrupter firing the existing township employees. Her true legacy is the number of fails. She could not achieve a Board agreement to enact a blight ordinance or even lease a dumpster. She promised open government while acting like a petty dictator. That failed leadership created a new entity. A maintenance man, hastily hired as an employee, morphed into a no bid private contractor. His contract says that every two weeks he submits a bill. That is all. His company charges any amount he wants for whatever he decides to do, and the Mullett Township taxpayers pay it.    

Why is the Mullett Township Board smiling?

That contractor, taking a lesson from “Running for Office--Getting Yourself Elected to the career you really want”, became the Mullett Township Supervisor in November. That is job security. He became his own employer. Since taking office, he has paid almost $5,000 to his own company by voting to pay the bills. The real world sees a huge conflict of interest. The Mullett Board waves their Resolution from 2011 and hides behind a lawyer. The only people who could fire him, the Mullett Board, were rewarded with their already publicly agreed upon salary raises for the new budget year. How much did that cooperation cost the Mullett taxpayer? Trustee’s salaries will increase from $2,400 to $4,000 per year. The Treasurer looks forward to a raise to $18,000.  The Clerk, who earned $11,000 only six years ago, also wants $18,000. The new Supervisor declined a raise. If money gets tight, his company can just submit a larger bill to the Mullett Township Board next week.