No. 21
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
May 26 – June 1, 2016
w w w . a s s o c i a t e d n e w s p a p e r s . n e t
Members of the Wayne
City Council may have
approved the $15.7 million
2016-2017 budget last week,
but a majority of them are
hoping to amend the docu-
ment.
See page 5.
The Northville Township
Police Department was
among the first to join a new
accreditation program to
ensure enforcement stan-
dards.
See page 3.
Vol. 131, No. 21
Vol. 69, No. 21
Vol. 69, No. 21
Vol. 16, No. 21
The
“Pennsylvania
Project” may be gaining
some traction in Romulus as
officials work of getting a
grade separation at the rail-
road
crossing
on
PennsylvaniaRoad.
See page 2.
Vol. 131, No. 21
Vol. 69, No. 21
Vol. 69, No. 21
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
The relocation of three
veterans memorials former
installed on the former city
hall property on Ford Road
in the city is under discus-
sionby officials.
See page 5.
The Canton Police and
Fire Departments have
joined forces with local com-
munity health organizations
and Growth Works, Inc., to
address opioid abuse.
See page 3.
Vol. 16, No. 24
The 47th Memorial Day
Parade in Inkster this year
will take a new route
through the city and travel
down Michigan Avenue for
the first time in recent years.
See page 5.
The Plymouth-Canton
school bus monitor charged
with two sexual conduct
offenses last week has been
charged with a third offense
by a Plymouth Township res-
ident.
See page 4.
DaveWilson, amember of
the Van Buren Township
Environmental Commission
was a speaker at a forum on
environmental issues last
week.
See page 2.
Former Northville Township
Fire Chief Richard Marinucci
has sued the municipality for
$175,000 claiming wrongful ter-
mination, age discrimination,
violation of the Michigan Open
Meetings Act and denial of due
process, among seven separate
counts.
Marinucci, 62, was named
township fire chief in 2009 and
claims in his court filings that he
was asked by Northville
Township officials in March to
resign or be fired due to findings
in the township audit. The town-
ship was told, according to
Marinucci's court filings, that the
financial audit would not be
“clean” due to “related party dis-
closures” including a number of
fire associations for which
Marinucci's wife worked and
with which the township con-
ducted business. In the lawsuit,
Marinucci claims that township
officials were long aware of his
relationship and involvement
with the industry associations.
The lawsuit was dramatically
served on the members of the
township board of trustees and
administrators during public
comments at the regular board
meeting last week. Named in
the lawsuit are Township
Manager Chip Snider, finance
Director Marina Neumaier,
Public Safety Director John
Werth, Human Resources
Director and Assistant Manager
Debbie Wilhelm, Township
Supervisor Bob Nix, Clerk Sue
Hillebrand, Treasurer Marjorie
Banner and trustees Marvin
Gans, Symantha Heath, Mindy
Hermann andFredShadko.
Werth, who accepted the legal
papers on behalf of the adminis-
tration and boardmembers from
the process server said that he
felt the “antics were meant to
embarrass the board.”
The court filings claim that
township officials including
Snider and the members of the
finance committee were
informed there was an issue
with the financial audit and
asked Marinucci to attend a
meeting, along with Neumaier.
Marinucci claims in his suit that
shortly thereafter Werth came to
his office and told him to resign
or be terminated.
Marinucci claims that he
refused to resign and was subse-
quently ordered to immediately
leave the building. He also
claims he was denied the oppor-
tunity to speak to township offi-
cials regarding the issue, as he
requested.
He is asking for no less than
$25,000 on each of seven counts
in the lawsuit filed by Novi attor-
ney Jill Schinske.
His age discrimination claim
is based on Werth's replacing
Lawsuits plague local officials
Northville Township board sued by former fire chief
‘Dark Money’ funds suit to disqualify Plymouth candidates
Four teachers in the Van
Buren School District have filed
a federal lawsuit demanding
punitive and compensatory
damages from the school system
and six of the seven board of
educationmembers.
The teachers were accused
of cheating on state-required
tests by helping students at
Savage Elementary School
answer questions on the newM-
STEP examination. Students at
the school scored sixth highest
in the state on the math portion
and in many cases scored high-
er than schools dedicated to
teaching gifted students.
Former Superintendent of
Schools Michael VanTassel was
ordered by state investigators to
conduct an investigation into
the allegations of impropriety
and five teachers were subse-
quently forcibly removed from
the school in full view of stu-
dents in January. One of the
teachers has settled with the
district and returned to work
after agreeing to take no further
legal action against the district.
The four named in the lawsuit
include Pamela Bradley,
Michelle Komoroni, Brent Held
andRebeccaTennis.
The teachers claim that the
district has not formally
charged them with any wrong-
doing but that they have
remained on administrative
leave for months. They remain
adamant that they were not
involved in any cheating and
are seeking a return to their
jobs, to have any disciplinary
records removed fromtheir per-
sonnel files and compensatory
andpunitive financial damages.
Conflict regarding the situa-
tion has raged and parents have
been vocal at crowded meetings
of the school board demanding
answers. VanTassel's investiga-
tion claimed that the teachers
inappropriately coached the
students during the testing and
alerted them to incorrect
answers and provided correct
responses. The controversy is
alleged to have been a factor in
VanTassel's separation from the
school district.
The teachers are represent-
ed in the suit, filed May 20, by
attorney Deborah Gordon of
Bloomfield Hills. In the suit
only school board member
Sherry Frazier is not named
among the defendants while
VanTassel,
interim
Superintendent
Shonta
Longford-Green, and board
members Brent Mikulski,
Martha Toth, Kathy Kovach,
Kevin English, Alison Bennett
and Kelly Owen are defendants.
The suit claims that the defen-
dants intentionally misled the
public and stated publicly that
theywere involved in a cheating
scandal.
The teachers claim that the
superintendent and board
members violated their free-
dom of speech, freedom of
expression, freedom of associa-
tion, freedom to petition and
due process rights. They claim
they have been forced out of the
classroom for five months with-
out any formal claim of wrong-
doing or disciplinary action.
Questions regarding the true
identity of the plaintiff in a legal
complaint filed in Wayne
County Circuit Court May 13
demanding
the
removal of two
Plymouth Township
candidates from the
August ballot contin-
ue to surface.
The validity of the
named plaintiff, Carl
Berry, 76, a former
police chief and Republican
Party activist, has been ques-
tioned by attorney reference
footnotes at the bottom of the
court filings which indicate that
the legal documents were pre-
pared for Faith & Freedom
PlymouthTownship.
Berry admitted that the legal
fees for the lawsuit are being
paid by Faith & Freedom but
claims that the lawsuit was his
own idea. He said that he “has
no idea” what the legal fees or
costs for the suit will total.
The legal paperwork, more
than 50 pages of arguments,
claims that Kurt Heise, a cur-
rent term-limited state repre-
sentative and candidate for
township supervisor, and Don
Schnettler, a candidate for
trustee, did not designate the
township voting precinct in
which they live on the required
affidavit of identification when
filing to seek office.
Named in the lawsuit are
Township Clerk Nancy
Conzelman and Wayne County
Clerk Cathy Garrett, the Wayne
County Election Commission
and the Plymouth Township
Election Commission. Heise
and Schnettler maintain the
omission was a minor oversight
and can be simply corrected by
an amended filing. They have
further claimed that the lawsuit
is a political ploy aimed prima-
rily at Heise, the only challenger
of current Township Supervisor
ShannonPrice on theAug. 2 bal-
lot.
Berry said that he is a Price
supporter. He said that as a
“Republican activist I do this a
lot.” He said he went to town-
ship hall and personally
reviewed the filings and discov-
ered the omission.
A footnote on page 1 of the
complaint, filed by attorney
Robert Huth Jr. of Kirk, Huth,
Lange
and
Badalamenti, refer-
ences
Faith
&
Freedom/Plymouth
Township. Patrick
Purtill, Jr. serves as
the Director of
Legislative Affairs for
Faith&Freedom. The
organization website descrip-
tion states the group is “…com-
mitted to educating, equipping,
and mobilizing people of faith
and like-minded individuals to
be effective citizens.”
Recently, political mailers
criticizing Heise for his support
of various House Bills in
Lansing that peppered mailbox-
es in the 48170 zip code also
included the Faith & Freedom
Coalition of Michigan logo. The
controversial mailers contain an
address in Brighton; one listed
on the non-profit Michigan
Department of Licensing and
Regulatory Affairs Annual
Report as the formal address for
President Terry Bowman and
DirectorRandall Thompson.
Heise claims that when he
contacted the national organiza-
tion, Purtill disavowed any
knowledge, claim or responsi-
bility for the lawsuit or the mail-
ers, adding that the Faith &
Freedom leaders were con-
cerned as they had no knowl-
edge of an active Michigan
chapter.
Purtill called the Berry litiga-
tion “ridiculous” and sent Heise
an endorsement for his work on
Criminal Justice Reform in the
Conflict regarding the situation has raged
and parents have been vocal at crowded meetings
of the school board demanding answers.
”
Berry said that he
“has no idea” what the legal
fees or costs for the suit will total.
”
Van Buren teachers demand damages, return to classrooms
Don Howard
Staff Writer
See
Money,
page 4
See
Chief,
page 3
Richard Marinucci
Kurt Heise
