No. 47
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
Nov. 23 – Dec. 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
Wayne City Council mem-
bers recently approved the
site plan for a second med-
ical marijuana dispensary in
the community.
See page 4.
The Northville Fire
Department provided mutu-
al aid to Salem Township
and five other fire depart-
ments at a four-alarm fire
Sunday at the Great Lakes
Recycling facility.
See page 5.
Vol. 131, No. 47
Vol. 69, No. 47
Vol. 69, No. 47
Vol. 16, No. 47
More than half of
Romulus voters turned out to
cast their ballots on Election
Day to choose officials at the
local, state and federal level.
See page 3.
Vol. 131, No. 47
Vol. 69, No. 47
Vol. 69, No. 47
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
The City of Westland is
seeking applicants to fill the
slate of vacant positions on
the Parks and Recreation
AdvisoryCouncil.
See page 4.
A team of assessors from
the
Commission
on
Accreditation for Law
Enforcement Agencies, Inc.
will arrive Monday to evalu-
ate the Canton Police
Department.
See page 5.
Vol. 16, No. 47
Jewell Jones, a student at
the University of Michigan-
Dearborn, is now the
youngest person to serve as
State Representative for the
11thDistrict.
See page 2.
The 41-year-old woman
accused of having sexual
relations with two 15-year-
old students at a Plymouth
middle school has entered a
no contest plea to the crimi-
nal charges.
See page 2
.
Applications for holiday
help from the Belleville/Van
Buren Goodfellows are now
available at the Van Buren
Township Police Depart-
ment front desk.
See page 3.
Missing funds, incomplete
reports, inaccurate and faulty
records and a failure of general-
ly accepted accounting practices
have prompted both the state
and federal government to take
punitive and costly action
against PlymouthTownship.
State treasury officials are
still waiting for the 2015
Plymouth Township General
Audit due last June and have
withheld the August and
October payments to the town-
ship totaling $24,285 due to the
failure of the municipality to
submit the required report.
Officials from the federal
Drug Forfeiture Funding pro-
gram recently informed Police
Chief Tom Tiderington that the
office had “no choice but to
extinguish” Plymouth Township
from that program due to the
failure of the municipality to
provide sufficient records and
financial documents from the
office of the clerk and treasurer.
That action could cost the town-
ship nearly $1 million in pend-
ing and future funding, accord-
ing to township auditors.
Those federal funds were the
subject of an August 2015 12-day
audit by the Department of
Justice which determinedmulti-
ple failures and non-compliance
by 20-year Treasurer Ron
Edwards, whowas recently oust-
ed by voters. The auditors
requiredEdwards to supply spe-
cific information regarding the
use of $1.9 million in revenue
received by the township police
department between Jan, 1, 2010
andSept. 30, 2014.
Multiple problems were cited
by the federal auditors includ-
ing the failure of funding to be
deposited in correct accounts
and unreconciled bank state-
ments.
According
to
Tiderington, the auditors found
that the federal funds were
being used to pay for township
expenses not related to law
enforcement activities, includ-
ing the Fourth of July picnic in
the township.
Edwards and former
Supervisor Shannon Price, also
recently defeated for re-elec-
tion, signed a settlement agree-
ment with federal authorities
agreeing to correct multiple
accounting and use errors.
Those steps and the necessary
accounting for the drug forfei-
ture funds have not been com-
pleted or submitted, according
to a spokesman from the federal
department.
The multiple problems,
See
Revenue,
page 2
Northville Township Public
Safety Director John Werth will
retire next month after a 32-
year career inpublic safety.
Werth, 54, was hired by the
Northville Township Police
Department as a patrol officer
in 1985 after his graduation
from Jackson Community
College Police Academy. Werth
followed in the footsteps of his
father who served as a police
officer inDetroit.
Werth was promoted to the
rank of sergeant in 1993, detec-
tive sergeant in 1996, road
patrol supervisor in 1996, and
was namedpolice chief in 2001.
During his career in the
department, Werth held various
assignments working in con-
junction with the Michigan
State Police- -Western Wayne
Narcotics andAutoTheft units.
In 2007 Werth assumed the
responsibility for supervisor of
both the police and fire depart-
ments when he was named
Northville Township Director
of Public Safety.
Werth holds a masters
degree in Interdisciplinary
Technology from Eastern
Michigan University and a
bachelors degree in Policy
Studies-Criminal Justice from
Syracuse University where he
attended on an athletic football
scholarship.
Werth is past president of the
Southeast Chiefs of Police
Association, the Wayne County
Chiefs of Police Association as
well as a member of the board
of directors of the Michigan
Association Chiefs of Police. He
also served as chair of the
MMRM Law Enforcement
AdvisoryBoard.
“I have no regrets,” Werth
said last week, Deputy Director
of Police Todd Mutchler, will
replace him as director of pub-
lic safety in the township.
“I just don't know if I'd enter
the same profession again if I
had to do it all over again.
Considering the recent events
taking place around the country
that have caused unprecedent-
ed scrutiny of the police profes-
sion and how we conduct busi-
ness, I just don't know,” he said.
Werth said hemight be inter-
ested in becoming involved in
the law enforcement accredita-
tion program sometime in the
future, but for now he said he is
going to spend some time relax-
ing with his, wife, Nancy, two
daughters, Meagan and Jessica,
in Plymouth Township where
he's been a resident since 2001.
He also said hewill spendmore
timewithhis brother.
Werth will be honored in a
special public ceremony during
Northville Township Board of
Trustees meeting Dec. 15 when
the township police depart-
ment celebrates its 50th
anniversary.
Tiderington said he felt compelled
to report Edwards and the other officials
to the Office of the Inspector General, “because
the funds were being spent inappropriately.”
”
23rd Annual County Lightfest now open
The 23rd Annual Wayne
County Lightfest officially
opened last week with a fire-
works display, Christmas carols
and a visit fromSanta.
The official opening of the
event, which is the largest holi-
day light show in the Midwest,
took place at the Merriman
Hollow section off Edward
Hines Drive. This year, the dis-
play features more than 50 ani-
mated, themed lighted, dis-
plays and more than 100,000
lights.
Santa's Workshop will be
open this year until Dec. 23 in
Warrendale Park where fami-
lies can visit with Santa or
drop a letter in the giant mail-
box. This year, Toy Nights,
when visitors can donate a
new, unwrapped toy as admis-
sion to the display, are planned
forDec. 6, 13 and 20.
The Lightfest display will be
open from 7-10 p.m. Monday
through Thursday and from 6-
10 p.m. Friday through Sunday
until Dec. 31. The display is
closed on Christmas Day.
Admission is $5 per vehicle.
The display begins at Hines
Drive and Merriman Road in
Westland and visitors will exit
onto Warren Avenue near
Telegraph Road in Dearborn
Heights. Hines Drive closes to
traffic to accommodate visitors
to the display.
Don Howard
Staff Writer
Ousted officials’ conduct threatens funds
Don Howard
Staff Writer
Northville Public Safety Director to retire
Public Safety Director
John Werth
