CLAY TOWNSHIP — A township resident, who expressed interest in becoming the third trustee, voiced his concerns with the selection of a former trustee to the position.

Former trustee Dale Winner, who resigned his seat Jan. 11 as a result of a controversy over a pay increase for the township zoning administrator, was appointed to the third seat by trustee chairperson Angela Howell and trustee Kevin Wrightsman at a special meeting held Feb. 22.

Winner was one of four candidates who expressed interest in the third trustee seat.

The other three candidates were Mark Haworth, Chris Lightcap and Lori Hartman.

After conducting interviews with each of the candidates, Howell and Wrightsman selected Winner for the third trustee seat.

Haworth, at the March 4 trustee meeting, asked Winner the reason he resigned.

“How do you find that it’s OK to abandon your position as trustee and then come back. I never got a specific reason why you left and why you came back. There’s really no apology to our residents of why you just up and left and left everybody fend for themselves. Can you give us an answer for that?” Haworth asked Winner.

Winner replied “there were a series of events that transpired that led to his resignation.”

“It was personal. I don’t think I need to get into all the personal reasons as to why I did it, but at that time I just felt I needed to step away and kind of re-evaluate whether this was where I needed to be,” Winner said.

Winner said when he submitted his resignation, he didn’t know former trustee Dale Heuker also resigned on Jan. 11. Heuker’s resignation was followed by the resignation of Kyle Groh on Jan. 29.

“I enjoyed being a trustee. but after what transpired I just needed to step away. I didn’t realize when I did there would be others following suit,” Winner said.

“When that happened, I re-evaluated. And while I was away, I re-evaluated where I fit in and where I thought I could do some good for the township, so I made the decision to come back,” Winner continued.

Winner said he is looking forward to working with Howell and Wrightsman and “is hoping we can heal the township.”

“But in November if somebody still thinks me stepping away was a problem, they can vote for somebody else,” Winner said.

Haworth asked Wrightsman and Howell why they selected Winner when they had the opportunity to chose from three other candidates who he said were qualified for the position.

“We’re all business-minded people. I feel we’re all successful in our business endeavors which makes us good candidates for the position,” Haworth said of himself and Lightcap and Hartman.

But Haworth said “out of four people for the position you chose the one that gave up on the township.”

Haworth said he talked to numerous residents around the township who he said “are very discouraged of your (trustees’) decision” and felt the same as he that “when you give up, there’s not a second chance.”

Haworth also said a precedent has been set which establishes that a trustee or a township employee can quit and then be rehired.

“You’re setting a process now with Clay Township. If someone decides to leave, we will hire you back. You hired our zoning inspector back and you hired our trustee back. What does that say about the leadership in our township?” Haworth asked.

Haworth asked if Wrightsman and Howell contacted any of the candidates’ references they supplied on their application forms.

“No, sir, we did not take the additional step of contacting references,” Howell replied.

“That kind of seems like this whole decision (to select Winner) was pre-determined,” Haworth said.

Wrightsman refuted Haworth’s comment.

“To say it was pre-determined really wasn’t the case,” Wrightsman said.

“Did we contact the references. No, we didn’t, but I don’t think we needed to because we gave each person an opportunity to come in and talk and give us the reason why they should be in the position,” Wrightsman said.

“Looking through the applications I felt we gave each of you ample time. I think we had between 40-45 minutes with each person,” Wrightsman continued.

Wrightsman said Winner was selected because of his experience.

“I was looking at it from a standpoint, and I’m not going to speak for Angela, but I think we stand together on this issue knowing Dale’s been in here for quite awhile and he has a lot to offer,” Wrightsman said.

“If he’s willing to step back in and help the township, I don’t think there’s any reason why we shouldn’t take that because I’m green, I’m new and I’m more than willing to do what I can for my township because I live just around the corner and it’s important to me this is done in a good way. I personally feel Dale, based on his experience, had what I wanted to see as the third trustee,” Wrightsman said.

Howell agreed with Wrightsman.

“Kevin is right. Dale, out of the four, has the experience of running a township. Kevin and I do not,” Howell said.

“By choosing one of the other three candidates, that would have put three brand new people up here that have no idea how to run a township. Our decision to bring Dale back for the seven months that we will be together before the election was the most logical next step for us,” Howell continued.

Howell also noted she believes in giving people a second chance.

“That’s why I stand by my decision,” Howell said.

Howell said residents who are critical of Winner don’t have all the information that led him to resign.

“I don’t believe the public has all the information that they need to soul search about how they feel about Dale. There is still information that people still don’t know and it’s not my job to say that information. It may or may not come out in the future, but there are other circumstances that the people in this audience do not have knowledge of,” Howell said.

“If the township doesn’t agree with the work we are getting ready to do in the next seven months to put this township back together and getting the trustees to run the township again, they can make their decision then,” Howell said.

Reach Terry Baver at [email protected].