Six candidates who want to change the way their local government is structured have joined together to run for Independence Township offices this fall.

“You couldn’t cast a better group of folks to run this community,” said Trustee Dan Travis. “It’s the best of the best to represent the best township in Michigan.”

After a 28-year tenure on the township board, Travis is leading the slate and challenging incumbent Dave Wagner for the supervisor position.

The group is running on a promise to reduce the current supervisor, clerk and treasurer positions to part-time in order to save enough money to hire a professional manager.

Incumbent clerk Shelagh VanderVeen, who is running for her second term in office, also is running with the slate.

“It sounds kind of hokey, but it’s just so refreshing to be with them and know that we’re doing this because we just feel it’s the right thing to do,” VanderVeen said.

The other full-time position of treasurer is filled by Jim Wenger, who is not running for re-election.

Jeff McGee, who served on the board from 1992-2000, has joined the slate to run for the treasurer position.

“The idea behind the part-time position of treasurer is in no way suggesting the treasurer’s current position doesn’t warrant a full-time job, but that with the addition of a professional manager, it would allow for it to move to part-time status,” McGee said.

The group came together after prodding from Neil Wallace, who served on the township board from 1996-2000, spent five years on the planning commission and is the head of Citizens for Orderly Growth. Wallace is running for a trustee position.

Wallace said most of the people running on the slate had mixed feelings about getting back into township government, but all felt it was time for a change.

“There’s a number of people who think the current supervisor and administration is not up to snuff, that we can certainly do better — and we need to,” Wallace said.

Wagner, who is running for his second term as supervisor, disagrees with the ideas of the slate.

“I won an overwhelming amount of support to bring change and I’ve done that successfully,” Wagner said. “Over the last three years, our consultant fees went down, taxes were rolled back and we saved tons of money.”

Wallace contends that the current form of government was created for a much smaller community than Independence is now.

“We’re like a multimillion-dollar business, and we can’t just leave it as every four years, a simple majority will put someone in the job who may not be qualified,” Travis said.

On the other hand, having a professional manager would not diminish the policymaking role of the board, he said.

“The manager will report to us collectively,” Travis said.

The goal would be to have a manager with education and experience in the municipal setting, a strong financial background and knowledge of personnel issues.

“We had to deal with lawsuits in the handling of personnel issues because they were poorly handled,” VanderVeen said. “I think we’re not only going to save money that way, but save money in other ways because one of the things I’ve seen is having to rely on outside professionals so much.

“If it’s personnel issues, we don’t have anyone experienced, so we have to call our labor attorney,” she added.

Other members of the slate include Bart Clark and David Lohmeier, who are both running for trustee positions.

Lohmeier has been a resident of Independence Township for 18 years and has served on the planning commission, safety path committee and the master planning 20/20 task force.

Clark is one of the directors of the Clarkston Community Historical Society, president-elect of the Clarkston Rotary Club and a member of Friends of the Independence Township Library.

Wagner has endorsed Joseph Lawrence for clerk and Cheryl Karrick for treasurer.

“I’m personally opposed to any slate. We want individuals on the board, not people who all think the same way,” Wagner said.

He disagrees with the idea that hiring a professional manager would not cost the township more money and that the three full-time positions could operate on a part-time basis.

“When we looked at another community that had this, their budget just about doubled what ours was. There was no savings, and it’s a huge expense to put this in place,” Wagner said.

The slate also is concerned about development, and members promise voters they will follow the master plan.

“I know that there’s pressure on us to develop, and we have to respect that it’s going to happen, but I think that we, as a community, can define what we want it to look like,” VanderVeen said. “There’s a stigma, like our group is anti-growth, but it’s not. We know it’s coming, but we want to define how it happens.”

If the slate is elected, Travis said it will be viewed as voter approval for the group’s goals.

“That’s what they’d be saying to us, reasonable development and a manager for day-to-day operations,” Travis said.



Contact staff writer Karen Auchterlonie at (248) 745-4643 or karen@oakpress.com.