Darlene Miller has been a member of the Bridgeport Township government for many years and was most recently the Township Clerk. Mrs. Miller resigned/retired earlier this year I believe. I haven't kept up with the politics so I don't know exactly when she announced her decision or when her last day was. I personally liked her very much and will miss speaking with her at the Trustee board meetings. I am sorry I didn't get a chance to say goodbye and I wish her well.
What I was saddened to discover today was that during the April 2nd Trustee board meeting, they voted to hire Lee Carpenter as the new Township Clerk. The meeting minute notes say that only two people applied for the clerk position and they hired Mr. Carpenter for his "experience".
Mr. Carpenter does have lots of experience as the township clerk. He held the clerk position I believe from 1988 until about 2000. Then again from about 2004 until he was recalled by the township voters in May of 2011. Remember that fiasco? I sure do. Some may say it is time to move on and forget the past. I am a firm believer in never forgetting the past so that the same mistakes are not made again. There are times it is wise to move on when there is a forward and better future being made, but there are times when ignoring the past and bringing back those same mistakes are not a good idea. Mr. Carpenter may be a fine man and he obviously still has some supporters here in Bridgeport; but the voters of our township voted to recall him in 2011 and when he ran again for the clerks position in 2012, the voters said NO!!! With an estimated 8,474 eligible voters, only 300 residents voted in favor of Lee Carpenter in the 2012 election. I would say that was a pretty resounding NO!!
All of our Bridgeport township trustees and governmental leaders are there to represent us and listen to us, not to rule over us and ignore our will. I thought that the Bridgeport voters made their will known in 2010, 2011, 2012 as to their desire to never have Lee Carpenter in our township government.
On April 2nd the township trustees chose to ignore the past will of the people and hired Mr. Carpenter anyways. They say he had the experience but did they just chose to ignore the controversy that he also has and will bring back to the township? Did they think that the Bridgeport voters would just forget about the ugly period that divided our township? Did they even care? I haven't seen any announcement from the township about his hiring and when I looked at the township website earlier today it still had Darlene Miller listed as the township clerk. The only way I found out that he was the new clerk was by reviewing the board meeting minutes. I wonder why?
If an election was held tomorrow I would not vote for Mr. Carpenter because of the past. How many Bridgeport residents would vote for him if an election was held tomorrow? Guess we will never know since the residents didn't get a say in his hiring. He now has the position until Nov 2020 and I guess we will find out then how many residents support him.
*EDIT* June 5, 2019 - I found out during the June 4th township trustee meeting that they first voted to appoint Lee Carpenter to the Zoning Board of Appeals during the December 18, 2018 township trustee board meeting. Were they bound and determined to bring him back to whatever position they could find for him in the township government? You can read my blog post about it:
https://bridgeportmusings.blogspot.com/2019/06/bridgeport-township-board-meeting-june.html
In case anyone needs a reminder of the controversy surrounding Mr. Carpenter and that ugly period in our township, here are some old MLive articles:
Bridgeport Township supervisor seat to remain vacant until November election
Bridgeport Township resident files petitions to recall entire township board
Winchell to critics: Bridgeport Township recall allegations are 'community killing poisons'
Four up for recall in Bridgeport Township
Recall 'based on lies' was 'ridiculous,' says lone Bridgeport trustee avoiding ouster
Accusations fly in wake of Bridgeport board recall
Bridgeport Township supervisor primary rehashes issues of 2010
** Updated to add the results of the original fiasco and lawsuit that brought on the recall:
Judge: Bridgeport business owners can sue for damages in restored State Street Bridge case
Jury awards damages to Bridgeport store owners who sued over State Street Bridge relocation
Judge awards more than $100K in attorney fees, costs to Bridgeport store owners who sued over State Street Bridge relocation
