Alpena Township trustees express concerns about conflicts of interest involving likely incoming supervisor
ALPENA — A real concern.
That is how some officials on the Alpena Township Board of Trustees feel about the potential conflicts of interest the likely incoming township supervisor has with the township Fire Department.
Abbi Kaszubowski, who defeated incumbent Supervisor Nathan Skibbe in the August primary and is running unopposed in Tuesday’s general election, is married to the president of the township’s firefighters union.
The township’s labor attorneys recommended Kaszubowski not only recuse herself from many votes pertaining to the Fire Department but also surrender the township personnel officer position and give up direct oversight of the township fire chief. The township supervisor, the full-time chief executive of the township, usually does all of those things.
Kaszubowski did not respond to several messages seeking comment about the recommendations from the township’s labor attorneys and whether she would relinquish the personnel officer powers.
The attorneys said state law about nepotism is murky, but the township’s policy is clear, binding, and more aggressive than the state’s.
Township policy 5.9 allows the township to employ family members but prohibits relatives from being in a direct reporting, supervisory, or management relationship. The policy also forbids township employees from working within the chain of command of a relative if one relative’s work responsibilities, salary, discipline, or career progress could be influenced by the other relative.
Township Trustee Russ Rhynard, who was the assistant prosecutor for Alpena County before being elected to the township board, said he has real concerns about the conflicts. He said his largest concern is whether or not Kaszubowski voluntarily gives up her personnel officer powers after taking her oath of office on Nov. 20.
Rhynard said he is confident she will and he will work with the other trustees to help her do her job to the best of her ability.
“There are really big concerns, especially on her delegating out the personnel officer duties,” Rhynard said. “I don’t know if she will or not. If she doesn’t, we’ll have serious issues at almost every meeting. I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt that she’ll do the right thing. We have to give her every chance to succeed and help her succeed, because it is in the best interest of everyone in the township that she does.”
Similar conflicts could also apply to Bev Banks, who is running for a trustee seat next week and whose husband also is a full-time employee for the Fire Department.
Neither of the women’s husbands would lose their jobs or have their current employment altered because of the potential conflicts.
If the board follows the recommendation of their attorneys, neither Kaszubowski nor Banks would be allowed to sit on the township board’s Personnel Committee or be involved in union contract negotiations and other bargaining pertaining to the Fire Department.
The report by the labor attorneys added that Banks should recuse herself from votes pertaining to the Fire Department from which she or her husband could benefit.
In order for any trustee to recuse themselves, the other trustees must vote unanimously to allow them to do so.
Trustee Norm Poli said the potential conflicts of interests are concerning, especially when it comes to public perception. He said the board should heed the advice of the labor attorneys to avoid any issues related to the conflicts of interests down the road.
“These are legit concerns because of the structure we have and the positions they are going to assume,” Poli said. “We depend on our attorneys to tell us what is right and wrong, what we can and can’t do, and we need to follow that. We need to do that to protect the township.”
During the public comment portion that kicked off Monday’s township board meeting, Banks addressed the trustees and challenged the attorneys’ recommendations. She said she was not included in discussions about the matter of her potential conflicts or questioned about them.
Banks claimed the report by the labor attorneys didn’t contain other options that weren’t explored. She did not give an example of what those options were.
Banks questioned why the township spent money to utilize the law firm Fahey, Schultz, Burzych, Rhodes, of Okemos to get an opinion and said the release of the report from the attorney by her opponents violated Michigan’s Campaign Finance Act.
“This release uses public resources and tax money to target Mrs. Kaszubowski and I as candidates,” Banks said.
Jennifer Dukarski, general counsel for the Michigan Press Association, said public bodies have the responsibility to protect themselves and residents from situations that can become liabilities in the future. She said the township hiring the law firm for a recommendation was the right thing to do and it is not a campaign finance violation.
“It is an anticipatory move,” Dukarski said. “A public body has the duty to reduce risk, and this move appears to be just that.”
In her public comment, Banks also said the attorneys’ recommendations don’t address a potential conflict of interest for a candidate for treasurer, Sara Townsend Flick, who is married to an employee of 1010 Technology in Alpena, a firm the township hires for IT needs.
Dukarski said Townsend Flick’s situation is different from Banks’ and Kaszubowski’s because Townsend Flick’s husband is not a township employee or part of the supervisory chain of command.
All Flick has to do, Dukarski said, is recuse herself from votes about 1010 Technology.
“It is not comparing apples to apples, and the situations are nowhere near the same,” Dukarski said.
Additionally, the township treasurer does not execute and administer any contract. That responsibility falls on the supervisor.
Townsend Flick said on Wednesday she would have no problem not voting on matters pertaining to 1010 Technology.
“Of course,” she said. “I will absolutely recuse myself.”
Townsend Flick is running against incumbent Treasurer Laura Ellery-Somers.
Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 or sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on X @ss_alpenanews.com.