October 2018: First Amendment Violation
Township Secretary attempts to strip me of my first amendment right to free speech, citing an imaginary "code of ethics" that applies to elected / appointed officials. (!?)
For the next few months, I researched. I filed a few "Right to Know" requests. I started researching the township's financial statements.
In January 2019, the auditors held their only meeting of the year.
Pam, the township secretary, later said that she "believes" I need to be sworn in and she would "get back to me" - but she never did.
When it came time for the meeting, Pam was in attendance, quick to inform me I was technically unable to participate because I never got sworn-in! How embarrassing! My fault, I suppose. I went to the local magistrate to be sworn-in the following morning.
February 2019, I got back on my horse.
I began writing about what I learned and shared the articles with fellow neighbors, voters, taxpayers:
- This is NOT an Audit of Barrett Township
- Barrett Township Employee Pension Plan – How Liable are Taxpayers?
- Gaming Funds Received since 2016: $0.00?
March 2019, I discovered my Township Supervisors had wildly misquoted me at a public meeting 9 years prior.
The gloves came off.
I dug directly into their financial statements and clearly demonstrated a lack of transparency when comparing with other townships' records:
I uncovered more lies:
December 2019
The people like it! In the November election, I wasn't on the ballot, instead ran as a write-in. I think I had around 20 total write-in votes and 14 were officially counted because some people wrote me in as supervisor, or the 4 year auditor position. Regardless, I was elected for 6 more years:
January 2020 -
Auditor's annual meeting - this time I was sworn in and able to participate. I was also nominated as chairman of the board of auditors. I'm honored!
April 2020 -
I posted my comments publicly about the CPA audit done re: 2018.
As auditor, I am committed to transparency and disclosure, something that Barrett Township has been lacking for some time.
