Sanders Comments are Misleading

The statements made by Township Supervisor John Sanders at the October 19 Township board meeting regarding the delay in executing the partial settlement agreement with Timber Shores were misleading. Timber Shores was prepared to sign the proposed partial settlement agreement following mediation. The Township has proposed revisions and material changes to the draft agreement on multiple occasions, including, most recently, on October 14. Given those facts, Mr. Sanders’ behavior was bizarre (he was noted as appearing “visibly upset” in the Leelanau Enterprise article about the meeting), and his statements were disingenuous. The truth is that the Township was proposing material changes to the agreement in the days leading up to the October 19 meeting, yet Mr. Sanders claims that it was Timber Shores that was changing terms and delaying the efforts to get the agreement signed.

Michigan law prohibits public officials from involving themselves in issues on which they have a conflict of interest, and for good reason. The behavior that Mr. Sanders displayed at the October 19 meeting only highlights Timber Shores’ ongoing concern that Mr. Sanders cannot properly serve the public interest given his obvious conflict of interest. He lives across the street from the proposed development, and far from making rational, objective decisions in the public interest, it seems that his personal interests and emotion are driving his decision making. Timber Shores has a right to a fair process, and the actions that we have reason to believe that Mr. Sanders has been involved with or led, including imposing an unlawful moratorium that delayed Timber Shores’ special use application, hand-picking Planning Commission members, refusing to release expired and inapplicable conditions in the title record, and authorizing the Township to file suit on that issue, are improper and will end up costing taxpayers significant amounts. Again, given the obvious conflict of interest, Township citizens can rightfully ask whether they are being called upon to fund Mr. Sanders’ personal crusade.

Timber Shores again urges that Mr. Sanders recuse himself from all matters involving the Timber Shores development, which will be a positive step toward ensuring that Timber Shores’ special use application is evaluated objectively, on the merits, and not irrationally, based on personal interest.

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