So what do you do if you are a township supervisor who defied government agencies and brought tractors into Grand Traverse Bay to do a little unauthorized beach grooming, repeatedly lied both to the Bingham Township Board and local media and opened up the township to extensive legal liability following the resignation of the township clerk as a result of your constant harassment? And what if township residents, tired of bailing you out with their tax dollars, are now attempting to recall you as supervisor?
What do you do then? Who do you turn to to fund your recall battle?
Simple. Just ask your local county Republican Party.
The Leelanau Enterprise is reporting that the Leelanau County Republican Party is the largest contributor to disgraced Bingham Township Supervisor Robert Foster, providing $500 of money contributed by Republican Party members to help fund his recall battle. Foster, described by the county party treasurer as “a good, solid Republican,” is also getting free campaign publicity from The Leelanau Trumpeter, the official publication of the Republican Women of Leelanau County. Foster’s wife currently serves as second vice president and membership chair of the Republican women’s group.
For those new the story, the Leelanau Enterpise broke this news last summer. As reported in comprehensively by the Leelanau Enterprise (the articles, unfortunately, are behind a subscription wall), and subsequently by the Traverse City Record-Eagle (the most recent story, with links to the others, is available here), Foster applied for a permit in July 2005 to groom the beach at Bingham Township’s Hendryx Park. Though the application was denied, Foster and others went ahead with the beachgrooming plans, bringing tractors into West Grand Traverse Bay over Memorial Day weekend last year. Furthermore, Foster repeatedly lied about the matter to the Bingham Township Board, telling them in a memo reported by the Enterprise that “[w]e have in our file a permit from [the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality] authorizing us to do what we did to the beach.”
The Board learned the true story when, in a June 22, 2006 letter to Foster, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers charged Foster with a violation and “a blatant disregard for the Corps’ regulatory program.” The Board then took action, requiring Foster to write a statement to the Corps to inform the Army that he had misled the Township Board and absolving the township of any responsibility. Amazingly, Foster continued to disregard the wishes of the township board, and asked that the Corps send any further correspondence to Foster’s home address.
Instead, Robert M. Tucker, the chief of the Army’s regulatory enforcement branch sent a harsh rebuke to Foster, copying the letter to every member of Bingham Township’s Planning Commission and the Clerk. While the Corps ultimately decided not to take additional enforcement measures against the township, Tucker wrote that the Corps “will not treat future incidents involving unauthorized work in Lake Michigan … with the same tolerance we have accorded to this matter.”
The media ultimately learned of Foster’s misdeeds when former Township Clerk Dorothy Petroskey, whose duties included processing all township mail and serving as the township’s Freedom of Information Act officer, turned over the letter as part of a FOIA request from the Enterprise. This led Foster to engage in a campaign of harassment against Petroskey, filing (or claiming to file) complaints that Petroskey broke the law simply by doing her job. One complaint, of “mail fraud” filed with the county sheriff, was quickly dismissed because the complaint was “groundless.” This assessment of the complaint’s validity was reinforced by the Michigan Township Association, which stated that the law was “well-settled” and that Petroskey was entirely correct to do what she did. Foster also repeatedly claimed that he had filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Postal Service charging Petroskey with “mail tampering,” and, again lying to the township board, reported that Petroskey was the subject of a federal investigation. Inspectors with the Postal Service, however, stated “We have absolutely no record of any complaint filed by a Robert Foster, or any complaint against a Dorothy Petroskey.” Foster also allegedly broke into Petroskey’s desk at the township offce and Petroskey claims Foster’s wife assaulted her after the special township board meeting called to discuss the situation. Ultimately, Foster’s continued harassment led Petroskey to resign her position and file suit against the township and Foster and his wife.
And now, despite Foster’s misconduct, his repeated lies, the cost to the township of defending his actions in court and the stain of the incident on Bingham Township and Leelanau County in general, the Leelanau County Republican Party has donated $500 of its members’ money to this “good, solid Republican” for his recall fight.
Understandably, some members are unhappy. One party member says “I don’t like what Foster has done. … I don’t think the Republican Party should be involved in something like that.” Well said.
Rather than standing up to one of their own and publicly admonishing Robert Foster, the local Republican Party has chosen to spend their money defending the indefensible: an individual elected to serve the public who instead chose to ignore the law; do harm to our Bay; lie to anyone who dared to ask questions; force out a fellow Republican from her elected position for nothing more than doing her job, open up local taxpayers to legal liability resulting from his actions; and bring disgrace to Bingham Township government. Regardless of party, we deserve much more from our public servants than what the Record-Eagle properly called ”schoolyard bullying.”
I’m embarrassed for the good people that make up the bulk of Republicans in Leelanau County that their party leadership has chosen to spend their membership dues defending Robert Foster. They deserve better.
The recall election is set for February 27.
