The Ypsilanti Courier
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Officials clash over warrants
Could use Times Italic for a subhead in this position on the page
By Dave Wak, Special Writer
PUBLISHED: April 10, 2008
Augusta Township Hall again is embroiled in conflict.
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This time it's over payments the Augusta Twp. Board of Trustees approves for various expenses.
Township Treasurer Lynda Dew recently charged that Township Clerk Kathy Giszczak was denying her access to some segments of the warrants, a charge Giszczak strongly denies.
Dew said Giszczak was being uncooperative about meeting with her to go over the warrants and added that Giszczak was possibly trying to hide something.
"It's very important. I shouldn't be signing checks without knowing what's there (in the accounts)," Dew said.
Giszczak said Dew has the same access to the warrants as the public, who can easily get copies at township hall. She countered that Dew was the one who was being uncooperative by not attending regular, Monday meetings where board members can review the warrants before voting on them at their Tuesday meetings.
Trustee Bill Tobler said that Giszczak has offered to meet with Dew in her office so they can look over the warrants together, but Dew either had family obligations, or wanted to meet with Giszczak at times when the clerk was busy with other duties.
Because of Giszczak's busy schedule she said Dew needed to make an appointment to review them together.
"I'm going to say this one last time. Make an appointment," Giszczak said to Dew at the board's March 25 meeting.
Dew said that Giszczak has been secretive about giving her access to not only the original warrants, but the general ledger and FOIA requests by residents. She added that the clerk, along with Trustee Joanne Kidder have purposely "discriminated" against her. Dew said that while she is allowed to view the copies of the warrants everything is not included in these copies.
"What is the big secret?" Dew asked.
Dew also cited a recent incident where she was going to review the warrants with Kidder and Trustee Krista Goodwin, but was told by Kidder to leave the room.
Tobler said Kidder told Dew to leave simply because she, Goodwin and Giszczak were all there, and to have a fourth board member would have made up a quorum and possibly mistaken as a secret board meeting to residents at the hall, something all board members want to avoid.
Tobler said it was unfortunate that Kidder and Dew could not have worked out a compromise but said the two officials were publicly hostile to each other so it wasn't surprising.
Tobler also said Dew wants to take the original copies of the warrants home with her and that Giszczak simply doesn't trust Dew with the original warrants. Dew said that is ridiculous.
Evelyn David from the Michigan Townships Association basically said that Giszczak has the right to keep her copies of the warrants in her office if she felt they were endangered by fire or theft.
Tobler and Trustee Bill Manty have since worked out a compromise with Dew where the three of them will sit down and review the warrants.
However, the tensions between the clerk and the treasurer's office's remain.
Dave Wak is an Ypsilanti resident and freelance writer for The Courier. He can be reached at dwak4@hotmail.com.
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