Editorial: Van Buren Twp. finally hires new planning director

Dan Power, a young man with piles of credentials, has been hired to take over the position of Planning Director for Van Buren Township.
He fills the vacancy created when Ron Akers resigned last summer to take a position with the City of Ypsilanti.
Power will make $73,000 base pay.
At Tuesday’s regular meeting of the VBT Board of Trustees, Power said he and his wife are from this area and were in VBT and Belleville when they were growing up. They want to move back to this area from the City of Walker, near Grand Rapids, where he has been Planning Director for four-and-a-half years.
He said he started moving back to this area last month, a car load at a time.
Akers was a jewel and worked his head off for the township. The Independent got legal notices from him on Saturday nights and Sundays. When we admonished him for working on week ends, he said the work had to be done.
He left VBT because he had a wife and young child that needed his attention, as well.
We sincerely hope that Power will work civilized hours and not be driven off by unreasonable demands.
At a recent meeting, Supervisor Kevin McNamara said if someone works for him, “it’s 24/7.”
Not a good motto for Van Buren Township to have.