Editorial: VBT Clerk returns from conference with guns ablaze

The March 20 work/study session of the Van Buren Township Board of Trustees had only one item on the agenda: “Discussion on Township Employee Travel and Training.”
The discussion early-on turned into ongoing arguments and bickering that made Supervisor McNamara hold his head in frustration. Finally, after 40 minutes of hostile discussion, he said he had the power to close down the meeting, but board action to postpone further discussion made that unnecessary.
One issue was Clerk Wright’s payment of $110 for his international passport to attend a conference in Montreal in May. He was absent from the last meeting when that item was up for approval on the pre-paid list, but when Supervisor McNamara called him at his conference to tell him four board members opposed that payment, he said to remove the request and he would reimburse the township. He thought that was the end of it.
But when he returned, he was livid. He had studied the recorded March 7 meeting. On Monday he accused board members of attacking his character and accusing him of unlawful activity. They responded; he responded. Tempers flared.
At Tuesday’s regular meeting, on cable, Wright produced an attorney’s opinion on the passport (no case law either way) and read a statement. Others read statements. More responses. At last McNamara shut it down. It was not that board’s finest hour.