Deputy Supervisor Ken Bednark rejects Sumpter board’s offer

Sumpter Township Deputy Supervisor Ken Bednark told the Independent he has rejected the offer made by the township board at its Jan. 26 meeting because it falls far short of what is owed.
Deputy Bednark said he has advised the township that on Feb. 10 he will tender his resignation letter and he will sign it as of the settlement. He has ceased to perform daily activities at the township.
When Bednark was sworn in as deputy in November, Supervisor Tim Bowman requested the same pay for him as previous deputy Karen Armatis was paid, $31.44 per hour, because the Michigan Township Association told him that was proper. He also got medical coverage as she did.
All township meetings were canceled through the end of the year because of the coronavirus and state regulations.
But, at a special township board meeting on Dec. 15, the board voted 5-2 (with Trustee Morgan and Supervisor Bowman voting no) to reduce Bednark’s pay to $8,406 per year ($8.08 per hour), cut his full-time status to half time (20 hours) and take away all benefits.
The township then started deducting what it had originally paid him from his paycheck, which left him with no paycheck at all.
Newly elected Trustee Peggy Morgan brought the problem to the board at its Jan. 12 meeting and the board voted unanimously to have attorney Rob Young look into the situation.
At its Jan. 26 meeting, Young reported that the original payments to Bednark were not illegal. They discussed statutory and nonstatuatory duties. Young asked Bowman what did he intend for his deputy and Bowman said, “When I set Kenny’s pay it was for nothing more than normal, statutory duties… I knew no more.”
Trustees Morgan and Tim Rush pushed for an immediate resolution to the problem instead of having it drag on to another meeting. Trustee Matt Oddy made a motion, that the board voted unanimously to approve, to pay Bednark $31.44 per hour in wages from Nov. 20 through Dec. 15, plus $500 to satisfy other pay issues.
Also during the Jan. 26 meeting, Trustee Morgan drew the board’s attention to payments on that night’s list of warrants being approved for Karen Armatis’ medical and dental insurance through February. Armatis has been gone since Nov. 20, Trustee Morgan said. The payments were $903.48 per month for medical for December, January, and February, plus her Delta Dental at $119.73.
Bednark told the Independent that he had told attorney Young that the board already has the letter he sent detailing what he wants and that still holds.
At 4:30 p.m. Feb. 1, a special virtual board meeting was posted for 6 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 2, with one item on the agenda: A closed-door session “pursuant to MCL 15.268 (e) and (h) to consider attorney-client privileged material exempt from discussion or disclosure by state or federal law and to review pending litigation with the State of Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity Division.”
[The Independent will report next week on what public information is announced at that meeting.] In other business at the Jan. 26 meeting the board:
• Approved warrants totaling $513,807.36, with questions on the Armatis medical payments. Trustee Tim Rush asked Clerk Esther Hurst to check that out with Human Resources Director Michelle Bellingham and report back to the full board;
• Removed from the agenda again, without comment, the termination request of Daniel Frost as fire fighter;
• Tabled for two weeks a vote on the approval of Eric Partridge to the planning commission with a term to expire Jan. 11, 2024. Supervisor Bowman appointed Partridge and said he would make a fine member of the planning commission, but Trustee Oddy wanted the board to reappoint Bart Patterson, whom he prefers. Oddy suggested expanding the planning commission to nine members from the current seven so both Partridge and Patterson could be seated. Oddy wanted Patterson reappointed first, with Partridge waiting to see if the commission is expanded. Patterson was appointed on Aug. 11 by Supervisor John Morgan to fill an unexpired term through Jan. 12, after Virginia Belinski resigned. Patterson attended the Aug. 13 meeting and no more have been held since then. Oddy, who is liaison to the planning commission, did not attend the Aug. 13 meeting;
• Approved the supervisor’s appointment of Sherry Olds to the Zoning Board of Appeals as an alternate with a term to expire Jan. 13, 2024, on a 4-2 vote, with Trustees Rush and Oddy voting no;
• Approved the supervisor’s reappointment of Karen Woodington as alternate to the Board of Review with a term starting Jan. 1, 2021 and expiring Jan. 1, 2024;
• Approved the supervisor’s reappointment of Katrina Guisgand to the Board of Review to expire Jan. 1, 2024;
• Approved the supervisor’s reappointment of Kathie Steigerwald to the ZBA with a term ot expire Dec. 17, 2023;
• Approved the updated virtual meeting protocol as of Jan. 21, as presented by Trustee Rush;
• Approved having the treasurer’s office establish an escrow account supporting the township’s 2009 participation in the DIFS Fire Insurance Withholding Program and Resolution 2021-05;
• Approved the cooperative agreement for the federal Community Development Block Grant program;
• Heard Trustee Morgan make a motion to immediately change from a part-time to full-time position for the treasurer’s clerk Erica Campbell, consistent with the union bargaining agreement for AFSCME Local 1882.14. There was no support so the motion died. The agenda item was placed by Treasurer James Clark and he said he needed Campbell full time, but he did not support the motion or explain why;
• Approved asking the attorney to draft a new version of the existing contract for Eric Luke as public safety director, since the current one expires in March;
• Approved reopening the township recycling center on Feb. 6, dependant on Governor’s executive orders and/or MDHHS directives, as scheduled by the clerk’s office. Clerk Hurst said she would like to open township hall and the senior center when they can do so safely with whatever standards are set for the number of people allowed, and the board added that to the motion and approved it;
• Heard Supervisor Bowman say he came to township hall at 3:30 p.m. earlier that day before the 6 p.m. meeting to get an updated agenda packet and the agenda the clerk’s office gave him, and what he tried to run the meeting from, was not the latest agenda;
• Heard Rush report on the recent Parks and Recreation Commission meeting. He said the commission starts planning for Sumpter Fest in December and all events are on the back burner. The only thing planned for this year is the turkey shoot in October. “Everything else is off the table,” he said;
• Heard Oddy ask to set up Zoom meetings for the planning commission and Board of Zoning Appeals so they don’t have to be postponed and people can continue their projects. He asked the board to direct the financial director to contact members on what help they need to be on Zoom and provide laptops or have them use their phones. Clerk Hurst said there are seven to nine members of the planning commission and there are BZA members – too many to provide laptops. Hurst said she will ask Michelle Cole to explore the capabilities of each commission;
• Learned Supervisor Bowman has yet to appoint board liaisons for the township departments;
• Heard Trustee Morgan say the township is still working on transferring the financial account administration name at the credit union from John Morgan and Karen Armatis. Those names have been on it since John Morgan was treasurer and Armatis his deputy. “When somebody leaves office, it needs to be changed,” Trustee Morgan said, adding that Supervisor Morgan and Deputy Armatis have been gone since November and it’s almost February. Ken Bednark said when he was treasurer he attempted to talk to Supervisor Morgan and Armatis but they were uncooperative and refused to discuss it. He said Public Service Credit Union said unless those names were removed the township treasurer had no way to get them in their names. Bednark said when Bowman and he came into the township after being sworn in, the transfer of power was “just keys thrown on the table.” He said with the two of them out of office, the problem has escalated and no longer is minor. Reportedly, Financial Director Cole is working to solve the problem;
• Heard Supervisor Bowman thank the people of Sumpter Township who supported him when he had a loss in the family. “I appreciated that,” he said; and
• Heard Trustees Oddy, Rush, and Morgan compliment Bowman for doing a good job at chairing what was only his second meeting.