Supervisor’s bid to rescind vaccine mandate fails in VBT

Van Buren Township police union president Adam Byrd said many employees have been threatened by email to be fired if they do not get the COVID-19 vaccine. And when they leave, the workforce will be reduced and public safety will suffer, he said.
Officer Byrd addressed the VBT Board of Trustees via zoom during the public comment part of the agenda on July 20, saying he had to bring this matter before the board because it will be a change in work environment and should have been discussed with the union.
He was addressing an item placed on the agenda by Supervisor Kevin McNamara to consider rescinding the vaccination mandate for employees.
Byrd said 20% will be leaving the workforce and not be replaced. He said VBT is the only municipal government in Michigan doing this. He asked them to reconsider their June 15 vote that required all employees to be vaccinated.
Byrd said their vote requires a non-FDA-approved substance to be injected into the bloodstreams, with the threat of being terminated or disciplined if they refuse.
Police Officer Mark Abdilla, president of the fire fighters’ union, also spoke on the board’s willingness to terminate employees who don’t get the shots.
Officer Abdilla said the employees who do not already have the shots are not going to get them and the township will lose good candidates, who will easily get jobs elsewhere. He reminded them that departments everywhere are seeking employees.
Abdilla said the board is requiring they put the needle in their arm and inject a substance for which there is no idea on the long-term effect. He said he is vaccinated, but others are not. The fire department mandates masks for unvaccinated employees which is less intrusive. He said the township is requiring a needle in the arm or move on elsewhere.
He said the township is not going to push people to get the shots and he asked them to reconsider their mandate.
He said they will lose employees and the money spent training them. He said it ranges from “probationaries” to those here for 10 to 15 years.
A third union president expected to speak did not show up.
Supervisor Kevin McNamara had put on that night’s agenda consideration of a revote on the mandatory COVID-19 shots and at the beginning of the meeting Trustee Reggie Miller said the board had already voted on that and it shouldn’t be on the agenda.
Supervisor McNamara said under Robert’s Rules of Order he can ask for a revote if he had voted in the majority and changed his mind, which he did.
“I did not see it coming,” McNamara said of the response. He said before the June 15 vote he was moved by Trustee Sherry Frazier’s reasoning, using schools requiring shots for many years for entry as an example.
But, he said, schools don’t require teachers to be vaccinated and the present shots required for students have been tested and used for years.
“Local governments should follow state and federal guidelines” and they do not require shots for employees, he said. “I stepped out of line,” he said referring to his previous vote in favor.
He said the vaccines are not fully approved by the federal government and only allowed as an emergency measure. The federal or state or county governments do not require shots. They do mandate wearing a mask if not vaccinated, he said.
The Michigan Township Association said they don’t know of any other township that made that mandate and the Conference of Western Wayne doesn’t know of any either, he said.
“I have a real problem with firing people for not being vaccinated,” McNamara said. “The federal and state and county are not firing people for this … I have a real problem for firing people for this.”
Clerk Leon Wright acknowledged that he was the one who made the motion on the mandate and he said he explained then why he thinks so highly of the move. He said people at the township reach out to help the public and they should be vaccinated.
“We are serving people… I don’t want to terminate anyone either,” Clerk Wright said. He said the board’s decision gives employees the alternative to get the shot.
“Sometimes you have to make a hard decision … I have to make a hard decision,” he said. He said people walk into the township and he doesn’t want to send an employee out to help the people, with him knowing the employee isn’t vaccinated.
Wright said many people had to die in the last pandemic in 1918-19 because there were no vaccines. He said the Delta variant is coming back and they can’t make the choice not to take the vaccine.
Wright said he and Trustee Kevin Martin are the only veterans on the board. He said he joined the U.S. Air Force to serve his country. He didn’t have to. He wanted to, he said. He said dozens of vaccines jumped into his arm and he didn’t know what they were.
“I hope we make the right decision to serve the public and coworkers … and help employees get the shots,” Wright said.
“I will not fire anybody unless you tell me to,” McNamara stated to the board.
“If this stays, there has to be an alternative,” Wright said.
“I won’t fire for this,” McNamara repeated.
Trustee Sherry Frazier said nobody asked her if she wanted the shots she needed to be a teacher. She said nobody gave her a choice.
“Sometimes it’s for the greater good, or we wouldn’t be here today,” she said. “You’re jeopardizing your coworkers.”
McNamara said there are unvaccinated state police and other police officers and they wear masks when serving the public. He said the last vote mandated vaccinations but didn’t tell him what to do if they refuse.
Trustee Martin said that’s why he asked at the time what the response would be if they didn’t get the shots.
“You were wise,” McNamara said.
Martin said to Wright that being in the military is different. “Do it or get booted out.” He said the FDA has not approved the shots and he doesn’t want the government telling him what to do with his body.
He said where he works there are 1,100 people and they wear masks if not vaccinated.
“I voted no, against it,” Martin said of the mandate. “A., because there is no plan for no compliance and B. to require an experimental drug is wrong. I don’t think you should fire anyone and it shouldn’t be mandated.”
Treasurer Sharry Budd said the Michigan Townships Association just came out with a recommendation that it is OK to demand vaccinations.
“I don’t know why police officers don’t want them,” Treasurer Budd said. “They should want to protect the public.” She said the Human Resources Director extended the compliance time to 90 days. She said even when all the employees were wearing masks, police officers without masks came into the building.
“My heart says this is the right thing to do,” Budd said.
McNamara said it is not just the police and fire, but employees in numerous areas, including dispatch, water, and other areas are refusing the vaccine. He said the Van Buren Public Schools have not mandated vaccines for students or staff.
Wright said there are no long-term effects from taking the vaccine and this is versus catching COVID. He said it’s a health and welfare decision and there will be a more serious problem “if we can’t get to herd immunity…”
Martin said he was wary of taking it at first and then talked to medical people and decided to take the shot.
“We should let people have the right to choose,” Martin said, adding General Motors requires self-reporting and there’s a list to refer to to make sure they are reporting accurately.
McNamara asked the board: “Are you going to mandate vaccines and if so, what is the response if they refuse?”
Trustee Miller said she called Martin after the vote and said she might not have voted in favor if she considered his side. She said she listened to everyone who contacted her after the vote and she said the mandate is protecting the safety of the workforce from a direct threat.
Miller said federal law allows employers to require COVID vaccinations and the MTA said “yes, you can.” She asked where the policy was on this, adding it is so important not to just throw things on the agenda. Then she paused and said “throw” had a bad connotation and she should say “place on the agenda” without a policy.
She said 20% of the police workforce is ready to walk off the job.
“I’m for mandatory vaccinations, but we need a policy. Clear, concise direction,” she said.
“I’m against vaccinations,” began Trustee Don Boynton. He said while he was running around the City of Detroit with a .38 on his hip, hepatitis first came out – A&B – and he was one of the last ones to get vaccinated. “I took my choice not to get it,” he said. “I had a choice to either stop being a police officer or to get a vaccine.”
Trustee Boynton said he is a Type 2 diabetic, very hypertensive, and a heart patient. He said he has three or four other conditions to make it difficult to survive a COVID infection.
“I made the choice to live to survive this disease,” Boynton said. “As far as vaccines for all the other flus out there? Those vaccinations, no.” He said his wife is a member of the health community and she had to take flu shots ten years ago or she wouldn’t attain what she has since.
“It’s imperative we take care of our employees and residents of this township and that is our job,” Boynton said. “Make decisions to accomplish that.”
As to repercussions, Boynton said there are standard operating procedures for employees about being given a directive on what to do. It’s clear in the standard operating procedures, he said.
McNamara repeated, “I am not firing anybody unless this board tells me to.”
Miller recommended taking it off the agenda and discussing the policy.
McNamara pulled back his motion and Martin, who seconded it, agreed to pull back his second.
“We have a mandate on the table,” Martin said. “What about that?”
“They didn’t tell me what to do,” McNamara said.
“Insubordination,” Martin said. “If you take this off the table, it’s still a mandate.
Human Resources Director Nicole Sumpter joined the discussion by zoom and said she had listened to everyone’s statements.
“There is a mandate still out there,” she said. “You haven’t rescinded the original mandate.” She said she pushed out the deadline to Aug. 16.
Martin made a motion to rescind the previous mandate until this board can develop a policy to address it.
Wright said Martin couldn’t make the motion because of Robert’s Rules and McNamara agreed that it would have to be made by someone voting in the majority of the original motion.
“If there’s no compliance, you have to do something,” Martin said.
Wright said the three full-time administrators agreed and sent out the mandate and can give an extension until the board met again.
Miller said booster shots haven’t been addressed yet and whether they should mandate further shots.
“If the three full-time want to revise language on the policy, I’m OK with that,” Miller said, asking when they decide they won’t be vaccinated when would termination occur?
McNamara suggested repealing the mandated vaccine policy and replacing it with what full-time electives would come up with, with board input and approval.
“We have a board policy: insubordination,” Wright said.
Budd suggested leaving the policy in place since it’s extended into August and in the meantime look at the policy and make a choice.
“I may not be at the next meeting,” McNamara said.
Sumpter said they have a policy if they are not vaccinated. She said language would be in place for the next board meeting.
“What happens if they are not vaccinated? The motion was withdrawn,” Budd said of McNamara’s motion.
McNamara said the three full-times will set a time line and they can extend it. He said he has a strong feeling it cannot be done by the next meeting and he may not be there.
Budd made a motion to leave the mandate right where it is and have the three full-time administrators put a policy in place. Frazier seconded the motion and Budd added that the understanding is that they’ve extended the deadline by 90 days and they will make a policy to determine punishment.
Martin was the only one voting no.