Royal Oak commissioner quits amid report of sheriff's probe

Can anyone from here flesh out this dysfunction better than the article does?

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Royal Oak commissioner quits amid report of sheriff's probe

By Bill Laitner • Free Press Staff Writer • June 5, 2009

Royal Oak City Commissioner Stephen Miller resigned Thursday, two days after a hearing in which attorney David Gorcyca said three commissioners were subjects of a sheriff’s investigation.

A spokesman for the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said today that Miller was one of three commissioners who David Poulton, a member of the Royal Oak Zoning Board of Appeals, said had tried to improperly influence him. But spokesman Mike McCabe said no criminal case is pending because Poulton did not file a criminal complaint when investigators interviewed him last week.

The hearing and resignation capped a year of heated debate on the city’s elected body, when commissioners shifted alliances to fire the city manager, accused one another of misusing the city’s public-access cable channel and of pressuring Downtown Development Authority members for political ends. Miller became embroiled in especially bitter disputes.

The resignation of Miller, who earlier this year had said he would run for mayor, “doesn’t resolve the problem, if something egregious occurred,� Royal Oak Mayor Jim Ellison said today. “But right now, it’s just someone saying this happened and no formal complaint has been filed,� Ellison said.

Miller did not return phone calls. City Commissioner Chuck Semchena, a friend to Miller, said that “Steve’s been thinking of resigning for a long time. He’s just sick of all the political back-biting.�

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it's all the fault of those ignorant suburban voters. if the people of royal oak didn't just elect their leaders based on name recognition alone. . .

He should have made better allies.

that joker should have just taken the money and run.

He didn't work or play well with others during his tenure on the council.

And as the article mentions, the Zoning Board of Appeals allowed the Bordine's Express to set up a temporary location across the street from the English Gardens' location in 2008. The ZBA initially disallowed the request this year. ZBA member Rasor represents [[or at least the law firm he works for) Bordine's during his day job, so he recused himself from the voting this year. I guess that's why the council members turned the screws on the other ZBA member to disallow the variance. In the end, Bordine's was rightly allowed to set up a temporary location this year. Avoiding a lawsuit the city would have lost.

I'm surprised that that fiasco lead to the resignation of Miller.

The first three responses to this have been weird. Whatever.

After reading through this a few times, I see why Poulton is laying this all out there. It seems that he never denies that they did, in fact, influence his vote on the zoning board, and he voted for the denial. Looks like if they know what's good for them, the citizens won't just get rid of the three when each of their seats come up for re-election, but will demand that anyone looking for those seats also shake up the zoning board as part of their platform. The board members are appointed by the commission like in most other cities, right?

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Originally Posted by MIRepublic

The first three responses to this have been weird. Whatever.

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At least, the first response seemed to be a not so subtle reminder that Detroit hasn't yet cornered the market on corruption.

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Originally Posted by MIRepublic

After reading through this a few times, I see why Poulton is laying this all out there. It seems that he never denies that they did, in fact, influence his vote on the zoning board, and he voted for the denial.

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Maybe you'll want to read it one more time. :)

Poulton did not vote for the denial. He voted in favor of the variance and was apparently not influenced to do otherwise.

Thanks for the correction. There are way too many names and officials to follow in that article, especially if one is unfamiliar with them.