Opinion: Responses from Kelly Clark, Candidate for Supervisor, Spark Concern

(Editor’s Note: OMP resident Susie Shipman has some concerns about Kelly Clark’s responses to the Candidate Questionnaire published in the Gazette here. He is running for the position of Township Supervisor. Read on for her thoughts. -jb)

Neighbors,

I read Kelly’s Clark’s candidate responses recently and came across a surprising statement. Mr. Clark claims that he had an “instrumental” role in our ‘new’ Old Mission Peninsula School (OMPS).

Given that I am a founder of both OMPEF and OMPS, I asked him what that instrumental role was. Some others chimed in: Allison O’Keefe and Jacquie Harding explained that he was involved behind the scenes as a support, and Mr. Clark’s direct response to me was that he was referring to conversations he had with other TCAPS board members at that time to help convince them to accept the $1.1 million dollars fundraised in this community to buy the school.

Okay. I suppose that was a contribution. But was it such an instrumental contribution as to become a key statement about community involvement in a political campaign??

I have an opinion on this.

I am a founder of both the Old Mission Peninsula Education Foundation (OMPEF), which fundraised to purchase the school and now operates in support of the school, and a founding school board member for the OMPS public charter school itself.

My level of involvement was (and is) deep. In fact, because of my non-profit administration background, I was the person who actually completed the IRS 501(c)(3) non-profit organization application paperwork for OMPEF at the time of our organization, and I am, to this day, still the OMPS Board Secretary/Treasurer for our wonderful community public elementary school. So … quite involved at a broad and at a granular level.

Kelly Clark has no idea who I am, and that is a clue to the depth of his involvement and commitment to OMPS. But I’m not the type of person to self-aggrandize, because I was but one part of an extremely dedicated and involved team who all did the real on-the-ground startup work (Allison O’Keefe, Jen Coleman, Dena Schweitzer and Corey Phelps). Shout out to Jacquie Harding, as well, who was also involved well before I was and also in the initial startup of OMPEF.

None of the founders, nor the initial school board members, nor any of the many incredible people (you know who you are!) who made HUGE contributions of time, effort and funds, have sought credit. We turned our lives upside down, worked day in, day out, and made countless sacrifices — for years and years — to see this school come together into the success it is today.

I don’t want to be overly negative, because smaller parts matter too, and it’s good that Mr. Clark was helpful to Allison. But I feel the need to shine a light on the truly consequential efforts of the worker bees who made OMPS happen.

Sorry, Mr. Clark, but I feel it is one heck of a stretch to hang your hat on your OMPS involvement as a noteworthy element of your political platform.

I read on through his responses, found a statement about a non-profit, and starting looking into it.

Mr. Clark’s website for his non-profit states the organization “is a 501c3,” but an IRS search produced no confirmation, so I asked Mr. Clark for information. His response to my inquiry was that he is working with an accountant on the IRS application process, so no, it is not a 501(c)(3) as claimed front and center on his website.

This is not a minor exaggeration in my books, but a clearly incorrect statement regarding a consequential federal designation that often takes four to six months to complete successfully, and requires diligence and authentic public support to maintain. Claiming IRS status has been granted is fundamentally disingenuous, and not transparent or honest with this community or to potential donors.

FYI, the organization does exist – incorporation documents were filed only very recently with State of MI LARA Corporations – on May 28, 2024. I take task with the 501(c)(3) claim specifically, due to its seriousness.

Reading on, I noted that Mr. Clark appears to celebrate defiance of regulations he doesn’t like or doesn’t agree with (see fence ordinance and self-proclamation of “Offender“). We live in a community with rules, and any leader should be proudly law-abiding and not proudly defiant. Rules are important in order to protect our individual rights, as well as to protect public health, safety and welfare.

Certainly, rules may need updates or improvements over time (a community ordinance is a living document that gets amendments and updates through a deliberate and transparent process). In my years as a member of the Peninsula Township Planning Commission (following in the footsteps of so many others who have given time and effort before me), I’ve been privileged to serve the community in listening and making careful considerations regarding ordinance amendments within that public and transparent framework.

Others have claimed dark forces are at work pulling strings and engaging in all sorts of shenanigans at the township hall. Nope, just a group of fellow citizens with reasonable heads on their shoulders, working to make our community better.

Mr. Clark claims he was denied participation on the shoreline committee and that meetings are a bad time for him. It’s perfectly reasonable to have a committee of sensible size, and I would remind Mr. Clark and all residents: it doesn’t matter if you don’t end up wearing a committee hat – all of us get to participate – every single meeting is public. And I’m quite sure it would be impossible to set a time that will work for each individual resident on OMP.

Mr. Clark has also stated that he would intervene in the employment of the Township Director of Planning. I find this statement highly concerning on a few levels – others have addressed this, as well. I would like to add, however, that in 13 years of serving in Peninsula Township between my time on the Park Commission and now on the Planning Commission, I have worked with six planners. I liked them all for different reasons, but Jenn Cram is, by far, the most talented, dedicated and professional planner we have had.

No one likes it when there are regulations that might seem cumbersome, and Jenn has been the person in the office responsible for administering the rules (permits), so she is taking a lot of grief from frustrated residents. But Jenn didn’t make the rules, so attacking her is unfair and inappropriate. Jenn is a strong proponent of making the Township systems more clear, straightforward and equitable. I support her unequivocally, and I think we need to do our best to ensure she can continue to serve our community.

Mr. Clark is an active proponent of an initiative to eliminate property taxes in Michigan. I am in favor of careful fiscal policy, but throwing the baby out with the bathwater approach does not read as sound policy to me. And frankly, when the property tax bill gets paid, I look at where all that money goes, and it helps the pill go down to understand what I, as a citizen of this community, am participating in supporting: police and fire services, great schools, great parks, great libraries, the PDR Program, support for improved roads (and we all know we need them), veterans, seniors, animal control and BATA. I’m okay with supporting all of these important things.

I took particular note that Mr. Clark did not provide an answer to the question about OMP residents personally paying for damages claimed by the wineries in the WOMP lawsuit, instead deflecting and saying residents have the ability to boycott wineries.

I am truly sorry that we have been living with the horrible winery lawsuit – for years now. I was a member of the Planning Commission prior to the lawsuit, when members of the PC, the planner at the time, and winery and ag representatives met in the township hall, sitting in a big circle, and began to discuss updates to the ordinance. I, personally, was fully engaged, thoroughly supportive of agriculture and open to working together to make improvements, and I was shocked when the WOMP lawsuit was filed.

The negativity and split in our community are an incredible shame. But I do not believe that my family should personally be on the hook for damages claimed by wineries who knew the existing rules when they started their businesses, and then did not give a cooperative approach a chance. Sure, Covid disrupted all our lives and processes, but all meetings were impacted, not just meetings where we might have moved along some updates to the ordinance regarding wineries.

I’m proud of the Township Board for standing up for OMP residents and fighting to ensure we don’t all end up with an assessment to pay damages to the wineries (I can’t even believe I have to articulate this possibility), because there is not enough insurance available to cover the vast amount they feel they are owed.

As I completed reading his alarming responses, and doing my additional homework on the side, I realized I had grave concerns about the character of a person campaigning to lead this community. I felt an urgent need to speak up.

As I received the ballot for the primary election in the mail a few days ago, I also was reminded that I haven’t seen any information about the four candidates running as a slate under Mr. Clark, besides one postcard mailer, and now a rather incomplete and narrow set of responses from Mr. Luea. As the top-of-the-ticket candidate for a slate of candidates in clear affiliation, I must assume all four are in alignment with Mr. Clark’s positions.

In this important election for our Township leadership, I feel we have a choice between an approach that comes across as uneven and disgruntled, and demonstrates a lack of regulatory respect and a questionable approach to honesty and transparency.

I’m choosing to instead support committed, capable, transparent and community service-oriented leadership.

I’ve known Maura Sanders since she and I both served on the Park Commission starting in 2014, back when it was an elected body, and prior to Maura running for and serving on the Town Board. In both her Park Commission and subsequent leadership roles in our community, I have found Maura to be well-prepared, hard-working, and moderate in her approach, as well as intelligent, calm and considerate.

I believe Maura Sanders lives and breathes integrity and service. She has stated that she will be a full-time working supervisor, and in addition to her professional qualifications, she would come into the supervisor position with a solid understanding of existing township challenges and opportunities.

I plan to vote enthusiastically for Maura Sanders and for Dave Sanger on the primary ballot. I simply don’t agree with the opinion that it is a conflict for Dave to be a trustee and also an enforcement officer. Enforcement is a thankless job, and I’m grateful Dave has been willing to take on that role in a part-time capacity and not overburden the Township with the expense of another full-time position.

What we hear shouted on social media are the angry people, people who feel encumbered by the rules of our community. But as an example, when your neighbor is exceeding the noise ordinance on repeat, and not listening or caring about how it disturbs other neighbors, I think you’ll be grateful to have some enforcement of rules. It’s all about living in a community, and I choose respect and consideration (plus some regulation as a backup), because that’s what I’d hope my neighbors would choose, too.

Maura and Dave are good, steady people who care deeply about Peninsula Township, who will work hard to improve Township operations, and who will serve our community with integrity. They have my support.

Sincerely,
Susie Shipman
OMP Resident
OMPS Board Secretary/Treasurer
(Also, a current member of the Peninsula Township Planning Commission, but this letter is written from Susie Shipman, resident)

Also Read…

Election 2024: Candidate Q & A – Kelly J. Clark

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