Clock Ticking for Bloomfield Township Trustee Appointment

The Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees convenes for the first time under the leadership of Leo Savoie on Wednesday, and among the top orders of business will be to find a seventh member.

Savoie’s appointment to supervisor July 25 leaves a trustee vacancy on the board for the first time since 2009. How and when the board will fill the spot has yet to be determined, but it is on the agenda for discussion at the 7 p.m. meeting in Township Hall.

“We’re definitely going to talk about it, how to proceed Wednesday night, because it’s a very big decision,” Township Clerk Jan Roncelli said.

Much like the process to fill a vacant supervisor seat, the board has 45 days from the time the vacancy began (Aug. 1) to appoint a trustee for the remainder of Savoie’s trustee term, which expires in 2012. But unlike the supervisor selection, the pool of candidates will likely be larger as members of the public will be encouraged to apply.

The qualifications needed, how to apply and by when should all be a bit clearer following Wednesday.

Township Attorney Bill Hampton said Michigan law doesn’t specify how a member is appointed, only that one must be appointed by Sept. 15 — or the county clerk will be forced to declare a special election.

“Statute doesn’t specify a procedure, so each township board is free to develop a process that they feel is most appropriate,” Hampton said.

He explained that just as in the supervisor-replacement process, candidates for a special election would be determined by the chief political parties in the area and not by a vote of the public, as in a traditional primary.

Hampton said he expects the board to accept applications by a deadline and narrow the field to a manageable number of roughly five candidates, depending on the level of interest shown. How the applications are vetted does not necessarily have to be in the public purview, but any interviews or formal selection will be conducted before the people, Hampton said.

Roncelli said that in previous years, trustee applicants had to submit a letter of interest, a resume and respond to 11 questions. 

She said no one has contacted her office to submit any applications and that only one resident sent her an email on the topic at the end of last week.