BATH TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WLNS) — Monday’s Bath Township Board of Trustees meeting was the first one since the supervisor was found not guilty of assaulting an office worker.
But that didn’t stop people from throwing those accusations into the air — one person said they no longer feel safe in the office.
The meeting comes weeks after a Clinton County judge acquitted Bath Township Supervisor Marie Howe of assaulting a township employee.
Howe, along with several people from the township, brought up their concerns with how this incident was handled.
“I’ve given lengthy and serious thought about rationale, about the lack of the assistance from the Board of Trustees and township personnel. Maybe it’s that the board of trustees and township personnel favored another candidate,” Howe said.
Howe rolled out her list of questions for board members related to an assault case she was acquitted of last month.
She was accused of misdemeanor assault involving an office employee nearly a year ago, and a criminal complaint was filed in February.
The following month, during a special meeting, Trustee Cheryl Kellerman said the board voted to restrict Howe’s access to the Bath Township Offices.
The assault case was later brought to a judge, who found Howe not guilty on July 25.
Howe pressed both Township Superintendent Karen Hildebrant and Trustee Ryan Fewins-Bliss for their handling the assault complaint.
And she wasn’t alone, a handful of others shared their concerns about how the complaint was handled and called for the restrictions on Howe’s office privileges to be lifted.
“She needs to be reinstated with all the rights of the position. We voted her in the same way we did with you guys. For you guys to think that you can change everything, I don’t know where that’s coming from in your brain, I honestly don’t,” said Bath Township resident Terry Wood.
Howe was reinstated Monday night, but not before Trustee Fewins-Bliss was almost removed by police over a disagreement on the rules steaming on an item involving the senior center.
Things also got tense when Treasurer Jennifer Wilson claimed, in a separate incident, to have video of Howe hitting her in the office, to which other trustee members questioned why she didn’t report that.
Howe responded to that in disbelief.
Monday’s meeting ended with several people in the audience still calling for more answers about what lead up to the initial assault case last year, and what will happen to township employees and trustees involved in reporting the incident to police.
