Casino Money, Hallway Meeting & Dispute

An on-going dispute over payments for dispatching services between Emmett Township (Mich.) and the Calhoun County Consolidated Dispatch Authority has turned into a police investigation of the state’s open meetings law. According to a township board member, four other members met in an office hallway without the required public notice, and decided to pay the Authority $34,169, contrary to the board’s previous public position. The four board members say they just happened to meet while at the board’s offices, and that a local casino was about to make a payment to the township, which would have covered the check. But board member Gene Adkins said the four members reversed the township’s previous public vote to withhold payment to the county. He reported the “meeting” the state police, and they are now investigating. The board claims that many county agencies don’t pay for the Authority for dispatching services. The Authority had threatened to cut off the township’s access to the state data network if the board didn’t make a payment towards the $104,000 annual bill for dispatching. Read more here.