BY STACY SOBOTKA
The Bruce Township Board of Trustees did not want to discuss the missing veterans’ photos at their regular meeting on Nov 8.
A photo showing the dedication of the township veteran memorial went missing from the main hallway in the township hall apparently in the hours following the board’s last meeting on Oct. 18.
This is the second time a photo of the veterans at the dedication has turned up missing.
The issue was removed from the Nov. 8 agenda pending internal investigations, according to Trustee Paul Okoniewski.
“I can only imagine that this would be heartbreaking to the treasurer not to mention disrespectful to our veterans. That’s just another example of why we need security cameras and we should invest in those in this township. I would hope this board is actively pursuing who did this and then prosecute because we definitely need those cameras,” said resident Trese Servitto-Smith.
Bruce Township Deborah Obrecht went up to the podium to address the issue during the citizen’s portion of the meeting since the item was removed from the board’s agenda.
She gave a timeline of what happened when the photo went missing.
The building was locked at 8 p.m. that evening with Obrecht, her husband, and a cameraman from The Mitt TV being the last to leave.
A Wi-Fi log shows that someone’s cell phone had automatically logged into the building’s computer network at 10 p.m. which is the same time that the alarm system showed there was an entry into the hall with a key as there was no forced entry.
The photo was reported missing prior to 10 a.m. the next morning, and Bruce Township Supervisor Richard Cory sent out an e-mail to everyone explaining the incident.
Obrecht read the e-mail at 3 p.m. that day and asked her husband to contact Cory to file a police report.
Cory said he was in Rochester at the time and would file a report the following day.
After meeting with a Michigan State Trooper, the trooper asked to speak to Obrecht.
When she called the trooper, she was asked why she did not secure the building per the policy and procedures of the township.
“I told the trooper I had never heard of this policy. I was told the alarm was on an auto-close setting. Furthermore, if I had walked out two minutes earlier, the cameraman from The Mitt TV, a non-employee, would have secured our building. On Monday, I requested from Weber Security the entry and closing logs from April to current. These security closing logs clearly refuted Richard’s statement to the Michigan State Police that the alarm is always set per policy by the last person leaving the building,” she said.
Obrecht verified the township’s policies and procedures on file with the township clerk and found there is no such policy.
The trooper also inquired why non-employee camera personnel would lock the building. Obrecht passed the concern on to Cory.
She also said the trooper told her if she falsified a police report she could be charged with the same crime. She also agreed to a polygraph test, along with her husband.
The trooper told Obrecht that Bruce Township Clerk Susan Brockmann and Cory did not have a problem with the placement of the photo.
“I told him I had at least five pages of e-mails exchanged the day, Sept. 20, and I provided those copies to the trooper,” she said.
The trooper then told Obrecht to meet with Cory on Monday and determine who owned the picture—Obrecht or the township. She met with Cory and her husband listened in on the phone.
“Richard was in agreement that I owned the photo and had no problem with this,” she said.
On Tuesday, Obrecht reached out to HI Tech to secure Wi-Fi connection logs and after lengthy e-mail exchanges, the files were secured.
“These files do show entry into the township hall that night after the building was locked. It has other significant data,” she said.
On Oct. 31, Obrecht relinquished ownership of the photo since the state police determined it was a civil matter—a dispute over ownership.
“I was told the MSP would then be allowed to move forward in the investigation. Richard did not reply nor accept my bequeathing of the picture. Clerk Brockmann’s reply was it was all about a tax donation,” she said.
On Nov. 1, Obrecht was informed by the MSP that there will be no investigation into the matter as it appeared to be an internal incident.
“Nothing’s been done to find the one responsible for this act. No one has been accused of committing any crime. However, everyone is a viable suspect who has a key to the building. In my opinion, this is a huge difference,” Obrecht said. “Security cameras would have resolved this matter without requiring or establishing any policy on manual setting of a security alarm.”
Cory stated that he would continue to send out e-mails to staff find out what happened to the missing photo.
Obrecht said she is ordering another replacement photo.
In other board issues, Okoniewski also gave an update on the new 34 Mile and Van Dyke traffic light. “It took them (the Department of Roads) a week or so to get the timing down so that the southbound in particular morning traffic is going smoother now,” he said.
Okoniewski also mentioned to MDOT and the Department of Roads a possible long term solution to eliminate the southern light at Old Van Dyke. “The configuration should have been done when that expressway was originally put in and it wasn’t. We have some ideas we would like to run through and see if we can get it in their (MDOT’s) long term plan to secure funding. We’ll see how that goes. Stay tuned,” he said.
