The Sincerest Form of Flattery #Power #Corruption #Imitation #Politics

There are things people do that defy both logic and the law. I was in Circuit Court today observing the case of a former township supervisor who is suspected of malfeasance while in office. Yes, it happens on the local level too, and it amazes me that these people think they’ll never be caught or made to answer for their actions.

This supervisor allegedly used her position to enrich herself at the township’s expense. When a wireless company applied to locate a microwave tower in the township, this supervisor sold the company a section of her own property rather than township property. She profited personally at the expense of the township. When an energy company applied to locate a power substation in the township, this supervisor sold the company a section of her own property rather than township property. Again, she profited personally at the expense of the township. Power definitely corrupts.

She also practiced deception to deprive subdivisions access to funding for improvements in favor of rural residents because of her personal animus for suburbanites. She had the township clerk delete part of a letter of opinion from the township lawyer, which altered the meaning of his opinion. She then used the altered opinion as the reason to deny funding for road improvement to a subdivision in the township. When this illegal action was discovered and her deceit was exposed at a public meeting, she was forced to resign. She then began a vendetta against the member of the township board who exposed her deceit by spreading lies aimed at smearing his reputation and mounted a successful dirty campaign to unseat him. What gall!

Following her resignation as supervisor, this woman concealed township records by turning over a new laptop she purchased with township funds to replace the previous township computer. The new supervisor discovered that the laptop had never been used. It contained no township records. A search of the former supervisor’s home revealed that the computer she claimed as her personal property was actually the township computer she said had been destroyed by a lightening strike. When an IT professional checked the computer’s serial number, it was the same as that of the township’s computer. The former supervisor then changed her story. It was another computer that was destroyed, not the township’s. She kept the township’s computer in her home “for convenience.” A judge issued a temporary restraining order enjoining her from destroying the computer or any data on the computer. We’ll see how that goes.

Township officials also discovered that this former supervisor had personal email accounts with two ISPs using them as private servers to conduct township business instead of using her township email account. The judge ordered her to allow the township access to her personal emails. Gee, this all sounds so familiar, doesn’t it?

After the proceedings ended and we all filed out of the courtroom, several observers could be heard comparing the former township supervisor to a nationally known politician of the same gender. Had she overheard the remarks, the former township supervisor would probably have taken them as compliments, because the situations are eerily similar and handled in similar fashion. She must have tremendous admiration for the nationally known female politician. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.