Supervisor Shannon Price And Carl Berry Win In Court, Plymouth Township Voters Lose At The Ballot Box

The necessary disclaimer. This is an opinion piece. It contains my opinions on local politics, and is not meant to be a news article, nor does it in any way, reflect the opinions of Patch. I am not employed by Patch, nor am I employed by any candidate in any election. These are my opinions as a taxpayer, and voter in Plymouth Township.

I've gotta hand it to former Plymouth Township Police Chief, Carl Berry. When he sets out to do something, he gets it done. His latest venture? To become the most hated man in Plymouth Township. This time he brought a friend with him, and that friend is recently appointed Supervisor, Shannon G Price. These two men, in the course of a very short time, have managed to cause hatred, and rage amongst the normally sedate community of Plymouth Township, and if social media is any indication, it's going to last right up to the August 2nd primary.

At issue is the Supervisor race, and the Trustee race, and two names, State Representative Kurt Heise, and longtime township resident, Don Schnettler, were taken off the ballot due to a simple mistake made on an innocuous form that must be filled out when a candidate chooses to run for office. Heise is running against Shannon Price for Supervisor, and Don Schnettler is running for Trustee. Make no mistake, this lawsuit was targeted at Kurt Heise, but Don Schnettler made the same mistake, and is now collateral damage. Both are honorable men, both have run clean campaigns based on issues, but both made the same harmless mistake.

The form in question is an Affidavit of Identity. It contains the name, birthday, address, phone number, how many years the candidate has lived in the county, and other identifying information. Heise, and Schnettler had the whole form correct, except for one little box. They forgot to mark what voting precinct within the township that they vote in. But for one little box, they are now off the ballot, because of the lawsuit brought by Carl Berry on behalf of Shannon Price.

This information means nothing. The whole form was correct in both cases but they lacked one little number. The number 12. Both Heise, and Schnettler vote in precinct #12, and they failed to disclose that to the good people of Plymouth Township. Because of this, Carl Berry claims that all township residents would be irreparably harmed if Heise, and Schnettler are not removed from the ballot.

Do you feel irreparably harmed because you weren't told that Heise, and Schnettler vote in precinct 12? Did you ever wonder what precinct they vote in? Do you know what precinct Shannon Price votes in? Do you care? Probably not. You know that they both live in Plymouth Township, and you know that they both have lived here considerably longer than the year and a half that Price has lived here. What precinct they vote in is inconsequential as far as the voters should be concerned.

This never should have come to a lawsuit in the first place, as it was Plymouth Township Clerk, Nancy Conzelman's responsibility to review the Affidavit of Identity for each candidate, to ascertain whether it was properly filled out, before she submitted it to the Wayne County Clerk, as approved for the ballot. So she was absolutely negligent in her sworn duties as Clerk, and many folks think that because she supports Price, she was willfully negligent. Only her, and Shannon Price know for sure. Either way, this whole affair reflects very poorly upon her character, and her ability to do her job.

In any event, this lawsuit went to court, and the judge immediately threw it out, ruling that this error would not cause irreparable harm to Plymouth Township voters, and township residents thought it was all over. Not so. The case was appealed, and the court of appeals reversed the decision. So now we are left with what Supervisor Shannon Price, wanted all along. He wants you to have one choice for Supervisor. Himself. He does not want the voters to have a choice. There is no honor in that. This action shows that he has a complete lack of respect for Plymouth Township voters.

When you go to the polls for the August 2nd Primary to vote for Plymouth Township Supervisor, instead of seeing two names to choose from, you'll now only see one. You'll only see Shannon Price on the ballot for a half million dollar term. Shouldn't you have a choice for your half million dollars? Shouldn't you get to decide who gets your tax dollars? Price says no.

To be honest, Heise, and Schnettler should have been more careful in filling out this form. It was their mistake pure and simple. It was a mistake though. It was a careless mistake, and nobody was harmed, but Price capitalized on it. He seized the opportunity, and Carl Berry was his willing cohort. Now the township voters have been harmed.

This is not a case of these men having invalid signatures on their nominating petitions, they both had more than enough qualified residents sign their petitions. This is not a case of forged petitions, and this is not like the forged signatures that were the undoing of Thaddeus McCotter. This was a simple, honest mistake, on a document that absolutely nobody looks at when deciding who to vote for. There was no malice in this mistake. The only malice that was perpetrated, was by appointed Supervisor, Shannon Price, and his cohort, Carl Berry, who is a well known Republican operative, and self identified supporter of Shannon Price.

I'll be honest, the malice was in my mind, not so much perpetrated upon Heise and Schnettler, as much as it was against the voters of Plymouth Township. Win or lose, Heise and Schnettler are gonna be fine. They'll not starve, or lack for jobs. Plymouth Township voters are the ones left out in the cold. Plymouth Township voters are the ones left without a choice for Supervisor, and one less choice for Trustee.

You can thank Shannon Price, and Carl Berry for that. They, and they only, are the ones who have decided by themselves that Plymouth Township voters deserve only one name on the ballot for Supervisor. This goes way beyond the politics of personal destruction, and has progressed to holding the voters hostage. The taxpayers of Plymouth Township have been disenfranchised in this election, and it is a direct result of the actions of Shannon Price, and Carl Berry.

So why did they stoop to this level? There are a lot of theories. Maybe they think township voters are too stupid to be able to make an educated choice at the polls. Maybe they felt really bad about their chances for winning. Maybe it's just a case of win at all costs, and taxpayers be damned. Either way, this plays out like one of the rigged elections that Hugo Chavez or Fidel Castro used to hold. It's a darn shame it has come to this. It's embarrassing. As a proud Republican, I am truly embarrassed for the way these two members of my party are acting.

Price and Berry don't care how mad the voters are either, because they know that a number of voters will never become aware of their dirty little deed, and will simply vote for the only person they see on the ballot. As for the angry voters? Price has four years to figure that out, and he'll be about a half million dollars richer at that point. A half million taxpayer dollars richer. Money and greed will drive some men to do some pretty shady things, and this is one of them.

I remember actively supporting, and voting for Ronald Reagan when Shannon Price was still worried about getting cooties from the girls in elementary school. I was proud to call myself a Republican, and even more proud of how he helped shape the guiding principals of our country, and of our Republican Party. I guarantee you that President Reagan would be ashamed of the actions of Shannon Price.

To be honest, people like Shannon Price, and Carl Berry, with their actions against the voters of this township, are going to drive people right out of the Republican Party moving forward. They have turned this election into an ugly business, and that will turn off a lot of folks. It has also turned people who were once friends, into enemies.

Fellow Plymouth Township Republicans who once were friends, are now backbiting each other, and I can tell you with certainty, that Shannon Price is directly responsible for this. He has lived in our township for just over a year, and he has completely fractured the local Republicans, who were for the most part, a very united bunch. He has turned friend against friend, and he has done this for his own personal gain. That is why people are so angry, and that is why Shannon Price, and Carl Berry are currently being attacked unmercifully on social media. They are the two, who are ultimately responsible. They brought this upon themselves, and they brought this upon our community.

So what's next? Both Don Schnettler, and Kurt Heise have indicated that they will run a write in campaign, but make no mistake, that is a tough road to hoe. The thing about it though, is the anger that I have seen on social media, and in talking to folks around town is very telling. I'm not necessarily convinced that this was a wise move on Price's part. This deal could blow up in his face. People want to have a say in their government. People want to have a choice. Shannon Price has denied them that choice, and when members of our community begin to find out what went down, there will be backlash. The question is whether that backlash will show up at the polls. Price is betting that folks will throw up their arms, and give up. He is betting that by August 2nd, folks will forget what he has done, and vote for the only name on the ballot.

There are a lot of people who were willing to excuse Price's obvious carpetbag into the township a year ago, to take the vacated seat of Richard Reaume. There were even people willing to look the other way when it became obvious that Price's appointment was a shady deal set up by Treasurer Ron Edwards, who is the former most hated man in the township. There were folks who urged people to give Price a chance. There were those who believed Price when he promised he was going to listen to the people, talk to the people, be transparent, and make his case for being elected to the position he was appointed to. Those people are now some of the angriest people out there, because Price just made a fool out of them. He decided to make his case to a judge on a technicality, instead of making his case to the community, based on his job performance.

So yes, there is anger, and bitterness. Honest people have worked hard on the campaigns of Heise and Schnettler, and they feel that the rug was pulled out from under them. There are also honest people who trusted Shannon Price, and his word, and they feel like they were thrown under the bus by the guy they defended. They are also angry, because in the end, he made fools of them. They lost friends because of him, and he made them look like fools. I can understand both sides.

Here is the thing though. The anger has to end, and positive action has to rule the day. I would say this to those who are angry at Mr. Price, and Mr. Berry. You have a right to be mad, you have a right to feel cheated, but you also have a responsibility to act. You have an obligation as good citizens to take matters into your own hands, and make an informed choice. You can allow these two men to have their way, or you can send a message that as voters, you will not be played as fools.

Follow the example of Kurt Heise & Don Schnettler. These two men were wronged, and that is obvious. They were wronged, but you never saw them lash out, and attack the two men responsible. They pointed out the facts of the case, and they moved on. There were no personal attacks from Heise and Schnettler, and by golly, nobody would blame them had they done so. They stayed professional, and they stayed above the fray. I urge folks to follow their example.

If you are angry, the best thing to do, is to write in the names of the two candidates who were removed from the ballot on this technicality. That will send a message. It is far better to do that, than to take out your frustrations on social media, which many, including myself have done. I suggest that folks follow the example that Heise, and Schnettler have set, and move on to the next positive action.

Instead of spending time attacking them on social media, the prudent thing will be to call your neighbors and friends in our township, and let them know what has happened, and let them decide for themselves if they feel that it was right for Price to remove any choice they had as voters.

If the facts are laid on the table, and the voters understand what has been done to them, the right and just thing will happen on August 2nd. People are smart, and if made aware, they will see right through these misdeeds. The key, is making them aware. I am urging people to put aside any hatred for Shannon Price, and Carl Berry, and use that energy for something positive. I am urging people to use that positive energy to lift up the candidates that you support. Negative energy will yield negative results, and we have seen that prove to be true for years. Now is the time for positive energy.

It has been said that holding hatred and resentments in your heart, is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die. It ain't gonna happen, and as far as Shannon Price, and Carl Berry are concerned, they don't care anyway. Take your anger, and turn it into action. Positive action will yield positive results for the people of Plymouth Township...