Township Supervisor Shannon Price Willing To Beg, Borrow, And Steal To Win Election

It is now officially election season in Plymouth Township, and the man who was appointed Plymouth Township Supervisor back in March, is currently working overtime to try and actually get elected to the job. Supervisor Shannon Price has been a busy fella, and it looks like he is willing to beg, borrow, or steal to get elected.

Beg:

We all know that Mr. Price is constantly begging for campaign money, no matter where in the election cycle he happens to be. Heck, he had a fundraiser literally weeks after he was appointed, in a hotly disputed vote, to replace former Supervisor Richard Reaume. This was only three months into his second term on the Wayne County Board of Commissioners.

So basically, all the campaign money he begged for to get elected to his $70,000 a year part time Commissioner job, was thrown out with the dishwater, when he gave up that seat to get a more lucrative full time job as Plymouth Township Supervisor. I wonder how all of the folks who contributed to his campaign felt about that? I wonder how all of the folks who voted for him, trusting him to be their voice for the next two years felt when he bolted after only two months.

He begged for money and votes, and three months later, left those folks holding the bag. He literally had to move mountains to get it done too. In the space of two months, he had to get his house ready to sell, and find another house in Plymouth Township to buy, in order to actually qualify for the full time position of supervisor. Yes, he carpetbagged from Canton, to Plymouth Township. He did all of this while supposedly working for our taxpayers on the Wayne County Commission.

Borrow:

Supervisor Price is also willing to borrow, in order to achieve his political goals. In this instance, he borrowed former Wayne County Commissioner, Laura Cox, who is not from Plymouth Township, in order to beg for more money. He is no longer begging for money to run for Wayne County Commission, but rather begging for money to actually get elected to the Plymouth Township Supervisor seat he was appointed to.

Why did he borrow Laura Cox from Livonia? There is an easy answer. He doesn’t know anybody credible in Plymouth Township to headline a campaign fundraiser. His only friends in our community are Treasurer Ron Edwards, and Clerk Nancy Conzelman, and their reputation these days is so tarnished, that they could never attract the kinds of donors that would satisfy Mr. Price’s unending lust for campaign money.

So he trotted in Livonia State Rep. Laura Cox to host a fundraiser, “In Honor of Supervisor Shannon G. Price.” This is the very same Laura Cox who just got implicated in the sleazy Wayne County Commissioner’s lifetime pension scandal. Of course, Mr. Price brought her in before this scandal became such a huge public relations disaster for Mrs. Cox.

If I was a taxpayer, I would be asking Mr. Price why he never lifted a finger to stop this political money-grab? Maybe he was too busy campaigning? Maybe he was busy putting the final coat of paint on his new digs in Plymouth Township? What the heck, it was a part time job anyway, he can’t be expected to actually pay too much attention to the taxpayer’s money. It’s part time.

Anyway, I’m sure it seemed like a grand idea to team up with the Cox Machine at the time, and I’m sure he was successful in the money-grab as well. So successful in fact, that he is repaying Mrs. Cox, by hiring her husband Mike Cox to do some fancy lawyering at the Township Hall. Yes, apparently, our Plymouth Township lawyer is not quite good enough anymore, so the taxpayers are now paying for our current lawyer, but also, the Mike Cox Law Firm as well. We now have a team of fancy lawyers in the township, thanks to our new Supervisor, Shannon Price. Did I mention that Supervisor Price used to work for Mike Cox? I’m sure it’s just a coincidence, that Mr. Cox is now working for Shannon, and his wife is now headlining campaign events for him as well. Just a happy coincidence. Yeah right.

Steal:

So we have covered Mr. Price’s begging, and we have covered the borrowing aspect as well, now we’ll get to the really heinous stuff. Let’s get to the stealing. Yes, Mr. Price is a thief. A common thief. He’s like the Boss Hogg of Wayne County politics.

In his latest case of thievery, he has stolen credit for the work of others. In a misguided attempt to cherry pick credit for an MDOT road project, he has lied about the involvement of Plymouth Township, Wayne County Commissioner Joe Barone, (Barone replaced Price on the Wayne County Commission) and State Representative Kurt Heise.

This whole issue began last summer, when Representative Heise’s office was contacted about safety concerns at the intersection of Ann Arbor Road, and McClumpha. At the time, the thought was that Ann Arbor Road was a county road, and therefore the responsibility of the county, but Rep. Heise did some digging, and soon found out that it is actually a state road, which makes it the responsibility of MDOT, and by extension, the responsibility of State Representative Heise. Long story short, Rep. Heise then began the process of directing MDOT to do a survey of traffic in that intersection. MDOT’s responsibility, meant it was Heise’s responsibility.

In doing things the proper way, he included Supervisor Price, and Commissioner Barone in all of the communications between all of the parties involved. He updated them on progress, at all critical points in the process. Again, moving forward, MDOT ultimately worked with Wayne County to do the necessary traffic survey, and the conclusion was in agreement with Rep. Heise’s view that the volume of traffic at that intersection meets requirements for a traffic light. So now the next phase of the project will move forward, ultimately resulting in a traffic light at that busy intersection.

This is an important project. There have been several bad accidents at this intersection, and Rep. Heise handled this issue, as far as I can tell, in a very professional, and expedient manner. Again, he kept all involved parties in the loop, as this process moved forward, including concerned Plymouth Township residents.

So this is where the sleaziness comes to light. Because Rep. Heise, who is also a candidate running against Mr. Price for Plymouth Township Supervisor, made sure to keep all parties in the loop on the progress of this project, this inadvertently allowed Shannon Price to swoop in, and take partial credit for this important project, once the okay had been given to move forward.

Yes, Shannon Price, who as far as anybody can tell, didn’t lift a finger to move this thing forward, went on the Township Facebook Page, and on the Township E-News letter and posted the following:

TRAFFIC LIGHT AT McCLUMPHA ONE STEP CLOSER:
“Due to high traffic volumes and a number of dangerous accidents, earlier this year the Township began working with the Governor’s Office, MDOT, Wayne County Commissioner Joe Barone, and Wayne County Roads in an effort to get a traffic light installed at Ann Arbor Road and McClumpha. Last month, Commissioner Barone had Wayne County Roads collect traffic counts along both roads, and we are happy to announce that the intersection did meet the requirements to move to the next phase for a traffic light.

The next phase will include additional traffic counts and collection of information during peak hours. If MDOT agrees with our request that a light is needed, intersection improvements like turn lanes will be required. Therefore, MDOT will be applying for a grant to help fund the necessary intersection improvements. We will continue to keep you updated on the progress of this very important project.”

To anyone looking at that announcement, it would appear that Price, and Barone were the two entities that drove this project, when in actuality, it was Heise who did most of the background work, most of the work with MDOT, and kept all of the parties included at the critical junctures. In doing my research, it certainly appears that while not initiating this project, Barone appears to have made a call or two, checking on the progress after being contacted by Heise once the project began, but I have seen no evidence that Barone commissioned this traffic study at all, and quite honestly, I haven’t seen Mr. Barone running around claiming credit for Heise’s project either. I have made a couple of calls to Barone’s office, for answers on this issue, but he has not returned calls for comment, so one can only guess how he feels about Price’s ludicrous claims.

Did Barone know that Price was claiming credit for the both of them on this project? Only Mr. Barone knows the answer to this question. I really don’t know the guy. I’ve only met him once, and it was only a handshake from a politician to a Plymouth Township voter. I’m sure he has no idea who I am, and I certainly have no idea about what kind of guy he is. He is either complicit with Mr. Price’s lie, or he knew nothing about it, and was blindsided by the whole thing.

For now I guess, I have to give Mr. Barone the benefit of the doubt, and assume that he knew nothing about Mr. Price sleazily stealing credit for work he didn’t do. It doesn’t help though, that much like Price, he neglected to return phone calls to answer questions about the traffic light, as well as straighten this mess out.

I also reached out to Rep. Heise for comment, and here was his response:

“Ann Arbor Road is the ‘old’ M-14 which means any traffic signal there is the responsibility of the State of Michigan/MDOT. As the Michigan State Rep., I directed MDOT to conduct a traffic study at the intersection as soon as the Beck Road work was complete. I made this request over the summer and informed the township and county of my intentions. The study was done during the week of November 10. MDOT directed Wayne County Roads to install the traffic count wires and gather the data, which was then provided to MDOT for further action. It is common practice for MDOT to employ county resources for such studies on state roads. For the township to credit one individual with moving this project forward is misleading and disingenuous. Installation of this signal is supposed to be a team effort between MDOT, the county, and the township. It’s a shame that residents are only getting a small part of the story; they expect us to be working together, even where political rivalries exist.”

By his statement, you can clearly see the frustration of Mr. Heise, as he tries to do his job, while dealing with the political shenanigans created by Supervisor Price, who seems to be spending more time doing photo-ops, tree lightings, and campaign events, than he is, doing the work he was appointed to do. Maybe he thinks he still has a part time job.

Many would say that this little fiasco is silly, and petty, and I’d find it hard to disagree, except for one thing. Who made it silly and petty? The very guy who had nothing to do with any of the work. Shannon Price. You never saw Heise out tooting his horn, and you never saw Barone out tooting his horn either. Until Mr. Price inserted himself into this thing, it was a classic case of elected officials doing their job the way it was supposed to be done. Price is the one who decided to borrow the spotlight, steal the credit, and soon he’ll be begging for your vote. Make no mistake about another thing. Had this project not gotten done, Price would have been screaming from the highest mountain that Heise failed our township residents. That my friends, is how Shannon Price rolls.

In the end, you can definitely see how Shannon Price is willing to beg, borrow, and steal his way to an election win. He chose to use his office, and his title as Plymouth Township Supervisor, to pick winners and losers as well. Mr. Price loves to be the guy picking the winners and losers.

Mike Mitchell funneled thousands of dollars into Price’s campaign coffers, so Price made him a winner in creating a $60,000 job for him. Rizzo was a huge contributor to Price’s campaign, so Rizzo got the new trash hauling contract, making our old trash hauler, Duncan, who did not contribute, the loser.

In this case, he couldn’t allow his competitor, Kurt Heise to get a win, so he decided to make himself, and Commissioner Joe Barone the winners. The only problem he encountered though, is honesty. Actually, it’s dishonesty. Dishonesty, and a guy like myself, who is willing to shine some sunlight on his sleazeball tactics.

Shannon Price did this to steal credit, he did this to try and bolster his sagging support in Plymouth Township, and he did this to finally get a win, because his losses in the township have been many, since his appointment, and he must surely be getting very nervous about his reelection chances.

I understand all this, I really do, it’s politics. I guess I just have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that he would stoop so low, to try and steal a win. Stealing credit for another man’s work is about as low as a person can go. Implicating another man, Joe Barone, in the lie isn’t much better. I just can’t believe the guy would be so stupid, and narcissistic, to think he’d actually get away with it. It’s dirty rotten politics, and that is what Shannon Price has been doing since the moment he set foot in Plymouth Township last February. He made specific promises when he applied for this job, and he has broken almost every single one of them, and it is threatening our township’s future.

There is a primary election coming in August, and it’s going to shape the future of our township. It’s an important election, and I hope Plymouth Township residents pay attention, and educate themselves on the candidates before the election. I hope they pay attention to the issues, and not the photo-ops, and I hope they pay attention to the facts, and not the lies...