Skip Maccarone Leaves Township Residents Stuck in the Snow

Everywhere you look around Shelby Township this winter, you can find desperate township residents struggling, in bitter cold temperatures, to push or dig their cars out of deep snow piles.

Old man winter hit us hard. Our township roads have never been worse than they are this year. As we drove around the township we wondered, why? Isn't there something that somebody can do to address this situation?

Then, suddenly, stories appeared in our local newspapers which talked about the township "considering" a plan to partner with the Road Commission of Macomb County (RCMC) on snow plowing. What's to consider? Why not just go ahead and get it done? The issue was even discussed during the Tuesday, March 4th Board of Trustees meeting and just in time. For on that very evening, our township got another five to six inches of snow.

Skip has said, time and again, that Shelby's roads are controlled by the Road Commission. He adds that the township is at the mercy of the Road Commission, and there is little that can be done about this. Despite what Maccarone has said, the facts tell a quite different story. The problem is that a lack of real leadership from Supervisor Maccarone is leaving all of us "stuck in the snow."

Oh sure, Skip is quick to take credit for needed road improvements like the 24 and Van Dyke intersection, which has been in the works for years. He is even eager to go on television talking about the the township's interior road repaving program - something begun before Skip even moved into our community. But when it comes to winter snow plowing on township roads, or receiving assistance to help out during heavy snow storms (and we've had plenty of them this year), Skip turns a deaf ear.

Here's the scoop...

In reading articles from the Macomb Daily and the Shelby/Utica News, we were surprised to learn that the Road Commission of Macomb County made an offer to Shelby Township way back in 2001 to form a "partnership" for winter snow removal. The Road Commission told Shelby Township (and other townships) that if the township put together a list of roads in need of plowing, and used township equipment (or outside snow contractors) to clear streets, the Road Commission would authorize the work, supervise to make sure the work got done, and then would pay the bill.

So under the Road Commission's plan, Shelby Township taxpayers would get needed winter road relief. The County would not do everything, and that is understandable given time and resources, but at least they were willing to help. So what's the problem?

The problem can be summarized in three words:
Supervisor Skip Maccarone.

Skip's failed leadership has resulted in a winter driving nightmare for township motorists.

Skip apparently didn't like the County's deal. He discounted the Road Commission’s offer outright. Either Skip didn't see road plowing as a priority, felt it was not a topic worthy of his time, or believed that he had better things spend his time (and our money) on. Whatever his reason or rationale, Skip did NOT take the Road Commission up on their offer to help.

Interestingly, while Skip Maccarone is quick to condemn and belittle Lansing lawmakers for cuts in Shelby Township's state revenue sharing, he did not embrace this County offer which would have addressed a serious issue (roads) and saved township taxpayers thousands of dollars. If your neighbor comes over and says that they will shovel your driveway and sidewalks for free all winter, would you say no? So why did Skip not jump at this offer?

Even worse, Skip failed to inform his fellow elected officials of the Road Commission's offer. For all of his talk about sending memos and e-mails to inform fellow Trustees, Skip's talk is just that: TALK.

This came to light during a rare daytime work session of the Board of Trustees. This is when we discovered that the County had floated the idea of helping with winter snow removal seven years ago, but got a flat NO from Maccarone. Macomb County Maintenance Superintendent Bob Mykytiak confirmed that the discussion with Maccarone did take place in 2001, but unlike Chesterfield Township and Clinton Township, Shelby Township turned down the offer.

When pressed about this serious issue, Skip finally confessed that he did know about this arrangement and that discussions did take place. He did that at the Tuesday, March 4th, 2008 Board of Trustees meeting. Instead of dealing with this like a public official, Maccarone retreated to what he knows best: being an attorney.

Skip said there were valid reasons why he did nothing. He said concerns about liability to the township and the lack of snow removal equipment put Shelby Township at a disadvantage. So, apparently he didn't see the need to pass the information on to other Board members for discussion about the viability of such a plan. Why not?

Shame on you Skip! Here again, you showed that you think you always know best and, once again, your arrogance has gotten the best of you!

Let's take a close look at Skip's argument against Road Commission assistance.

• He said the township is ill prepared to clear roads because we don't have the trucks and the staff to do it. That is true, and we don't think hiring additional staff, at an extra cost to taxpayers, is the issue here. But if the Road Commission pledges to reimburse our township to hire county-approved private contractors to plow roads, then what is issue? Are we missing something?

• As for Skip's media statements about liability, this word is being used as a cover excuse for inaction. As reported in newspapers, and discussed at the March 4, 2008 Board of Trustees meeting, both Chesterfield and Clinton Townships recognized the need and developed a workable plan with the County? If this is working for Chesterfield and Clinton, why won't it work for Shelby? If Clinton Township used private contractors on roads, and got reimbursed, then obviously liability was not a problem for them, or at least Clinton Township's Board of Trustees worked out their concerns collectively. But Shelby didn't — because Skip did not give them the opportunity. He simply said no, and moved on.

So Skip really has nothing to stand on here. If you watched the March 4th meeting, you could see he was uncomfortable talking about this. His characteristic bravado about "I am right" was absent during this discussion. Trustees questioned the snow issue, some knowing only what they have read in the newspapers, because Skip has never brought the County's offer to their attention. Trustees mentioned they had received several phone calls from angry residents about this, and demanded an explanation from Maccarone.

Skip tried to hide behind an e-mail that he received from the Road Commission that he (by admission) had not circulated to other Board members. This e-mail really didn't tackle the core issue, but instead was designed to try and deflect the discussion. Deflect as he may, the issue did surface about Skip being part of discussions regarding snow removal. It also surfaced that while Shelby residents suffer, Chesterfield and Clinton are getting some needed assistance.

Skip even tried blame all of our winter road problems on a lack of supplies at the County. He announced at the Marth 4th meeting, that Macomb County has a shortage of salt. However, on the evening news just a half-hour before the meeting, it was reported that that Macomb and Wayne Counties had ample supplies of salt, while Oakland County was running short.

So Skip got it wrong, and (to her credit) this was pointed out by Clerk Terri Kowal who set the record straight. Lack of salt is not the issue. Lack of leadership is.

The issue of snow removal and winter safety and security on our township roads is well documented. Skip's refusal to take appropriate action, or even share this with other elected officials, should raise concerns with every township taxpayer.

However, when thinking about this, we couldn't help but wonder if, perhaps, there is more here than meets the public eye? What could really be behind this?

Maybe Skip had other (more important?) things on his mind? Maybe he was too distracted with his plan to develop a massive $50 million dollar (taxpayer-financed) municipal campus (with new police/court building, new library with amphitheater, new recreation center, new cable television studio, new radio station, and upgrades to the existing township offices) to bother with this? Maybe Skip felt spending more than $2 million for two pedestrian bridges was a better way of getting his name in the newspapers? What else would explain Skip's indifference to an offer of FREE assistance from the Road Commission of Macomb County?

Shelby taxpayers expect township officials to take leadership on issues, not just spend every penny of our tax money.

While it is true that Skip Maccarone has the spending element of politics down pat, his leadership is not up to the standards Shelby residents expect.

When Shelby Township taxpayers can’t drive to work on our roads, so that we can get our paychecks, so that we can pay our increased taxes and assessments, to support Supervisor Maccarone’s bloated spending, then there is something seriously wrong.

We said it before and will say it again: 2008 is our chance for change in the Supervisor's office. If you want join our campaign to STOP SKIP in 2008, send an e-mail to stopskip08@aol.com.