Hamlin Township, November 2025: The Forensic Audit Arrives

[XLFD]

After the November 13, 2025, meeting of the Hamlin Township Board, the Ludington Torch can now truly say that we have attended several meetings of that public body over the last year.  The meeting I first attended was the regular December meeting of 2024, with a new supervisor coming on and a longstanding township clerk on her way out and chaos in the air as the new supervisor intent on reform faced the inertia of a majority enamored by the status quo.  Ironically, the treasurer that would be appointed in January, Sheila Genter, would receive only one no vote, and that was from the supervisor.

Genter has since exceeded expectations. When this reporter looks at the 26 pages of minutes from the September 11 meeting I was at, I see an impartial and complete rendition of what actually occurred at the meeting.  I wasn't at the last meeting, but the October minutes almost makes me think I was when I read it because it captures the essence of what happened more than any of the usual summations of action items you find in the minutes of other public bodies in the area.  This completeness is very helpful when trying to capture the nuances and leaves a permanent public record of what actually transpired in the hot dog-making butcher's block known as Hamlin Town Hall over the course of this year.  

The five trustees at the table:  Johnaine Gurzynski, Treasurer Susan Ptaszenski, Supervisor Marta Greenslait, Clerk Sheila Genter, Chris Cook.

This November's meeting will be remembered for a while because the much-anticipated forensic audit was front-and center.  It appears to have been a mixed bag of tricks for all, but it left some indelible impressions.  Covering a three-year time period between the ends of April 2022 through March 2025, the results are seen starting on p. 24, with Sarah Kanitz of Lake Michigan CPA Services giving a presentation at the meeting with her findings.

If you review the report, you will see some high error rates during that time between the records of the clerk (Catherine Lewis) and Treasurer Susan Ptaszenski, in the realm of reconciliation and proper account numbers, with some error rates above 50% and even one up to 100%.  Despite the misallocations and inconsistent record keeping between the two officials over this period, Kanitz would indicate that the mistakes made did not seem to be due to anything fraudulent or otherwise with unlawful intent.  

Instead, she indicated that the treasurer and former clerk appear to have been hampered by their use of green ledger paper of a kind she really hasn't really seen used since the turn of the millennium.  Thus, it was not uncommon to see entries of similar amounts entered into different months by a pairing that didn't always have the best communications between them or apparently have all accounting standards in common.  The impression given was that the errors were mostly reconcilable over time, and not a scheme theme consistent with fraud.

New Clerk Genter briefly displayed and explained her electronic records, encouraging Ptaszenski to get trained in 21st century accounting.  At the September meeting, the treasurer was reluctant to provide public records of her office to the rest of the board, indicating that she definitely needs training in the FOIA too.  One of the twelve recommendations in the report was for further training (3 months), and the auditor indicated her business offered such training, likely at a reasonable rate, for the forensic audit itself was at a reasonable $5000.  A similar forensic audit of five years done at PM Township three years ago by Plante-Moran cost $40,000.

During the audit, Ptaszenski would defend her bookkeeping style. and with Trustee Gurzynski, avoided talking about error rates, and emphasized the overall findings showing no wrongdoing.  Clerk Genter would be mostly sympathetic with these stances but mostly hopeful for the opportunity it would bring to get the treasurer on-line and more transparent.  Supervisor Greenslait methodically asked about a dozen questions to Kanitz, most designed to get Genter's points across and make the extra point that the township would try as best they could to adopt the dozen recommendations offered by Kanitz to fix issues in the future.

It was Trustee Chris Cook who made the most poignant point of the night towards the end of the discussion by noting that he had sat there for the three years covered by the audit and was told by two of his peers that the numbers between them were reconciling with each other, when they actually weren't.  His sense of public betrayal was sincere, felt by many in the audience of about 40 people and whose sentiment was echoed by several in the second public comment.  

The audit's importance drained some of the oxygen of other items of business, but there were still some healthy discussions and split votes.  Gurzynski would vote against the ordinance amending short term rentals.  The legality of HT's Planning Commission was in question following a review of their founding documents filed over a half century ago, so they voted to confirm that establishment with a 3-2 split, the "Ski team" of Ptaszenski and Gurzynski indicating in their comments that there was no need to do so at this point.  The other item dealing with the HTPC was tabled for later.

The item other than the audit getting the most attention was reviewing how they could save some of the money they lose by running the transfer station for the township's waste.  The supervisor was hoping to get the service closer to revenue neutral by suggesting a rate increase for use from $20 to $75 per year.  The Ski team emphasized that the steep increase would hit many in the township hard and cause them to look for other alternatives.  Greenslait countered by pointing at the current budget woes and the program's need to better sustain itself. 

As this item was to get input, nothing would be done that night, but it will likely come back at a later date, perhaps with more research behind it and with an amount that doesn't nearly quadruple the cost.  The supervisor indicated that she planned on getting some cost reduction in the meantime by using larger dumpsters.

One of the more memorable points of the night came near the end with Trustee Gurzynski challenging the supervisor with a speech that was called "unjust authorized theatrics" on the agenda.  What followed was a list of grievances she felt important to share about how township leadership was acting.  When she was done, the almost-always stoic Greenslait deadpanned that she could refute every single point that was made in her peer's statement but didn't think it deserved her time at that point.  It likely didn't either, because it seemed like the language was theatrically complaining about the theatrics of one who does her best to be phlegmatic when the Ski team resorts to their own cheap theatrics.

After the meeting, I contacted Greenslait in order to see whether she could send me the refutation she hinted at, and it may be forthcoming.  In other matters, HT Assessor Derek Eaton magnanimously offered Zoning Administrator Zak Iverson to do some of his groundwork to save the township some money.  The noise issues with Stix were mostly put on the back burner as the audit was cooking, with upcoming court hearings coming up that may influence the path taken.

This would be reflected in the comments as well, several offering up their take on their impressions on the audit at the beginning, and echoing Cook's disappointment with being lied to towards the end.  About 14 spoke altogether, not all would be critical of the audit's findings and support the treasurer and/or former clerk.  Steve Wessels, managing director of the Mason County Road Commission would have the best comment of the night, explaining how the "controversy" with recent township road improvements and their effect on Hamlin's current budget woes came about and that the issues that arose could be explained without assigning any blame to past officers of the township, or present.  

Greg Collins would repeat his criticism from last meeting of having Ludington Councilor Kathy Winczewski show up in their committee reports in order to tell them her version of how things are going in Ludington.  His point is well-taken.  Kathy Winczewski's pollyannaish version of what's going on in Ludington is typically just a multiplication of the one good thing she closes every council meeting with.

Winczewski, Ludington's entry to the Ski team, failed to mention any of the seven concerns with city policy/actions brought up by Ludington citizens at the beginning of the last city council meeting in October, or the four at the beginning of last Monday's meeting.  Supervisor Greenslait, who has attended those meetings, should see a council that appears less divided than Hamlin's current board, but the better cohesiveness and teamwork often come with a price of officials less responsive to the diverse voices that come before them, officials who eventually forget who they are actually supposed to be serving

To better assist Hamlin Township residents in understanding what's really happening in Ludington, this reporter will try to attend as many township board meetings as possible to portray what's really happening in the City of Ludington by giving a more accurate status report during second comment, supplementing the councilor's status report. 

[dowland]

Thank you X for actually doing reporting and (always in depth) break down on both sides. Sadly with the mess PM township went through and Scottville just got done and the city of Ludington on with what's going with Andy's.  Our local media just glosses over to get the story out with no in depth reporting.

[XLFD]

Have you ever noticed that promising COLDNews reporters that try to de-gloss local public bodies behaving badly never seem able to keep their job?  Justin Cooper, Riley Kelly, and Marco Iafrate, talented COLDNews young reporters all, found out corporate news means never going after the city corporate or township corporate.  Or even corporate education, check out Marco's work at Independent News Service.  I won't be able to bust corrupt public officials' noggins forever and welcome such endeavors, welcome the new generation of real journalists who do it for love of the game.