A Quorum Walks Out of an Attorney's Office: Board Members Facing Recall Now Face Open Meetings Act Lawsuit

[XLFD]

While we normally are concerned with keeping Mason County's public bodies accountable, transparent, and operating lawfully, we sometimes visit other Michigan communities that have problems which arise from public servants behaving badly.  And when servants are not acting good and faithful they deserve the crisp taste of the whip, at least that's what my dominatrix always tells me.

Let's transport ourselves south to the Charter Township of Comstock in Kalamazoo County, where there is an active effort in getting four board members recalled.  No specific grounds are required for recall in Michigan. To get a recall on the ballot in Michigan, recall supporters must collect signatures equal in number to 25% of voters in the jurisdiction in the last gubernatorial election.

On November 20, 2025, four separate petitions submitted by recall organizer William Knight cited that Clerk Nicole Beauchamp, Bob Pratt, Terry McIver, and Kristi Cherry's votes to end the moratorium on large-scale renewable energy projects in Comstock Township were the reason for the recall.  Joshua Engberts submitted a recall petition on December 1, 2025, citing Jerry Amos' votes against adopting the Board's attorney use policy and funding weather warning sirens, and his refusal to support a formal censure of the Comstock Township treasurer as reasons for the recall, additional recalls were made for the Supervisor Ben Marin and Treasurer Sandy Bloomfield, bringing all members of the board up for recall.

The board has seven members; the four members being recalled from November have all retained the Tibble Law Firm to address legal concerns.  They all decided to go there at the same time and were caught leaving the office together and seen talking amongst themselves outside of the building.  One can see that these aren't the sharpest public officials when one considers that the Open Meetings Act (OMA) considers such non-chance gatherings of a quorum of a public body to discuss recall issues (like this appears to be) is a violation of the law and the public trust.

And that's what citizen activist Autumn Smith thought when she saw this take place, took a picture and followed up with an OMA lawsuit filed against the beleaguered four Comstock officials.  Smith, pictured below at a recent CCT Board meeting berating the members for not having their oaths of office filed properly (in true XLFD fashion), actually resides in neighboring Calhoun County, but has taken an interest in the troubled charter township due to the deafness of the board before and during these recalls.

In a wry twist, yesterday the CCT Board held a special meeting including an ethics presentation by the township's attorney, when Smith's process server gave a short introduction during public comment and distributed four copies of the lawsuit claiming the unethical act of violating the OMA.

Cherry, Pratt, McIver and Beauchamp (the four served) appealed the recall petitions in court on Jan. 9. A judge’s decision is expected on or before Feb. 8, per court documents -- signature gathering efforts are on hold until that time.  Autumn Smith filed the lawsuit against the four board members in Kalamazoo County’s Eighth District Court on Jan. 8, documents show and plans to represent herself in the matter.  A photo of the group outside the firm talking is an exhibit in the lawsuit.

Smith said her lawsuit, Smith v. Comstock Charter Township Board Members, is seeking fines and injunctive relief to enforce transparency and rebuild community trust.  A local news channel asked each of the four trustees for comment after yesterday's special meeting, two gave no comment, the two others effectively avoided the issue at hand.  Taking the Fifth when you're being accused of serious OMA violations does not gain trust with the public or make others from outside the township sympathetic with your upcoming recall.  

The likely defense to be used in this OMA lawsuit will be that the officials gathered inside the building with their attorney separately so as not to have a quorum and that they were discussing something other than official business when they were seen outside chatting amongst themselves.  A judge will be forced to believe that they were exchanging quiche recipes and making a high-cost attorney meet them separately even when their cases are effectively the same.  

Any reasonable person who sees four members of the same board gather together for more than a few seconds, outside of a law office where they had a meeting at the same time with their common attorney, would come to the same conclusion as Autumn Smith.  She should be able to get to the truth by taking depositions with all the defendants and agents of the law firm, but the guilt is fairly evident if she has pictures and videos of the gathering before, during, and after the attorney conference.

The four trustees are already all guilty of not caring about the appearance of impropriety they presented that day, and their ignorance should be duly rewarded by successful recalls or their needed resignations.  Pay your fines for breaking the OMA law and make way for others more qualified to represent the citizens of Comstock Charter Township.