Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


The Howell Township Clerk has resigned.

The Board of Trustees met Monday night and accepted the resignation from Clerk Jean Graham, who has served in the role for the past eight years. Her term isn’t up until November of 2024, along with the rest of the board.

A memo read “After careful consideration, I have made the decision to resign my position as Howell Township Clerk. Please accept this as a formal notice of my resignation from the position of Clerk at Howell Township, Effective August 4th my last day”.

A request for comment by WHMI on the resignation was not returned by Graham. There was very minimal discussion on the topic during the meeting and she didn’t offer any reason as to why she was leaving. Some members wished her well in retirement.
At a meeting back in February, Graham got very emotional and raised concerns about a hostile work environment and treatment from some elected officials. After that a sub-committee, versus an outside firm, was created to interview employees and examine various issues within the workplace as well as a lack of communication - namely between Supervisor Mike Coddington, Treasurer Jonathan Hohenstein, and Graham.

The sub-committee was comprised of board members Matthew Counts, Jeff Smith, and Bob Wilson, who maintains he wasn’t allowed to interview anybody during the investigation.

A report was later issued with various recommendations to bring cohesiveness back to the office, which is attached.

It stated there was not any evidence of workplace harassment by the treasurer toward the clerk but there was evidence of low employee morale and personality conflicts that should be resolved. The report further stated that feedback received was that Graham tends to lash out to staff as well as residents when she is stressed and focusing on positive interactions with staff and residents would be very beneficial in improving morale within the Township Hall. The report also stated that Coddington will take a more hands-on approach at the Township Hall, as he is reportedly rarely in the office.

Meanwhile, the Clerk position will be posted. Any applicants must be a resident of the township. The Board will have 45 days from the date of Graham’s resignation to make an appointment. That person would serve until the November 2024 election and would need to run for election to retain the seat.

In other action at the meeting, Wilson had two items on the agenda he described as a “fishy” – a drain project at Pioneer Cemetery and the seasonal contract for grass cutting there.

The board approved the drain project with certain design specifications to help address flooding and keep vaults from floating out of the ground. The job went to Bowman Excavating. Wilson asserts it was not the best or lowest bid and was not done to engineering specifications. The bid was approved by the board 6-1 for nearly $70,000 dollars, which he alleges was encouraged by Graham who he says is lifelong friends and neighbors with the Bowmans.

Wilson said the drain was supposed to be put in at some places 12-feet deep and below ground water levels to eliminate water in graves. After visiting the cemetery, Wilson said he discovered the project scope had been significantly altered and changed, with no board input or approval. He says the change was to not bury the drain pipe the 12-feet down like originally planned and the pipe was installed at less than 3-feet below surface level. Wilson says that means the discharge does not go back to the rear of the property, as it was supposed to per the original bid. He further said he talked to people that indicated the new job would have been around $20,000 – resulting in a $50,000 discrepancy.

Wilson stated during the meeting that the scope of the project changed with 80% less work and material going in and out. He said he hopes the company hasn’t been paid because they didn’t do $70,000 of work, adding cemetery maintenance indicated what was done won’t work and they’re not happy about it. Wilson noted the original design was supposed to take care of groundwater - not surface water - and the discharge is on the top of a hill, not at the back of the property on the bottom. He asked what the board wanted to do and said he felt the project should have been re-bid due to the major changes.

It was stated during the meeting that the work has been done but the payment hasn’t been made.

Members also went through some of the initial specifications during the meeting from their engineering firm, Spicer Group. A letter was referenced that was said to imply that specifications out in the field.

Trustee Jeff Smith said he felt Wilson did raise a valid point about what was bid and the work done, and had concerns about things being changed on site. He noted they spent a lot of time, energy, and money so the cemetery would be improved and now they could be back to square one.

Wilson pushed to get the project re-bid and pay Bowman accordingly based on those results. The Board ultimately decided to organize a meeting between all of the parties involved to get clarity on what happened and how it happened and then move forward.

Wilson also raised various issues with lawn maintenance at the cemetery and the contract for that, which he says is not being done and the company is being overpaid. Some other members agreed the amount seemed high, but also that it’s not always an easy job and they didn’t necessarily feel there anything fishy about it. Following discussion, the board determined it would see if any contract exists with the current provider. If not, the contract will be re-bid. If one does exist, then they’ll wait and include it in the township’s master list for the service.

The email from Wilson about both items is attached. More information about the drain project included in the board packet. That link is provided.