Newletters

Township Uses Taxpayer Money for Self-Promotional Newsletters

Have you noticed how little news Hayes Township is giving you in its 4 page newsletter, Hayes Township Voice? Each issue is filled with their own photographs, announcements for a book club run by the clerk as her own personal hobby, quotes, page-filling fluff, and now testimonials about the Board members, by  fellow board members, about how wonderful they are. Sounds like campaigning to us. No information about the budget, their nearly non-existent office hours, the terrible audits, or other controversies going on in the Township. The Board spends over $10,000 per year on these newsletters full of nothing. That’s money that could be spent on roads or roadside pick up.

In contrast, Eveline Township’s (also in Charlevoix County) newsletter, below, is informative without a hint of self-promotional material. No fluff. No waste of tax dollars. No campaigning.

The repeats of the board members’ photos alone could fill five pages.

The book club by Clerk Kristin Baranski could fill one whole issue.