Governor Says More Specifics Needed to Remove Clinton Twp. Clerk from Office

Clinton Township Clerk George Fitzgerald will remain at his post unless the governor’s office receives more information from the township to support its request for his removal.

The board of trustees voted to censure Fitzgerald on June 4 and gave him the choice to resign or face removal by the governor. When Fitzgerald refused to resign, the bi-partisan board, with the exception of Fitzgerald, voted to file a formal request with the governor’s office to remove him due to misconduct in office.

The board also so as to avoid physical interaction with his staff given allegations of bullying, foul language and threatening behavior toward his employees.

“I received notice from the governor’s office after hours yesterday that they are not going to act on the original submission claiming that the affidavit I submitted was not specific enough as to the claims against Mr. Fitzgerald and that Mr. Fitzgerald was not served with the charge,” said Cannon in a prepared statement. “I intend to rebut these claims immediately and resubmit the complaint and affidavit with additional information that should satisfy the governor’s office.”

In a letter to Cannon (see a PDF in the gallery), the governor’s legal counsel lists three reasons for the state’s decision, one being that the affidavit submitted “does not offer any specificity in regard to the particular acts alleged, or the date and place of their occurrence.” 

Cannon said this information is available and will be sent to the governor’s office when the complaint is re-submitted.

Upon learning of this development, Fitzgerald said: "It's all politics. The only reason I am being attacked is it's an election year and Bob Cannon and I have been at odds since 1994. This just shows the maliciousness and it's not working. I'm trying to be the best elected official I can be. I am a good clerk and he is trying to hinder me in doing my job."

The second issue cited by the state was the manner in which the clerk was made aware of the “charge” against him. Cannon said all material was hand delivered to Fitzgerald when the complaint was initially filed but that he'd have it done "in another way” this time to satisfy the governor’s office.

Fitzgerald confirmed that he received these documents, but rather than hand delivery, they were given to him in an envelope at a meeting.

The final issue raised by the state was the affidavit itself. Signed only by Cannon, the affidavit states that while the supervisor was “familiar with the allegations” against the clerk and that these allegations were consistent with the human resource director’s findings, there was “no personal knowledge of the alleged ‘workplace harassment.’”

Cannon said he took this to mean that the employees who had originally reported “workplace harassment” would have to sign the affidavit as well.

With the holiday weekend only a few days away, Cannon said the updated request for Fitzgerald’s removal should reach the governor’s office next week.

“I talked with a representative from the governor’s office and asked why it took 70 days to let us know, when they knew from the beginning, that it was not what they wanted,” Cannon said. Hearing no timeline from the governor’s office for the resubmitted request, Cannon said he can only assume “the governor doesn’t want to get involved and they are dragging their feet, hoping the voters do the right thing and remove him in the fall.”

Fitzgerald said he feels this second attempt to be a form of double jeopardy.

"The board voted under Freedom of Information (Act for Cannon) to supply all the information he had, including the supposed 22 complaint letters, but he defied state law and never gave them up,” Fitzgerald said. “The report to the governor never put that in there. I don’t think they exist. This is all a political façade to unseat me in an election year.”

Regardless of the governor's response, Cannon said the township will still have to start defending Fitzgerald Sept. 4 against several lawsuits on the taxpayer’s dime.

“We have (an insurance) deductible that is $100,000 for each person (who has filed a lawsuit),” Cannon said. “We will start spending money to defend Fitzgerald (in his official capacity) to our employees and that money will come right out of our general fund."