Wayne County Canvasser To Be Penalized For Grosse Pointe PAC Role

DETROIT — The chair of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers will be disciplined for having an incompatible role as a principal member of the non-profit corporation Taxpayers for Grosse Pointe Schools, according to a split ruling issued Monday by the Wayne County Ethics Board.

A penalty recommendation for Monica Palmer, the person at the forefront of the back-and-forth decision by the board when it voted in November to approve the county's 2020 General Election results after originally not approving the results, will be determined at the next ethics board meeting, which is scheduled for 9 a.m. April 28.

In a related complaint, however, the ethics board found that Palmer's actions did not constitute a conflict of interest under the ethics ordinance.

The complaint involved Palmer’s role as founder of the nonprofit Taxpayers for Grosse Pointe Schools and the organization’s purported advocacy for select school board candidates through advertising.

The complaint — filed by attorney Thomas Bruetsch in October and prior to Palmer's involvement in the high profile Wayne County canvassers vote — alleged that action involving the school board race posed a conflict of interest with her role on the canvassing board.

Attorneys for Palmer argued that the advertising in question was strictly educational and designed to bring attention to issues within the school district.

The ethics board found that there was no conflict of interest, determining Palmer drew no financial advantage from her actions on either body.

Wayne County Ethics Board members did find that her actions with the advocacy group could result in the potential for incompatible duties of responsibility given her fiduciary duties to the board of canvassers, particularly with respect to evaluating recall challenges and petitions.

Ethics Board members directly questioned Palmer about the nonprofit organization’s actions during a hearing held on Jan. 20. The hearing was unrelated to Palmer's ballot certification vote in November, according to the county.

Related: Wayne County Election Results Certified After Initial Deadlock

Palmer was placed under the spotlight after she and fellow Republican William Hartmann voted not to certify the general election results in Wayne County. However, after much debate and public comment, the two voted a second time in favor of approving the results.

In that portion of the highly viewed meeting, Palmer at one point suggested certifying the county's election results except for in Detroit, a move that was highly criticized.

The two Republican members of the board then said they wanted to reverse their votes, citing threats and harsh words used toward them during the public comment portion of the meeting that they said swayed their perspectives.

"After the vote, public comment period began and dozens of people made personal remarks against me and Mr.. Hartmann," Palmer said in an affidavit seeking to rescind her vote, which she was unable to do. "The comments made accusations of racism and threatened me and members of my family. The public comment continued for over two hours and I felt pressured to continue the meeting without break."

Even former President Donald Trump spoke of the meeting on social media, tweeting: "At first they voted against because there were far more VOTES than PEOPLE (Sad!)," Trump tweeted. "Then they were threatened, screamed at and viciously harassed, and were FORCED to change their vote, but then REFUSED, as American patriots, to sign the documents. 71% MESS. Don't Harass!"

His Twitter account has since been suspended.

Threats were reportedly made against Palmer and her family following her vote and attempt to rescind, prompting a federal investigation that led to the arrest of a New Hampshire woman in December.