Can Ex-Commission Chair With Prison Sentence Hold District 2 Seat? Washtenaw County Judge to Decide

With a Primary election scheduled for Aug. 5 and three candidates vying to represent County Commission District 2, a Washtenaw County judge has been assigned to determine whether the seat in Monroe County was ever open.

In the meantime, Monroe County Clerk Annamarie Osment has been instructed to proceed with the election as normal.

“That’s what we are doing,” Osment said, Tuesday. “We are moving forward with the election unless we hear something different from a judge …. Ballots are printed. The absentee ballots have already gone out—maybe 35 days ago—those are already out. The election is only 7 days away. It’s moving forward as usual because that’s what the county has instructed me to do.”

Controversy

On July 15, Mark Brant, previously chair of the Monroe County Commission, but now on house arrest in his home in Monroe County, attended the county commission meeting, sat in what he claims is his rightful seat, and refused to leave despite the county attorney and board chair asking him to sit in the audience until the matter was clarified by court.

Soon after, both the county commission and Brant took legal action on the matter.

All three Monroe County judges recused themselves so the case was assigned to an outside judge. Washtenaw County Judge Carol Kuhnke will determine the case Mark Brant vs. Monroe County Board of Commissioners, confirmed Robert Carbeck, Chief Deputy Court Administrator at the Washtenaw County Trial Court. While the Primary election is just around the corner, Carbeck said “he cannot speculate” on “how quickly opinions and orders may be issued by the court.”

Prison

Brant has been serving prison time for one count of maintaining a drug-related premise for renting out his land in Michigan to others who were growing marijuana and selling it in Ohio. Brant pointed out to The Sun Times News that at the time it was legal to grow marijuana in Michigan, with some restrictions. Regardless of state law, under federal law growing and selling marijuana is illegal. Brant said he had an idea his tenants were selling in Ohio, but said regardless, according to the law, he should have known, and is accountable for what was happening on his land.

Early Release

Brant said he was given early release and is on house arrest for 90 days. During that time he can still attend work or church, go grocery shopping, make doctor and lawyer appointments and board meetings. After that he goes onto probation for two years.

The county attorney had previously given the opinion that since he was in prison Brant was not a qualified elector at the time he was supposed to take office Jan. 1 and so was removed by law.

Brant asserts he was duly elected and sworn in and under current law the county commission had no right to remove him.

Brant told The Sun Times News he disagrees with the commission’s decision “to disenfranchise 7,000 voters who voted for me in the general election.” Brant won 6,811 votes while running unopposed. Write-in candidates – including current candidates Dwayne Dobbs and Danielle Hoover—garnered about 1,000 votes total.

County’s legal opinion

Previously Phil Goldsmith, whose firm, Lennard, Graham and Goldsmith, represents the county, told The Sun Times News there is no clear law in Michigan on the matter, thus why the matter is going to a judge. Goldsmith said it’s true the county has no ability to remove someone from office. However, he interpreted the law as the seat was automatically vacated since Brant was incarcerated for a felony and not a qualified elector when he was to assume his duties starting Jan. 1, 2025.

Current candidates

Three candidates are running for the District #2 seat:  Dale Biniecki (Republican) of Monroe; Dwayne Dobbs (Republican) of Monroe; and Danielle Hoover (Democrat) of Milan. They seek to represent District 2, which includes the Monroe County side of Milan City, the Village of Maybee, plus London, Exeter, Milan and Raisinville Townships.

Statement

Dobbs and Hoover published a joint statement after Brant attended the council meeting. Biniecki did not return an email from The Sun Times News requesting comment.

At the beginning of their statement, Dobbs and Hoover said:

“As candidates from different political parties, we don’t agree on everything. But we both believe that transparency, accountability, and basic respect for the people of Monroe County should be non-negotiable. We come to you today not as opponents, but as two citizens who care deeply about the integrity of our local government. We have serious concerns about the events currently unfolding on the Monroe County Board of Commissioners, and we believe the people of this community deserve clarity, accountability, and action.”

Specifically Dobbs and Hoover expressed concern that Brant was allowed to stay on the dais and allowed to access a county computer with county files on it. They also expressed concern that he appeared to know what happened during closed session deliberations Feb. 4.

They wrote:  “On February 4th the Board of Commissioners declared, based on their own legal counsel’s opinion and a formal vote, that ex-commissioner Mark Brant is ineligible to hold office due to his recent felony conviction. And yet at the July 13th  County Board of Commissioners meeting, Mr. Brant  took a seat at the dais with the Commissioners. The Board Chairman explicitly asked him to step down from the dais, as did Monroe County’s legal counsel. Mr. Brant refused, offering nothing more than that he “disagreed,” and the Board allowed him to remain. Not only was he permitted to sit in the seat of public office after being declared ineligible, but he was given access to a government-issued laptop and official county files during that very meeting. It was also revealed that somehow, Mr. Brant was informed about that closed session deliberations from February 4th.”

Response

Commission Chair David Vensel (Republican) said the commission had work to get done, including on some grants that were time sensitive.

“It will not happen again. That was a one-time compromise,” Vensel said. “The meeting had already been delayed an hour.”

Following the meeting, the county’s legal counsel filed for a declaratory judgement and a restraining order, asking the courts to uphold their attorney’s opinion that Brant no longer held office. Brant also filed his own request for a stay in the election and a temporary restraining order.

Vensel said Brant was not allowed to vote and while he said it was a mistake for him to have access to a computer, he said the information on the computer included the board packet and was all public record. However, Vensel said he was concerned about a comment from Brant that implies he was aware of what was going on in closed session.

“That’s concerning to me because I guess what he’s implying is that somebody told him something from closed session, which would be inappropriate,” Vensel said. “…. There were more than commissioners there– There were administrators; a labor attorney in closed session that night.”

While the complaint from Dobbs and Hoover expressed concern about whether the “privileges” extended to Brant would extend to the rights and privileges of the office, Vensel said that would not be the case. County attorney Phil Goldsmith, of Lennard, Graham and Goldsmith, informed The Sun Times News that Brant has not received any salary since he was elected last November and Vensel said he hopes the matter is quickly resolved by the courts.

“We have two candidates running on the Republican side of the ballot and one on the Democrat side and we need to move forward so we can have a general election,” Vensel said.

A full copy of the candidates’ letter is below

Watch the July 15 County Commission Meeting online. 

Read more about the District #2 race:  Three Candidates Seek to Represent Voiceless Southeast Michigan District