Webster Township Supervisor Resigns

Webster Township is now looking for a new township supervisor after Mike DeAngelo put forth his resignation during a special board meeting on June 3.

Former supervisor DeAngelo was elected in 2024. The township board voted to officially accept his resignation at a special meeting held on June 5. At that meeting, the board also put forth a process to find a replacement.  

According to state law, the township has 45 days to appoint a replacement.

The township is now accepting applications/resumes/cover letters from interested township residents, who are registered voters that would like to throw in their hats to be the replacement supervisor and fill in for the remainder of the term to Nov. 2028.

The process moving forward will see the township accepting resumes, applications and cover letters until noon on June 22, and then from there the township board will review the resumes/applications and conduct a Q and A with candidates at a public meeting on June 30. The township board is planning to appoint a new supervisor at a public meeting on July 14.

Those interested should contact or send their resumes to the township clerk’s office or consult the township webpage for more information.  

Going back to what led to the resignation, the reasons and lead up to this decision by DeAngelo saw some of the other township board members asking him to resign during the June 3 meeting. Some of their cited reasons asking for this included the toxic work environment that’s been created inside township hall over the past six months, the personal attacks and treatment of the former planner/zoning administrator Sri Komaragiri, who recently resigned from her consultant role, as well as misinformation being shared to the community.

Some of the board members said this has been building behind the scenes for some time with board trustee Shelly Vrsek saying, “If you could really understand the amount of work and drama that has gone into trying to stabilize this board, you would be shocked. What we’re dealing with here is not a disagreement about zoning or policy. It’s a documented pattern of behavior that reflects a failure to uphold the basic standards of public office. That pattern includes conflicts of interest, retaliation, misuse of authority and conduct that has undermined the township’s operations.”

 A big turning point appears to have happened at the May meeting when the planning and zoning consultant services agreement was looked at by the board. It was after that that Komaragiri stepped down from her role.

DeAngelo said there was more to these stories than others on the board know because they are not always around. He said there have been complaints and things happening behind the scenes that led to issues being brought up at the May meeting about the planner/zoning administrator contract.

One area of concern cited by DeAngelo said issues/concerns had been expressed to him by others in the township, such as some planning commission members, that they did not want the former planner/zoning administrator to work on the Master Plan. Another issue he cited was the planner/zoning administrator making decisions without looking to the township board first, such as stating shipping containers are not allowed in the township.

 “I listen to everyone and then do what I think is right,” DeAngelo said at one point in the June 3 meeting.

These are just a few of the details from the back and forth on the board. A great resource to look back on for more of the details can be seen in the recordings of previous meetings on the YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@WebsterEngagedCitizens.

Photo: A look inside the June 3 special board meeting at Webster Township Hall. Photo by Lonnie Huhman