Recall Petition Filed Against Officials Amid Grand Blanc, MI, Fire Chief Flap
The Detroit News
(TNS)
Grand Blanc Township — The Genesee County Election Commission will consider petition language on Monday to recall most of Grand Blanc Township Board of Trustees after the community's fire chief was placed on leave in October, a decision multiple board members say they had nothing to do with.
Monica Shapiro, who previously ran to be township supervisor, has filed the petition to recall township Supervisor Scott Bennett; Clerk Dave Robertson; Treasurer Mike Yancho; and trustees Joel Feick, Paul White and Sarah Hugo. Shapiro ran against Bennett in November 2024 and lost.
Shapiro said she didn't include Trustee Damon Brown in the petition because he hasn't yet held office for a year.
The recall petition comes after the township board and Superintendent Dennis Liimatta came under scrutiny in October for a decision to put Grand Blanc Township Fire Chief Jamie Jent on administrative leave following the Sept. 28 attack of the Church of Latter-Day Saints in the township. Four people were killed in the shooting and fire at the church, which authorities have determined was a targeted attack; eight people were injured.
While Liimatta and Bennett have not publicly stated why Jent was placed on leave or commented on his probationary period, Jent has said he was placed on leave after township officials tried to get him to present "a unified front" on fire department operations after he had raised concerns about staffing levels. The Detroit News has requested the township's official reason why Jent was placed on leave.
"(It) was a slap in the face to our grieving and shell-shocked community," Shapiro said.
Filed Nov. 20, the petition claims the board allowed Jent to be placed on leave from Oct. 20-29 — contrary to Bennett's assertion that Jent was taken off leave Oct. 27 — and then "allowed the terms of Chief Jent's reinstatement to include 90 additional days of employee probationary period" from Nov. 3 through Feb. 1. Jent confirmed at the township board's meeting Tuesday that he is in a 90-day probationary period since he was reinstated.
Bennett doesn't oppose Shapiro's move to file a recall petition.
"I am a believer in citizens exercising their rights under the law, even when I disagree with their motivations," Bennett said in a statement Wednesday. "I'm focused today, as I am every day, on delivering for everyone who lives, works or plays in Grand Blanc Township."
Brown has publicly said the board played no part in placing Jent on leave.
“There are very few instances where we impact hiring or firing decisions," Brown said in a statement read in his absence at the Tuesday board meeting. "For example, the board had to confirm Chief Jent as the new chief.”
In a statement to social media on Monday, Hugo also said the board was only informed that Jent was placed on administrative leave.
"We did not vote on it, discuss it beforehand, or have any role in initiating it," Hugo said in her statement.
In her statement, Hugo also asserted that she's the only member of the board who has "publicly and consistently" supported Jent and the Fire Department. She said there's an "immediate need" for more department staff based off Jent's requests to the township and her conversations with firefighters.
The Fire Department has six full-time firefighters and 28 part-time firefighters, according to township records.
While Jent increased the number of staff at both of the township's stations to three firefighters at all times after the Sept. 28 attack, the staffing levels aren't accounted for in the department's 2025 budget. Jent said budget constraints kept him from increasing staffing levels sooner, and said it's been a concern of his even before the attack.
Jent wants to eventually increase staffing at each station to five at all times. This would help the department more quickly achieve the federal "two in, two out" rule, which requires two firefighters to be outside a structure while two others conduct search and rescue.
To work toward this goal, Jent has proposed hiring four full-time firefighters starting in April at a cost of $333,234 starting in April 2026 and $444,312 starting in January 2027, according to a Nov. 11 presentation to the board. On Nov. 24, Jent presented a requested budget of $2.84 million to the board — an increase from the $2.55 million recommended budget — with this expense in mind.
To pay for the increase in fire department staffing, Jent told township officials that one option is to raise property taxes for fire to 3.5 mills, which would require the average Grand Blanc Township homeowner to pay just under $400 in addition to what's paid for other services. The chief said Tuesday he doesn't want to raise taxes if the township can find other ways to put more money towards fire services.
The township must approve its 2026 operating budget for all departments by Dec. 31.
The Genesee County Election Commission will meet at 1 p.m. If petition language is approved, Shapiro would have to gather 6,000 signatures and have the signed petitions certified before the measure is put before voters for a recall election.
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