Gentlemen's Agreement - the backbone of CAFR?

"The difficulty about a gentlemen’s agreement is that it depends on the continued existence of the gentlemen."

Well said - although other difficulties also come to mind.

The phrase conjures up images of deals being made by professional politicians in smoke-filled backrooms - something we all suspect happens on a routine basis at the international, national, and state levels of government, but surely not here.

Perhaps that's why when Bingham Township Supervisor Steve Schafer told residents at the June 4 board meeting that a "very strong gentlemen's agreement" already bound the township to a new layer of government - Clinton Area Fire & Rescue - the air seemed to drain from the room.

At that precise moment, the Bingham Township residents in attendance got a collective glimpse of backroom politics in action - and they didn’t like the view.

The fact that in the minutes following the statement, the deal was officially sealed by the board's adoption of the interlocal agreement only served to exemplify the high-handed manner in which the township officials had operated.

The gentlemen's agreement now was legitimate - it was like a slap in the face to Bingham's citizens.

When one township trustee, Doug Weir, voted no - and appeared to be sincerely upset with the way the deal was done - the sting may have eased a bit, but the image of people that the residents knew and believed in was clearly tarnished.

A bond of trust - if not broken - has been severely bent.

One person made a comment after the meeting that would have been amusing under other circumstances.

"It's like the married guy telling his girlfriend, 'Don't worry, honey, my divorce will be final any day now,'" the individual said.

Bingham, and Greenbush, officials are not unlike that fellow who gets the goodies - while he ignores some minor legal technicality. In their own words, they had obligated their township residents in a 'gentlemen's agreement' before legal documents had even been presented to the people who are footing the bill.

Over and over again at the June 4 meeting and in other public settings, township officials repeated the mantra of the "new, forward-looking vision" that the joint fire service would provide for their residents.

Basing that vision on something as backward as a gentlemen's agreement is a paradox of the worst sort.

Ironically, by failing to listen to the people they are elected to represent, officials from both townships have mired themselves unnecessarily in a muddy situation. Bingham and Greenbush residents have repeatedly stated their approval of the district concept for fire service protection - their opposition is to the manner in which elected officials instituted the process, and to questions that still remain about personnel operating behind the scenes.

In ignoring the pleas of their constituents, township officials have produced two very negative outcomes: an added layer of government that will drive costs up, not down, for taxpayers of CAFR and neighboring fire departments; and an increased potential for animosity between the city and townships - and their own township citizens.