VILLAGE COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 18, 2026
I. LEWIS GIVES BACK:
Bill Lewis is going to use $6,000 of our tax money to cut down two trees belonging to two property owners on North Church Street – commitments Lewis made to get elected and is now using our money to keep.
II. FOIA APPEAL TO THE VILLAGE COUNCIL:
Prior to the August 18 Village Council meeting, Samantha Sineath, on behalf of Lisa Moore, sent a FOIA (Freedom Of Information Act) request to the Village. Lisa Moore is the record owner of the property at 115 Watson St. so this request must have had some relationship to that property. Bill Lewis did not provide the Council members or the public with a copy of the request.
Lewis demanded that Sineath pay $170.70 for copies of the records that she requested. Sineath objected to the amount of the charge arguing that it should only be $35.70. Pursuant to the procedures of the Michigan Freedom Of Information Act, Sineath appealed to the whole Village Council.
The Village Clerk, Linda Coburn, read Sineath’s argument setting out why Sineath believed the $170.70 that the Village wanted for the records was excessive. Coburn then read the response of the current Village attorney, Craig Rolfe, addressing Sineath’s points. Copies of Sineath’s response and that of Rolfe were not provided to the Council members or the public. Lewis won’t produce them without a FOIA request and, presumably, payment for copies of those documents.
After some discussion, including Trustee Denise Pyle popping off about the lack of strict statutory compliance of Sineath’s FOIA request, the Council voted to reduce the charge to $128.38. Lewis permits limited public discussion only when it does not impact an item on his personal agenda.
The Council members did not appear to have had prior knowledge of the FOIA request and Rolfe’s response. As Lewis has done throughout his tenure as Village president, he’s left most of the Trustees in the dark until the meetings. Then they only hear what he wants them to hear. Their opportunity and that of the public to reflect on, research, and speak out about issues of public interest is non-existent. So much for Lewis’ campaign claim offering “communication”.
III. DYSFUNCTIONAL COUNCIL EXEMPLIFIES WHY ELECTIONS MATTER:
Watching this Village Council over the last twenty months has been predictable. For those who were involved in the formation and governance of the District Library in the first couple of years of its existence, Lewis had already demonstrated his method of operation in a public office.
Common elements include committees that in reality Lewis and his principle ally and proxy use to avoid public deliberation by the entire Board/Council that then rubber-stamps Lewis’ agenda; Board/Council members incapable of managing a public body because of lack of experience in organizational management of any kind; at least one angry socialist present that hates traditional American values and uses their little bit of power to follow their far extreme political ideology; a disregard for ethical constraints and some legal constraints as well; favoritism in the use of public funds; hypocrisy, the kind that pretends public righteousness while scheming for control, personal aggrandizement, and the infliction of public harm.
This type of behavior could not continue without the failure of individual Trustees to stand up for the taxpayers. It’s the old rule in operation:
“All that is needed for evil to triumph is that good men and women do nothing.”
Trustees are not performing the duties for which they were elected. The Council is a deliberative body of equals, not a congregation of flunkies. Hopefully the new Council members coming in November will stiffen the Council’s spine.
IV. RISKY BUSINESS:
Climax Township’s Board of Appeals is the statutory body to which property owners in the Township appeal their property assessments, taxable status, poverty exemptions, assessment classifications, and denial of exemptions.
That Board presently consists of Trent Piper, Joel Amos, and Anthony Murat Bates. This is the same Anthony Murat Bates for whom Lewis engineered the abandonment of Bates’ code enforcement related contempt fine that Lewis admitted was owed to the Village. Joel Amos is president of the District Library for which Lewis works as director. Trent Piper is the Township president for which Township Lewis and his wife worked closely for years in the office of Township Clerk.
This board has rescinded the poverty exemption that it had granted to Lisa Moore, the record owner of 115 Watson St. This action reinstates the property owner’s exposure to delinquent taxes, including the Village’s special assessment which consists of the code enforcement debt of $2,580. A debt that supposedly has been paid.
Seems that the Board of Appeals received information that it felt gave it leave to act under color of its authority. Whether that Board reached out or a third party initiated delivery of the information is unknown.
That information appears to have been that Lisa Moore does not in fact own the property despite her ownership of record. And it appears that whoever brought this information to the Board of Appeals must have made a claim that someone else owns the property and challenged the record ownership of Lisa Moore.
One thing is certain. In Michigan title to real property is owned by someone. There is no such thing as “effectively” in real estate titles. A person either holds title or not.
Did Lewis, by or through someone acting on behalf of the Village, involve the Village in the rescission of Lisa Moore’s poverty exemption? Did Lewis or someone acting at his direction take any actions that caused or will cause injury or damage to Lisa Moore, the Moore siblings, or other persons, firms, or corporations? Are we seeing actions that will uncap the property taxes on the property so that those taxes will increase substantially? Could that be intentional? Is there potential for litigation to resolve these issues?
Lewis and Rolfe did attempt to exact from the Moore siblings a “WAIVER OF CLAIMS RELATING TO DISPUTED VILLAGE OF CLIMAX LIEN ON PARCEL NO. 12-03-435-430 (115 Watson Street, Village of Climax) ARISING FROM 8th JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT ORDERS IN VILLAGE OF CLIMAX V GEORGE W. AND LISA MOORE, CASE NO. CL 2020-3A ON”, a title whose length could be shortened to something like “Settlement Agreement”. The text reads:
“We, the heirs-at-law of George W. Moore and Lisa Moore, hereby waive any and all claims of any kind we may have against the Village of Climax and its officials relating to the above-referenced matter and the implementation of the lien on the subject property and the collection of same, in exchange for the recording with the Kalamazoo County Clerk/Register of Deeds of a Discharge of Lien and the vacating of the related supplemental assessment on the subject property in the amount of $2,580.00. This waiver of claims is effective upon written documentation from the Village Attorney that the lien has been discharged and the supplemental assessment vacated.”
From the plain language of this document, Lewis and Rolfe are seeking to exact from the Moore siblings a release of the lien and special assessment on 115 Watson St. if they will waive any claims they may have against the Village and its officials in connection with the lien. No mention is made therein of Lisa Moore’s ownership of record. Hummmm!
The answers to those questions and others are presently unknown. But time will tell.
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