BRIGHTON — Bill Trombley has resigned from the Brighton Area Schools Board of Education.
WHMI first reported Monday, Sept. 9, that Trombley submitted his letter of resignation to BAS Board Vice President Alicia Reid. Trombley was the longest-serving member of the board, with 12 years' experience.
Trombley confirmed his resignation, which stems from a disagreement about a possible conflict of interest, with The Daily. Trombley would like to continue as a doughnut vendor during varsity football games at Brighton High School.
“Since I'm no longer a board member, I should have the ability ... to sell these doughnuts at the football game like anyone else could," Trombley said.
Trombley was not seeking re-election in November. His term was set to expire Dec. 31.
Trombley requested permission to be a third-party vendor at football games through the Band Boosters, according to board meeting minutes. He told The Daily he received permission — but there was still the matter of the board.
According to Trombley, Thrun Law Firm wrote an opinion to the Brighton School Board earlier this year finding it wasn't a conflict of interest for board members to be vendors at district events. Then, he says, the board's policy committee changed the wording.
Board President Roger Myers' accounting of events differs. He says Thrun didn't conclude there was no conflict of interest, but rather that there was no state statute prohibiting the activity.
"While there could be a conflict of interest (actual, perceived or inherent), our district policies did not address that scenario," Myers wrote in a email to The Daily. "Therefore, Thrun recommended that we revise our policy to address that issue and provide a process for the review of potential conflicts associated with any such requests. That revised policy was unanimously approved by the board (including Mr. Trombley) last summer."
Afterward, both parties agree, Trombley made a formal request to sell the doughnuts. The board voted down that request Aug. 26 in a 4-2 vote, according to meeting minutes. Trustees John Conely and Andy Storm supported the request, while Trombley abstained.
Trombley sold doughnuts anyway at the varsity football game on Friday, Sept. 6. He indicated he intended to resign before then, saying he'd become "fed up" with the whole thing. He told The Daily "this is the most dysfunctional board I’ve been on the past 12 years.”
“Here we are having this discussion and voting over freaking doughnuts when there are so many other big issues that need to be addressed," Trombley said. "I was kind of burned out with the whole situation. Who knows? Maybe in two years, if things don’t straighten out, maybe I’ll run again."
BAS Board President Roger Myers told WHMI that Trombley shouldn’t have operated a concession stand without successfully navigating the approval process. In his email to The Daily, he alleged Trombley has still failed to submit "the necessary documentation that is required of all third-party vendors to sell items on district facilities."
In an earlier email, Myers thanked Trombley for his service.
"Bill has devoted a significant amount of time and energy over the past 12 years and has done a lot of great things for Brighton," Myers said. "I wish him all the best in his future endeavors."
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During his time on the board, Trombley said, he was most proud of keeping students safe and "doing the right thing with the taxpayer dollars."
“I think I’ve done a very good job with our schools," he said.
Who will replace Trombley?
The remaining members of the board voted 5-0 during a scheduled meeting Monday to appoint Andy Burchfield, a previous trustee, to fill Trombley’s seat for the remainder of the calendar year. Storm was absent.
There are currently eight candidates running for four open seats on the board in November: Myers, Glenn Hodges, Matthew Morneault, Anna Pennala, Kenneth Stahl, Katie Tierney, Kelli Uphaus and Alicia Urbain.
Myers is the lone candidate with an expiring term running to retain his seat. Reid and Conely are not seeking re-election.
Reid made the recommendation to appoint Burchfield.
“He’s familiar with how the board operates and can step into providing counsel and representing the folks here in the district well, I think,” Reid said Monday.
Board members didn’t want to select a candidate already on the ballot, preferring to leave the issue to the voters.
Myers said a couple of candidates reached out to him to express interest. Hodges spoke during public comment, stating his interest. Myers thanked the candidates but supported the appointment of Burchfield.
Conely thanked Trombley for helping complete several district projects over the years, adding he had a “big issue” with how the board treated Trombley.
“He has gone out of his way to take care of the students of Brighton Area Schools. ... Bill had a big contribution to our school, but it’s bigger than you know," he said.
“To basically send him down the road the way we did, I don’t believe is right. I’ll leave it at that. There’s plenty of other ways we could have handled this and maybe, at the end of the day, ways Bill could’ve done it, too.”
— Contact reporter Evan Sasiela at esasiela@livingstondaily.com . Follow him on Twitter @SalsaEvan .
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: 'Voting over freaking doughnuts': Bill Trombley resigns from Brighton School Board
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