On Monday, July 18, the Fruitland Township board conducted a public hearing on Clerk Janell Beard's mileage scandal. It was the first time that this issue had been discussed in detail at a public meeting.
At Ms. Beard's request, a committee was appointed to investigate the issue and render a resolution on its findings. In her motion, which was adopted by a vote of the board, Beard pledged her full support to the committee and promised to abide by its recommendations. Although Beard later refused to attend any committee meetings and would not answer any of their questions regarding her mileage, the committee used the written explanation Beard provided to the Michigan State Police to compare her reported mileage with the actual mileage for each trip.
Beard received $1,335.29 in reimbursement for 61 trips taken from April 6 through September 28, 2006. She provided an explanation for 11 of those trips in her statement to police. Based on this information, the committee provided evidence that the clerk inflated the mileage for those 11 trips by 577 miles at a cost of $241.08 to taxpayers.The committee report, which was adopted by a vote of the board, requires Ms. Beard to reimburse taxpayers $241.08.
The following video from the meeting provides a brief synopsis of the public hearing. Please be patient while the clips load. Clips automatically rewind when done playing.
