JACKSON, Mich. — The Rives Township Board Meeting Tuesday night ended with an intent to audit, a resignation and a closed township.
After a 50-minute closed session, the board unanimously voted to hire a third party to investigate allegations that Treasurer Janina Teske has been inappropriately supplementing her compensation with township dollars.
The allegations were brought about by township resident Vercilla Hart, who has been using public records to look into Teske for months.
"When the treasurer asked for $6,000 in November of 2022, she was over-budget, and she was $6,000 over-budget then, and then, she comes back in February of 2023 for another $6,000," Hart said. "So, $12,000 over-budget in a four-month period."
Vercilla brought these concerns and others to the board last month.
"At this time, I would like to remind the Township Board that covering up this situation without reporting it to the Michigan State Police would be detrimental to this community," Hart said to the board Tuesday night.
FOX 47 News asked Teske to address these allegations, but she did not respond to our request for interview.
After the board's closed session with the township's attorney, it unanimously voted to approve Township Supervisor Jerry Adams' motion to "have an independent, third-party auditor do a review of the information and come back with numbers."
Later in the meeting, Township Clerk Judi McCord resigned effective immediately.
"To everybody that doesn't know, my son is gravely ill, so I need to leave my position to take care of my son and my grandson," McCord said to the crowd.
This means the township is now closed.
"We can't do a thing. We can't write a check, we can't pay the bill," Adams said.
The board decided it would refer to the Jackson County Commissioners for help finding a new township clerk in a timely manner.
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