New trustee appointed to serve on Plymouth Township Board
The Plymouth Township Board of Trustees voted 6-0 Aug. 25 to appoint Joe Reilly to the board, filling a seat left vacant when Trustee Mark Clinton submitted his resignation.
Township Clerk Kim Gaedeke swore Reilly into office during the regular meeting. He will serve the remainder of Clinton's term, which expires in 2028.
"I want to thank the members of the board," Reilly said after the vote. "I look forward to serving the township."
Reilly, 31, has lived in the township for seven years and is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University. He has served for about a year and a half on the township Zoning Board of Appeals, where he is currently vice chairman.
Township Supervisor Chuck Curmi said seven people applied for the seat and trustees interviewed four finalists individually before selecting Reilly. Board members pointed to the "generational representation" Reilly could bring given his age.
Reilly described more than a decade of experience in operations, financial accountability and high-stakes negotiations, including work as an operations director in the automotive industry, where he oversaw teams nationwide and led contract negotiations with the United Auto Workers. He said that background prepared him to handle high-pressure situations, listen carefully and protect long-term interests of the township.
The term was vacant following Clinton’s July resignation, citing what he called his exclusion from the process that led to the appointment of William Ickes, a member of the Plymouth Planning Commission as Trustee Jennifer Buckley's replacement earlier that month. Clinton said he was not told a candidate had already been selected before the July 21 vote of the board members confirming that appointment.
In his resignation letter, Clinton said elected trustees should be included in major decisions and that residents deserve an open, transparent and collaborative process.
Reilly's appointment is the latest development in months of turnover on the seven-member board.
Buckley resigned earlier this year after buying a home outside the township. Former Clerk Jerry Vorva resigned effective March 13, and after weeks of public disagreement among board members, trustees appointed Kim Gaedeke — former head of the University of Michigan's Opioid Research Institute — as clerk on May 12. Curmi pushed for a unanimous vote on Gaedeke's appointment, calling the preceding weeks "a very low point in the history of Plymouth Township."
Treasurer Bob Doroshewitz told the board at a June 23 meeting that he plans to resign later this year or in early 2027, though he said the decision was unrelated to the internal conflicts of the board members.
A lawsuit stemming from the turmoil remains pending: Vorva has sued Trustee John Stewart, alleging Stewart lunged at him during a closed-session meeting and created a “hostile working environment.” Stewart has denied the allegation.
