The citizens of Orion Township rose up spontaneously when our Township Board voted 6-1 to issue a $15 million bond for the construction of a new Township Hall.

We had no political experience, no money and no organizational backing. Nevertheless, we found an outpouring of support from residents that agreed such a colossal amount of money should need to be approved by the people of Orion Township.

Despite having only 45 days from the date of the announcement to collected over 2,800 signatures, we were able to collect over 2,000 signatures from registered voters in Orion Township in that short period.

It was the universal experience of every volunteer that almost everybody they asked was willing to sign our petition. There is no question that, but for a shortage of time, we would have been able to attain the requisite number of signatures – because the people of Orion Township overwhelmingly agree that such an expense would be prudent and proper to put before the voters.

And the fact is, the Township Board has the power to do so – right now. They can do it by simply voting to place the matter on the ballot.

We call upon the Orion Township Board to have a vote and approve placing this issue before the voters in the next upcoming election, as this is undeniably what the voters want.

If they refuse to do so, the people of Orion Township will know that their township officials disrespect them. And perhaps, they will rise up once again, this time over a much longer period, and recruit candidates to replace them.

Best Regards,

Bill Kelley

Orion Twp.

Editor’s Note: Bill Kelley is the organizer of an informal group of citizens who sought to put a proposed $15 million township hall bond issue on an upcoming ballot for voters.

He made the following statement upon submitting petition signatures to the Orion Township Board of Trustees on Monday, Sept. 9, 2019 and forwarded his comments to The Lake Orion Review.

Orion Twp. officials had issued a public notice of the township’s intent to issue $15 million in bonds for the new township hall, published in the July 24, 2019 issue of The Lake Orion Review.