A survey sent out last March to gauge Scio Township residents' perception of where the municipality stands on a number of issues could be a source of controversy this year.
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One township board trustee would like to see an independent review of actions taken by Planning Commissioner Marty Mayo, who is also running for election to the board on Aug. 5 as part of the "Team for Scio 2008."
Ream takes issue with an article that Mayo wrote in the winter 2007 issue of the township's quarterly newsletter.
The newsletter was published prior to the survey being sent out, and Ream characterized Mayo's article as "unprofessional" and "conflicting with the interest of preserving the integrity of the results."
He also said his biggest problem with the newsletter was the possibility of swaying residents against parks, which could hamper the township's ability to purchase land for parks and recreational opportunities.
"As Will Rogers said, 'They aren't making any more (land)," Ream said, adding that opportunities to build parks and recreation venues are limited by real estate and time.
Ream was also troubled by the fact that Mayo was also the director of the survey project.
"This attempt by the Scio survey director to shape the survey responses about parks is so amazing that it must be told in Ms. Mayo's own words," Ream said.
He provided e-mails exchanged between himself and Mayo, which she affirmed during an interview with The Dexter Leader last month.
"I believe it is important for the people of Scio to know that there are already parkland properties within Scio's borders before the survey goes out, even though they do not belong to Scio," Mayo wrote to Ream on March 16, 2007, in an e-mail in which Ream questioned her decision to run an article titled, "There are parks in Scio!"
The article was written from the perspective of an unnamed and unquoted source identified only as "living south of I-94." The article did not quote the source, but discussed the source's desire for parks after moving from an undisclosed location.
The article, which was laid out in the newsletter directly below an article about the township master plan survey titled, "Help decide our future: Scio surveys residents," highlighted six parks, including the Delhi Metro Park, Dexter-Huron Metro Park and Osbourne Mill, among others "within 36 miles" of where the unnamed source lives.
The article went on to vaguely allude to other upcoming park projects and clarified the Land Preserve Committee's role in relation to the Township Board of Trustees, although that question wasn't begged before the survey was sent out, according to Ream.
The results published in April last year found that only four in 10 residents surveyed are satisfied with the township's park-related performance.
Ream alleges that Mayo was trying to influence the survey results against recreational parks to provide space for team sports such as baseball and soccer, among other activities.
He also said that the article "somewhat invalidated the results" of the survey.
In another e-mail exchange on March 10 last year, Mayo characterized her decision to publish the article and place it in the newsletter as an attempt to "level the playing field before the survey came out."
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