The incumbent was re-elected last month with 97% of votes cast.
And then he was sworn in. But two days later, Supervisor Steve Kaplan resigned to take another job. What to do?
Following the state constitution, West Bloomfield, a community of about 65,000 residents, elected a new supervisor on Monday afternoon – by a vote of 5-1.
Board members held an unscheduled special meeting, heard comments for an hour, and then elected two-term trustee Jonathan Warshay to the full-time job of running the big, affluent township that’s 27 miles northwest of Detroit.
Newly appointed West Bloomfield Supervisor Jonathon Warshay poses with, from left, Treasurer Teri Weingarten, canine Dottie, who is sniffing the hair of Trustee Diane Swimmer, and Clerk Debi Binder, shown inside the township board room on Dec. 9, 2024.
Before the vote, residents’ comments were almost entirely favorable, with the rare dissenter sounding half-baked, seemingly giving blame to Warshay for invasive weeds in her yard. Then, Trustee Jim Manna took issue with what he said was an unnecessary rush to fill the open slot atop the township hierarchy. And he took issue with Warshay.
“Jonathan, I think you’re very good at what you do, and you’re my friend. … I just don’t think you’re qualified” to oversee the large community, Manna said. A township has 45 days in which to fill a board vacancy, including one for supervisor, he said, adding: “This business that we’re in an emergency is baloney.”
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Other board members said Warshay was well-qualified and that the township needed a top official, immediately. After treasurer Teri Weingarten nominated Warshay, Manna tried to nominate Trustee Vincent Kirkwood, who’d been elected last month to his first term on the board. On Monday, Kirkwood was attending only his second board meeting. Clerk Debi Binder ruled the nomination of Kirkwood out of order, as the motion nominating Warshay was pending.
The vote for Warshay included support from Kirkwood, with Manna the sole “no” vote.
Manna is the brother of Martin Manna, president of the Chaldean Community Foundation in Sterling Heights. West Bloomfield has a large and growing population of Chaldo-Assyrian Americans, and it’s home to the Chaldean Cultural Center, billed as the nation’s largest facility built for that ethnic group.
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West Bloomfield also has a large Jewish population and it’s the site of the Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit. The township is about 71% white, 11% Black, and 8% Asian, with the remaining residents Hispanic or multi-racial. According to SEMCOG, the township had in 2022 a median family income of about $121,000 — compared to $73,000 for the seven counties of southeast Michigan.
Immediately after the hour-long meeting, Warshay, who has both a law degree and a master of business administration degree, resigned from his trustee position, which pays $10,000 a year. He said he’d also be quitting his job as a project manager for Denso International, a major auto parts maker based in Southfield. Minutes later, he was sworn in as supervisor, a job that, next year after a township-wide pay increase is added, will pay a yearly salary of about $150,000.
After the swearing-in, Warshay told the Free Press that his eight years as a trustee, as well as previous tenure as a Ferndale city council member, prepared him to be supervisor. Last month, he was re-elected to a third term on the board. He narrowly lost when he ran for West Bloomfield supervisor in 2012.
“And I’ve aspired to it ever since,” he said.
Board members will meet on Jan. 13 to choose a resident who will fill the board vacancy created by Warshay’s move to the supervisor’s job.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: West Bloomfield board fills abrupt vacancy with 5-1 vote for official