County Commission Candidate Challenges Dwyer's 'Perfect Attendance' Campaign Claim

At last week's Harrison High candidate forum, a spokesperson for 14th District Oakland County Commission candidate Bill Dwyer (R-Farmington Hills) said he couldn't attend because of a county board meeting that morning. 

Cathy Webb said Dwyer has a "100 percent attendance record" when it comes to commission and committee meetings. On Tuesday, his opponent Todd Stearn, a Democrat from Beverly Hills, issued a statement challenging that claim. 

Stearn said records show Dwyer missed two meetings, March 27, 2012 and March 30, 2012, along with "numerous" assigned committee meetings. Stearn obtained an official commissioners' 2011 attendance record, which shows Dwyer missed three committee meetings. 

"The two (commission) meetings he is citing were not regularly scheduled meetings," Dwyer said. The commission's 2012 schedule shows meetings were scheduled March 7 and 22, and Dwyer did attend both. 

Commissioners held a special meeting on March 27 to fill the 11th District seat left open when Tim Greimel was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives. Commissioners at their March 30 meeting adopted rules related to the controversial redistricting after the 2010 Census. The board convened as the county's Reapportionment Commission. 

Dwyer said he was in California with his family at the time of both March meetings and stressed that he has attended every scheduled commission meeting this year and last year. He said he missed committee meetings in 2011 because of a family cruise that had been planned in 2010, the year Dwyer was elected to his first term. 

Stearn said Dwyer's absence from the Harrison forum let down students who had studied the candidates and were prepared to ask them questions. “I don’t understand how he could shirk his responsibility to the students and miss something that he had committed to weeks before," he said. 

Dwyer said he didn't attend the event because "it was more important to attend the commission meeting." 

Stearn challenged Dwyer to another debate. “I think the voters deserve better than this. I am going to make myself accessible so that the voters can hear the true differences between our ideas, or lack thereof," he said.