GROUPS TO STAY OUT OF DEBATE

City, County Not Interested In Impeaching

TRAVERSE CITY - City and Grand Traverse County commissioners have decided to
stay out of the public debate - at least collectively - over the future of
District Judge Thomas Gilbert.

Both the Traverse City Commission and the Grand Traverse County board this
week took no action on an "impeachment" resolution for Judge Gilbert brought
forward by Traverse City resident LaVern Broughton, a longtime watchdog of
local government.

Gilbert touched off a local firestorm - and a national wave of pot-smoking
commentary - after he admitted last fall to smoking marijuana at a Rolling
Stones concert in downtown Detroit. He subsequently underwent a four-week
rehab program for a self-admitted alcohol problem that he said led to his
drug use.

In December, commissioners in Antrim County voted 8-1 in favor of a
resolution asking Gilbert to resign as district judge. But government
leaders here so far have distanced themselves from the controversy.

On Tuesday, city commissioners voted 4-3 to "receive and file" Broughton's
request - the bureaucratic equivalent of shelving it indefinitely. Grand
Traverse County board members similarly dismissed it Wednesday.

"There's an appropriate venue in place (to deal with this) and that's the
election and the electorate," said city commissioner Rick Csapo, noting that
Judge Gilbert will be up for election again next year.

But dissenting commissioners Ann Rogers and Anne Melichar and Mayor Margaret
Dodd had some strong words regarding the conduct of the judge, who's also a
former city commissioner.

"What is the message we are sending our children - that there seems to be a
double standard here," Rogers said.

A majority of city commissioners, however, agreed to shelve the issue. Some
also questioned whether the debate was arranged as a "railroad" attack on
Gilbert by his political enemies.

"This is really not city business - it's court business," commissioner Phill
Orth said.

County commissioners expressed similar views after they let the measure die
at committee level Wednesday morning.

"It's not in our purview," said county board chairman Peter Strom said. "It
would have no force of law no matter what we did."

Broughton, who said he was seeking support for his resolution because state
law prevents judges from being recalled by voters, expressed disappointment
that both city and county officials passed on the issue.

"They swept it under the rug," he said.