SUN CITY – The issue between N. 12 residents who mistakenly donated money to the wrong food pantry and Township Supervisor Linda Moore reached a conclusion on Feb. 14 at a Grafton Township Board meeting.
There, the motion to refund the residents’ money was approved by Moore and trustees Jerry McMahon and Barbara Murphy. Trustee Betty Zirk abstained, due to her status as treasurer for the Grafton Food Pantry, the intended recipient of the checks.
Gerald LaBonte, N.12 chairperson, said the decision was followed through as several residents received their money back on Feb. 22. At the time, it was unconfirmed whether all of the residents received their money back.
Though the motion was unanimous among those who voted, there was some disagreement. McMahon, a Sun City resident, wanted to see the township not only pay back the N.12 party but pay an additional $1300 to the Grafton Food Pantry to rectify the matter and serve as “punishment” to the township.
“I’d rather see a charity get the money, some poor person get the money, than lawyers get the money because she wants the lawyers to have the money,” McMahon said, referring to Moore and the legal battles associated with her.
Gerald Labonte, N.12 chairperson and representative of the residents who donated the money, did not believe the additional money McMahon proposed was necessary.
Both Moore and Murphy claimed the township did not have money to spend on anything other than refunding the residents at this time. Murphy said she agreed with McMahon and would like to see a donation made to the pantry “down the line,” but the township could not afford it at this moment.
McMahon claimed Murphy did not have enough time left in her administration to do that. When Murphy responded that she did, he accused her of being “against giving the food pantry a few bucks” and of “siding with Linda Moore on screwing our township.”
McMahon was ineligible to propose his motion for a vote, and the matter ended with the candidates voting to refund the residents.
