By Carol Stiffler
More than 40 members of the public attended a heated special Portage Township Board meeting held Thursday, May 14 in Curtis.
The special meeting was the byproduct of a failed regular meeting on Tuesday, May 12. That meeting lasted just six minutes before it was adjourned after disagreement over an agenda item led to four failed votes to pass the agenda.
At the heart of the matter was an agenda item listed under old business: A request to name the Three Lakes Academy apple orchard after former administrator Sue Pann. Current TLA Principal Rachel Bommarito approached the board about the idea at their December 2025 meeting. No action was taken.
Bommarito requested the item be placed on May’s agenda. At the meeting, Township Supervisor Steve Sicinski initially made a motion to remove the agenda item and have it addressed in public comment. That motion was seconded by Trustee Edgar Holbrook, but the motion failed in a 2-2 vote. Township Clerk Pat MacLachlan and Treasurer Andrea McKeage voted against the motion. Trustee Pat Abram was not present.
When McKeage countered with a motion that the agenda be approved as written, MacLachlan seconded. That motion also died on a 2-2 vote, with Sicinski and Holbrook voting against it.
The board tried both votes a second time, failing each time, before adjourning the meeting.
A special meeting was called for 9 a.m. on Thursday, May 14 to handle urgent matters like paying bills. Bommarito’s request was not on the special meeting agenda.
More than 30 members of the public were at that failed regular meeting, and even though the special meeting was placed on the morning of a workday, the special meeting was conducted with a full house of spectators. Many were affiliated with Three Lakes Academy and were there to support Sue Pann. Pann attended as well, but didn’t speak publicly at the meeting.
When Abram was not present at 9 a.m., Sicinski disregarded several requests to start the meeting on time. He instead read loudly from material about appropriate conduct for meetings in an apparent filibuster to delay the meeting until all members were present. MacLachlan and McKeage motioned and seconded to start the meeting. Sicinski complained about “mob rule”. The audience forced the start of the pledge of allegiance.
Abram arrived at 9:08 a.m., while the board was discussing paying bills.
When the time came for public comment, MacLachlan spoke first.
“I was very disgusted after the meeting, as I’m sure many people were, the other day,” she said. “This has to stop. It has to stop. How this board is behaving is divisive and bad for the community. Those who voted us into office, into our positions, they deserve better for us. We need to lead, not bicker and play games.”
MacLachlan listed a host of allegations against fellow board members, which have fallen into factions of three men vs. two women: Sicinski, Holbrook, and Abram vs. MacLachlan and McKeage. “We’ve got violations of the open meetings act, we’ve got plotting, we’ve got sabotage. Placating to interest groups. We need to work together for the community for those who have elected us and count on us for using their tax dollars in the most productive way.”
Bommarito was third to speak. She told the board she thought naming the apple orchard after Pann was a “no-brainer” because Pann had done so much for the school and orchard. In advance of the meeting, Bommarito said she’d been told by a board member that her request to name the orchard would not have enough votes to pass.
Bommarito said the board member told her that the orchard exists on land that the township plans to build a new school on – a claim she does not believe.
“If that were the case, a sign is easy to take down,” she said.
The John Gowan Playground at Three Lakes Academy and the new Phinney Road were recently named after prominent individuals, she said, “with zero uproar.”
Heather Pann, a Three Lakes Academy teacher and the daughter of Sue Pann, shared her anger and sense of betrayal. Sally Gehrett Jack, Sue Pann’s sister, criticized the men on the board and told the audience it is time for a recall.
Additional audience members spoke in defense of Sue Pann, and others addressed the chaos of the board.
No action was taken regarding the apple orchard sign.
Following the meeting, MacLachlan said she does not expect May’s regular meeting to be rescheduled. The next regular meeting is expected to be at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 9 at the Curtis Community Building.
