Our Vision

The goal of Washington's HomeTeam is to ensure that the Community Master Plan's short and long-term vision reflects the values of residents, businesses, and organizations. We will do this by

• BALANCED DEVELOPMENT
• FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
• EXCEPTIONAL COMMUNITY SERVICE
• FAIR REGULATIONS AND ORDINANCES
• HIGH STANDARD ETHICS POLICY

ENCOURAGE BALANCED DEVELOPMENT

• Maintain our rural lifestyle.
• Ensure a thoughtful, balanced Master Plan that is reviewed every 3 years
• Defend the Master Plan against unreasonable challenges.
• Require that zoning maps be updated and available to the public.
• Promote land uses with a net benefit to the community (residential, agricultural and business).
• Encourage developer / resident cooperation on balanced development that does not outpace infrastructure.

PROMOTE FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

• Assure cooperation and collaboration between Washington Township and our surrounding neighbors (Bruce Township, Romeo, and Ray Township) to control the cost of overlapping/duplicate services.
• Ensure new capital investments (new buildings, etc) are economically justified with adequate opportunities for public feedback.
• Adhere to strict bidding practices and clearly disclose all expenditures
• Benchmark other townships to ensure we use proper practices.
• Critically evaluate cost levels throughout the township.

IMPROVE COMMUNITY SERVICE

• Promote respectful and friendly communication practices by all Township officials, appointees and employees within Township offices and with residents.
• Ensure that the Board of Trustees properly communicates decisions on issues sent to it by the Planning Commission.
• Ensure a responsive, user friendly website that is updated on a timely basis with expanded content.
• Improve the format of Board and Planning Commission meetings to encourage citizen involvement with clearly stated opportunities to address the officials and current agenda items.
• Require that Board, Planning Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals agendas be accurately reflected on the township website 72 hours prior to meetings to allow residents to be adequately informed.
• Compare structure, budget and general conduct to other townships.
• Prohibit voting on any items not on agenda in advance (discuss only).
• Provide customer service training for all employees and offer to elected officials and appointees.
• Provide adequate copies of all materials reviewed at Board and Commission meetings available to the audience in attendance.
• Require that all decisions made in executive session (including consent judgments on development suits) be made public prior to or after the vote as appropriate, if the materials are subject to FOIA.
• Appoint only qualified people, with appropriate experience, education and years of township residency to various committees.

REVIEW REGULATIONS FOR FAIRNESS

• Enforce local ordinances fairly not as a tool to control or interfere with legal business or residential rights.
• Require that all new local ordinances provide proper grandfathering.
• Require an economic impact analysis of ordinance changes prior to approval to protect residents and businesses.
• Foster business expansion to build a tax base to offset the cost of the growing residential base.
• Avoid over-regulation and ordinance complexity.

ESTABLISH A HIGH STANDARD ETHICS POLICY

• Ensure that officials excuse themselves from the decision making process when there is a potential conflict of interest.
• Demonstrate a high standard of ethics relating to gifts or favors.
• Take action against officials if they use their position to put undue pressure on residents, employees or business owners
• Prohibit officials from authorizing frivolous litigation against residents.
• Not knowingly accept campaign funds or gifts from developers.