Oram.

WEST BLOOMFIELD — Three members of the West Bloomfield Township board of trustees are facing a recall effort over allegations that they discriminated against Chaldeans. 

Resident Charlene Mitchell Rodgers filed recall petitions to get Clerk Catherine Shaughnessy and trustees Lawrence Brown and Howard Rosenberg removed from office. 

One of the trustees is accused of saying Chaldeans cannot be trusted, Chaldeans are not people we should hire within this township and that Chaldeans are a bunch of crooks. 

The recall effort comes after township supervisor Michele Economou Ureste hired Ziad Oram, a Chaldean American, to be her executive assistant. Ureste said the board tried to invalidate Oram’s hire.

Oram is the first Chaldean American to hold the position. 

Members of the board are accused of trying to remove Oram from his position because he does not have a college degree, even though the previous employee in that position also didn’t have one. 

“There is no proof, so we need to get to the truth,” Shaughnessy said. 

“The board is a hot mess…I’m almost a shame to say I voted for some of these people,” said Rodgers. 

A hearing will be held next week regarding the petitions. Four thousand signatures are needed for each trustee to be removed. 

Detroit activists attended the meeting, including Minister Malik Shabazz who addressed the board regarding the allegations.

“Mrs. Shaughnessy, you are a joke,” said West Bloomfield resident Jim Manna. “Shame on you for all the things you’ve said about our community. They are not allegations, they are true.”