Township Board Acts to Protect Elections Following Supervisor’s Extensive Demands just Days before Election
On October 27, 2026, Springfield Township Supervisor Ric Davis emailed Township Clerk Sean Miller regarding the use of Township employees and resources, including staffing needs associated with the upcoming November 3 election. The lengthy email included an extensive list of requests for information about employee assignments, specific duties, scheduling, overtime, compensatory time, supervisory responsibilities, equipment, facilities, funding, legal authority, and applicable Township policies.
Davis also requested detailed records concerning the use of Sheriff’s deputies at a previous Township event.
Davis requested that the information be provided by October 30, giving Miller approximately 72 hours to respond, just seven days before Election Day, while early voting was already underway in Springfield Township. Davis further stated that without the requested information and prior coordination, he would “object to the use of personnel or other resources under my direct supervision for these purposes.”
Later on October 27, Trustees Bill Whitley and Christopher Moore requested a special Township Board meeting to address concerns about ensuring adequate resources for the upcoming election. A special meeting was scheduled for October 29 at 11:00 a.m. Davis indicated that he was “unavailable” and did not believe a special meeting was necessary.
The October 29th Special Board Meeting
At 11:00 a.m., the special meeting began, but Supervisor Ric Davis was nowhere to be found. Despite his email being the very reason the Board had convened, Davis was absent, leaving Chair Pro Tem Trustee Bill Whitley to preside over the meeting. Davis, who has not reported to work at the Township office for several weeks, was “unavailable” for Township business… again.
Despite the Supervisor’s chair sitting empty, more than 70 residents attended the special meeting in the middle of a weekday, filling nearly every seat in the room. Among those in attendance were concerned candidates on the upcoming November 3 ballot, including David Okonewski, Brendan Leddy, Greg Hill, and Stacey McDuffie. Their attendance, alongside many concerned residents, reflected the community’s determination to protect the integrity of the upcoming election, ensure Township resources remained available for election operations, and hold local officials accountable.
NOTE: During the this special meeting, it was also brought to light that certain documents and procedures referenced in Davis’s email did not exist, including the Township’s “adopted organizational chart,” which Davis repeatedly cited as the basis for employee reporting relationships and supervisory authority.
During the meeting, the Township Board approved a motion to continue using Township employees and resources to prepare for and conduct elections.
During Board discussion, Clerk Sean Miller, Treasurer Dubre, Trustee Moore, and Trustee Whitley each expressed that Supervisor Davis’s demands as a condition for accessing Township facilities and resources were unacceptable. They emphasized that supporting Township elections is an essential responsibility to the residents they were elected to serve.
Trustees Lori Beatty and Kevin Sclesky declined to comment on the email during Board discussions.
Later during public Q&A from residents, Trustee Sclesky focused his short response on concerns about “employee overtime”.
When asked directly by Kara Okonewski of Oko Environmental whether she considered Davis’s email appropriate, Trustee Beatty did not provide a direct answer. Instead, she acknowledged contacting Davis to discuss his intentions behind the email. When Kara challenged Beatty about seeking information exclusively from Davis rather than hearing from other involved officials, Beatty turned to Chair Whitley in an apparent attempt to have Kara’s questioning stopped. Rather than addressing the concerns being raised, Beatty’s response shifted the exchange from answering Kara’s questions to attempting to end her opportunity to speak.
In the end, all six board members voted YES to providing the necessary Township resources to Clerk Miller.
News Coverage of the Event
Supporting Documents
The correspondence below includes 10 emails exchanged between Township officials on October 27–28, 2026, leading up to the October 29 special meeting.
The emails were independently compiled and organized chronologically by Oko Environmental, LLC for public reference.
Original correspondence has been preserved.
For more information regarding Supervisor Davis Recall Efforts – CLICK HERE.