Grosse Pointe Woods council gets
hooked by disputes on towing contracts
A bit of routine business on contracts for towing vehicles led to an exchange full of accusations and recriminations in front of the Grosse Pointe Woods City Council.
Representatives of three towing companies attended the Aug. 2 meeting to complain of mistreatment and special treatment at the hands of city officials, whom they accused of favoritism in awarding contracts.
After being told that the city would not extend or renew a contract with Pointe Towing, Douglas Cerre, the company’s general manager and part owner of Woods Towing, declared that at one point he had been verbally offered a 5-year extension and he accepted it, but it was later retracted. And allegations were made by Glenn Neuner, owner of Woods Towing, that there was a “past vendetta with (Mark) Wollenweber,” based on the latter’s work in St. Clair Shores and in the Woods.
Council member Joseph Sucher stated his concern that “no extensions or promises were made and then withheld.” He asked Al Fincham, acting city administrator, whether there had been any contact about an extension being offered.
Sucher said: “I had asked about the process of the extension and you had indicated that there was going to be no extensions and there was no contact about an extension with the current contract holder," Pointe Towing. “But then I got another communication that said yes there was” and “it’s going round and round and every time I kick the rock it comes up smelling worse.”
Fincham replied that he was contacted by Cerre, who asked about a contract extension, and that he replied that he didn’t know whether it was possible. Fincham stated that “Mr. Wollenweber said we were going to go out for bids. ... We felt it was in the best interest of the customer that we go with Official Towing,” a third company.
Official Towing got the contract on a 6-1 vote, with Lisa Pinkos-Howle the lone dissenter. Wollenweber responded by email to accusations of favoritism:
“Allegations were made then probably by the same owner of Woods Towing that I was friends with Official and that one of the (St. Clair Shores) council members worked for them and that they would get the (Woods) bid. This time Official had the best price. I had very few problems with Official when I worked in SCS and no problems with Pointe when I worked in GPW.”
In other business, the council heard from family members of the boy who was the victim of a lewd act in the men’s room at Lakefront Park last month. A man who remains at large allegedly exposed himself to the boy and then urinated on his shoulder before leaving the bathroom.
The family members complained that park staff were unequipped to handle such an incident, and delays in calling police allowed the perpetrator to slip away.
Mayor Robert Novitke said he shared their concern and that the incident remains under investigation by both Woods and St. Clair Shores police.
