Voters in Bingham Township will elect a supervisor on May 8 to replace the supervisor they ousted earlier this year.

The two candidates are Richard A. Schmuckal and Roswell W. Ard Jr.

Elected in November 2004, Robert W. Foster was recalled as Bingham Township supervisor following a 506-360 vote on Feb. 27.

The candidate elected on Tuesday will fill the remainder of Foster’s term ending November 2008.

On March 19, the remaining four members of the Bingham Township Board interviewed three township residents who indicated their willingness to serve as interim supervisor until next week’s election. They were Ard, Schmuckal and Christopher Smith.

On March 22, the board voted 3-1, with trustee Steve Voisin opposed, to appoint Ard as interim supervisor.

Voisin had favored Schmuckal for the position. On March 13, Schmuckal had been selected by the executive committee of the Leelanau County Republican Party to run as the party’s candidate for Bingham Township supervisor. The Leelanau County Democratic Party declined to name a candidate.

Ard, the incumbent, is a Republican. However, his name will appear on the ballot “without party affiliation” in Tuesday’s election.

Both the Leelanau County Republican Party and Schmuckal were major contributors to Foster’s campaign to retain his seat in the Feb. 27 election. The party contributed $500 to Foster’s campaign and Schmuckal contributed $150.

Ard signed the petition calling for Foster’s recall He made no financial contribution to either campaign.

Both candidates have considerable experience in government and politics.
Schmuckal served for six years on the Leelanau County Board of Commissioners, representing portions of Bingham and Suttons Bay townships.

Ard is a former chairman of the Bingham Township Planning Commission and a former chairman of the Bingham Township Zoning Board of Appeals.

Schmuckal attended the University of Maryland and was in the Army for four years including service in Berlin, Germany. He is a retired Ameritech senior account executive and currently owns and operates a Christmas tree farm.

Ard is a 1966 graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and served in the North Atlantic, off of Vietnam and in the Gulf of Alaska. Ard also holds undergraduate and masters degrees in civil engineering from Michigan Technological University. He is currently self-employed as a consulting engineer.

In addition to electing a supervisor on May 8, voters in Bingham Township will join residents of Suttons Bay Township in deciding whether to levy a 2.3-mill property tax to support the Suttons Bay-Bingham Fire and Rescue Department for the next three years. A 1.5-mill levy supporting the department expired in December.