COMSTOCK TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Trustee Bob Pratt resigned Monday morning as a Comstock Township trustee, according to Supervisor Ben Martin. His departure is the fourth Comstock Township board resignation in just three days and has left the township government without a quorum.
Pratt, who released a short message thanking constituents for their support, said he is resigning as of 5 p.m. Monday. His resignation follows letters filed Friday by Trustee Kristie Cherry, Trustee Terry McIver, and Clerk Nicole Beauchamp, with Beauchamp and Cherry citing the growing division between township leaders and residents as one of their reasons for leaving.
The resignations leave Martin, Treasurer Sandra Bloomfield, and Trustee Jerry Amos as the only three members on the board. Under township rules, that number is not enough to constitute a quorum, so the board cannot conduct any business. Monday night's scheduled meeting was canceled.
All four of the departed officials, Pratt, Cherry, McIver, and Beauchamp, were the targets of a recall effort this year. Only the recalls of Cherry and Pratt gathered enough verified signatures to appear on the November ballot, after opposition organizer William Knight and supporters collected the required number of signatures.
"You can kind of see, you know, the community has spoken," Martin said. "They put them on the ballot. And then before the recall happened in November, we have four resignations."
The exodus follows a string of controversies that have split the board since 2025. The most pointed disagreement centered on the June decision to terminate Superintendent Scott Hess without cause and pay him more than $412,000 as part of his release agreement. Beauchamp, Cherry, McIver, and Pratt voted in favor of the payout, arguing it waived the township's liability for firing Hess without cause. Martin, Bloomfield, and Amos voted against both the termination and the lump sum.
"Certainly $412,000 to give to somebody to not come to work, I don't even know how you could possibly be in favor of that," Martin said. "But that was a 4 to 3 vote."
The pattern of 4 to 3 votes, with the four now departed members outweighing the three who remain, is what Martin pointed to when explaining the public backlash. The recall of Cherry and Pratt remains scheduled for the November ballot, though the resignations have complicated the process. Martin said he is in contact with the election commission and will share information as it becomes available.
To restore a quorum and keep the township's operations running, the Kalamazoo County Election Commission has moved to appoint a temporary fourth member. That appointment was set to take place at the Kalamazoo County Administration Building at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Knight, who organized the recall effort against Pratt, McIver, Cherry, and Beauchamp, said the resignations were hastened by the thousands of signatures gathered to remove them.
"I was a little bit more shocked that all four of them went, but honestly, it didn't surprise me," Knight said. "They were going to try to burn the township down on the way out. That was the mentality they had as soon as the recall was called successful."
Pratt declined to comment when asked by News Channel 3. Beauchamp did not respond to interview requests, and McIver and Cherry could not be reached for comment.