On August 10, 2022, a Lathrup Village couple held a meeting in their backyard to decide whether to attempt a recall campaign against Ms. Miller. Another goal of the meeting was to discuss possible ways in which to hold her accountable for her unprofessional behavior and voting record. 19 residents attended this meeting. The next-door neighbor, an acquaintance of Ms. Miller, alerted her that this meeting was in progress. Ms. Miller went to the next-door neighbor’s home, entered his backyard, and hid behind the bushes located on the property line while eavesdropping and recording this private meeting on her cell phone. This continued until one of the meeting attendees spotted Ms. Miller hiding behind the shrubbery and called out to this, at the time, unknown person.
The meeting attendees were shocked when they realized it was Ms. Miller who was listening in and recording their conversation. Ms. Miller immediately approached the group (while continuing to video the encounter) and began demanding the names of the participants as if they were doing something wrong. Some of the meeting attendees explained to Ms. Miller that they were meeting because they were unhappy with her performance and they invited her into the yard to address their concerns. Ms. Miller not only refused, but became combative and continued arguing with the meeting attendees. While Ms. Miller was arguing with some of the residents, the next-door neighbor got into a heated argument with other meeting participants. The neighbor began hurling insults at the attendees and then exclaimed, “I’m going to get my gun” and began walking into his home. Ms. Miller, as a community “leader,” should have immediately attempted to diffuse the situation, but instead, she continued arguing and insulting the group. The police arrived and the meeting dispersed.
12 affidavits were signed by residents who attended the meeting, swearing to these events under oath. The affidavits were turned over to the City and passed onto the authorities. The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office performed an investigation. While eavesdropping on a private conversation is against the law, no charges were filed, likely because there is a question regarding how much privacy one can expect in a backyard. Subsequently, at the November 14, 2022 Council meeting, Ms. Miller read a statement claiming she had been vindicated of all wrongdoing simply because she was not charged by the authorities. She clearly failed to understand that covertly eavesdropping on residents at a private gathering is, at best, unethical. She referred to the allegations that she was hiding behind the bushes as a false narrative and blamed others for the cloud this incident cast over her instead of taking responsibility for the results of her own actions.
Fox 2 News did a story on this incident, which cast the City in a negative light. The story can be viewed at the top of this page.
To view the notarized affidavits filed with the City by the meeting attendees, click here.
At the August 15, 2022 Council meeting several residents who attended the backyard meeting made public statements on the matter. Listen to their statements by clicking the links below:
To hear the reaction from others at the August 15, 2022 Council meeting, click these links:
To watch Ms. Miller’s complete denial of her own documented behavior, click here.
To view the video of the neighbor threatening to get his gun, click here (turn up your volume really loud to hear the threat made at 7 minutes and 23 seconds).
To hear meeting participants invite Ms. Miller to the meeting to discuss their dissatisfaction, click here.