Well, this will most definitely be my final blog post of the year. Well, sort of. It isn’t my blog post…it is a blog post from Debbie DeLeon, the outgoing Chair of the Ingham County Board of Commissioners. A little background – Commissioner DeLeon (serving North Lansing) first became Board chair in 2009. She faced probably the most serious budget deficits as Board chair that anyone had faced in many, many years (Commissioner Grebner will probably know the last time it was this bad!). She did a great job steering the direction of the County and the Board of Commissioners in 2009. As a reward for her hard work and stress, we elected her Chair once again (note that it is rare for a Board Chair to receive back-to-back terms). Again 2010 was a very tough year. We had many reforms and big budget problems. And again, Chair DeLeon was great. She pushed the Commissioners and staff into facing and making tough decisions. The final blog of the year goes to Commissioner DeLeon. Below is her final statement that she gave to the Board in 2010. Thanks, Deb, for all your hard work for Ingham County.
The Board of Commissioners will have our first meeting of 2011 on January 3rd for swearing in and leadership elections. For now, I wish everyone happy holidays! Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy Kwanzaa, Merry Festivus (sorry if I missed anyone)…and have a great New Year!
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Well, this is the final meeting of the year and my final meeting as board chair. It has been a distinct honor and a privilege for me to serve my colleagues and this county as chair for the last two years.
Personally, it is also a special mark of distinction being the first American Indian not only to serve as a Commissioner, but the first native to serve as the Board Chair.
It is my hope that my time as chair has served my colleagues, my constituents, county residents and my community well and with honor.
I sincerely appreciate the confidence, support, assistance, collaboration, and quite an education in the process that I have received from everyone…my colleagues, our staff, especially Becky Bennett our board coordinator—and just in case anyone didn’t know…she is the one who keeps us all inline!—our controller Mary Lannoye, our deputy controller John Neilson, and our county attorney Peter Cohl, just to name a few, but not to minimize anyone else’s importance on this very long list such as my vice chair Victor Celentino and committee chairs, Dale Copedge, Mark Grebner, Brian McGrain, Deb Nolan and Dianne Holman. And, of course the list was different for the previous year---my 2009 leadership team included vice-chair Dale Copedge with committee chairs Victor Celentino, Mark Grebner, Todd Tennis, Rebecca Bahar-Cook and Andy Schor.
Ingham County has certainly seen some unprecedented times in recent years with all the budget shortfalls growing with each passing year making it harder and harder to balance a budget without enduring a painful process.
We have seen the general fund—that’s our discretionary dollars—shrink by more than $20m in the last 4 years due to revenue losses and declining property taxes. We know these cuts are being felt across the board to one degree or another. However, even in light of $5.7m reduction in the 2010 budget, we have all worked very hard to find ways to minimize the impact on direct services and to void layoffs by eliminating vacant positions first wherever possible…and that is something we should all be proud of in these difficult times.
One of the reasons for Ingham County’s accomplishments in this area is because of the great working relationship we have between our board, our management and our unions. This year, employees are taking 3 furlough days which will be taken during the Christmas holiday closing non-mandated county offices December 27, 28 & 29th. We are, indeed, all in this together and the only way to survive it, is together! A special thank you to all for your good work and sharing in the pain.
We have also seen the transition of three controllers in the past 4 years or so. And i worked through each of them in one capacity or another, but the last one as chair. Today, in case you didn’t know it—for the first time in the history of this county, we have sort of a dream team having an all female county leadership team which includes:
• Controller Mary Lannoye
• Budget director Teri Morton
• Finance director Jill Rhode
• Board coordinator Becky Bennett
• And of course myself as chair
Sorry guys, i just had to point this history in the making event out! Who knows, with this is an absolute first for the county, it may never happen again!!
Anyway, one of the things that i have tried to push as chair has been to get departments heads as well as elected countywides and judges to understand the depth of the budget shortfalls and how we were not seeing any improvement indicators for the near future…urging them to look at restructuring their management teams to eliminate management positions. If I count correctly, only 3 have done this to date and I want to give them special recognition for stepping up and taking a leadership role. Clerk Mike Bryanton was the first to take this initiative. Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings and health administrator Dr. Dean Sienko have also accomplished this for a combined total budget savings of nearly $300k! It all adds up…a special thank you to them for their courage and leadership.
Some of the more significant or notable issues that came before the board in 2010 were not only controversial but also ground breaking kind of issues:
County services highlights
• Authorized a reorganization within the Ingham county clerk’s office—eliminated 1 deputy and converted 1 chief deputy to a supervisor level—increasing efficiencies and an annual savings of more than $70k.
• Approved the first beer tent at the fair—which worked out as expected without any problems;
• Approved the first project labor agreement – the rhino project at the zoo
• Amended the local purchasing preference policy to provide an opportunity to increase more local vendor participation
• Transferred Rayner Park to the city of mason in an effort to keep the park open
Law enforcement highlights
• Eliminated primary law enforcement services for rural townships ultimately transferring responsibility to each of those jurisdictions
• Authorized the closing of a post at the jail
• Authorized the building authority to proceed with the Ingham county consolidated 911 dispatch center and as a project labor agreement. This particular issue gives me some personal pride in that as chair of the law enforcement committee in 2005, i pushed to initiate the first meeting between the county and the cities of Lansing and East Lansing that started us down this road. And here were are 5 years later finally authorizing the construction of the $6.4m (building and equipment costs combined) facility. We hit some bumpy roads along the way, but thanks to the voters of ingham county for their ongoing support of the 911 millage, this consolidation will ultimately provide a cost savings and be a more efficient operation.
• Authorized entering into an intergovernmental cost sharing agreement with Eaton, Clinton and Livingston counties for a new 911 phone system that would develop virtual backup capabilities for the 911 system – another cost saving measure
• Authorized an imaging project resulting in a reorganization within the prosecutor’s office that eliminated vacant positions no longer needed when the office went paperless. Resulting in a savings of $190k. Because of the success in the prosecutor’s office, more county offices are looking at going paperless.
Human services highlights
• Authorized a realignment of the health department programs and administrative structure—eliminated a deputy position going from 3 divisions to 2 divisions for a total cost reduction of $88k.
• Expansion of the health clinics continues due to the fqhc—federally qualified health care center—status thanks to our health department staff who works so diligently to apply for any and all federal dollars available.
• Authorized an agreement, tonight actually, with sparrow hospital for medical examiner services that will keep all autopsies in Ingham county.
Judiciary highlights
• Authorized expansion of an additional class (10 more students) to the very successful Ingham academy high school program. Graduation of our first class took place this year, which was quite moving and impressive. Programs like this happen because of the juvenile justice millage and the ability to match those funds with state dollars.
• Authorized a contract with luminosity solutions to review certain aspects of the Ingham county criminal justice system & provide recommendations to responsibly manage the reduced jail population while maintaining public safety and the integrity of the judicial process in preparation for the closing of post 3 (64 bed reduction).
• Requested the JUCC—jail utilization coordinating committee—to review the luminosity report entitled “jail & justice system assessment” & forward their recommended strategies to adopt to the board.
• Adopted JUCC recommendations for implementation, which were
1. Add 1 FTE pre-trial investigator position;
2. Increase electronic monitoring—a grant was also obtained to offset costs for the indigent, as the cost is paid by the person monitored.
Finance highlights
• Of course, we all know that all resolutions dealing with money go through the finance committee, as well...and, sometimes they actually get to tweak a resolution or two before it goes to the full board.
• This committee’s most difficult issue comes with the passing of a balanced budget -- deciding which priorities on the z-list from all the other committees survive the process or face getting cut.
Most of the work throughout the year has focused around the budget in one way or another...this speaks volumes in regards to the size of the budget problems this county has been and will continue to face…at least until 2014 is what is currently being projected. 2012 is anticipated to be worse than anything we have seen to date—especially if the legislature does anything negative to revenue sharing. Given the “fun” we have had with the budget the last two years, I am more than happy to take a break and looking forward to it!!
In closing, thank you, again, to everyone and anyone who helped me in any way during my tenure as board chair. It has really been very much appreciated. It has indeed been an honor and i have enjoyed this awesome opportunity.
And, thank you for your indulgence in allowing me this moment to share some of the highlights of this past year only…and now for the highlights of 2009!!!
Just kidding…one last word—best wishes to the incoming 2011 chair. And best wishes to everyone for a safe and happy holiday season.
Chi megwetch!!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Friday, December 17, 2010
LEAP, Outside Counsel for Judge, Police Services Money
This week, the Board of Commissioner had our final meeting of the year…and it was a long one!
First, we dealt with our membership to the Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP). You may recall that the resolution to pay our $35,000 LEAP membership for 2010 failed at out Board meeting 2 weeks ago. We had two people testify in public comment that LEAP was necessary and very important for the region – Steve Alexander from PNC Bank and Ingham County Treasurer Eric Schertzing. When the resolution came up, Commissioner Holman offered an amendment to reduce the amount paid to LEAP from $35,000 to $15,000. I was among the people voting against this. I believe that we sat at the table and made decisions with the rest of the LEAP membership (public and private) and we should pay the same as the others. That amount is $35,000. Next year the cost is reduced to $15,000, and LEAP recognizes that governments are short in funding and having a hard time. Commissioner Holman’s amendment failed, and the resolution passed this time.
We also dealt with a resolution requested by Judge Giddings to pay off legal bills that he faces. Because of a certain situation where he was being sued by another county entity, he was forced to retain outside counsel. According to state law, the County is responsible for paying that. In short, he has a disagreement over whether he can sit as judge in a case involving a former judge. He thinks he can but the Chief Judge thinks he can’t. The Prosecutor has filed a motion to change the venue of the case with the Appeals Court, and Judge Giddings is fighting it. Because the Prosecutor is using the County Attorney, Judge Giddings needs an outside counsel. The one catch is that Judge Giddings is no longer a judge as of the end of December. So, the County Board agreed to pay the costs already occurred (no more than $7,000), but indicated we will not pay anything further and would like to see the case dropped. This was a tough one. Personally, I don’t like it when one agency of the county sues another and doesn’t consult with the Board of Commissioners, then expects us to pay. I will be drafting a policy to require prior approval of the Board before one entity sues another. But, because we have to follow state law and this expense is necessary for the Judge in his official capacity, I voted to pay this but specify that we won’t pay anything further because the case should be over.
The final controversial resolution that we considered, which took a long time, was the resolution to give money to Williamstown for their police services (using assessment money) and to give money to Alaiedon Twp if they decide to contract with the county for police services (using general fund dollars). A resolution we passed last month specified that we would only give money to Williamstown if they contracted with the county. They decided, though, to contract with Meridian Twp for police services. While many of think this is unfortunate, it seems that Meridian gave a lower bid for the services. I am not sure how this is possible and it has been suggested to me that Meridian is paying less that it will actually cost (which means the Meridian taxpayers are actually subsidizing the service), but the fact remains that Williamstown went with the lowest bidder.
According to what we passed last month, this would mean that we will not give Williamstown any county money for transition. Commissioner Randy Schafer proposed a resolution that would change our past resolution and grant Williamstown $122,000 for any purpose. This is something that Commissioner Grebner has been proposing and he incorporated this into a resolution that we already had on the Board floor. This was a very tough decision for everyone. The Board committed to give money to any township that passed a millage or assessment, but it was unclear if we had actually stated in any of our policies earlier in the year that the community had to contract with the county. I expressed that I would not support changing direction unless the county dollars are specifically used to re-hire deputies that are laid-off. In the end, in my mind, I had to balance the need to have the township use our money to contract with the Sheriff versus the need to have the township use our money to hire the deputies that we have to lay off as a result of the townships voting down the assessments for road patrol and the county eliminating road patrol.
After great discussion, Commissioner Grebner proposed language requiring Williamstown to use the county money to hire deputies that were laid off from the county. He also said that the deputies have to be “qualified” so that there aren’t people doing other jobs that are demanding the money. This word, though, is now causing some problems as there could be some shenanigans occurring in saying that the deputies laid off from the county may not be qualified because of minor details. I am going to keep a close eye on this, and have made my opinions clear that we should not approve moving the money if the township is not hiring our deputies. I also am willing to come back and re-define the work “qualified” in our resolution if necessary.
There were also concerns that the resolution allows Williamstown to use the money for contracting outside or with the county, while Alaiedon has to contract with the county (which they have said they would do). Some are concerned that there will not be a unified police force throughout the county. My response to that was that the voters decided on November 2nd that they do not want a unified police force when they turned down the assessments and millages. At this point, the Board will deal with each interested township individually and according to the situation that they are in when they talk to us about county money for their police force (until the end of 2011).
So that’s it for this week. I am not sure if I will blog next week…depends on what is going on and if there is enough to talk about. If I don’t blog, I hope everyone has a happy holiday and great New Year!
First, we dealt with our membership to the Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP). You may recall that the resolution to pay our $35,000 LEAP membership for 2010 failed at out Board meeting 2 weeks ago. We had two people testify in public comment that LEAP was necessary and very important for the region – Steve Alexander from PNC Bank and Ingham County Treasurer Eric Schertzing. When the resolution came up, Commissioner Holman offered an amendment to reduce the amount paid to LEAP from $35,000 to $15,000. I was among the people voting against this. I believe that we sat at the table and made decisions with the rest of the LEAP membership (public and private) and we should pay the same as the others. That amount is $35,000. Next year the cost is reduced to $15,000, and LEAP recognizes that governments are short in funding and having a hard time. Commissioner Holman’s amendment failed, and the resolution passed this time.
We also dealt with a resolution requested by Judge Giddings to pay off legal bills that he faces. Because of a certain situation where he was being sued by another county entity, he was forced to retain outside counsel. According to state law, the County is responsible for paying that. In short, he has a disagreement over whether he can sit as judge in a case involving a former judge. He thinks he can but the Chief Judge thinks he can’t. The Prosecutor has filed a motion to change the venue of the case with the Appeals Court, and Judge Giddings is fighting it. Because the Prosecutor is using the County Attorney, Judge Giddings needs an outside counsel. The one catch is that Judge Giddings is no longer a judge as of the end of December. So, the County Board agreed to pay the costs already occurred (no more than $7,000), but indicated we will not pay anything further and would like to see the case dropped. This was a tough one. Personally, I don’t like it when one agency of the county sues another and doesn’t consult with the Board of Commissioners, then expects us to pay. I will be drafting a policy to require prior approval of the Board before one entity sues another. But, because we have to follow state law and this expense is necessary for the Judge in his official capacity, I voted to pay this but specify that we won’t pay anything further because the case should be over.
The final controversial resolution that we considered, which took a long time, was the resolution to give money to Williamstown for their police services (using assessment money) and to give money to Alaiedon Twp if they decide to contract with the county for police services (using general fund dollars). A resolution we passed last month specified that we would only give money to Williamstown if they contracted with the county. They decided, though, to contract with Meridian Twp for police services. While many of think this is unfortunate, it seems that Meridian gave a lower bid for the services. I am not sure how this is possible and it has been suggested to me that Meridian is paying less that it will actually cost (which means the Meridian taxpayers are actually subsidizing the service), but the fact remains that Williamstown went with the lowest bidder.
According to what we passed last month, this would mean that we will not give Williamstown any county money for transition. Commissioner Randy Schafer proposed a resolution that would change our past resolution and grant Williamstown $122,000 for any purpose. This is something that Commissioner Grebner has been proposing and he incorporated this into a resolution that we already had on the Board floor. This was a very tough decision for everyone. The Board committed to give money to any township that passed a millage or assessment, but it was unclear if we had actually stated in any of our policies earlier in the year that the community had to contract with the county. I expressed that I would not support changing direction unless the county dollars are specifically used to re-hire deputies that are laid-off. In the end, in my mind, I had to balance the need to have the township use our money to contract with the Sheriff versus the need to have the township use our money to hire the deputies that we have to lay off as a result of the townships voting down the assessments for road patrol and the county eliminating road patrol.
After great discussion, Commissioner Grebner proposed language requiring Williamstown to use the county money to hire deputies that were laid off from the county. He also said that the deputies have to be “qualified” so that there aren’t people doing other jobs that are demanding the money. This word, though, is now causing some problems as there could be some shenanigans occurring in saying that the deputies laid off from the county may not be qualified because of minor details. I am going to keep a close eye on this, and have made my opinions clear that we should not approve moving the money if the township is not hiring our deputies. I also am willing to come back and re-define the work “qualified” in our resolution if necessary.
There were also concerns that the resolution allows Williamstown to use the money for contracting outside or with the county, while Alaiedon has to contract with the county (which they have said they would do). Some are concerned that there will not be a unified police force throughout the county. My response to that was that the voters decided on November 2nd that they do not want a unified police force when they turned down the assessments and millages. At this point, the Board will deal with each interested township individually and according to the situation that they are in when they talk to us about county money for their police force (until the end of 2011).
So that’s it for this week. I am not sure if I will blog next week…depends on what is going on and if there is enough to talk about. If I don’t blog, I hope everyone has a happy holiday and great New Year!
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Last Round of Committees, Road Patrol, Autopsies,
This week we had our final round of committee meetings for the year. I had County Services and Finance. First, let me thank the Chairs of those committees. Dale Copedge did a great job running the County Services in an expedient and effective manner, and Mark Grebner was a fair and effective Finance Committee Chair. We had a busy yet great year.
In Finance, we dealt with the ongoing road patrol and police services issue. We passed a resolution allowing for a contract with Williamstown and/or Alaedon Township to retain 5 deputies and provide the townships money for police services (up to $220,571) if they contract with the Sheriff (County). Ironically, we also found out that Williamstown Twp passed a resolution to contract with Meridian Township for police, which means that they are turning down the county dollars. We were told that the Township Board said they didn't want to contract with the county because they don't like the Board of Commissioners. In doing so, they rejected $124,000 offered by the county. Meridian's offer was less expensive than the County's (not including the $124,000) and the Sheriff’s staff are checking to see how that is possible because Meridian police officers make more in salary than the county deputies make. The Williamstown-Meridian contract apparently contracted for 80-100 hours of service per week, and a pro-rated rate after that.
Also, as you may recall, a few weeks ago the County heard from several parties about the dollars that we were being expected to pay for autopsies. To briefly summarize, Sparrow planned to charge us a lot more than they are currently charging. The Health Department found another person to do the autopsies in Genesee county who would charge a lot less. As a result, though, the Prosecutor and City of Lansing said that using Genesee county would increase their costs because they would have to travel to Genesee county with the bodies. After that, our staff went into negotiations.
Well, I am happy to report that there is a resolution to this issue. Our Health Director and Controller met with the various parties involved. The result is a resolution that passed Human Services and Finance which will approve a contract with Sparrow Hospital for services to support the Medical Examiner’s office for the next 4 years (starting in March). Under the current system, the Medical Examiner utilizes Health Department staff and contracted physicians, through appointments as Deputy Medical Examiners, to perform many of these functions, and contracts with local pathologists for autopsy services. The proposed agreement with Sparrow, though, is all inclusive and eliminates the need for the current arrangement. The services to be performed by Sparrow include all postmortem examinations, records management, death certificates, cremation permit authorizations, and death investigations.
Under the current arrangement, the actual expenditures for Medical Examiner services are approximately $350,000 per year. The cost to the County under the negotiated terms will be up to $320,000 per year and will not change during the next four years. This price includes 160 autopsies. If Sparrow performs more than 160 autopsies in a given year, there will be an additional charge of $1,200 per autopsy for the first ten cases, the next ten would be $1,400, and all autopsies over a caseload of 180 will be $1,600. If Sparrow performs less then 160 autopsies in a given year, the County would be similarly credited. We have been told by our staff that they do not expect more than 160 autopsies to happen in any given year. So, this will very likely be a savings to the county, will ensure that we are using a local hospital for these services, and will prevent the Lansing Police and the Prosecutor from having to expend additional dollars. Overall, this is a win-win-win for all parties!
That’s it for now!
In Finance, we dealt with the ongoing road patrol and police services issue. We passed a resolution allowing for a contract with Williamstown and/or Alaedon Township to retain 5 deputies and provide the townships money for police services (up to $220,571) if they contract with the Sheriff (County). Ironically, we also found out that Williamstown Twp passed a resolution to contract with Meridian Township for police, which means that they are turning down the county dollars. We were told that the Township Board said they didn't want to contract with the county because they don't like the Board of Commissioners. In doing so, they rejected $124,000 offered by the county. Meridian's offer was less expensive than the County's (not including the $124,000) and the Sheriff’s staff are checking to see how that is possible because Meridian police officers make more in salary than the county deputies make. The Williamstown-Meridian contract apparently contracted for 80-100 hours of service per week, and a pro-rated rate after that.
Also, as you may recall, a few weeks ago the County heard from several parties about the dollars that we were being expected to pay for autopsies. To briefly summarize, Sparrow planned to charge us a lot more than they are currently charging. The Health Department found another person to do the autopsies in Genesee county who would charge a lot less. As a result, though, the Prosecutor and City of Lansing said that using Genesee county would increase their costs because they would have to travel to Genesee county with the bodies. After that, our staff went into negotiations.
Well, I am happy to report that there is a resolution to this issue. Our Health Director and Controller met with the various parties involved. The result is a resolution that passed Human Services and Finance which will approve a contract with Sparrow Hospital for services to support the Medical Examiner’s office for the next 4 years (starting in March). Under the current system, the Medical Examiner utilizes Health Department staff and contracted physicians, through appointments as Deputy Medical Examiners, to perform many of these functions, and contracts with local pathologists for autopsy services. The proposed agreement with Sparrow, though, is all inclusive and eliminates the need for the current arrangement. The services to be performed by Sparrow include all postmortem examinations, records management, death certificates, cremation permit authorizations, and death investigations.
Under the current arrangement, the actual expenditures for Medical Examiner services are approximately $350,000 per year. The cost to the County under the negotiated terms will be up to $320,000 per year and will not change during the next four years. This price includes 160 autopsies. If Sparrow performs more than 160 autopsies in a given year, there will be an additional charge of $1,200 per autopsy for the first ten cases, the next ten would be $1,400, and all autopsies over a caseload of 180 will be $1,600. If Sparrow performs less then 160 autopsies in a given year, the County would be similarly credited. We have been told by our staff that they do not expect more than 160 autopsies to happen in any given year. So, this will very likely be a savings to the county, will ensure that we are using a local hospital for these services, and will prevent the Lansing Police and the Prosecutor from having to expend additional dollars. Overall, this is a win-win-win for all parties!
That’s it for now!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
CATA Elderly and Disabled Service, SeeClickFix
This week is an unusual week in that there were no Ingham County meetings. Because we meet twice a month, and because there were five weeks in November this year, the last week (Nov 30 - Dec 2nd) didn't have any meetings. As such, I am going to take this opportunity to report on one of the important services that Ingham County residents pay for and that we provide to our residents - the Capital Area Transportation Authority (CATA) special services serving elderly and disabled residents of Ingham County.
In November, voters renewed the millage for this special service. About a month ago, the Board finalized our contract with CATA to fund and provide this service. This is in addition to the line-haul service provided with CATA (which is the dedicated bus lines that the citizens of Lansing, East Lansing, Delhi, Meridian and Lansing Township pay).
From January1, 2011 through December 31, 2015, CATA will carry out the following activities with respect to small bus transportation primarily serving elderly and disabled residents of Ingham County:
1. Take all reasonable steps to improve the quality of small bus service primarily
serving the elderly and residents with disabilities of Ingham County. CATA shall
constantly strive to develop methods to provide such services in more cost efficient
ways.
2. Continue to operate service for persons with disabilities, known as CATA Spec-
Tran, providing at a minimum the level of service in effect on October 1, 1988, to
residents of Ingham County who reside within the boundaries of the urbanized area
and who further qualify for this specialized service by nature of their mobilityrelated
disabilities. Services shall be provided in conformity with state and federal
requirements and grants received for the operation of the service. A maximum of
$1,942,212 of the funds received under this Agreement shall be used to pay the
actual expenses of operating, administrating and marketing Spec-Tran.
3. The amount of $105,873.00 shall be retained by the County for the operation of a
vehicle used to transport area veterans to VA Hospitals in the region in the
County’s 2011 Fiscal Year. CATA has no responsibility for this service and does
not participate in its operation or funding.
Also, dollars from this millage will be used to manage and operate the small bus system commonly known as CATA Rural Services (CRS), providing a minimum of 79 hours per day of service to the residents of Ingham County who reside outside of the boundaries of the urbanized area. Service shall be provided in conformity with the requirements of the state and federal grants received for the operation of the service. A maximum of $468,750 of the funds received under this agreement shall be used to pay for the actual expenses of operating, administering and marketing CATA Rural Services. While I am not thrilled that dollars from this millage will be used for rural services instead of just elderly and disabled service, I have been told that the percentage of dollars going to rural service matches the percentage of dollars being supplied by the rural areas. I guess that makes me feel a little better. And for all the attorney's, this is legal because the ballot language said the millage is "primarily" for elderly and disabled, so less than 50% can be used for rural services. Again, I am not happy that it seems that the voters were not wholly informed on this, but it has passed twice and the voters have not complained.
In addition to CATA, I wanted to share one other thing for Lansing area residents. I am on the Active Neighboring News email list from Joan Nelson of the Allen Street community and love it. Here is one tip she points out in this week’s email…
SeeClickFix is a wonderful new tool that enables neighbors to report non-emergency problems to the City of Lansing and the Board of Water and Light, e.g., traffic light or street light outage, stretch of sidewalk that is in such poor condition that it is downright dangerous, a ‘permanent’ dumpster in front of a home on your block, etc. Go to the website, www.seeclickfix.com. The “prompts” allow you to create an account. Then, when you observe the problem, go into the website, type in your remarks in the “Report an issue!” box. Good luck.
I am also on the South Lansing email list from Kathie Dunbar and have learned lots of good information from that. I will pass that on as well when I receive it.
Next week should be another busy week, and I will have a report for you on Thursday!
In November, voters renewed the millage for this special service. About a month ago, the Board finalized our contract with CATA to fund and provide this service. This is in addition to the line-haul service provided with CATA (which is the dedicated bus lines that the citizens of Lansing, East Lansing, Delhi, Meridian and Lansing Township pay).
From January1, 2011 through December 31, 2015, CATA will carry out the following activities with respect to small bus transportation primarily serving elderly and disabled residents of Ingham County:
1. Take all reasonable steps to improve the quality of small bus service primarily
serving the elderly and residents with disabilities of Ingham County. CATA shall
constantly strive to develop methods to provide such services in more cost efficient
ways.
2. Continue to operate service for persons with disabilities, known as CATA Spec-
Tran, providing at a minimum the level of service in effect on October 1, 1988, to
residents of Ingham County who reside within the boundaries of the urbanized area
and who further qualify for this specialized service by nature of their mobilityrelated
disabilities. Services shall be provided in conformity with state and federal
requirements and grants received for the operation of the service. A maximum of
$1,942,212 of the funds received under this Agreement shall be used to pay the
actual expenses of operating, administrating and marketing Spec-Tran.
3. The amount of $105,873.00 shall be retained by the County for the operation of a
vehicle used to transport area veterans to VA Hospitals in the region in the
County’s 2011 Fiscal Year. CATA has no responsibility for this service and does
not participate in its operation or funding.
Also, dollars from this millage will be used to manage and operate the small bus system commonly known as CATA Rural Services (CRS), providing a minimum of 79 hours per day of service to the residents of Ingham County who reside outside of the boundaries of the urbanized area. Service shall be provided in conformity with the requirements of the state and federal grants received for the operation of the service. A maximum of $468,750 of the funds received under this agreement shall be used to pay for the actual expenses of operating, administering and marketing CATA Rural Services. While I am not thrilled that dollars from this millage will be used for rural services instead of just elderly and disabled service, I have been told that the percentage of dollars going to rural service matches the percentage of dollars being supplied by the rural areas. I guess that makes me feel a little better. And for all the attorney's, this is legal because the ballot language said the millage is "primarily" for elderly and disabled, so less than 50% can be used for rural services. Again, I am not happy that it seems that the voters were not wholly informed on this, but it has passed twice and the voters have not complained.
In addition to CATA, I wanted to share one other thing for Lansing area residents. I am on the Active Neighboring News email list from Joan Nelson of the Allen Street community and love it. Here is one tip she points out in this week’s email…
SeeClickFix is a wonderful new tool that enables neighbors to report non-emergency problems to the City of Lansing and the Board of Water and Light, e.g., traffic light or street light outage, stretch of sidewalk that is in such poor condition that it is downright dangerous, a ‘permanent’ dumpster in front of a home on your block, etc. Go to the website, www.seeclickfix.com. The “prompts” allow you to create an account. Then, when you observe the problem, go into the website, type in your remarks in the “Report an issue!” box. Good luck.
I am also on the South Lansing email list from Kathie Dunbar and have learned lots of good information from that. I will pass that on as well when I receive it.
Next week should be another busy week, and I will have a report for you on Thursday!
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Guest Blogger: Commissioner Penelope Tsernoglou
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! This week, I will once again turn to a guest blogger to report on county adtivities. So...today I introduce you to Commissioner Penelope Tsernoglou of East Lansing, our newest Commissioner who won election last year in a special election. Thanks for blogging this week, Penelope!
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First, I’d like to congratulate our new Board Chair, Mark Grebner, and Vice-Chair, Deb Nolan. Brian McGrain and Carol Koenig will continue as caucus chair and treasurer. Congrats to our new committee chairs Andy Schor (Finance), Todd Tennis (Human Services), Vic Celentino (Law Enforcement), Deb DeLeon (County Services) and Rebecca Bahar-Cook (Judiciary), as well as our appointees to the Women’s Commission, Economic Development Corporation (Congrats Chong-Anna Canfora and Kristin Bellar!!), and various other Board’s and Commissions.
I’d like to take a minute to introduce myself. I am the newest County Commissioner to the Board. I was elected in May of this year in a special election after long-time Commissioner Marc Thomas resigned his post. I represent the part of East Lansing between Coolidge Road and Abbot Road, which includes part of MSU’s campus. The committees I serve on this year are Law Enforcement and Judiciary, both of which are perfect for me considering my background as a public defense attorney for Ingham County, as well as a domestic violence victim’s advocate working out of the Sheriff’s Office, and a long time animal control volunteer. I was also appointed to serve on the Ingham County Women’s Commission and Tri-County Aging Consortium. In 2011, I look forward to serving as the vice-chair of Finance, continuing to serve on Judiciary and the Women’s Commission, as well as becoming acquainted with the Park’s Board.
While we had several important issues come before the Board this week, including allocation of transition money to the townships (we agreed on an amount and will be making it available for transition provided that Williamston contracts with the Sheriff’s Office), a pollution control ordinance (sent back to committee), and our continued participation and membership dues to LEAP (also tabled), the issue I have been contacted about the most recently is actually a City of East Lansing zoning issue, but can certainly have an impact on the County as well. A few weeks ago our Health Department Director expressed an interest to us in the vacant Blue Cross/Blue Shield building and property located at the corner of Lake Lansing and Coolidge Road. Our interest is in establishing a federally qualified health center with a priority focus on geriatric services. The establishment of such a facility would likely increase our competitiveness for additional dollars in the form of access point grants from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration. We would expect to make use of the existing structures, which appear to be suitable. The site is extremely well served by public transit, with five regular routes converging nearby. With medical buildings just to the South of the location, we believe this would be a positive addition to our East Lansing community and a perfect fit for the property. It is also consistent with current zoning and East Lansing’s master plan. While this is still in the idea phase, and not a formal proposal, I believe it is certainly worth consideration as a viable option. On December 7th, the City Council will consider a proposal for re-zoning from a developer who would like to purchase the property, tear down the existing structures, and build a CVS pharmacy. A majority of my constituents are strongly opposed to this plan as they believe it is inconsistent with our master plan, and will increase traffic accidents and backups. I am inclined to agree with their position and will continue to follow the issue until a final decision is made.
Thanks to Commissioner Schor for providing me the opportunity to guest blog this week and Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!
Penelope Ann Tsernoglou
Ingham County Commissioner- District 8 (East Lansing)
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First, I’d like to congratulate our new Board Chair, Mark Grebner, and Vice-Chair, Deb Nolan. Brian McGrain and Carol Koenig will continue as caucus chair and treasurer. Congrats to our new committee chairs Andy Schor (Finance), Todd Tennis (Human Services), Vic Celentino (Law Enforcement), Deb DeLeon (County Services) and Rebecca Bahar-Cook (Judiciary), as well as our appointees to the Women’s Commission, Economic Development Corporation (Congrats Chong-Anna Canfora and Kristin Bellar!!), and various other Board’s and Commissions.
I’d like to take a minute to introduce myself. I am the newest County Commissioner to the Board. I was elected in May of this year in a special election after long-time Commissioner Marc Thomas resigned his post. I represent the part of East Lansing between Coolidge Road and Abbot Road, which includes part of MSU’s campus. The committees I serve on this year are Law Enforcement and Judiciary, both of which are perfect for me considering my background as a public defense attorney for Ingham County, as well as a domestic violence victim’s advocate working out of the Sheriff’s Office, and a long time animal control volunteer. I was also appointed to serve on the Ingham County Women’s Commission and Tri-County Aging Consortium. In 2011, I look forward to serving as the vice-chair of Finance, continuing to serve on Judiciary and the Women’s Commission, as well as becoming acquainted with the Park’s Board.
While we had several important issues come before the Board this week, including allocation of transition money to the townships (we agreed on an amount and will be making it available for transition provided that Williamston contracts with the Sheriff’s Office), a pollution control ordinance (sent back to committee), and our continued participation and membership dues to LEAP (also tabled), the issue I have been contacted about the most recently is actually a City of East Lansing zoning issue, but can certainly have an impact on the County as well. A few weeks ago our Health Department Director expressed an interest to us in the vacant Blue Cross/Blue Shield building and property located at the corner of Lake Lansing and Coolidge Road. Our interest is in establishing a federally qualified health center with a priority focus on geriatric services. The establishment of such a facility would likely increase our competitiveness for additional dollars in the form of access point grants from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration. We would expect to make use of the existing structures, which appear to be suitable. The site is extremely well served by public transit, with five regular routes converging nearby. With medical buildings just to the South of the location, we believe this would be a positive addition to our East Lansing community and a perfect fit for the property. It is also consistent with current zoning and East Lansing’s master plan. While this is still in the idea phase, and not a formal proposal, I believe it is certainly worth consideration as a viable option. On December 7th, the City Council will consider a proposal for re-zoning from a developer who would like to purchase the property, tear down the existing structures, and build a CVS pharmacy. A majority of my constituents are strongly opposed to this plan as they believe it is inconsistent with our master plan, and will increase traffic accidents and backups. I am inclined to agree with their position and will continue to follow the issue until a final decision is made.
Thanks to Commissioner Schor for providing me the opportunity to guest blog this week and Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!
Penelope Ann Tsernoglou
Ingham County Commissioner- District 8 (East Lansing)
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
LEAP, Police Services for Williamstown, Hawk Island Tubing Hill
In County Services and Finance, we considered funding for LEAP, Inc. (Lansing Economic Area Partnership), the regional private-public economic development organization for the greater Lansing area (Eaton, Clinton, Ingham counties). We considered a resolution for funding of $35,000 for the 2010 year. We have already approved funding of $15,000 for 2011 (the dues were reduced starting in 2011). Denyse Ferguson and Ray DeWinkle provided us with a presentation and wealth of information. LEAP has focus areas of business growth & development, strategic regional collaboration and place marketing for growth. They coordinate strategic regional growth efforts, conduct proactive business attractions, manage regionally coordinated and nationally connected entrepreneurial efforts, and proactively market the Greater Lansing Region as a destination for businesses and talent. We asked several questions, including asking for specifics on results and actual numbers to go with the concepts. The LEAP folks provided excellent information in the packets and in their responses. I was a little skeptical at first because I had not seen any specifics...but was much happier after hearing the presentation. They also talked about how they work with local municipalities and the State (MEDC) to use all available tools to attract the businesses to the region, and they assess the needs of the companies such as resources, grants, labor force, building and so on. This is in addition to their marketing and sales of the greater Lansing area. The resolution to pay the $35,000 for 2010 passed in County Services on a 4-2 vote and in Finance on a 3-2 vote.
In Finance, we spent significant time working out the details of how to give Williamstown Township money to assist them in transitioning to road patrol funded by their new assessment. As you may recall, the county ended funding for road patrol unless the rural townships agreed to pay into this service. All 13 put assessments or millages on their ballots, and the County Board reserved money in our budget to assist any township that passed the assessment/millage. Williamstown Township was the only township to do so, and we now have limited time to work out with them how to get them the transition money (until January 1st).
Commissioner Mark Grebner drafted a resolution which would give Williamstown $100,000 in 2011 for them to contract with the county, form their own township police department, contract with another township, or however they want to create police services. It also said that any new deputies hired have to be county deputies or former county deputies if available. We had lengthy discussion and passed several amendments to this resolution. First, we changed the amount to be allocated. We created a formula that allocates money based half on taxable value using 2010 numbers and half on the estimated 2009 population. Both of these are the most recent numbers that we have to use. I assume this will increase the allocation to about $130,000, but I don’t know the exact number. We next amended the resolution to require that the township has to contract with the Sheriff to get the incentive dollars. Four of us on the committee agreed with the Sheriff that the township should have to contract with the county for service rather than being able to contract with another municipality or create their own police force when using the dollars given to them by the county. Of couse, they can do whatever they want with the dollars that they collect from their own assessment. Our resolution is only for the transition/incentive dollars that we committed. We added to the resolution that the township must provide an adequate level of police service in order to receive the dollars (as determined by the sheriff). This will provide any attempt to only collect a small portion of the assessment, then use county dollars for police. Finally, we allowed the township to utilize the total allotment over two years if they want.
This resolution will be a model for other townships that may want to contract with the county for police services. Others townships could do so from their general fund balances (Commissioner Grebner says that they have healthy fund balances to do this), or other townships could go back to the ballot with a new assessment/millage proposal for their voters. We have $800,000 in total reserved for 2011, and are open to allocating that to any township that wants police services and is willing to put up the funds and request incentive/transition dollars from the County. We have heard that there is one other township interested at this point, but I won’t speculate until we receive an actual request.
In County Services, we also had a short discussion and vote on a resolution regarding the tubing hill at Hawk Island. As you may recall (as I have reported in the past), in 2007 the County was awarded a Land and Water Conservation Fund grant from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment (MDNRE) for the construction of a snow tubing hill at Hawk Island County Park. One of the requirements of the grant is that the County utilizes a Prime Professional to complete various aspects of the project. As such, the Purchasing Department solicited proposals from professional firms qualified and experienced in engineering, architectural and/or surveying for the purpose of entering into a contract to provide surveying, permitting, and site design services for the construction of the hill in compliance with the grant. We had taken bids previously, but re-bid this year and received a bid from excellent Lansing company for a maximum disbursement of $6,650. This was a savings of about $3,000 after it was. County funds will be expended from the matching amount that was put aside for this grant and project.
As always, please feel free to email or call with questions! I have heard from several people, which tells me that my blog is being read. Yay!
Andy
In Finance, we spent significant time working out the details of how to give Williamstown Township money to assist them in transitioning to road patrol funded by their new assessment. As you may recall, the county ended funding for road patrol unless the rural townships agreed to pay into this service. All 13 put assessments or millages on their ballots, and the County Board reserved money in our budget to assist any township that passed the assessment/millage. Williamstown Township was the only township to do so, and we now have limited time to work out with them how to get them the transition money (until January 1st).
Commissioner Mark Grebner drafted a resolution which would give Williamstown $100,000 in 2011 for them to contract with the county, form their own township police department, contract with another township, or however they want to create police services. It also said that any new deputies hired have to be county deputies or former county deputies if available. We had lengthy discussion and passed several amendments to this resolution. First, we changed the amount to be allocated. We created a formula that allocates money based half on taxable value using 2010 numbers and half on the estimated 2009 population. Both of these are the most recent numbers that we have to use. I assume this will increase the allocation to about $130,000, but I don’t know the exact number. We next amended the resolution to require that the township has to contract with the Sheriff to get the incentive dollars. Four of us on the committee agreed with the Sheriff that the township should have to contract with the county for service rather than being able to contract with another municipality or create their own police force when using the dollars given to them by the county. Of couse, they can do whatever they want with the dollars that they collect from their own assessment. Our resolution is only for the transition/incentive dollars that we committed. We added to the resolution that the township must provide an adequate level of police service in order to receive the dollars (as determined by the sheriff). This will provide any attempt to only collect a small portion of the assessment, then use county dollars for police. Finally, we allowed the township to utilize the total allotment over two years if they want.
This resolution will be a model for other townships that may want to contract with the county for police services. Others townships could do so from their general fund balances (Commissioner Grebner says that they have healthy fund balances to do this), or other townships could go back to the ballot with a new assessment/millage proposal for their voters. We have $800,000 in total reserved for 2011, and are open to allocating that to any township that wants police services and is willing to put up the funds and request incentive/transition dollars from the County. We have heard that there is one other township interested at this point, but I won’t speculate until we receive an actual request.
In County Services, we also had a short discussion and vote on a resolution regarding the tubing hill at Hawk Island. As you may recall (as I have reported in the past), in 2007 the County was awarded a Land and Water Conservation Fund grant from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment (MDNRE) for the construction of a snow tubing hill at Hawk Island County Park. One of the requirements of the grant is that the County utilizes a Prime Professional to complete various aspects of the project. As such, the Purchasing Department solicited proposals from professional firms qualified and experienced in engineering, architectural and/or surveying for the purpose of entering into a contract to provide surveying, permitting, and site design services for the construction of the hill in compliance with the grant. We had taken bids previously, but re-bid this year and received a bid from excellent Lansing company for a maximum disbursement of $6,650. This was a savings of about $3,000 after it was. County funds will be expended from the matching amount that was put aside for this grant and project.
As always, please feel free to email or call with questions! I have heard from several people, which tells me that my blog is being read. Yay!
Andy
Thursday, November 11, 2010
EDC Interviews, Road Commission, Dog Park, Pollution Prevention, Other Items
Another busy week for the county commission. Due to the election, the County Services committee was canceled last week and rescheduled for Monday. Mondays are the days that I do karate with Ryan or gymnastics with Hannah, so on Monday I went to County Services directly from Ryan’s karate class and he came with me (in full karate gear!). We had interviews for the county Economic Development Committee. Five very impressive individuals interviewed for two open spots (and we have five more to interview). Tough decision. Then, after that, we met with the Road Commission for about an hour. They updated us on what is going on at the Road Commission, and our committee members asked several questions. It was heated at times, but it is always important for the elected Commissioners to keep up with the folks we appoint to the Road Commission.
On Tuesday, we had our Board meeting. We had two controversial resolutions that were on the agenda, but both were delayed. I have reported on the resolution to establish a gate at the dog park. That was on the agenda for a second time, but we tabled it indefinitely. We are awaiting a decision by the city of Lansing regarding the Dog Park. At this time, there is no contract between the County and the City for the Soldan Dog Park. It is City land, but the County is maintaining it. Before we can establish a gate at the Dog Park, we need to hear from the City on a contract for the park. So, until that happens we have tabled the resolution.
The second resolution that was controversial is the Pollution Prevention resolution. As I reported last week, the Commission is considering passing a fee for businesses that deal with pollutants. This has been regulated due to federal and state law, but until now the county has been paying to regulate this service. The Health Department has requested that the Commission establish a fee so that the taxpayers are not on the hook for this, and so that we can move this from an administrative program to an actual ordinance. The Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce requested that we delay consideration of the ordinance for two weeks while they review it and talk to their members. As such, we decided to delay Board action for two weeks and Commissioner McGrain plans to discuss it once again at the Human Services committee on Monday to ensure that we are giving this regulation a thorough review.
Other important resolutions that we did pass on Tuesday which I have already reported on are: the 2011 community agency funding, increasing the local purchasing preference policy from 5% to 10%, and adopting a policy on cost increases that will inform vendors that any cost increase more than 1% will receive more intense scrutiny.
At the next County Services committee on Monday, we are expecting to discuss the Lansing Area Economic Partnership (LEAP). The County owes dues for the year, but there are some who are uncomfortable with what benefits we are receiving from LEAP. Should be an interesting discussion! I know you are eagerly awaiting my report for next week…
On Tuesday, we had our Board meeting. We had two controversial resolutions that were on the agenda, but both were delayed. I have reported on the resolution to establish a gate at the dog park. That was on the agenda for a second time, but we tabled it indefinitely. We are awaiting a decision by the city of Lansing regarding the Dog Park. At this time, there is no contract between the County and the City for the Soldan Dog Park. It is City land, but the County is maintaining it. Before we can establish a gate at the Dog Park, we need to hear from the City on a contract for the park. So, until that happens we have tabled the resolution.
The second resolution that was controversial is the Pollution Prevention resolution. As I reported last week, the Commission is considering passing a fee for businesses that deal with pollutants. This has been regulated due to federal and state law, but until now the county has been paying to regulate this service. The Health Department has requested that the Commission establish a fee so that the taxpayers are not on the hook for this, and so that we can move this from an administrative program to an actual ordinance. The Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce requested that we delay consideration of the ordinance for two weeks while they review it and talk to their members. As such, we decided to delay Board action for two weeks and Commissioner McGrain plans to discuss it once again at the Human Services committee on Monday to ensure that we are giving this regulation a thorough review.
Other important resolutions that we did pass on Tuesday which I have already reported on are: the 2011 community agency funding, increasing the local purchasing preference policy from 5% to 10%, and adopting a policy on cost increases that will inform vendors that any cost increase more than 1% will receive more intense scrutiny.
At the next County Services committee on Monday, we are expecting to discuss the Lansing Area Economic Partnership (LEAP). The County owes dues for the year, but there are some who are uncomfortable with what benefits we are receiving from LEAP. Should be an interesting discussion! I know you are eagerly awaiting my report for next week…
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Election Over!, Pollution Prevention Regulation, Community Agency Funding, Police Funding
Sorry for the late posting of the blog this week. As you know, though, there was an election on Tuesday and life has been very busy. I am happy to announce that I won another term! Thanks to my wife and family, my honorable opponent Chris Christensen, and all of my supporters for all the help and support! All commissioners were re-elected, and the Democrats were able to hold a 12-4 majority. The one empty seat went from a Democrat to a Republican. While I was happy to win, several of my friends will be out of a job due to the Republican victories and they will be in my thoughts. If you know of any jobs, please let me know and I will pass them on to those who are looking!
Now on to the County News for the week…
The Finance Committee this week passed a new Pollution Prevention Regulation. The Ingham County Health Department currently does a variety of inspection and reporting on businesses that store, process, use, and manufacture polluting materials. We do this both as a requirement of federal law, and also as an issue of public safety.
Up until now, this has been done administratively and using general fund dollars (taxpayer dollars). The Health Department and the Human Services Committee have spend the last few months crafting an ordinance to officially address this, and to have the businesses who handle these materials pay the fees for pollution prevention instead of the taxpayers. They crafted language on what will be required by the businesses, and they settled on a fee of 75% to start (so that businesses are not hit with 100% of the fee in the first year). The Health Department is working through what businesses will need to pay the fee, and will be notifying businesses after the ordinance passes. Those who believe they should not be responsible for the fee can work with the Health Department. Commissioner Don Vickers has already worked with the Health Department to eliminate some who should not be on the list.
In addition to committee meetings on the ordinance, the Human Services committee conducted a public hearing and heard no opposition to the proposed ordinance. I am not on the committee so I learned much of this at the Finance Committee. When this was considered in Finance, I raised questions about having appeals go to the Board of Health instead of the elected Board of Commissioners. I was told that all health ordinance appeals go to the Board of Health, and I was satisfied with this answer after the Health Department accepted that they need to report the number and status of appeals to the Board of Commissioners. The resolution passed Finance 4-1 and will be considered by the full Board on Tuesday.
The Finance committee this week also took up the resolution to fund community agencies, as passed by the Human Services committee. For 2011, 35 agencies submitted applications totaling $248,084.50. The 2011 budget contains $187,261 available for community agencies. The Human Services committee funded the requests of the 19 agencies that “meet basic needs.” The remaining agencies were funded at 50% of their 2010 allocation or 50% of their 2011 request, whichever was lower. This resulted in 33 total agencies receiving funding. The Finance Committee did not change this allocation.
After a lengthy discussion last meeting, the Finance Committee passed a resolution amending the County Local Preference policy regarding contracts. We increased the preference threshold from the current 5% to a 10% local purchasing preference. As such, local registered vendors will have a greater opportunity to be awarded County contracts by being able to match other non-local bidders if within 10% of the lowest bid. Hopefully, this will help to keep county tax dollars in the county and help our local unemployment rates.
Finally, the committee began discussions of providing transition dollars for the one township that passed the police assessment. As you recall, the County Board of Commissioners eliminated funding for Road Patrol in the townships. I won’t go into the reasoning…you can look up previous versions of this blog for that! But we committed that any township that passed the special millage would receive dollars from us as they transition into their own funded police. Williamstown Township was the only township of the 13 to pass this millage (although several townships that defeated the millage actually voted for the zoo, which was a surprise to me). Commissioner Grebner introduced a resolution to give them $100,000 for any purpose (create their own police department, contract with another municipality, contract with the county) as long as any laid off sheriff deputies are hired first. The resolution was then referred to the Law Enforcement Committee to discuss. We also encouraged the Law Enforcement Committee to hold a committee meeting earlier than it is currently scheduled, but that will be up to the Chair of that committee. Time is definitely of the essence, and there are many things to do (contracts, details, etc) before January 1.
So, that’s it for this week. I hope everyone is over the election and glad that all the commercials are done!
Now on to the County News for the week…
The Finance Committee this week passed a new Pollution Prevention Regulation. The Ingham County Health Department currently does a variety of inspection and reporting on businesses that store, process, use, and manufacture polluting materials. We do this both as a requirement of federal law, and also as an issue of public safety.
Up until now, this has been done administratively and using general fund dollars (taxpayer dollars). The Health Department and the Human Services Committee have spend the last few months crafting an ordinance to officially address this, and to have the businesses who handle these materials pay the fees for pollution prevention instead of the taxpayers. They crafted language on what will be required by the businesses, and they settled on a fee of 75% to start (so that businesses are not hit with 100% of the fee in the first year). The Health Department is working through what businesses will need to pay the fee, and will be notifying businesses after the ordinance passes. Those who believe they should not be responsible for the fee can work with the Health Department. Commissioner Don Vickers has already worked with the Health Department to eliminate some who should not be on the list.
In addition to committee meetings on the ordinance, the Human Services committee conducted a public hearing and heard no opposition to the proposed ordinance. I am not on the committee so I learned much of this at the Finance Committee. When this was considered in Finance, I raised questions about having appeals go to the Board of Health instead of the elected Board of Commissioners. I was told that all health ordinance appeals go to the Board of Health, and I was satisfied with this answer after the Health Department accepted that they need to report the number and status of appeals to the Board of Commissioners. The resolution passed Finance 4-1 and will be considered by the full Board on Tuesday.
The Finance committee this week also took up the resolution to fund community agencies, as passed by the Human Services committee. For 2011, 35 agencies submitted applications totaling $248,084.50. The 2011 budget contains $187,261 available for community agencies. The Human Services committee funded the requests of the 19 agencies that “meet basic needs.” The remaining agencies were funded at 50% of their 2010 allocation or 50% of their 2011 request, whichever was lower. This resulted in 33 total agencies receiving funding. The Finance Committee did not change this allocation.
After a lengthy discussion last meeting, the Finance Committee passed a resolution amending the County Local Preference policy regarding contracts. We increased the preference threshold from the current 5% to a 10% local purchasing preference. As such, local registered vendors will have a greater opportunity to be awarded County contracts by being able to match other non-local bidders if within 10% of the lowest bid. Hopefully, this will help to keep county tax dollars in the county and help our local unemployment rates.
Finally, the committee began discussions of providing transition dollars for the one township that passed the police assessment. As you recall, the County Board of Commissioners eliminated funding for Road Patrol in the townships. I won’t go into the reasoning…you can look up previous versions of this blog for that! But we committed that any township that passed the special millage would receive dollars from us as they transition into their own funded police. Williamstown Township was the only township of the 13 to pass this millage (although several townships that defeated the millage actually voted for the zoo, which was a surprise to me). Commissioner Grebner introduced a resolution to give them $100,000 for any purpose (create their own police department, contract with another municipality, contract with the county) as long as any laid off sheriff deputies are hired first. The resolution was then referred to the Law Enforcement Committee to discuss. We also encouraged the Law Enforcement Committee to hold a committee meeting earlier than it is currently scheduled, but that will be up to the Chair of that committee. Time is definitely of the essence, and there are many things to do (contracts, details, etc) before January 1.
So, that’s it for this week. I hope everyone is over the election and glad that all the commercials are done!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
2010 General Election Blog Post
As promised, here is my elections blog. This is for Ingham County. I will do my best to provide information about the races that you may not know about. This blog is really long...sorry about that! If you want to see the official candidate and proposal list, you can click here.
The top of the ticket is Mayor Virg Bernero (D) vs. businessman Rick Snyder (R). I assume you know all you want to know about this race, so I will move on.
For Attorney General, the race is between Prosecutor David Leyton (D) and Bill Schuette (R). Layton is the Prosecutor in Genesee County and is a former county commissioner. Mr. Schuette is a former Appeals Court Judge, former State Senator, former Department of Agriculture Director, former Congressman. I believe he is in private practice now, because he had to be off the bench for a year before he could run for office. This race has gotten nasty, as Schuette has attacked Layton for not prosecuting a murderer and using the victim’s mother in ads. The victims’ mother has accused the coverage of being slanted because the Jewish owner of the Flint Journal wants to help a fellow Jew (Leyton). Leyton refutes this and points out his over-90% prosecution record. He says that Schuette is abusing a disgruntled victim in order to politicize a complicated situation. I have endorsed Leyton, as he contacted me a while ago and I have been very impressed with his time as a prosecutor. I believe we need a prosecutor as Attorney General.
In the Secretary of State race, Jocelyn Benson (D) is facing off against Oakland County Clerk Ruth Johnson (R). Benson is a professor at Wayne State, and Johnson is a former State Representative and the former Lieutenant Governor candidate for Dick DeVos. This race is also getting nasty, as the Democrats really want to turn the tide of Republican control of this office while the Republicans are sinking a lot of money into keeping it. Johnson has accused Benson of being run by out-of-state interests and of carpetbagging to Michigan. Benson countered saying she has contributions from a majority of the counties in Michigan as well as from friends out-of-state, and said that she chose to live in Michigan because she lived in other states and Michigan is the best place to settle. Benson has said Johnson of putting millions of her own money into the race, and has accused Johnson of disenfranchising voters by saying that those with foreclosures can’t vote. Johnson refutes that by saying she was part of the group alerting people with foreclosures that they can vote. Benson is married to a friend from college and I have met her many times. I am very impressed with her dedication and drive, and I support Benson.
For Congress, there are two races. Republican Congressman Mike Rogers is being challenged by Democrat Lance Enderle. This race has flown under the radar. Rogers has millions in the bank, and is campaigning on lessening the debt. Enderle has vowed not to take PAC money and has much less in the bank. He is campaigning on the fact that Rogers is much too conservative for the district, that Rogers was part of creating the debt when he was in the majority, and is campaigning on eliminating unfair trade agreements like NAFTA and CAFTA.
On the west side of the county, Democratic Congressman Mark Schauer is being challenged by Republican former Congressman Tim Walberg. Anyone watching TV knows that this race is very nasty. I can’t even go into the myriad of claims that each is making against the other. Suffice it to say…if you live in this district, you have received mail, calls, tv, knocks on your door, etc.
For the State Senate, Democratic Senator Gretchen Whitmer is being challenged by Republican Kyle Haubrich. Sen. Whitmer is expected to win this race, and I don’t know much about Haubrich. Whitmer is also one of two front-runners for Democratic leader for the next session.
In the biggest chunk of Lansing, Democrat Joan Bauer is the State Representative. She is challenged by former firefighter Tim Moede. Again, I don’t know much about his campaign and it is expected that Bauer will be returned to the House. If you don’t know, Joan has been doing a great job and works often with local officials. She has met with county commissioners several times, and reached out to us on several appropriations bills that could negatively affect services that the county can provide.
In East Lansing and Meridian and Williamston, Democrat Mark Meadows is being challenged by Republican Susan McGillicuddy. McGillicuddy is getting more attention that normal challengers to this seat because the year is expected to be more Republican, and because she is the township Supervisor in Meridian Township. There is an outside chance of an upset here, but capitol insiders seem to think that Meadows (who is assistant leader of the House) will prevail.
The real heated State House race in our areas is democratic Rep. Barb Byrum who is being challenged by Republican Jeff Oesterle. Byrum has been a moderate Democrat and is running for her third and final term. Oesterle is a farmer and seems to be running on smaller government. The Republican party is running the most ridiculous commercials against Byrum, blaming her for just about all the ills of state government. Byrum has chaired the Insurance Committee for the last two years and has tried to hold their feet to the fire, so the insurance industry is also coming after her with intense TV and radio ads. I have not seen anything from Oesterle at this point, and expect that he is trying to ride the tide of voter discontent through the GOP and insurance ads.
All 16 county commission seats are up for grabs. Two of them are unopposed – Commissioner Randy Schafer (R-Williamston) and Commissioner Don Vickers (R-Mason). The rest of us face competition. Here is a quick glimpse from my perspective, in district order from 1-16:
Lansing Twp, West Lasing – Vic Celentino (D) has done a great job on the Board and is very popular. I don’t know anything about his opponent.
North Lansing – Deb De Leon has been Board Chair for 2 years and has led us through tough times. I don’t know anything about her opponent.
Groesbeck and eastside Lansing – Brian McGrain really distinguished himself in his first term as a leader in the caucus and on the Board. I don’t know anything about his opponent.
Westside and mid-town Lansing – Rebecca Bahar-Cook has become a Board expert on zoo and judiciary issues that the rest of us count on. I don’t know anything about her opponent.
Southeast Lansing – this is my district. I am opposed by a gentleman named Chris Christensen. I have met him and he is very nice. We are both running respectful campaigns, and I am hoping to be returned to the Board by my constituents.
Southwest Lansing – Dale Copedge is very active in the community and has asked the questions that really need to be asked as a member of the Board. His opponent seems to be active with some signs, but that is all I know.
South Lansing – Todd Tennis has been an expert on Human Services issues and really understands how to balance the needs of the workers with the budget realities of the county. His opponent is someone who has challenged him before and has some signs up, but I don’t know much else about him.
East Lansing – Penelope Tsernoglou is serving the balance of a vacated seat and is running for her first full term. She has hit the ground running and has a good mix of experience and questions. I don’t know anything about her opponent.
East Lansing – Carol Koenig has been a real leader on the Board. She has been very active with Law Enforcement and Human Services issues, and has tremendous experience. I don’t know anything about her opponent.
East Lansing - Mark Grebner is, well, Mark Grebner. He has served for 30 years and is truly the voice of experience on our Board. I don't know anything about his opponent.
Meridian Twp - Dianne Holman is one of our leaders in terms of law enforcement issues and has a good understanding of economic development. I don’t know anything about her opponent.
Meridian Twp – Deb Nolan has lead efforts on juvenile justice issues, and in dealing with the Road Commission and roads. Her opponent seems to be active and the Republicans are trying to win back a seat that was once theirs. Deb is a tremendous commissioner, though, and I believe that her constituents appreciate her hard work on their behalf.
Holt and several out-county townships – Steve Dougan has represented this area for 6 years. We don’t see eye-to-eye on a lot because he opposes things on the Board floor without commenting or trying to work on them and make them better (usually for political reasons). He also has done things like assisting my opponent in the Democratic primary, which I find simply wrong (I have never gotten involved in a Republican primary). His opponent is Liz Kranz, who is campaigning on supporting the out-county as a leader on the Board instead of just voting no on everything. This should be an interesting race as both candidates are working hard.
Holt and several out-county townships – Commissioner Laura Davis is not seeking re-election due to health reasons. Republican Vince Dragonetti is facing off against Democrat Karen Dravenstatt-Moceri. I have seen lawn signs for both of them, but don’t really know the issues that they are campaigning on. This seat has flipped back and forth from Republican to Demcoratic hands, and this should be an interesting race.
There are several judge races on the ballot in the non-partisan races. PLEASE REMEMBER TO VOTE IN THESE ALSO!
For Michigan Supreme Court, there are two incumbents running who will run with the designation “Justice of the Supreme Court” on the ballot. The first is long-time Justice Robert Young. He is one of the so-called “Gang of Four” Republican-nominated justices who have very conservative philosophies and tend to rule in favor of business and insurance companies instead of citizens. When he was elected the first time, the Supreme Court took an arch-conservative philosophy and really started changing case-law in Michigan by overturning several long-established decisions. This ended two years ago when Justice Taylor was defeated, but Young is still very conservative. The other incumbent justice is newly-appointed Justice Alton Thomas Davis. From what I know, he has been a very reasonable judge on the Appeals Court (neither liberal nor conservative), and was appointed to the Supreme Court when Justice Elizabeth Weaver retired. I am hopeful that he will be retained and will provide a voice of reason on the Supreme Court, which has been very politically charged recently.
The other two Supreme Court candidates are Republican-nominated Wayne Circuit Judge Mary Beth Kelly and Democrat-nominated Oakland Circuit Judge Denise Langford Morris. I really don’t know much about either of them.
Locally, we have a circuit court judge race that is being contested. Lansing assistant attorney Billie Jo O’Berry is facing attorney Clinton Canady. I have seen them both at several candidate forums and they are both working very hard. There is also a District judgeship that is contested. Judge Donald Allen is being opposed by attorney Paul Joseph. They have also both been at candidate forums and knocking on doors. I have worked with Judge Allen, and I am very impressed with all that he has done in the courtroom.
There are also several judges that are on the ballot unopposed - District Judges Amy Krause, Louise Alderson and Richard Ball; Circuit Judge Joyce Draganchuk; and Court of Appeals Judges Owens and Whitbeck.
The education boards are all up, but I don’t know much about any of the candidates so I can’t help there. But you will be voting for State School Board candidates, University of Michigan Regents, MSU Trustees, and Wayne State Governors.
Finally, there are several ballot initiatives on the ballot. On statewide ballot measures, you will decide if you want a constitutional convention or not, and if felons should be able to hold elected office.
Countywide, voters will decide if they want to continue to support the Potter Park Zoo. The economic benefits to Ingham County have been huge and I hope that county voters will continue to support the zoo. If this fails, the zoo will go back to being funded at a much lower level by the City of Lansing.
City of Lansing voters will decide if they want to support a Sinking Fund for infrastructure improvements for the schools. As a parent with a child in Lansing Schools, I know first hand of the unbelievable need of the schools. I think it is time for Lansing residents to adopt this so we can fix boilers and roofs and update to energy efficient power and solve other pressing needs. That is needed to keep kids in the district.
Voters in the general law townships and villages you will decide if they want to pay to support Road Patrols from the Sheriff through either assessments or millages (depending on the jurisdiction). If these do not pass, then these residents will no longer receive road patrol services from the county and will only receive emergency response from the county as well as whatever is provided by State Police.
There are also several other local council races, millage requests and other things on the ballot. Click here to see the entire candidate and proposal list.
The top of the ticket is Mayor Virg Bernero (D) vs. businessman Rick Snyder (R). I assume you know all you want to know about this race, so I will move on.
For Attorney General, the race is between Prosecutor David Leyton (D) and Bill Schuette (R). Layton is the Prosecutor in Genesee County and is a former county commissioner. Mr. Schuette is a former Appeals Court Judge, former State Senator, former Department of Agriculture Director, former Congressman. I believe he is in private practice now, because he had to be off the bench for a year before he could run for office. This race has gotten nasty, as Schuette has attacked Layton for not prosecuting a murderer and using the victim’s mother in ads. The victims’ mother has accused the coverage of being slanted because the Jewish owner of the Flint Journal wants to help a fellow Jew (Leyton). Leyton refutes this and points out his over-90% prosecution record. He says that Schuette is abusing a disgruntled victim in order to politicize a complicated situation. I have endorsed Leyton, as he contacted me a while ago and I have been very impressed with his time as a prosecutor. I believe we need a prosecutor as Attorney General.
In the Secretary of State race, Jocelyn Benson (D) is facing off against Oakland County Clerk Ruth Johnson (R). Benson is a professor at Wayne State, and Johnson is a former State Representative and the former Lieutenant Governor candidate for Dick DeVos. This race is also getting nasty, as the Democrats really want to turn the tide of Republican control of this office while the Republicans are sinking a lot of money into keeping it. Johnson has accused Benson of being run by out-of-state interests and of carpetbagging to Michigan. Benson countered saying she has contributions from a majority of the counties in Michigan as well as from friends out-of-state, and said that she chose to live in Michigan because she lived in other states and Michigan is the best place to settle. Benson has said Johnson of putting millions of her own money into the race, and has accused Johnson of disenfranchising voters by saying that those with foreclosures can’t vote. Johnson refutes that by saying she was part of the group alerting people with foreclosures that they can vote. Benson is married to a friend from college and I have met her many times. I am very impressed with her dedication and drive, and I support Benson.
For Congress, there are two races. Republican Congressman Mike Rogers is being challenged by Democrat Lance Enderle. This race has flown under the radar. Rogers has millions in the bank, and is campaigning on lessening the debt. Enderle has vowed not to take PAC money and has much less in the bank. He is campaigning on the fact that Rogers is much too conservative for the district, that Rogers was part of creating the debt when he was in the majority, and is campaigning on eliminating unfair trade agreements like NAFTA and CAFTA.
On the west side of the county, Democratic Congressman Mark Schauer is being challenged by Republican former Congressman Tim Walberg. Anyone watching TV knows that this race is very nasty. I can’t even go into the myriad of claims that each is making against the other. Suffice it to say…if you live in this district, you have received mail, calls, tv, knocks on your door, etc.
For the State Senate, Democratic Senator Gretchen Whitmer is being challenged by Republican Kyle Haubrich. Sen. Whitmer is expected to win this race, and I don’t know much about Haubrich. Whitmer is also one of two front-runners for Democratic leader for the next session.
In the biggest chunk of Lansing, Democrat Joan Bauer is the State Representative. She is challenged by former firefighter Tim Moede. Again, I don’t know much about his campaign and it is expected that Bauer will be returned to the House. If you don’t know, Joan has been doing a great job and works often with local officials. She has met with county commissioners several times, and reached out to us on several appropriations bills that could negatively affect services that the county can provide.
In East Lansing and Meridian and Williamston, Democrat Mark Meadows is being challenged by Republican Susan McGillicuddy. McGillicuddy is getting more attention that normal challengers to this seat because the year is expected to be more Republican, and because she is the township Supervisor in Meridian Township. There is an outside chance of an upset here, but capitol insiders seem to think that Meadows (who is assistant leader of the House) will prevail.
The real heated State House race in our areas is democratic Rep. Barb Byrum who is being challenged by Republican Jeff Oesterle. Byrum has been a moderate Democrat and is running for her third and final term. Oesterle is a farmer and seems to be running on smaller government. The Republican party is running the most ridiculous commercials against Byrum, blaming her for just about all the ills of state government. Byrum has chaired the Insurance Committee for the last two years and has tried to hold their feet to the fire, so the insurance industry is also coming after her with intense TV and radio ads. I have not seen anything from Oesterle at this point, and expect that he is trying to ride the tide of voter discontent through the GOP and insurance ads.
All 16 county commission seats are up for grabs. Two of them are unopposed – Commissioner Randy Schafer (R-Williamston) and Commissioner Don Vickers (R-Mason). The rest of us face competition. Here is a quick glimpse from my perspective, in district order from 1-16:
Lansing Twp, West Lasing – Vic Celentino (D) has done a great job on the Board and is very popular. I don’t know anything about his opponent.
North Lansing – Deb De Leon has been Board Chair for 2 years and has led us through tough times. I don’t know anything about her opponent.
Groesbeck and eastside Lansing – Brian McGrain really distinguished himself in his first term as a leader in the caucus and on the Board. I don’t know anything about his opponent.
Westside and mid-town Lansing – Rebecca Bahar-Cook has become a Board expert on zoo and judiciary issues that the rest of us count on. I don’t know anything about her opponent.
Southeast Lansing – this is my district. I am opposed by a gentleman named Chris Christensen. I have met him and he is very nice. We are both running respectful campaigns, and I am hoping to be returned to the Board by my constituents.
Southwest Lansing – Dale Copedge is very active in the community and has asked the questions that really need to be asked as a member of the Board. His opponent seems to be active with some signs, but that is all I know.
South Lansing – Todd Tennis has been an expert on Human Services issues and really understands how to balance the needs of the workers with the budget realities of the county. His opponent is someone who has challenged him before and has some signs up, but I don’t know much else about him.
East Lansing – Penelope Tsernoglou is serving the balance of a vacated seat and is running for her first full term. She has hit the ground running and has a good mix of experience and questions. I don’t know anything about her opponent.
East Lansing – Carol Koenig has been a real leader on the Board. She has been very active with Law Enforcement and Human Services issues, and has tremendous experience. I don’t know anything about her opponent.
East Lansing - Mark Grebner is, well, Mark Grebner. He has served for 30 years and is truly the voice of experience on our Board. I don't know anything about his opponent.
Meridian Twp - Dianne Holman is one of our leaders in terms of law enforcement issues and has a good understanding of economic development. I don’t know anything about her opponent.
Meridian Twp – Deb Nolan has lead efforts on juvenile justice issues, and in dealing with the Road Commission and roads. Her opponent seems to be active and the Republicans are trying to win back a seat that was once theirs. Deb is a tremendous commissioner, though, and I believe that her constituents appreciate her hard work on their behalf.
Holt and several out-county townships – Steve Dougan has represented this area for 6 years. We don’t see eye-to-eye on a lot because he opposes things on the Board floor without commenting or trying to work on them and make them better (usually for political reasons). He also has done things like assisting my opponent in the Democratic primary, which I find simply wrong (I have never gotten involved in a Republican primary). His opponent is Liz Kranz, who is campaigning on supporting the out-county as a leader on the Board instead of just voting no on everything. This should be an interesting race as both candidates are working hard.
Holt and several out-county townships – Commissioner Laura Davis is not seeking re-election due to health reasons. Republican Vince Dragonetti is facing off against Democrat Karen Dravenstatt-Moceri. I have seen lawn signs for both of them, but don’t really know the issues that they are campaigning on. This seat has flipped back and forth from Republican to Demcoratic hands, and this should be an interesting race.
There are several judge races on the ballot in the non-partisan races. PLEASE REMEMBER TO VOTE IN THESE ALSO!
For Michigan Supreme Court, there are two incumbents running who will run with the designation “Justice of the Supreme Court” on the ballot. The first is long-time Justice Robert Young. He is one of the so-called “Gang of Four” Republican-nominated justices who have very conservative philosophies and tend to rule in favor of business and insurance companies instead of citizens. When he was elected the first time, the Supreme Court took an arch-conservative philosophy and really started changing case-law in Michigan by overturning several long-established decisions. This ended two years ago when Justice Taylor was defeated, but Young is still very conservative. The other incumbent justice is newly-appointed Justice Alton Thomas Davis. From what I know, he has been a very reasonable judge on the Appeals Court (neither liberal nor conservative), and was appointed to the Supreme Court when Justice Elizabeth Weaver retired. I am hopeful that he will be retained and will provide a voice of reason on the Supreme Court, which has been very politically charged recently.
The other two Supreme Court candidates are Republican-nominated Wayne Circuit Judge Mary Beth Kelly and Democrat-nominated Oakland Circuit Judge Denise Langford Morris. I really don’t know much about either of them.
Locally, we have a circuit court judge race that is being contested. Lansing assistant attorney Billie Jo O’Berry is facing attorney Clinton Canady. I have seen them both at several candidate forums and they are both working very hard. There is also a District judgeship that is contested. Judge Donald Allen is being opposed by attorney Paul Joseph. They have also both been at candidate forums and knocking on doors. I have worked with Judge Allen, and I am very impressed with all that he has done in the courtroom.
There are also several judges that are on the ballot unopposed - District Judges Amy Krause, Louise Alderson and Richard Ball; Circuit Judge Joyce Draganchuk; and Court of Appeals Judges Owens and Whitbeck.
The education boards are all up, but I don’t know much about any of the candidates so I can’t help there. But you will be voting for State School Board candidates, University of Michigan Regents, MSU Trustees, and Wayne State Governors.
Finally, there are several ballot initiatives on the ballot. On statewide ballot measures, you will decide if you want a constitutional convention or not, and if felons should be able to hold elected office.
Countywide, voters will decide if they want to continue to support the Potter Park Zoo. The economic benefits to Ingham County have been huge and I hope that county voters will continue to support the zoo. If this fails, the zoo will go back to being funded at a much lower level by the City of Lansing.
City of Lansing voters will decide if they want to support a Sinking Fund for infrastructure improvements for the schools. As a parent with a child in Lansing Schools, I know first hand of the unbelievable need of the schools. I think it is time for Lansing residents to adopt this so we can fix boilers and roofs and update to energy efficient power and solve other pressing needs. That is needed to keep kids in the district.
Voters in the general law townships and villages you will decide if they want to pay to support Road Patrols from the Sheriff through either assessments or millages (depending on the jurisdiction). If these do not pass, then these residents will no longer receive road patrol services from the county and will only receive emergency response from the county as well as whatever is provided by State Police.
There are also several other local council races, millage requests and other things on the ballot. Click here to see the entire candidate and proposal list.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Brownfield Properties, Farmland Preservation, Zoo Millage, Contract % Increases, and Local Purchasing
This was another week of committees for me - County Services and Finance. We passed a limited tax pledge for Brownfield Redevelopment Authority Bonds. These are bonds for our Brownfield plan that our Land Bank uses, and is the second time we are passing one of these. In 2007, we passed a pledge of $1.975 million for the countywide plan. At that time, as you know, the world was a vastly different place. It was before the economy really tanked with the bankruptcies of the auto companies, and before foreclosures really started to increase. The development from the first tax pledge has not come about as quickly as hoped. As such, we could be short on the debt service for next year, which will be covered by this resolution. This situation is not unique to the Land Bank Brownfield plan, though, as many tax increment finance (TIF) districts throughout the state are facing this. Treasurer Schertzing tells us, though, that many things are looking up on development front. This second bond will also cover additional parcels which are better and more likely to bring in dollars to the county. They are more conservative projections. Commissioner Brian McGrain, who sits on the County Economic Development Board, said that they spent a lot of time on this and that it is a well thought-out and conservative plan. The plan also includes more commercial properties, which usually bring in more revenue.
The committees also passed a resolution allowing three farms to use money from our Farmland Preservation millage in order to have development rights purchased. We will be receiving about $600,000 in matching dollars, so 50% of the total are ingham dollars and 50% is match money. The three farms are next to protected state farmland (protected in 2000), so about 900 acres total will be preserved.
In County Services, we had before us a resolution supporting the zoo millage. While I do support the zoo millage, I questioned whether a public body such as the Board of Commissioners could pass a resolution in support of a millage quesiton. Commissioner Vic Celentino agreed with my concern and pointed out that we have been told we could not do this in the past. Commissioner Grebner said that this is unnecessary because just putting it on the ballot means we are asking voters to vote for it (which I don't know if I wholly agree with). Commissioner Copedge said that he was uncomfortable with the resolution and that each commissioner should be able to support or oppose the measure on their own. Commissioner Vickers said that he supports the zoo, but not at .41 mills and he thought the resolution was not a good idea. The resolution was not taken up for a vote.
The Finance Committee passed a resolution on cost increases for services related to contracts in Ingham County. This year, we have seen several vendors come to us and ask for large yearly percentage increases for their services. You may recall, this boiled over a few weeks ago when Harris (our 911 vendor) asked for 5% increases each year for several years. We decided to draft a policy that will be provided to vendors saying that increases should be limited 1% (which is the amount that county employees have received for raises). Should vendors want higher increases, they will face increased scrutiny and could potentially be dropped for other vendors. The CPI this year was -.07%, which shows that costs are not going up and we believe that this policy is a good one to direct staff as they negotiate contact renewals.
Finally, County Services had a good discussion about our "local purchasing preference" policy. This was the second discussion about this topic. There are concerns that the current policy - allowing county vendors to match any bids that are within 5% of their bid - isn't really working in terms of keeping county dollars in the county. Apparently, there were only two vendors who used the policy in 2009. Controller Lannoye put several potential options before us:
• Keep existing policy.
• Increase the 5% threshold to 7% or 10%.
• Expand the definition of a RLV beyond the county border to contiguous counties.
• Allow a preference for RLVs which are within 5% of the lowest responsive bid without having to match the lowest responsive bid.
• Develop local preference tiers. Example might include the following: within 2% of low bid they do not have to match low bid, between 2-5% they are given opportunity to reduce their price to no more than 2% of low bid, and between 5-7% they are given the opportunity to match low bid.
• Allow existing contracts with RLVs to be renewed without bidding, provided the renewal increase is equal to or lower than the current CPI.
• Require that any bid process that does not include at least three (3) local vendors be rebid.
The committee came to a consensus that the 5% range should be increased to 10%. That was the only item we could agree on. I am uncomfortable with giving preference to out-of-county businesses because those businesses do not pay Ingham County property taxes and this would be an unfair advantage to those companies over Ingham companies. Others were uncomfortable with many of the other options. So we agreed that the 5% should go to 10%. That, at least, would have qualified 4 more businesses in 2009 and is a step in the right direction.
I still hope to put out an elections blog with the candidates...maybe next week!
The committees also passed a resolution allowing three farms to use money from our Farmland Preservation millage in order to have development rights purchased. We will be receiving about $600,000 in matching dollars, so 50% of the total are ingham dollars and 50% is match money. The three farms are next to protected state farmland (protected in 2000), so about 900 acres total will be preserved.
In County Services, we had before us a resolution supporting the zoo millage. While I do support the zoo millage, I questioned whether a public body such as the Board of Commissioners could pass a resolution in support of a millage quesiton. Commissioner Vic Celentino agreed with my concern and pointed out that we have been told we could not do this in the past. Commissioner Grebner said that this is unnecessary because just putting it on the ballot means we are asking voters to vote for it (which I don't know if I wholly agree with). Commissioner Copedge said that he was uncomfortable with the resolution and that each commissioner should be able to support or oppose the measure on their own. Commissioner Vickers said that he supports the zoo, but not at .41 mills and he thought the resolution was not a good idea. The resolution was not taken up for a vote.
The Finance Committee passed a resolution on cost increases for services related to contracts in Ingham County. This year, we have seen several vendors come to us and ask for large yearly percentage increases for their services. You may recall, this boiled over a few weeks ago when Harris (our 911 vendor) asked for 5% increases each year for several years. We decided to draft a policy that will be provided to vendors saying that increases should be limited 1% (which is the amount that county employees have received for raises). Should vendors want higher increases, they will face increased scrutiny and could potentially be dropped for other vendors. The CPI this year was -.07%, which shows that costs are not going up and we believe that this policy is a good one to direct staff as they negotiate contact renewals.
Finally, County Services had a good discussion about our "local purchasing preference" policy. This was the second discussion about this topic. There are concerns that the current policy - allowing county vendors to match any bids that are within 5% of their bid - isn't really working in terms of keeping county dollars in the county. Apparently, there were only two vendors who used the policy in 2009. Controller Lannoye put several potential options before us:
• Keep existing policy.
• Increase the 5% threshold to 7% or 10%.
• Expand the definition of a RLV beyond the county border to contiguous counties.
• Allow a preference for RLVs which are within 5% of the lowest responsive bid without having to match the lowest responsive bid.
• Develop local preference tiers. Example might include the following: within 2% of low bid they do not have to match low bid, between 2-5% they are given opportunity to reduce their price to no more than 2% of low bid, and between 5-7% they are given the opportunity to match low bid.
• Allow existing contracts with RLVs to be renewed without bidding, provided the renewal increase is equal to or lower than the current CPI.
• Require that any bid process that does not include at least three (3) local vendors be rebid.
The committee came to a consensus that the 5% range should be increased to 10%. That was the only item we could agree on. I am uncomfortable with giving preference to out-of-county businesses because those businesses do not pay Ingham County property taxes and this would be an unfair advantage to those companies over Ingham companies. Others were uncomfortable with many of the other options. So we agreed that the 5% should go to 10%. That, at least, would have qualified 4 more businesses in 2009 and is a step in the right direction.
I still hope to put out an elections blog with the candidates...maybe next week!
Friday, October 15, 2010
Travel Policy, Dog Park Delayed Again, Zoo Millage
Sorry for the late blog posting this week. It has been a VERY busy week for me. So here we go…
This week was a week when the full Board of Commissioners met. The only resolution that proved controversial was a resolution amending the travel policy. The current travel policy requires Commissioners to sign off on any out-of-state travel before it can happen. This has caused a problem because it can take from 2-4 weeks, and it is costing the county more money to delay travel purchases until the last minute. Staff came to the Commissioners and asked if sign-off can be given by the Controller and the Board Chair, instead of having to wait until the appreciate committee meets and can take action. The resolution also prohibited people from changing hotel or airfare without the approval of a Department head. Finally, it required people to use the Capital Region airport unless a ticket can be found for a materially lower rate at a neighboring airport (including parking and mileage).
In County Services committee, I had several questions about the approval process. I believe that the elected officials need to review these travel requests to ensure that staff are not taking unnecessary trips. I asked several questions that staff could not adequately answer. As such, I voted against this in County Services (it passed 4-2). In Finance, though, staff were able to adequately answer the questions. They proposed adding a quarterly report of staff travel so that Commissioners can see what the travel was for (the same way we see them now). It was also pointed out that Commissioners have not yet denied a travel request because these requests are vetted through the Department Director and the County Controller before going before the Commissioners. I was satisfied with these answers and voted in support in Finance, and the resolution passed unanimously.
When this was considered on the Board floor, the three Republicans voted against it. To be honest, I am not sure why. Commissioner Don Vickers remained consistent because he opposed it in County Services. I can only assume that he didn’t hear the clarifications that I heard in Finance. Commissioner Steve Dougan voted against the resolution on the Board floor after flip-flopping from his supportive vote of the resolution in Finance committee. None of the Republicans debated this or explained why they don’t want to save the county money…they just voted against it. I kind of wish they would explain why they opposed it. But it was not to be.
The often-discussed gate for the Soldan Dog Park was again put on hold. As I reported last week, the yearly fee was reduced to $30 and I was able to support this because residents can pay the same amount that they are paying now if they park in the northern Ingham Regional lot. Apparently, the City of Lansing wanted the resolution pulled because they did not have a chance to review the request. We agreed to table it for two weeks while the City reviews the resolution. Hopefully, we can be done with this in two weeks and it can move forward when the City signs the agreement.
Otherwise, the Board meeting was fairly subdued. We used the consent agenda to pass updates to our Brownfield plan to cleanup more properties, we approved the annual Health Department health services resolution, we reauthorized a position in the Clerk’s office, and a variety of other things. You can review the agenda from the meeting here.
http://www.ingham.org/BC/BC/101012Board.pdf
Finally, for anyone interested, the Yes to the Potter Park Zoo millage campaign has a new website - http://www.yestopotterparkzoo.com/.
I hope to put together another election preview before the general election and will get that out if possible.
Have a great weekend!
This week was a week when the full Board of Commissioners met. The only resolution that proved controversial was a resolution amending the travel policy. The current travel policy requires Commissioners to sign off on any out-of-state travel before it can happen. This has caused a problem because it can take from 2-4 weeks, and it is costing the county more money to delay travel purchases until the last minute. Staff came to the Commissioners and asked if sign-off can be given by the Controller and the Board Chair, instead of having to wait until the appreciate committee meets and can take action. The resolution also prohibited people from changing hotel or airfare without the approval of a Department head. Finally, it required people to use the Capital Region airport unless a ticket can be found for a materially lower rate at a neighboring airport (including parking and mileage).
In County Services committee, I had several questions about the approval process. I believe that the elected officials need to review these travel requests to ensure that staff are not taking unnecessary trips. I asked several questions that staff could not adequately answer. As such, I voted against this in County Services (it passed 4-2). In Finance, though, staff were able to adequately answer the questions. They proposed adding a quarterly report of staff travel so that Commissioners can see what the travel was for (the same way we see them now). It was also pointed out that Commissioners have not yet denied a travel request because these requests are vetted through the Department Director and the County Controller before going before the Commissioners. I was satisfied with these answers and voted in support in Finance, and the resolution passed unanimously.
When this was considered on the Board floor, the three Republicans voted against it. To be honest, I am not sure why. Commissioner Don Vickers remained consistent because he opposed it in County Services. I can only assume that he didn’t hear the clarifications that I heard in Finance. Commissioner Steve Dougan voted against the resolution on the Board floor after flip-flopping from his supportive vote of the resolution in Finance committee. None of the Republicans debated this or explained why they don’t want to save the county money…they just voted against it. I kind of wish they would explain why they opposed it. But it was not to be.
The often-discussed gate for the Soldan Dog Park was again put on hold. As I reported last week, the yearly fee was reduced to $30 and I was able to support this because residents can pay the same amount that they are paying now if they park in the northern Ingham Regional lot. Apparently, the City of Lansing wanted the resolution pulled because they did not have a chance to review the request. We agreed to table it for two weeks while the City reviews the resolution. Hopefully, we can be done with this in two weeks and it can move forward when the City signs the agreement.
Otherwise, the Board meeting was fairly subdued. We used the consent agenda to pass updates to our Brownfield plan to cleanup more properties, we approved the annual Health Department health services resolution, we reauthorized a position in the Clerk’s office, and a variety of other things. You can review the agenda from the meeting here.
http://www.ingham.org/BC/BC/101012Board.pdf
Finally, for anyone interested, the Yes to the Potter Park Zoo millage campaign has a new website - http://www.yestopotterparkzoo.com/.
I hope to put together another election preview before the general election and will get that out if possible.
Have a great weekend!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Dog Park Fees, Clerk Reorganization, Health Department Services
Another busy week at the county. Long meetings Tuesday and Wednesday night for me.
First, an update on an old issue…the Soldan Dog Park. As you may recall, the Friends of the Dog Park came to the county and the city and asked for a gate to be installed. People would have to pay yearly fees for fobs or cards to get into the gate. This would ensure that (1) there is better security, (2) dogs are licensed, (3) attacks by dogs on other dogs or on people can be investigated, and has a variety of other benefits. Currently, there is no way to police these things because nether the county or the city (which owns the park) provides security, and there is no way to determine who is there and when.
The original proposal would have set the yearly pass rate at $40. After talking to several dog park users, I realized a few things – this fee is supported by people but is too high, and people do not know that the dog park can be accessed on the north side without having to pay for the Hawk Island parking. In County Services committee, I supported an amendment preventing Ingham County from contributing to the Dog Park gate unless the fee is set at $30 instead of $40. This would match the fee of the dog park to the fee of Hawk Island (both are $30). The amendment passed and was retained in the Finance Committee. I also asked the Parks Director to have the signage announcing the new fee to also include language alerting people that they can park in the Ingham Regional Medical lot for free and not have to pay the Hawk Island charge just to use the dog park. So, anyone using only the dog park will not have to may a new fee next year. Instead of paying the $30 for the Hawk Island yearly pass, they can pay $30 for the Soldan Dog Park yearly pass and park at Ingham Regional. Of course, anyone who wants to use Hawk Island Park as well as the Soldan Dog Park will have to pay for both. Users of the dog park can expect the gate to be up in January, assuming the full Board passes the resolution on Tuesday, and the City of Lansing and the Friends of the Dog Park agree with the reduced rate.
We also approved a reorganization of the County Clerk’s office this week. This resolution, submitted to us by Clerk Bryanton, reclassifies a Chief Deputy /Interdepartmental Relations position to a Clerical Services Supervisor position. It also eliminates a Deputy Clerk position. The move would increase office efficiency and saves the county approximately $75,000 per year through decreased salaries and fringe benefits. This will not result in a layoff because it will become effective on the date of retirement of the current Chief Deputy /Interdepartmental Relations.
Finally, I will report on a resolution that we passed dealing with health services for county residents. It is very common for people to ask me what a County Commissioner does. One of things I tell people is that we set policy for various departments, including the Health Department. Our Health Department is one of the best in the country. The resolution that we passed this week outlines many of the activities of the Health Department.
Under the Public Health Code, the State of Michigan and the 83 counties share responsibility for the protection of the public health of the citizens of Michigan. Ingham County has a Comprehensive Planning, Budgeting and Contracting (CPBC) process, and every year we authorize the Health Department to enter into an agreement with the Michigan Department of Community Health for the delivery of public health services under this process. The agreement serves as the vehicle for the county accepting almost $5 million in state and federal grant and formula funding to support a number of public
health services.
This year, the agreement includes the following local public health operations, community health assessment activities and categorical programs:
- AIDS/HIV Prevention and Care
- Lead Safe Homes
- Bioterrorism Emergency Preparedness
- Breast and Cervical Cancer Control
- Building Healthy Communities
- Children’s Special Health Care Services
- Family Planning Vision and Hearing Screening
- Food Vendor and Restaurant Inspection
- Immunizations
- Local Tobacco Reduction
- Maternal and Child Health Programs
- Tuberculosis Control
- Sexually Transmitted Disease Control
- Well and Septic Inspection
- The Women, Infant, Children (WIC) Program
The resolution also authorizes subcontracts in the Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Program. Additionally, it creates a new full-time Breast Feeding Consultant in the Health Department. These all consist of state and federal funds.
Service contracts are also authorized in the resolution, with the following list of providers to support outreach activities to potential and current Medicaid beneficiaries in the following categories:
- Medicaid Outreach and Public Awareness
- Facilitating Medicaid Eligibility Determination
- Program Planning, Policy Development and Interagency Coordination Related to Medicaid Services
- Referral, Coordination and Monitoring of Medicaid Services
- Medicaid-Specific Training on Outreach Eligibility and Services
- Arranging for Medicaid-related Transportation and Provision of Medicaid-related Translation
These service contracts braid together requirements and funds from multiple sources including the County, W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Medicaid Administration (Federal Share). The braided service contracts are authorized for the next year up to the amounts listed:
• Allen Neighborhood Center $115,487 ($102,987 for outreach; $12,500 for Planning/Coordination to strengthen social safety net in the community)
• NorthWest Initiative $115,487 ($102,987 for outreach; $12,500 for Planning/Coordination to strengthen social safety net in the community)
• Carefree Medical Clinic $10,800
• South Lansing Community Development Association $24,952
• South Side Community Coalition $103,086
• Capital Area Community Services $4,000
• Child Abuse Prevention Services $52,250
• Catholic Charities St. Vincent Home $128,250
• Cristo Rey $61,750
• Family and Community Development Services $105,000
• Greater Lansing African American Health Institute $77,904
• School Community Health Alliance of Michigan $539,006
First, an update on an old issue…the Soldan Dog Park. As you may recall, the Friends of the Dog Park came to the county and the city and asked for a gate to be installed. People would have to pay yearly fees for fobs or cards to get into the gate. This would ensure that (1) there is better security, (2) dogs are licensed, (3) attacks by dogs on other dogs or on people can be investigated, and has a variety of other benefits. Currently, there is no way to police these things because nether the county or the city (which owns the park) provides security, and there is no way to determine who is there and when.
The original proposal would have set the yearly pass rate at $40. After talking to several dog park users, I realized a few things – this fee is supported by people but is too high, and people do not know that the dog park can be accessed on the north side without having to pay for the Hawk Island parking. In County Services committee, I supported an amendment preventing Ingham County from contributing to the Dog Park gate unless the fee is set at $30 instead of $40. This would match the fee of the dog park to the fee of Hawk Island (both are $30). The amendment passed and was retained in the Finance Committee. I also asked the Parks Director to have the signage announcing the new fee to also include language alerting people that they can park in the Ingham Regional Medical lot for free and not have to pay the Hawk Island charge just to use the dog park. So, anyone using only the dog park will not have to may a new fee next year. Instead of paying the $30 for the Hawk Island yearly pass, they can pay $30 for the Soldan Dog Park yearly pass and park at Ingham Regional. Of course, anyone who wants to use Hawk Island Park as well as the Soldan Dog Park will have to pay for both. Users of the dog park can expect the gate to be up in January, assuming the full Board passes the resolution on Tuesday, and the City of Lansing and the Friends of the Dog Park agree with the reduced rate.
We also approved a reorganization of the County Clerk’s office this week. This resolution, submitted to us by Clerk Bryanton, reclassifies a Chief Deputy /Interdepartmental Relations position to a Clerical Services Supervisor position. It also eliminates a Deputy Clerk position. The move would increase office efficiency and saves the county approximately $75,000 per year through decreased salaries and fringe benefits. This will not result in a layoff because it will become effective on the date of retirement of the current Chief Deputy /Interdepartmental Relations.
Finally, I will report on a resolution that we passed dealing with health services for county residents. It is very common for people to ask me what a County Commissioner does. One of things I tell people is that we set policy for various departments, including the Health Department. Our Health Department is one of the best in the country. The resolution that we passed this week outlines many of the activities of the Health Department.
Under the Public Health Code, the State of Michigan and the 83 counties share responsibility for the protection of the public health of the citizens of Michigan. Ingham County has a Comprehensive Planning, Budgeting and Contracting (CPBC) process, and every year we authorize the Health Department to enter into an agreement with the Michigan Department of Community Health for the delivery of public health services under this process. The agreement serves as the vehicle for the county accepting almost $5 million in state and federal grant and formula funding to support a number of public
health services.
This year, the agreement includes the following local public health operations, community health assessment activities and categorical programs:
- AIDS/HIV Prevention and Care
- Lead Safe Homes
- Bioterrorism Emergency Preparedness
- Breast and Cervical Cancer Control
- Building Healthy Communities
- Children’s Special Health Care Services
- Family Planning Vision and Hearing Screening
- Food Vendor and Restaurant Inspection
- Immunizations
- Local Tobacco Reduction
- Maternal and Child Health Programs
- Tuberculosis Control
- Sexually Transmitted Disease Control
- Well and Septic Inspection
- The Women, Infant, Children (WIC) Program
The resolution also authorizes subcontracts in the Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Program. Additionally, it creates a new full-time Breast Feeding Consultant in the Health Department. These all consist of state and federal funds.
Service contracts are also authorized in the resolution, with the following list of providers to support outreach activities to potential and current Medicaid beneficiaries in the following categories:
- Medicaid Outreach and Public Awareness
- Facilitating Medicaid Eligibility Determination
- Program Planning, Policy Development and Interagency Coordination Related to Medicaid Services
- Referral, Coordination and Monitoring of Medicaid Services
- Medicaid-Specific Training on Outreach Eligibility and Services
- Arranging for Medicaid-related Transportation and Provision of Medicaid-related Translation
These service contracts braid together requirements and funds from multiple sources including the County, W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Medicaid Administration (Federal Share). The braided service contracts are authorized for the next year up to the amounts listed:
• Allen Neighborhood Center $115,487 ($102,987 for outreach; $12,500 for Planning/Coordination to strengthen social safety net in the community)
• NorthWest Initiative $115,487 ($102,987 for outreach; $12,500 for Planning/Coordination to strengthen social safety net in the community)
• Carefree Medical Clinic $10,800
• South Lansing Community Development Association $24,952
• South Side Community Coalition $103,086
• Capital Area Community Services $4,000
• Child Abuse Prevention Services $52,250
• Catholic Charities St. Vincent Home $128,250
• Cristo Rey $61,750
• Family and Community Development Services $105,000
• Greater Lansing African American Health Institute $77,904
• School Community Health Alliance of Michigan $539,006
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
911 Dispatch System Costs, Hiring Freeze, 911 Dispatch Center Ready for Construction
The County Board of Commissioners met last night. While there were several significant issues on the agenda, only one turned out to be controversial.
We considered a resolution that would extend the contract with the company that maintains the county emergency 911 dispatch system. As faithful readers of this blog may recall, several years ago the county approved a new emergency dispatch 911 system that was paid for with 911 millage dollars. The system went from an inefficient analog system to what was supposed to be a much better digital system. We looked at various proposals and, in the end, chose M/A Com to install and maintain the system. Over the course of that contract, many problems arose. There were significant problems with 911 dispatch calls dropped in the southwest part of Lansing, resulting in police officers having to use cell phones instead of radios and in increased staffing needed. The company technically met the qualifications of the contract, and the Board of Commissioners was very upset that M/A Com would not fix the problem without a significant purchase from the county. In the end, the county paid but also received discounted maintenance.
Fast forward to last night. The Board considered a resolution that would extend the maintenance contract with Harris (which was formerly M/A Com). The contract originally proposed by Harris called for a 7% increase in the first year and 3% increases in years two through five. The company’s argument was that they had more equipment to maintain because of the problems that we needed to fix in southwest Lansing. County staff told the company that this amount was too high, and Harris agreed to lower this to 5% then 3% for the balance (for a total of about $1.5 million over 5 years). When this came before the Board in Finance last week, the committee still thought that was too high but the company was only willing to discount this another $15,000.
When it came before the Board last night, I strenuously objected to this amount. The County has had $7-8 million dollar deficits and our tax collections have been going down. We have questioned every vendor about why we should be paying 3% or more when inflation is not at that amount and County revenues are not going up at that rate. I reminded commissioners that Harris received increases of 5.5% over the last two years as part of the current contract, and expressed opposition to the resolution before us. Several Commissioners agreed and we had a good discussion and debate about what we could do to reduce this amount.
During debate staff alerted us that the contract ends on Friday, and if we don’t extend it we would have no one to service the contract for 911 dispatch. That made many of us very mad because it seemed as if we were being backed into a corner and would have to approve this contract. I proposed a shorter renewal time so we could work out a new rate with the company, but logistically that was not possible. I then worked with Commissioner Grebner to craft language that creates a 90-day termination clause, and language that instructs staff to get a better rate from the company. If the company refuses to provide a better rate, we have instructed staff to start a bid process to ask other companies for competitive prices to maintain the system. This passed unanimously. So the county agreed to the contact for now, but will look at others who can provide this service and will change systems if Harris doesn’t come down with the rates. Even though the system now seems to be working, I am again very disappointed in this company and expect that we will revisit this again soon.
In other action, the Board took steps to close our budget gap for next year (2011 calendar year) by passing a hiring freeze. The county currently has a hiring freeze for all positions supported by the general fund. The resolution passed last night will extend that through December 2011, and will include all county positions. Department Heads will be able to request waivers to the hiring freeze when necessary from the County Services Committee. The Controller/Administrator will also have authority to exempt positions from the hiring freeze in cases where positions are funded primarily from non-general fund sources. This resolution will minimize the affect of anticipated position reductions in 2011 and years after, and will free up more county positions for employees that could be laid off. It would also provide more vacant positions to be evaluated for additional permanent position reductions.
The Board also last night passed the final resolution needed to get the new 911 dispatch started for construction by authorizing the Building Authority to contract with the Architect/Engineering (A/E) and Construction Management (CM) Firms to begin the design process for the Ingham County Consolidated 911 Dispatch Center. We also approved $500,000 from 911 Funds for preliminary costs associated with this project. As previously reported, the Ingham County Consolidated 911 Dispatch Center site has been approved to be located on County owned land just west of the CMH property on Jolly Road in Lansing. We expect the project to cost about $5.2 million ($4,000,000 for the building and $1.2 Million to equip the facility and establish a contingency fund). We have also worked out all the legacy cost agreements with Lansing and East Lansing, so it seems that we are now ready to finalize constructions costs through our PLA policy and begin construction. Yay!
Tonight the Finance Committee meets and will finalize the budget to be presented to the Board of Commissioners. I will report on in a future blog when the budget is considered by the full Board. I also have two other committees meeting next week. October is shaping up to be a busy month (and that doesn’t include the election coming up!).Thursday, September 23, 2010
Special Guest Blogger: Commissioner Bahar-Cook on Judicial and Juvenile Justice Issues
This week, I have as a special guest blogger Commissioner Rebecca Bahar-Cook. I have known her for many years and treasure her as a colleague and as a friend. She is one of the brightest people I know, especially in the areas of the judiciary and juvenile justice needs in Ingham County, and her constituents in downtown and NW Lansing are lucky to have her service. So without further ado, I give you Ingham County Commissioner Rebecca Baher-Cook!
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Hello all! My name is Rebecca Bahar-Cook and I have the pleasure of being the second guest blogger for Commissioner Schor. I too, serve on the County Commission and have the privilege of representing the 4th District, which covers NW Lansing including our downtown.
Commissioner McGrain filled you in what is going on in the County’s Human Services Department. I’d like to let you know a little bit more about our Judiciary and some amazing programs Ingham County has developed to better handle our at-risk and adjudicated juvenile population.
When I was 15-years-old my father was shot and killed by two youth under the age of 18 – the only things they took were his watch and his wallet. As you can imagine, that was a terrible tragedy for my family.
But, my family wasn’t the only one affected by this crime – so were the families of the two young boys who committed the crime. Neither of them were first offenders and I imagine neither of them thought they had very many options open to them.
I strongly believe that the citizens of Ingham County would want to prevent such a crime from taking place here. And that is exactly the purpose of the Juvenile Justice Millage (JJM) the voters of Ingham County have twice passed. All too often children who show at-risk behavior, such as truancy, end up getting into more and more trouble as they get older. Programs funded by the JJM do more than just lock-up our youth and forget about them. We offer these kids the opportunity to change their lives by taking real responsibility for themselves and their behavior.
For example, the Ingham Academy offers adjudicated youth who have been suspended or expelled from school a chance to earn their high school diploma. If so determined by the court, students are picked up from their homes each morning, driven to the Academy, where they spend a full day in school and are then driven home. Many of these youth are also involved in the PRIDE Program that offers after-school tutoring and activities. Students at the Academy have started an urban farm with fruits and vegetable planted right outside their classrooms. Chickens have been added to our urban farm and bee keeping is next on the agenda. These children are court ordered to attend school. If they misbehave or are not ready for school in the morning they will appear before the Court immediately. The youth agree to these terms and are held responsible for their actions moving forward.
The Academy offers these students the opportunity to learn first-hand about capitalism and free market enterprises. They are also learning about nutrition and ways to prepare healthy foods. Last year they bottled salsa made out of items from the garden and I’m told selling honey is next! These kids are learning that they do have options. Those options might not always be easy, and there are repercussions if they don’t hold up their end of the bargain, but these children are productive and learning to be proud of their abilities. The Academy is also partnering with Lansing Community College to offer our graduates additional opportunities to improve their lives by improving their education.
Members of the Ingham County Bench, Court Staff and Ingham County Commissioners have all come together to examine the way we treat our youth. In addition to the Ingham Academy I encourage all readers to find out more about Project Impact (also partially funded with JJM funds). Project Impact is a partnership with Mental Health and the Courts to look at the root causes of difficult behavior, many of which include mental health issues. Teen Court, Child and Family Services and the Dispute Resolution Center of Central Michigan all received grants to service youth in our county from the millage to evaluate and offer solutions to problem behaviors that keep our children out of the court system.
There is still much work to be done, but I am so proud of what Ingham County is doing for our youth. I often wonder if my father would still be alive if his murderers, those children, had been given other options. If they had been involved in Project Impact or the Ingham Academy three families might not have suffered the pain of what happened to me in 1985.
Please feel free to contact me directly if you would like to learn more.
And, just because Andy is such a Michigan fan and Ingham County is the home of MSU . . . GO STATE!
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