This week was interesting for county business. First, the issues...
As I reported last week,we passed our fees resolution. This is the resolution where we set our fees for the year (2011). Most of them passed without objection. I once again raised the parks fee increase issue. The proposal was to raise the fee from $2 to $3 for a daily pass, and from $20 to $30 for a yearly pass. My argument was that we just increased the number of days that we charge from 2 days to 6 days, and we shouldn't raise the fees once again. It fell on deaf ears this time, though. Staff made the argument that the extra dollars are needed for the upcoming budget discussions. Arguments were also made that people can take the waiver if they don't want to pay the fee. While I agree that people can take the waiver, I still think they shouldn't have to. They should pay, as they want to, but should not see prices rise again so soon. I also argued that this isn't about the budget, as we haven't even started considering it yet, and I argued that the county went from collecting $100,000 to $200,000 when we went from 2 days to 6 days so we shouldn't need to raise yet another $80,000 from our parks visitors so soon. But, you win some and you lose some. This wasn't my day, and the parking fees for Hawk Island, Burchfield, Lake Lansing, and the Zoo will go up next year.
The only other fee which was challenged was the Point of Sale fee. A little background...homes with well water (and not on municipal water and sewer systems) are charged an inspection fee when the home is sold. This is to ensure that there is not leakage or contamination into the septic field that pollutes the environment. The price is usually rolled into the mortgage sale of the home. Some people (mostly realtors) opposed this policy when we created it about 5 or 6 years ago, and they continue to oppose the fees. The fee is at 100% of the cost of the program. An amendment was made to oppose the fee increase for this program, with the argument that this this fee shouldn't be increased because it increases the cost of home sales. Supporters of increasing the fee, though, said that increasing to 100% would result in the County general fund (and all citizens) subsidizing the inspection program for these few people that are selling their homes. I voted with the supporters of increasing the fee. I believe that those of us on municipal water/sewer pay lots for that service to protects the environment and public health, and those on well water should pay as well to ensure that the septic fields and environment are not polluted. This amendment failed and the fee increase passed.
You also may recall that a two weeks ago the county passed a resolution moving the community agency money to the Power of We. This was undone last night when the Board voted to reconsider the resolution. It was then sent back to committee, where we will have the discussion all over again at the committee and Board level. So stay tuned...
Finally, sad news. Two Saturdays ago, the County lost a leader. Former Commissioner and Board Chair Calvin Lynch passed away. He was only in his late 50's, but had severe cancer. I attended the funeral on Saturday and it was moving. The family and his fraternity did a wonderful job. Ingham County also passed a resolution to honor his memory, and that was presented to Calvin's lovely wife Cathy and beautiful daughter Danielle. We passed that resolution on Tuesday, and many memories were shared. Personally, I recall serving with Calvin. He was loud and obnoxious, but he was honest and very caring. I learned so much from him as leader of our Board. He did not mince words and said exactly what he thought...and provided strong leadership. I also remember he and his wife being very gracious to me and my wife when we were together at the Counties conference and many other times. The County has lost a dedicated servant, and I will miss him. Cathy and Danielle and the entire Lynch family are in my thoughts and prayers.
On the political front, you may have noticed (if you live in the Lansing area) that I have gone up with my lawn signs. Although the City doesn't allow political yard signs to go up until July 1, my opponent started putting his signs up two weeks ago. So I have responded in kind. After putting up a few signs in supporters yards, I have been inundated with requests for yard signs. I am getting them out as fast as I can (so if you requested one, I will be there shortly with the sign). I am overwhelmed with support from my district, and am very appreciative. My opponent has talked about no county issues and has attacked me every chance he could, and people are not responding well to that. I will continue to run on my record, and hope that people will support that when they go to the polls instead of the distortions of my opponent!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
County Fair, Parks Fees, and Setting the Record Straight on My Votes!
County Services committee interviewed three very good candidates for our Fair Board. The County has had a fair for 155 years, and it is a great event for Ingham County families. Rural residents can utilize the fair for agricultural interests, animals, and 4-H activities. Urban residents can learn about agricultural parts of the county, and can have lots of fun with rides and other fun attractions. I have been to the Fair with my family and enjoy it, and look forward to it every year. We need to keep the Fair Board and Fair Director’s feet to the fire to not have deficits at the Fair, as we cannot afford to subsidize them with General Fund money. But we need to give them the tools to better raise money, including concerts and well-regulated and policed beer tents and other money-makers. And we need to pray for no rain during fair week!
We also considered a variety of county fees. We usually aim to recapture 100% of the cost to provide services so that the users of the service are paying rather than county taxpayers. This includes services like immunization record copying fees, public pool inspections, fees for tobacco sales retailers, and other inspections. One fee increase recommendation from our county staff that concerned me, though, was to increase parks fees for residents. Current parks fees for county residents (who also pay county taxes) are $2 daily and $20 annual. Our staff recommended increasing daily entrance fees to $3 and annual fees to $30.
I was able to prevent this fee increase when it was considered in the County Services committee. During debate, I indicated opposition to this county fee increase. In talking to constituents, the county service I hear more than anything other is Hawk Island County Park which is in my district. This park is a jewel in south Lansing and is used by people in the summer and winter. It is the one real get-away and quality of life asset that the County provides for my constituents. Up until this year, the county charged parking fees for parks only on weekends. Due to budget constraints, this was changed to being charged daily. That took effect on January 1st.
I raised the objection that we just added daily fees and I did not think it would be appropriate to raise these fees so quickly after making people pay daily. This is also a service that we can provide to our constituents, especially for those out of work who need to get out of the house. Increasing these fees at this time is simply wrong. After making this case in committee, I was able to garner the support of my colleagues. When these fees were separated out from the rest of the fees, they were turned down on a 1-5 vote.
Unfortunately, the Finance committee disagreed. Information from staff was presented saying that this would reduce our budget by about $80,000, and that there are plenty of ways to receive a waiver if people can't pay. While I understand these arguments, I responded saying that we haven't even started looking at our budget yet. When we went from charging 2 days per week to 6 days per week, we increased revenues from $97,000 per year to $200,000 per year. That means we doubled what we took in last year. It is too soon to once again increase that. And, I argued that these fees are not budgetary considerations. If we really want to maximize our budget, we would make fees $4 or $5 daily and make lots more money. But to me, parks fees are not about solidifying our budget - they are what we think the community members should pay. We will always put in money from the county general fund for parks as they are an important part of quality of life for our residents.
With the County Services and Finance Committees disagreeing, this will be decided on Tuesday at the Board level. I will let you know what happens on Wednesday or Thursday!
On the campaign front, everything continues to go well. I have been knocking doors and discussing issues with constituents. I am receiving tremendous support and encouragement. While my opponent continues to distort my record, I will continue to talk about the important issues for southeast Lansing residents at the County Commission!
(As a note...my opponent says I supported a pay raise for myself in bad budget times. The reality is that on November 27, 2007, I voted for a resolution that ELIMINATED the pay raise
for 2009 and reduced the pay raise for 2010. And in 2010, I have contributed the pay raise back to the county, which I did before I knew that I would have a primary. We asked for 3 furlough days for employees, and I believed I needed to give back to the general fund from my pay as well. My opponent either is purposely distorting my record, or truly doesn't understand how county government works.)
We also considered a variety of county fees. We usually aim to recapture 100% of the cost to provide services so that the users of the service are paying rather than county taxpayers. This includes services like immunization record copying fees, public pool inspections, fees for tobacco sales retailers, and other inspections. One fee increase recommendation from our county staff that concerned me, though, was to increase parks fees for residents. Current parks fees for county residents (who also pay county taxes) are $2 daily and $20 annual. Our staff recommended increasing daily entrance fees to $3 and annual fees to $30.
I was able to prevent this fee increase when it was considered in the County Services committee. During debate, I indicated opposition to this county fee increase. In talking to constituents, the county service I hear more than anything other is Hawk Island County Park which is in my district. This park is a jewel in south Lansing and is used by people in the summer and winter. It is the one real get-away and quality of life asset that the County provides for my constituents. Up until this year, the county charged parking fees for parks only on weekends. Due to budget constraints, this was changed to being charged daily. That took effect on January 1st.
I raised the objection that we just added daily fees and I did not think it would be appropriate to raise these fees so quickly after making people pay daily. This is also a service that we can provide to our constituents, especially for those out of work who need to get out of the house. Increasing these fees at this time is simply wrong. After making this case in committee, I was able to garner the support of my colleagues. When these fees were separated out from the rest of the fees, they were turned down on a 1-5 vote.
Unfortunately, the Finance committee disagreed. Information from staff was presented saying that this would reduce our budget by about $80,000, and that there are plenty of ways to receive a waiver if people can't pay. While I understand these arguments, I responded saying that we haven't even started looking at our budget yet. When we went from charging 2 days per week to 6 days per week, we increased revenues from $97,000 per year to $200,000 per year. That means we doubled what we took in last year. It is too soon to once again increase that. And, I argued that these fees are not budgetary considerations. If we really want to maximize our budget, we would make fees $4 or $5 daily and make lots more money. But to me, parks fees are not about solidifying our budget - they are what we think the community members should pay. We will always put in money from the county general fund for parks as they are an important part of quality of life for our residents.
With the County Services and Finance Committees disagreeing, this will be decided on Tuesday at the Board level. I will let you know what happens on Wednesday or Thursday!
On the campaign front, everything continues to go well. I have been knocking doors and discussing issues with constituents. I am receiving tremendous support and encouragement. While my opponent continues to distort my record, I will continue to talk about the important issues for southeast Lansing residents at the County Commission!
(As a note...my opponent says I supported a pay raise for myself in bad budget times. The reality is that on November 27, 2007, I voted for a resolution that ELIMINATED the pay raise
for 2009 and reduced the pay raise for 2010. And in 2010, I have contributed the pay raise back to the county, which I did before I knew that I would have a primary. We asked for 3 furlough days for employees, and I believed I needed to give back to the general fund from my pay as well. My opponent either is purposely distorting my record, or truly doesn't understand how county government works.)
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
PLA, Community Agencies, Commissioners Bupp and Tsernoglou, and the Start of Election Season
The Board of Commissioners took up the resolution to create a Project Labor Agreement for the Rhino exhibit at the Zoo. If you are a faithful reader of my blog (and I hope you are!) then you already know what a PLA. We had public testimony from the Associated Builders and Contractors saying that PLA’s are for union-only shops and are unfair. Several Commissioners during debate rebutted this assertion, though, reminding that our policy is unique and makes it specifically possible for non-union contractors to bid on projects. Non-union shops would not be disadvantaged, and would only have to allow union level benefits and pay for employees working only on that project. The PLA was passed on a 13-3 vote, and the project can now begin.
We also considered the community agency funding. This was a very tough vote for everyone. As discussed in my blog last week, we have a small pot of money that we give to community agencies in Ingham County who do non-profit work. They help out those in need. Unfortunately, the money that we have available is continuously reducing. We need to pay our own employees without laying them off and reducing benefits, so it is hard to give money away to others. In the past, this money has been $300,000 or so, This year, though, it is anticipated to be about $100,000.
We had a proposal before us to instead send any money available to the Power of We for community agency building (which recently lost a federal grant). After discussing this with the Power of We director and some constituents in my district who contact me about the proposal, I decided that it would maximize the dollars more to ensure that the community agency building program kept on running. Sending few dollars to over 30 agencies would not be as effective as ensureing that the groups are doing their work most efficiently. This was a very tough decision, but I believe that it was the best one. We will try this for a year and see what happens. Next year we will review this and see if it still makes the most sense. We will also have a chance to review the program before we actually send the money (when we do our budget later in the year). The proposal passed on a 9-7 vote.
Finally, we said goodbye to Commissioner Shelby Bupp (D-East Lansing). When Commissioner Marc Thomas (D-East Lansing) resigned, Shelby was appointed to the Board. She held that seat until a special election was held. She did an excellent job and we all appreciate her work. Thanks Shelby!!!
We also will welcome new Commissioner Penelope Tsernoglou (D-East Lansing) to the Board at our next meeting. Congratulations, and welcome Penelope!
On the political front…filing deadline has passed. I have a primary opponent in the Democratic primary on August 3rd. He has been aggressively campaigning and has been very critical of my leadership for our district. I will continue to work on behalf of the citizens of my district and all of Ingham County, and will continue to talk to my constituents and get the message out about the important issues. If I am successful in the primary, then I will take on a Republican who filed in November. If you are reading this blog and are a constituent, I hope I have earned your vote for another term. Please feel free to email (aschor@yahoo.com) or call me (485-0926) any time!
That’s it for this week.
Andy
We also considered the community agency funding. This was a very tough vote for everyone. As discussed in my blog last week, we have a small pot of money that we give to community agencies in Ingham County who do non-profit work. They help out those in need. Unfortunately, the money that we have available is continuously reducing. We need to pay our own employees without laying them off and reducing benefits, so it is hard to give money away to others. In the past, this money has been $300,000 or so, This year, though, it is anticipated to be about $100,000.
We had a proposal before us to instead send any money available to the Power of We for community agency building (which recently lost a federal grant). After discussing this with the Power of We director and some constituents in my district who contact me about the proposal, I decided that it would maximize the dollars more to ensure that the community agency building program kept on running. Sending few dollars to over 30 agencies would not be as effective as ensureing that the groups are doing their work most efficiently. This was a very tough decision, but I believe that it was the best one. We will try this for a year and see what happens. Next year we will review this and see if it still makes the most sense. We will also have a chance to review the program before we actually send the money (when we do our budget later in the year). The proposal passed on a 9-7 vote.
Finally, we said goodbye to Commissioner Shelby Bupp (D-East Lansing). When Commissioner Marc Thomas (D-East Lansing) resigned, Shelby was appointed to the Board. She held that seat until a special election was held. She did an excellent job and we all appreciate her work. Thanks Shelby!!!
We also will welcome new Commissioner Penelope Tsernoglou (D-East Lansing) to the Board at our next meeting. Congratulations, and welcome Penelope!
On the political front…filing deadline has passed. I have a primary opponent in the Democratic primary on August 3rd. He has been aggressively campaigning and has been very critical of my leadership for our district. I will continue to work on behalf of the citizens of my district and all of Ingham County, and will continue to talk to my constituents and get the message out about the important issues. If I am successful in the primary, then I will take on a Republican who filed in November. If you are reading this blog and are a constituent, I hope I have earned your vote for another term. Please feel free to email (aschor@yahoo.com) or call me (485-0926) any time!
That’s it for this week.
Andy
Thursday, May 6, 2010
PLA, Saving County $, Community Agencies (and a little campaign info)
On Tuesday, we also considered our first contract proposal under our Project Labor Agreement (PLA) policy. In case you haven’t heard, last year the county created a policy requiring PLA’s for bigger construction projects (anything over $100,000). It was highly controversial and the County Services held many meetings on it and worked with both business and labor to create the final product. I was not on the committee at the time, but worked on this when it came up on the Board floor. The County is planning to do an expansion of the Rhino exhibit at Potter Park Zoo and it will be the first PLA project. This is being done with dedicated zoo millage funds, so don’t worry about general fund dollars being used for this instead of deputies or health department or
anything else.
The controversy came, though, in the way our staff wants to do the PLA. There were two options presented: (1) have the county directly negotiation a PLA with one or more labor organizations, or (2) condition the award of a contract to a construction manager/general contractor. All other PLA’s – Sparrow, MSU, others – have the construction manager or general contactor negotiate with the union. Our staff wanted to negotiate directly for the first project because they wanted to set the first PLA as a basis for all future ones in case there is not the ability for future contract managers or general contractors to negotiate. The problem with that, though, was that this project is big enough to have a general contractor that is able to negotiate. I argued that we should take this on a case-by-case basis because each project has to come to the Board. I pushed for “option 2” to be adopted. In the end, that is exactly what happened. If there are future projects that need to have the county staff negotiate directly, then we can consider it at that time.
In other news, the Drain Commissioner came to County Services and Finance with a plan to save money for him and earn money for the county. How? Well….the Drain Commissioner borrows money for projects from banks and pays a certain interest rate (5% or so). The County invests its short-term tax collections in banks and receives a small interest on that money (1% or so) until it is needed for spending. So, why not combine the two? Why not have the
Drain Commissioner borrow it from the County and pay 3% interest or so? Then the county gains an extra 1% or 2% on interest on the short-term dollars, while the Drain Commissioner saves 1% or 2% on interest. So, we passed a resolution that would do this one time for a limited amount of money. I asked several questions about cash flow and ensuring that this won’t jeopardize county dollars or collections. Both County Treasurer Eric Schertzing and County Drain Commissioner Pat Lindemann ensured the committee that this work just fine, and that it will save money for the Drain Commissioner while earning a little more money for the County general fund. Now that’s government efficiency in motion! Thanks to Drain Commissioner Lindemann and Treasurer Schertzing!
In Finance, we considered how we fund our community agencies. Community agencies are the various groups in the community that do good work. Examples are the Lansing Community Gardens (which provide food for the poor) or the Lansing Area Aids Network or about 30 others. In the past, the county has given a few dollars to each of these organizations to do good work in the community. We cannot be everything to everyone, but we can support these groups to help those in need. The allocation in past years has been about $300,000. Last year that was cut to $200,000. This year, that is expected to eb cut to $100,000. While I have tremendous respect for the work they do, I have concerns about giving this money to outside agencies when we are cutting our own county employees and services. $100,000 is a deputy, or money for a park, or other key services. While I would consider supporting moving community agency dollars to other areas within the county, there doesn't seem to be support for that.
Instead, Commissioner Brian McGrain proposed to send the $100,000 to the Power of We consortium. The Power of We work with these non-profit organizations and show them how to be better at what they do. The concept is...if you give a man a fish, he eats for a day; if you teach a man to fish he eats forever. Instead of funding the programs each year with a very little amount of money from the county, the Power of We can use the money to teach them how to run better.
This proposal to move the money to the Power of We instead of directly allocating it to community agencies passed the Human Services committee on a 3-2 vote. I was not there but I understand that there was significant debate on the pros and cons. The Finance Committee defeated it on a 3-3 vote. The resolution will go to the Board for consideration on Tuesday, and it should be a very interesting debate and vote.
Well...that's it.
Actually, I will tell you one other thing. This week officially starts my re-election campaign. I have a challenger in the Democratic primary this year, and he has been bashing me left and right. Although he just moved into the district, he is telling anyone that will listen what a terrible job I have been doing for my district. I am taking this very seriously and will rise to the challenge. While this blog is usually dedicated to issue work (which my challenger will undoubtedly benefit from), I will also spend some time talking about my re-election. As always, I welcome any support folks can give (contributions, door knocking, etc.). And I look forward to the vote on August 3rd!
Andy
anything else.
The controversy came, though, in the way our staff wants to do the PLA. There were two options presented: (1) have the county directly negotiation a PLA with one or more labor organizations, or (2) condition the award of a contract to a construction manager/general contractor. All other PLA’s – Sparrow, MSU, others – have the construction manager or general contactor negotiate with the union. Our staff wanted to negotiate directly for the first project because they wanted to set the first PLA as a basis for all future ones in case there is not the ability for future contract managers or general contractors to negotiate. The problem with that, though, was that this project is big enough to have a general contractor that is able to negotiate. I argued that we should take this on a case-by-case basis because each project has to come to the Board. I pushed for “option 2” to be adopted. In the end, that is exactly what happened. If there are future projects that need to have the county staff negotiate directly, then we can consider it at that time.
In other news, the Drain Commissioner came to County Services and Finance with a plan to save money for him and earn money for the county. How? Well….the Drain Commissioner borrows money for projects from banks and pays a certain interest rate (5% or so). The County invests its short-term tax collections in banks and receives a small interest on that money (1% or so) until it is needed for spending. So, why not combine the two? Why not have the
Drain Commissioner borrow it from the County and pay 3% interest or so? Then the county gains an extra 1% or 2% on interest on the short-term dollars, while the Drain Commissioner saves 1% or 2% on interest. So, we passed a resolution that would do this one time for a limited amount of money. I asked several questions about cash flow and ensuring that this won’t jeopardize county dollars or collections. Both County Treasurer Eric Schertzing and County Drain Commissioner Pat Lindemann ensured the committee that this work just fine, and that it will save money for the Drain Commissioner while earning a little more money for the County general fund. Now that’s government efficiency in motion! Thanks to Drain Commissioner Lindemann and Treasurer Schertzing!
In Finance, we considered how we fund our community agencies. Community agencies are the various groups in the community that do good work. Examples are the Lansing Community Gardens (which provide food for the poor) or the Lansing Area Aids Network or about 30 others. In the past, the county has given a few dollars to each of these organizations to do good work in the community. We cannot be everything to everyone, but we can support these groups to help those in need. The allocation in past years has been about $300,000. Last year that was cut to $200,000. This year, that is expected to eb cut to $100,000. While I have tremendous respect for the work they do, I have concerns about giving this money to outside agencies when we are cutting our own county employees and services. $100,000 is a deputy, or money for a park, or other key services. While I would consider supporting moving community agency dollars to other areas within the county, there doesn't seem to be support for that.
Instead, Commissioner Brian McGrain proposed to send the $100,000 to the Power of We consortium. The Power of We work with these non-profit organizations and show them how to be better at what they do. The concept is...if you give a man a fish, he eats for a day; if you teach a man to fish he eats forever. Instead of funding the programs each year with a very little amount of money from the county, the Power of We can use the money to teach them how to run better.
This proposal to move the money to the Power of We instead of directly allocating it to community agencies passed the Human Services committee on a 3-2 vote. I was not there but I understand that there was significant debate on the pros and cons. The Finance Committee defeated it on a 3-3 vote. The resolution will go to the Board for consideration on Tuesday, and it should be a very interesting debate and vote.
Well...that's it.
Actually, I will tell you one other thing. This week officially starts my re-election campaign. I have a challenger in the Democratic primary this year, and he has been bashing me left and right. Although he just moved into the district, he is telling anyone that will listen what a terrible job I have been doing for my district. I am taking this very seriously and will rise to the challenge. While this blog is usually dedicated to issue work (which my challenger will undoubtedly benefit from), I will also spend some time talking about my re-election. As always, I welcome any support folks can give (contributions, door knocking, etc.). And I look forward to the vote on August 3rd!
Andy
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