Community Agency Rankings, Teresa Borsuk, Budget Hearings Begin, and Personal and Campaign Notes

Compared to previous weeks, this week was a quieter week on the Board floor. We passed a variety of important resolutions, but none were controversial.

The Board of Commissioners passed the resolution creating the Community Agency ranking system. I mentioned this last week, but thought I would provide more information. The 2011 Community Agency ranking criteria is as follows, in order of importance:

1. The extent to which the proposal directly contributes to addressing the County’s long-term priority of “Meeting Basic Needs”. Does the proposal provide basic necessities for those in need, such as food, clothing, and shelter or help to provide assistance in obtaining such things as household utilities that are needed by families and individuals?
2. The extent to which the proposal leverages other sources of funding. What other funding sources are being leveraged, including state, federal, other non-profit and private sources? Will this funding be used as match for a larger grant or to leverage other funding?
3. The degree to which the proposal demonstrates collaborative approaches to program and service delivery. What other agencies and organizations are participating in the proposed project?
4. The extent to which the proposal demonstrates creativity and innovation. Does this proposal represent proven “best practices” in its particular subject? Does the program produce measurable results? Has this proposal ever been tried before? If the proposal is not new, then what is the track record of success, has there been a positive impact on the community?
5. The number of years the agency has received County funding (fewer years = higher rating).
6. Timeliness in submitting the proposal. Were deadlines to submit the proposal met to a reasonable standard? Was the proposal complete when submitted?

We also took the time to thank one of our distinguished employees who is retiring. We honored Teresa Borsuk, who served Ingham County for 32 years (most recently in Clerk Bryanton's office). We on the Board worked closely with her, and it was great to hear about her accomplishments as a UAW representative in creating employee training opportunities. Congratulations Teresa!

This week also started the important process of the budget for 2011. As I have mentioned in the past, the Controller first asks Department heads for budgets. In that request, she asks what each Department head can do to cut their budget because we will have a significant ($7-8 million) shortfall next year. After the Controller requests these documents, each Department head provides the information to the Controller. They then have an opportunity to come and discuss this with the committee chairs, members, controller, and budget director. The Law Enforcement committee has already held this meeting, and the other committees (County Services, Human Services, Judiciary) will be doing them next week. After that, the Controller puts together a recommended budget for the Commissioners which is presented to us in August. We then start budget hearings in committees in September and finalize the budget in October or November. We also sometimes have Board Leadership meetings (which are special meetings of the full Board for a specific purpose) to discuss the budget. These are meetings that are more like work-groups with discussion about the specifics. These are meetings where we give direction to the Controller and budget staff on what we think are priorities for her to recommend to us. These meetings, of course, are publicly noticed and open to the public.

On a personal note, I was interviewed this week on the budget situation by Channel 6 news. They focused on the importance to the citizens of Hawk Island county park, and my efforts to ensure that it is not closed or severely cut. You can see the story here. Nice job, Stacia!

On the campaign front, my opponent continued the weekly litany of attacks on me. He said in a letter to the editor that I don't attend neighborhood meetings, and when I do it is only for 15 minutes. To rebut this newest claim, I would first point out that he doesn't know that I do attend neighborhood meetings (I have several in my district) as often as my county commission meeting schedule allows because, as he said in the letter to the editor, he has only lived in the district for 6 months. What he also fails to mention is that he is referencing a meeting I recently had to leave early in order to attend a county commission meeting! So he attacks me because he thinks I don't do my job, then attacks me for doing my job. Of course, he knew why I left early because he was there and heard me tell the neighbors at the meeting that I was going to a county commisison meeting, yet he purposely omitted it in his letter. Interesting. He also says that I have never faced an opponent in any of my elections. Again, he has only been here 6 months so he doesn't know that I faced a very tough primary in my first election. The difference, though, is that my opponent and I ran positive campaigns that year. Jim Kirsch ran a great race and I have tremendous respect for Jim, We both worked very hard in that election and I was priveledged enough to be victorious. This year is the first race, though, that I have faced an opponent using negative campaign tactics against me. Thankfully, it isn't working and the voters are seeing right through it!

Budget Deficit Worsens, Zoo Renewal Begins, Community Agency Process Begins, I am endorsed by the Democratic Party, and My Opponent Slings More Mud!

While we had a busy week in committee, the most important thing that we learned this week is that our budget next year will be worse off than was originally projected. While we had originally been projecting a $5 million budget deficit for the 2011 fiscal year, it seems that is actually going to be $7-8 million.

Our Controller has collected the service base requests from our departments, taxable values, and other revenue projections for the 2011 fiscal year general fund. Based on the new taxable values provided from our Equalization Director, property tax collections are projected to decline by over $2.5 million. So calculating these all together, the deficit is $7-8 million. The Controller is assuming recommending using $1 million from the unreserved fund balance (rainy day fund), so we will be looking at having to solve a $6-7 million problem when we do the budget in August.

In County Services, we began looking at a ballot question for a renewal of the Zoo millage at .41 mills. As you probably know, a few years ago the voters overwhelmingly passed a millage for the zoo and it was moved from city control to county control. I was on the special committee that drew up the contract between the city and the county and developed the structure of the new management. There were many issues we had to work out, including how to move employees from the city to the county and still preserve their wages and benefits, retirement for employees, who owned the equipment, etc. But after many hours of hard work, we resolved all these issues. It was a great cooperative effort and a success for keeping the zoo open and alive in Lansing. We were able to maintain a great regional asset which draws people to our area. The millage would renew the funding for the zoo. We had a few legal questions about the language so we referred them to the County Attorney. I expect the language to be finalized at the next County Services and Finance committee meetings so we can get this on the ballot for the November general election.

In Finance, we took up a resolution that would fund community agencies and allow our staff to rank the incoming requests. We had about $300,000 for this last year, but are expecting much less this year. The Finance committee agreed with the Human Services committee that the rankings need to include a variety of factors, including basic needs that include food, shelter, etc. Once this resolution passes the Board on Tuesday, the information packet will go out to community agencies on Wednesday and they will be able to apply for the limited funding that we will have. The requests will be scored by our Controller and staff, and the recommendations will be made as part of the budget process in October.

Campaign Update: I am honored to have received the unanimous endorsement yesterday of the Ingham County Democratic Party. I am running for the Democratic nomination on August 3rd, and the county Democratic Party has recognized my positive record for my constituents. This is an unusual honor, as it takes ¾ of the voting members to secure an endorsement. I have also been endorsed by every Democratic member of the County Commission, every Countywide official (Sheriff, Prosecutor, Drain Commissioner, Clerk, Register of Deeds, Treasurer), State Reps Bauer, Byrum and Meadows, and Sen. Whitmer. My opponent, on the other hand, is being supported by Republican County Commissioner Steve Dougan. That is an interesting twist, especially as my opponent is running against me in the Democratic primary and claiming to be a Democrat.


On the negative side, this week my opponent put up a website accusing me and my Democratic colleagues on the County Commission of “seeking retaliation and intimidation of employees who speak up”. This is just the latest in his long list of blatant lies and distortions of me and my record. It is also a ruthless attack on the entire Democratic Caucus.

The TRUTH is that employees come to me regularly to discuss issues and for help, and I invite this dialogue. I have had county deputies, health department employees and other employees come to me for assistance with problems. As County Services Chair, Human Services Chair and Law Enforcement Chair I have always invited the opinions of our county employees. I invited in for testimony numerous county deputies on the road patrol issue, many UAW employees on health care issues, etc and I have NEVER sought punishment or retribution on any of them for speaking up. This is just another attempt by my opponent to confuse and anger voters when no actual issue exists. After knocking hundreds of doors, though, I am convinced that the voters won’t be fooled and are insulted by his campaign.

Beer Tents, Commissioner Compensation, and Rayner Park...and a political update and clarification.

At the Board meeting tonight, Commissioners McGrain and Davis introduced the resolution to allow for a beer tent at the Ingham County Fair. Because it failed in committee, these Commissioners had to introduce this as a personal resolution. Since I blogged about this last week, I have heard from an interesting cross-section of people. I have heard from 4-H people who are opposed because they think it is immoral to serve alcohol in a place where children are. I have also heard from a variety of people who say that a beer tent will allow adults to enjoy the fair even more, especially at night. I was told that in SE Michigan, even the churches have beer tents these days. And I was told that in our area, there is beer at the Williamston Jubilee (where they serve in milk jugs, the Charlotte Frontier Days, the Mint Festival, and the Eagle days. All of these have children at them, all serve alcohol, and none have seen the dire predictions of the 4-H come true. In the end, it seems to me that we want the fair to be self-sustaining. How can we expect that, then shut down the ideas that they have to actually bring in revenue. If they try it one year and the revenue goes down because people are not coming or because of dangers, then they will stop (or we will make them stop). But I am open to this and other solutions to ensure that we still have a County Fair, but do not have to subsidize it with county tax dollars. The debate was very interesting and passionate, and the resolution passed 11-5.

As mentioned last week, we also considered and passed (15-1) Commissioner Compensation with no pay increase. Commissioner Grebner made an eloquent speech about the necessity to have well compensated elected offiials in order to make good decisions for the county. He argued that if we don't compensate people for the many hours they spend on county issues, then we will not have good representation on the Board. While I understand the argument, I voted against pay raises for Commissioners because I believe that if our employees are not getting pay raises in the future (which will likely happen) and if they are forced to take furlough days, then so should the Commissioners. Our employees work hard and deserve to be compensated. We Commissioners cannot take pay raises if our employees do not. That is also why a few years ago I voted to eliminate the 2009 pay raise and have given back my 2010 pay raise this year (starting in January, before my contested campaign began).

Finally, we considered moving Rayner Park to the City of Mason. As you may recall, in County Services and Finance we agree to a resolution that would require the City to maintain the park as parkland for 20 years. After that, they would be able to change the use or sell it (as according to their charter requirements). But we limited the transfer of property to the park only, and not the woods between the park and the fairgrounds. The City came back to us agreeing to the proposal only if it also included the woods. During testimony, there were several Mason residents and others who talked about the necessity of using the woods for its trails and other purposes. Upon seeing that both the Commission and the residents want to use the property as woods, Commissioner Todd Tennis moved an amendment to re-include the woods in the deal. This amendment passed 13-3. The resolution then passed 16-0. So the entire parkland was moved to the City of Mason for $1 per year, and they cannot use it for anything other than parks for 20 years. After that, the entire thing is the property of the city to do as they wish, and they will answer to their constituents if they try to make any changes. Both the County and the City agreed to this and will sign a legal agreement, and the park will open very soon.

Oh, and the Board unanimously passed a resolution I sponsored commending Donna Olds on her retirement. Donna is the principal at Mt. Hope Elementary (in my district). She is retiring after 37 years in the Lansing School District...and I thank her for everything she has done for our children!!!

On the political front, the campaign continues to go extremely well! While my opponent has attacked me with distortions of my record in an email to Democratic Party members and at voter doors, constituents are seeing through this nonsense. I have a fundraiser coming up to raise money so I can continue to spread the truth about my record and let voters honestly decide if I deserve another term. If you would like to contribute or put up a yard sign or assist in any other way, please let me know!

NOTE: In one of my previous blogs, I said that the City doesn’t allow political yard signs to go up until July 1. When I first ran for office, the city had an ordinance not allowing political yard signs until 30 days before the election. A few years later, the Supreme Court ruled that all yard sign ordinances were unconstitutional and could be ignored. As such, the City repealed the ordinance. Candidates in Lansing, though, have generally observed the spirit of the ordinance and have not put up political yard signs until 30 days before the primary. Neither I nor my Republican opponents have put up yard signs before this time in my other elections. My opponent in the Democratic primary chose to put up his signs about 2½ months before election day. While I know residents don’t like having signs up that early, I had to respond in-kind and get mine up (thanks to all those who are helping with that!). Sorry for any confusion!

Land Bank, Beer Tent at Fair, and 0% Pay Increase for Commissioners (as promised!)

The County Services and Finance committees this week took up a resolution moving properties to the Ingham County Land Bank. Several of these were in my district so I took particular notice of them. This is a good time to talk about the Land Bank and how it works. When properties are foreclosed, the county and the city have a chance to use them for public use. If they don’t the properties go to sale at auction. If no one buys them, the county sells them to the Land Bank, which is a relatively new tool (created in the last 10 years or so). The Land Bank has money in a revolving loan fund that they spend to acquire the property then fix it up and sell it at fair market value. They also have received a significant amount of federal dollars (a few million) for properties in the City of Lansing. In essence, they rehab existing properties using economic development tools (Brownfield, etc) and cash on hand. This is exceptionally useful in urban areas as there are tons of foreclosed and vacant properties (but is also great in rural areas for fixing properties). The Land Bank puts those properties back on the tax rolls. Ingham County Treasurer Eric Schertzing is a leader in the Land Bank community and is a pioneer in redevelopment. I served on the Land Bank and witnessed first-hand the exceptional things they do. The resolution we passed this week will allow the Land Bank to rehab several properties and get them back on the tax rolls. I am a proud supporter of that effort!

The Fair Board sent the Board of Commissioners a resolution asking us to create a beer tent at the annual Ingham County Fair. As I have mentioned before, the Fair is self-sustaining and takes no general fund dollars. They have had problems actually being self-sustaining in recent years and this is one revenue generating measure they recommended to us. They anticipated that two volunteer groups would work the tent and will be recruited and trained by the distributor. These volunteer groups would be required to carry liability insurance. The hours of operation would be limited to Monday – Friday from 5:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. with service stopped at 11:00 p.m.; and Saturday 3:30 p.m. – 11:30 p.m. with service stopped at 11:00 p.m. A conservative estimate is that the net revenue generated from the adult refreshment tent would be $12,000 - $15,000 and would be split 50/50 by the fair and the volunteer group(s). The Sheriff is supportive if there is an officer at the gate of the tent. The tent will be located in the Midway area, on the north side of the grandstand. This area will be fenced and admittance will be limited to adults 21 years and older. This will allow adults to sit and observe the Grand stand events from the refreshment area. No one will be permitted to leave the fenced area with a beverage. Beer, malt liquor, and wine will be the only alcohol served. Pricing will not be discounted below industry standards. Individuals will only be able to purchase two drinks at a time. Licensee for the tent will be 501C (3) non-profit group/s. Six other Michigan fairs have beer tents and have not had problems. A woman from Bunker Hill Township representing the 4-H (I can't remember her name) opposed this resolution with concern that children will get alcohol. I supported this resolution with the safeguards outlined (security, seperate area, age requirements, etc.). The resolution was defeated 3-3 in County Services. There are indications, though, that this will be brought up as a personal resolution on the Boad floor, so the full Board will vote on this on Tuesday.


The County Services and Finance Committees passed a resolution setting Commissioner pay for the 2011 and 2012 years. We always set them a term in advance. We passed compensation that is the same as the current year, with no payraise. I have been adamant that Commissioners should not receive pay raises when employees don't receive them. We work hard, but so do our employees and everyone needs to sacrifice. We should not take pay raises if county employees are not. In fact, last year I voted to eliminate the 2009 payraise and reduce the 2010 payraise. Because I don't think Commissioners should be receiving a payraise in 2010, I contributed mine back to the county to go towards necessary county services. Commissioner Grebner will argue that Commissioners should have payraises, and he will make that passionate argument on Tuesday at our full Board meeting. I will report on that next week!


We also started to deal with Rayner Park. The County closed the Park last year and now is in the process of trying to give it to the City of Mason. But, as always, issues have arisen. We are working through those and I expect this to be cleared up soon. This blog is long enough already, so stay tuned and I will give more on the background of this issue in a future blog.


On the political front, the campaign continues to go well. I have talked to many voters who think I am doing a good job and who are unhappy with the negative campaign of my opponent. In an email to county Democratic party members, he made many of the same negative allegations against all of the County Commissioners and again failed to list any issues he wants to advocate for. I also found out that he lied to the Military Order of the Purple Heart about my vote on funding for them. I supported funding for them two years in a row, and he is saying that I opposed it. He is also saying that I am moving out of the district in two years. Where am I going? This was news to me! Thanks to my supporters who told me about both of these falsifications that he is spreading. Should be an interesting 60 days until the election. If you want a lawn sign or want to assist in some other way, please email me at aschor@yahoo.com.

Thanks!

Andy