Happy Thanksgiving! I took last week off due to Thanksgiving, and the fact that there was nothing controversial at the Board meeting last Tuesday.
This week we only had County Services, and it was a special meeting to discuss the proposed road commission resolutions. There were four - my resolution to disband the road commission board and bring the operations in-house, the Grebner resolution to call on all five road commissioners to resign, the resolution calling on the road commission to pass ethics and other policies, and the Vickers/Dragonetti/Schafer/Dougan resolution calling for Shirley Rodgers to resign.
We started with a discussion of procedure. Committee Chair De Leon said that we have four resolutions on the table and someone needs to move one off the table and before the committee. Before that, though, Commissioner Vickers moved to have Chair De Leon replaced by the committee Vice Chair or the Board Chair. This was defeated on a 2-4 vote, and Commissioner Grebner pointed out that there is no actual motion to do this in our rules or Mason's rules (which we use as our rules when our Board rules don't govern).
After that, I moved that my resolution - intending to disband the Road Commission Board and bring the operations in-house - be taken off the table and put before the committee. Our Administrator/Controller Mary Lannoye gave a good update. She went through different potential issues. She said that the HR and Finance operations could easily be brought in to the county. She said there are differences in employee contracts (health care contributions, etc) as well as pension stuff, but these could be worked out easily. We could either maintain separate systems, create a hybrid, or merge them. These are incidental decisions that would have to be made if we determined that the direction of the County Board was to dissolve the Road Commission Board.
Both Mary and I gave an update on the legislative action. We cannot bring the Road Commission in-house under current law, but the Legislature is moving bills to allow us to do this. At the time of the committee, the House had considered the bills on second reading and only had to finalize them with a third reading vote. They changed the bills to indicate that county boards could dissolve appointed road commissions, but elected road commissions would have to be dissolved at the ballot box. So, this won't affect our situation at all. Since then, the House has passed the bills and they are now on to the Senate for consideration. We had someone indicate that they heard from senior Senate staff that the bills will be done by the end of the year. Additionally, the Governor called for these bills and wants them.
The debate was interesting after that. There were lots of comments and questions about the details of what we would do to bring them within the county structure. Mary had answers for all of these questions. We had a long conversation about including an advisory board similar to the 911 advisory board that would deide how the money is expended. The dollars come from Public Act 51 and would be dedicated to road operations as per that law, and the advisory committee would decide what roads, equipment, etc would receive funding. It would likely include members of the service area, so probably township supervisors and other township people. They would make recommendations to the County Board that we could accept or reject and send back to them (which is how it works with 911). It would not, however, deal with internal employee issues. Those would likely go through our normal HR complaint processes and end with the County Services committee (like all other employee complaints). While I did not include this in my resolution, I am wholly supportive of this being added on the Board floor or as a separate resolution. Commissioner Victor Celentino has been as tremendous advocate for the township residents and Supervisors to have inclusion in the process and I expect him to be a leader in crafting this language.
During debate, I talked about the need to do this now because of all the issues that we have had. Things have been more politicized due to the fact that the Road Commissioners are political appointees. They do not necessarily have experience with road issues. And, of course, the biggest problem is that they are appointed for 6 years and have no responsibility to listen to the elected officials or residents or anyone. They can only be removed for malfeasance. To me, it seems that roads should be done as a department of the county just like parks and the health department and animal control and other departments. The management structure will remain intact, with the Controller/Administrator as the top staff and the Board of Commissioners the final decision makers.
Board Chair Grebner said that the road commission is dysfunctional. He said that the problems are not perceived… they are real and the system has broken down. He pushed for the advisory board and said that the county commissioners are still in charge and the final decision makers. He encouraged the adoption of the resolution.
Commissioner Celentino said that passing this resolution will clearly show our intent, and our staff can start working towards getting all the details in place. He said that in his 11 years, the Road Commission has been a roller-coaster ride; and we keep appointing new people but it still doesn't seem to work so now is the time to do this.
Commissioner Copedge said that he is optimistic that the road commission board will can work better. He said that he was opposed to passing the resolution without having discussions with the road commission. He said that we need to invite them in to talk to us. He said that he wasn't necessarily against the resolution but wanted to do his due diligence. He did eventually agree to support the resolution when it was amended (see below). I pointed out that road commissioners were invited to the Tuesday meeting but were advised by local counsel not to attend. I thought that was a mistake because we had yet to hear from them as a body, except for a letter we recently received saying that they are still planning to hire new HR and Finance directors even though the Road Commission Board may be dissolved and both HR and Finance can be done by the existent county staff.
Commissioner Dragonetti said that he was wholly supportive of the resolution and needed change on the Road Commission Board. He and Commissioner Vickers indicated their displeasure with the existing road commission and said that they think we should do this now. Commissioner Vickers asked what would change tomorrow if we do this today. I responded that we cannot take a final action today, and that none of the resolutions on the docket would produce results that quickly. And, in fact, the only resolution that could produce results quick is the one that I introduced. His resolution calling on the Road Commission Chair to resign would not do anything, and removal procedures would require us to provide notification and have the road commissioner then do a resolution and would take a long time.
Commissioners Nolan, Holman, Tsernoglou, McGrain, Schafer were also in attendance. Commissioner Nolan said she is supportive of the resolution and disappointed in the letter from the road commission about hiring. Commissioner McGrain said that he originally was skeptical because this is a lot to take on, but the controller has done her work (and has more to do) but this is the right move to take. Commissioner Schafer said he supports the resolution and the advisory board, and said that commissioners get calls now from constituents and they pass those on and get issues taken care of (brush in the road, etc).
Commissioner Holman said that a department is a good idea but wants to make sure that this is well planned out like 911 and the zoo. She actually pointed out that she had concerns with the effective date in the resolution, at which point I told her that I thought that had been removed. I had several different drafts and thought I removed the effective date in the most recent draft (previous drafts said the resolution is effective 30 days after the Governor signs the bills). The language remained in, though, so Commissioner Grebner and I drafted an amendment to remove that language. Now, the resolution says that we intend to disband the road commission board and create a Department of Transportation and Roads, and once the legislation is passed into law allowing use to do this we will pass another resolution that sets a timeline for this merger and that solves the other details that are being worked on (i.e. employee benefits and pensions and other things).
Commissioner De Leon said she has concerns about additional burdens to our staff, but is more comfortable with this than when it was first brought up. Commissioner Copedge also said at the end of the debate that removal of the 30 days provides him more comfort because he can be sure that the details are taken care of before this is finalized.
So... the resolution passed unanimously (6-0)!!! And with 5 more Commissioners at the meeting saying they will vote for it and at least one or two others telling me they will vote for it, this resolution will pass the Board meeting on the 13th. So we will take the first step. We have been told that the Legislature will pass the bills and they will be signed by the Governor by the end of the year. As soon as we have all the details worked out, we will pass the final resolution and officially bring the county roads in-house.
After we finished that resolution, there was a motion to not take up the other three resolutions (as the preferred one was passed) so they remain on the table indefinitely. They can still be taken up if the Legislature doesn't act, but we are hoping that they are not needed.
It was a long meeting, but a good one. Hopefully this will start us on the path of solving the problems at the road commission. I commend the members of the road commission board who are all trying to do what they think is best, but at this point we have not heard anything in any of our meetings about why decisions have been made in the past and what the plans are for working out the problems in the future. So, we took our own action. I guess we'll see how this continues to play out.
On a personal note, thanks to all who have wished me luck in my State Rep race and to everyone who has expressed their support. The offers to knock doors and contribute and help out have been overwhelming, and I am excited for the campaign and for the opportunity to serve Lansing and Lansing Township in the State House of Representatives!
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Saturday, November 19, 2011
State Rep Announcement, Road Commission, Parks Hardship Passes, Parks Free Days, Contracts
First, my exciting news. After looking at the possibility for a few months, I have formally announced that I will be running for the State House of Representatives next year. With Rep. Joan Bauer unable to run again due to term limits, I will be seeking to represent most of Lansing and all of Lansing Township. You can see the announcement and other information at www.andyschor.com. The campaign has already knocked hundreds of doors and raised over $45,000, and will continue pushing forward until the August Democratic primary! This also means it is now official that this will be my last term on the County Board of Commissioners. More on that in the future.
On to county business...County Services this week continued talking about the Road Commission. I was unable to be at the committee meeting due to a death in the family and funeral being held that day. My understanding is that they discussed the various options, including my proposal to disband the Road Commission when state law allows us to do so. The committee directed our Administrator/Controller to provide a document with the pros and cons of such a move. The County Services will again take up the road commission issue on November 29th in a special meeting. My hope is for some movement to me made at that point.
They also discussed a resolution that was brought to committee from the Parks Board which would restructure the County policy on hardship admissions to the parks. Currently, if someone cannot afford to pay the car entrance fee they simply state that they need a hardship waiver and are allowed admittance for free. They fill out a form and can be mailed a free parking pass. While this is done for those that cannot afford to pay, the Parks Department is seeing a lot of abuse of this system. They presented a new system where people would fill out a form and provide proof of hardship in order to receive the yearly pass. They would also have to pay a $1 fee for the processing of the free pass to offset money spent on staff time and postage to mail the free passes. Oh, and folks not from Ingham County would no longer be eligible for the waiver. The County Services committee had lots of discussion about this proposal, and tabled it because several were uncomfortable with it.
They did pass one piece of the proposal, though, which would change the weekly free park day from Monday to Wednesday. This would save about $10,000, mostly because Mondays have a lot of holidays and people take Mondays off as part of an extended weekend. The Finance committee also debated this resolution (both the table part and the passed part), and I was there for that meeting. Commissioner Nolan commented that she does not want to see fee increases outside of the normal county budget and fee process. I agreed with that and said that we should deal with all fees at the same time. She also commented that she doesn't like the vehicle adn entrance fees for the zoo because people already pay the millage. She also said that the parks will make a lot of money off of the new tubing and snowboarding hills and shouldn't need the revenue. Commissioner Bahar-Cook agreed that non-county people should not be given a waiver, but expressed problems with the $1 fee and said that seniors should receive parks discounts. Commissoner McGrain suggested that we look at driver's licenses in order to decide who gets the waiver. This is not currently done becuase some people have addresses in Lansing and East Lansing but are not in Ingham County, and it is hard for the young people at the ticket booths to differentiate.
charging for weekdays. He also pointed out that we just started charging for weekdays, so changing from Mondays to Wednesdays should not be a big problem. The resolution passed with Commissioner Nolan voting no (because she likes having the free day on Mondays, and wants to send a message to the Parks Board to do the fees on an annual basis).
We also approved contracts for the 2012 budget. Mostly they were noncontroversial, but a few questions were raised about the appraisals for equalization, tree trimming at zoo and whether or not Lansing City Forestry can do it (which is unlikely becayuse they are overworked now), why Animal Control spay/neutering is going down $8,000 (answer - because we hired a veterinarian), and questions about the Sheriff's secondary road patrol being down 40,000 (answer - the general fund picking this up to ensure the deputy will not be laid off).
That's it for this week!
On to county business...County Services this week continued talking about the Road Commission. I was unable to be at the committee meeting due to a death in the family and funeral being held that day. My understanding is that they discussed the various options, including my proposal to disband the Road Commission when state law allows us to do so. The committee directed our Administrator/Controller to provide a document with the pros and cons of such a move. The County Services will again take up the road commission issue on November 29th in a special meeting. My hope is for some movement to me made at that point.
They also discussed a resolution that was brought to committee from the Parks Board which would restructure the County policy on hardship admissions to the parks. Currently, if someone cannot afford to pay the car entrance fee they simply state that they need a hardship waiver and are allowed admittance for free. They fill out a form and can be mailed a free parking pass. While this is done for those that cannot afford to pay, the Parks Department is seeing a lot of abuse of this system. They presented a new system where people would fill out a form and provide proof of hardship in order to receive the yearly pass. They would also have to pay a $1 fee for the processing of the free pass to offset money spent on staff time and postage to mail the free passes. Oh, and folks not from Ingham County would no longer be eligible for the waiver. The County Services committee had lots of discussion about this proposal, and tabled it because several were uncomfortable with it.
They did pass one piece of the proposal, though, which would change the weekly free park day from Monday to Wednesday. This would save about $10,000, mostly because Mondays have a lot of holidays and people take Mondays off as part of an extended weekend. The Finance committee also debated this resolution (both the table part and the passed part), and I was there for that meeting. Commissioner Nolan commented that she does not want to see fee increases outside of the normal county budget and fee process. I agreed with that and said that we should deal with all fees at the same time. She also commented that she doesn't like the vehicle adn entrance fees for the zoo because people already pay the millage. She also said that the parks will make a lot of money off of the new tubing and snowboarding hills and shouldn't need the revenue. Commissioner Bahar-Cook agreed that non-county people should not be given a waiver, but expressed problems with the $1 fee and said that seniors should receive parks discounts. Commissoner McGrain suggested that we look at driver's licenses in order to decide who gets the waiver. This is not currently done becuase some people have addresses in Lansing and East Lansing but are not in Ingham County, and it is hard for the young people at the ticket booths to differentiate.
charging for weekdays. He also pointed out that we just started charging for weekdays, so changing from Mondays to Wednesdays should not be a big problem. The resolution passed with Commissioner Nolan voting no (because she likes having the free day on Mondays, and wants to send a message to the Parks Board to do the fees on an annual basis).
We also approved contracts for the 2012 budget. Mostly they were noncontroversial, but a few questions were raised about the appraisals for equalization, tree trimming at zoo and whether or not Lansing City Forestry can do it (which is unlikely becayuse they are overworked now), why Animal Control spay/neutering is going down $8,000 (answer - because we hired a veterinarian), and questions about the Sheriff's secondary road patrol being down 40,000 (answer - the general fund picking this up to ensure the deputy will not be laid off).
That's it for this week!
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Road Commission Legal Opinions Released, Locals and Civil Rights, Domestic Partner Benefits, Zoo Director, Zoo Door Safety, Political Stuff
Welcome once again to the Schor blog!
This week, I only had a full County Board of Commissioners meeting. As has happened for the last few weeks, we had public comment about the road commission. After that, we considered a few controversial resolutions.
First, we considered the resolution authorizing the release of attorney/client privileged opinions. The resolution allowed for opinions regarding electing road commissioners and complaints from road commission employees to be released. After hearing from some folks about not knowing the legal definition of malfeasance and misfeasance, I offered an amendment that added the legal opinion regarding how to remove a road commissioner to the list of opinions to be released. My amendment passed unanimously, as did the final resolution releasing all three opinions.
We also considered two resolutions dealing with state legislation. I explained these last week, so I will briefly recap. The first resolution opposed legislation that would prohibit locals from passing regulations that are stronger than the state Civil Rights Act. The moist obvious example is that some local communities pass protections for sexual orientation, which is not covered in the state Civil Rights Act. Other examples include East Lansing's regulation protecting people of non-families or Lansing's housing regulations. Commissioner Grebner explained that locals protect vulnerable individuals that are not in the state act. Commissioner Vickers said that he opposes this because he thinks that all communities should be the same. I disagreed and said that this is about differences in communities and local control. The resolution passed 14-2 (Commissioners Dougan and Vickers opposed). The second resolution called for the Governor to veto the bill eliminating domestic benefits for public employees. Several entities, including Ingham County, allow for domestic partner benefits to cover roommates and others of county employees. This is the same as many private companies. Commissioner Vickers said that there is a $600,000 price tag for the state to do this. Commissioner Tennis replied that this would be far less than the amount to cover married families, yet they are covered without complaint. I also reminded everyone that this is not just about the state, but would affect Ingham County's policy. This resolution passed 13-3 with Commissioners Vickers, Schafer, and Dougan opposing them.
We also considered a resolution which authorized a contract with Sherrie Graham to be the interim zoo director until a new director is found. She would start immediately to assist Gerry Brady, but wouldn't be paid by the county until January when Brady retires officially. Negotiations are still happening regarding pay, so that will come in a separate resolution. Commissioner Dougan was the only person to oppose this.
The last controversial resolution that we considered authorized an increase in the contract to install a new feline shift door. Apparently, the bid packet was incorrect so all that bid on this project bid on something that is more expensive than expected. The resolution approves no more than $30,000 for the construction company that won the bid. While many commissioners had problems with this, we learned that the blame goes to the architect that came up with the bid specs and not the constriction company. In fact, even with the $30,000, the winning bidder is less than the second lowest bidder. There was discussion about re-bidding this, but the doors need to be installed by December 9th when the new lions and tigers arrive at the zoo. We do not want to put zookeepers at risk while we re-bid this, so most agreed that safety is more important than re-bidding this (and likely paying more anyway). This passed 15-1 with Commissioner Dragonetti being the only opposing vote (and he said he was opposing this as a philosophical objection).
Finally, in announcements I announced that I had drafted and introduced a resolution to dissolve the Road Commission Board if the Legislature passes bills to allow us to do this. My resolution would dissolve the Board and bring the operation in-house and under the control of the County Administrator and County Commissioners. The Lansing State Journal had a good article on this. The Legislature is now discussing these bills (I believe they passed the House today) and this is now potentially an option for us. I look forward to discussing this as an option when we discuss the road commission in the County Services committee either on November 15 or 29 (a special meeting).
On a political note, congratulations to all those who were victorious on Tuesday in the local elections. And thanks to all those that ran but were not successful. Running for election is hard, and I think the Cities of Lansing and East Lansing will be well served for the next four years. Additionally, the Lansing and East Lansing School Boards should see new blood that will provide great new and fresh ideas. Now that the local elections are over, my focus will be on my county duties and my race for State Representative in 2012. I should have more on that soon. Stay tuned...
This week, I only had a full County Board of Commissioners meeting. As has happened for the last few weeks, we had public comment about the road commission. After that, we considered a few controversial resolutions.
First, we considered the resolution authorizing the release of attorney/client privileged opinions. The resolution allowed for opinions regarding electing road commissioners and complaints from road commission employees to be released. After hearing from some folks about not knowing the legal definition of malfeasance and misfeasance, I offered an amendment that added the legal opinion regarding how to remove a road commissioner to the list of opinions to be released. My amendment passed unanimously, as did the final resolution releasing all three opinions.
We also considered two resolutions dealing with state legislation. I explained these last week, so I will briefly recap. The first resolution opposed legislation that would prohibit locals from passing regulations that are stronger than the state Civil Rights Act. The moist obvious example is that some local communities pass protections for sexual orientation, which is not covered in the state Civil Rights Act. Other examples include East Lansing's regulation protecting people of non-families or Lansing's housing regulations. Commissioner Grebner explained that locals protect vulnerable individuals that are not in the state act. Commissioner Vickers said that he opposes this because he thinks that all communities should be the same. I disagreed and said that this is about differences in communities and local control. The resolution passed 14-2 (Commissioners Dougan and Vickers opposed). The second resolution called for the Governor to veto the bill eliminating domestic benefits for public employees. Several entities, including Ingham County, allow for domestic partner benefits to cover roommates and others of county employees. This is the same as many private companies. Commissioner Vickers said that there is a $600,000 price tag for the state to do this. Commissioner Tennis replied that this would be far less than the amount to cover married families, yet they are covered without complaint. I also reminded everyone that this is not just about the state, but would affect Ingham County's policy. This resolution passed 13-3 with Commissioners Vickers, Schafer, and Dougan opposing them.
We also considered a resolution which authorized a contract with Sherrie Graham to be the interim zoo director until a new director is found. She would start immediately to assist Gerry Brady, but wouldn't be paid by the county until January when Brady retires officially. Negotiations are still happening regarding pay, so that will come in a separate resolution. Commissioner Dougan was the only person to oppose this.
The last controversial resolution that we considered authorized an increase in the contract to install a new feline shift door. Apparently, the bid packet was incorrect so all that bid on this project bid on something that is more expensive than expected. The resolution approves no more than $30,000 for the construction company that won the bid. While many commissioners had problems with this, we learned that the blame goes to the architect that came up with the bid specs and not the constriction company. In fact, even with the $30,000, the winning bidder is less than the second lowest bidder. There was discussion about re-bidding this, but the doors need to be installed by December 9th when the new lions and tigers arrive at the zoo. We do not want to put zookeepers at risk while we re-bid this, so most agreed that safety is more important than re-bidding this (and likely paying more anyway). This passed 15-1 with Commissioner Dragonetti being the only opposing vote (and he said he was opposing this as a philosophical objection).
Finally, in announcements I announced that I had drafted and introduced a resolution to dissolve the Road Commission Board if the Legislature passes bills to allow us to do this. My resolution would dissolve the Board and bring the operation in-house and under the control of the County Administrator and County Commissioners. The Lansing State Journal had a good article on this. The Legislature is now discussing these bills (I believe they passed the House today) and this is now potentially an option for us. I look forward to discussing this as an option when we discuss the road commission in the County Services committee either on November 15 or 29 (a special meeting).
On a political note, congratulations to all those who were victorious on Tuesday in the local elections. And thanks to all those that ran but were not successful. Running for election is hard, and I think the Cities of Lansing and East Lansing will be well served for the next four years. Additionally, the Lansing and East Lansing School Boards should see new blood that will provide great new and fresh ideas. Now that the local elections are over, my focus will be on my county duties and my race for State Representative in 2012. I should have more on that soon. Stay tuned...
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Road Commission, Hawk Island Snow Boarding Hill, Zoo Director, Civil Rights, Domestic Partner Benefits
Another busy week this week. The road commission debate kicked up a notch. In County Services, we considered a resolution to remove Shirley Rodgers from the road Commission Board. There was a ton of discussion by committee members, after hearing lots of testimony from the public. Commissioner Grebner proposed an alternate resolution which stated that the Road Commission Board is dysfunctional. It said that the Road Commissioners do not trust the manager, the manager doesn't respect or take direction from the Road Commission, and the employees don't seem to trust either. The resolution attempted to wipe the slate clean by calling on all five Road Commissioners to resign so we can start over. If they did not resign, the resolution said that we would not re-appoint any of them.
I have not decided yet which way I want to go. I don't know if there is enough evidence to reach malfeasance or misfeasance to remove any of the Road Commissioners. I was asked after the meeting what I thought malfeasance was and I said I wasn't sure how to explain it. I then realized that I am not allowed to explain it because it is contained in an opinion from our attorney. This Tuesday, I am planning to make a motion to release that legal opinion so I can tell people what we believe malfeasance and misfeasance is. We are releasing two other legal opinions so I will attempt to add this one to the list.
I also firmly believe that it is time to abolish the Road Commission Board and bring the road commission in-house and make it a county department. Two other counties have done this, and Ingham needs to do it as well. The Legislature is working on bills that will allow for this, and I am hopeful that they will pass soon. I plan to introduce a resolution that will accomplish this once it the legislation passed and signed into law.
The road commission resolution was tabled until the next county services meeting. While it is my preference to have a special committee set up to explore the allegations, my understanding is that County Services will continue to work on this and has scheduled a special meeting on November 29th at 6 pm for this purpose.
In other news, we passed a resolution allowing for scope changes to the Hawk Island Snow Boarding Hill project to allow for the addition of obstacles, rails and snow sculpted features and potentially a separate warming facility. These items would put the Hawk Island Boarding Hill on Michigan’s map as a destination. The Friends of Ingham County Parks, a non-profit 501c3 organization, will enter into an agreement with Urban Snowparks LLC to act as the fiduciary in regard to fundraising for any and all additions to the current project scope. Any of these additions will not cost the county a dime. They will be paid for by Urban Snowparks, who will do the fundraising and will keep a small percentage (somewhere around 17%) of the dollars as a fee. It is understood by all parties involved that no changes of a permanent nature will be undertaken until all funding is secured and notification has been provided to the Ingham County Parks and Recreation Commission. Additionally, it is understood that the Ingham County Board of Commissioners will not approve further funding for the construction of the Snow Board Hill. We also have no liability in this process. The resolution passed 5-1. Commissioner Vickers voted no because he said he doesn’t know how this fundraising group are presenting themselves to the public.
We also appointed Sherrie Graham as interim zoo director. We needed to do this to ensure we have a zoo director for re-accreditation. Potter Park Zoo society revenue stream increased 20% with Sherrie as leader, and she can do the business stuff for the zoo until a final decision has been made for a permanent zoo director. The Zoo Society is covering Sherrie’s expense until the current Zoo Director retires on Jan 18th. We talked about adding a salary figure into the resolution in both County Services and Finance committees, but are still negotiating that number.
Finally, we passed resolutions opposing two bills in the Legislature. We opposed HB 5039, which says that local units of government can't protect any citizens that aren't protected by the state Elliot Larsen Civil Rights Act. One example of local protections is to prevent those discriminated against for sexual orientation. There are other examples of local protections, though...including East Lansing protecting students. I pointed out that this bill is anti-local control. The resolution passed 4-2, with Commissioners Vickers and Dragonetti voting against it.
We also voted to oppose HB 4770 and 4771. These bills prevent local units of government from providing domestic partner benefits for people that live with county employees. This passed on a 5-1 vote, with Commissioner Vickers opposing it.
This week, we will have the Board of Commissioners meeting on Tuesday. It is also Veterans Day on Friday, and I wish to thank all those that have served in the military and defended our country. You have kept us safe and free, and I thank you!
Until next week...
Andy
I have not decided yet which way I want to go. I don't know if there is enough evidence to reach malfeasance or misfeasance to remove any of the Road Commissioners. I was asked after the meeting what I thought malfeasance was and I said I wasn't sure how to explain it. I then realized that I am not allowed to explain it because it is contained in an opinion from our attorney. This Tuesday, I am planning to make a motion to release that legal opinion so I can tell people what we believe malfeasance and misfeasance is. We are releasing two other legal opinions so I will attempt to add this one to the list.
I also firmly believe that it is time to abolish the Road Commission Board and bring the road commission in-house and make it a county department. Two other counties have done this, and Ingham needs to do it as well. The Legislature is working on bills that will allow for this, and I am hopeful that they will pass soon. I plan to introduce a resolution that will accomplish this once it the legislation passed and signed into law.
The road commission resolution was tabled until the next county services meeting. While it is my preference to have a special committee set up to explore the allegations, my understanding is that County Services will continue to work on this and has scheduled a special meeting on November 29th at 6 pm for this purpose.
In other news, we passed a resolution allowing for scope changes to the Hawk Island Snow Boarding Hill project to allow for the addition of obstacles, rails and snow sculpted features and potentially a separate warming facility. These items would put the Hawk Island Boarding Hill on Michigan’s map as a destination. The Friends of Ingham County Parks, a non-profit 501c3 organization, will enter into an agreement with Urban Snowparks LLC to act as the fiduciary in regard to fundraising for any and all additions to the current project scope. Any of these additions will not cost the county a dime. They will be paid for by Urban Snowparks, who will do the fundraising and will keep a small percentage (somewhere around 17%) of the dollars as a fee. It is understood by all parties involved that no changes of a permanent nature will be undertaken until all funding is secured and notification has been provided to the Ingham County Parks and Recreation Commission. Additionally, it is understood that the Ingham County Board of Commissioners will not approve further funding for the construction of the Snow Board Hill. We also have no liability in this process. The resolution passed 5-1. Commissioner Vickers voted no because he said he doesn’t know how this fundraising group are presenting themselves to the public.
We also appointed Sherrie Graham as interim zoo director. We needed to do this to ensure we have a zoo director for re-accreditation. Potter Park Zoo society revenue stream increased 20% with Sherrie as leader, and she can do the business stuff for the zoo until a final decision has been made for a permanent zoo director. The Zoo Society is covering Sherrie’s expense until the current Zoo Director retires on Jan 18th. We talked about adding a salary figure into the resolution in both County Services and Finance committees, but are still negotiating that number.
Finally, we passed resolutions opposing two bills in the Legislature. We opposed HB 5039, which says that local units of government can't protect any citizens that aren't protected by the state Elliot Larsen Civil Rights Act. One example of local protections is to prevent those discriminated against for sexual orientation. There are other examples of local protections, though...including East Lansing protecting students. I pointed out that this bill is anti-local control. The resolution passed 4-2, with Commissioners Vickers and Dragonetti voting against it.
We also voted to oppose HB 4770 and 4771. These bills prevent local units of government from providing domestic partner benefits for people that live with county employees. This passed on a 5-1 vote, with Commissioner Vickers opposing it.
This week, we will have the Board of Commissioners meeting on Tuesday. It is also Veterans Day on Friday, and I wish to thank all those that have served in the military and defended our country. You have kept us safe and free, and I thank you!
Until next week...
Andy
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