Road Commission Resolution Referred to Committee, Health Director Appointed, Medical Officer Re-Created, Dentists Hired

To begin my blog this week, I would like to welcome a variety of new readers of my blog. We once again heard from those unhappy with the Road Commission Board, and this time my blog was read during public comment. As the only person that writes a weekly blog on the County Board, I am happy that people are reading it!

As assumed in my blog last week, we again had a personal resolution introduced calling for Road Commissioner Shirley Rodgers to resign. Before I get into that, I would like to address some confusion with what I have written in my blog.

The Road Commission and its employees are not a “Democrat or Republican” issue. I never meant to insinuate that they are. The Ingham County Road Commission employees do a great job getting the roads fixed and cleared, and I am proud of the work they do. But it is a fact that the late resolutions were introduced by the four Republicans on the County Board. In committee last week and on the Board floor, the late and personal resolutions were introduce by Commissioners Dragonetti,Vickers, Schafer, and Dougan. As far as I know, no Democrats were even talked to about these resolutions before they were introduced. So…it is true that the Republicans introducved these resolutions. As for the motivations of the public that show up, I take them at their word that they are not there because someone asked them to be. It is odd, though, that we had no public coming to committee about the Road Commission problems until the late resolution (introduced by the four Republicans) was sprung on us without any notice. But whatever.

At the Board meeting, we heard significant public testimony from several Road Commission employees and from friends and family of Mr. Jim Benjamin, who was fired from the Road Commission. We then had the resolution calling for Shirley Rodgers to resign or face removal proceedings moved for immediate consideration. Board Chair Grebner explained the Board policy that all personal and late resolutions are automatically referred to committee unless they have already been considered at committee or the Board votes to overrule the rules on a 2/3 vote. This is to ensure that the public has the appropriate notice of the resolution because it is on the official agenda, ensure that the attorney can review it and comment on the legality, and to ensure that committee work (language details) can be done in committee. The motion was made to have the resolution not be referred to committee, but it was defeated 5-11. 4 Republicans and 1 Democrat voted to keep the resolution on the Board floor. Personally, I voted against it because I think that this needs to be worked on in committee. I read the resolution. It said a lot of bad things about Shirley Rodgers, but included not one thing that she did wrong. I would like for some of those things to be included so we can at least have the allegations written down before, and any accompanying proof given to us, before considering something like this on the Board floor. I also am not comfortable calling for a resignation. That does nothing and is a waste of everyone’s time. If there is proof of malfeasance or misfeasance of any Road Commissioner, I am willing to consider that. This is the role of the County Commission. Under state law, we cannot overrule decisions made by the Road Commission nor can we reinstate any employees such as Mr. Benjamin. We can take written proof given to us and decide if a Road Commissioner has committed malfeasance or misfeasance in office as according to the conditions in the law and case law.

The resolution was referred to County Services, where it is on the agenda for Tuesday. So I will report more on this next week. Personally, I look forward to actually seeing the evidence that is out there in support of malfeasance. Instead of hearing about police reports and secret investigations, I hope that information is given to us proving these and all other accusations so we can find finality on this resolution. Again, we can’t re-hire Mr. Benjamin. He was terminated with a majority vote by the Road Commission (EDITORS'S NOTE...In the original blog posting, I said that it was ironic that Shirley Rodgers voted against it. That was incorrect and was brought to my attention by a member of the public. Milton Scales voted against it and the other 4 Commissioners voted for it. I confused this vote with another voted taken by the by the road commission. My apologies) and we have no say over their management employees. I have no opinion on whether he should or should not have been terminated. I don’t know him and have never met him. I don’t know if he is a good or bad manager . He clearly has many supporters. He also has some detractors. He has filed a complaint and we will look at it and deem if county policies were violated or not and act accordingly.

In other business, we bid farewell to our Health Director, Dean Sienko. He has been an incredible Health Director for Ingham County, and is a state and national leader. We also welcomed Dr. Renee Canady, who will be our new Health Department Director. Dr. Sienko had been serving as the Health Officer/Medical Director/Medical Examiner in his role as Director. We recently discovered that we re-created the Health Officer position, as needed, and appointed Dr. Canady to that position. We neglected, though, to re-establish an independent Medical Director position. This needs to be done immediately as we need to have one as soon as Dr. Sienko is retired. We had a late resolution to re-establish this position. Again, because it is a late resolution, we needed a 2/3 vote to consider it that night. Commissioners Vickers and Dragonetti voted against consideration and passage of this resolution because they were upset that this was considered immediately but the Road Commission resolution was not. It did pass, though, on a bi-partisan 14-2 vote (with bi-partisan support).

The only other resolution that was controversial on the agenda was a resolution to authorize dental services contracts with our licensed dentists. Ingham County’s Community Health Center Network (CHCN) operates two dental health centers and uses a mix of employed and contracted dentists to provide services. The Health Department’s 2012 Budget includes $159,120 to pay for contractual dentists. This resolution approved the contracts through the end of 2012. Commissioner Vickers opposed this as well and said that the pay for the dentists is too much compared to the amount that we pay our other employees. While I understand that we are paying our dentists higher than other employees, we also are well aware that dentists are very hard to hire. We have had dentist shortages in the recent years because we can't pay them enough. The result is reduced service to those in Ingham County that have severe dental needs. We are still paying lower than private dentists receive but are at least able to actually hire dentists and provide the service to those who desperately need it in Ingham County. The resolution passed 14-2 (again with bi-partisan support).

Well, that's about it. I hope you are having a great weekend and I will report back again at the end of the week!

Airport Update, Road Commission, Health Care Costs, Zoo Entrance Fees Increased, Health and Fair Directors selected, Office,Congrats Bob Trezise!

This week was a busy week, as it always is when we have multiple committees meeting.

The most significant, and yet least contentious, thing that we did this week was to pass the 2012 Spending Resolution. This implements our budget for next year. Yay! That's just about done!

In County Services, hear an update from the Capitol Area Airport Authority Executive Director. It was a good presentation. He pointed out many things, including the fact that the airport has a return on investment of $178 for each tax dollar invested. This is a stat used to justify the millage, and is convincing. It is worth noting, though, that the Airport (located in Clinton County) is wholly supported publicly through a millage that Ingham County and City of Lansing residents pay even though it provides benefit for Ingham, Eaton, and Clinton counties. I asked what the return on investment would be if Eaton and Clinton and county resident contributed, and the answer was that there would be about $375 in return on investment per dollar invested!. Other highlights were the great work the Authority is doing attracting airlines and cargo, that we have the only Foreign Trade Zone outside of Chicago and Detroit in the midwest, and that the that Port Lansing Foreigh Trade Zone takes in 8 counties. With the approval of a tax sharing agreement (called a 425 agreement) between Lansing and DeWitt Twp, they are hoping to create a Next Michigan District that will provide incentives to businesses to locate on Airport land and create more revenues for the local units of government.

After hearing this presentation, Commissioners Vickers and Dragonetti attempted to add a resolution to the agenda to call for the resignation of Ingham County Road Commissioner Shirley Rodgers. As background, resolutions are usually presented for the agenda of a committee about a week in advance and placed on that agenda. Because the resolution was introduced at the last minute, I voted against suspending the rules to add it to the agenda. I had not even read it when it came up for a vote about adding it to the agenda. After hearing public comment for the last month, this was not something that needed to be done at the last minute. As such, I voted against this and suggested that this be done through the normal process. The resolution failed 2-4. I expect to see it again introduced as a late item on the Board floor on Tuesday and, if history repeats itself, I expect that the four Republicans will contact the media and tell residents to come because the Road Commisison will be on the agenda. Of course, that is not true and it will simply be the Republicans manipulating the public just to have them be let down...but that seems to be par for the course. They are trying to create anger instead of trying to go through the actual process and govern.

Health care costs are always a concern to any local government. In Ingham County, we receive recommendations from a coalition of employers and employees. This week in Finance and County Services, we received the Health Care recommendations for the year. We were recently notified by PHP that our 2012 health insurance premiums would need to be modified to include the 1% state claims tax that was recently passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor.
Half this cost was borne by the employees and half by the County. Increase in our employee’s contribution levels, though, resulted in a change to the benefits as required under the Federal Health Reform Act. The Act requires that all preventive medical services be provided with no co-pays. We believed our plan was under a grandfather provision which allowed us to delay implementation of these provisions until 2014. This is no longer true, though, because of the increase. As such, we had another small increase (.09%) in our premium rates for 2012. Since this amount is due to the employee’s contribution increase, the County is agreeing to absorb this
portion of the rate increase. Even with both of these changes, we are still in compliance with State requirement that employees must pay at least 80% of their health care costs (the so-called 80/20 law). Both the County and the unions supported this plan for health care for 2012.

Finally, we had a recommendation from the Potter Park Zoo Committee and the Parks Board to increase entrance fees for the zoo. The Potter Park Zoo staff researched zoo admission fees, using other zoos for comparison purposes, and they believe that the fee changes will continue to put the Potter Park Zoo in a favorable position relative to Detroit Zoo, Binder Park Zoo, and John Ball Zoo entry fees. They indicated that the need the additional $90,000 in funding to provide adequate funding for the Potter Park Zoo operations in order to offset rising costs and decreased millage amounts being collected, and to ensure AZA certification.

The resolution presented in County Services included a $2 proposed increase in the Resident Adult (from $4 to $6) and Non-Resident Adult (from $10 to $12) fees, and an increase in Children fees from $2 to $3 in addition to reducing the age from3-16 to 3-12 years of age. I argued against the fee increases. I said that residents are already paying $2.8 million, in additon to paying the parking fees and the entrance fees. I am opposed to increasing the fees again, especially after the millage was just renewed and the parking just went up for daily and yearly passed. In County Services, this opposition was agreed to by all (Commissioner Vickers said he agreed with me and we all had a good laugh!). The resolution failed 0-6.

When the resolution came up in Finance, Commissioner Bahar-Cook argued stongly for the fee increase. She said that the voters have passed two millages and want a strong zoo. She also said that if AZA funding is jeopardized, then the Zoo will be nothing more than a petting zoo and all will be for naught. Commissioner McGrain proposed an amendment that changed the fees around a bit. His amendment changed the Resident Adult fees to only going up $1 (from $4 to $5), had the non-Resident Adult fees going up $4 more (from $10 to $14), and left the Children where there are today with the fee and age staying at $2 for children 3-16 years of age. This amendment passed unanimously. It would generate the same amount as the originally proposed fees and, for those paying the millage, would only have Resident adults paying $1 more than now. With the new language, the fee increase resolution passed on a 4-2 vote. I continued to oppose it because I still think that we shouldn't be raising the fees again.

Finally, we accepted the Health Officer Selection Committee’s recommendation and passed a resolution appointing Renee Canady to the permanent full-time position of Ingham County Health Officer. We also made an offer to a person for the job of the Fair Manager.

And one last thing to mention...I wish to offer congratulations to Bob Trezise, new incoming President of the Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP). Bob has done an excellent job at the Lansing Economic Development Corporation and will be missed by Lansing residents, but he is exactly what the region needs for LEAP to succeed and bring us forward. CONGRATS, BOB! We are all counting on you! (no pressure, though)

Whew...I'm done! Till next week...

Low-Income Tax Preparation Dollars, 211 Tax Foreclosure Funds, Building 21, MPSC

This week the Board of Commissioners was relatively tame.

We once again had several people speak to us about the Road Commission. This followed a small rally that was held in front of the courthouse in Mason before the meeting. Once again, many allegations were made about many people. I won’t repeat them here.

After that, we considered two resolutions that had slightly divided votes. The first resolution was to provide funding for tax preparation for low-income people. This resolution was defeated in County Services committee, so I had to move it as the Finance Committee Chair. My understanding was that in committee, the two Republicans complained that we were giving money to a tri-county effort (Ingham, Eaton, and Clinton) and that Ingham County dollars would be used for residents of other counties. I did some investigating about this and found that the other two counties had, in fact, refused to contribute. As such, when I moved this on the Board floor I also included an amendment that required Ingham County dollars to be used for Ingham County residents only. I am very much in favor of regionalism, but not when others refuse to take part as well. My hope is that all three counties will contribute to this and other efforts and the money can be pooled for the benefit of all, but the other counties don’t seem to see it that way and I refuse to subsidize them with Ingham County taxpayer dollars. The amendment passed unanimously, and was supported by the County Treasurer (who brought the resolution to us in the first place). Unfortunately, those two Republicans (Vickers and Dragonetti) still voted against the resolution without stating any reason. They were both silent in debate. The resolution passed 13-2 (12 Dems and 1 Republican in favor, 2 Republicans opposed). I honestly have no idea why either of those gentleman would vote against dollars for assistance in tax preparation for low-income individuals!

The second semi-controversial resolution we considered was to give funding to the 211 system run by the United Way for tax foreclosure prevention efforts. For background, any citizen in Ingham County (and several other counties) can dial 2-1-1 on their phone and will reach an operator who they can ask about services available. 2-1-1 is the health and human services equivalent to 9-1-1. This is a centralized way to ensure that residents know what services are available to them in the county and region. This is run by the United Way, and Ingham County has supported this for many years as a way to get information to citizens who need help with things like foreclosure, how to get flu shots and how to pay for it, evacuation routines, information for laid off workers, disease epidemic information, crime victims, travelers aid, and many other health and human service options. To pay for this, public funds match local non-profit dollars. The Ingham County Board of Commissioners was asked for $5,000 to assist inm the tax foreclosure prevention efforts. Again, this passed on a 13-2 vote, with the same two Republicans voting against it. In this case, Commissioner Vickers commented that he didn’t know if the regular funding that the county provides is creating the desired results, and did not want to give more funding. While I appreciate that he at least explained his opposition, I disagree with it. The 2-1-1 is very beneficial to residents, and we can provide services to our constituents by simply contributing to a regional fund that coordinates several counties and provides the information. Regionalism and efficiency at its best. As such, I was happy to move the resolution and vote for it.

I don't usually do this, but I wanted to alert everyone to a great project being put in place in the Lansing/Holt area. As everyone remembers, last year three teens died in a very tragic car accident after one of the teens was drinking at a party. The mother of one of the teens that died (but was not driving) is a good friend of mine, and alerted me that several influential people in the community have created a program save young lives by stopping underage drinking . The program is called "Building 21" which is a creative and positive place for teens to go instead of partying. Building 21 is having their open house to the community on Thursday Oct. 20th at 6:30pm. It is located at 2289 Cedar St. in Holt (behind the Rite Aid I believe). I encourage all that can to attend and to get the word out. This is a great resource for the community, and is something positive that has come out of such a tragedy.

Also, as a County Commissioner I was alerted that the Michigan Public Service Commission is holding a Consumer Information and Assistance Forum on October 27th at 6 pm at the Cristo Rey Community Center and will give citizens the opportunity to discuss utility-related questions and concerns with MPSC staff. Attendees will also be able to work with local utility providers as well as assistance organizations to investigate service issues and explore energy assistance programs. You can learn about electric and natural gas rates, and discuss telephone service updates. If you have any questions, contact Joel Roseberry at 517-373-1540.

Next week will be a busy one, so stay tuned!

Special Guest Blogger: Rep Barb Byrum Discussing Proposed Auto No-Fault Changes in the State House

This week, I have invited another guest blogger to share information with you. State Representative Barb Byrum is in her third term in the Michigan House. She serves south Lansing, Delhi Township, and much of the rural area of Ingham County. She is a tremendous advocate for us in Ingham County, and is a good friend. I invited her to discuss whatever she wants, and she has chosen to focus on one of the biggest recent issues being considered in the State Legislature. Thanks to Rep. Byrum for contributing this to the the Schor Blog readers!
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The following is an editorial written by State Representative Barb Byrum (D-Onondaga), Chair of the House Committee on Insurance. If you have questions about this commentary, please contact Byrum's office by calling (517) 373-0587.

The Michigan House Committee on Insurance has begun to hear testimony on House Bill 4936, which would drastically change Michigan's nearly 40 year-old Auto No-Fault statute and will result in significant limitations on the medical expense coverages and legal rights of auto accident victims in Michigan. This legislation eliminates the current lifetime Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage for reasonably necessary products, services, and accommodations. No one will have the option to buy this coverage any longer. Rather, coverage for such expenses will only be available in incremental coverage levels. This would put Michigan consumers at the risk of exhausting their life-time limit of health care, forcing them to either sue, flooding our court systems, or turn to Medicaid, increasing taxpayer expense.

Auto insurers claim that consumers will be given more choices, resulting in lower premiums. But those against the reform, as I am, know this effort will do little to decrease insurance rates and there is no guarantee that rates will go down; only a guarantee that coverage will decrease. Persons who suffer catastrophic injury and who did not buy enough PIP coverage to cover the expense, will, in many cases, not receive the medical care, treatment, and rehabilitation they require in order to attain the highest level of recovery. The loss of no-fault auto insurance funding for these expenses will mean a massive cost shift to Medicaid and Medicare, thus increasing the State and Federal tax burden for Michigan citizens.

Not only does this legislation hurt Michigan taxpayers, it will likely cost our state jobs as well. As reported in a recent study released by the Anderson Economic Group, the proposed policy change could result in thousands of lost jobs (predominately in the medical fields) and millions in lost earnings, leaving approximately 700 people a year with severe injuries without the funds for proper treatment. This puts thousands of Michigan drivers and jobs at risk! When you stop and do the math, the proposed legislation is bad for taxpayers, bad for drivers and bad for Michigan!