Sorry this blog is a little late this week. I had a very busy week. With the campaign now going full steam, I have been busy many nights. I am committed to fulfilling my responsibility as a Commissioner, as I always have, so that means going to county meetings and going to community meetings throughout Lansing and Lansing Township. It's busy! But...I want to keep this blog going to inform constituents, future constituents, media, and others about what is going on at the County!
Last week I had two meetings. I had Human Services and a full county commission meeting. Human Services reviewed the same controversial resolution that County Services had the week before - the creation of a Dental Director. This time, Health Director Renee Canady attended and had some good answers. Again, I asked about the need for a position shift so early in the budget process. I was told that this is part of an ongoing review of the positions and that, with a new Director, it was just missed at the end of last year. In addition, Commissioners Tennis and McGrain argued that the budget process began in May last year, so there has really been several months between the budget and this new position creation. While I believe the Health Department could have adjusted their budget request at any time until November, I concede that it is a little longer than I had originally thought. And, I understand that a new Director needs to evaluate positions and this may not have been as easy to do in a transition year. So I am comfortable with that answer. I also again asked why it was moving from a 14 to a 15 level position. Again, fellow commissioners on the committee argued that this is a leadership role and needs to be compensated as such. Dr. Canady actually told us that they created the new position, with 32 hours for dentistry and 8 hours for administration, and submitted that to the county human resources. Our HR department scored the position and moved it to a 15 from a 14. So, I look forward to seeing the scoring next week. After reviewing that, I believe I will be comfortable with this position. My hope, though, is that it is filled and we can start helping people and seeing revenue. If we simply move someone up internally and cannot fill the open dentistry position, then we really will not have created any more service or revenue and will be paying more. I will make that clear, but expect to support this in committee a week from Monday (human services) and a week from Tuesday (county services). Other interesting information that we found out which was not presented in County Services is that in 2005, there were 14 dental staff and in 2010 there were 22 dental staff. Five years ago, we had 3500 users in the community that had 12,000 visits. Currently, we are at 7500 users and 16,000 visits. Se we are clearly providing more service to those in need in Ingham County.
The Board of Commissioners meeting was fairly non-controversial. All items were passed on the consent agenda except for an honorary resolution and the Resolution Authorizing Reimbursement Terms and Conditions to the Potter Park Zoological Society for the Interim Zoo Director Services. Last year, the Board approved a resolution authorizing a contract amendment with the Potter Park Zoological Society to appoint Sherrie Graham as the Interim Zoo Director. Our staff negotiated mutually agreeable terms and conditions of compensation including County reimbursement to the Society for the portion of the personnel costs for the period after January 18, 2012. The negotiated rate is $4,000 per month throughout the agreement duration. This resolution passed 13-1 with no discussion. Commissioner Dougan was the only opposition vote and did not explain his objection. Commissioners Vickers and Schafer were absent.
While we consented many resolutions, I wanted to specifically mention on eof them which will greatly assist neighborhoods in Lansing. Ingham County has a strong and successful history of implementing community summits and cultivating citizen ownership of efforts that expand and enhance opportunities for urban redevelopment. The Ingham County Health Department (ICHD), in partnership with the Power of We Consortium (PWC), has been responsible for carrying out efforts in support of the County’s priority to “Promote Environmental Protection and Smart Growth.” Specifically, ICHD and PWC have established a mechanism to allocate the Urban Redevelopment Funds in the amount of $35,000 which was established as part of the Health Department budget. This amount has remained unchanged since 2010. This important investment of $35,000 has been used to leverage millions of dollars in federal grants (Compassion Capital Fund) and thousands of volunteer service hours (AmeriCorps) towards making our neighborhoods more attractive, vital, and responsive to our residents. Utilization of these funds has included activities such as completion of the walking trail on the south side of Lansing; match for the PWC’s Capacity Building Program for community and faith-based organizations and for the AmeriCorps program; support for the Ingham Change Initiative’s Summer Youth Program for young men of color; and support for neighborhood community organizing. For 2012, the ICHD, in partnership with the PWC, has chosen to continue its support for the 2011 grant recipients in an effort to provide greater impact for these critical initiatives:
• Allen Neighborhood Center ($15,000) to expand its Restoration Works project to include, in addition to a focus on residential restoration, the conversion of a functionally obsolete urban warehouse to a Food Resource Center (FRC). Urban Redevelopment funds will support engaging partners and community members in helping to co-create these structures—whether houses or the FRC.
• South Lansing Community Development Association ($15,000) to utilize community forums, visioning sessions, surveys, market studies etc. in the revitalization of key neighborhoods in south Lansing, particularly Colonial Village and Jolly/Waverly area. The County Board of Commissioners supported these efforts and I was proud to vote in favor of this resolution!
Next week we do not have any regularly scheduled meetings (because this month is a unique month with a fifth week). We do have a Special County Services meeting, though, to discuss employee contract negotiations and compensation. I expect that part of the meeting will be public and part will be in closed session, but I am not wholly sure how the meeting will go. I expect our Committee Chair and Board Chair have an idea of what we will be talking about in committee, and I look forward to moving this forward and finally finalizing negotiations with our employees so we can avoid mediation and so our wonderful employees can have a contract in place.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Dental Director Position, Physician Assistant and Pay Level, Road Commission, MLK Jr Day
While I will normally have two committees in the first and third weeks of the month, this week we only had County Services. Human Services was rescheduled to next Monday because of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
The first big item up in County Services dealt with restoration of the Dental Director position, which was eliminated in 2005 as a cost saving measure. According to the Health Department, since 2005 the number of dental patients has grown by more than 3,000 patients as the dental health centers have expanded their service areas to include both local elementary schools and community events. The Community Health Center supervisor and Dental Health Center staff have requested the supervision of a Dental Director to direct the dental health center staff. A dental professional is needed to respond to clinical oral health concerns such as the appropriate course of treatment or proper infection control measures. The restoration of this position will result in an increase in productivity and a consistent standard of care across the health center network. The Health Director identified funding for this by converting a vacant dentist position (which has been vacant since May 28) to a Dental Director/Dentist position, and increasing it one level on the pay scale. The additional salary on the pay scale would come from the Healthy Smiles Dental Center budget, which was formerly dedicated to the University of Michigan School of Dentistry (UMSD) program. The Health Department terminated this agreement with UMSD effective August 31, 2011 due to lack of physical space for the interns to work within the dental centers. We had some good debate about this position. We had many questions about how this would work, and we were assured it would be both a dentist and administrator position. We asked if this would reduce the backlog, and why not just add a new dentist with the money. We were told that it will not greatly reduce the backlog, which is large, because we would need many new dentists to do that. We were also told that there are administrative needs so the staff is asking for the position. I was uncomfortable moving the position to the higher level, and asked for the scoring that was used by our human resources department. They didn’t have that, and other agreed with me that they would like to see that information. I also pointed out that we are only 17 days into the budget and are already being asked to add a new position and have money moved around. There was no good answer as to why this was not done during the budget process last year. As such, I moved to table this item until can have the answers to the scoring and budget questions.
The second controversial Health Department resolution was to hire a new Physicians Assistant, but to have her come in at the Step 5 (highest) pay level. In public comment, we heard from the UAW representative who said that they are being asked for pay cuts and step freezes and other concessions in negotiations, and it is not right to bring someone new in at the highest pay level. Our Health Department representative said that they are not at full capacity and that they constantly struggle to bring in P/A’s, nurse practitioners, and physicians. Our salary level is greatly below what they can make in the private sector, so positions stay open. And when people do agree to come, they want to come in at the highest level. The person being considered for this position has 11 years of experience and likes the population that we are working with, but is taking a large pay cut to come here. We were told that this person would not come for anything but the highest level available, and if we did not approve that then she would walk away and we would continue to have an open medical position. Many of us complained that we have to bring people in at Step 5 and asked, once again, for a study to be done to see if we can re-adjust the pay scales for the jobs that we have people doing. Our new Human Resources director said that this study is being done, and they would have the information for us in a few months. I offered an amendment to reduce the offer from the top of the scale to the second highest because I believe that we should at least try to offer somewhat less than the top amount. I have great concerns that we are asking our current employees to freeze step increases. As was pointed out last week, this means that those hired in at the lower end of the scale and work their way up will take a salary hit, but those that are at the top (usually administrators) will continue to get the top. A step freeze really does seem to be discriminatory against those who make less. This amendment was defeated on a 2-3 vote. With the defeat of the amendment, our choice was to approve or not approve the highest salary. As was pointed out by the Health Department, not approving this salary will leave the position vacant. Doing that would hurt the residents of the community that need the medical services. In addition, doing this would cost the county $400,000 in revenue (reimbursement from the federal government) because of a few thousand dollars in a step increase. Our medical providers are reimbursed by the federal government at a high level because they are federally qualified health department providers. Most of us were not willing to cost the county up to $400,000 in revenue or lose the potential aide to our residents, so we approved the resolution on a 4-1 vote (Vickers opposing). I am looking forward to seeing the study, and to the opportunity to re-evaluate these and other positions to make sure that they are appropriately compensated in relation to the private sector and other public sector jobs (as the budget will allow, of course!).
We took up a few other resolutions, but nothing really too controversial. We reviewed the recent road commission legislation, where there has been no change. We also talked about the road commission hiring new employees in human resources and finance, and there was discontent about this hiring with the status of the road commission in question. I pointed out that the new Chair of the Road Commission has expressed interest in coming to County Services to talk about his views on the potential future of the road commission, and said that I hope that he can be invited to the committee at the next regular meeting. I believe the Chair of the committee, Dianne Holman, is planning to have them in to discuss their plans and how they would like to move forward. So, with the Legislature not taking any action, we will continue to talk to the Road Commission members and assess our options as a County Commission to decide what further actions we intend to take.
I hope everyone had a great MLK, Jr Day and remembered the great man and his message of equality for all. My family watched the “I Have a Dream” speech and my children really enjoyed hearing it and learning more. We are proud that they are learning about his message of equality and diversity in the Lansing Public Schools.
I hope everyone has a great weekend, and I will report on the Human Services committee and the Board of Commissioners meeting next week!
The first big item up in County Services dealt with restoration of the Dental Director position, which was eliminated in 2005 as a cost saving measure. According to the Health Department, since 2005 the number of dental patients has grown by more than 3,000 patients as the dental health centers have expanded their service areas to include both local elementary schools and community events. The Community Health Center supervisor and Dental Health Center staff have requested the supervision of a Dental Director to direct the dental health center staff. A dental professional is needed to respond to clinical oral health concerns such as the appropriate course of treatment or proper infection control measures. The restoration of this position will result in an increase in productivity and a consistent standard of care across the health center network. The Health Director identified funding for this by converting a vacant dentist position (which has been vacant since May 28) to a Dental Director/Dentist position, and increasing it one level on the pay scale. The additional salary on the pay scale would come from the Healthy Smiles Dental Center budget, which was formerly dedicated to the University of Michigan School of Dentistry (UMSD) program. The Health Department terminated this agreement with UMSD effective August 31, 2011 due to lack of physical space for the interns to work within the dental centers. We had some good debate about this position. We had many questions about how this would work, and we were assured it would be both a dentist and administrator position. We asked if this would reduce the backlog, and why not just add a new dentist with the money. We were told that it will not greatly reduce the backlog, which is large, because we would need many new dentists to do that. We were also told that there are administrative needs so the staff is asking for the position. I was uncomfortable moving the position to the higher level, and asked for the scoring that was used by our human resources department. They didn’t have that, and other agreed with me that they would like to see that information. I also pointed out that we are only 17 days into the budget and are already being asked to add a new position and have money moved around. There was no good answer as to why this was not done during the budget process last year. As such, I moved to table this item until can have the answers to the scoring and budget questions.
The second controversial Health Department resolution was to hire a new Physicians Assistant, but to have her come in at the Step 5 (highest) pay level. In public comment, we heard from the UAW representative who said that they are being asked for pay cuts and step freezes and other concessions in negotiations, and it is not right to bring someone new in at the highest pay level. Our Health Department representative said that they are not at full capacity and that they constantly struggle to bring in P/A’s, nurse practitioners, and physicians. Our salary level is greatly below what they can make in the private sector, so positions stay open. And when people do agree to come, they want to come in at the highest level. The person being considered for this position has 11 years of experience and likes the population that we are working with, but is taking a large pay cut to come here. We were told that this person would not come for anything but the highest level available, and if we did not approve that then she would walk away and we would continue to have an open medical position. Many of us complained that we have to bring people in at Step 5 and asked, once again, for a study to be done to see if we can re-adjust the pay scales for the jobs that we have people doing. Our new Human Resources director said that this study is being done, and they would have the information for us in a few months. I offered an amendment to reduce the offer from the top of the scale to the second highest because I believe that we should at least try to offer somewhat less than the top amount. I have great concerns that we are asking our current employees to freeze step increases. As was pointed out last week, this means that those hired in at the lower end of the scale and work their way up will take a salary hit, but those that are at the top (usually administrators) will continue to get the top. A step freeze really does seem to be discriminatory against those who make less. This amendment was defeated on a 2-3 vote. With the defeat of the amendment, our choice was to approve or not approve the highest salary. As was pointed out by the Health Department, not approving this salary will leave the position vacant. Doing that would hurt the residents of the community that need the medical services. In addition, doing this would cost the county $400,000 in revenue (reimbursement from the federal government) because of a few thousand dollars in a step increase. Our medical providers are reimbursed by the federal government at a high level because they are federally qualified health department providers. Most of us were not willing to cost the county up to $400,000 in revenue or lose the potential aide to our residents, so we approved the resolution on a 4-1 vote (Vickers opposing). I am looking forward to seeing the study, and to the opportunity to re-evaluate these and other positions to make sure that they are appropriately compensated in relation to the private sector and other public sector jobs (as the budget will allow, of course!).
We took up a few other resolutions, but nothing really too controversial. We reviewed the recent road commission legislation, where there has been no change. We also talked about the road commission hiring new employees in human resources and finance, and there was discontent about this hiring with the status of the road commission in question. I pointed out that the new Chair of the Road Commission has expressed interest in coming to County Services to talk about his views on the potential future of the road commission, and said that I hope that he can be invited to the committee at the next regular meeting. I believe the Chair of the committee, Dianne Holman, is planning to have them in to discuss their plans and how they would like to move forward. So, with the Legislature not taking any action, we will continue to talk to the Road Commission members and assess our options as a County Commission to decide what further actions we intend to take.
I hope everyone had a great MLK, Jr Day and remembered the great man and his message of equality for all. My family watched the “I Have a Dream” speech and my children really enjoyed hearing it and learning more. We are proud that they are learning about his message of equality and diversity in the Lansing Public Schools.
I hope everyone has a great weekend, and I will report on the Human Services committee and the Board of Commissioners meeting next week!
Friday, January 13, 2012
Contracts and Negotiations with County Employees, Campaign Update
This week, we only had one meeting. It was a special meeting of the Board of Commissioners, called a leadership meeting, where we meet for a special purpose. The purpose of this meeting was to hear from our employees regarding contract negotiations.
Until this year, each of our unions had different end dates for their contracts. We would have a few end each year and be negotiated. This year, though, we arranged it so all contracts would end at the same time so we could negotiate similar conditions with each union. As has happened in the recent past, we have several conditions leading to reduced revenues: lower tax collections, reduced revenue sharing from the state, lower-than-expected interest earnings on investments, foreclosures, etc. All of these have lead to the need to work with the employees for concessions in contracts. In addition, the Board and management staff are looking at long-term solutions to prevent budget deficits. The exact terms of the contract negotiations are done at the bargaining table and I won’t list the conditions here. Similarly, the Commissioners have heard from the county management staff regarding what they want to ask for in negotiations but this is confidential and done in closed session.
The unions had requested an opportunity to meet with the Commissioners to express concerns and questions about the requests from management and about the process of negotiations. We heard from the United Auto Workers (UAW), Ingham County Employees Association, Nurses Association, Michigan Association of Police, and Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU). They raised very good questions and brought up issues that we as Commissioners had not known were problems. They are concerned with the combination of the short-term and long-term objectives in the same negotiations because both involved some concessions from the unions and both have value to them. They are also concerned about the process, especially with contracts having expired already. Several unions have gone beyond negotiation and to mediation, which is unusual in Ingham County. There were also concerns about the move from defined benefit to a hybrid defined contribution plan, about health benefit changes, and step freezes, and others. Ingham County has a health benefits coalition that usually recommends changes and has saved the county millions in the past, and this process is somewhat outside of that coalition process. Step freezes are seen as inequitable because those at the top step are not losing anything when those under the top step are. And so many other good issues that were raised. They said that the hybrid defined contribution plan is unfair because it locks in the rate without the ability to negotiate.
We heard the concerns, and our staff responded to some of them. Our staff pointed out the reductions in revenues and the need to spend less. They also talked about the need to solve the problem going forward.
We had MERS speak to us as well about the hybrid defined contribution plan. They agreed that the rate cannot change in negotiation and said that it is based on actuarial estimates. I can’t speak for others, but I was uncomfortable locking something in that cannot be changed in the future or bargained, especially if times get better and we can afford to provide more for our employees. I am open to the hybrid defined contribution plan, but the details that MERS laid out made me very uncomfortable. I was also uncomfortable with several other things that the unions raised.
The County Services committee, on which I serve, has scheduled a special committee meeting on January 31st to further discuss these issues. I hope we can have more detailed information about the cuts that our management is asking for and the details regarding the concerns that the unions raised. We as Commissioners cannot spend more than we take in and we need to provide structural stability, but we also need to be fair to our employees. We have some of the best employees in the world, and we need to treat them right. People want to be public servants, and we need to reward them…especially when they can make more in the private sector but want to help others. This will be a big issue that we need to resolve quickly in 2012.
Otherwise, our normal committee schedule will resume this week. I have County Services Committee, and the Law Enforcement and Judiciary Committees will meet as well. You can see the agendas online at www.ingham.org.
The campaign continues to go very well. I will have my campaign finance report filed by the end of the month with a strong showing. This week I increased my list of endorsements, which includes several neighborhood presidents and activists, current and former State Representatives, countywide elected officials, most of the county commissioners, City Councilmembers, Township Board members, labor, and many others. The information is all on my website and we will be announcing the specifics as the campaign continues. Seven more months until Primary Election day! If you are interested in volunteering on the campaign or want to contribute, please go to www.andyschor.com.
Until this year, each of our unions had different end dates for their contracts. We would have a few end each year and be negotiated. This year, though, we arranged it so all contracts would end at the same time so we could negotiate similar conditions with each union. As has happened in the recent past, we have several conditions leading to reduced revenues: lower tax collections, reduced revenue sharing from the state, lower-than-expected interest earnings on investments, foreclosures, etc. All of these have lead to the need to work with the employees for concessions in contracts. In addition, the Board and management staff are looking at long-term solutions to prevent budget deficits. The exact terms of the contract negotiations are done at the bargaining table and I won’t list the conditions here. Similarly, the Commissioners have heard from the county management staff regarding what they want to ask for in negotiations but this is confidential and done in closed session.
The unions had requested an opportunity to meet with the Commissioners to express concerns and questions about the requests from management and about the process of negotiations. We heard from the United Auto Workers (UAW), Ingham County Employees Association, Nurses Association, Michigan Association of Police, and Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU). They raised very good questions and brought up issues that we as Commissioners had not known were problems. They are concerned with the combination of the short-term and long-term objectives in the same negotiations because both involved some concessions from the unions and both have value to them. They are also concerned about the process, especially with contracts having expired already. Several unions have gone beyond negotiation and to mediation, which is unusual in Ingham County. There were also concerns about the move from defined benefit to a hybrid defined contribution plan, about health benefit changes, and step freezes, and others. Ingham County has a health benefits coalition that usually recommends changes and has saved the county millions in the past, and this process is somewhat outside of that coalition process. Step freezes are seen as inequitable because those at the top step are not losing anything when those under the top step are. And so many other good issues that were raised. They said that the hybrid defined contribution plan is unfair because it locks in the rate without the ability to negotiate.
We heard the concerns, and our staff responded to some of them. Our staff pointed out the reductions in revenues and the need to spend less. They also talked about the need to solve the problem going forward.
We had MERS speak to us as well about the hybrid defined contribution plan. They agreed that the rate cannot change in negotiation and said that it is based on actuarial estimates. I can’t speak for others, but I was uncomfortable locking something in that cannot be changed in the future or bargained, especially if times get better and we can afford to provide more for our employees. I am open to the hybrid defined contribution plan, but the details that MERS laid out made me very uncomfortable. I was also uncomfortable with several other things that the unions raised.
The County Services committee, on which I serve, has scheduled a special committee meeting on January 31st to further discuss these issues. I hope we can have more detailed information about the cuts that our management is asking for and the details regarding the concerns that the unions raised. We as Commissioners cannot spend more than we take in and we need to provide structural stability, but we also need to be fair to our employees. We have some of the best employees in the world, and we need to treat them right. People want to be public servants, and we need to reward them…especially when they can make more in the private sector but want to help others. This will be a big issue that we need to resolve quickly in 2012.
Otherwise, our normal committee schedule will resume this week. I have County Services Committee, and the Law Enforcement and Judiciary Committees will meet as well. You can see the agendas online at www.ingham.org.
The campaign continues to go very well. I will have my campaign finance report filed by the end of the month with a strong showing. This week I increased my list of endorsements, which includes several neighborhood presidents and activists, current and former State Representatives, countywide elected officials, most of the county commissioners, City Councilmembers, Township Board members, labor, and many others. The information is all on my website and we will be announcing the specifics as the campaign continues. Seven more months until Primary Election day! If you are interested in volunteering on the campaign or want to contribute, please go to www.andyschor.com.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Ringing in 2012...the Ingham County Board of Commissioners 2012 Board and Committee Makeup and Schedule
Happy 2012!
After taking a few weeks off, I am resuming the Schor Report. This will be the last year of reporting of Ingham County business, though, as this will be my 10th and final year as an Ingham County Commissioner. As you know, I am running for the State House of Representatives and hope to continue this blog as a State Representative next year, but will no longer be a county commissioner after 2012. But more on that later in the year!
The Ingham County Board of Commissioners met on January 3rd for our organizational meeting. At that time, we elected our Board Chair and Vice Chair for the 2012 year. The main responsibility of the Board Chair is to attend all of the committee meetings and be the one person that knows what is going on regarding all of our issue areas (because he or she is a member of all the committees and has attended all of the committee meetings). He or she also chairs the full Board meeting, and works with the staff to organize leadership meetings and other venues for the Commissioners to get together and make decisions.
For 2012, we elected Commissioner Dale Copedge as the Chair of the Board. He will be attending the County Services, Human Services, Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Finance committee meetings in addition to the full Board meetings. He will also be working with the staff to facilitate and receive direction from the County Commission as they offer up recommendations for policy and operations. He has indicated a readiness and willingness to take on this responsibility, and I was happy to support him as a result. He has already scheduled a Board workgroup meeting on Tuesday (called a Board Leadership meeting) to discuss bargaining with our employees.
We also elected Commissioner Victor Celentino as Vice Chair of the Board, and Commissioner Vince Dragonetti as Vice Chair Pro Tem (this post is reserved for the minority party).
Finally, we appointed out internal committees, and selected Commissioners to serve on external and regional boards (such as the Tri-County Office on Agency board, which I will again serve on). Our internal committee roster is:
COUNTY SERVICES COMMITTEE
Chair: Commissioner Dianne Holman
Vice Chair: Commissioner Andy Schor
Members: Commissioners Grebner, Celentino, De Leon, Vickers
FINANCE COMMITTEE
Chair: Commissioner Mark Grebner
Vice Chair: Commissioner Brian McGrain
Members: Commissioners Nolan, Bahar-Cook, Tennis, Dougan
HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE
Chair: Commissioner Deb Nolan
Vice Chair: Commissioner Todd Tennis
Members: Commissioners Schor, McGrain, Vickers, Dougan
JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Chair: Commissioner Carol Koenig
Vice Chair: Commissioner Rebecca Bahar-Cook
Members: Commissioners Holman, Tsernoglou, Schafer, Dragonetti
LAW ENFORCEMENT COMMITTEE
Chair: Commissioner Penelope Tsernoglou
Vice Chair: Commissioner Deb De Leon
Members: Commissioners Celentino, Koenig, Schafer, Dragonetti
As I mentioned, we have a Board Leadership meeting this week, then committees will begin meeting the next week (the third week of the month). We have a two week schedule where each committee and the Board meet in a two week period, then we start all over again. So every committee and the Board meet twice each month. The full schedule can be viewed on our website at www.ingham.org.
I look forward to a busy and productive final year on the Board of Commissioners!
After taking a few weeks off, I am resuming the Schor Report. This will be the last year of reporting of Ingham County business, though, as this will be my 10th and final year as an Ingham County Commissioner. As you know, I am running for the State House of Representatives and hope to continue this blog as a State Representative next year, but will no longer be a county commissioner after 2012. But more on that later in the year!
The Ingham County Board of Commissioners met on January 3rd for our organizational meeting. At that time, we elected our Board Chair and Vice Chair for the 2012 year. The main responsibility of the Board Chair is to attend all of the committee meetings and be the one person that knows what is going on regarding all of our issue areas (because he or she is a member of all the committees and has attended all of the committee meetings). He or she also chairs the full Board meeting, and works with the staff to organize leadership meetings and other venues for the Commissioners to get together and make decisions.
For 2012, we elected Commissioner Dale Copedge as the Chair of the Board. He will be attending the County Services, Human Services, Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Finance committee meetings in addition to the full Board meetings. He will also be working with the staff to facilitate and receive direction from the County Commission as they offer up recommendations for policy and operations. He has indicated a readiness and willingness to take on this responsibility, and I was happy to support him as a result. He has already scheduled a Board workgroup meeting on Tuesday (called a Board Leadership meeting) to discuss bargaining with our employees.
We also elected Commissioner Victor Celentino as Vice Chair of the Board, and Commissioner Vince Dragonetti as Vice Chair Pro Tem (this post is reserved for the minority party).
Finally, we appointed out internal committees, and selected Commissioners to serve on external and regional boards (such as the Tri-County Office on Agency board, which I will again serve on). Our internal committee roster is:
COUNTY SERVICES COMMITTEE
Chair: Commissioner Dianne Holman
Vice Chair: Commissioner Andy Schor
Members: Commissioners Grebner, Celentino, De Leon, Vickers
FINANCE COMMITTEE
Chair: Commissioner Mark Grebner
Vice Chair: Commissioner Brian McGrain
Members: Commissioners Nolan, Bahar-Cook, Tennis, Dougan
HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE
Chair: Commissioner Deb Nolan
Vice Chair: Commissioner Todd Tennis
Members: Commissioners Schor, McGrain, Vickers, Dougan
JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Chair: Commissioner Carol Koenig
Vice Chair: Commissioner Rebecca Bahar-Cook
Members: Commissioners Holman, Tsernoglou, Schafer, Dragonetti
LAW ENFORCEMENT COMMITTEE
Chair: Commissioner Penelope Tsernoglou
Vice Chair: Commissioner Deb De Leon
Members: Commissioners Celentino, Koenig, Schafer, Dragonetti
As I mentioned, we have a Board Leadership meeting this week, then committees will begin meeting the next week (the third week of the month). We have a two week schedule where each committee and the Board meet in a two week period, then we start all over again. So every committee and the Board meet twice each month. The full schedule can be viewed on our website at www.ingham.org.
I look forward to a busy and productive final year on the Board of Commissioners!
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