Co-Location of Health Department and CMH, Health Care Millage, Campaign Update

We had another busy week this week on the County Commission.

Both the County Services and Human Services committees took up the resolution to allow for co-location of the Community Mental Health and Ingham County Health Department. Co-locating a Health Department clinic at the CMH facility will allow mentally ill patients to get the care that they need. These folks do not come to the Health Department for treatment, but are are at CMH. This effort can make a real difference in the lives of these patients. This is a complicated effort because it is moving people around from one clinic to another. CMH will be providing the office space at $45,000 per year. The UAW testified that the contract was violated because this would create a new job without informing the UAW (as specified in the contract) but that this is overall a good idea and that they support it. They requested that this effort be reviewed by the Human Services committee in 6 months. The Michigan Nurses Association president testified that collaboration with positions makes them comfortable. Nurse Practitioners were concerned about having to deal with situations that are out of their expertise, but the collaboration involved makes them more comfortable. I asked a variety of questions. In Human Services, I asked where the money is coming from - if it was coming from the Health Department Health Department budget or from our contingency fund. I was told that the money will be generated immediately by the federal draw down of dollars from the CMH population, and that the revenue will be generated as the expenses incur. The budget is actually conservative. This information was added to the resolution in County Services. The resolution adds two new positions (doctor and nurse practitioner), and moves one position from another clinic to this one. I asked where the employee is coming from. The answer is that they place people according to their skill set and where the greatest need is. And they look at the impact on the clinic where the change is made. They said that they will move employees to minimize the impact, and agreed to a six month review. We passed the resolution unanimously in both committees.

In the Human Services Committee, we again discussed the Ingham Health Plan (IHP) proposal to place a millage on the ballot. The IHP and the Health Department told us that there are 8,000 – 10,000 people without insurance (even presuming Medicaid is expanded as allowed by the Affordable Care Act). Those under 138% of the poverty level will be covered by the Act. Those that that are between 138% - 250% of the poverty level will be able to purchase insurance from the Health Exchange (which is a menu of insurance options) and will be subsidized based on their income. We were told that many will not have enough money to pay for the premiums on the exchange and if they are paying a certain amount out of pocket then they will be able to opt-out according to the law. 51% of the people that are expected to opt-out and are single, and 49% of the opt-outs have families. $31,000 is the median income (250% of poverty median). Additionally, undocumented and legal immigrants living here are ineligble and go to emergency room. All of these populations will increase taxpayer costs for uncompensated care. For those up to 150% of poverty, 84% of the insurance is covered as subsidies on the exchange (for premiums only, not out of pocket expenses). For those between 200% – 250%, the exchange subsidizes 73% of the cost. This would mean an average out of pocket expense of $328. The Governor and Legislature may expand Medicaid, but also may refuse the federal dollars as other states have done. With Disproportionate Care Funding (DSH) dropping from the federal government, the Ingham Health Plan will not have the funding to provide care to these individuals that make too much for the Affordable Care Act but don't have insurance and don't make enough to be able to pay for the insurance on the Exchange. The IHP is requesting a millage of .61 mills to be placed on the November ballot. This would mean taxes of $30.50 for a house with value of $100,000 (taxable value of $50,000). Commissioner Tennis pointed out that this will keep people out of the Emergency Room and save taxpayers money and will lower health care costs across the board.

August 28th is deadline for a November millage to be placed on the ballot and the Human Services Committee (then the County Commission) will make the decision at the end of August.

I am undecided on whether to vote for this or not. I asked that this not be voted on at the meeting because whether or not the state takes the expanded Medicaid is important, and that decision is not yet made. I don't want to put this on the ballot now and make it okay for the Governor to refuse this federal money. Back-filling this with a local tax before the Governor decides sends a signal that we will pay for it and he can reject the federal money. Commissioner Vickers said that he understands the need, but doesn't think the people can afford this millage. Commissioner McGrain said that health care will be more affordable for everyone, and we don’t want people to opt-out which will result in us paying for their health care.

Campaign Update: We are now 17 days away from the Democratic Primary. I hope all Lansing and Lansing Township residents will go vote on August 7th. I am getting tremendous response at the doors and in various forums with voters. We have plenty of opportunities to volunteer if you are still interested. We are knocking doors every day, making calls, doing data entry, putting up yard signs, and other important things for the campaign. If you want to volunteer, or want a yard sign, or want to contribute to help pay for the costs associated with the campaign, you can email me at andy.schor@gmail.com or you can go to www.andyschor.com. Thanks to everyone for the tremendous support, and I look forward to election day!

Road Advisory Board, Preventative Care and Contraception, Health Center Funding, Health Community Sessions, Campaign Update

Sorry for this blog being late again. As you can imagine, things are very busy right now...but I am still committed to getting out the information about the Board of Commissioners!

We had a full Board of Commissioners meeting this week. We first took up the resolution creating a road advisory board for the Ingham County Department of Transportation and Roads. Commissioner Holman explained that the resolution sets up an advisory board made up of the 16 township supervisors and/or their representatives from throughout the county. This advisory board will assist the managing director with strategic planning, reviewing data and projects for federal aid, reviewing and recommending on local construction, etc. Commissioner Bahar-Cook offered an amendment to tighten up procedure moving forward, which requires the advisory board to report back to the Board of Commissioners regarding any changes to the advisory board within 6 months, and to actually make changes within 18 months. The amendment passed unanimously, and resolution passed 15-1 (Commissioner DeLeon opposed it).


We then considered a resolution calling for access to preventative health care including contraception, with no co-pays or cost sharing. We have clinics at our health centers that deal with contraception, so this resolution does pertain to county business. The Lansing Area National Organization for Women asked us to consider this to express our support for access to preventative health care services for contraception for women and to strongly support insurance without co-pays or cost sharing for contraception. We had two amendments offered to this resolution. With the US Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act still in doubt at that time (we met on Tuesday), we passed an amendment offered by Commissioner Rebecca Baher-Cook (she was really busy this week!) to remove all language referencing that Act in our resolution. . We didn't want to pass a resolution based on that Act since it could be struck down. This amendment passed unanimously.

Commissioner Victor Celentino next offered an amendment. He said that there is good language in the resolution, but is concerned about the implications on religious institutions. He specifically was concerned that churches would have to offer contraception when they do not believe in that as part of their religions practice. His amendment would call for exempting religious institutions. There were questions, though, about what religious institutions would be exempt from having to provide coverage by those that have religious beliefs against these services. Would it be churches, or would it be hospital systems that are religious-based? Several indicated that religious liberties are important, as indicated by the president recently, but that this language goes too far. I asked if anyone had any clarification language since this was considered confusing in committee. I indicated that we should be consistent with federal law. Commissioner Celentino said that he things that this would just be for churches. Commissioners Tennis and Koenig indicated they thought that we solved this issue by removing references to the Affordable Care Act and instead just saying that we encourage protection for contraception without co-pays. The amendment failed on a 5-11 vote, and the resolution passed on an 11-5 vote.

Finally, we considered a resolution that increases monetary awards to continue Child and Adolescent Health Centers in Lansing. Commissioner Schafer indicated support, but stated that at one time there were clinics in Weberville, Leslie, and Stockbridge, and that there is no coverage to those parts of the county now. He implored the Commission to remember the southern part of the county, and and that there is no access in the southern part. needs across the county should be looked at.
Commissioner DeLeon responded saying that those people have the same access at any of the clinics, and that those clinics were closed for lack of use, Commissioner Grebner expanded on this, saying that when there were lots of migrant farm workers, there was usage a greater use of public clinics in these parts of the county. When those populations went away due to the mechanization of farming, though, the need was no longer there. He said we have cost-effective clinics, which the Republicans should love, and that money in clinics goes to where there is the population. The resolution passed unanimously.

Are you interested in improving the health of your community? The Ingham County Health Department (with the Eaton, Ingham, Clinton Health!CapitolCounties initiative) is holding community dialogue sessions to discuss our health issues, stories, and experiences! In Lansing, the session is at the Cooley Temple Conference Center (217 S. Capitol Avenue) on Tuesday, July 17th from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Light refreshments will be provided. Those interested in registering or who want more information about this project can go to www.healthycapitalcounties.org . There are also sessions in St Johns, Charlotte, Dansville, DeWitt, East Lansing, and Eaton Rapids. If you want information on those, or have other questions, please call (517) 887-4428 or email info@healthycapitalcounties.org. Registration is limited based on the size of the venue, so register early!

Campaign Update: The campaign continues to go exceptionally well. Absentee ballots are now available, and you can call the City Clerk for a ballot. We have hit many, many houses (announcement to come!) and have gained a few more big endorsements (announcement to come!). Last week, we announced that the Police Officers Association of Michigan and the Michigan Association of Police Organizations endorsed my campaign. We also announced the National Organization of Women supports me, which is critical as the Republicans continue to target women in their legislation. Fundraising has also continued to come in well, and we expect to be funded for our needs through the rest of the campaign. We have many people out knocking doors for me, and we hope to have many more throughout July and the first week of August. 20 days until election day! Please go to www.andyschor.com or email me at andy.schor@gmail.com if you want to knock doors, need a yard sign, want to make a contribution, or want to help the campaign in any other way. Thanks everyone for all your help!!!

Health Care Millage, Child & Adolescent Health Centers, Contraception and Preventative Care, County Road Advisory Board, Clerk Data, Campaign Update

This week we had committees and spent many hours talking about many important issues.

In the Human Services Committee, we again discussed the request from the Ingham Health Plan to place a millage on the November ballot for funding access to care for the uninsured in Ingham County.

The IHP, along with the Health Department, gave an extensive presentation. They said we have seen a a decline in Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) dollars from the federal government, so our primary funding may be going away. There are 32,000 uninsured in Ingham County. The current enrollment for the IHP is 11,500. In order to enroll more, we need higher reimbursement rates for providers so that we have more providers that will accept IHP. Provider capacity is key to increasing enrollment and reducing wait times. We also need more specialty care. The Ingham Health Plan is requesting that the Commissioners place a millage of 0.61 on the November 6th ballot. If approved by the voters, this would mean a home with $50,000 in taxable value would pay $30.50 per year. It would raise $4 million annually. The proposal would have the millage money maintain enrollment capacity, expand access by increasing reimbursement rates, allow for benefit adjustments, and assist in building greater provider capacity.

In discussion, I indicated that I am not ready to vote for this until we have some answers. The first big question to be answered is what the U.S. Supreme Court does with the Affordable Care Act (referred to as Obama-Care by some). This will play a big role in deciding if there is a need for a millage, and what would it would be used for. The IHP has indicated a need either way. If the Act is struck down, the money would be used to pay for what the federal government would have paid for. If the Act is sustained, the IHP thinks the millage money can be used to get to the 100% goal that Ingham County set many years ago. It could be used for people that make more than the IHP requirements, but still don't have insurance. There are
31,700 total uninsured in Ingham County. I expect that we will be finalizing this at the next Human Services meeting, where we will know the the ruling of the Supreme Court.

We also passed a resolution regarding funding the Child & Adolescent Health Centers. We receive money from the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH), which provided a total of $3.375 million over five years. MDCH notified the Health Department’s Community Health Center Network (CHCN) of an increase in funding of approximately 10% (up to $375,000 total or up to $75,000 per year). The new grant allocations for the Child & Adolescent Health Centers are:
• Gardner SWP - $110,000 (currently $100,000)
• Willow - $250,000 (currently $225,000)
• Otto - $195,000 (currently $175,000)
• Sexton - $195,000 (currently $175,000)

The new base allocations will take effect this current fiscal year, 2012, and will be applicable to costs for the remainder of the fiscal year. MDCH plans to continue the new allocations for the remainder of the grant cycle, through FY 2017, upon approval of a revised budget and work plan. MDCH conducted its three year review of the child and adolescent health center programs and strongly encouraged the CHCN to use these additional funds to address issues related to:
• Patient Centered Medical Home recognition
• Quality Assurance activities, including compliance monitoring
• Outreach and Enrollment activities related to Medicaid and other health insurance
• Outreach Activities related to youth retention and engagement

As a result, the CHCN will use these additional funds for the following activities:
• Contract with KMD Consulting for up to $35,000 per year, not to exceed $175,000 over the five year period to assist in coordinating Patient Centered Medical Home activities, assist in the development, tracking and training related to ongoing compliance monitoring, assist in outreach and enrollment activities to ensure youth are enrolled in an insurance plan and to assist in outreach and engagement activities to recruit and retain youth in care.
• Engage in health education and outreach activities at each of its four child and adolescent health centers for $35,000 per year, not to exceed $175,000 over the five year period to be used to fund special part time health advocates who will conduct outreach activities related to youth retention and engagement. In addition, as a condition of these awards, the Ingham CHCN was required to establish a local community advisory committee, which was representative of the community and included a broad range of stakeholders and school staff. Resolution 11-235 approved an agreement with the School Community Health Alliance of Michigan with a cost of up to $25,000 for these services. MDCH is now requiring the CHCN to allocate funds
to establish a local community advisory committee at each of its four Child and Adolescent Health Centers. For this reason, the ICHD proposes to increase this agreement to up to $30,000 per year, not to exceed $150,000.

Finally, we passed a resolution in the Human Services Committee that expresses support for access to preventative health care services, including contraception for all women, and strongly supporting insurance coverage of contraception without co-pays. The resolution made the following arguments. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requires new health insurance plans to cover women's preventive health care services without co-pays or cost-sharing on August 1, 2012. This is the same as other preventative services including immunizations and well-child physician services. The intent of Congress to require health insurance plans to cover preventive services was to encourage and invest in basic health care services to improve health outcomes for all Americans. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) - an independent, nonpartisan medical body - has conducted a scientific review and recommended that contraception be considered a preventive service for women under the Affordable Care Act as family planning services improve health care outcomes and wellness for women and families. Access to family planning is directly linked to declines in maternal and infant mortality rates. Contraception enables women to better prevent unintended pregnancy and plan for pregnancy when they do want to have a child, when women plan their pregnancies, they are more likely to seek prenatal care, improving their own health and the health of their children. In addition to the primary purpose of allowing women to plan and prepare for pregnancy, other health benefits of contraception include reduced risk of endometrial and ovarian cancers, ectopic pregnancy, iron deficiency anemia related to heavy menstruation, osteoporosis, ovarian cysts, and pelvic inflammatory disease. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) accepted the recommendation of the IOM, and will therefore require U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved contraceptive methods to be covered by all new health plans without co-pays or cost-sharing. Co-payments and other cost-sharing are barriers to accessing affordable contraception with consequences reflected in sobering statistics concerning unintended pregnancy, and the U.S. has one of the highest rates of unintended pregnancy among the world's most developed nations and consistently lags behind other developed nations in maternal and infant mortality rankings. The cost of the prescription is a major factor in consistent use of prescription birth control, co-pays for birth control pills typically range between $15 and $80 per month, and for other methods, such as IUDs, copays and other out-of-pocket expenses can reach into the hundreds of dollars. Access to health care services, including contraception, is consistent with current policy, including existing federal and state refusal laws. While twenty-eight states require health insurance plans that cover prescription drugs to cover contraception, Michigan does not. As a result of all of these arguments, the resolution expressed support of the County Board of Commissioners for access to preventive health care services, including contraception, for all women and strongly supported insurance coverage of contraception without co-pays and cost-sharing.

Commissioner Vickers said that unintended pregnancies create problems, and insurance companies should provide prescription coverage for these things, but he said he is against resolutions that do not deal with county business. He also indicated that the Affordable Care Act interesting because he has heard from businesses that it is cheaper not to offer insurance and pay the fine than to provide health insurance. Questions were also asked why it would call for no co-pays, and it was pointed out that other services (well child, immunizations, others) do not have co-pays in order to ensure prevention.

A late substitute was offered that included language saying that the Board of Commissioners supports the constitutionality of religious liberty by providing exemptions for religious-based institutions. There was a discussion about the meaning of religious-based institutions. Commissioner Tennis said he would support exemptions for churches, but religious-based hospital systems. We were told that the Affordable Care Act has language saying that employees of religious institutions don't have to abide by things that they have religious objections to. The language will likely be clarified and re-offered on the Commission floor on Tuesday. This resolution passed the Human Services Committee 4-2.

In County Services, we passed the resolution creating the county road advisory board for the Ingham county department of transportation and roads (as explained two weeks ago). We also had a lengthy discussion about the Lake Lansing North trail property. The County Commission had approved $25,000 for this project a few years ago but, apparently, ended up paying over $200,000 for the new trails property when the Department of Natural Resources did not come through with the money they committed. We are trying to figure out the County ended up on the hook and why the Board was not alerted nor asked to vote on this appropriation.

The County Clerk also gave an update on the deleted data. Software is being restored, and the company recovering the deleted data has been working on it for 2-3 weeks. We do not yet have an estimated time for the data to be restored. Once all the programs are back up and running, much of the data will need to be re-scanned back in and we have hired a Vendor to do this. It is approximately 150,000 records to be re-scanned and imported. The County Clerk, Information Systems, and hired vendors are doing a good job trying to re-create this.

On the campaign trail, things continue to be going well. We are receiving more and more endorsements, and are visiting voters at their doors. With just 44 days left before election day, the Schor for State Representative campaign continues in full swing! If you are interested in volunteering for a few hours, you can send the campaign a message at www.andyschor.com and we will put your time and/or money to good use!

Joan Nelson Honored, Red Cross Workers' Rights, Foreclosures, 911 Plan, Campaign Update

This week at the Board meeting, we took up a few resolutions expressing the sense of the county. First, we honored Joan Nelson. Joan is the co-founder and Director of the Allen Neighborhood Center on the Eastside of Lansing. She is the driving force behind many community improvements on the east side, the farmers market, greenhouse and senior programs, and is now embarking on a commercial kitchen incubator and year-round food service endeavor. Joan was named the 2012 Woman of the Year by the Greater Lansing Woman Magazine, and I was proud to join with Commissioners McGrain and Bahar-Cook to bring this resolution to the Board. Joan spoke eloquently in thanking the Board and talking about everything going on at the Allen Street Center. The resolution, of course, passed unanimously.

We next passed a resolution urging the American Red Cross to preserve workers’ rights to collectively bargain and resolve the strike. On March 30, 2012, the American Red Cross Blood Services Division Workers of Lansing were forced to strike to protect their rights to collectively bargain. The national American Red Cross has expected its workers to accept staffing levels that could endanger blood supplies and have stated as part of their bargaining objectives that they wish to strip the rights of the workers to bargain over their wage package. There have been many safety violations assessed by the FDA resulting in millions of dollars worth of fines, and staff has been harassed and discriminated against for reporting such safety issues to the FDA. Additionally, the the American Red Cross has also been found guilty by the National Labor Relations Board of violating the rights of its workers by committing several unfair labor practices. As such, we passed a resolution strongly urging the American Red Cross to meet and bargain fairly with its employees to resolve this strike in an equitable manner that not only assists in protecting the blood supply, but also preserves workers’ rights to collectively bargain. Commissioner Schafer argued that this is not county business. Commissioner McGrain said that we should be concerned about things that concern the health and safety of our county. This affects our blood supply, and is very relevant. Commissioner Tennis agreed and said that we should examine these issues as part of our role as elected officials. People listen to our opinions, and we have an impact on our community which this greatly affects. The resolution passed 13 – 3.

We considered the contract with Legal Services of South Central Michigan. I explained this in depth last week. It deals with foreclosure assistance for Ingham County residents. Commissioner Dragonetti voting was the sole vote against this resolution. He said that he voted for the funding last year, but was opposing it this year because it is only a very small impact. He said that the lawsuit by the Register of Deeds really goes after the problem. By the time folks try to get help, it is actually too late. Register of Deeds Hertel strongly disagreed and said that it is not too late. He said that we have stopped foreclosures and gotten modifications for those facing foreclosures. He said that it is worth money we are spending and much more than that. Many people who had no legal access now have successful resolutions using this program. Additionally, we are saving people’s homes, so it is not too late. 140 people have been helped since July. I argued that this is an instance where a little bit of government money is going a long way to help our residents and that this is the best use of taxpayer dollars. Preventing foreclosure helps those people, helps the neighborhood, and helps the community because foreclosures bring down property values for everyone. Hertel also said that when title companies are forced to face the court and sanctions, they actually try to find the documents and make things right. Otherwise they don’t, and people won’t get to court and get things right, and will lose their homes when they shouldn’t. Commissioner Koenig also said that this is about the value of hope for these people. The resolution passed 15-1.

Finally, we had our public hearing on the new 911 Service Plan. State statute requires a 911 service plan. We needed to update it because of the consolidation of our 911 centers, so we adopted a new plan. The plan was provided to public agencies in the 911 service district and advertised through newspaper notification. No one opted out of the plan and there were no requested changes. Speaking of 911, we also opened our new 911 center this week. It was a great event. We had a last-minute problem when the FOP went to court and asked for an injunction because they believe their employees are not properly trained yet. This court action was the first that we had heard of this at the county. Our staff says that the employees have been provided significant training. I assume the County Services committee will look at this, but it will be played out in court.

The campaign continues to go exceedingly well. Voters are very engaged in the race. Fundraising is going well and we have our next fundraiser on Monday. If you are interested in contributing or volunteering, or just want to keep up with the campaign, please visit www.andyschor.com!

Foreclosure Fraud, Employee Negotiations, Dep't of Roads and Transportation, Health Department and CMH Co-Location, Campaign Update

This week, we had a very busy committee in County Services. We led off with discussion about the resolution to contract with legal aid of central Michigan to take client referrals from the Ingham County Register of Deeds and Ingham County Treasurer. Register of Deeds Curtis Hertel, Jr. presented about the importance of the program. Ingham County and its residents have been hit especially hard by the foreclosure crisis and Register of Deeds Hertel has uncovered potential fraudulent documents that call into question the legality of thousands of foreclosures in his office. The foreclosure crisis has directly impacted the county budget by lowering property values across the county and increased the counties tax foreclosure costs. Last year, Ingham County contracted with Legal Aid of South Central Michigan, who has served over 130 Ingham County Residents in the last year based on the county’s funding. There are 39 active cases being adjudicated using Ingham County Grant dollars currently. Legal Aid and the Register of Deeds Office have held a dozen town halls across the County, helping to explain the problem foreclosures present to our communities, and to find victims of illegal foreclosures. Legal Aid has helped uncover cases of notary and foreclosure fraud that have been referred to the Attorney General’s office and FBI for investigation. This resolution continue the county’s contract with Legal Aid of South Central Michigan to refer clients who have been effected by this crisis in the amount of 60,000 dollars to be taken from the delinquent tax fund. Additionally, we were told that 145 people were helped since July 1 of last year. These people have no help, and this program provides a unique opportunity for reliable and accessible help. These people have no resources and this is one of the few resources available. The resolution passed unanimously.

The second big resolution that we considered was a bit more controversial. It was a resolution to change the 2012 managerial and confidential personnel manual to match changes negotiated in collective bargaining agreements with the managers. The changes proposed included:
- recognition of the earlier implementation of the 1.8% increase in employee’s pension contribution.
- change in employee contribution toward retirement: Employees hired prior to the effective date of this agreement would contribute an additional 1.8% of gross wages to the employee retirement, increasing the total contribution for Managerial employees to 8.19% and Confidential employees to 7.16%
- add a new retirement plan: Employees hired on or after the effective date of this agreement would be covered by the Municipal Employees’ Retirement System’s Hybrid Plan - consisting of a Defined Benefit (DB) component with a 1.0% Benefit Multiplier and a Defined Contribution (DC) component with an employer match of the Employee’s contribution in an amount up to 2.5% of the employee’s payroll.
- change in the language under Compensation Plan: 2. Step increases would be subject only to the approval of the immediate supervisor with the exception of those positions reporting directly to the Board of Commissioners or Judges. Those positions include but may not be limited to the Health Officer, Animal Control Director, Veterans Affairs Director, Friend of the Court, Circuit Court Administrator, District Court Administrator and Magistrate, Probate Court Administrator, and the Controller, and must be approved by the appropriate presiding Judge or liaison committee Chairperson of the Board of Commissioners.
- Change in the language under Compensation Plan: upon justification by the department and approval of the Human Resources Director, a new employee would be able to be started at step 2. At the discretion of the Ingham County Health Department and with the approval of the Human Resources Director, Primary Care Physicians and Dentists may be started at step 5 based on applicable experience.
- Employees hired after the effective date of this agreement would not be eligible to receive longevity bonus.
- decrease sick time accruals for employees hired on or after the effective date of this agreement as follows: Each full-time employee hired on or after the effective date of this agreement would earn 3.69 hours per pay period. Three quarter-time and part-time employees shall earn 75% and 50% of that amount, respectively.
- change the donation of sick time to read: A total of 16 sick hours may be donated by an employee under this manual in any department, irrespective of the employee group affiliation or bargaining unit membership.
- change to Section J (2) regarding if the request for donated sick time is approved by the County Services Committee under the 6 step procedure outlined in the agreement and that the Sick Leave Donation Policy may be terminated by County Services Committee, in its discretion, after the expiration of this manual: New language - Any decision by the County Services Committee shall not be subject to the Complaint Procedure.
- change in Retiree Health Insurance: Employee hired on or after the effective date of the agreement shall not be eligible for single retiree health insurance coverage until after they reach 60 years of age, subject to the scale based on years of service. Retirees that purchase dental and vision insurance at group rates and subsequently choose to discontinue the coverage, may not re-enroll.
- change in vacation leave earned: New employees hired on or after the effective date of this agreement shall be subject to the reduced accrual of vacation based on years of service.
- change in Other Specific Managerial Benefits (Appendix A): Elimination of dry cleaning and laundering allowance and elimination of clothing reimbursement. Addition of “on-call” language: In accordance with Ingham County Board of Commissioners Resolution #03-042, physicians employed by the County under the Managerial and Confidential Employee Personnel Manual would participate in “on-call” coverage and shall be paid an “on-call” bonus. The “oncall” bonus shall be paid on quarterly.
- provide salary increases as follows: There will be no change in the compensation levels reflected in Appendix D for the duration of this agreement.

This resolution was proposed to be effective only until the end of the year (December 31, 2012). We had a very lively debate. These terms were agreed to by the managerial staff, but many of the labor unions were upset with it because they believe that it would create terms that they would have to abide by as well. Our unions are now in negotiations, though, and collective bargaining sessions are still happening.

In discussion, I expressed opposition to the automatic Step 5 provision. I also expressed concerns about creating all of these conditions without having all bargaining units involved. Our Controller said that the managers feel they should provide leadership in agreeing to these conditions. They also specified that these conditions are only until the end of the year, so any changes with the employees can be reflected with the managers next year. Commissioner Grebner expressed what he thought are the positives of the hybrid defined contribution plan, including eliminating the corruption possibilities of the defined benefit program. We had a long discussion and, ultimately, the resolution was defeated 3-3. The same resolution came up in Finance, though, and but I am not on that committee and don’t know if it passed that committee.

We next had a long conversation about our first ever resolution consideration actions regarding the Department of Roads and Transportation. We approved permits that were presented to us. These are regular permits that were routinely approved by the Road Commission. Because the County Commission is now the Road Commission, we approved these permits. There were long discussions, though, about the processes and questions to the Executive Director of the Road Commission about how things work. We will definitely have more discussion and training about how to be road commissioners! We then talked about the conversations that the townships had regarding creating an advisory committee that will recommend which road projects are done. The townships seem skeptical of their role, but they proposed a 16 member Advisory Board that would meet four times per year.

We had a few things left on the agenda at that time, but I had to leave because it was my daughter’s birthday that day. The meeting had gone 2 ½ hours and I needed to get home to wish her a happy birthday before she went to bed. The most important resolution to be considered was a discussion about how our Information Systems department accidentally deleted all of the clerk data and information. My understanding is that there was an attempt to delete old Register of Deeds data, but this inadvertently deleted all the Clerk data as well. They are trying to re-create that information. I am very upset that there were not backup protocols and redundancies, and plan to discuss this with our staff. I am also disappointed to have missed this discussion after 2 ½ hours of meeting, but my daughter had to come first.

In Human Services the day before, we talked at length of co-locating a Health Department clinic within the Community Mental Health building. CMH and the Health Department both said that this would be a great thing for the county and our services. This is a way to help people get access to those that can provide the health care. Health care access is a growing challenge, especially for the seriously mentally ill. Coordination of these services will allow for each to bring assets to the table that have not been available previously. There is a 25% less life expectancy for those with mental illness. The mentally ill face depression, which results in higher blood pressure, asthma, diabetes, stroke, etc. They also cost society more money because they are more likely to use the emergency room (46.7% vs 30.5% for others) and to be hospitalized (20.4% vs 11.6% for others). The seriously mentally ill usually don’t seek care and are a disenfranchised population. The Health department can’t do the full range of services for the mentally impaired, and the co-location brings in level of resources that are needed to have proper patient services and keep federal funds – psychiatric, residential, other pieces. We expressed support of the concept. There were details that needed to be worked out, though. The Health Department proposed to have a new provide hired, but wants to move support staff from other facilities. I expressed concern that this will reduce service and care in those facilities, and will result in other workers having to pickup more of those duties. There were other questions about startup costs, which will be paid for by a federal grant, and operational costs which the Health Department will pick up. We were also told that CMH is an at-risk provider, so they get paid as if they are an insurance company and can spread the money around for services. Other details, like hours of operation, will be worked out as the plan is moved forward. But because there are a lot of approvals that are still needed, we agreed to move this forward for now with the details still needing to be worked out.

As for my campaign for State Representative, it continues to go very well! If you are in Lansing or Lansing Township and you vote, you have probably received a knock on your door and have spoken to someone from my campaign or had a piece of literature left at your door. I have done a few thousand doors myself, and my campaign team have covered the district and start over on Monday! Fundraising also continues to go well, and we will have our next event on June 19th. You can go to www.andyschor.com to volunteer or to contribute. Thanks everyone for all your help. Two more months until Primary Election day!

No Commission Action, Campaign Update, Tri-County Ofc on Aging

This week, there were no committee meetings and there was not a County Commission meeting. Committee meetings are the first and third week of the month and Commission meetings are the second and fourth weeks of the month, so months with a fifth week have no County Commission meetings. As such, this month I had no meetings.

The State Rep campaign is going exceptionally well! I have personally knocked several precincts in Lansing and Lansing Township, and my campaign team has knocked between 4,000 and 5,000 doors. We will be done with the entire dstrict soon, and will start over again! One of my opponents went up with lawn signs this week, so we responded in kind and are getting them up this week. Fundraising continues to be on track. If you would like to have a yard sign, want to get exercise and knock some doors, or want to contribute to the campaign, you can email me at andy.schor@gmail.com or can go to www.andyschor.com. Thanks for all your support!

As for this week’s Blog, I am proud to serve on the Tri-County Office on Aging Board (TCOA). I have been on this Board for many years, serving as one of three Ingham County Commissioners. There are also Clinton and Eaton County Commissioner, and members from the Cities of Lansing and East Lansing. I asked Marion Owen, Executive Director of TCOA, to provide information about what TCOA does and the services provided. Below is the information. Thanks, Marion!’
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Since 1974 the Tri-County Office on Aging (TCOA) has been the region's source for information and services that older adults, persons with disabilities and their families need to live independently and remain active in their communities. TCOA was designated the Area Agency on Aging through the state Office of Services to the Aging, as a response to the 1973 amendments of the federal Older Americans Act and was established by the Cities of Lansing, East Lansing and Ingham, Eaton and Ingham Counties. The mission of the agency is to promote and preserve the independence and dignity of the aging population.

At TCOA, we serve our neighbors, friends and family members every day. Our mission is to promote and preserve the independence and dignity of the aging population. To accomplish this mission, we connect people who need help to service providers, volunteers, donors, businesses and governments throughout Eaton, Clinton and Ingham Counties and the Cities of Lansing and East Lansing. Our mission is, therefore, a fundamentally personal one. The individuals we support and their unique dreams, beliefs, circumstances and goals are at the core of all that we do. Although TCOA's Meals On Wheels is our best-known program our reach goes well beyond providing nourishing meals. Many of our services are provided at no or low-cost or have fees based on a sliding scale. To see a comprehensive list of our services please visit our website at www.tcoa.org and “like” us on Facebook.

In addition to our many services TCOA is also excited about the 5th Annual Older Michiganians Day on June 20th, 2012. Each year approximately 800 older adults gather at the State Capitol to advocate for issues that matter to them and talk to legislators. This year’s theme is the Senior WAVE: We Advocate, Vote, and Energize the Economy. The 2011/2012 Legislative platform includes:
1. Invest in quality Long Term Care options focused on cost-effective solutions that meet the needs of citizens.
2. Provide suitable housing, transportation and health care choices to support independent living and strengthen the economy.
3. Ensure safety and security through elder abuse protection.

Please join us to show your support. If you would like to receive a ticket for a box lunch please call 517-887-1382. (tickets are required to obtain a lunch.) For more information on this event and to see pictures and video from last year’s event, please visit www.oldermighiganiansday.com.

Other activities include the 27th Annual Dinner and Auction on November 1st, 2012. The event will be held at the Eagle Eye Banquet Center with musical entertainment by the Sea Cruisers Band and all proceeds raised will benefit the TCOA Meals on Wheels Program and other in-home services. For more information or to be involved, contact Vaughn Thompson, Fundraising and Volunteer Specialist, at 517-887-1377. Also, TCOA is holding a public hearing on Thursday, June 14th, 2012 at The TCOA, 5303 S. Cedar, Lansing, Suite 1 to solicit input on its fiscal year 2013 Annual Implementation Plan. For more information please contact LeeAnna Olson at 517-887-1382. Project Fresh is currently distributing coupons to eligible people sixty and older in Ingham County that can be used at local farmer’s markets for fresh Michigan produce. This program is first come first served and quantities are limited. For more information call Marion Miller at 517-887-1393.

TCOA is in the planning stages of many other upcoming activities. For updates please visit our website at www.tcoa.org and visit our Facebook Page.

Health Department Restructuring, County Mowing Contract with Lansing, Substance Abuse and CMH Merger, Campaign Update

This week we had a very busy week. In County Services and Human Services, we took up a resolution to realign the administrative structure of the Health Department. Under former director Dr. Dean Sienko, we were in a unique situation where three positions were combined as one because Dr. Sienko could act as the Health Officer, Chief Medical Officer, and Health Department Director. The proposal is to go back to the old system of having three positions as required by law. We already have a Health Director, so it creates the other two positions. Because that would be a high budget impact on the county, the Health Director (Dr. Renee Canady) crafted a proposal to restructure much of the department. She was able to eliminate some management positions and combine positions to achieve significant savings for the county. When considered a few weeks ago, there was confusion in the numbers, but this week it was all made more clear. The realignment will result in the elimination of a total of five managerial positions, the establishment of one new managerial position, and the reallocation of managerial duties across existing staff. Positions proposed for elimination involve vacancies, thus avoiding negative effects to any incumbent employees. The proposal creates $24,836 in cost savings and creates additional provider capacity to serve clients in the Community Health Center Network, which in turn, will generate addition revenue for the department.

An issue that came up late dealt with the the contract between the county and the City of Lansing regarding mowing certain city parks. As you may recall, last year the County agreed to mow certain parks and the City would compensate. At the time, I had asked whether this contract would result in layoffs at the City. We were told that this would not create such a situation and the employees would be moved to other City operations. This week, we learned that the City announced that it would not bring back many of the seasonal employees that were laid off at the end of last season (they are laid off at the end of the summer and re-hired at the beginning). There were claims that this was due, in part, to the contract with the County. We added this as a discussion item to the County Services agenda and considered the possibiity of ending the contract with the City (we have to give 30 days notice). We were told by the UAW president that the layoffs are happening as a result of mowing. They said that there are 39 employees out of work, and some of these are due to contract between city and county. The UAW has submitted a proposal to the City to have their employees hired back. The City apparently has agreed not to privatize the services and that will bring back 17 of the employees.

The City was not represented at the committee meeting, as this was a late item and they could not have anyone there. Our county staff spoke with city staff and relayed to the committee the City's contention that the layoffs were normal and just would not be recalled. There were questions about what happens to the equipment that the county purchased for the mowing. It seems that if the contract is broken, the City doesn't have to buy the equipment back and the County would own it. If the contact goes to term but is not renewed, the City would have to purchase the equipment. I also asked questions about what happens to the parks if the contract is broken. I had previously heard that the contract would be part of the privatized contract. The UAW member indicated that because there will be no privatizations, breaking the contract will result in UAW employees being recalled for the work and the parks will still be mowed. Also, it was rasied that the City may have violated their contract with the UAW, which says that no employee can be displaced by a subcontracted employee. The UAW may go to arbitration on this.

Because most of the questions are for the City, it was moved that the City be requested to have someone at the next County Services meeting to answer the questions that were for them. Hopefully, someone will be able to attend.

In the Human Services Committee, we passed a resolution asking the state Department of Community Health to allow for the integration of the management of this region’s public substance abuse disorder prevention and treatment services (currently carried out by the Mid South Substance Abuse Commission) into the operations of the Community Mental Health Authority of Clinton, Eaton, and Ingham Counties. CMH would become the Coordinating Agency for administering Substance Use Disorder services, effective October 1, 2012. We had a good discussion about substance abuse services and how Mid South and CMH are ahead of the curve in initiating this merger. The Legislature is considering legislation to require these mergers, and our agencies are getting in front of the coming legislation by working on this now and making sure it is done right.

On the political front, the campaign continues to go very well. I am having tremendous response with voters and have picked up a few more endorsements. And fundraising continues to go very well! The field in the Democratic Primary is now more crowded, and we will be ramping up opportunities for volunteers. Please go to www.andyschor.com and sign up to volunteer or to contribute to the campaign. August 7th is just four months away, and is coming fast! Thanks everyone for all your support!

Road Commission, St Vincent and Living Wage, LCC Community Strategic Forums, Campaign Update

Happy Ideas of March (is that a happy occasion?). Sorry once again for not blogging last week. No excuses...I just forgot. But don't fret! I will report today on the actions of the last two weeks.

Road Commission came up once again. I am sure readers would be surprised if it didn't. Not much new this time. We considered a resolution setting public hearings on the transfer of powers, duties and functions of the Road Commission to the Board of Commissioners. Although we have had much testimony already, state law requires two public hearings before we can take any action. In committee, Jim Dravenstatt-Moceri (the Chair of the Road Commission Board) presented a resolution passed by the Road Commission Board (4-0-1) that would have the county take over the HR, Finance, and IT functions from the Road Commission. I thought this was a well written resolution and showed a call for cooperation from the Road Commission. After hearing that information, we considered and passed the resolution setting hearings for the public to comment on the idea of transferring powers. The hearings will be March 27th and April 10th before the Board of Commissioners at 6:30 p.m. in the Board of Commissioners’ Room at the Ingham County Courthouse in Mason. This passed County Services unanimously. It passed the full Board of Commissioners 14-2. Commissioner Todd Tennis said he was being consistent in opposing the takeover and voted no. Commissioner Dale Copedge joined him in opposing the resolution.

The really controversial resolution was a request from St. Vincent Catholic Charities for a permanent waiver of the requirements of the Ingham County Living Wage Policy. In Ingham County, living wage is defined as an hourly wage rate which is equivalent to 125% of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services poverty threshold for a family of four, based on 2,000 hours worked annually. For 2012, the living wage rate is $14.42/hour. Twenty percent (20%) of the hourly rate paid by the employer may be reduced if a comprehensive health care benefits package is provided. Vendors contracting with the County primarily to perform services are required to pay their employees a living wage if (1) the total expenditure of the contract or the total value of all contracts the vendor has with the County exceeds $50,000 in a twelve-month calendar, and (2) The vendor employs five or more employees. Non-profit human services agencies may request a waiver of the provisions of the policy if it
believes that the application of the policy would cause economic harm to the agency in a fashion that would result in the harm created by application of the policy outweighing the benefits of applying the policy.

In 2003, 2004, and again in 2008, the county agreed to requests from St. Vincent for a waiver from the policy provided that adequate yearly progress was being made toward paying its employees a living wage. The 2008 waiver expired on December 31, 2011. St. Vincent again came before the committee requesting an exemption. I asked them several questions. I reminded them that they were supportive of the Living Wage policy and asked us to pass it several years ago. [Note: St Vincent has since responded that they support the living wage concept and are committed to paying a fair and just wage.] They then came in for an exemption and said that they would work towards paying their employees a living wage. [The following is added at the request of St. Vincent] They said that they currently pay staff on this contract at least $10 per hour plus they receive benefits and a pension plan. The discussed that if they were to pay staff under this contract at a higher rate to meet the living wage requirements, they would have to shift all wages in the agency to adjust for this change as they use a system that is just across the board. They stated that doing this would impact their funding as they would have to lay off staff to afford the pay increase and provide fewer services to fewer numbers of clients. They said that the living wage requirement is not a fair market rate and if they were to adjust all the salaries they would probably lose funding due to not being able to meet contractual requirements and outcomes, etc. They stated that this will not only cause the refugee services program to suffer or ultimately shut down, it would also impact all programs within the agency in a negative way.

While I am still very disappointed that they are a charitable organization yet their employees may need public assistance if they are not making the living wage, I don't want to see the Refugee Program shuttered (which would affect 400-500 clients per year). As such, I proposed an amendment that would change the permanent exemption to a three-year exemption so they have to again come to the County Commission and tell us what progress has been made. That amendment passed on a 3-2 vote in committee, then the resolution was passed on to the Board floor.

Before the Board meeting, I had an opportunity to talk to the employees. They said that St. Vincent is not making much progress. They asked us to reduce the exemption time to one year so that they can work with St Vincent to get closer to the living wage. If they can work together, then the employees will join St Vincent in coming to the County Commission next year to discuss progress. I indicated support for this idea and, on the Board floor, proposed and passed an amendment to reduce the exemption to one year. On the Board floor, several Commissioners indicated disappointment in St Vincent for not meeting the goal that was committed to several times. It was stated that taxpayer dollars are being used to pay employees wages so low that they need to use other governmental services such as the Ingham Health Plan. The final resolution which granted a one-year waiver passed. I think the vote was 11-5 or so. Commissioners Vickers, Dougan, and Grebner opposed this because they thought that there should be a permanent exemption. Commissioner Tennis and one or two others (my apologies...I can't remember and don't have my notes) opposed it because they don't think there should be an exemption at all.

[Note: I met with St. Vincent at their request a few weeks after this blog was posted. They told me that their wages are not “so low” and they meet or exceed market value. They gave me their information from their perspective. They said that the employees that are unionized are not eligible for the living wage, and they said that these employees are not part of the discussions with the county. They said that they pay fair and just wages and conduct market analysis studies each year to assure that they are paying within the market value of all positions. They also said that they work with union staff who are exempt under this living wage requirement to negotiate wages per the union contract. I can't say that I agree with them on all counts, but they were very interested in discussing this issue and having Commissioners understand their perspective. I appreciate that. I told them that this will be reviewed again next year, and highly encouraged them to meet with the union and Commissioners so that another controversial debate doesn't happen in committee next year. I am encouraged by their comments.]

In other community news, Lansing Community College is holding community strategic forums. They want to hear from involved community members about how the college can better serve our community. They want to know what our community needs and what role should the college play. Here is the schedule of the upcoming forums:

I attended the first one on Monday, March 12 and was very impressed. They are really trying to hear what the community wants, needs, and expects from the college. I have also heard good things from the Tuesday, March 13th event. The third event happened this evening.

Here is information about future forums:

Friday, March 16 8-9:30 am LCC West Campus Auditorium
5708 Cornerstone Drive, Lansing

Tuesday, March 20 6:30-8 pm Eaton Rapids Public Schools, 912 S Greyhound,
Eaton Rapids

Thursday, March 22 8-9:30 am LCC University Center, rooms 203-204
210 W Shiawassee, Lansing

Thursday, March 22 7-8:30 pm LCC West Campus, rooms M119-M120
5708 Cornerstone Drive, Lansing

Monday, March 26 4:30-6 pm LCC Livingston County Center at Parker Campus, Room 201, 402 Wright Rd, Howell

Tuesday, March 27 4:30-6 pm LCC Clinton County Center, Room 172, 1013 S US 27, St. Johns

Thursday, March 29 4:30-6 pm LCC East, Room 112, 2827 Eyde Parkway, East Lansing

Please RSVP to Adrienne Jenkins at (517) 483-1415 or jenkina6@email.lcc.edu

Campaign Update: I had a GREAT fundraiser on Wednesday. Thanks to Jim McGurkin for hosting and opening up his wonderful house. We raised a lot of money, and the checks are still coming in from those who couldn't make it. I continue to attend meetings and talk to constituents at events, and am enjoying getting out in the great weather. Anyone who is looking to help out will have opportunities, apparently earlier than expected due to the awesome weather. Please sign up to volunteer or contribute at www.andyschor.com. Thanks again to everyone who is helping or supportive!

Meijer and Free Publications, 911 Service Plan Update

Welcome to the Schor Report. Sorry for skipping a week last week. I had a death in the family and didn't have time to find a guest blogger. This week, I will try to cover the action for the last two weeks.

The County Services committee then the full Board of Commissioner took up a resolution calling on Meijer stores to continue to have City Pulse and other free magazines available in their store lobbies. Meijer's corporate offices recently decided to discontinue this service, and the City Pulse is calling on them to reverse this decision. The discussion on the Board floor was two-fold: (1) is this county business, and (2) is it a good business decision for Meijer. Commissioner Randy Schafer argued that is up to Meijer to decide what to do with their own business, and what makes business sense and what doesn't. He argued that it isn't county business. Commissioner Dianne Holman agreed, saying that she likes getting the paper there, but up to Meijer to decide. Commissioner Vickers argued that the County in the past has told people to go online (apparently he was referring to the Fair Board) and this should be no different.

Commissioner Deb Nolan pointed out that the Ingham County Commission weighs in on community issues all the time. She pointed out that others have weighed in favorable to the opinions of the Pulse, including the Lansing City Council. She said that there are 3,000 City Pulse publications picked up at Meijer locations weekly and Meijer is an important avenue to get this information out to citizens. She also pointed out that this is county business because public notices and Land Bank notices and other governmental information is in the Pulse and needs to get to residents. Commissioner Rebecca Baher-Cook also pointed out that this resolution is county business because the county shares tax foreclosures and RFP's and other county business. This must be available in places where people get public information. The elderly and others may not be in places where the City Pulse and other free publications are located, but they do go to the grocery store. She argued that this is an important resolution because the County is letting Meijer know that this is a disservice to residents. Commissioner Todd Tennis pointed out that we are not mandating anything, but encouraging Meijer to continue to allow free periodicals at their places of business.

Commissioner Schafer said that the main distribution is in Lansing and East Lansing, and the Pulse doesn't reach large portion of the rest of the county so this is just an urban issue. I responded to that saying that Meijer is in Lansing and East Lansing where the population centers are, but is also in Mason. And, I added that the Leslie paper and Stockbridge paper and other papers are free to residents and could also be carried at Meijer for the out-county residents that shop there. I pointed out that this is county business because we are acting on behalf of our constituents. I re-iterated that this is not an ordinance or mandate, but that this this is county business because the information is important to our constituents and Meijer needs to know the views of the community. The final resolution passed on a 10 - 5 vote, with the 4 Republicans and Commissioner Holman voting no and one Commissioner absent.

We also passed a resolution updating the Ingham County 911 Service Plan. The resolution updated the service plan from 1987. In includes areas services, how they all work, technical considerations, public and private agencies services by the network, etc. We had to pull this and vote on it separately from the items on the consent agenda because of state law requirements.

The final action on the Board floor involved appointments. A motion was made to make appointments to the Fair Board. We had interviewed people in the County Services Committee, but had not made a decision. The Democratic Caucus Chair moved to appoint two individuals, but apparently this information did not make it to the Republican Caucus in time. Some objected to being left out of the deliberations and decisions. Others wanted different members recommended. A motion was made to refer this back to committee for a recommendation and that motion passed 11-4. I supported the motion to send the resolution back to committee. After working in the Legislature for Democrats in the minority, I know what it is like to be kept out of the deliberations. The minority party cannot pass legislation or set the agenda, but they should at least be able to be part of the deliberation. When working in the State Senate and State House, there were plenty of times that the Republicans shut us out completely and that was frustrating when the Democrats represent Michigan residents also. As such, I agreed that the Republicans should be part of the deliberation even if the final decision may or may not be changed.

In County Services, we also heard that the Hawk Island snow park is now open. It was opened for 20 hours of service two weeks ago (Saturday for 8 hours and Sunday for 8 hours) and last weekend it was open all weekend. They are making snow at night when it is cold. With the unseasonable warm weather, it is hard to keep the snow made and not melting, but our staff is working on it. We also had a brief discussion about the Road Commission, and Chair Holman said that there will be an item on the next agenda. She said that she expected the mandatory public hearings to happen in late March or early April and expected discussions to commence soon when the Controller starts to bring recommendations.

In the Human Services Committee, we had an excellent presentation from the Greater Lansing Food Bank. I can't list everything they said, but they are definitely doing greater work for our community. They estimate 71,540 people in Ingham, Eaton, and Clinton counties don't know where their next meal is coming from. 1.3 million pounds of food was distributed to the Ingham County Food Bank network pantries from 2010 to 2011. Beginning July 1, 2012, the Greater Lansing Food Bank and the Mid-Michigan Food Bank will become one food bank. This will create efficiencies in the system. We had a great discussion about how we can get the word out. The Food Bank people mentioned the Lansing State Journal editorial and said that many people responded to that. I also mentioned that we need to keep pushing out the 2-1-1 phone number. People can call this if they have extra food they want to donate, or for any other social safety net needs. This prevents every different agency from havinghttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif to market their own contact information. If you need to know if there are community services to fit your needs, call 2-1-1!

On the campaign front, things continue to be very busy. I have gained a few more endorsements in the last few weeks that I will roll out soon. Some big ones! And the first fundraiser of 2012 is set and ready to go. We have new Host Committee members being added every day. If you haven't already heard about it, block off March 14th from 5:30 to 7:30 and come join us at the home of Jim McClurken and Sergei Kvitko. All the details can be found on my website at .

Thanks for all the sympathy notes, and for all the well wishes for the commission stuff and the campaign!

Adult Refreshment Tent at Fair, Sun Country Landing Rights, Ingham Health Plan, Campaign Update

Sorry this blog is so late. Due to personal family reasons, last week was very crazy for me and next week may be the same. As such, this will be a short blog.

The Ingham County Commission met this week. The only resolution that we passed which was controversial was permanently allowing the Fair Board to offer an Adult Refreshment Tent (with beer and wine) at the Ingham County Fair. As was raised in committee, none of the predicted problems have happened over the last two years. No drunken people causing mischief, no public safety problems, no drunk driving, etc. In fact, there have been no problems at all with this. Commissioner Vickers said that the fair has the 4-H and it is not a proper venue for a beer tent. Commissioner Koenig responded that there hasn't been a problem. Commissioner Bahar-Cook added that she patronized the refreshment tent, and the staff did a great job of IDing those that entered the tent and of watching the drinking. I also added that this is an option that can be used to attract to people to the fair, which was mentioned to me by constituents. Commissioner Dougan then weighed in and said that this is not an option to raise money that he supports. The resolution passed on a bi-partisan vote with 11 Commissioners voting yes (10 Democrats and 1 Republican) and Commissioners Dougan, Vickers, Schafer, Celentino, and Copedge voting no (3 GOP and 2 Dems).http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

In non-controversial votes, the Board took a position calling on the federal government not to shut down the landing rights for Sun Country Airlines, which flies from Lansing to DC. We also authorized over $3 million to go to the Ingham Health Plan Corporation for health care benefits to those without health insurance through the Ingham Health Plan.

On the campaign trail, everything continues to go very well. I have been meeting with neighborhood groups and other groups in Lansing and Lansing Township. More and more people (electeds, neighborhood leaders, unions, business leaders,http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif etc) are signing on to my campaign every week. Fundraising is going very well, and we have our next fundraiser on March 14th in Lansing (check it out here on facebook!). If you want to contribute, sign up to volunteer to knock doors or help out otherwise, have a lawn sign outside your house or business, or just keep up with the campaign...you can go to and click on the appropriate link.

Thanks everyone for all your support! I will keep fighting for Ingham County residents on the County Commission, and look forward to the opportunity to fight for Lansing are residents in the Michigan House of Representatives!

Andy

2011 Budget Primer: Deficits, Revenues, Expenditures; Final Primary Campaign Update

This week was very quiet for the Board. As such, I would like to devote some time to discussing the budget. County staff will presented it to us at the end of August and early September. As you know (if you are a faithful reader of the Schor County Blog), the county is looking at a deficit of $7-8 million for the 2011 fiscal year, which starts in January. So why is it that we have that deficit? That gets asked often. The easy answer is that we have reduced property values which lead to less tax collections, as well as less interest income. At the same time, we have increasing expenses. That adds up to a deficit. But lets dig into that a bit more.

First let’s look at revenues that the county collects. In 2011, the county is expecting to collect $42.9 million in taxes. We are expecting to receive $9.3 million in intergovernmental transfers (transfers from cities, townships, etc. to the county). County Departments are expected to generate $20.8 million in revenues. We are also planning to use $1 million from our fund balance (rainy day fund). That is a total of about $74 million. All-in-all, these collections are $4.6 million less than the county collected in 2010 ($2.9 million less in taxes, $231,000 less in transfers, $147,000 less in department generated revenue, and $1.3 million less used from the general fund).

For fiscal year 2011, we are expecting county expenditures to be $80.4 million, which is $1.9 million more in expenditures than fiscal year 2010. That is about $6.5 million less in expected revenues than we have in expected expenditures (which includes the already-projected use of $1 million from our rainy day fund).

Why do we have $1.9 million more in expenditures in 2011 than we had in 2010? Here’s why…
1. In 2010 we had 3 furlough days for almost all employees. We have not figured any furlough days into the 2011 budget because we have not yet instructed county staff to negotiate this with the labor unions. That equals an additional $358,000 in expenditures than we had in 2010.
2. There is a 1% pay raise built into county employee contracts for 2011. Most contracts are in the final year of their cycle, so these will all be renegotiated for 2012 and beyond. But for 2011, the agreed-upon pay raise will cost $360,000.
3. We have an increase of $210,000 in employee fringe costs for 2011 (again, as per contracts).
4. The Friend of the Court and Prosecuting Attorney fiscal year change will cost us $185,000.
5. We have not yet implemented any hiring delays or hiring freezes for 2011. We have done that for the last few years, but not implementing those for 2011 would cost $953,000.
6. DHS foster care will cost an increased $253,000. This is due to new state mandates.
7. We always build in $300,000 to our budget for things that were not included in the budget, called strategic planning initiatives.
8. There is a drain tax at large increase from the Drain Commissioner’s office, which will cost $78,000.

We also have some items that will cost less in 2011. They are:
1. State ward cost decreases in the Family Court reduced by $350,000.
2. Community Mental Health reductions of 5%, saving $108,000.
3. Reduced costs for the clerk due to a 2011 being a non-election year for the county, which will reduce clerk costs by $160,000.
4. Debt service reduction savings of $277,000.

Add to this about $80,000 in other random costs, and you have the $1.9 million in expenditures.

So there it is. That is what we are looking at as we start our budget. Now we will see what the recommendations are from county staff to close the gap. I expect recommendations of more hiring freezes and furlough days, and other creative ideas. But we will see. Stay tuned…

Election Update: This is the final election update until the general election kicks into high gear. As you probably already know, I was victorious in my primary election!!! After a vigorous campaign knocking doors, doing mailings, running an absentee voter program, and continued constituent contact, I captured 83% of the total vote in the Democratic primary. Voters were not persuaded by the negative claims made by my opponent and expressed to me, over and over, that they like the job I am doing and want me to continue fighting for the residents of SE Lansing. Thanks to the voters of the 5th County Commission district. I also can’t express enough my deep appreciation for those who helped me on the campaign trail (knocking doors, lit drops, donating, letters to the editor, etc). I take it very seriously that the voters in the Democratic primary have again entrusted me to advocate for them when important county decisions are made. Now I will match up against my Republican opponent. I have met him once, and he seems like a nice and sensible guy. We will compare our records, philosophies, and ideas moving forward, and I am confident that voters will again choose me to represent the district and move Ingham County forward for the next two years.

Zoo Millage Placed on Ballot for Renewal, Confusion Ammt Defeated, Election-Year Antics Defeated, and final Campaign Update!

This week at the County Commission meeting, we focused mostly on the proposal to renew the millage for the Potter Park Zoo. First, we worked on perfecting the language for the November ballot. One issue that was raised is the language dealing with tax increment finance authorities (such as DDA’s). Under state law, these authorities create economic development and jobs, and can capture a small amount of all millages (general fund and special millages). Previously we have included the names of all of these authorities on the ballot, and this can be very confusing to voters. I have actually had people tell me that they decided to vote against a millage because they don’t understand this authority language (which really has little to do with the actual question). We recently found out that state law doesn’t necessarily require us to include this language on the ballot, so the County Services and Finance committees had taken it out. There was an amendment to add language to the ballot initiative saying that authorities can capture some of the money, but that amendment was defeated. While I understand the idea behind the language, I opposed the amendment because I believe that it makes the ballot question very confusing for voters who may vote against the ballot question because they don’t understand that additional language. I think they should be voting on whether or not they want to fund the zoo, which is the point of the question in the first place. Others also said that brevity is the most important part of a ballot question, and opposed the amendment. I also pointed out that other ballot questions on the November ballot don’t have this language, so there is really no inequality of the various questions.

After that discussion, the Board was reminded that it is an election year when a second amendment was proposed. One of the Republican commissioners (Steve Dougan) proposed an amendment to the millage language that would reduce the millage amount from .41 to .39. He said that he thought that we should reduce the millage by 5% to give voters a break. This really was just an election-year stunt and, as I am sure he knows, was not necessary and actually could negatively change the ballot initiative. First, as Commissioner Celentino pointed out, the millage has already been reduced. When it first passed, it was .46, but was automatically lowered to .41. Second, I pointed out that the Board of Commissioners can reduce the millage at any time on our own. We ask the voters for a renewal to keep up the operations of the zoo, and if we think it is bringing more money than needed then we can reduce the millage amount on our own without going to the ballot. Dougan knows that, yet he has never attempted to reduce the millage at the Board level. When I questioned him about that, he didn’t respond. Also, I asked what Dougan proposed to eliminate at the zoo in order to make up for the reduced funding. He also had no answer to that. Commissioner Bahar, though, had the answer. She and Commissioner Nolan both serve on the Zoo Board and know what these cuts would mean to the zoo. Commissioner Bahar said that the cost would equal a veterinarian or something equivalent. They both also said that only a part of the zoo is funded from the millage, and the rest is provided by contributions from the zoo society. This cut would negatively impact the zoo when the people have already said that they support the zoo by passing the millage four years ago (at a higher amount!). Plus, Commissioner Tennis pointed out that decreased property values have already lessened the amount that people are paying for the zoo. .41 mills brought in $3.1 million a few years ago. Now the same .41 mills brings in $2.9 million. So people are paying less property tax values and the millage is already reflecting that. All these reasons and more show that Commissioner Steve Dougan was just engaging in election-year politics, which is disappointing but not surprising. Finally, it was pointed out that this language would no longer make the ballot question a renewal. With the renewal language removed, some voters may think it is a new millage and oppose it. That would be disingenuous to the voters. The proposed amendment was defeated with the 13 Democrats opposing and the 3 Republicans supporting, and the resolution placing the millage renewal on the ballot as reported from Finance committee was passed. The Democrats all voted for it, and the 3 Republicans on the Board voted against allowing the citizens of Ingham County to decide if the zoo millage should be renewed or not.

Campaign Update: 6 more days left! I continue to campaign based on my record, which is getting tremendous response at doors and everywhere. I really appreciate the good wishes and great comments from my constituents in SE Lansing. My opponent continues to sling mud, though. He must not realize that it isn't working and the voters are not fooled. This week, he again accused me of taking a pay-raise (a lie), and a new accusation...he accused me of doubling my own Board pay per diem (another lie). The per diem has gone up $1, and this was done approximately 4 years ago. We have never doubled it. Where does he get this from? I appreciate that the voters see through these attacks and ridiculous claims, and want someone with a proven record and ideas moving forward.

If you are interested in helping me this week, please let me know. You can also go to this page for more info on how you can help, or you can contact me at aschor@yahoo.com. Thanks everyone for your support. I am excited for election day to come and for the voters to speak!

Deputy Sheriffs Added, Economic Development, Community Assessments, Fed Farm $, Hawk Island, Soldan Dog Park, and Campaign Update! (Whew...)

This week in County Services, we passed a resolution waiving the county’s hiring freeze so that we can fill several Deputy Sheriff positions. Several positions, two supervisory, have become vacant and need to be filled. There were some questions in committee about whether or not we should fill the positions because of the budget problems. I and others, though, argued that this is not the place to re-fight the road patrol issue. We have already taken affirmative action to end road patrol at the end of the year and the townships will be voting on whether or not they want to re-create those positions with local assessments. That being said, I believe that we should continue to provide the deputies that we committed to provide when we did our budget last year. We also need to have appropriate staff in the jails, and on the roads (at least until the end of the year).

We also once again looked at the federal bonds that were given to Ingham County to provide to local businesses. We allocated these a few months ago, but the Accident Fund returned their bonds because they were able to get other financing (which is good news for our economy!). Lansing Township (DDA) has a good share of the private bonds that we can make available for the phase 2 of the new Eastwood development (mixed-use parking garage and other things), and they have requested the balance of the bonds. They had not done anything with the original bonds until last week, though, when they actually went out to market with the bonds (i.e. sold them on the market). The EDC director was not comfortable giving more bonds if the township had not yet even gone to market with the other bonds. The EDC also was not comfortable going out for bid until Lansing Township produced the numbers that they needed (which they were not willing to do). Lansing Township has sent a letter to the Board asking for the balance of the dollars, and I expect that we will give it to them at the next meeting as they are the only entity to apply.

Speaking of economic development, we learned last week that our economic development director, Susan Pigg, will be leaving us on August 6th. So County Services had a good discussion about the process to replace her. We contract with MSU Extension and they will hire, but they will include us in the discussions. We are also discussing other potential possibilities when it comes to economic development. I think this is a good time to evaluate our program and see if there are ways to increasing its effectiveness. Commissioner Brian McGrain and I are working on some recommendations for the Board.

We also learned that there is $400 million available from the Federal Farm and Ranch Land law. This money is being allocated and the Ingham Farmland and Open Space committee has submitted our top 10 farms, requesting $650,000 in matching funds from feds. If approved, the county would only pay $.38 on the dollar for every dollar we spend on the farms (which comes out of the millage). So this could help us capture federal dollars.

In the last County Blog I mentioned the community needs assessment. We passed that in Finance (and the Human Services Committee also passed it). The Health Department needs to do a risk assessment in order to apply for the $11 billion available to Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC’s). That process will be started with the passage of this resolution and needs to happen quickly as the money will be applied for in November (and there needs to be a community needs assessment done before that). We are also looking to work with the hospitals (Sparrow and Ingham) and Community Mental Health, who also have to do community needs assessments.

We had an update on the snow tubing hill at Hawk Island. For those that don't remember, a few years ago we approved spending for a new snow tubing hill. We are pushing back the timeline once again, though, because we are still trying to get dirt for the project. We have relied on dirt from the city Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) project, but some of it was contaminate and couldn't be use. And for all those who have complained that the county shouldn't be spending money on a snow tubing hill (note: the money was approved years ago!), an important point was made by the Parks staff - not only is there very little money from the county (because we receive matching funds), but this hill will be a revenue generator. People will rent tubes and pay admission to the park, so it will generate much more than the $75,000 that it will cost.

Finally, we have received a request from the Dog Park folks. As you may know, the Soldan Dog Park is the dog park that was created attached to Hawk Island (although the property is city property). While there are set rules for the users of the dog park, there have been problems with people not following those rules. The city doesn't have the personnel to staff it, and neither does the county. So the users are sort of on an honor system and are expected to follow the rules. This is not happening as much as it should be, though. I have heard from constituents who have said that they or their dogs have been attacked and bitten. The Dog Park Task Force has proposed to create an electronic gate at the entrance to the Dog Park on the north and south sides. In order to get in, someone would have to purchase a pas, which would cost $5 per day or $40 for an annual pass ($25 for students). The cost of the pass would cover the installation of the gate and the maintenance of the Dog Park (capital expenditures, fencing, improvements, etc). Also, people would have to sign a consent to follow the rules in order to get the pass. Finally, we would have a record of who is at the Dog Park and when they were there, so attacks can be investigated. I like the idea of the pass, but it seems that the cost is a bit steep. People would not have to pay the cost to get into Hawk Island if they entered the Dog Park from the north (and park in Ingham Regional's parking lot), but I am still looking for feedback from people about the pro's and con's of the electronic gate (costs vs. benefits). Thoughts?

On the campaign trail: I have once again completed knocking doors throughout the whole district, and will start once again! If you are interested in helping out with the campaign, please let me know. I have received tremendous response at doors and at the many events I have attended, and am greatly encouraged by the comments of the voters of southeast Lansing. They are judging me on my record, which is all I can ask, and ignoring all the negative stuff from my opponent! 12 more days until the campaign is over!