Washtenaw County commissioners get their photo taken, with plaques given to them by the U.S. Census Bureau. In the foreground, with his back to the camera, is Toine Murphy, a partnership specialist from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Detroit office, who presented the plaques to commissioners. Bonus points to readers who can identify the woman on screen in the background, and what she's doing. (Photos by the writer)

Two millage-related issues were dispatched without discussion: making minor changes to ballot language for renewing the natural areas preservation program millage, and setting a Sept. 15 public hearing for renewal of an indigent veterans relief millage.

Commissioners gave initial approval, again without discussion, to transfer the use of $10 million in federal Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds from the county to the Washtenaw Community College. WCC plans to use the bonds to fund construction of a parking structure.

Also getting initial approval was a resolution to authorize the county to issue dog license renewals year-round, and to add the option of a three-year license. Currently, one-year dog licenses can be bought starting Dec. 1 for the upcoming year.

An agreement with St. Joseph Mercy Health System was terminated, related to the operation of the Delonis Center – the county’s homeless shelter. The agreement, put in place when the shelter was conceived, called for St. Joe’s to step in and operate the center if the entity created to do that work – the Washtenaw Housing Alliance – couldn’t perform that task. The WHA subsequently subcontracted operations to the Shelter Association of Washtenaw County and Food Gatherers, which have been operating the shelter for eight years. St. Joe’s asked that they be released from the agreement, but will keep their representatives on the WHA board.

And after months of discussion and debate, the board approved two resolutions that revived the county’s land bank, which commissioners had voted to dissolve in March 2010. Leah Gunn dissented, and three commissioners – Ken Schwartz, Jessica Ping and Barbara Bergman – were absent. County treasurer Catherine McClary, Ypsilanti mayor Paul Schreiber and Sabra Briere, an Ann Arbor city councilmember, attended the meeting to support the land bank, a tool used to help the county deal with foreclosed and blighted properties, and after the vote they all thanked the board for its action.

Land Bank Revived

The land bank, first formed in the summer of 2009, was dissolved in March 2010 after commissioners failed to reach consensus on issues of governance and funding. For background, see Chronicle coverage: “Banking on a Land Bank” (July 8, 2009 board meeting); and discussions during the county board meetings on March 17, 2010, July 7, 2010 and Aug. 4, 2010.

Land Bank: Public Commentary

Just as he’d done at the board’s March 17, 2010 meeting, Ypsilanti mayor Paul Schreiber told commissioners he was in favor of the land bank, and asked them to save it. He described the land bank as a tool that can enhance the work of the Washtenaw Urban County, a consortium of Washtenaw County, Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and nine townships, responsible for allocating federal funding for low-income housing and other community development projects. Schreiber serves on the Urban County’s executive committee, which is chaired by county commissioner Leah Gunn.

Paul Schreiber, mayor of Ypsilanti, worked on his laptop during a break in the Sept. 1 meeting of the Washtenaw County board of commissioners. Schreiber spoke during public commentary in support of the county land bank, which commissioners ultimately approved.

Schreiber noted that during his recent primary campaign for mayor, he’d noticed that there were some neighborhoods with more foreclosure signs than campaign signs. Washtenaw County isn’t as bad as Genesee County, he said, but they can stem the tide here if they empower the land bank and look for funding sources. [Genesee County, where Flint is located, formed the state's first land bank several years ago.] Schreiber said he understood some of the commissioners’ concerns about funding and governance issues, and he asked for their patience. The land bank, he concluded, “is very important for Ypsilanti city, Ypsilanti Township and I believe really the whole county.”

Land Bank: Commissioner Deliberations

Three resolutions were considered during the meeting: 1) a resolution proposed by Barbara Bergman to alter the composition of the land bank authority’s board in a substantive way, 2) a resolution that made changes to the original agreement forming the land bank, including some that related to the land bank authority board’s composition, and 3) a resolution to rescind the board’s previous vote to dissolve the land bank.

Commissioners first voted on Bergman’s resolution regarding the composition of the land bank’s governing body. Bergman, who was absent from Wednesday’s meeting, had introduced the resolution at the board’s Aug. 4 meeting, but it had been tabled. From The Chronicle’s report of that meeting:

The proposed intergovernmental agreement called for the board to consist of seven members: the county treasurer, two county commissioners, the mayor or councilmember from the city of Ann Arbor, the mayor or councilmember from the city of Ypsilanti, the supervisor of Ypsilanti Township, and a supervisor representing townships in the western part of the county. However, Bergman began the discussion by proposing an amendment to the intergovernmental agreement, to alter the composition of the land bank authority board. Her amendment would eliminate the requirement to have the Ypsilanti Township supervisor and a supervisor from western Washtenaw serve on the authority’s board.

In their place, Bergman proposed adding five other spots: 1) a representative from the banking industry, 2) a representative the local real estate industry, 3) a representative from local townships, recommended by the Michigan Townships Association, 4) an attorney recommended by the Washtenaw County Bar Association, and 5) a representative recommended by the Washtenaw County Home Builders Association. Her amendment required that all positions get final approval by the county board before being appointed.

There was no discussion regarding this resolution.

Outcome: Bergman’s resolution to change the composition of the land bank authority board failed. Casting dissenting votes were Kristin Judge, Ronnie Peterson, Wes Prater, Rolland Sizemore, and Conan Smith. Three commissioners – Bergman, Jessica Ping, and Ken Schwartz – were absent.

After the vote, Ronnie Peterson remarked that it seemed Mark Oiumet didn’t understand the resolution he had voted in favor of – Ouimet conceded that Peterson was correct, and that he had intended to vote no.

Peterson then asked corporation counsel Curtis Hedger to explain the resolutions they’d be voting on next. The board had given initial approval of these resolutions at their July 7 meeting, after a lengthy discussion that lasted more than an hour.

Hedger explained that second resolution would make four changes to the intergovernmental agreement that governs the land bank authority: 1) eliminating the position of sheriff from the authority’s board, 2) adding another county commissioner position, so that there would be two commissioners appointed to the authority’s board, 3) amending the agreement’s language so that votes would require a majority of the entire board, not just a majority of the quorum, and 4) strengthening the language so that the county board of commissioners would have the authority to terminate the land bank authority directly. [Previously, that power was held by the treasurer, though she had promised to abide by the county board's direction.]

The third resolution would rescind their March 17, 2010 decision to dissolve the land bank.

Before the vote, Sizemore asked county treasurer Catherine McClary whether the changes to the land bank would need state authorization as well – this had been required during the land bank’s first iteration. Yes, McClary said, the state Land Bank Fast Track Authority would need to approve the changes.

Sizemore then asked who would be responsible for seeking funds for the land bank. County administrator Verna McDaniel said it would be a collaborative effort, including her staff and the county/city of Ann Arbor Office of Community Development, which would explore possible federal funding.

Mark Ouimet noted that after their July meeting, when the board had discussed funding possibilities, he and McClary had met with officials of the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation and Washtenaw United Way, to explore possible funding from those groups. In order for the land bank to work, he said, they’ll need to find funding beyond government sources.

Prater said they shouldn’t forget about financial institutions, many of which have affiliated nonprofit foundations that might be able to provide funding. It’s in the best interests of those institutions to maintain property values, which a land bank will help do, he said. Prater said he believed it was possible to fund the land bank with sources outside of the county’s general fund.

Sizemore thanked officials from Genesee County for meeting with him and others last month to give advice about the land bank, and he thanked Peterson and McClary for pushing it along. In turn, Kristin Judge thanked Sizemore as well as McClary, saying it had been a group effort to get to this point. It’s been difficult to do, she said, but it’s worth trying. And if it doesn’t work, they can disband it again, she said.

Outcome: The two resolutions related to reinstituting the land bank were approved, with dissent from Leah Gunn. Commissioners Barbara Bergman, Jessica Ping and Ken Schwartz were absent.

Land Bank: Public Commentary, Round II

During the time for public commentary at the end of the meeting, three people spoke to thank commissioners for reinstituting the land bank.

Catherine McClary, the county treasurer, said she and her staff would definitely work with the county administrator to seek funding sources for the land bank. She also informed commissioners of a series free foreclosure prevention housing counseling seminars, organized by the Foreclosure Prevention Collaborative and held in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Manchester. The collaborative is a joint effort of the Washtenaw County treasurer’s office, the Michigan State University Extension, Legal Services of South Central Michigan, and Housing Bureau for Seniors.

Sabra Briere, who represents Ward 1 on the Ann Arbor city council, told commissioners that she served on the land bank authority board – or at least, she had been appointed to do so in its previous iteration, and hoped to continue to serve. She said she hopes they can find new ways to deal with foreclosure issues, which she described as heartbreaking. “The land bank’s just another tool, and I hope that we get to use it soon,” she said.

Paul Schreiber, Ypsilanti’s mayor, thanked commissioners and said he looked forward to working with them and with the county treasurer on the land bank.

Commissioner Response to Public Commentary

Ronnie Peterson thanked his colleagues, saying that the land bank was an effort to address problems on the east side of the county, which he represents, but also throughout the county. He noted that Leah Gunn, who had voted against the land bank, had been very responsive to needs of residents on the eastern side of Washtenaw County. He took it as a challenge to win her over, he said, and to find sufficient funding for the land bank. Gunn is an outstanding commissioner for all county residents, he concluded.

Indigent Veterans Relief Millage

The board gave initial approval to renew a 1/40 mill that would raise an estimated $362,415 for the care of indigent veterans who live in Washtenaw County. The tax was first levied two years ago and is administered by the Department of Veteran Affairs, led by director Mark R. Lindke.

Mark Lindke, director of Washtenaw County's Dept. of Veterans Affairs, talks with Patricia Denig, head of the county's Employment Training & Community Services (ETCS) department, prior to the start of the Sept. 1 board of commissioners meeting.

The board is expected to give final approval at its Sept. 15 meeting. On Wednesday, commissioners also set a public hearing to be held during the Sept. 15 meeting to get input on the millage.

The county estimates that property owners would pay $2.50 for every $100,000 of their property’s taxable value. Because of a general decrease in property values, the county estimates the millage will raise about $30,000 less in 2011 than it did this year.

Legislation for this millage was enacted prior to the Headlee Amendment, and therefore does not require voter approval.

The Department of Veteran Affairs offers services that help local veterans tap state and federal resources. The county expects demand for these services will increase because of the tough economy, ongoing war in Afghanistan and military presence in Iraq, and increased awareness of the county program.

Commissioner Kristin Judge said she’d received very positive feedback from her constituents about the millage. She said she appreciates the work of the department, and that this millage provides the discretionary funding they need.

Commissioner Wes Prater asked how support for veterans is being coordinated with the funds administered by the county/city of Ann Arbor Office of Community Development, which addresses human services needs like housing. OCD director Mary Jo Callan, who attended Wednesday’s meeting, came to the podium and told Prater that there’s a coordinating committee for groups that provide services for people who are homeless or who have housing crises. The staff of the veterans affairs department frequently attends those meetings, she said. Callan said they can do better in coordinating services, but they are doing it to some extent already.

Prater responded by saying he’s received two calls from veterans who’ve attempted to get assistance through the county, and who felt that they weren’t being helped. It’s difficult to find jobs, Prater said, and these returning veterans really need support.

Stimulus Bonds Transferred to WCC

At their March 2010 meeting, the Washtenaw County Economic Development Corp. discussed a quandary: the county had been allocated $33.066 million worth of federal tax-free bonds for private-sector projects, but no firms had stepped up to apply for them.

These Recovery Zone Facility Bonds were allocated as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and expire at the end of 2010. In addition, another $22.044 million in federal Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds had been allocated to the county for public projects – those, too, were unused.

On Wednesday, commissioners gave initial approval to transfer the use of $10 million of the Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds from the county to Washtenaw Community College. In July, WCC officials had formally asked the county for use of the bonds to fund construction of a parking structure on its campus. The board is expected to vote on final approval of the transfer at its Sept. 15 meeting.

The Recovery Zone Economic Development bonds aren’t tax-free – interest generated by the bonds is taxable. However, the public body issuing the bonds – in this case, WCC – will get a tax credit equal to 45% of the interest on the bonds. By comparison, traditional tax-free government bonds typically save the governmental issuer approximately 35% of the interest cost on that bond.

There was no discussion of the bond transfer at Wednesday’s meeting. However, at an administrative briefing held on Aug. 25 to discuss the agenda, commissioner Wes Prater asked whether the bonds could be used for bridge construction – either for the East Stadium bridges in Ann Arbor, or for some of the bridges that the Washtenaw County Road Commission is responsible for.

Responding to a follow-up email from The Chronicle, Curtis Hedger, the county’s corporation counsel, said that those bonds could be used for public infrastructure projects such as bridges and roads, if the governmental entity responsible for such bridges and roads was willing to bond for those projects.

Separately, the city of Ann Arbor was allocated up to $11.511 million worth of Recovery Zone Economic Development bonds. At its Aug. 5, 2010 meeting, the city council designated the entire city as a “recovery zone” – a step necessary in order to issue the bonds. At this point, however, no projects using these bonds have been proposed for the city. In August, the city applied for TIGER II grants from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation to fund the East Stadium bridges replacement project, estimated to cost about $23 million.

St. Joe’s Agreement for the Delonis Center

Commissioners voted to terminate a joint operating and lease agreement with St. Joseph Mercy Health System for the Delonis Center, the county’s homeless shelter. The agreement had been signed at the shelter’s inception, when St. Joe’s agreed to take over the lease and operations of the center if the entity created to handle those responsibilities – the Washtenaw Housing Alliance – failed to do so. The agreement also gave WHA board members from St. Joe’s a greater level of responsibility in approving budgets and out-of-budget expenditures.

The WHA subsequently subcontracted operations to the Shelter Association of Washtenaw County and Food Gatherers, which have been operating the shelter for eight years.

There was no discussion of the resolution to terminate the agreement during Wednesday’s meeting. However, during an administrative briefing for commissioners held on Aug. 25, county administrator Verna McDaniel said that St. Joe’s has been discussing this possibility for several months. They felt it was time to take a step back from the operations, though they’ll retain seats on the WHA board of directors and remain a “quiet force,” McDaniel said. Kathleen Rhine, vice president of administrative services for St. Joseph Mercy Health System, serves as president of WHA’s board of directors, and Yvonne Gellise, the system’s senior advisor for governance, is a board member.

Also at the administrative briefing, commissioner Barbara Bergman expressed concern about whether the county/city of Ann Arbor Office of Community Development had sufficient staff to take on support for the Delonis Center. McDaniel said that OCD’s director, Mary Jo Callan, is careful to make sure her staff has adequate resources for the projects that they tackle. So far, McDaniel added, they haven’t had to ask for general fund support – they’ve been able to find grants and other funding sources to do the work.

Rolland Sizemore Jr. noted that OCD had taken on several additional responsibilities over the past year, as had Callan. “I just don’t want to burn her out,” he said.

Leah Gunn described St. Joe as having been a great partner in the Delonis Center. “We owe a great debt of gratitude to them,” she said. Bergman suggested finding some way to publicly acknowledge the role that St. Joe’s played.

Transfer of Travel Money Tabled

During the time for commissioners to propose items for current or future discussion, Kristin Judge made a motion to approve the transfer of no more than $1,300 from commissioner Ronnie Peterson’s flex account, to be moved into Judge’s account. The funding would be used for travel, Judge said. Peterson supported the motion.

By way of background, in 2009 commissioners approved the creation of flex accounts that pooled previous line items for per diem, travel, and convention/conference expenses. The budget calls for $3,550 per commissioner for these accounts. When the accounts were approved, three commissioners – Leah Gunn, Jeff Irwin and Barbara Bergman – voted against the change.

On Wednesday, noting that she had voted against flex accounts, Gunn said she didn’t feel that commissioners should spend more than they are allocated. Given the demand for county services, anything that’s left over should return to the general fund, she said.

Conan Smith moved to table the proposal until the Sept. 15 meeting – his motion passed, with dissent from Judge, Peterson and Prater.

Peterson asked that the board be provided with all policies related to the flex accounts prior to their Sept. 15 meeting. Judge explained that she exceeded her allocation because of her work on a cyber-citizen coalition, an initiative she’s spearheading to address Internet-related crime. The effort is being recognized by the National Initiative on Cybersecurity Education, based in Washington, D.C. Judge said she traveled to D.C. to participate in a NICE meeting, and she hopes to get grant funding for the Washtenaw effort. A kick-off event for that effort is set for Oct. 6 from 8-10 a.m. Internet crime is the No. 1 concern of constituents, Judge said, adding that Washtenaw County needs to stay at the forefront of efforts to address it.

Natural Areas Preservation Program Millage

At their Aug. 4, 2010 meeting, commissioners voted to put a millage renewal on the Nov. 2 ballot to fund the county’s natural areas preservation program. At the request of the county clerk’s office, which oversees elections, on Wednesday the board approved three minor revisions to ballot language for the NAPP millage. The changes include shortening the title of the ballot proposal to “Natural Areas Millage Renewal”; specifying that the ballot proposal is “Proposal A”; and capitalizing the proposal’s first word.

The 10-year millage was first approved by voters in 2000, and will have generated about $27.5 million by the time it expires. The 0.2409 mill tax is expected to raise roughly $3.5 million in annual revenues if approved by voters in November.

A section of the Sept. 1, 2010 Washtenaw County board of commissioners agenda that was passed out at the meeting. Observant readers will spot a more ambitious license renewal on the agenda – or more likely, a typo.

Changes to Dog Licensing

Commissioners gave initial approval to year-round dog license renewals, and added the option of a three-year dog license. Currently, only a one-year dog license is available for purchase starting Dec. 1 for the upcoming year. Under the existing system, dog owners have until March 1 to buy a one-year license before their previous license expires.

The board also approved a new fee schedule: Licenses will cost $1 a month for a maximum of 3 years for spayed or neutered dogs, or $2 a month for unaltered dogs. A final vote on the changes is expected at the board’s Sept. 15 meeting.

Census 2010 Coda

Toine Murphy, a partnership specialist from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Detroit office, returned to the board – he had spoken at the March 3, 2010 meeting to mark the Census 2010 kick-off – and gave a brief update and thanks for commissioners’ help in achieving a high participation rate.

Washtenaw County had a 79% participation rate, he said – higher than the state and national averages. He presented each commissioner with a plaque commemorating the count, and asked if it would be appropriate to take a group photo for the bureau’s newsletter. The board accommodated his request, taking a short recess to gather for some quick picture-taking.

Other Photo Ops – On CTN

During Wednesday’s meeting, board chair Rolland Sizemore Jr. asked the county’s new deputy administrator, Bill Reynolds, to introduce his two sons. When Reynolds noted that it appeared the boys had retreated to his office, Sizemore quipped, “We will get them and we will remind them that they are on TV.” [The meetings are broadcast live on Community Network Television (CTN).]

The boys – Cedric, 12, and 10-year-old Keenan – soon returned to the boardroom and approached the podium, as their father introduced them as two of the area’s newest residents. Reynolds noted that they’d been through this drill before, at his previous job. [Before being hired by Washtenaw County earlier this year, Reynolds led the county administration in Chippewa County, Wisc.] The boys received a round of applause, then Cedric waved to the camera and said, “Bye-bye, people!”

Prior to the start of the Sept. 2 county board working session, commissioners Conan Smith, left, and Wes Prater show Sylvia Irwin that they're all on camera, with their images projected onto a screen in the boardroom. Sylvia is the daughter of commissioner Jeff Irwin.

A similar scene was repeated the following night at the board’s Sept. 2 working session, when commissioner Jeff Irwin’s family dropped by prior to the meeting. Sizemore urged Irwin to bring his young daughter, Sylvia, to the podium for an introduction. Irwin obliged, introducing her as “one of our newer citizens in Washtenaw.”

At Irwin’s prompting, Sylvia said, “Hello, Washtenaw County!” Sizemore joked that “she already talks better than you, Jeff.”

Public Commentary

During the Sept. 1 board meeting, Thomas Partridge spoke three times during the evening. During one of his speaking turns, after berating the two Republican commissioners – Jessica Ping and Mark Ouimet, who represent Districts 3 and 1, respectively – Partridge declared himself a write-in Democratic candidate for District 3, which covers the southwest quadrant of the county. He said those districts had suffered neglect, and that Democrats must stand up for a progressive agenda. It was embarrassing, Partridge said, that Republican candidates boast about how much money they spend to get elected, specifically citing Ouimet and Ann Arbor businessman Rick Snyder, the GOP candidate for governor. They put businesses first, Partridge said, not employees, or the unemployed, or senior citizens, who make up a large percentage of voters.

Partridge also criticized commissioners for transferring the $10 million allocation of recovery bonds to Washtenaw Community College for a parking structure. Instead, that amount – at a minimum – should go toward basic human services, he said, such as affordable housing, health care, public transit and education.

During the time available for commissioners to respond to public commentary, Leah Gunn said that Partridge’s partisan attacks were offensive to her personally. [Gunn is a Democrat.] She said she’s worked with Ouimet and Ping during a very difficult year, when the board had to cut $30 million out of the budget. During that time, Gunn noted that Ouimet has served as vice chair of the board, and Ping is chair of the working session. All the commissioners worked as a team, she said, adding “I do not appreciate his [Partridge's] partisan attacks.”

Present: Leah Gunn, Kristin Judge, Jeff Irwin, Mark Ouimet, Ronnie Peterson, Wes Prater, Rolland Sizemore Jr., Conan Smith.

Absent: Barbara Levin Bergman, Jessica Ping, Ken Schwartz

Next board meeting: The next regular meeting is Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. at the County Administration Building, 220 N. Main St. The Ways & Means Committee meets first, followed immediately by the regular board meeting. (Though the agenda states that the regular board meeting begins at 6:45 p.m., it usually starts much later – times vary depending on what’s on the agenda.) Public comment sessions are held at the beginning and end of each meeting. [confirm date]

Donald Staebler, who'll turn 100 later this month, was honored at Wednesday's county board meeting. He has lived on Staebler Farm, which is now owned by the county, for 98 years.

One item, however, yielded lengthy debate: A resolution that would remove the “felony box” from county job applications, and eliminate background checks for all jobs except those deemed sensitive. Several commissioners were uneasy with even partial elimination of background checks. The resolution was ultimately amended to deal with only the felony box, which asks applicants if they’ve ever been convicted of a felony. Commissioners ended up unanimously approving the removal of that question from job applications.

The board also agreed to put a 10-year millage renewal on the November ballot for the county’s natural areas preservation program, and approved brownfield plans for the Near North housing project and an expansion of Zingerman’s Deli. Both of the brownfield projects are located in Ann Arbor – brownfield status enables them to seek Michigan business tax credits and, in the case of Zingerman’s, to use tax increment financing (TIF) to get reimbursed for project-related expenses.

Commissioners got a second-quarter budget update, which revealed few surprises. However, projections indicate that the budget surplus they need to carry over into 2011 will fall short of their goal by about $987,000. Next year will be a challenging one.

The board had been expected to act on re-establishing a land bank for the county, but ended up tabling resolutions related to that effort until next month, citing the need to gather additional information.

The meeting also included time to honor two people from the community: Joseph N. Cousin Sr., pastor of Bethel AME Church in Ann Arbor, and Donald Staebler, a local farmer whose land is being turned into a county park – and who’ll turn 100 later this month. Both men received standing ovations for their work.

Felony Box, Background Checks

A resolution that proposed altering some aspects of county job applications received the most discussion of any other item on Wednesday’s agenda.

Currently, applicants for jobs with the county government must indicate on their job applications whether they’ve been convicted of a felony. Commissioners considered a resolution to remove the so-called “felony box” from county job applications. The resolution also proposed that the county eliminate background checks for certain jobs. Currently a background check is conducted on anyone who receives a conditional offer of employment from the county.

[For background and one person's perspective on the issue, see a column written by Jason Smith and published by The Chronicle in January 2010: "Ban the Box, Hire Fairly."]

Felony Box: Public Commentary

Theresa Finney Dumais, development director for Habitat for Humanity of Huron Valley, spoke in favor of removing the box. She said that the Habitat has an excellent partnership with the Michigan Prisoner ReEntry Initiative (MPRI), which led to a paid day laborer program that’s been very successful. MPRI workers tend to have above-average skills and are very reliable. She also praised the MPRI staff, saying they were great to work with.

Terril Cotton also spoke in favor of banning the felony box, saying it would give ex-felons a fair chance of competing for jobs. Since June of 2007, Cotton said he submitted 170 applications and got nine interviews, but no one would hire him because of his felony conviction. Now, “I have a job,” he said, “but it was hard – very hard.”

A job is essential to surviving after you get out of prison, he said. You can go to school and get training, but it doesn’t matter because you still get the door shut in your face. Cotton said he understood that there were certain sensitive jobs which would require background checks. He said he knows that ex-felons must accept responsibility – they did something wrong, he said, but they paid their debt to society by serving their prison sentence.

Felony Box: Commissioner Comments and Questions

Jessica Ping clarified that the changes would apply to county government jobs only – not to businesses or organizations in the county. Rolland Sizemore Jr. said he’d support the resolution, and that it could serve as a model for businesses.

Barbara Bergman wanted to take an additional step in the future, at some point requiring businesses that do work for the county also to ban the box – at least for positions that result from their contracts with the county. She reasoned that contractors were being paid with county money, so the same rules should apply, and all citizens should have a chance at those jobs.

Wes Prater then raised some concerns. Saying he had no problem banning the felony box, he said he didn’t think the policy about eliminating background checks had been well thought out. Employees are paid with tax dollars, he said, and the organization needs to know whether there are former felons working there. In some cases, for more serious crimes, Prater said he didn’t think they should be employed by the county at all.

There was then some discussion – and confusion – about whether the new policy would continue to require background checks for all people offered jobs. Diane Heidt, the county’s human resources and labor relations director, clarified that her staff was working with department heads to come up with a list of positions that would require background checks after a conditional offer of employment was made. The list would include those jobs that require the handling of money, working in the sheriff’s department or with children, for example. For all other positions, there would be no background checks, if the new policy were to be adopted.

Ken Schwartz suggested tabling the resolution, adding that he was generally in favor of it. In Michigan, he noted, some crimes are felonies that in other states would only be misdemeanors.

Leah Gunn noted that they’d worked very closely with Mary King, community coordinator for the MPRI in Washtenaw County, to craft this resolution. It helped level the playing field for people who were having an especially tough time finding work in this economy.

Kristin Judge said her concern was not only for positions dealing with children and handling money, but also for the employees of Washtenaw County. She didn’t know why the county would do away with all background checks. What if they hired someone who had a history of violent criminal sexual assault – would other employees be safe?

Jeff Irwin asked whether the list of jobs that would require background checks was available. Heidt told him it was still being compiled, but she hoped to have it finished by September. He then suggested moving the resolution through their Ways & Means Committee that night, but not taking the final vote until their next regular board meeting on Sept. 1.

Irwin also asked how much it cost to do a background check. Heidt said it varied, depending on how extensive it was. Overall, the county spent about $28,000 in total last year on background checks, she said. That doesn’t include the sheriff’s department, which has its own procedures. Irwin noted that since the county wasn’t doing a lot of hiring, that’s probably on the low end of what it would cost, in any given year. So there’s a financial savings, albeit a small one, to eliminating some background checks, he said.

Barbara Bergman asked for examples of positions that might not require a background check. Heidt said that an administrative position for the water resources commissioner’s office wouldn’t likely require one. Bergman then asked if there was anyone who could speak to the legal distinctions among various types of criminal sexual conduct. There are nuances that are important to consider, she said.

Conan Smith noted that there was a judge in the room – 14th District Court judge Cedrid Simpson – as well as someone from the public defender’s office, Delphia Simpson. Judge Simpson, who with his sister Delphia Simpson was attending the meeting to honor the pastor of their church, agreed to come to the podium and respond to Bergman’s query. He said there was a distinction between different types of criminal sexual conduct, but he said he didn’t want to give any indication that those distinctions make some less serious than others. CSC 4 – criminal sexual conduct, 4th degree – is the lowest in terms of penalties, for example, but the trauma on the victim might be just as great as with other CSC levels, he said.

Bergman said that obviously she’s not in favor of sexual misconduct, but that it’s important to consider the circumstances – like when kids go on a date and act stupidly, and the parents get mad. It’s important not to paint felonies with a broad brush, she said.

Prater restated that he didn’t object to eliminating the felony box. But eliminating background checks is a problem. The county has 17 different bargaining units, he noted. What if someone is hired into a job that doesn’t require a background check, then joins a bargaining unit and becomes eligible for a transfer – how is that situation handled? In addition, he again stated that there are certain people that the county just shouldn’t hire, like people who’ve committed violent crimes or sexual assault on children.

Heidt said that the county’s policy is to conduct background checks as part of a transfer or promotion – that’s standard practice, she said. Prater asked whether it was written into the labor contracts. When told by Heidt that it isn’t, Prater said the county then had no way to compel a background check. The way the resolution is written, it’s bad policy, he said.

Schwartz pointed out that they disagreed on how to implement the policy, and that they needed more time to analyze it. He asked Curtis Hedger, the county’s corporation counsel, whether there had been any legal analysis done on the county’s liability, in the event that something happened and the county knew – or should have known – about an employee’s criminal history. Hedger said that no analysis had been done on that issue.

Saying he was happy with the end, Schwartz said they needed to clean up the means. He moved to table the resolution until the board’s Sept. 1 meeting.

Outcome: The motion to table the felony box resolution failed on a 5-5 vote, with dissent from Bergman, Irwin, Gunn, Sizemore and Smith. Ronnie Peterson was out of the room when the vote was taken.

As a point of order, Judge noted that board rules require that if a commissioner is present when attendance is taken, they are required to vote. [This is a rule that's not vigorously enforced, based on The Chronicle's observation during the past two years of board meetings.]

Peterson then returned to his seat – when told it was a 5-5 vote and he was needed to break the tie, he smiled ruefully and put his head in his hands. He then voted no, and the motion to table failed.

Discussion continued. Judge asked Heidt to explain the rationale behind the county’s current practice of doing background checks on all hires. Heidt said that it began in 2002, after a study of best practices within the state and at other organizations. Judge wondered whether the county would be liable if someone who didn’t get a background check committed workplace violence. Heidt pointed out that the county has a separate workplace violence policy, but she deferred to Hedger on the question of liability. Hedger said it was impossible to say, given that each case is fact-sensitive. There’s the potential for liability, he said, but it would depend on the situation.

Smith said that Prater’s point – making a distinction between the felony box and background checks – is valid. In the hopes of reaching consensus that evening, he suggested striking the portions of the resolution that would eliminate background checks. The resolution would simply remove the felony box from county job applications. He told Heidt that in this case, it would be incumbent on the HR staff to ensure that the process is fair, and to make clear that getting a background check – and uncovering a criminal history – would not necessarily exclude the applicant from consideration.

Heidt said that currently, results from a background check are considered, but they’re just one factor.

Peterson agreed with Smith, then noted that over the years, the county has hired ex-felons a number of times – he said he could think of 10, off the top of his head. They’ve been active and contributing members of the organization, he said. The board wasn’t planning to torpedo this initiative, he said – they needed to be a model for the community. Peterson also noted that the county has had issues with workplace violence by people who haven’t had a previous criminal history.

Gunn then proposed amending the resolution by deleting references that called for eliminating background checks. She said the resolution would just remove the felony box, but keep the rest of their employment practices the same.

At this point, Irwin observed that the board had done “a complete 180.” They’d taken a resolution that made meaningful change in the way the county operated, and turned it into something that “is more symbolic than substantive.” He was disappointed in that, and moved to reinstate the original resolution. The motion was not seconded, and died for lack of support.

Schwartz thanked Peterson for not voting to table the resolution, saying he thought they’d made progress. The board still needed to give the county’s HR staff some guidance about the policy, he said, at a later date.

Smith concluded the discussion, saying that the presence of the felony box makes the hiring process highly prejudicial. By removing it, people will be judged by the merits of their abilities. If a background check later uncovers something that gives the HR staff pause, he said, they have a process to see if that history warrants not hiring the applicant. By taking away the box, the board is putting a weight on HR to ensure that if they don’t hire an ex-felon, there’s a reason for it.

Outcome: The board unanimously approved the revised resolution, eliminating the felony box from county job applications. Background checks will continue to be made for all job applicants who receive a conditional job offer.

Brownfield Plans Approved: Near North, Zingerman’s

At Wednesday’s meeting, there were public hearings for two brownfield plans: The Near North housing project on North Main in Ann Arbor, and an expansion of Zingerman’s Deli in Ann Arbor’s Kerrytown district. No one spoke during the public hearing on Near North. The only speaker for the Zingerman’s public hearing was Grace Singleton, a managing partner at the deli, who said she and others working on the project were there to answer questions, if commissioners had any. She thanked them for considering the plan.

Commissioners did not discuss either of the plans before voting. At the June 28 administrative briefing – an informal meeting to review the upcoming agenda – commissioner Barbara Bergman had raised concerns about the plans in the context of an article written by Judy McGovern and published in the August Ann Arbor Observer. The article reported that Broadway Village, a proposed development in Ann Arbor’s Lower Town area, had received a large incentive package from the state, and that the state’s pension fund had made a $20 million equity investment in the project. Much of that investment will be lost, according to the report.

At the briefing, Bergman wondered whether Zingerman’s or Near North would be receiving any money in advance, as part of its brownfield plan. She was assured that they would not.

The brownfield plans enable the Near North project and Zingerman’s to seek Michigan business tax credits – $720,000 and $1.003 million, respectively. In addition, Zingerman’s will use tax increment financing (TIF) to be reimbursed for up to $817,265 in expenses related to its expansion.

Outcome: Brownfield plans for both Near North and Zingerman’s Deli were approved unanimously, without discussion.

Natural Areas Preservation Program

Ten years ago, voters approved a countywide 0.25-mill tax to form the natural areas preservation program, known as NAPP. Since then, the county has acquired over 1,800 acres of land and established 17 new nature preserves. The millage will have generated about $27.5 million by the time it expires.

The millage is administered by the county’s parks & recreation commission, which is seeking a 10-year renewal of the millage, beginning in December 2011. Because of Headlee rollbacks, the renewal rate will be slightly lower – 0.2409 mill – and is expected to raise roughly $3 million in annual revenues if it passes. The county board is required to authorize adding the millage renewal to the ballot.

NAPP: Public Commentary

Spaulding Clark, Scio Township supervisor, urged the board to put the NAPP millage renewal on the November ballot. He noted that Bruce Manny, chair of the board for the Scio Township Land Preservation Commission, was also in the audience, and supported the millage. The county has been a great partner in Scio’s own preservation efforts, Clark said, adding that township voters approved their own 10-year land preservation millage in 2004.

Clark cited several properties that have been protected in the township, including the Burns-Stokes Preserve, the Fox Science Preserve and the Scio Woods Preserve. Many efforts are done in partnership with the county and Ann Arbor’s greenbelt program. [.pdf map of protected property in Scio Township] The township continues to receive applications from landowners who are interested in protecting high-quality natural areas, Clark said. He hoped the commissioners would let voters decide in November to continue the program.

Suzanne Goodrich introduced herself by saying that in 2006 she sold about 10 acres to the county. It’s located in Ann Arbor Township, along Dixboro Road – other property has been added to it over the years, and it’s now called the Goodrich Preserve. She and her husband wanted to preserve the land in its natural state. You can go there and find wildflowers, deer, lots of birds and a nature walk, she said, and it’s all been supported by NAPP. Land preservation is important for the health of the environment and the education of our children, she said. Goodrich asked commissioners to put the NAPP millage renewal on the November ballot, to continue funding of this important program.

Susan Lackey, executive director of the Legacy Land Conservancy, attended Wednesday’s meeting but did not speak during public commentary. She had previously addressed the board at an April 2010 working session on issues related to moving ahead with the millage renewal. Barry Lonik, a conservation consultant who has advocated for NAPP, also attended the meeting, but did not formally address the board.

NAPP: Commissioner Comments

Ken Schwartz said that every day he drives past the Burns-Stokes Preserve, which stretches along the Huron River, off of Huron River Drive. There are often hundreds of tubists and canoers there, he said – people “with better bodies than me” having fun. He encouraged residents to visit the preserve.

Kristin Judge also praised NAPP, saying that she was proud of the program and that residents appreciated it. It was just a renewal, she noted, not a new tax. Preserving land helps keep everyone’s property values higher, Judge said, and she felt like the program had a lot of support in the community.

Conan Smith, one of the board’s representatives to the Washtenaw County parks & recreation commission, noted that the NAPP program has been nationally recognized and provides an extraordinary service to the community. It’s one of the few science-based programs in the country, he said, adding that he was excited about the opportunity to extend its funding for another 10 years.

Outcome: The board unanimously approved a resolution authorizing that the 10-year, 0.2409-mill NAPP millage renewal be added to the November ballot.

Land Bank Tabled Again

The board had formed a county land bank authority last year, but dissolved the entity in March 2010 after several commissioners questioned how it would be funded and governed. The county didn’t receive federal funding it had originally intended to use for the land bank.

Yousef Rabhi, left, is congratulated by commissioners Conan Smith and Barbara Bergman on his victory – by one vote – over Democratic rivals in the Aug. 3 primary election to represent District 11 on the county board. Ann Arbor city councilmember Sabra Briere, with her back to the camera, attended Wednesday's meeting because of the land bank agenda item. Before the land bank was dissolved, Briere had been Ann Arbor's representative on the land bank authority.

A land bank allows the county to acquire tax- or mortgage-foreclosed property and work to put it back into productive use. For several months, commissioner Ronnie Peterson has been urging his colleagues to re-establish the land bank, with increasing frustration. At last month’s meeting, commissioners took an initial vote to approve a revised intergovernmental agreement, which lays out how the land bank will be governed – Barbara Bergman and Leah Gunn cast dissenting votes.

On Wednesday, the board was expected to take a final vote on both that agreement as well as a resolution to rescind their previous dissolution of the land bank.

The proposed intergovernmental agreement called for the board to consist of seven members: the county treasurer, two county commissioners, the mayor or councilmember from the city of Ann Arbor, the mayor or councilmember from the city of Ypsilanti, the supervisor of Ypsilanti Township, and a supervisor representing townships in the western part of the county. However, Bergman began the discussion by proposing an amendment to the intergovernmental agreement, to alter the composition of the land bank authority board. Her amendment would eliminate the requirement to have the Ypsilanti Township supervisor and a supervisor from western Washtenaw serve on the authority’s board.

In their place, Bergman proposed adding five other spots: 1) a representative from the banking industry, 2) a representative the local real estate industry, 3) a representative from local townships, recommended by the Michigan Townships Association, 4) an attorney recommended by the Washtenaw County Bar Association, and 5) a representative recommended by the Washtenaw County Home Builders Association. Her amendment required that all positions get final approval by the county board before being appointed.

Kristin Judge expressed concern about Bergman’s amendment, saying it seemed a little off balance to give spots on the board to Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, but not to individual townships or the city of Saline. [The townships of Ypsilanti and Pittsfield both have larger populations than Ypsilanti.]

Rolland Sizemore Jr. said he had talked with Pat Lockwood, a Genesee County commissioner. She would be willing to come to a future board meeting, he said, to discuss the land bank issue. [Genesee County, where Flint is located, was the first county in Michigan to establish a land bank. Dan Kildee, a former Genesee County treasurer who helped write the enabling legislation for these land bank entities, had attended the Washtenaw County board of commissioners July 2009 meeting to answer questions about setting up a land bank authority. The Genesee land bank has recently come under fire for not maintaining the properties it owns – a concern voiced by some Washtenaw County commissioners.]

Sizemore proposed tabling the land bank resolutions until Lockwood could speak to the board. Peterson asked that Sizemore confirm as early as possible that Lockwood could attend next month’s meeting. He noted that they’d talked about the land bank at several meetings, but hadn’t moved forward. Sizemore acknowledged that the process was moving slowly, but said they were getting the answers they needed.

Outcome: The land bank resolutions were tabled until the Sept. 1, 2010 board meeting.

Second Quarter Budget Update

Jennifer Watson, the county’s budget manager, gave an update on the 2010-11 budget. [She gave a first-quarter update at the board's May 5 meeting, looking at the first three months of the year.] Now that two quarters of the year have passed, they have more solid data with which to make projections for the rest of the year, she said.

The great news, she said, is that property tax revenues are projected to show a $1.77 million surplus compared to what was originally budgeted. But there are other areas that are seeing lower-than-projected revenues. The district court is now projecting a $465,000 revenue decline, due to reductions in local law enforcement and collections, she said. Court officials are trying to identify potential new revenue, but it’s unlikely that will occur in 2010. In addition, the decision by Ypsilanti Township to cut the number of sheriff’s deputies that it pays for to patrol the township resulted in a revenue loss to the county of $1.07 million this year. That’s been partially offset by about $700,000 in expense reductions, but there’s still a $370,000 shortfall, Watson said.

Washtenaw County second-quarter budget chart. (Links to larger image)

Interest income is also down, she said – there’s a roughly $540,000 shortfall from projections in 2010.

Overall, Watson is projecting a $392,000 general fund revenue surplus for the year.

On the expenditure side, there will be a delay in some of the hiring of the new jail staff, which could result in savings for 2010, Watson said. In general, the administration is working hard with all department heads and other elected officials to ensure that projected savings actually materialize, she added. In some areas, it won’t happen. The district court, for example, had agreed to a 10% lump sum reduction, but that now looks unlikely to occur this year. District court security costs are about $220,000 higher than budgeted, primarily because of increased use of part-time staff at the Saline court.

One fairly significant uncertainty is the impact of tax appeals that are being made, Watson said. Appeals continue to increase – the county has just over $4 million in potential liability from those appeals, but it’s unclear how much of that amount will actually be awarded, or when.

With expense cuts and a revenue surplus, they’re projecting a total net surplus of $4.3 million for the year. However, the budget called for carrying over a surplus of $5.289 million into 2011 – they’re still $986,664 short of that. That’s a higher shortfall than the $918,000 they’d projected earlier this year, Watson noted.

Watson also mentioned that from March through May, the number of youth cases handled by the county’s department of human services has increased dramatically. They’re trying to determine if this is just a spike, or whether it’s a longer trend that they’ll have to budget for accordingly. In the worst case scenario, it will result in about a $400,000 net cost to the county, she said.

Budget Update: Commissioner Comments and Questions

Jeff Irwin began by pointing to the implications of Ypsilanti Township’s decision to cut the number of contracted sheriff deputy patrols. [See Chronicle coverage: "County Board OKs Ypsi Twp. Deputy Cuts"] In addition to the direct revenue loss to the county, it also means that overhead costs associated with sheriff deputy patrols must now be spread among a smaller number of deputies – those overhead costs per deputy will now be higher.

Washtenaw County commissioners Mark Ouimet, left, and Jeff Irwin. Both won their primary races on Aug. 3 for state representative – Oumet as a Republican in District 52, and Irwin as a Democrat in District 53.

The financial issue comes in addition to the public safety threat of having fewer deputies on patrol, Irwin said. He hoped to see the county’s larger communities, like Ypsilanti Township, increase their investment in police services.

Mark Ouimet urged the administration to prepare for the fourth quarter, when the variance between actual and budgeted amounts are typically greatest, he said. County administrator Verna McDaniel said that in general, they are being very conservative in their projections.

Kristin Judge had several questions for Watson. Among them, she asked for clarification about the increase in youth services at the department of human services. Watson said there’s been an increase in the number of neglect and abuse cases handled by DHS.

House By the Side of the Road

On Wednesday’s agenda was a resolution to rescind all prior board resolutions that allowed the nonprofit called House By the Side of the Road to operate on county property at no cost. Since 1970, the nonprofit has been distributing clothes to the needy from the premises of the county service center, off of Washtenaw just east of US-23. It built a shed there, and in 1996 struck an agreement with the county, stating that if the county ever asked the nonprofit to leave, the county would reimburse the House for the cost of the shed.

As part of the jail expansion, located in the same area, the county is widening its Washtenaw Avenue entrance to the corrections campus, and has asked the House to leave. The resolution considered by commissioners on Wednesday authorized the county to reimburse the nonprofit.

Jeff Irwin asked what the cost would be. Verna McDaniel, the county administrator, said it wouldn’t be substantial – she estimated less than $7,000. She said the county was storing all the items from the shed until they learned where the nonprofit would be located next.

Finance Director Approved

The board unanimously approved the appointment of Kelly Belknap as finance director for the county, with a starting salary of $110,000. Belknap has worked for the county for nearly 23 years in several departments, most recently serving as health service finance administrator with Washtenaw County Health Services. She was one of six candidates interviewed for the job to replace Pete Ballios, who retired last year after roughly 38 years with the county.

Belknap thanked commissioners for their support, saying “I look forward to some challenging budget years, that’s for sure.” She clarified that the challenge stemmed from the economy, not from working with commissioners.

Recognitions and Honors

Two men were honored by the board at the start of Wednesday’s meeting.

Joseph Cousin Sr., pastor of Bethel AME Church in Ann Arbor, with his wife Carisalyn and daughter Miriam. Cousin was honored by the board of commissioners for his six years of service at Bethel AME.

Joseph N. Cousin Sr., pastor of Bethel AME Church in Ann Arbor, was recognized for his six years of service leading the oldest, largely African American congregation in this area. Many members of the church attended the meeting, and gave Cousin a standing ovation when he received a framed copy of the resolution from county administrator Verna McDaniel.

Standing at the podium with his wife Carisalyn and his young children, Miriam and Joe, Cousin said that he felt blessed to be part of this community and that he prays to be here for many years to come.

McDaniel then presented a resolution honoring Donald Staebler, a Superior Township farmer whose property was known as “Crick-in-th’-Back Farm.” Washtenaw County parks & recreation acquired the farm in 2001, and is investing more than $2 million to turn it into a park. Staebler still lives in the farmhouse there, under a life lease with the county. He has lived there since he was two – he turns 100 later this month.

Staebler received a standing ovation from people attending the meeting. He spoke briefly, saying his family has worked hard to keep the farm going, “and now the county is doing that. Thank you very much.”

Coda: Road Commission Expansion

At the board’s July 7 meeting, commissioners held a public hearing on the possibility of expanding the Washtenaw County Road Commission board from three members to five – the county board appoints those positions. After the hearing and some discussion, commissioner Wes Prater made a motion to terminate the process of expanding the road commission. The motion passed, with dissent from Conan Smith and Jeff Irwin, who argued that it wasn’t something the board could stop in that way.

At the July meeting, Irwin said he planned to bring a resolution on the expansion to the board’s Aug. 4 meeting. However, no such resolution was on the agenda, and the issue wasn’t discussed at Wednesday’s meeting.

In a follow-up phone interview this week with The Chronicle, Irwin said he still might bring a resolution about the expansion to a board meeting later this year. Prater’s resolution had been symbolic, he said. There’s a specific legal process for the expansion, which includes a vote on the issue. Politically, he said, based on the board’s discussion in July and the outcome of Prater’s resolution, it seems unlikely that a vote on the expansion would be successful. However, Irwin said plans to talk with his board colleagues about it in the coming weeks, to see if he can gain support.

Public Commentary: Misc.

Thomas Partridge congratulated the winners of the Aug. 3 primary. He called for commissioners to put the expansion of affordable housing front and center on every one of their meeting agendas. The expansion of affordable housing shouldn’t just be for Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, he said, but for every quadrant of Washtenaw County. There is no more important item to put on the agenda.

Jim Mogensen spoke twice. A month or two ago, he said, he attended a program at the Ann Arbor District Library about how to navigate around the city if you’re disabled. During the program, construction workers closed off the sidewalk in front of the library, making access to the building difficult – they were preparing to install a new ADA ramp. Noting the temporary ADA ramp that the county had recently installed in the front of its building at 220 N. Main, he suggested that they have a plan for safe egress.

In a follow-up to his commentary, commissioner Barbara Bergman said that when she was walking up the wooden ramp that night to come to the meeting, she wondered what would happen if it caught fire – it was a little too high for her to jump off of it. “That ramp got me just a little on the queasy side,” she said.

Taking another turn during a time for public commentary later in the meeting, Mogensen raised concerns about accepting nearly $44,000 in federal funds under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant, administered through the U.S. Dept. of Justice. The funds will be used by the sheriff’s staff for community outreach. Mogensen said he worried that there could be strings attached. He could imagine scenarios in which the federal government might require any entity that had accepted grants like this to help enforce federal immigration laws. This could also result in the need for additional jail space. It was something to think about and prepare a response for, he said.

Present: Barbara Levin Bergman, Leah Gunn, Kristin Judge, Jeff Irwin, Mark Ouimet, Ronnie Peterson, Jessica Ping, Wes Prater, Ken Schwartz, Rolland Sizemore Jr., Conan Smith.

Next board meeting: The next regular meeting is Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. at the County Administration Building, 220 N. Main St. The Ways & Means Committee meets first, followed immediately by the regular board meeting. (Though the agenda states that the regular board meeting begins at 6:45 p.m., it usually starts much later – times vary depending on what’s on the agenda.) Public comment sessions are held at the beginning and end of each meeting. [confirm date]

Washtenaw County commissioner candidates for Districts 10 & 11, from left: Conan Smith, LuAnne Bullington, Mike Fried, Yousef Rabhi, Alice Ralph. Smith is the incumbent for District 10. His challenger, Danielle Mack, did not attend. The other candidates are vying for the District 11 seat held by Jeff Irwin, who is running for state representative. (Photos by the writer.)

There are 11 seats on the county board, divided by geographic region – including four districts representing Ann Arbor. Commissioners are elected to two-year terms. This year, Democratic incumbents in two of Ann Arbor’s districts – Leah Gunn of District 9 and Barbara Bergman of District 8 – are unopposed in the primary, though they will face Republican challengers in November.

Incumbent Conan Smith of District 10, which covers the west and northwest portions of Ann Arbor, faces Danielle Mack in the Democratic primary. She did not attend the forum, citing a scheduling conflict. The winner of that primary will be unopposed in November.

In District 11, incumbent Jeff Irwin – who’s been on the board for a decade – isn’t seeking re-election, but is instead running for state representative in District 53. [See Chronicle coverage: "Michigan Dems Primary: House 53rd District"] Four Democrats are competing in the primary to replace Irwin: LuAnne Bullington, Mike Fried, Yousef Rabhi and Alice Ralph. The winner of the Aug. 3 primary will face Republican Joe Baublis in November. District 11 covers parts of central and eastern Ann Arbor. [See the Washtenaw County election website for a complete list of county commissioner candidates.]

Questions posed by the moderator, Nancy Schewe, had been formulated by a LWV-AAA committee, with input solicited from the community. They covered a range of topics, from funding for the county jail and police services contracts to expansion of the road commission and the candidates’ views on mass transit. Candidates were each given one minute to respond. This summary of candidate responses is presented in the order in which they spoke at the hour-long forum.

Opening Statements

Candidates were given one minute each to make some introductory remarks. They drew numbers from a hat to determine the speaking order.

Conan Smith, incumbent candidate for District 10 Washtenaw County board of commissioners.

Conan Smith’s Opening Statement

Smith began by noting that he currently serves on the board, representing west and north Ann Arbor, and has been a commissioner since 2004. He comes out of a tradition of public service in his family, he said. Smith cited his work experience, as executive director for the nonprofit Michigan Suburbs Alliance and before that with the Michigan Environmental Council, which he described as an umbrella group for the state’s environmental organizations.

Smith said his family has been active in public service since he was very young and he always has enjoyed helping people in Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County. He spent the past year working on the county’s budget, he said, stabilizing the community and public services. He concluded by saying he hopes to have people’s vote.

LuAnne Bullington’s Opening Statement

Bullington thanked the league for hosting the forum, saying it was a very important community service.

LuAnne Bullington, candidate for District 11 Washtenaw County board of commissioners.

She said she moved to Ann Arbor in 1993 and moved to her current home in the city’s Ward 3 in 1993.

She has two grown children and is retired from a career in computer information services. She said her work has included jobs as a computer information services manager, a senior programmer, a senior project manager, and a web team leader for the University of Michigan’s computer information services department. Before that, Bullington said she taught for eight years in public schools. She holds a bachelor’s degree in education and in special education from Eastern Michigan University, and a bachelor’s degree in computer science.

Yousef Rabhi’s Opening Statement

Rabhi thanked the league and said he’d been watching these debates since he was a voter – it’s a great service to the community.

Yousef Rabhi, candidate for District 11 Washtenaw County board of commissioners.

“I’m running because I believe in us,” Rabhi said. He believes in the community and in its ability to overcome this tough economic period. Even with a budget that’s declining for the first time in 50 years, the county can still maintain an excellent level of human services, he said, services that the community depends on and cares about, like maintaining parks, health care, and mental health care.

We can accomplish these goals by reining in the government, he said. We need to create an efficient government that works for the people and provides the human services that everyone needs.

It’s important to work across all levels of government – cities, villages, townships, and the county – to reduce the duplication of services, Rabhi said. There needs to be more efficiency in reducing electrical use, water use and fuel use in the county’s buildings and fleet.

Mike Fried’s Opening Statement

We all know times are tough and money’s tight, Fried began. Even so, he said, the county can balance its budget while maintaining essential services, helping those in need, improving collaboration and planning for the future.

Mike Fried, candidate for District 11 Washtenaw County board of commissioners.

It’s not an easy job, Fried added, but he said he has the experience and skills to achieve these objectives. He served 26 years as chief of administration at the Wayne County prosecutor’s office. While there, he said he maintained quality services while controlling spending. This is also a priority for Washtenaw County, he said.

Since retiring, Fried said he has continued this commitment to community service. He’s a trained mediator and facilitator, and serves on the board of the Dispute Resolution Center. He’s also on the board and serves as treasurer of Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw County, and he’s a member of the county’s Criminal Justice Collaborative Council.

Fried said he cares about the county where he’s lived for 50 years, and knows that he can and should help by being a county commissioner.

Alice Ralph’s Opening Statement

This year, we celebrate 90 years of women’s constitutional right to vote, Ralph said.

Alice Ralph, candidate for District 11 Washtenaw County board of commissioners.

Celebrating the same anniversary, the League of Women Voters continues to encourage informed and active citizen participation in government, she noted. A leading suffragist and co-founding national treasurer of the league, Katharine Dexter McCormick, was born in Washtenaw County at Dexter’s Gordon Hall, she said.

This fact is personal inspiration, Ralph said, as she asks voters to mark their ballots for her. She said that during this forum, she expected to discuss urgent issues facing the county and city of Ann Arbor. As commissioner, she promised to confront scarcity and work toward an abundant future. She asked voters to visit her website to learn more about why they should vote for her.

Land Bank

Question: County commissioners recently voted to re-establish a county land bank authority, which could buy foreclosed properties to ward off blight and stabilize property values. Do you think this is a good idea? If so, how should it be funded? If not, what are your reasons for not supporting it?

Background: At their July 7, 2010 meeting, the Washtenaw County board of commissioners took a step toward re-establishing a county land bank that they had approved last year, but then dissolved in March of 2010. A land bank allows the government – through a separate land bank authority – to take temporary ownership of tax- or mortgage-foreclosed land while the county works to put it back into productive use. Though several commissioners expressed concerns over funding, at its Ways & Means Committee meeting on July 7, the board voted to approve a revised intergovernmental agreement that would govern the land bank authority, with dissent from commissioners Barbara Bergman and Leah Gunn. The expectation is that commissioners will take a final vote on both that agreement and a resolution to rescind its dissolution of the land bank at an upcoming board meeting, possibly on Aug. 4.

Conan Smith on the Land Bank

Smith said he’d been a long-term supporter of the land bank concept. When he worked at the Michigan Environmental Council in Lansing, he worked on land bank legislation with the man who helped author the legislation, Dan Kildee, who at the time was treasurer of Genesee County. A land bank can help in a variety of ways, Smith said – by keeping people in their homes who are on the verge of losing them, or to deal with blighted properties.

Funding doesn’t have to be a component of it, he said. There are lots of tools that the county can use through a land bank – such as holding title on property – that don’t require any dollars whatsoever, he said. If they do have to spend money to acquire or maintain properties or to provide certain kinds of service, one proposal Smith said he’s in favor of is to use a foreclosure interest capture, which could bring hundreds of thousands of dollars to bear on the problem.

LuAnne Bullington on the Land Bank

Bullington said she is also in favor of a land bank. At the last board of commissioners meeting, she noted, there had been an in-depth discussion of the land bank issue – she urged people to watch the meeting.

There’s a crisis in the county with tax and mortgage foreclosures, Bullington said. Normally, the county sees 11 tax foreclosures each year, she said, but two years ago, there were 102 foreclosures, with 45 going to auction. Last year, more than 103,000 properties were reported for forfeiture because of tax delinquencies – 16,607 of those faced foreclosure, and 555 will go to auction. “We need the land bank to deal with this,” she concluded.

Mike Fried on the Land Bank

Fried also strongly supports a land bank. He said there are over 2,100 properties in some state of foreclosure, according to RealtyTrac. He held up a publication that publishes legal notices, and said that one need only look at those pages to see how many foreclosures there are. The land bank is a way of helping preserve properties, and of helping avoid blight. It’s an important service.

There are several ways to provide funding, he said, one of which the treasurer has suggested. Once the authority is established, the board of commissioners can identify the best ways to fund it, he said.

Yousef Rabhi on the Land Bank

Rabhi echoed his opening statement, saying he believes in this community, having grown up here, and he believes in its strength. He is strongly in favor of a land bank. He said he attended the last board of commissioners meeting and was very happy to see the land bank pass. This is a matter of the community coming together to face off the foreclosure and economic struggle, he said, “and we can do it. And we can do it through a land bank.”

Rabhi noted that he works with the University of Michigan’s Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum. They’re working in a partnership with the Greening of Detroit project to renovate vacant lots for natural area habitat and water retention, among other things. In Washtenaw County, they can bring the community together through partnerships like this, he said. They can fund the land bank through partnerships and work to raise the economic value of our neighborhoods, to stave off more foreclosures from happening.

Alice Ralph on the Land Bank

Like the other candidates, Ralph characterized the land bank as a good idea. She noted that it had been dissolved by the commissioners, and said it’s a good thing that it’s being reestablished. A land bank is one of the tools to add to the county treasurer’s programs in foreclosure prevention, she said.

It’s also a tool to prepare the county for when it eventually surpasses these economic challenges, she said – adding that she has confidence that we’ll overcome them. And what the county ends up with after the economic pressures are resolved is something they can be proud of, she said. This is one tool they can use to transform the tragedy into something more optimistic.

Expanding the Road Commission

Are you in favor of increasing the Washtenaw County Road Commission from three to five commissioners? If so, why? How would you pay for the increased costs?

Background: Some commissioners have been advocating to increase the number of road commissioners, who are appointed by the county board of commissioners. There are currently three road commissioners: Doug Fuller, David Rutledge and Fred Veigel. At their July 7 meeting, the board held a public hearing on the issue, then ultimately passed a resolution to end the process of expansion, with commissioners Conan Smith and Jeff Irwin voting against it. Irwin said he’ll propose a resolution to expand the commission at the Aug. 4 meeting.

Mike Fried on Expanding the Road Commission

Fried said that so far, he’s heard no compelling argument to make the change. This discussion came up at the last board of commissioners meeting, he said, and speakers during public hearing at the meeting indicated they were satisfied with the road commission.

Several county commissioners also indicated that, especially recently, they have had very good service from the road commission, Fried said. So barring new information, he said, it’s one of those situations that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Yousef Rabhi on Expanding the Road Commission

Rabhi said he believes in democracy and that more members on the road commission would be a better service to the county. But given the current economy, he said, this isn’t the right time to make that switch. Perhaps in the future it could happen, when the economy improves.

A compelling argument for expansion is that it would provide greater democracy and representation from more areas of the county, Rabhi said, and that’s something he’s in favor of. But now, it’s not the right time.

Alice Ralph on Expanding the Road Commission

It’s true, Ralph said, that boards and commissions are one way the county can have active participation by citizens. The road commission, appointed by the county board of commissioners, is one of very few that pays a salary, she pointed out. That cost has prevented a full discussion of the issue about how to provide a really good and improved county road system, Ralph said.

She noted that at the recent board meeting, there were only three speakers that addressed the topic of the road commission during the public hearing. She said she doesn’t think that’s a fulsome discussion for citizens to judge whether expansion is a good idea or not. The cost would be rather small in the scope of the budget, she said, but she added that she understood the county doesn’t want to add costs. Ralph said she thinks there are other ways to improve the county road system.

LuAnne Bullington on Expanding the Road Commission

Asking whether to expand from three to five commissioners is the wrong question, Bullington said. And the board of commissioners has already voted to keep the number at three. She said that if the county had received the money that had been turned down by the Republican-controlled state senate – who refused to pay the 20% that the federal government required to get money for repairing bridges or roads – we wouldn’t be talking about the number of road commissioners, she said. [For road projects, the federal government pays for 80% and requires states to come up with the remaining 20% in matching funds. Michigan has been unable to come up with those matching dollars, which some legislators want to raise by increasing the gas tax.]

Bridges are closed and the county has turned 100 miles of local roads to gravel, Bullington said, because of a lack of funding to pave them. Increasing the number of road commissioners isn’t going to make that much of a difference. We need a way to look at funding to repair the county’s roads and bridges, she said.

Conan Smith on Expanding the Road Commission

Washtenaw County has always prided itself on the diversity of its transportation network, Smith said, whether that’s commuting to work by bike or walking, taking public transit, or driving in cars. The transportation network is naturally complex, he said and it requires diversity that can address multiple needs. The road commission is the primary funding entity for transportation in the county, with a budget of $40 million per year. The cost of expanding the number of commissioners could be as little as $21,000 – road commissioners earn $11,000 each – or even zero, if they captured that increase in members from the current salary structure, he said. [One proposal would be to take the existing total compensation for three members, and divide it among five.]

He said that more important to him is that the county diversify the representation on the road commission. There should be voices for land use and transit participating in the decision-making about the development of the county’s transportation network, he said. If Ann Arbor is going to survive as an urban community, it needs to stop “sprawling out into the hinterlands,” Smith said, and make sure that development happens in the city. “Transportation is a critical component to that issue,” he concluded.

Police Services

The county sheriff’s department provides police services to the townships, through deputy road patrols. How should this cost be shared between the county and the townships?

Background: The county provides police services to local municipalities that contract with the sheriff’s department for deputy patrols. The cost of those patrols has been a matter of dispute for several years, with county officials arguing that the amount charged doesn’t cover the true cost of that service, and some township officials saying that the cost is too high. Three townships – Augusta, Salem and Ypsilanti – sued the county over the issue in 2006. [Most recent Chronicle coverage: "County Settles Lawsuit with Salem Township"]

Conan Smith on Police Services

Smith said that protecting people is the foremost responsibility of the county – they have an obligation to ensure that everyone lives in a safe and stable neighborhood. Unfortunately, the cost for providing that service is ever increasing, he said, due to wages, the growing population in the townships, and inflation of health care costs. If we want to equitably distribute those costs, we need to think about communities “that are biting twice at the apple.” Ann Arbor is already supporting public safety in the city – should they also be supporting public safety throughout the county? It’s a balance, he said. If they lose safety in the townships, then it’s likely they’ll lose some quality of life in Ann Arbor too.

Striking a balance is tough, Smith said. What needs to sit at the forefront of their minds is that every resident, urban or rural, deserves a safe environment.

Yousef Rabhi on Police Services

At the end of the day, Rabhi said, safety is the biggest issue. They need to make sure that everyone has the police services they need. The issue is whether taxpayers in cities like Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti should be paying for their police department as well as the sheriff’s department, and whether the townships should be bearing some of the burden of that.

Ann Arbor taxpayers should only have to pay for the services they get, Rabhi said, adding that he still needed to do more research on the topic. He’s met with commissioners who represent Ann Arbor, as well as the sheriff, and he sees both sides of the issue. The sheriff has outlined very strongly that Ann Arbor taxpayers are still getting their money’s worth through the county jail, Rabhi said, since the county provides jail services to Ann Arbor police at no charge. However, if Ann Arbor taxpayers are paying double, he added, then that encourages suburbanization and it devalues the urban core.

Alice Ralph on Police Services

The sheriff’s department has been transforming itself since Jerry Clayton was elected, Ralph said. She’s very impressed with the way he approaches his responsibilities for keeping the county safe. He looks at the complexity of issues, and many of his efforts are coordinating with human service programs such as mental health and drug diversion programs.

That’s not to say that it doesn’t cost money, Ralph added. It’s similar to the state – Michigan’s prison system is the biggest expenditure in the state budget, she noted. The county also has a large expenditure for personnel in the sheriff’s department. Sheriff Clayton is addressing the idea of inequities, she said, and he’s coming up with a way of calculating the cost of police services to make it just.

LuAnne Bullington on Police Services

Bullington said she’s been following Jerry Clayton’s career and has tremendous respect for him. He’s taken a very contentious issue and “calmed it way down.” One problem they’ve had – and it’s not just in Ann Arbor – is that some communities are paying more for police services, and some are paying less, she said. Before Clayton took over the department, the last she’d heard was that some communities were paying 50% less than they should, while some were paying 50% more. Clayton has brought it into a better balance, she said.

Bullington said she’d like to see the sheriff keep working with municipalities on this issue. Maybe with this next contract [for police services with the townships], he can keep making changes until each jurisdiction is paying their own fair share.

Mike Fried on Police Services

Fried said he believes that the townships have an obligation to pay a reasonable cost for police services provided by the county. But what happens in the townships affects the cities, and vice versa, he said. It’s unfortunate that before Clayton took over, hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent in legal fees to try to argue this issue over cost. It’s unfortunate that this couldn’t be mediated. Fried said he thinks the sheriff’s approach has calmed down the situation and that the county and the townships can reach a reasonable, agreed-upon payment for these services.

County Jail Costs

Question: Now that the addition on the county jail is complete, how should its operation be funded for the long term?

Background: The county has built a 112-bed expansion to the jail, located off of Hogback Road near the intersection with Washtenaw. At a March 18, 2010 working session of the board, sheriff Jerry Clayton gave a detailed report on the expansion. Bob Guenzel, the county administrator at the time, told the board that the additional staff needed to operate the jail would increase the corrections budget by $1.478 million this year and $3.248 million in 2011. He told commissioners that there were sufficient funds to cover those costs, but that in 2012 and 2013, the administration was projecting a two-year shortfall for the corrections division of nearly $2 million.

Alice Ralph on County Jail Costs

Ralph pointed out that the county doesn’t have many choices for mandated services. They do have to find the funds to operate the jail. It’s a wonderful jail that will require some extra personnel, especially given the approach that the sheriff is taking, with integrated services for prevention and rehabilitation, and the goal of reducing the recidivism rate.

Ralph said she’s not going to second guess the current board of commissioners. They’ll have to find the funds within the budget they’ve approved, she said, because most of those jail employees will be hired before the end of this budget year.

LuAnne Bullington on County Jail Costs

Bullington said she’s had concerns with the jail and funding for it for quite some time. Her understanding is that the cost of staffing isn’t yet in the budget. The county administrator has said that this year’s budget is fine, Bullington said, but next year they’ll face a deficit, not including the jail costs.

Her issue is who are they putting in the jail – is it mainly housing homeless people? Bullington reported that Jeff Irwin has said publicly that when he toured the jail, he felt that 90% of the people shouldn’t have been there – they should have been in other programs. The county has the Delonis shelter, she said, which had 50 beds until that number was doubled to 100. There are 1,500 people in the city of Ann Arbor who are homeless, and 3,500 countywide, she said. Maybe they’re using the jail as an alternative to the shelter, she said, and there might be cheaper ways of housing the homeless, rather than putting them in jail.

Mike Fried on County Jail Costs

The jail is a county requirement, Fried said, and is primarily funded through the general fund. However, the sheriff has been active in seeking external funding through federal grants and other avenues, which may alleviate some of those issues, he said.

The sheriff has a vision for the county and for that [criminal justice] campus – the goal, of course, is that they don’t need so much jail space, Fried added – but now they need to fund it adequately. The worst thing would be to not properly staff it, since that would result in overtime or lawsuits, he said, and would be extremely costly to the county.

Yousef Rabhi on County Jail Costs

Rabhi said this is a very important issue for him. He said that as he’d stated in his opening remarks, he’s running because he thinks the money is there for the government to run. When it comes to the jail, the sheriff has been very proactive in promoting alternative programming, like the community work program. As an employee at the University of Michigan, Rabhi said, he’s had experience with people in the community work program coming to help them. These are non-violent offenders, he noted – people who might be in jail because of drug possession charges or drunk driving charges, and who don’t really belong behind bars. They do community service and add value to the community’s assets, he said. And they don’t cost the taxpayers as much as when they’re sitting in a jail cell.

The county can promote programs like this, Rabhi said. This is where they’re going to find funding to move the county into a sustainable and progressive future.

Conan Smith on County Jail Costs

The other candidates at the forum have said what will need to happen, Smith noted – it’s a mandated service, and it must be in the budget. The board and sheriff are focused on those alternative funding sources, he said, particularly grants and service dollars. They’re also looking very keenly at operations across the sheriff’s department, to see where there can be savings – in areas like reduced contracts, cross training, and perhaps the deputy road patrols.

They’ll find a way to fund the operation, Smith said. But more importantly, they need to be tuned in to how big the jail needs to be, in term of its operation. They’ve built the full infrastructure, but they don’t necessarily need to staff it at its full capacity, if that’s not necessary. So some of the solution is in cost containment, he said, while some is in alternative revenues. But at the end of the day, he said, it’s a mandate.

Meeting Basic Human Needs

Question: The continuing recession is hard on everyone, especially the unemployed and underemployed. Do you think the county is doing an adequate job of meeting the basic human needs of its citizens, in the areas of housing, health (mental and physical), food service and transportation? If not, what more should be done?

Background: The county provides funds to a range of human services programs and nonprofits, but last year the board decreased that funding as part of its overall efforts to address a projected $30 million, two-year budget deficit in 2010 and 2011. Several elected county officials have backed the idea of a millage dedicated to funding human services, but the board to date hasn’t acted on that proposal. [Chronicle coverage: "County Millage for Human Services?"]

Conan Smith on Meeting Basic Human Needs

No, Smith said. The bottom line is the county is not doing an adequate job, he said, because the economy has transformed in such a short time. Alongside that, there’s a structural revenue problem, due to the way the state finances local governments. The county doesn’t have the resources to address these complex problems, which are so painful to see on a day-to-day basis, he said.

The board needs to look carefully at how they prioritize funding in the next budget cycle, Smith said. He is proud that this year the board adopted a mission for the budget that he proposed, which put the stabilization of neighborhoods and families first and foremost. The second component of that budget was to make sure they looked at long-term prosperity, so that they’ll have funds coming in from those stable neighborhoods to continue to provide services. This is an ongoing problem, he concluded, and they haven’t met the needs of it yet.

LuAnne Bullington on Meeting Basic Human Needs

The state has cut back on funding for a lot of these services, Bullington said, and the need is great. In previous years, the county has seen foreclosures due to predatory loans and redlining. Now, people are losing their home because they’ve lost their jobs, she said – there’s an influx of middle class people needing the county’s help. But there isn’t the money or the will, it seems, to look at this issue and help, she said.

Bullington said this area offers three types of housing: Ozone House, which she said provides transitional housing [for youth]; SOS Community Services, which provides crisis housing, and the Delonis Center, which is a shelter. Delonis is taking care of single adults at night only for three months, she said, adding that then they can’t go back for a year. “This is a crisis and we need to think outside the box to solve it.”

Mike Fried on Meeting Basic Human Needs

Fried said the need is very great in all these areas. The county should take the lead in working with the nonprofit community to obtain additional resources, and to improve efficiency and collaboration among the nonprofits, to start meeting these needs.

Citizens of this county should feel an obligation to assist others, he said. Businesses, nonprofits, and the county board should rally the people of this county to see that these needs are met, he said, because they’re tremendously great.

Yousef Rabhi on Meeting Basic Human Needs

Rabhi said the county is not doing enough – there’s always more that could be done. Government is the place where people come together, he said, where we realize that our futures are common. As a commissioner, Rabhi said he would engage the citizens of this community in tackling this task to improve the economy, address homelessness and create jobs. It’s something that everyone can work on together.

Regional transportation is essential to address these issues, Rabhi said. The county health plan is another essential service. There’s a diversity of knowledge and backgrounds in this community that can be tapped for this effort. “The citizens are the greatest consultants that the government could ever hire,” he said. “The county needs to engage that.”

Alice Ralph on Meeting Basic Human Needs

“The question is almost as broad as saying, ‘Can we afford to govern?’” Ralph said. There are some things that the private sector is really good at, she said, and as a government, the county needs to make sure to provide the civic infrastructure that supports interaction between the public and private sectors.

One way to refocus is to reset priorities, Ralph said. The board of commissioners has seven priorities, which Ralph described as rather broad. They need to focus those priorities. They need to ask not just how much money to spend, but how effective those programs are and how much progress they’ll make toward solving problems that the government can take care of.

Commuter Rail

Question: What’s the status of plans for commuter rail to the north and east of Ann Arbor, and are you supportive of these plans?

Background: There are two major efforts to bring commuter rail through Ann Arbor: 1) an east/west line between Ann Arbor and Detroit, which is being coordinated by the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG); and 2) the north/south Washtenaw and Livingston Line, known as WALLY. Neither effort has secured sufficient funding to ensure that the projects will move forward.

The east/west line would be served by the Fuller Road Station, a joint city of Ann Arbor/University of Michigan effort that’s initially designed as a parking structure and bus depot, with the hope by city officials that a train station is eventually built there as well. The project has been controversial because it’s proposed to be built on land that’s designated as parkland. [Chronicle coverage: "PAC Softens Stance on Fuller Road Station" and "Park Commission Asks for Transparency"]

Mike Fried on Commuter Rail

Fried said the community is not quite sure of the status. The east/west rail to Detroit is up in the air, pending federal funding. WALLY [the north/south rail between Ann Arbor and Howell] is a little more set, he said, but clearly, substantial funding is needed.

He’s strongly supportive of regional transportation and said that tremendous strides can be made, especially going east to the airport and the Detroit Region Aerotropolis by Willow Run Airport. The other area that’s important is transportation within the county, he said, which allows people of all means to get to work, shopping and recreation.

Yousef Rabhi on Commuter Rail

The status of the east/west rail is up in air, Yousef said, blocked at the federal level. They need to work with SEMCOG – the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments – to get funding for these regional mass transit programs, he said. Regional mass transit is an essential feature of this community’s future, and we need to be investing in the sustainability and the social equity of the county and the region, he said.

Noting that he has a background in urban and regional planning, Rabhi said that mass transit can’t just happen in Ann Arbor or Ypsilanti. It needs to happen on a regional level. There needs to be someone on the county board who’s dedicated to regional mass transit, he said. “I am definitely dedicated to regional mass transit.” There are big shoes to fill, he added, saying that Jeff Irwin is stepping down and Irwin was a champion for that. The county needs someone who works every day on this issue, he said, and who asks: “What can we do to improve the transportation corridors throughout our county and throughout our region?”

Alice Ralph on Commuter Rail

Ralph said she thinks Jeff Irwin is trying to step up as opposed to step down, but she agreed that he has been a staunch advocate for transit. She noted that Fried had mentioned the aerotropolis project, which she described as a larger version of what’s happening in Ann Arbor. This is mostly a city issue, she said – the county hasn’t been directly involved, as far as she knows.

One of the issues now is the Fuller Road Station, which Ralph described as “currently a garage planned to be built on city parkland.” It reminds her of the aerotropolis project – on the aerotropolis website, she said, they show pictures of farmland being converted to something else [commercial and industrial uses]. It’s almost a new version of sprawl, Ralph said. She thinks the community should look at this as a balanced transportation system, so that they don’t just use one approach to solve every problem.

LuAnne Bullington on Commuter Rail

Bullington said she’s been involved with transportation issues for decades. She’s served on the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority’s Local Advisory Council as both an executive member and a general member. She attends AATA meetings, and goes to Lansing to advocate for transportation. But there isn’t money to fund the trains, she said, and it breaks her heart. She doesn’t drive and said she’d use the trains, but there’s no dedicated funding for it.

The east/west train from Detroit to Chicago will be getting some funding for an express train. But for commuter rail, there isn’t any money for it – it needs $35 million a year just to operate, she said. Bullington said she attended a public meeting when a SEMCOG official came to Ann Arbor and asked the AATA if they had $35 million to pay for commuter rail. The north/south WALLY project is tied up because there are three towns where there need to be stations, she said, and the towns have repeatedly said they won’t fund the stations. In 2006, SEMCOG said there wasn’t enough ridership to support it, she noted, and since then, the region has lost population and revenues. She again stated that it breaks her heart, but there’s no funding for commuter rail.

Conan Smith on Commuter Rail

Smith said he looks at metropolitan Detroit as the future of not just Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County, but for Michigan as a whole. Nothing is more essential to long-term prosperity in this regard than ensuring that there’s a comprehensive mass transportation system that stretches from the core city of Detroit to the best university town in the nation.

If this region is going to grow economically, they need to connect the excellent jobs here to the excellent workers in metro Detroit, Smith said. If they’re going to protect the environment and water resources, they’ve got to get some cars off the road – and that means mass transit. And if they want to enhance social equity in the community, he said, they need to make sure that people have more dollars in their pockets to provide a better quality of life. We waste so much money putting dollars into our cars, he said. It’s crucial to figure out how to get these transit systems going, he added, especially along the east/west corridor. As far as he’s concerned, there’s no higher priority.

Protecting Water Resources

Question: Michigan’s Great Lakes, small lakes, rivers and wetlands are among our most treasured and envied assets. Do you foresee any problems in our water resources in Washtenaw County? If so, what should be done?

Conan Smith on Protecting Water Resources

Smith said the greatest threat to the environment is the transportation system. Without a doubt, the number of cars that are being put on the road, the way the transportation system drives sprawl out from the cities into natural areas and rural areas – those are tremendous threats to the region’s wetlands, rivers, and great natural features that protect the aquifers, he said. If these areas are developed, the region’s water quality will drop precipitously, he said. So they absolutely have to put a high priority on addressing the transportation network, to ensure that it’s taking care of the environment as well.

Smith said that the county has one of the best natural areas preservation programs in the nation. Last year it won a NACO (National Association of Counties) award for being the most innovative program, he said. The millage that funds the program is up for renewal, after 10 years, he noted – it’s expected to go before voters on the November ballot. He said he hopes everyone will put their dollars toward it, because it’s doing an outstanding job of protecting the county’s water resources.

Yousef Rabhi on Protecting Water Resources

Rabhi said that this is something that affects the community’s quality of life, its environment, and its sustainability. We need to be improving water quality in all their waterways, he said. We need to look at ways to reduce runoff in urban areas, because runoff carries a heavy load of water and heavy loads of toxins, which are very detrimental to waterways and the creatures who live there.

Again noting his background in urban and regional planning, Rabhi said that watershed issues are regional issues. We need to look at it on a countywide and regional basis. He said he also has four years of experience in natural areas restoration. He knows the on-the-ground details of natural areas management, water management and water retention. He also cited 13 years of working with the Burr Park Wet Meadow Project, which he said is devoted to making sure urban runoff is no longer an issue for the Mallets Creek watershed. Rabhi concluded by saying he has the experience to get the job done and to look to the future.

Alice Ralph on Protecting Water Resources

“Water and trouble know no boundaries,” Ralph said, “and I hope that solutions don’t either.” Transportation and energy use can have heavy impacts on our water systems. She said she’s been working for several years on a greenway in Ann Arbor, and they’ve had very little government support. She’s noticed that the county has several programs that help establish open space, greenways, and natural areas. It make a lot of sense to have a systematic approach to keeping our water clean and available, she said.

Water will probably be more important in the long run than oil, Ralph said. We can see the tough time we’re having eliminating oil dependency, she noted – we can’t do that with water, because we need it to live. We’ll have a better environment to live in if we address these water issues.

LuAnne Bullington on Protecting Water Resources

One of the roles of the county government is to oversee inspectors, Bullington said. The county sends inspectors to restaurants to make sure they’re safe. The county also inspects lakes and wells, she said. They’ve had an issue with the Pall plume, and she’d like to see more work done with that. People’s wells have been contaminated, she said – it’s an important issue. [Bullington was referring to an underground plume of dioxane generated from Pall Corp. manufacturing facilities in Scio Township. For more information, see the county's Coalition for Action on Remediation of Dioxane website.]

Bullington then looped back to the topic of transportation. Mass transportation is important, she said, but it has to be paid for. One possibility is to put a regional transportation millage on the ballot, but that means they’d be paying to bring people from Detroit to Ann Arbor, she said. Before we do that, we need to take care of mass transit in Ann Arbor, then expand to the county before talking about very expensive trains, which she said she loves.

Mike Fried on Protecting Water Resources

Fried said the tragedy of the BP well in the Gulf has brought attention to the importance of water and how critical the whole Great Lakes area is – it’s the largest area of fresh water in the world. The county needs to protect its waterways, he said, and we’re fortunate that both the county parks department and the water resources commissioner are doing outstanding jobs and are aware of these issues.

He said he agreed with everything that other candidates have said about the importance of eliminating runoff, and conserving and maintaining water resources.

Closing Statements

Each candidate had two minutes to make some closing remarks.

Alice Ralph’s Closing Statement

Ralph thanked the audience for listening and said she wanted to return to Katharine Dexter McCormick and her most remarkable achievement, which was included in Fred Kaplan’s book, “1959: The Year that Everything Changed.” After women got the right to vote, McCormick devoted herself to developing the birth control pill, which is 50 years old this year, Ralph noted. McCormick started with the belief that the vote was not enough. Her commitment yielded an otherwise undreamed-of self determination for women and families around the world, Ralph said. Who could top that these days?

Ralph said she doesn’t expect to change everything, but she has been working with other citizens to change a few things. In 2006, she ran for city council in a closely contested primary. [That was a Ward 3 contest featuring Jeff Meyers and  Stephen Kunselman in addition to Ralph, which was won by Kunselman.] Now, she said, District 11 voters have the chance to get the kind of imaginative and mature leadership that her earlier supporters said they saw in her. New territory is ahead. We are pressed to change ourselves and government in preparation for an abundant future like none foretold, Ralph said.

We don’t have the advantage of vast fortunes, like Mrs. McCormick had – so beyond raw efficiency, we need to focus on the most effective use of funds and other resources, Ralph said. Just voting is not enough – informed citizen participation will make all the difference. With resilient policy and attention to core responsibilities, Ralph said, we can work together for local change that is true to shared priorities. As a county commissioner, Ralph said she will confront scarcity and work toward an abundant future on the other side of crisis. She urged voters to visit her website and learn more about why they should vote for her.

Mike Fried’s Closing Statement

Fried began by thanking the League of Women Voters. He said he wants to be a county commissioner because he cares about residents and cares about the county. His goal is to make the county an even better place to live in. He said he has the skills and experience to help solve problems that the county is facing. He noted that he’s the only candidate who has real world experience working for a county.

Fried managed finance and budgets, personnel, workflow, computer systems, was a liaison to a county board, and has experience serving on a number of state councils and organizations. He said he was instrumental in bringing about initiatives and victim assistance in criminal justice computer systems and in mental health diversion. He now serves on a number of nonprofit boards for agencies that directly help citizens in the county.

Fried said he’s proudest of the times when he’s brought together different groups to work together for a common goal, and that he’ll do the same as county commissioner. He’ll work to bring stakeholders together to maintain quality, to keep the county fiscally sound, to help those in need and to plan for the future. But he said he needs voters’ support on Aug. 3 to make it happen. Together, he said, we can build a future of balanced budgets, good jobs, accessible parks, safe streets, efficient transportation and quality services. He asked voters to visit his website or just Google his name.

Yousef Rabhi’s Closing Statement

Rabhi also thanked viewers for listening, and thanked the league. He said he was born in Ypsilanti and grew up in Ann Arbor. He knows what it’s like to live in this community, to see the strength of the people and community bonds. He said he knows we can lift ourselves past this economic time, and knows they can balance the budget. Governmental efficiency is the way to go, he said. We can work across all levels of government, and can build partnerships. We can work for energy efficiency and water conservation and alternative programming for the jail to save money.

But beyond the current budget situation, we need to look to the future, he said. We need to look to a sustainable county. That doesn’t just mean environmental health. It means social equity and economic resilience. It means a county that invests in local businesses and values human rights. A county that takes environmental issues seriously and invests in renewable energy and runoff prevention. Rabhi urged viewers to vote for him on election day, because together, he said, we can make a difference in our county.

LuAnne Bullington’s Closing Statement

Bullington said she was asking for voters’ support because she believes in a deep commitment and service to Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County. As a prosperous community, she said, we have the strength and the responsibility to show empathy and compassion to at-risk populations and to people who are adversely affected by this economic crisis. She said she demonstrates this service by donating her time, efforts and skills to a wide range of groups that implement solutions to these problems. Churches can’t do it, and nonprofits can’t do it – government needs to step up and help too, she said. A lot of churches and nonprofits are overburdened trying to take on these things, she said.

Bullington said she was recognized by the Washtenaw Youth Mentoring Coalition as a 2009 Washtenaw “super mentor.” She has served or volunteered with dozens of different groups involving transportation, housing, and the environment. She has held several leadership roles with the Ann Arbor City Democrats, is a member of the Ann Arbor NAACP, and a volunteer with the Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living. She was elected the Ward 3 precinct delegate. She was a former executive member of the AATA’s Local Advisory Council and attends their meetings. She’s a committee member for the Religious Coalition for the Homeless, and an advocate for Camp Take Notice and other homeless populations. She said the community doesn’t have enough housing and needs to think outside the box. She concluded by thanking the audience and the league.

Conan Smith’s Closing Statement

Smith said he was grateful to have had the opportunity to serve on the county board for the past six years and he hopes he’s earned support for continued service. He said he’s always put equity and social justice at the forefront. Washtenaw County deserves to have communities where you don’t have to be rich to enjoy clean air or clean water, he said, and where you won’t have to be overburdened by the cost of housing or transportation. Where you don’t have to feel that you or your family are at risk every time a child gets a cold or an adult senior faces a need for medication.

In Washtenaw, he said, they’ve always taken those priorities very seriously and tried to design a government that reflects those values and prioritizes them through the budget process. On his first term on the board, he said he learned a lot. His second term, he had a single stellar accomplishment: Preventing discrimination of Muslims at county pools. This past term, he led the budget process and through that, they were able to design a system that allowed the county to present an equitable front for all citizens, Smith said.

The community has some very serious challenges ahead, Smith said. Transportation has been the most frustrating issue for him – he said he tried collaboration through the planning advisory board, and tried to expand the road commission, but it’s still a struggle. The county also needs a metropolitan police force to address the sheriff’s road patrol issue, Smith said. And they desperately need a human services millage to address those issues as well, he said. As he moves into the next term, Smith said he hopes he has voters’ support, adding that he’ll be driving forward on these issues.

Washtenaw County commissioners Jeff Irwin (District 11) and Leah Gunn (District 9) confer before the July 7 board meeting. (Photos by the writer.)

After more than an hour of discussion, a majority of commissioners approved a step toward bringing back the land bank, which they’d voted to dissolve in March. Several commissioners raised concerns over funding for the land bank and the expense of property maintenance and rehab, though most said they supported the entity in concept.

A land bank allows the government – through a separate land bank authority – to take temporary ownership of tax- or mortgage-foreclosed land while the county works to put it back into productive use. Commissioner Ronnie Peterson, whose district in Ypsilanti and parts of Ypsilanti Township has been hit hard by foreclosures, has been an advocate for the land bank for several months, and expressed his impatience and frustration during the meeting. A motion to rescind the dissolution of the land bank was not considered at the July 7 meeting, but might be brought forward next month.

The board also held a public hearing on expanding the road commission from three members to five – three residents spoke at the hearing, all opposing the expansion. An animated discussion with a somewhat unclear outcome followed the hearing – with Wes Prater moving to stop the process of expansion, and getting support from the majority of the board. Calling that move “symbolic,” Jeff Irwin said he plans to bring a resolution to the Aug. 4 board meeting that will officially propose the expansion.

Several other items related to financial matters. The board approved an initiative to put more government information online, especially regarding budget and finance. They discussed and authorized re-funding bonds requested by Dexter Township, and noted with some concern that Dexter Township isn’t alone in its struggle to meet bond payments. And county administrator Verna McDaniel signaled her intent to hire Kelly Belknap as the county’s new finance director, replacing Peter Ballios, a 38-year veteran of the county who retired at the end of 2009.

The board also approved a brownfield plan for a project in downtown Ypsilanti, and set public hearings for Aug. 4 regarding two additional brownfield plans – the Near North housing project and Zingerman’s Deli expansion, both in Ann Arbor. The board is also expected to vote on those plans at the Aug. 4 meeting.

Washtenaw Land Bank Inches Forward

Discussion of the land bank was an agenda item at the Ways & Means Committee meeting, which immediately precedes the regular board meeting. Before they began, commissioner Jeff Irwin asked whether the public hearings that were scheduled to be held during the board meeting could be moved ahead to Ways & Means, prior to the land bank discussion. That discussion was expected to be lengthy, and several people were in the audience waiting to speak at the public hearing on possible expansion of the Washtenaw County Road Commission.

Corporation counsel Curtis Hedger indicated that public hearings must be held at the regular board meeting. Conan Smith, who chairs Ways & Means, apologized to the public for the wait. [The discussion ultimately lasted more than an hour.]

Ronnie Peterson, who has been pushing to re-establish the land bank, began by saying he hadn’t known that the discussion would be on the agenda. Smith clarified that at the June 29 administrative briefing – which Peterson didn’t attend – the consensus among other commissioners was that it wasn’t the right time for a vote on the issue, but that a discussion was warranted.

Peterson also apologized to those who were in the audience waiting for the public hearings, but said he’d promised to bring a resolution to this meeting, and he kept his promises. He said he’d been asked to be a “good boy” and wait until the July meeting, and he’d done that. Though he’d had concerns about the land bank when it was initially proposed last year, those issues had been hashed out, he said. He’d since come to believe that it was an important tool for the county, and especially for the eastern side, which he represents.

He said that in politics, your word ought to mean something: “If you shake a hand, it closes the deal.” He said he’d been promised that there’d be a vote on the land bank at their July 7 meeting. He’d more recently been asked to delay the resolution he was bringing forward, but he wasn’t going to do that.

Peterson then asked the county treasurer, Catherine McClary, to come forward and speak about the scope of the land bank, its funding, and the general status of tax and mortgage forclosures in the county.

County Treasurer: Uses and Funding of a Land Bank

McClary began by thanking commissioners for the support they’ve provided over the years in dealing with tax and mortgage foreclosures. In 1999, knowing that changes in state law would force the county to foreclose on more properties, the board stepped in to fund a social worker for her office. Since then, over 16,000 properties have been forfeited to the treasurer’s office, and about 500 have actually been foreclosed. Those numbers have been skewed higher over the past couple of years. Previously, the county averaged only 11 tax foreclosures a year. This year, that number is nearly 400. “It’s simply a matter of the economy,” she said. In the past, people still had the resources to work out payment plans – that’s no longer the case.

She also thanked the board for funding her office’s mortgage foreclosure prevention program. Her office fielded over 1,500 calls last year, and the program was able to save about 50% of those home, she said. The nature of those homeowners is changing – previously, people got into trouble because of predatory lending, McClary said, and you could change the terms of the loan to address the problem. Now, they’re seeing more middle class homeowners who’ve lost their jobs and just can’t make payments. There are few alternatives, and because of that, she said she doesn’t think they’ll have as much success keeping people in their homes.

Regarding the land bank, McClary said she was not there to promote it – that was the board’s decision. Land banks typically deal with tax-foreclosed properties, though they can handle any type. A land bank would serve all areas of the county, not just specific neighborhoods. She contrasted this with federal funding available through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which can also be used to help deal with foreclosed properties but is limited to low-income census tracts.

How the county would use the land bank would depend on the policies and procedures they put in place, McClary said. Would it be for economic development? To help people move into homes? It can take a lot of different forms.

But no matter what they decide to do, the bottom line is that they need funding, McClary said. The first land bank in Michigan, in Genessee County, was generously supported by the Mott Foundation, she said – that’s not an option for Washtenaw. Sometimes there’s money available through the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) or the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA). Alternatively, some land banks seek traditional bank loans.

McClary was recommending that the land bank be funded by transferring a half percent of the interest that’s paid to the county on properties forfeited to the treasurer’s office.

She said there were two resolutions that the board was being asked to consider. One would rescind their March 2010 decision to dissolve the land bank. The other made modifications to the intergovernmental agreement that governs the land bank authority. [.pdf file of proposed IGA resolution] For that, McClary identified four main changes:

• Changing the composition of the land bank authority board. The resolution would remove a slot designated for the sheriff, and add two positions for commissioners, rather than one. There would be seven members: the county treasurer, two county commissioners, the mayor or councilmember from Ann Arbor, the mayor or councilmember from Ypsilanti, the supervisor from Ypsilanti Township, and a supervisor from one of the townships in the western part of the county.
• Eliminating the requirement that the county treasurer serve as chair of the land bank authority.
• Requiring that the authority can act only after a majority vote of the entire authority board, rather than a majority of the quorum present at a meeting. For a seven-member board, any action would require at least four votes.
• Strengthening the language of the agreement so that the board of commissioners could terminate the land bank by board resolution. Previously, that authority rested with the county treasurer. [Although the board had voted to dissolve the land bank, it was actually McClary who executed that request.]

Hedger clarified that the resolution to rescind the board’s vote on dissolving the land bank must take place at a regular board meeting. Changes to the intergovernmental agreement would go through both the Ways & Means Committee and a regular board meeting.

Land Bank: Commissioner Discussion

Mark Ouimet began the discussion by saying that he wondered if the county could create a pool of funding sources. They didn’t have access to a foundation like Mott, but they could look into other alternatives. He was also concerned about the issue of property maintenance. He said he’s seen lots of empty homes as he’s been out campaigning – Ouimet is running for the state representative seat in District 52 – and the second or third time he goes by those houses, it’s clear that their condition has deteriorated.

Kristin Judge said that McClary had been very patient with them. The reason the board had dissolved the land bank was purely political, she said. They hadn’t been able to reach consensus about who to appoint to the land bank authority board. She reminded her fellow commissioners that they’d all voted to establish it originally. [See Chronicle coverage: "Banking on a Land Bank"] Then “politics got in the way,” she said.

She clarified with McCleary that after the land bank authority is established, the board can then seek other sources of funding. She noted that Ypsilanti mayor Paul Schreiber was an advocate of the land bank. But it’s not just the eastern part of the county that’s being hit, she noted – her district of Pittsfield Township was also feeling the effects of the economy. It is time to put emotions aside, she said, and do what’s right for the people of Washtenaw County.

Board chair Rolland Sizemore Jr. spoke next, noting that he was the one that Peterson had alluded to – he had asked Peterson to hold off on proposing this resolution. A land bank is a good idea, Sizemore said, but they still need more information about how it would work, and especially on how it would be funded. It appears that both Ypsilanti and Superior townships would be willing to contribute funding, he said – he’d spoken to supervisors Karen Lovejoy Roe and Bill McFarlane about that. Maintenance is another concern, and it would cost money to mow the lawns and have the buildings boarded up. He vowed to continue working toward the goal of establishing a land bank, but he wasn’t prepared to support it that night.

Jessica Ping echoed Sizemore’s comments, saying she was concerned about funding sources and maintenance costs. With so many unanswered questions in this budget climate, she didn’t see how they could do it.

Barbara Bergman also said she couldn’t support it. She pointed out that the intergovernmental agreement established a source of funding – taking money away from the county that it used to service its debt.

Ken Schwartz asked McClary to clarify how the proposed funding would work. McClary explained that when a property enters forfeiture, the county collects a 4% administrative fee. There’s also 1% interest charged on each parcel when the property is turned over to the treasurer. That money goes into the county’s delinquent tax revolving fund. Money leftover from the revolving fund goes into the county’s capital improvements fund and is used to pay the debt service of other bonds committed by the board of commissioners. McClary is proposing that one half of that 1% be transferred from the revolving fund to the land bank.

Asked by Schwartz for a dollar amount, McClary said that in the highest year, a half percent would have brought in about $620,000. More realistically, she estimated it would be closer to $500,000 or lower annually.

Schwartz said it would help him to see a budget, laying out where the revenue would come from and what the operational expenses would be. Would they hire staff? How much would it cost to demolish a building or to rehab it?

McClary responded that the land bank did have a budget after it had been formed last year. They were looking to staff it with a part-time employee through the office of community development – a joint county/city of Ann Arbor department – as well as contracting for staff time from the county’s office of energy and economic development, which handles brownfield issues. The primary expenses would be for personnel, legal services and maintenance, she said.

In ballpark figures, McClary estimated that it costs about $10,000 to demolish a building, and $70,000 to rehab it. In one complex, there are 63 foreclosed townhouses – maintenance costs for that complex have exceeded $10,000 since April 1, she said.

Schwartz said a land bank would be really important to some communities, and that the county as a whole benefits whenever one of its communities is improved. But they need to see a budget and to determine how many properties they can reasonably help through a land bank. For him, the question is where the greatest benefit lies.

Leah Gunn weighed in next, saying she had provided commissioners with a list of all the projects that the Washtenaw Urban County has done, many of which are similar to what a land bank would do. She said the estimates that McClary provided are too low and don’t reflect the true cost of buying, rehabbing and finding a qualified buyer for these properties. Rather than creating a new bureaucracy, she said, communities that want to fund this type of project should work through the Urban County. [Gunn is chair of the Urban County executive committee.]

Gunn said she found some things peculiar. For example, the cover memo about the land bank states that there would be no impact on human resources, yet now they’re hearing that there’d be a part-time employee. At first they were told there’d be no impact on the budget, but there clearly would be, she said. The county doesn’t have $600,000 to put into a land bank, Gunn said. What would they cut instead? Would they defer maintenance on their own buildings? Default on bonds? They face a potential $1 million deficit next year, she said, so they need to look very closely at their funding decisions.

She also said she didn’t want to end up like Flint. The Genesee County land bank owns more than 1,000 abandoned properties which they don’t have the funding to maintain. “It’s a disaster,” Gunn said. “I don’t want that for my county.”

Wes Prater noted that they were only considering this resolution on the intergovernmental agreement at Ways & Means – they’d have to bring it back for final approval at a future board meeting. By then, he said they can clean up whatever issues remain, but they need to get it moving. He didn’t disagree with Gunn, but said a land bank offers different opportunities – there are things that it can do that the Urban County can’t. To him, it’s not so much about rehabbing properties as it is about stabilizing neighborhoods and getting rid of blight.

Since funding was a problem, Prater suggested removing mention of funding from the resolution.

Jeff Irwin spoke next, saying it was fair to characterize the original decision to form a land bank as a “bit of a rush job.” At the time, he said, he and others had concerns about the proposal. What was the strategy? What kinds of properties would they target – commercial, industrial or residential? So they went ahead and approved the land bank, and asked the people who were working on it to develop a plan. For whatever reason, he said, that strategy was never forthcoming. They didn’t get answers to fundamental questions, like how much it would cost, and who’d do the maintenance.

Irwin said that a land bank is a reasonable tool, and he commended Peterson for directing the board to look at the needs that a land bank is intended to address. But there are still unanswered questions, and now there’s the additional question of the funding stream that’s been added to the intergovernmental agreement. He asked for an analysis of the impact on transferring $600,000 to the land bank – what would that mean for the capital improvements fund, and the county’s debt repayment schedule? County administrator Verna McDaniel said she’d asked the finance department to provide that analysis.

Irwin turned back to the question of a strategy, and asked McClary whether there’d been any progress toward developing one.

McClary pointed out that the board had received a four-page memo last year broadly outlining land bank policies and procedures. Beyond that, they were hampered because the board never appointed its representative to the land bank authority board, she said. Irwin’s questions and concerns are valid, she said, as are Gunn’s. Before the land bank took action, the land bank authority board would need to develop the strategy – it’s not her role as treasurer to do that, she said.

Irwin then commented on Judge’s earlier request to put emotions aside – he said he didn’t know what that referred to. He said he respected Peterson’s efforts to push hard for the land bank, but there are serious issues to consider. Irwin said he wants to be proud of approving a land bank, one that actually has a chance of success.

Conan Smith thanked Peterson and McClary for their work. He noted that the funding source was only a recommendation. Last year they had started out with governance and political barriers, Smith said, which impeded the development of a strategic plan. If they rescind their resolution dissolving the land bank, they can then empower the land bank authority to move ahead with developing a strategy.

It’s not necessary that the land bank be funded, he noted. There are other benefits that a land bank brings – the property it holds, for example, gains brownfield status, making it eligible for state tax credits. His own preference is to move forward with governance issues, and determine a funding source later. The funding source that they’d been discussing was “highly volatile,” he said, and the fact that it’s dedicated to the capital improvements fund was “arbitrary.” He also reminded his colleagues that they’d “raided” the capital improvements fund twice during the last budget cycle, using those funds to help deal with the projected $30 million, two-year general fund deficit.

He summed up by saying there may be a community need that should be prioritized over the county’s institutional need – that’s the question they need to weigh.

Ronnie Peterson (District 6), left, talks with fellow commissioner Conan Smith (District 10) before the start of the July 7 Washtenaw County board of commissioners meeting. Peterson brought forward a resolution to bring back the county land bank, which the board had dissolved earlier this year.

Peterson responded to some of the criticisms of his fellow commissioners, saying that the board itself is to blame for not setting a budget or strategy for the land bank. He said he’d be willing to compromise and remove references to the funding source from the resolution. He reminded the board that they had asked McClary to recommend a funding source, and she had – it was a source that wasn’t a bond or a tax, but it’s not set in stone.

The board can make modifications as they move forward, but the process has to start at some point, he said – and it needs to start now.

Sizemore reiterated that he would support working on a land bank, no matter what happened with the vote.

Gunn again stated her concern that the funding source identified in the resolution would impact the county’s general fund. It violates the county’s first guiding principle, she said: Ensure long-term fiscal stability for the county.

Schwartz moved to strike the fifth resolved clause:

… that the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners hereby establishes dedicated funding for the Land Bank by authorizing the transfer of the additional one half of one percent interest applied to properties that forfeit to the County Treasurer to the Land Bank Authority, such transfers to begin for those properties that were due to foreclose in 2010 (2007 and prior years taxes) …

Other references to the funding source were later also included in the motion to strike language from the resolution.

Judge pointed out that 76% of the county’s revenues are tied to property values, and that helping to preserve property values in struggling neighborhoods is fiscally responsible government. She said they set up the land bank to fail – they should take responsibility for that. They’ve had months to address these questions and concerns, she said, noting that Peterson had first raised this issue in May. [See Chronicle coverage: "Commissioner Vows to Re-establish Land Bank"]

They can set up the land bank without dedicated funding, she said, and appoint members to the land bank authority board. There are smart people who have already committed a lot of time on this project, she said, mentioning Ypsilanti mayor Paul Schreiber and Ann Arbor city councilmember Sabra Briere. Give them a chance, she said: “We stopped it before it could be successful.” Referencing Gunn’s remarks about the situation in Flint/Genesee County, Judge said she assumed the land bank authority board here wouldn’t allow Washtenaw County to become slum lords.

Ouimet came back to the point he’d made earlier about seeking alternative fund sources and creating a pool of funds for the land bank. He said it didn’t seem like that suggestion had resonated with anyone. He suggested pulling in the United Way, Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, local banks and other groups to work together on building funds for the land bank. He also restated his concerns about maintenance costs and property management, saying he didn’t want to add another burden to the county’s employees.

McClary said she’d heard his concerns, and made a commitment to seek other funding sources.

Bergman and Gunn both restated their objections. Bergman called it a “shell organization,” and said it was dangerous to authorize a land bank without knowing how it would be funded. She responded to Judge’s criticisms by saying that “political is what we do here – this is a political body.” As politicians, they were there to represent the best interests of their constituents. Gunn repeated her concerns as they related to fiscal stability and capacity to manage the properties – properties that just sit there won’t help stabilize neighborhoods, she said.

Schwartz said he agreed with Ouimet about the need for additional funding sources, but before pursuing them, there needs to be a baseline government funding level first. He said that now the burden of addressing all these issues is on those commissioners who support reestablishing the land bank, and noted that the resolution they’d be voting on that night was just a step toward that.

Outcome: The board, at its Ways & Means Committee meeting, voted to approve the revised intergovernmental agreement, with dissent from Barbara Bergman and Leah Gunn. The expectation is that commissioners will vote on both that agreement and a resolution to rescind its dissolution of the land bank at an upcoming board meeting, possibly on Aug. 4.

Land Bank: Public Commentary

Karen Lovejoy Roe, supervisor for Ypsilanti Township and a former county commissioner, spoke during the final opportunity for public commentary at the Ways & Means Committee meeting. She thanked the board for their vote, and said the land bank was important to her community. She said she thought that the township could come to the table with funding.

Lovejoy Roe said the thing that hadn’t been discussed was the role of landlords. There are streets in the township with 20-30 homes, and now a third of them are rentals – landlords are able to buy up foreclosed properties quickly. She said that with a land bank, she was confident they could turn those back to home buyers. Some landlords have no interest in improving properties they buy – there are two landlords in particular that the township is going after in circuit court, because of the condition of their properties, she said.

The Urban County, she noted, was very bureaucratic, and takes a long time to move projects forward. [Lovejoy Roe serves on the Urban County's executive committee.]

Lovejoy Roe then criticized commissioner Barbara Bergman, saying that Bergman had told Lovejoy Roe that she wasn’t going to do anything to help Ypsilanti Township. Lovejoy Roe said she was very disappointed that Bergman was holding the police services lawsuit over their heads – Bergman, she said, had told Lovejoy Roe to bring a $500,000 check to the meeting. [Ypsilanti Township is one of three townships that sued the county over the amount that townships are charged for sheriff deputy patrols. The townships have lost all appeals on the case, and Salem Township has reached a settlement. For the most recent Chronicle coverage: "County Settles Lawsuit with Salem Township"]

Gunn responded to Lovejoy Roe’s comments, saying she was very disappointed in the ad hominem attacks on Bergman. “There is no place for that in this body,” she said. Gunn also said that the purpose of a land bank is not to be a landlord.

Road Commission Expansion Lacks Support

The county board of commissioners appoints the three members of the Washtenaw County Road Commission board. Over the years there have been concerns voiced about the road commission, ranging from a lack of responsiveness to a lack of representation for the western side of the county. At their May 19, 2010 meeting, the county board voted to set a hearing for July 7 that would be the first of many mandated steps in order to expand the number of road commissioners. On the May vote to set a hearing, four commissioners – Kristin Judge, Jessica Ping, Wes Prater and Rolland Sizemore Jr. – dissented, arguing against the need for expansion. [See Chronicle coverage: "Hearing Set on Road Commission Expansion"]

Road Commission: Public Commentary and Public Hearing

Ron Motsinger of Dexter spoke twice – during time allotted for general public commentary, and again at the public hearing. He said he’d been trying to find out why there was a need to expand from three to five road commissioners. If the idea is to get better representation, he said he’s had several experiences with the road commission and has found them to be responsive. He gave an anecdote of a family member in Milan who’d had flooding issues, and said they’d been helped by the commission. He said he always has his calls returned, even on evenings and weekends. Motsinger also wondered whether going from three to five commissioners would increase costs, which he didn’t think was a good idea. If the current compensation is spread among five members, he didn’t think that would be fair to the current road commissioners. He said if the commission isn’t broke, he doesn’t see the need to change things.

Ken Siler of Freedom Township identified himself as president of the Washtenaw County Farm Bureau, which he said had voted against expansion of the road commission when the issue had been raised several years ago. They’d primarily been concerned about the costs, he said. Speaking on a personal level, he said a one-man committee was the most efficient, and a three-person committee was close to that. Most organization he dealt with didn’t have more than that, he said, and he didn’t think they needed more on the road commission. Siler spoke during both the general public commentary and at the public hearing, making the same points.

Bill Stein spoke during the public hearing, saying he was a citizen now, although he’d previously addressed the board as a representative of the road commission’s retiree association. Adding more commissioners to the board won’t fill more potholes or build more roads, he said. He praised the county commissioners who’d recently served as liaisons to the road commission – Wes Prater, Mark Ouimet, Leah Gunn and Ken Schwartz – saying they’d asked the right questions. He also praised one of the current road commissioners in particular, Doug Fuller, saying that Fuller frequently attended government meetings in Saline and Manchester. If anything, Stein said, perhaps the county board should consider shortening the terms of road commissioners, from six to three years.

Commissioner Response to Public Commentary

Several commissioners responded to Motsinger and Siler after the general public commentary.

Jeff Irwin said that over the past several years, many complaints have come to the board about the road commission. Some have been addressed, and some haven’t, he said. Another issue is getting a diversity of opinions and experiences on the road commission, he said. With only three road commissioners, it’s difficult to represent all geographic areas of the county, he said – urban, suburban and rural. Western Washtenaw also has lacked representation, he said. [Of the three current road commissioners, Doug Fuller is from Scio Township, and the other two – David Rutledge and Fred Veigel – are from the Ypsilanti area, on the county's east side.]

Irwin said he felt they could expand the road commission without increasing costs.

Kristin Judge said that before she was elected as county commissioner, she had supported expanding the road commission, because she felt it lacked a diversity of thought and wasn’t responsive to community concerns. Since then – and since Wes Prater had become a liaison to the road commission – things have improved, she said, and responsiveness is no longer a concern. When she talks with constituents, the overwhelming response is to not spend more on paying commissioners, when that  money could go toward filling potholes or building roads – even if it’s only $10,000 or $15,000, she said.

Judge later suggested that electing road commissioners, rather than having them appointed by the county board, would be another option they should explore. That would help address any remaining accountability issues, she said.

Jessica Ping said she’d also previously been a supporter of expanding the road commission. One issue was that it’s difficult to meet the requirements of the Open Meetings Act when there are only three commissioners – any time that two commissioners get together, that’s a quorum. She was interested in taking politics out of the equation, and had suggested appointing road commissioners based on five geographic districts – just as the the county commissioners represent different areas of the county. But she was concerned about the cost of adding more road commissioners, and didn’t know if the current salaries could be split five ways. The county’s corporation counsel, Curtis Hedger, was looking into both of those issues, she said.

Leah Gunn noted that she’d spent a year being an alternate liaison to the road commission. At that time, Wes Prater had been one of the road commissioners, and he’d made a big difference in the organization, she said. He had helped transfer the road commission’s human resources department to the county’s HR department, and had instituted a program of preventative maintenance. The road commission, Gunn said, had received the message about customer service, and was doing better.

Mark Ouimet said he’d spoken with several township supervisors and other community leaders on the western side of Washtenaw County, which his district covers. There was a strong feeling among them that the road commission has improved and there’s no need for expansion. They’re doing a better job of communicating, he said, and of partnering with local communities. The road commission is on the right track, he concluded.

Rolland Sizemore Jr. said he wouldn’t be supporting expansion. He praised Prater as the liaison and Ouimet as the alternate liaison. Ken Schwartz then noted wryly that Ouimet does cast a long shadow, but that Schwartz had been appointed by Sizemore as alternate liaison, replacing Ouimet. Sizemore quipped that Schwartz should wear a T-shirt indicating he was the alternative liaison.

Road Commission: Resolution to End the Expansion Process

After the public hearing, Schwartz asked Curtis Hedger, the county’s corporation counsel, whether the board needed to act. They did not, Hedger said – there was no need for them to take any other steps, if they decided against expansion. No resolution had been proposed.

Prater then moved to terminate the process of expanding the road commission. As a point of order, Conan Smith noted that there was no process to terminate. Hedger said you could argue that by holding a public hearing, a process had been started.

[In previously lobbying to set a public hearing on the expansion, Smith had talked explicitly about a process. From The Chronicle's coverage of the board's May 19, 2010 meeting: "Smith countered that it’s best when public input is given up front, not at the end of a process when decisions have already been made. And there’s nothing stopping the board from holding an additional public hearing later as well, he said. But the process of expansion requires certain mandated steps, with mandated time periods between each step. If they wanted to do it this year, they needed to get started."]

Schwartz asked whether anything would happen automatically, if the board took no action. It would not, Hedger replied. State law requires that a public hearing be held before a vote on expansion can occur, and Schwartz asked whether this public hearing would “hold.” Hedger said he wasn’t sure, but that he didn’t think there was a time limit. In that case, Schwartz said he’d second Prater’s motion, so that the issue doesn’t linger.

Irwin stated that he intended to bring a resolution to the board proposing an expansion, regardless of whatever “symbolic” action was taken at the meeting. Everyone will have the opportunity to vote on it, he said. Smith said that Irwin’s action was the appropriate one.

Prater then moved to amend his motion, to state that the board would not expand the road commission. Smith pointed out that a motion to not take an action wasn’t a viable motion. Barbara Bergman then suggested a motion that they would retain the same number of road commissioners. Prater called a point of order, saying there was already a motion on the table.

Gunn said if Hedger ruled that there was a viable motion on the table – which he did – then she’d call the question, a parliamentary move that forces a vote.

Outcome: The board approved Prater’s motion to terminate the process of expanding the road commission, with dissent from Irwin and Smith.

Irwin then restated his intent to bring a resolution to the Aug. 4 meeting, so “we can have this fun all over again.”

Prater argued that the board had better things to do. It was Irwin’s right, he said, but he didn’t understand it.

Smith said that they didn’t have a very fulsome conversation about the issue. The road commission doesn’t have a strategy for addressing the fact that it is seriously underfunded, for example. To allow the board to maintain the status quo when there’s a crisis of enormous proportions is irresponsible, he said.

Prater said he respectfully disagreed. “There certainly is a strategy,” he said. The road commission is pursuing ISO 9000 certification, which aims at enhancing customer service. And a capital improvement plan has been laid out, he said – they just don’t have the funding to implement it.

At this point Ping made a motion to adjourn. When told that they hadn’t finished the agenda yet, she replied: “Can I make a motion to stop this conversation?”

It was a successful gambit.

Transparency Initiative Passes

Earlier in the meeting, Kristin Judge introduced a resolution creating “Open Book eWashtenaw.org,” which aims to provide online access to a greater range of county data, including more detailed budget and expenditure information.

Wes Prater (District 4) talks with Kristin Judge (District 7).

Judge thanked fellow commissioner Wes Prater and the county staff who have worked on this project over the past several months – she read out a list of their names. She said she expects the program to be well-received by the public, and told the board “I hope this will pass with flying colors.”

Prater said he believed it will serve the tax-paying public well, and that the county will likely see a decrease in the number of Freedom of Information Act requests that they receive, because the information will already by online.

Check registers will be first to go online, followed by credit card and P-card (purchasing card) information, as well as salaries.

Outcome: The resolution passed at both the Ways & Means Committee and the regular board meeting, without further discussion.

Bond Re-funding for Dexter Township

Dan Myers, the county’s director of public works, was on hand to answer questions about a bond re-funding that commissioners were being asked to approve on behalf of Dexter Township. The debt was originally incurred in 1994 to build the Multi-Lakes wastewater system, in partnership with Lyndon Township, and with Putnam Township in Livingston County. The system initially served portions of North Lake, Silver Lake, Half Moon Lake and Blind Lake. A later phase added service to Island Lake, Ellsworth Lake, and portions of Bruin Lake and Joslin Lake in Lyndon Township and Patterson Lake in Putnam and Unadilla townships, as well as the village of Gregory.

In 1999, Washtenaw County had issued refunding bonds of $6.53 million for Dexter Township’s portion of the debt. Of that, $3.05 million in debt remains. Restructuring it would entail reducing the township’s payments by extending the debt for another five years – the township expects to save $38,000 as a result.

Myers clarified that the township is concerned they won’t be able to make payments in a couple of years, at the current rate. They also want to take advantage of low interest rates, he said. The situation in Sylvan Township is more difficult, he said. [In March 2010, the board approved the sale of $10.4 million in refunding bonds to restructure debt from construction of that township’s water and wastewater systems.] Sylvan had expected to meet its bond payments from connection fees, but development has slowed and there are far fewer connections than anticipated. Rolland Sizermore Jr. said they’re in “bad trouble” in Sylvan.

Kristin Judge asked Myers whether there was any financial loss to the county because of the situations in Dexter and Sylvan townships. No, Myers said, the townships are responsible for payments of the bonds, though the bonds are backed by the county’s full faith and credit. What if the townships can’t meet the terms? Judge asked. If the county had to make payments, Myers replied, they would ensure that the townships did “whatever they needed to do” to repay the county. What happens if they default? Judge asked. Myers said the county wouldn’t let that happen.

Mark Ouimet – who represents District 1, which includes both Sylvan and Dexter townships – noted that if hookups don’t increase in Sylvan, the situation will be “much more challenging.” He said he felt better about Dexter Township. The re-bonding does at least give the townships some breathing room, he said.

As he’d discussed at the June 29 administrative briefing, Sizemore said he’d like to see a review of debt incurred by these and other townships, which have used the county’s full faith and credit.

Conan Smith noted that since the board had dissolved the planning commission, there was no review body to look at situations like this. He suggested that they might want to consider putting something else in place to serve that purpose. [The county's planning commission was dissolved in 2002. It was replaced by an advisory group – the Washtenaw County planning advisory board. That group was dissolved by the board of commissioners at their Feb. 3, 2010 meeting, as part of the restructuring of the planning and environment department, which is now the energy and economic development department.]

Head Start ESL Job Approved

Before the board was a resolution authorizing the hiring of a part-time worker for the county’s Head Start program, to work with families that don’t speak English as a native language. Enrollment of English-as-a-second-language (ESL) families – primarily Hispanic – has increased about 15% over the past three years, according to Head Start administrators.

The salary range for the position is in the $14,912 to $20,408 range. The request did not ask for funding from the county’s general fund.

At the board’s June 29 administrative briefing, when the staff and commissioners review the upcoming agenda, Conan Smith had questioned how Head Start could afford the position. He noted during last year’s budget process, the board was told that the Head Start budget couldn’t be cut because they didn’t have a dime to spare. “Now, they seem to have a lot of dimes,” he said.

At the July 7 meeting, Barbara Bergman asked where the money was coming from to pay for the position. County administrator Verna McDaniel told the board that the county had been overcharging Head Start for the retirement of debt related to construction of its facility. Those extra funds will cover the salary, which McDaniel characterized as low.

Kristin Judge praised Head Start, saying she supported the hire because it was important for the county to be a welcoming community, especially with what’s happening on the national scene – an apparent allusion to recent controversial legislation in Arizona directed at possible illegal immigrants.

Outcome: The board unanimously approved creating the part-time position, as part of its consent agenda.

Water Resources Commissioner Staff

The board was asked for approval to hire a senior environmental planner for the office of the water resources commissioner. Approval was required because the proposed salary – $77,400 – was above the midpoint level of $66,634 for a non-union position of that pay grade. A memo provided to commissioners noted that the proposed salary fell between the authorized range ($53,732 to $79,537) for that pay grade, and was $2,730 lower than the salary of the employee that this hire would replace.

Commissioner Rolland Sizemore Jr. asked the water resources commissioner, Janis Bobrin, whether the person she intended to hire – Meghan Bonfiglio – lived in Washtenaw County. Bobrin replied that she did not. Sizemore said he had a problem hiring someone who wasn’t a resident of the county, and that he’d be voting against the approval.

Outcome: The board approved the hire at the proposed salary level as part of its consent agenda, with dissent from Sizemore.

Mellencamp Brownfield Plan Approved

The board’s agenda included a public hearing and vote on approval of the Mellencamp Building brownfield plan. [.pdf file of Mellencamp brownfield plan] The developer is buying and rehabbing three vacant buildings in downtown Ypsilanti at 120, 122 and 124 W. Michigan Ave., between Huron and Washington, and converting them to residential and commercial space. The $2.2 million project is seeking brownfield status as a “functionally obsolete” property, which will make it eligible for Michigan Business Tax credits. The project is expected to bring 30 new residents and 25 new jobs to Ypsilanti.

No one spoke at the public hearing. Commissioner Kristin Judge clarified that the county wouldn’t be losing any tax revenue as a result of approving the brownfield plan.

Before the vote, commissioner Ronnie Peterson – who represents District 6, which includes the city of Ypsilanti – thanked his colleagues for their support of the project, calling it a good example of the government and a private entity working together. He described it as a major effort and an example of what’s needed to revitalize the downtown area.

Outcome: The plan passed unanimously at both the Ways & Means Committee and the regular board meeting, as part of the consent agenda.

Public Hearings Set for August Meeting

The board set three public hearings for its Aug. 4 meeting – two of them related to brownfield plans:

• A public hearing to get input on the brownfield plan proposed by Zingerman’s Deli, which is expanding its business and seeking to recoup some of its costs through tax increment financing, which brownfield status allows. [See Chronicle coverage: "Zingerman's Project Seeks Brownfield Status"]
• A public hearing for input on the Near North apartment project’s brownfield plan.

The board also set a public hearing for the use of $43,954 from the U.S. Justice Department’s Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance grant. The county sheriff’s department has applied for the grant – the justice department requires a public hearing as part of the application process. Last year, the grant was used to provide community outreach services.

Report from the Administrator

County administrator Verna McDaniel told commissioners that she plans to bring a request to the Aug. 4 meeting for approval of hiring Kelly Belknap as the county’s new finance director. Belknap currently serves as finance manager for the county’s public health department. In her new role, she’ll oversee budget and finance operations, which had previously been in separate departments.

McDaniel thanked interim finance director Pete Collinson for “holding down the fort.” Former finance director Pete Ballios retired at the end of 2009 after 38 years with the county.

Thomas Partridge reviews his notes before speaking during public commentary at the July 7 meeting of the Washtenaw County board of commissioners.

Public Commentary

In addition to the public commentary reported above, Thomas Partridge also spoke during the first opportunity for public commentary. He called for the board to develop an agenda that’s worthy of the 21st century and this prominent county. The county should work toward providing food, housing, healthcare, transportation, education and jobs for its residents, he said, especially its most vulnerable citizens.

He urged commissioners to eliminate funding for the county’s lobbyist, saying it was a job that should be performed by state legislators who represent Washtenaw County. [The county currently has a two-year, $108,288 contract with Government Consultation Services Inc. (GCSI), a lobbying firm run by former state representative Kirk Profit.]

Though Partridge typically takes advantage of multiple opportunities to speak during the board meetings, he left immediately after his first commentary to attend a candidate forum held later that evening at the studios of Community Television Network. Partridge is a candidate in the Democratic primary for state senate, District 18. The other two candidates are current state representatives: District 52 Rep. Pam Byrnes, and District 53 Rep. Rebekah Warren, who is married to county commissioner Conan Smith. The Chronicle covered a July 10 candidate forum for that race: “Michigan Dems Primary: Senate 18th District”

Present: Barbara Levin Bergman, Leah Gunn, Kristin Judge, Jeff Irwin, Mark Ouimet, Ronnie Peterson, Jessica Ping, Wes Prater, Ken Schwartz, Rolland Sizemore Jr., Conan Smith.

Next board meeting: The next regular meeting is Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. at the County Administration Building, 220 N. Main St. The Ways & Means Committee meets first, followed immediately by the regular board meeting. (Though the agenda states that the regular board meeting begins at 6:45 p.m., it usually starts much later – times vary depending on what’s on the agenda.) Public comment sessions are held at the beginning and end of each meeting.

The board dissolved the land bank – a tool used to help the county deal with foreclosed and blighted properties – at their March 2010 meeting, but commissioner Ronnie Peterson has pushed to bring it back. He initially proposed putting a resolution on the June meeting agenda, but later agreed to a request by board chair Rolland Sizemore Jr. to hold off until July. But at the June 29 briefing, Sizemore and Conan Smith, who chairs the board’s Ways & Means Committee, said they were not putting a resolution on the July 7 agenda either, though discussion on the topic is scheduled for the meeting. Peterson did not attend the briefing.

A range of other items are on the agenda, including a public hearing on possible expansion of the county road commission, and a resolution regarding a transparency initiative that’s been in the works for several months. Led by commissioner Kristin Judge, the effort aims to put more of the county’s public documents, especially financial information, online.

Commissioners expressed some concern over one agenda item: Restructuring the debt for a Dexter Township wastewater system, with the goal of lowering payments – payments the township might otherwise have trouble making. The item led some commissioners to ask for a report on debt held by local townships that’s backed by the county’s credit.

Land Bank: Unresolved Issues

The board of commissioners authorized the Washtenaw County Land Bank Authority a year ago, at their July 8, 2009 meeting. In general, land banks can be used to take temporary ownership of tax- or mortgage-foreclosed land while the county works to put the property back into productive use. “Productive use” might mean selling it to a nonprofit like Habitat for Humanity to rehab, or demolishing a blighted structure and turning the land into a community garden.

The idea is to provide some options to deal with blighted properties. In the case of a tax foreclosure, for example, the county treasurer must auction off the parcel to the highest bidder – often, that’s an out-of-state buyer who’s looking for cheap rental property, sight unseen. That scenario often results in a high likelihood that the cycle of foreclosure will repeat itself.

Before it was formed last year, several commissioners voiced concerns about establishing a land bank, citing issues of governance, control and liability for the county. Ronnie Peterson was among the more vocal in his doubts, saying the board wouldn’t have sufficient control over the land bank authority, other than appointing some representatives. He was also worried about maintenance of the properties acquired by the county, and who would manage and pay for that. Ultimately, though, the resolution to form a land bank passed unanimously.

The land bank authority was chaired by county treasurer Catherine McClary, who had championed the proposal. But commissioners never came to agreement about who to appoint to the authority’s board, and didn’t receive the amount of federal support they’d anticipated would help fund the effort.

Citing these concerns, commissioners voted to dissolve the land bank at their March 17, 2010 meeting. Peterson was the lone vote against that decision at the March board meeting. He asked instead that McClary and others involved in the effort be given more time to address these issues. However, Peterson was not able to persuade other commissioners to table the resolution that dissolved the entity.

Then, at the board’s May 19, 2010 meeting, Peterson told his colleagues that he wanted to reestablish the land bank, and intended to bring a resolution to that effect in June. “I’m going to get this passed,” Peterson said at the time. “I’m going to get this passed at all costs to me.” Peterson represents a district that covers Ypsilanti and parts of Ypsilanti Township, which have a high number of foreclosures.

But by June, board chair Rolland Sizemore Jr. had convinced Peterson to wait another month. From Chronicle coverage of the June 2, 2010 meeting:

Peterson told commissioners he’d subsequently had a breakfast meeting with the board chair, Rolland Sizemore Jr., who had asked him to wait until July 7 before proposing a land bank resolution.

Peterson said that he’d be respectful of that request, but that on July 7 “I’ll be aggressive.” Jessica Ping, who chairs the board’s working sessions, pointed out that the topic of a land bank was on the agenda for the July 8 working session. Peterson said he didn’t have a problem with that – they can discuss the resolution that they’ll pass on July 7. He said he had delayed it until July 7, but would not push it back until August. [In the summer, the board meets only once a month.]

Sizemore said the land bank is a good idea, but there are still some glitches to work out. He encouraged commissioners to attend a seminar on land banks being held next week in Lansing.

Ping proposed shifting the discussion from the July 8 working session to the July 7 meeting of the Ways & Means Committee, which is held immediately prior to the regular board meeting. That way, they could talk through the issues they needed to discuss, then vote on the resolution that same evening. Conan Smith, who chairs Ways & Means, agreed.

Administrative Briefing: Questions about Land Bank Remain

At the June 29 administrative briefing, when commissioners got an advance look at the July 7 agenda, Conan Smith explained why a land bank resolution wasn’t on it. He described the land bank as a surgical tool, not something to use broadly. Commissioners hadn’t yet agreed about exactly how the land bank would be used, and that has caused a lot of consternation among the group, he said. It’s worth talking about what unique functions of a land bank should be applied in Washtenaw County, he added, so that they can fine tune it before moving forward.

Rolland Sizemore Jr. told his colleagues that a lot of questions still needed to be answered. He knew that McClary had been working on it, he said – she also attended the briefing. Foremost among the unanswered questions, he said, were 1) Where will the funding for a land bank come from? and 2) What should it be used for? He wanted to see it be more of a countywide tool, not just something used for properties in Ypsilanti, Ypsilanti Township, Ann Arbor and Superior Township – all areas where there are higher concentrations of foreclosures.

Wes Prater said they shouldn’t forget that the land bank can also be used to deal with abandoned property that’s bringing down the value of surrounding property. The big value, he said, is in keeping other properties from losing their taxable value.

Barbara Bergman said she’d like to see a grid that compares the uses of a land bank to those that are provided by the Washtenaw Urban County, a consortium of local governments that receive federal funding for low-income neighborhoods. Smith noted that the main interest for Peterson – who did not attend the briefing – is in keeping people in their homes. There are a lot of other programs that have the same goals, Smith said, including some operated by the treasurer’s office aimed at preventing mortgage foreclosure and tax foreclosure. The joint county/city of Ann Arbor Office of Community Development also has programs providing assistance to low-income homeowners, he said.

McClary told the board that she was not promoting the land bank – she was just hoping to provide answers to the questions that commissioners had. She said she had pushed for the land bank last year, after seeing the number of tax foreclosures in the county climb – from 11 two years ago, to 100 last year, to nearly 400 this year. That’s why she had originally approached the board about starting a land bank, because she thought they could make a go of it and deal with some of those properties. But at this point, she said, it didn’t matter whether they considered it at their July meeting, or pushed it back to the meeting in August.

She clarified that the land bank authority would be an independent entity from the county. That meant that the county wouldn’t be responsible for the authority’s debt or other obligations, she said. McClary explained that some communities funded their land banks from a portion of the interest payments on forfeited properties – the board of commissioners could choose to do that as well, she said.

[In response to a follow-up email from The Chronicle, McClary explained that the state's General Property Tax Act allows the county to collect 1% interest per month from delinquent taxpayers. That interest is credited to the county's delinquent tax revolving fund to pay delinquent tax notes. Taxpayers also pay a one-time administrative fee of 4%, which also goes to the delinquent tax revolving fund. After delinquent tax notes are matured and paid off, any leftover funds are transferred to the county’s Capital Improvements Fund (CIF) and used to pay the debt service of other bonds committed by the board of commissioners. McClary wrote that for a small sub-set of properties that enter forfeiture – the first step in foreclosure – an additional ½% interest is added to the parcel and goes to the delinquent tax revolving fund.]

Bergman pointed out that the land bank authority wouldn’t really be independent, if the county were providing a revenue source.

Sizemore wrapped up the land bank discussion by saying that he thought the land bank was a good idea, but they still needed to work through some of these issues. He said if someone wants to fight about it at the July 7 meeting, he wouldn’t be supporting it at this point.

Though there’s no resolution on the agenda, Peterson – or any commissioner – has the option of bringing a resolution from the floor during the meeting.

McClary thanked the commissioners, saying that this had been the most productive discussion they’d had on the land bank issue so far.

Transparency Initiative

At the June 29 briefing, commissioner Kristin Judge passed out a draft copy of a resolution she intends to bring forward at the July 7 Ways & Means Committee meeting – a committee of the whole board that meets immediately prior to the regular board meeting. The resolution would establish “Open Book eWashtenaw.org,” providing online access to county data, including more detailed budget and expenditure information.

Judge said a team of people – including commissioner Wes Prater, the county’s knowledge manager Andy Brush, and Pete Collinson, interim finance director – had been working with department heads and others on this project. Brush and Collinson attended the briefing.

Rolland Sizemore Jr. asked Judge why she feels they need to do this. Judge replied that it’s the right thing to do, giving the taxpayers access to information about how their money is being spent. It’s also a directive of the Obama administration, she noted. Though the county already does a good job at this, they can do more, she said.

Check registers will be first to go online. Next will be credit card and P-card (purchasing card) information, as well as salaries.

Barbara Bergman expressed some concern about privacy issues. Judge pointed to one of the Whereas clauses, which states:

” [...] the presumption of openness does not preclude the legitimate protection of information whose release is exempted by the Michigan Freedom of Information Act, or in any other way protected by any applicable federal law, would threaten security, invade personal privacy, breach confidentiality, or in any way damage other genuinely compelling interests.” [.pdf file of full resolution]

Conan Smith suggested that they monitor the amount of staff time it takes to put this information online, and how many hits it gets. Tracking the number of Freedom of Information Act requests before and after the data goes online is another way to monitor its effectiveness, he said.

Judge agreed that it was good to monitor those things, but reiterated that the public owns the information, and government should make it as accessible as possible.

The board will consider the resolution at the July 7 Ways & Means Committee meeting. If approved, it will come before the board for final approval at their Aug. 4 board meeting.

Other Items on the July 7 Agenda

The board will consider and vote on several other items at its July 7 meeting, including the following:

Public Hearings: Road Commission, Brownfield Plan

The board will hold two public hearings on July 7, seeking input on: 1) possible expansion of the Washteanw County Road Commission from three to five members; and 2) a brownfield plan for the Mellencamp Building in downtown Ypsilanti.

No additional action is expected regarding the road commission on July 7.

In addition to the public hearing, the board is scheduled to vote on approval of the Mellencamp Building brownfield plan. [.pdf file of Mellencamp brownfield plan] The developer is buying and rehabbing three vacant buildings at 120, 122 and 124 W. Michigan Ave., between Huron and Washington, and converting them to residential and commercial space. The $2.2 million project is seeking brownfield status as a “functionally obsolete” property, which will make it eligible for Michigan Business Tax credits. [For more details on how the brownfield process works, see Chronicle coverage: "Zingerman's Project Seeks Brownfield Status"]

Portage Lake Dam Repairs

The board is being asked by the office of the water resources commissioner to authorize maintenance and repair costs for Portage Lake Dam. The estimated cost is $184,690 over a three-year period, from 2010 through 2012. In addition to monitoring several potential problems – including a crack in the right downstream retaining wall and a downstream retaining wall on the left embankment that’s leaning towards the river – the project includes updating the electrical control system and adding “No trespassing” signs, among other changes. [.pdf file of suggested maintenance and repairs]

At the June 29 administrative briefing, the item prompted Rolland Sizemore Jr., the board’s chair, to ask county administrator Verna McDaniel for an update on the dams along the Huron River in Washtenaw County. He suggested a working session with the Huron River Watershed Council and the county’s water resources commissioner, Janis Bobrin.

The request prompted Conan Smith to quip: “Let the record show that Rolland wants another dam meeting.” The comment was met with a certain number of good-natured groans from his colleagues.

Bond Refunding for Dexter Township

The board will vote to authorize the sale of refunding bonds for Dexter Township – debt that was originally incurred in 1994 to build the Multi-Lakes wastewater system, in partnership with Lyndon Township, and with Putnam Township in Livingston County. The system initially served portions of North Lake, Silver Lake, Half Moon Lake and Blind Lake. A later phase added service to Island Lake, Ellsworth Lake, and portions of Bruin Lake and Joslin Lake in Lyndon Township and Patterson Lake in Putnam and Unadilla townships, as well as the village of Gregory.

In 1999, Washtenaw County had issued refunding bonds of $6.53 million for Dexter Township’s portion of the debt. Now, $3.05 million in debt remains – restructuring it would entail reducing the township’s payments by extending the debt for another five years, a move that’s expected to save the township $38,000.

Commissioners were told that without the restructuring, the township would potentially not have sufficient funds to make its debt payments.

Rolland Sizemore Jr. pointed out that the board took similar action for Sylvan Township earlier this year. In March 2010, the board approved the sale of $10.4 million in refunding bonds to restructure debt from construction of that township’s water and wastewater systems. From the cover memo of the Sylvan Township resolution:

On July 18, 2001, the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners approved a Resolution (Resolution #01-0138) to sell $12.5 million in bonds to assist Sylvan Township in the construction of a water and wastewater system. Although the bonds were issued by the County, the Township contractually agreed to be responsible for making the required bond payments. In recent years, the economic difficulties that have beset Michigan have also affected the ability of the Township to generate cash flow for debt service through new connections to the system. However, those same economic conditions have reduced interest rates and provided an opportunity to restructure the original debt to provide cost savings for the Township and additional time for economic recovery.

Sizemore asked McDaniel that the board be given a review of debt incurred by these and other townships, which have used the county’s full faith and credit. Barbara Bergman agreed, wondering how many similar projects there are. It was scary, she said, to think what the county’s responsibility would be if a township defaulted.

At right: David Trent, Salem Township clerk, attended Wednesday's meeting and thanked commissioners for approving a settlement over the police services lawsuit between the county and township. (Photos by the writer.)

Under terms of the settlement, Salem Township will pay the county nearly $48,000 to cover the costs of sheriff deputy patrols provided by the county in 2006. The townships of Salem, Augusta and Ypsilanti sued the county that year, disputing the amount that was charged for police services. The county and the other two townships are awaiting a judgment to resolve the issue – the county is asking for $2.1 million from Ypsilanti Township and nearly $96,000 from Augusta Township.

David Trent, Salem Township clerk, attended Wednesday’s board meeting and spoke during public commentary, thanking the board for the settlement and saying he was coming forward on behalf of the township board in hopes of starting the healing process between the township and the county. Several commissioners thanked township officials for ending the dispute.

In other agenda items, only one person spoke at a public hearing on the county millage rate, which was set later in the meeting. Commissioners also approved $1.35 million in additional funding to complete the expanded jail and new 14A-1 District Court, with some discussion about issues related to parking and a new Washtenaw Avenue entrance.

And although last month commissioner Ronnie Peterson had vowed to bring a resolution to the June 2 meeting that would reestablish a county land bank, on Wednesday he told commissioners he’d been asked by board chair Rolland Sizemore Jr. to defer that action until their July 7 meeting. Saying he was respectful of that request, Peterson added, “On July 7th, I’ll be aggressive.”

The upcoming elections were mentioned, too. Commissioner Barbara Bergman chastised the Washtenaw County Road Commission for charging Scio Township $2,000 to locate a polling station for the August primary and November general election in the road commission’s Zeeb Road facility. Scio officials say they’ll find another venue, calling the road commission’s decision “disappointing at best.”

Police Services Lawsuit: Salem Settles

The resolution unanimously passed by commissioners on Wednesday effectively ends the smallest portion of the police services lawsuit brought by the townships of Ypsilanti, Augusta and Salem. The suit is winding down – earlier this year, the state Supreme Court refused to reconsider a motion made by the townships to hear the case, and sent it back to 38th Circuit Court Chief Judge Joseph Costello to rule on a judgment request. A hearing on the request took place on Wednesday morning in Monroe County Circuit Court.

The court has held that the townships are liable to the county for additional amounts to cover police services that the county provided to them between Jan. 1 and Dec. 5, 2006 – at $24 an hour more than the townships had paid under a previous contract.

At Wednesday’s hearing, Costello told the county that it needs to provide evidence documenting the specific number of hours of police services provided to the three townships during that time period. According to Jill Wheaton – a Dykema attorney who’s working on the case – after the county produces the backup documentation, it will then ask the court to enter a judgment for $24 per hour, plus interest and costs previously awarded by the court to the county. The amount totals $2,103,822 for Ypsilanti Township, which used 44 deputies, and $95,932 for Augusta Township, which used two deputies.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Ypsilanti and Augusta townships asked for a trial on the issue of whether they were liable for additional payments at all, but the court denied that request.

Salem Township has agreed to pay the additional $24 per hour for the police services provided to it during that time period – and Wednesday night’s approval by commissioners of the settlement agreement with Salem Township will allow that township to be dropped from the lawsuit. During the board meeting, commissioner Ken Schwartz – whose district includes Salem Township – clarified that the county would be entering an order to dismiss. Corporation counsel Curtis Hedger said that Costello had been informed of the likely settlement with Salem Township, and that the judge had simply indicated that the proper paperwork would need to be filed. Because the amounts requested by the county are calculated based on the number of hours of deputy patrols provided to each township during the period in dispute, it’s easy to separate out Salem from the other townships, Hedger said.

Rolland Sizemore Jr. asked a point of clarification: If the documentation produced by the county reveals a different number of hours charged to Salem Township, can the settlement be changed? No, Hedger said, they’ll be bound by the settlement agreement. But the county is confident that the numbers are right, he added.

During public commentary, David Trent – Salem Township’s clerk – spoke to the board, saying he thanked the commissioners on behalf of the township board, and was coming forward in the spirit of starting the healing process between the two groups. They looked forward to working with the county board in the future, he said.

Sizemore thanked Schwartz and the Salem Township board for working out the settlement. Conan Smith thanked Trent and other Salem Township officials as well, noting that it’s his home township and it’s been hard to have the division between the county and township. [Smith, who now lives in Ann Arbor, grew up in Salem Township where his mother, state Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith, still lives.] He said he appreciated the township’s generosity in bringing this chapter to a close.

Extra Funding for Jail Expansion, Court

County administrator Verna McDaniel had given a presentation to the board at their May 20, 2010 working session, outlining her plans to request an additional $1.35 million related to the jail expansion and new court facility off of Hogback Road. There were two parts to the request: 1) $495,958 for additional costs related to the original project proposal, and 2) $861,000 in costs considered to be outside the scope of the originally approved project.

At the working session, commissioner Barbara Bergman had objected to a fence that was built around part of the parking lot. She also criticized plans to secure the gate with a lock. She raised those same issues on Wednesday, saying that it creates a privileged group of employees – namely, staff of the court who are provided with more secure parking – and results in a shortage of parking spaces for others, including the public. It’s been a policy of the county not to fence things in, she said – otherwise, where does it stop?

Bergman said she had planned to bring a resolution opposing the fenced-in, locked parking area, but she knew it would be defeated. She also had talked to McDaniel, who Bergman said had promised to take a comprehensive look at the parking situation there.

Wes Prater commended Bergman for raising the issue, and said he agreed that they should revisit the decision to enclose parking for court staff.

Kristin Judge asked about bids for the Washtenaw Avenue entrance to the corrections complex. At the May 20 working session, she had questioned why bids for that piece of the project were more than a year old. On Wednesday, Dave Shirley, the county’s operations and maintenance manager, reported that they now had three estimates on construction, ranging from $215,000 to $250,000. There would be additional costs as well, he said, including engineering, permits, landscaping and signs. And there are unknowns that might be uncovered underground as they start the project, he said. McDaniel requested a total of $600,000 to reconfigure that entrance.

Speaking about the overall funding request, Jeff Irwin said he supported it. What hurt the most was less-than-expected interest earnings, he noted – $218,855 less than originally estimated from the bond that funded the project. They also had hoped to pay for the entrance out of savings gained during the project, he said, but those savings didn’t materialize. Nonetheless, it’s an important entrance and will make the facility more accessible, he said.

Ken Schwartz added that it would be hard to fathom a corrections facility having only one entrance, especially if there were an emergency.

Commissioners unanimously approved the request at both the Ways & Means Committee and regular board meeting. McDaniel has indicated that she’ll likely return with additional funding requests related to the project, to be included in the 2012 and 2013 budgets.

Land Bank: Revived in July?

At the board’s May 19, 2010 meeting, commissioner Ronnie Peterson had promised to bring a resolution to the June 2 meeting that would reinstate the county’s land bank, which commissioners had dissolved in March. On Wednesday, Peterson told commissioners he’d subsequently had a breakfast meeting with the board chair, Rolland Sizemore Jr., who had asked him to wait until July 7 before proposing a land bank resolution.

Peterson said that he’d be respectful of that request, but that on July 7 “I’ll be aggressive.” Jessica Ping, who chairs the board’s working sessions, pointed out that the topic of a land bank was on the agenda for the July 8 working session. Peterson said he didn’t have a problem with that – they can discuss the resolution that they’ll pass on July 7. He said he had delayed it until July 7, but would not push it back until August. [In the summer, the board meets only once a month.]

Sizemore said the land bank is a good idea, but there are still some glitches to work out. He encouraged commissioners to attend a seminar on land banks being held next week in Lansing.

Ping proposed shifting the discussion from the July 8 working session to the July 7 meeting of the Ways & Means Committee, which is held immediately prior to the regular board meeting. That way, they could talk through the issues they needed to discuss, then vote on the resolution that same evening. Conan Smith, who chairs Ways & Means, agreed.

Other Actions: Deputy Administrator, Millage, WCHO

The board approved several other items with during Wednesday’s meeting. Those action include:

• Giving final approval to hire Bill Reynolds as deputy county administrator, effective June 21, 2010. There was no discussion on this item.
• Authorizing the renewal of an agreement with the University of Michigan to continue the Washtenaw Community Health Organization (WCHO).
• Setting the county millage rate at 5.6767 mills. Only one person – Thomas Partridge – spoke during a public hearing on the millage. He said commissioners should have encouraged their constituents to come to the hearing, and that the millage lacked equity, as all flat-rate millages do. It’s time for tax reform, he said. Several commissioners responded to his comments. Kristin Judge pointed out that there was no increase, and Ken Schwartz noted that the county is bound by the state constitution and by voter-approved millages. “We have to live with that,” he said. Wes Prater said that because property values have declined, most taxpayers will see a decrease in their tax bills – and the county will have less tax revenue.

MSU Extension Program: New Leadership

At a March 4, 2010 working session of the county board, Nancy Thelen – the long-time director of the Washtenaw County Michigan State University Extension – briefed commissioners on restructuring of the statewide program. [Chronicle coverage: "MSU Extension Changes in the Works"] One major change affected her directly, as county director positions are being eliminated, to be replaced by district coordinators that have responsibility for several counties. On Wednesday, Thelen was on hand to introduce the man who’ll be the new district coordinator for the area that covers Washtenaw County: Matt Shane.

Shane, currently extension director for Lenawee County, told commissioners that he actually lives in Washtenaw County, in Manchester. He’ll start his new job in July, with responsibilities for six counties: Washtenaw, Livingston, Jackson, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe. During a transition period, Thelen – who has led the MSU Extension in Washtenaw since 1989 – will continue to act as a liaison to the board, he said.

During comments after Shane’s remarks, several commissioners welcomed him and expressed support for the local MSU Extension. Kristin Judge said they were very proud of the work that the extension did, and Mark Ouimet said he’d been impressed by Thelen’s leadership and her ability to do a lot with limited resources.

Ken Schwartz asked Shane whether there would be substantial programming changes, as part of the restructuring. Shane told him there’d be no major shifts.

Jeff Irwin suggested that Shane watch a video of the March 4 working session, to get an idea about some of the concerns that commissioners had regarding the changes. He said it would be good for Shane to return in the fall and give commissioners an update during one of their working sessions.

Wes Prater wrapped things up by telling Shane that “we’re a friendly group – and we like to see results.”

Other Communications

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Scio Township Elections

Commissioner Barbara Bergman highlighted a copy of communications the board had received between the Washtenaw County Road Commission and Scio Township officials. Scio clerk Nancy Hedberg had written to request that the township use space at the road commission’s administration building on Zeeb Road as a polling station for the August primary and November general election. The building is located in Scio Township.

A letter to Hedberg from Steve Puuri, the road commission’s managing director, states that the commission would grant Scio’s request, if the township covers the cost of using the building outside of normal business hours. He estimated the expense would be $2,000.

Responding to his letter, Hedberg wrote that the township had used the road commission’s facilities for several years and was surprised by an “apparent change of heart, whereby one government entity will no longer extend the courtesy of allowing their public building to be used for a civic purpose without charging a cost.” She continued:

A Church can do it; WISD can do it. To function as a polling place, we simply need access to the Lobby and Board Room at 6 a.m. and until polls close when elections inspectors have processed all the data for the day. Frankly, Scio Township continuously lends its meeting rooms for public purposes, including road related purposes, and we even trust the users by giving them a key with the expectation that they will clean up after themselves. And they always do.

Scio Township has never paid for a space to house a polling station and, from a civic point of view, there seem to be plenty of other civic-minded entities that are willing to serve the public that we don’t need to start down that path with the Road Commission, whose attitude is disappointing at best. [.pdf of correspondence]

Bergman said she was on Scio Township’s side, and that elections are civic happenings. The road commission should be ashamed of itself, she said.

Mental Health Awareness

Bergman passed out copies of a DVD produced by the Washtenaw County Community Support & Treatment Services (CSTS), aimed at raising awareness and getting support for young people with mental illness. It’s part of a broader statewide mental illness prevention campaign dubbed MP3 – Michigan Prevents Prodromal Progression. Early intervention has a tremendous effect on people’s lives, said Bergman, who’s also a board member of the Washtenaw Community Health Organization. She also distributed a booklet titled “Recognizing and Helping Young People at Risk for Psychosis: A Professional’s Guide,” as well as bookmarks and posters – Bergman encouraged commissioners to distribute the items throughout their districts.

Transparency, Internet Safety

Commissioner Kristin Judge noted that she and commissioner Wes Prater have been working on a transparency team, and plan to bring a resolution to the board in July. She said she met with the county’s department heads earlier that day to go over what they’d be required to do to make their department’s check registers accessible online. [She has also written about this issue on her blog, "All Politics Is Local."]

Judge also noted that the Internet safety task force she and sheriff Jerry Clayton have organized now has roughly 40 people involved at the local, state and federal levels, and is far exceeding her expectations. The group is planning a formal kick-off in early October, which also marks National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Judge said she’ll be bringing a resolution about the initiative to the board in the future.

Public Commentary

Thomas Partridge spoke during three of the four opportunities for public commentary, plus the public hearing on the millage. He noted that he is a Democratic candidate in the race for the 18th District state senate seat, and urged commissioners to address the vital needs of the community, including affordable housing, countywide transportation, lifetime education and access to health care. He advocated for better cooperation with neighboring counties. Saying that this year’s elections were vital, Partridge said the state legislature and county commission need forward-looking Democrats in those positions, not “can’t-do Republicans.” He said the state constitution is being interpreted in a right-wing manner, and if it needs to be revised, now’s the time to do it.

Present: Barbara Levin Bergman, Leah Gunn, Kristin Judge, Jeff Irwin, Mark Ouimet, Ronnie Peterson, Jessica Ping, Wes Prater, Ken Schwartz, Rolland Sizemore Jr., Conan Smith (absent during the Ways & Means Committee meeting, but present during the regular board meeting)

Next board meeting: The next regular meeting is Wednesday, July 7, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. at the County Administration Building, 220 N. Main St. The Ways & Means Committee meets first, followed immediately by the regular board meeting. [confirm date] (Though the agenda states that the regular board meeting begins at 6:45 p.m., it usually starts much later – times vary depending on what’s on the agenda.) Public comment sessions are held at the beginning and end of each meeting.

Commissioner Jessica Ping's son, Sullivan, attended Wednesday's board meeting. He did not cast any votes.

Verna McDaniel took office last week as the new Washtenaw County administrator. (Photo by the writer.)

Several other measures were approved with little discussion, including setting the county’s millage rate and making changes to the Natural Areas Preservation Program ordinance. A vote on minor changes to the county’s retiree health care trust agreement led one commissioner to express concern that the program is underfunded – the topic is likely to come up at a working session later in the year.

And though the board dissolved the county land bank earlier this year, commissioner Ronnie Peterson vowed on Wednesday to reestablish the entity, saying it was a critical tool to help stabilize home ownership in eastern Washtenaw, which he represents. “I’m going to get this passed at all costs to me.”

The board met in executive session to be briefed on the status of a years-long lawsuit that the townships of Ypsilanti, Salem and August brought against the county regarding the cost of police services contracts. There was no discussion of the case during the public portion of the meeting.

There was another notable issue that was not discussed during Wednesday’s meeting, though it was addressed during public commentary by county clerk Larry Kestenbaum: The possible renaming of a county building in honor of recently retired county administrator Bob Guenzel.

And during her first meeting as the new county administrator, Verna McDaniel received praise from board chair Rolland Sizemore Jr., who said that though she had big shoes to fill, he knew she’d do an excellent job.

Naming County Buildings

The first speaker during public commentary on Wednesday was Larry Kestenbaum, who is the Washtenaw County clerk, though he did not address the board in that official capacity.

Kestenbaum told the board that he’d heard there might be a resolution brought forward related to naming a county building. He was referring to a proposal to rename the building at 200 N. Main the Robert E. Guenzel Government Center. [See Chronicle coverage: "County Building to Be Named for Guenzel?"]

Kestenbaum said he’d given the issue of naming a lot of thought – suggesting, for example, that the names of Fourth and Fifth avenues be changed, since they were easily confused with Fourth and Fifth streets. He also acknowledged that the names of county buildings – 200 N. Main, the Annex, the county administration building – were generic.

At the same time, he said, there’s an uneasiness for naming a building after a person. There are also other buildings that could be named as well. Kestenbaum suggested a public process that would involve others in evaluating what buildings to name, and who to recognize. He urged commissioners to not make a hasty decision.

During the time for commissioners to respond to public commentary, Kristin Judge said it took a lot of courage for Kestenbaum to come forward with his opinion. She agreed that the board should take more time and develop a policy about naming county buildings, and said that helping the public become involved was a good idea.

Though a resolution to rename the 200 N. Main building after Guenzel had been on the draft agenda and was discussed at the May 12 administrative briefing, it was not on the final agenda for Wednesday’s meeting. No resolution was brought forward from the floor, and there was no further discussion on the issue.

Road Commission Expansion: Public Hearing Set

A resolution to set a public hearing on the possible expansion of the Washtenaw County Road Commission received some discussion at Wednesday’s meeting. At the board’s April 21 meeting, Conan Smith had proposed setting a hearing for May 19, but his motion had been tabled.

On Wednesday, the resolution brought up again, this time to set the hearing for July 7. There are currently three road commissioners, who are appointed by the county board. An expansion would increase that number to five.

Wes Prater began the discussion by saying that the timing wasn’t right. Jeff Irwin responded that the timing was perfect – the board could hear from the public during the summer, but wouldn’t have to vote on the expansion until after the upcoming elections. If they didn’t conduct the hearing now, they wouldn’t be set up to make a decision in the fall, he said.

Kristin Judge weighed in, saying the board needed to do more due diligence on the issue. They need to be able to tell the public details about a proposed expansion, so that the public can then say what they like or don’t like about the proposal. Among those details would be the cost of expanding the commission, she said.

Smith countered that it’s best when public input is given up front, not at the end of a process when decisions have already been made. And there’s nothing stopping the board from holding an additional public hearing later as well, he said. But the process of expansion requires certain mandated steps, with mandated time periods between each step. If they wanted to do it this year, they needed to get started.

Jessica Ping agreed that it was important to get feedback, but also said the board should get its ducks in a row. She asked if corporation counsel had looked at whether the salaries of the three current road commissioners could be redistributed among five commissioners,  and whether road commissioners could be appointed by geographic region – currently, there are no such requirements. Those are some of the issues that need to be resolved before a public hearing, she said.

Barbara Bergman and Mark Ouimet both expressed support for a July 7 public hearing, saying it was simply a way to gather more information.

Judge stated that she’s against backroom politics – she wasn’t arguing in favor of making decisions without public input. However, she noted that at most public hearings, attendance is zero. And by holding a hearing on the Wednesday after the July 4 weekend, attendance will be less than zero, she said, because it’s likely that not all commissioners were be there either. Further, the average person doesn’t know what the road commission does, she said – they need to be given sufficient information before being asked for input. For example, what’s the rationale for increasing the number of road commissioners from three to five?

Leah Gunn observed that the process has to start somewhere – and there’s always a reason not to start. She also said that everyone she knows has an opinion about the road commission, even if they live in a district that doesn’t require road commission services, like Ann Arbor. Bergman agreed, saying she got calls about the road commission frequently.

Gunn also recalled that the first time she’d met Judge was before Judge had been elected – when she’d come to speak to Gunn and the board about the road commission.

Ronnie Peterson said he’d support the public hearing, adding that his vote doesn’t mean he’ll support expanding the road commission. He indicated that he hasn’t decided at this time whether expansion is necessary.

Prater made a case against holding the hearing, saying the board needs to gather more information. He expressed grave concern about the road commission’s revenues. If something isn’t done about declining revenues, he said, “we’re going to watch our roads disintegrate in front of our eyes.” As the road commission finishes up work in Scio Township along the Jackson corridor, paid for primarily by the township’s downtown development authority, then it will focus simply on maintenance and preservation, he said. There won’t be money for capital improvements.

Gunn said that constituents are well aware of the conditions of local roads. Perhaps a public hearing would call attention to the lack of funding, she said, and raise awareness in Lansing. [The road commission is funded in large part by the Michigan Transportation Fund.]

Ken Schwartz asked the county’s corporation counsel, Curtis Hedger, whether there were mandated timelines to follow as they go through the process of possible expansion. Hedger said he’d research that question in further detail, but that they did need at least 28 days from the date that they set the hearing until the date it is held.

Schwartz said his concern was that the process seemed to be top down – that is, he wasn’t hearing his constituents clamoring for an expansion, though he has heard a lot of concerns about road conditions. Smith replied that he hadn’t heard direct requests for expansion, but people did raise issues about the road commission’s transparency and diversity. Those were issues that an expansion could potentially address, he said.

Rolland Sizemore Jr. said he wouldn’t support the motion. He felt as though there were already, in effect, five commissioners – the three appointed by the board, plus the two board commissioners – Prater and Ouimet – who served as liaisons to the road commission.

The motion to set a public hearing on July 7 passed, with dissent from Judge, Ping, Prater and Sizemore.

Millage Rate Set

On Wednesday’s agenda was a resolution to set the county operating millage. From The Chronicle’s report of the May 12 administrative briefing:

At the May 19 meeting of the Ways & Means Committee, on which all commissioners serve, they’ll vote on a resolution to set the 2010 Washtenaw County operating millage. It will be levied in property owners’ July tax bills and is unchanged from last year, at 4.5493 mills. Commissioners will take a final vote on the millage at their June 2 board meeting.

When other millages are factored in, the total county millage is 5.6768 mills. In addition to the operating millage, these other taxes are levied in July:

County Parks (expires 2016):    0.2353
County Parks (expires 2019):    0.2367
Natural Areas (expires 2011):   0.2409
Enhanced Emergency Communications System
  800 MHZ (expires 2015):       0.2000
Huron-Clinton Metro Authority:  0.2146

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Later this year, the board will also be asked to approve a veterans relief millage and Act 88 millage (for economic development purposes), which will both be levied in December.

On Wednesday, commissioner Ken Schwartz reminded residents that commissioners weren’t adding a new millage – it was simply a formality required by law to officially set the rate. [The board doesn't have the authority to increase the millage rate above what's set by state law, but it does have the authority to lower it – an action that locally only the Ann Arbor District Library board has done.] The rate was unanimously passed without further discussion.

The board also set a public hearing on the millage rate for its June 2 meeting. Commissioners will take a final vote on the millage at that meeting.

Land Bank Redux

During the time set aside for items for current or future discussion, Ronnie Peterson told the board that he planned to bring back a resolution to reestablish the county’s land bank, which the board had voted to dissolve in March. From Chronicle coverage of the March 17, 2010 meeting:

Despite an appeal from Ypsilanti mayor Paul Schreiber to keep the county’s land bank, commissioners on Wednesday voted to dissolve the entity, which the board created less than a year ago. That decision led commissioner Ronnie Peterson to make a long, impassioned plea for help to aid communities with high foreclosure rates, especially on the county’s east side. Peterson represents District 6, which covers the city of Ypsilanti and part of Ypsilanti Township.

The land bank was championed by county treasurer Catherine McClary, who chaired the authority’s board. It was designed as a way for the county to take possession of tax-foreclosed properties, rather than auction them off to the highest bidder – often an out-of-state company. The intent was to rehab the properties and resell them to qualified buyers, or demolish the houses and use the land for other purposes.

Citing internal disputes and a lack of sufficient funding, some commissioners said they didn’t believe the land bank was an appropriate mechanism for the county at this time. They had discussed their intent to eliminate the land bank last week at a March 10 administrative briefing. [See Chronicle coverage: "County Board to Vote on Folding Land Bank"]

Peterson plans to bring a resolution on the land bank to the board’s June 2 meeting. He said it was an important tool to stabilize the tax base and home ownership, especially for the eastern part of the county. He hoped that the board could hold some work group meetings on the issue somewhere on that side of the county, and he planned to lobby commissioners hard to support it.

Ken Schwartz told Peterson that before bringing it back to the board, it was important to address some of the issues that had caused the board to dissolve the land bank earlier this year. He did not specify what those issues might be. He pointed out that other districts, including his, could also benefit from a land bank. [Schwartz represents District 2, which covers northeast Washtenaw, including the townships of Superior, Salem and Northfield.

Peterson noted that four commissioners represent the east part of the county, and that he hoped they would help him take responsibility for reestablishing the land bank. [In addition to Peterson and Schwartz, Rolland Sizemore Jr. and Wes Prater have districts covering parts of eastern Washtenaw.] “I’m going to get this passed,” Peterson said. “I’m going to get this passed at all costs to me.”

Other Resolutions Approved

The board passed several other resolutions during Wednesday’s meeting.

Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association (VEBA)

A resolution to make changes in the board structure of the county’s VEBA trust agreement was approved. The resolution prompted a more general discussion about VEBA, which funds retiree health care. Wes Prater said he had no problem with the changes addressed in the resolution, but he was concerned because VEBA benefits are only 25% funded. It’s an unfunded liability, he said, and if it’s not addressed, some day the county will have a huge payment to make. He described the pension system as “not bad,” but said he was very concerned about VEBA, and called for a future working session on the issue.

County administrator Verna McDaniel said she planned to focus on shoring up VEBA. In response to a question from Barbara Bergman about the impact of recent federal health care reform on retiree medical benefits, McDaniel said she and other staff had recently been briefed on that topic by the county’s benefits consultant. They plan to get additional information to gauge its impact better, she said.

Mark Ouimet said it was important to get the lay of the land on both VEBA and the Washtenaw Employees Retirement System (WERS). The board needed to have a full understanding of where they stood and where they needed to be, as well as how to reach their goals in a safe, fiduciary responsible way.

Natural Areas Preservation Program Ordinance

Without discussion, the board unanimously approved changes to the ordinance governing the county’s Natural Areas Preservation Program (NAPP), which had been discussed in detail at the board’s April 22, 2010 working session. The changes, which would help the county protect more land that’s being used for farming, are being made in preparation for possibly placing a renewal of the NAPP millage on the November 2010 ballot.

Resolutions Related to Finance, Treasurer’s Office

Three items on Wednesday’s agenda were related to financial issues and the treasurer’s office. The board unanimously approved a resolution to create a bond counsel and financial advisor pool. The vendor pools allow county officials to pick from among three firms in each category. For bond counsel, the firms in the vendor pool are Dickinson, Wright; Axe & Ecklund; and Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone. The financial advisor pool consists of Public Financial Management; Municipal Financial Consultants, Inc.; and Leonard Capital Markets. Kristin Judge remarked that creating the pools was a good move, but otherwise there was no discussion on the issue.

The board also unanimously approved a resolution creating a part-time position in the treasurer’s office, to be paid for out of the county’s accommodations tax that’s levied on hotel and motel rooms. The position will be focused on collection of that tax.

Also related to the treasurer’s office, Kristin Judge commended county treasurer Catherine McClary for recently receiving the Liberty Bell Award, given each year by the Washtenaw County Bar Association. From a press release announcing the award:

The award recognizes outstanding service performed by a non-lawyer citizen who has given of his or her time and energy to strengthen the effectiveness of the American system of freedom under law.

This year, the award is being presented to Catherine McClary, Washtenaw County Treasurer, in recognition of her history of community service and her passion for making government more open and accessible to the public. McClary was first elected Treasurer in 1996. A County Treasurer is a constitutional officer with the duty to safeguard public funds and manage the County’s investments. By State law, she is mandated to collect delinquent property taxes, including foreclosing on property with unpaid taxes.

McClary provided early leadership to preserve homeownership in Washtenaw County by preventing tax and mortgage foreclosure; her programs are modeled throughout Michigan. McClary credits the success of Washtenaw County’s foreclosure prevention efforts to the “strong partnerships among County, City, University, and private non-profits such as Legal Services of South Central Michigan.”

Jean King, local attorney who supported McClary’s nomination for the Liberty Bell award, said, “Catherine works as hard as she can to reduce foreclosures in this County and to educate other Treasurers throughout our state.”

McClary, who attended Wednesday’s board meeting, received a round of applause from commissioners and staff.

Appointments

Commissioners who attended the May 12 appointments caucus had discussed candidates and arrived at a tentative list. Officially, the board chair makes nominations, which are then confirmed by a vote of the board. At the May 19 board meeting, the nominations had changed slightly from those discussed at caucus. They were approved without further discussion. The names indicated in bold are additions made since the May 12 caucus.

• Accommodations Ordinance Commission: Shary Brown, Shari Faulhaber
• Agricultural Lands Preservation Advisory Committee: Charlie Koenn
• Brownfield Development Authority: Teresa Gillotti, Mark Heusel
• Emergency Medical Services Commission: Ashley Cieslinski, Eric Copeland, William Wagner
• Historic District Commission: Chuck Gray, Jean King, Elmer White, Ron Woods
• Local Emergency Planning Committee: Samantha Brandfon, Ashley Cieslinski, Bryan Schultz
• Natural Areas Technical Advisory Committee: Rane Curl, David Lutton
• Public Works Board: Ruth Ann Jamnick George Schutte
• Workforce Development Board: Sean Duval

Other Public Commentary

Thomas Partridge spoke three out of the four times available for public commentary on Wednesday. He introduced himself as a Democratic candidate for the 18th state senate seat, which covers much of Washtenaw County. [The seat is held by Liz Brater, who is term-limited. Other candidates include current state Reps. Pam Byrnes and Rebekah Warren, who is married to county commissioner Conan Smith.] Partridge called on the board to pursue more collaboration between the county, the city of Ann Arbor and other jurisdictions in the 18th district. He urged the county to support job growth and economic development by building a permanent, prestigious entertainment center, convention center, senior center and center for disabled persons, strategically located within the 18th district. He asked the board to pass a resolution calling on the governor to form a task force with other states that would work toward improving the economy and the advancement of seniors, the disabled and the jobless.

Executive Session: Pending Litigation

At the end of their meeting, commissioners spent roughly an hour in closed executive session to discuss pending litigation. They received an update on the years-long lawsuit between the county and the townships of Augusta, Salem and Ypsilanti related to the cost of police services. The county is awaiting a judgment on its request for the townships to cover the cost of patrols provided by the county for most of 2006 – potentially around $2 million. Commissioners emerged from the executive session and immediately adjourned the meeting without discussing the lawsuit.

Present: Barbara Levin Bergman, Leah Gunn, Kristin Judge, Jeff Irwin, Mark Ouimet, Ronnie Peterson, Jessica Ping, Wes Prater, Ken Schwartz, Rolland Sizemore Jr., Conan Smith

Next board meeting: The next regular meeting is Wednesday, June 2, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. at the County Administration Building, 220 N. Main St. The Ways & Means Committee meets first, followed immediately by the regular board meeting. [confirm date] (Though the agenda states that the regular board meeting begins at 6:45 p.m., it usually starts much later – times vary depending on what’s on the agenda.) Public comment sessions are held at the beginning and end of each meeting.

County commissioner Wes Prater, left, talks with Ypsilanti mayor Paul Schreiber before the start of Wednesday's county board of commissioners meeting. Schreiber came to speak in support of the county's land bank. In the background is deputy clerk Jason Brooks. (Photos by the writer.)

Commissioners also got an update from their lobbyist in Lansing, who spoke of upcoming transitions in state government that will impact the county. Kirk Profit said the turnover in the legislature, governor’s office and other administrative posts could lead to opportunities for the county. Several commissioners raised concerns over the state budget and state funding for local programs, and are worried that the situation will get worse before it gets better.

Wednesday’s meeting also included two official farewells to long-time county employees: finance director Pete Ballios and Trenda Rusher, director of the county’s Employment Training and Community Services (ETCS) department. Both received standing ovations from commissioners, staff and others in the boardroom.

Land Bank Authority Dissolved

Despite an appeal from Ypsilanti mayor Paul Schreiber to keep the county’s land bank, commissioners on Wednesday voted to dissolve the entity, which the board created less than a year ago. That decision led commissioner Ronnie Peterson to make a long, impassioned plea for help to aid communities with high foreclosure rates, especially on the county’s east side. Peterson represents District 6, which covers the city of Ypsilanti and part of Ypsilanti Township.

The land bank was championed by county treasurer Catherine McClary, who chaired the authority’s board. It was designed as a way for the county to take possession of tax-foreclosed properties, rather than auction them off to the highest bidder – often an out-of-state company. The intent was to rehab the properties and resell them to qualified buyers, or demolish the houses and use the land for other purposes.

Citing internal disputes and a lack of sufficient funding, some commissioners said they didn’t believe the land bank was an appropriate mechanism for the county at this time. They had discussed their intent to eliminate the land bank last week at a March 10 administrative briefing. [See Chronicle coverage: "County Board to Vote on Folding Land Bank"]

Speaking during public commentary at Wednesday’s meeting, Schreiber reported that the Ypsilanti city council had passed a resolution of support for the land bank. It’s a tool that both Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti Township need, Schreiber said, adding that in his neighborhood alone, there have been four foreclosures in the last three years. He said the land bank could be used in conjunction with the Washtenaw Urban County, which he described as a “fantastic resource.” [Schreiber serves on the board of that group, which is chaired by county commissioner Leah Gunn.] The land bank is another option to help stabilize neighborhoods, he said.

Commissioner Discussion

Conan Smith, who’s been a supporter of the land bank, said he was saddened that they’d reached this point – it was a detriment that they’d have one less tool in their toolbelt. Kristin Judge asked for clarification about the funding – what had the county been hoping to receive to make the land bank more viable?

Leah Gunn explained that the county had applied for a second phase of funding from the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program, known as NSP2. About $5 million of those funds were to be used for the land bank, but the county did not receive the money. The land bank had also been allocated roughly $300,000 in NSP funds from a previous round that the county has already secured. Those dollars will now be used by the Washtenaw Urban County to rehab blighted properties, working with housing nonprofits like Avalon Housing and Habitat for Humanity.

County treasurer Catherine McClary, left, prior to the start of Wednesday's board of commissioners meeting. To the right is county commissioner Ken Schwartz.

Mention of the Urban County led Jessica Ping to note that her district wasn’t urban, and that from her district, only Bridgewater Township was an Urban County member. She wondered why other municipalities weren’t participating.

Gunn clarified that the Urban County is a partnership of the county, the cities of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, and eight townships. The “Urban County” designation allows the group to receive and allocate funding through certain federal programs, including NSP. The requirements for NSP stipulate that the funds must be used on certain designated low-income census tracts – locally, those are in southeast Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Ypsilanti Township and Superior Township.

However, other federal funds – from the Community Development Block Grant and HOME programs – can be used throughout the county. Joining the Urban County allows local municipalities to be eligible for those funds. Gunn said they’d like for others to participate, and the group has contacted leaders in communities that aren’t now Urban County members, like the city of Saline, which is in Ping’s district. “We’re kind of wooing them,” she said.

Asked by Ping how much it cost to join, Gunn said there is no cost: “We give money away.”

Ping indicated that the name “urban county” was confusing.

The term is a federal designation. From the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) website:

Urban county means a county that was classified as an urban county under 42 U.S.C. 5302(a) for the fiscal year immediately preceding the fiscal year for which emergency shelter grant amounts are made available. “(6)(A) The term “urban county” means any county within which- (i) is authorized under State law to undertake essential community development and housing assistance activities in its unincorporated areas, if any, which are not units of general local government; and (ii) either– (I) has a population of 200,000 or more (excluding the population of metropolitan cities therein) and has a combined population of 100,000 or more (excluding the population of metropolitan cities therein) in such unincorporated areas and in its included units of general local government … ” (42 U.S.C. 5302(a))

Returning to the topic of a land bank, Jeff Irwin said he too was disappointed, but that he would reluctantly support dissolving the lank bank authority. He said the board had lots of questions that went unanswered, and that they’d asked the county treasurer to return to the board with specific strategies for how the land bank would be used. That never happened, he said. When the funding fell through, the land bank’s viability as a tool became less clear.

Irwin said he’d encourage the treasurer to come forward in the future with strategies, and answers to questions like what metrics would be used to judge the land bank’s success, and how long would the county hold property that was put in the land bank.

Noting that he’d had a lot of questions about the land bank, Ronnie Peterson said he never questioned the treasurer’s motives in trying to help the community. He described the devastation that the economic downturn has taken on his district, saying that there are certain neighborhoods where you’ll find stretches of five to ten houses “sitting naked” because they’ve been foreclosed on and abandoned. The county is losing the stability of its neighborhoods, he said, and that stability depends on home ownership.

Both Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti Township had appealed to the board in support of the land bank, Peterson said, and he urged commissioners to table the resolution that would dissolve the entity. He said if they couldn’t work something out by June, he’d support the decision to dissolve it.

Gunn reiterated her point that the Washtenaw Urban County was working on the same issue – rehabilitating homes and working to find qualified buyers, not renters. “That is precisely what commissioner Peterson wants, and that is what we are doing,” she said.

Ken Schwartz weighed in, saying he’d been enthusiastic about the program when they approved it last July. [See Chronicle coverage: "Banking on a Land Bank"] But over the past few months, the board had difficulty working through things like who to appoint to the land bank authority’s board – no appointees were made. Schwartz described the situation as too much “taffy pulling,” but said that if they do more research and analysis, a land bank might be possible in the future, using a more coordinated approach with other tools to address similar problems.

Outcome: At the board’s Ways & Means Committee meeting, the resolution passed with dissent from Smith and Peterson. At the regular board meeting, which immediately follows Ways & Means, only Peterson voted against it – Smith and Schwartz were not in the room during that vote.

Report from Lansing

Kirk Profit – director of Governmental Consultant Services Inc., a Lansing-based lobbying firm – had been asked to give the board a briefing on state funding, which has a direct impact on programs and services provided by the county. Profit and two GCSI staff members – Ken Cole and Adrian Hemond – described some of the legislation they were tracking and attempting to influence, specifically as it related to funding for local municipalities.

Profit, a former state representative, described the situation in Lansing as challenging, though he praised the work of legislators representing Washtenaw County. He noted that the state faces a roughly $1.4 billion budget deficit. Gov. Jennifer Granholm has proposed closing that deficit with $500 million in cuts, $500 million in new revenue and $400 million in federal stimulus funds, Profit said, but both the House and Senate have said no to new revenues (tax increases).

Local governments have already seen an impact from the state’s budget crisis in the form of decreased state revenue-sharing and lower transportation funding for local roads, Profit said. With more cuts to come, he added, the state budget will encroach even more on quality-of-life issues.

Cole and Hemond both described work they’re doing to track legislation working its way through the House and Senate appropriations committees and subcommittees. There wasn’t much good news to share, with potential cuts in jail reimbursements, public health, the state police budget – which would affect local secondary road patrols – and other areas.

Kirk Profit, whose Lansing-based firm is a lobbyist for Washtenaw County, talks with county commissioner Barbara Bergman before the start of the March 17 board of commissioners meeting. Profit and two of his staff members gave an update on state legislative issues.

Profit mentioned a range of other projects that GCSI is pursuing, including legislation related to the Detroit Region Aerotropolis – the county is a partner in that project – and an effort to eliminate unfunded state mandates. He also said that outgoing county administrator Bob Guenzel will be working with GCSI on a project aimed a restructuring local government.

Though Profit described this year as a time to be engaged, he cautioned that because of the upcoming elections and a change in leadership at all levels in Lansing, it’s likely that a lot of issues won’t be resolved. There’s not much incentive for current legislators to make structural changes, he said. However, he added, “with a new government comes opportunity.” As a transition occurs and appropriations are made, it’s time to promote the county’s agenda, he said – or someone else will promote a different one.

Commissioner Discussion

Several commissioners had comments and questions for Profit and his staff. Leah Gunn called the news out of Lansing “very discouraging,” and said her concern is that the county doesn’t have many options in terms of raising revenue. She noted, for example, that Washtenaw County is the only one in the state that levies a tax to support indigent veterans. [The 1/40th of a mill is expected to raise $393,616 this year for services to indigent veterans.] There aren’t many options like that available to local governments, she said.

Profit said that Washtenaw County is the economic engine for the state. “We have political juice, we have political power,” he said – and now’s the time to turn it up a notch. The tax code needs to be restructured so that local governments aren’t stuck with capped property taxes, he said. There also needs to be changes to the gas tax – the roads are bad. Profit said he refused to accept the current situation, and expressed optimism that a change in government leadership could bring fresh ideas. But in the interim, it will be difficult, he acknowledged – especially in budgeting for next year, when things will be in flux.

Barbara Bergman asked about the impact of state cuts on the county’s public health budget, which could be as high as 20%. Dick Fleece, director of the county’s public health/environmental health department, came forward and said that as soon as they get the budget figures from the state, his staff would let the board know what their alternatives are. He said they hoped that grant funding might be available to offset state cuts.

On the issue of unfunded mandates – services that the state requires, but doesn’t providing funding for – Profit urged the county’s department heads to alert GCSI if there are any that “run afoul of the constitution.” There might be ways to challenge those mandates, he said.

Adrian Hemond also noted that there would be opportunities after the November election, in what he expects to be a “raucous” lame-duck session. “Literally everything will be up for dealing,” he said.

Profit also told commissioners and county staff that it would be helpful to hear examples of ways in which state funding decisions make a direct impact on county services. That’s useful in making a case to preserve funding, he said.

Ken Schwartz said it “sounds like this is the lost year of the lost decade.” He asked for details on state legislation related to the aerotropolis. A bill that would allow the aerotropolis to form a separate economic development zone has been stalled, Profit said, adding that they shouldn’t wait for state action. [A March 18 article in Crain's Detroit Business reports that executives in Oakland and Wayne counties have reached an agreement that could result in action in the state legislature.]

Kristin Judge asked for an update on indigent defense legislation. Profit noted that Washtenaw County’s public defender, Lloyd Powell, had been an advocate for state funding of trial-level public defense. [Powell outlined his position in a January 2010 column in the Washtenaw Legal News, outlining his position.] Profit said there’s a recognition that it would be very expensive, and that the debate hasn’t been resolved.

Jeff Irwin asked about the JPORT program – the county’s Justice Project Outreach Team, which provides mental health services for people in jail and after their release. The county had asked GCSI to check if the state would fund a pilot program, using Washtenaw’s efforts as a model. Irwin noted that Michigan is one of only five states that spend more on corrections than on higher education, and that programs like JPORT are one way to do something about that.

Profit said that his firm likes to “play offense,” and if the county wanted them to work on it, they would. Hemond pointed out that GCSI has made attempts in the past two years to get a pilot program started, but that wrangling between two different committee chairmen in the legislature had started to generate ill will, so they hadn’t pushed it further. However, the lame-duck session offered an opportunity to get something through appropriations, Hemond added. Profit cautioned against funding something that might be cut by a new administration, but Hemond said there might be creative ways to pursue it.

Public Health Update

The board heard two updates from county public health administrators on Wednesday.

H1N1 Update

Diana Torres-Burgos, the county’s medical director, reported on how the county responded to the H1N1 flu outbreak. She reminded commissioners that it was less than a year ago – in mid-April, 2009 – when the first cases of the flu were confirmed in California. Locally, the first outbreak peaked in June, with another peak in November.

This chart shows the geographic location of H1N1 cases in Washtenaw County, based on 80 residents who were hospitalized. Ypsilanti residents accounted for nearly half of all cases. (Links to larger image)

Torres-Burgos gave a roundup of Washtenaw County data related to the outbreak. There were 80 hospitalizations – of those, 49% were Ypsilanti area residents and 26% were from Ann Arbor. Looking at the cases by race/ethnicity, 69% were Caucasian and 19% African American.

Two adults in Washtenaw County died as a result of H1N1, Torres-Burgos said, but there were no pediatric deaths.

Torres-Burgos recalled the difficulty that the county had in getting adequate vaccines from the federal government. By mid-October, they had an extremely limited supply – an initial shipment of 3,400, all in nasal-mist form, out of a total order of 250,000. [See Chronicle coverage from an Oct. 28, 2009 briefing: "County Revamps H1N1 Vaccine Strategy"]

Based on limited supply, the county initially distributed vaccines based on priority groups. In October, the public health department held three clinics for first-responders, as well as a clinic for priority populations and a mass vaccination clinic. Six additional vaccination clinics were held in November and December. From October 2009 through January 2010, the county administered nearly 13,000 H1N1 vaccines. Through other health care providers, about 163,000 doses were given countywide, according to Torres-Burgos.

Vaccines are still available, she noted. There is no charge for getting them through the public health department.

In describing lessons learned from the outbreak, Torres-Burgos said it was clear that communication was crucial, both through traditional means as well as through social media like Facebook and Twitter. Partnerships were also critical, she said, with health care providers and other key stakeholders like Eastern Michigan University, which let the county use its convocation center for mass clinics.

Funding and staffing are challenges for emergencies like the H1N1 outbreak, Torres-Burgos said. Without federal stimulus funds and the collaboration with partners in the community, the county would have been unable to provide the response needed, she said.

Following her presentation, several commissioners praised the public health department’s response to the H1N1 crisis. Kristin Judge noted that while 400 schools closed throughout the state, there was only one school closing in Washtenaw County. She attributed that to the county’s response in averting a crisis. Barbara Bergman said that the department has laid a strong foundation for responding to future public health crises.

Washtenaw County Public Health Rankings

Dick Fleece, director of the county’s public health/environmental health department, gave a report on how Washtenaw County ranked in a recent study by the University of Wisconsin. The study looked at health outcomes and health factors in counties throughout the U.S. In the first category, Washtenaw ranked 7th in Michigan, looking at outcomes like mortality and morbidity, including low birth weight and quality of life.

Washtenaw County ranked 1st in the state in the health factors category, which measured health behaviors (including smoking rates, obesity rates, binge drinking and teen birth rates), access to health care, social and economic factors, and physical environment. Some highlights:

• Washtenaw ranked highest in the state for the number of primary care providers – 283 per 100,000 population.
• The county’s adult smoking rate is 13%, compared to a statewide rate of 23%. Fleece noted that new state ban on smoking in bars and restaurants takes effect May 1.

A chart of showing the number of grocery stores and restaurants per capita in Washtenaw County from 1950 through 2008. (Links to larger image)

• In the category of access to healthy foods, 58% of the county’s zip code areas have a grocery store, farmer’s market or produce stand, compared to a statewide average of 51%.
• The county has an estimated 15% rate of uninsured adults under the age of 65, compared to the overall state average of 12%.
• In Washtenaw, 46% of chronically ill Medicare patients were enrolled in hospice care within their last six months of life, compared to a state average of 38%.
• Measuring the birth rate to teen mothers, the county had 14 births per 1,000 females aged 15-19, compared to a state average of 36.

Fleece said that while the county is doing well in many regards and has much to be proud of, there are still problems – as well as areas of disparity. For example, the percentage of adults who smoke varies widely by region, from 9.8% in Ann Arbor to 24.9% in Ypsilanti. Obesity rates are significantly higher in the Ypsilanti area – at 24.9% – compared to 11.2% in Ann Arbor. And looking at adults diagnosed with diabetes, there are large disparities based on race and income, Fleece said.

Another area of concern is the county’s chlamydia rate, at 300 per every 100,000 people. Though it’s lower than the overall state average of 370, it’s far above the target goal of 50, Fleece noted.

The county has a 7.3% rate for low-birth weight – measuring the percent of live births for which the infant weighed less than 5.8 pounds. The state average is 3.7%. Fleece thanked the board for its approval Wednesday evening of a grant – $27,390 from the Genesee County Racial & Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) – that will be used to address that issue.

The full study results are available at the County Health Rankings website. [.pdf of report to commissioners]

After Fleece’s presentation, Conan Smith said that the ranking bodes well for both residents and for the economy. Having a healthy environment makes the county a place that people want to live and that businesses want to locate. It’s something to brag about, he said, to businesses that might want to invest here.

“And remember to invest in our department as we go forward,” Fleece quipped.

Contract Approved for Next Administrator

With no discussion, commissioners approved an employment agreement with Verna McDaniel to be the county’s next administrator, effective May 15, 2010 with a salary of $155,000. McDaniel, the county’s deputy administrator, was the only person interviewed to replace retiring administrator Bob Guenzel. Guenzel, who has been in that post since 1994, currently earns $159,424.

In addition to her salary, McDaniel will also be provided with a county-owned vehicle, health insurance, travel expenses and other benefits. The agreement states that she’ll be reimbursed for up to $3,000 in other job-related expenses, as needed. [.pdf of employment agreement]

McDaniel has worked for the county for 28 years, including 18 years as executive director of human resources. [For previous Chronicle coverage of McDaniel's selection, see "McDaniel Pledges to Lead Washtenaw."]

Regional Energy Office

Without comment, the board voted to join the Southeast Michigan Regional Energy Office, with commissioner Conan Smith abstaining. Smith had addressed a potential conflict of interest on the issue at the board’s March 3 meeting – he is executive director of the Michigan Suburbs Alliance, a Ferndale-based nonprofit that will be managing the energy office. [See Chronicle coverage from a Nov. 24, 2009 administrative briefing and Dec. 2, 2009 county board meeting.] Commissioners also had received a briefing on the energy office at their March 4 working session.

Present: Barbara Levin Bergman, Leah Gunn, Jeff Irwin, Kristin Judge, Mark Ouimet, Ronnie Peterson, Jessica Ping, Wes Prater, Ken Schwartz, Rolland Sizemore Jr., Conan Smith

Next board meeting: Wednesday, April 7 at 6:30 p.m. at the County Administration Building, 220 N. Main St. The Ways & Means Committee meets first, followed immediately by the regular board meeting. [confirm date] (Though the agenda states that the regular board meeting begins at 6:45 p.m., it usually starts much later – times vary depending on what’s on the agenda.) Public comment sessions are held at the beginning and end of each meeting.

Trenda Rusher, outgoing executive director of the county's Employment Training & Community Services (ETCS) department, gave an emotional speech after receiving a plaque of recognition for her nearly 30 years of service to the county. In starting her own consulting business in the Washington D.C. area, she promised to be the county's "little leprechaun" and help find "pots of gold" – referring to grant funding from the federal government and other sources.

Pete Ballios was recognized by county commissioners for 37.5 years of service to Washtenaw County. He retired as finance director at the end of 2009. To his right is his wife, Theanne Ballios. Commissioner Jeff Irwin said he appreciated the fact that Ballios was someone who could enjoy the "fun moments."

At their administrative briefing on Wednesday, commissioners discussed the move with county treasurer Catherine McClary, who also attended the meeting. McClary had originally proposed the land bank as a mechanism allowing the county to take temporary ownership of tax- or mortgage-foreclosed land. The intent would be to give the county options for dealing with blighted property, other than selling it off at auction.

But anticipated federal funding didn’t come through, and a dispute among some commissioners about who would serve on the land bank authority board stalled the project. “It’s fair to say that the county was not sold on it,” McClary said at Wednesday’s meeting.

Land Bank: Issues of Funding, Control

Starting back in July 2009, when Catherine McClary first asked the board to formally support creation of a land bank authority, issues of funding and control were at the forefront in the board’s discussions. [See Chronicle coverage: "Banking on a Land Bank"]

Funding

At their July 8, 2009 board meeting, commissioners quizzed McClary about details of the proposal, which they ultimately approved that evening. While some commissioners expressed support, others – including Wes Prater and Ronnie Peterson – said they were concerned about taking property off the tax rolls and worried that the board wouldn’t have any control over the land bank’s governing entity. Board chair Rolland Sizemore Jr. asked McClary at the time whether the board could dissolve the land bank, if they didn’t feel it was effective. She told him that they could.

The initial plan called for funding the land bank with $300,000 from the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which the county had already been awarded. In July, the county applied for additional NSP funds – including nearly $5 million for the land bank – but did not receive the funding.

At Wednesday’s briefing, commissioner Leah Gunn pointed to that lack of funding as the primary reason for dissolving the land bank, saying “I think the land bank train has left the station.” She said the Washtenaw Urban County – a group which she chairs – can use the original NSP dollars to rehab blighted properties, working with housing nonprofits like Avalon Housing and Habitat for Humanity. The Urban County is a partnership of the county, the cities of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, and eight townships, working together to allocate funding from the federal Community Development Block Grant program.

Ken Schwartz said it seemed to be a question of whether the land bank was a good vehicle for the county to use at this time. He said there’d been a lot of fighting around the issue, and that it never seemed as though the board could get behind it.

Control

Conan Smith, an advocate for the land bank, said the blame for not making it work rests “squarely on our shoulders.” The board’s bickering with McClary over the land bank authority’s bylaws dominated the conversation, he said, and they weren’t able to come to consensus about which commissioner to appoint to that governing entity. [The Ann Arbor city council appointed a representative – councilmember Sabra Briere – but commissioners themselves never did.]

The land bank authority was to include one commissioner on its board – an appointment that both Smith and Prater sought. At Wednesday’s meeting, which Prater did not attend, Smith said he originally had the six votes needed for the appointment. But rather than push the issue and create tensions during the already difficult budget deliberations, Smith said, he chose to lobby to get two positions created for commissioners on the authority’s board, so that both he and Prater could serve. In hindsight, that was a mistake, he said.

Likening it to the county’s Economic Development Corporation, Smith said the land bank would have allowed the county to be proactive. “It’s a tool we should have at our disposal,” he said. However, if they can’t use the land bank efficiently, he added, it makes sense to dissolve it.

For her part, McClary told commissioners she felt like she’d done a poor job in explaining the benefits of a land bank. It was primarily aimed at tax-foreclosed properties, she said, more so than mortgage foreclosures – though both kinds of foreclosures have been on the rise. In 2008, there were 26 tax foreclosures from tax year 2005, she said. [It takes three years to get to the point of foreclosure, beginning when a taxpayer is delinquent on their taxes.] In 2009, there were 102 tax foreclosures, with 45 of those ultimately sold at auction. This year, there are 515 properties in tax foreclosure, though McClary said some of those will be redeemed if property owners come forward to settle their bills.

It’s often out-of-state companies that pick up properties in tax-foreclosure auctions, McClary said: “They’re bottom fishing.” The mechanism of a land bank would have allowed the county to  hold the properties temporarily and partner with nonprofit housing agencies to rehab and resell them. Or if necessary, the houses could be demolished and the land used for other purposes.

The beneficiaries are really the municipalities, particularly in the Ypsilanti area, McClary said. But without the board’s support, she added, it was difficult to move forward.

Neighbors gather at the Bryant Community Center to hear Joan Nassauer, a University of Michigan professor, talk about water drainage issues. (Photo by the writer.)

On The Chronicle’s first trip to the Bryant Community Center in December 2008, elected officials, the heads of local nonprofits, city and county staff outnumbered residents at a meeting for the southeast Ann Arbor neighborhood. The reverse was true last Thursday evening, when a room full of neighbors filled every seat, gathering to discuss the challenges they share.

Bryant is one of the few clusters of affordable housing in Ann Arbor. It’s also been hit hard by the mortgage crisis – a foreclosed property in the neighborhood at 2 Faust Court, vacant and boarded up, has been targeted as one of the first acquisitions for the county’s new land bank.

The land bank actually dovetails with a widespread problem that affects nearly all residents, which was the focus of Thursday’s meeting: Inadequate drainage and the chronic pooling of water in crawl spaces, basements, yards and streets. Joan Nassauer, a University of Michigan professor of landscape architecture, has remediated sites with similar problems in Flint, Chicago, St. Paul and other areas. She was on hand Thursday to talk about what Bryant residents might do to address their drainage issues.

What a Land Bank Can Do

Nassauer began by noting that the land bank in Genesee County, where the city of Flint is located, is recognized nationally for its work, and includes more than 5,000 properties. Putting property into a land bank can be valuable because it buys time, she said. In fact, time and community care – having volunteers mow the lawns of foreclosed properties, for example – can be a positive substitute for market conditions. “You’ve gained value by using the time well,” Nassauer explained.

The house at 2 Faust Court in the Bryant neighborhood is a vacant, foreclosed property that's being considered for the county's new land bank. (Photo by the writer.)

Land banks are a way to take temporary ownership of tax- or mortgage-foreclosed properties, giving local officials more options to deal with blighted areas. Those options might include demolishing a structure, selling it for rehab to a nonprofit like Habitat for Humanity, or turning it into a community garden. Convinced of these benefits, the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners authorized formation of a land bank at their July 8 meeting. [See previous Chronicle coverage.]

Property in a land bank might also be used to help remediate environmental problems. Other land banks, for example, have looked at how properties fit into a watershed – if low-lying land could be transformed into a rain garden to manage drainage and stormwater mitigation in an area, that might be the best use for it in a given neighborhood.

Resident Paul Cartman expressed concern about using foreclosed property for stormwater mitigation, saying he wouldn’t want to see affordable housing being sacrificed for that. In the case of 2 Faust Court, it’s not clear if that foreclosed property would even be suitable for addressing drainage problem – it’s on one of the higher elevations in the neighborhood. However, there are other possible options to deal with the neighborhood’s drainage problem, Nassauer said.

She outlined several other projects she’d been involved with in different cities, in which rain gardens and French drains had been used to manage water. While not exactly parallel to the situation at Bryant, they were potentially useful solutions that could be adapted for this neighborhood.

Why All the Water?

The Bryant neighborhood was originally a wetland – developers dealt with that by building drainage ditches (also known as swales) in many backyards. But over time, it’s likely that those ditches have been filled in and aren’t functioning as originally designed, Nassauer said. She asked residents attending Thursday’s meeting whether water problems have gotten worse in the last 5 to 10 years – her question was met with a chorus of “Yes!”

Mary Hinton described how she didn’t originally have a problem with water when she moved to the neighborhood about eight years ago, but over time the standing water got so bad that her driveway started sinking in. She called the city but said they weren’t responsive – until a garbage truck got stuck in front of her house.

To get a closer look at the neighborhood and its drainage issues, last week Nassauer took a walk around Bryant with county treasurer Catherine McClary, who has spearheaded the land bank project. McClary had attended the neighborhood’s December meeting, when the issue of drainage and flooding had been raised. [People attending that meeting also got a firsthand view of the problem – that morning, the roads in the neighborhood were covered with frozen water.] McClary knew that Nassauer had done work with the Genesee County land bank, and asked if the UM professor could lend her expertise locally as well.

On the walk-around, Nassauer was trying to get a sense of the area’s land contours. McClary had provided her with maps of the neighborhood’s soil composition and topography – based on those, Nassauer learned that the northeast corner had clay soil, which doesn’t absorb water well. In that area, you’d expect to find more flooding, she said. What surprised her was that there’s flooding throughout the neighborhood, not just in that section.

Nassauer said she learned from a resident at another neighborhood meeting held last week that when the area was first developed, soil from the northeast sector had been excavated and spread throughout other parts of Bryant, which accounts for the drainage problems. One solution is to punch holes through the clay so that the water can reach the sandy soil below, she said. “It’s like opening the stopper in a bathtub.”

She also noticed that the two streams flowing north out of the neighborhood, and eventually into the Huron River, go under I-94. It’s possible that the culverts carrying the water under I-94 are filled with sediment – if that’s the case, it could be contributing to the problem, she said.

Paul Cartman, a resident of the Bryant neighborhood. (Photo by the writer.)

Other Possible Fixes

Paul Cartman, one of the residents attending Thursday’s meeting, said he had talked to Mike Bergren, the city’s assistant field operations manager, and other city staff who’d told him that soil in the Bryant neighborhood was acidic, and had been eating away at the cast-iron water mains. He reported that the city was planning to replace the mains next summer, and said that while they were at it, they might be able to install edge drains along the roads, too.

Nassauer said that would be good news for the neighborhood, and that they should ask two questions of the city: 1) how would the city get the water in yards, basements and crawl spaces to flow toward the roads and into whatever drains might be installed, and 2) what can the city do to systematically deal with the condition of the backyard swales. It was her understanding that the city didn’t take responsibility for those, Nassauer said, but perhaps now was a good time to be looking at that issue.

Joan Doughty – executive director of the nonprofit Community Action Network (CAN), which has a city contract to manage Bryant Community Center and is facilitating improvements to the neighborhood – said that Jerry Hancock, the city’s stormwater and floodplain programs coordinator, had been at last week’s meeting and had spoken about the water main replacement as a possibility, not a certainty. However, she added that sometimes different departments within the city don’t communicate with each other, so it can be difficult to find out what’s really going on.

Her view was echoed by Susan Baskett, an Ann Arbor Public Schools trustee and Bryant resident, who said she’d had the same experience. She suggested enlisting city councilmembers from Ward 3 – Christopher Taylor and Leigh Greden – to be liaisons in getting information. Jean Carlberg, a former city councilmember for Ward 3, said it was certainly possible to get Jerry Hancock and  Mike Bergren to coordinate. She asked what it would take to get more information about the swales. Doughty said that the city had been ready to throw away old maps of the neighborhood that showed the original swales, but that one of the residents now had them.

Derrick Miller, director of the Bryant Community Center, said this issue highlighted the importance of the survey they were asking residents to complete. The results will be a key element in proving to the city that flooding is a problem. The four-question survey asks residents where and when flooding occurs, whether their homes have mold or mildew, or bubbling of painted areas, and whether anyone in their home has asthma, allergies or other respiratory issues.

To date, about 140 out of 263 households have completed the survey. CAN has tallied 125 of those surveys so far. Of those who answered the drainage-related question, 91% (90 households) experienced flooding in their yards and/or crawl spaces.

Forty-six survey respondents reported someone in their household suffered from asthma or other respiratory problems – that’s 41% of those who answered the question. That’s an incredibly high rate, Doughty noted, saying they plan to ask the county’s public health office to look into the situation.

Regarding the flood-related question, Cartman said that some people might not respond to the survey because of fear that by acknowledging the problem, they’d then be required to pay to fix it – something that not everyone can afford.

Getting feedback from the community about these issues will be an ongoing effort, Doughty said. ”This is a story that’s going to be continued over the next couple of months. We’ll continue this conversation.”

Joan Doughty, executive director of the Community Action Network (CAN), draws a winning raffle ticket from the basket held by Jerene Calhoun, a Bryant neighborhood resident who was leading Thursday's community meeting at Bryant Community Center. At left is Nadia Wong, a UM graduate student and intern with CAN. (Photo by the writer.)