Comments on: Washtenaw County Treasurer Updates Board

By: Leah Gunn

Leah Gunn — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 19:29:59 +0000

All of the agencies which receive county and city money can be described as “grassroots” community-based organizations. None is located outside of Washtenaw County. There are very strict qualifications that an organization must meet before it can receive tax money. These include a description of their govenance, their tax returns, their financial health, and their ability to report the outcomes that are expected. Whoever leads them is irrelevant. Whom they serve is the important fact. And the non-profits selected serve all vulnerable populations, regardless of their race, creed, color, sexual orientaion, or any other category.

If there is a group that does not meet the qualifications, that group can apply for the new stream of funding called “capacity building” which is provided by grants from the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation. As a responsible elected official, it is my duty to make sure that the dollars we allocate are spent wisely, and to the greatest effect.

By: Scrathcingmyhead

Scrathcingmyhead — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 15:54:56 +0000

As a citizen and taxpayer of Washtenaw County, I am highly concerned about the process the City/County has chosen to allocate funding to non-profit organizations. Commissioner Peterson is correct to raise questions about this because the three county employees mentioned by Callan will not be an advocate for grassroots nonprofit organizations. They will simply go along with the wishes of their employer which is the county and make recommendations to fund those organizations the county has deemed worthy whether a review process takes place or not. The City/County has been moving away from nurturing and developing grassroots groups to become actively involved in their community. Currently, there are no African American led organizations, other than Peace that receives funding either from the city or county. These groups are effectively being disenfranchised from the process of serving their community and sadly enough none of the advocacy organizations that supposedly represents the African American community has step forth to challenge this process. Almost half of Roland Sizemore’s constituency is Black and he needs to show more concern as to how his constituents can be engaged in the process. He is sitting on a powder keg in the Township and he can’t rely on his family name to placate people.

By: Bob Martel

Bob Martel — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 22:35:27 +0000

I am concerned about the “delinquent tax borrowing.” I realize that this is routine, but the amount of delinquencies this year seems to be without precedent. Also, I understand that a lot of the delinquencies are related to raw land that has been abandoned by developers vs. homes that have a higher likelihood of selling and being occupied in due course. I hope that the municipalities who benefit from these advances don’t get burned by having to repay the County in a few years out of their limited resources.