Commissioner Rolland Sizemore Jr. (D-District 5) had been appointed to serve on the aerotropolis at the county board’s Jan. 16, 2013 meeting. Sizemore’s appointment on Jan. 16 came in the context of the annual county commissioner appointments made at the start of each year. [.pdf of 2013 appointments listing]

The original list of eligible boards, committees and commissions for which stipends are paid was approved at the county board’s Dec. 5 meeting, but the aerotropolis had not been included in that list.

At that Dec. 5 meeting, commissioners had voted to alter their compensation to receive stipend payments based on the number of meetings that a commissioner is likely to attend for a particular appointment. One or two meetings per year would pay $50, three or four meetings would pay $100, and the amounts increase based on the number of meetings. Each commissioner typically has several appointments.

In the past, commissioners had to request per diem payments for their work. Now, stipend payments will be made automatically, unless commissioners waive their stipends by giving written notice to the county clerk. According to the county clerk’s office, Dan Smith (R-District 2) is the only commissioner who has waived all of his stipends. Ronnie Peterson (D-District 6) does not receive any stipends because he was not appointed to any boards, committees or commissions.

This brief was filed from the boardroom of the county administration building at 220 N. Main. A more detailed report will follow: [link]

Commissioner Rolland Sizemore Jr. (D-District 5) was appointed to serve on the aerotropolis at the county board’s Jan. 16, 2013 meeting. He’ll receive an annual stipend of $100 for that work. Sizemore’s appointment on Jan. 16 came in the context of the annual county commissioner appointments made at the start of each year. [.pdf of 2013 appointments listing]

The original list of eligible boards, committees and commissions for which stipends are paid was approved at the county board’s Dec. 5, 2012 meeting. However, the aerotropolis stipend had not been included in that list.

At that Dec. 5 meeting, commissioners had voted to alter their compensation to receive stipend payments based on the number of meetings that a commissioner is likely to attend for a particular appointment. One or two meetings per year would pay $50, three or four meetings would pay $100, and the amounts increase based on the number of meetings. Each commissioner typically has several appointments. In the past, commissioners had to request per diem payments for their work. Now, stipend payments will be made automatically, unless commissioners waive their stipends by giving written notice to the county clerk.

According to the county clerk’s office, Dan Smith (R-District 2) is the only commissioner who has waived all of his stipends. Felicia Brabec (D-District 4) waived the $150 stipend for the accommodations ordinance commission. She serves as an alternate for the AOC. Ronnie Peterson (D-District 6) does not receive any stipends because he was not appointed to any boards, committees or commissions.

The action taken on Feb. 6 also eliminated the Southeast Michigan Regional Transit Authority from the list of boards, committees and commissions for which stipends are paid. No commissioners are appointed to the RTA.

This brief was filed from the boardroom of the county administration building, 220 N. Main St. in Ann Arbor. A more detailed report will follow: [link]

Author Stedman Graham signs copies of his book "You Can Make It Happen" in the board room of the Washtenaw County administrative building on Wednesday. Tiffany Lucas of the county's Employment, Training & Community Services department collects the signed copies, which were presented to county commissioners during their board meeting.

Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners (March 18, 2009): A meeting that brought some heated rhetoric about funding sources for a regional aerotropolis project also included brief remarks by Stedman Graham about the county’s literacy initiative and an invitation to attend a March 29 soccer match between the sheriff’s department and the Washtenaw County Homeless Soccer Team.

The meeting was preceded by a reception that drew about 200 people from the community to highlight the county’s Blueprint to End Illiteracy, which was formally presented at the Wednesday board meeting.

Blueprint to End Illiteracy

A group of 25 organizations from across the county formed the Washtenaw County Literacy Coalition, and have been working for two years to develop a comprehensive plan to eliminate illiteracy – focused on reading and writing, but also using literacy skills in health care, the workplace (including computers) and finance. Co-chairs for the group – county administrator Bob Guenzel and Josie Parker, director of the Ann Arbor District Library – were on hand to make the formal presentation of the Blueprint to End Illiteracy at Wednesday evening’s board of commissioners meeting.

Guenzel told the commissioners that 27,000 people in Washtenaw County lack adult literacy skills, and that 12% of students in Washtenaw County don’t graduate from high school – in some areas, that percentage is higher. Fifty percent of children with illiterate parents grow up to be illiterate themselves, he said. There are also strong correlations between illiteracy, health care problems and financial struggles.

During her part of the presentation, Parker outlined the coalition’s goals: 1) to increase public awareness and improve resource-sharing among agencies that tackle the issue, 2) to improve literacy skills among all residents, and 3) to build an infrastructure that will support the effort’s long-term sustainability. This last goal is the hardest one, she said, especially in the current economy. The group has raised $78,300 in grants and donations for 2008-09, including a $50,000 grant from the United Way of Washtenaw County.

Parker said organizers decided that the only way to make this effort succeed is to involve families – that’s why the coalition’s first program will focus on families, she said. The pilot program, to run from April through July, will include activities for the entire family, held at locations throughout the county: the Ann Arbor District Library, the Ypsilanti District Library, Jewish Family Services in Ann Arbor, the Community Church of God in Ypsilanti, and Faith in Action in Chelsea.

In addition to passing a resolution to accept the blueprint – which the board did unanimously – Guenzel said commissioners could help by supporting in-kind contributions of staff time, space and other resources from the county. It’s a long-term commitment, he said.

After the presentation, Guenzel asked Stedman Graham to make a few remarks to the board. Graham was in town this week for several events focused on literacy – his visit was sponsored by the county’s Employment, Training & Community Services department. They paid $12,000 for four public appearances, with the money taken from federal funds allocated for outreach and literacy, according to Guenzel.

Before the meeting Graham had signed paperback copies of his book “You Can Make It Happen,” which were passed out to commissioners. The book outlines a “nine-step plan for success,” and during his remarks, Graham said: “You’re following the nine-step process and it’s just a beautiful thing to see.”

For the record, those steps (as excerpted from Graham’s book) are:

1. Check your ID: “Before you can decide what you want for your life, you first must understand who you are, what the influences are on your life, why you act and think the way you do.”
2. Create your vision: “To seek a better life, you first have to decide what you want for your life.”
3. Develop your travel plan: “Once you have established your goals, you need a plan to pursue your vision.”
4. Master the rules of the road: You will need “self-discipline, determination, and perseverance to keep after your goals because there will always be distractions and disruptions in your journey to fulfill your vision of your life.”
5. Step into the outer limit: “There are always risks when you chase after a dream because growth requires that you leave your comfort zone and enter unknown territory.”
6. Pilot the seasons of change: “If you are not getting what you want out of life, you have to change your approach to it. To get what you want, you have to become the person who deserves it.”
7. Build your dream team: “To pursue success effectively, you must build supportive relationship that will help you work toward your goals.”
8. Win by a decision: “Making decisions wisely is one of your greatest challenges.”
9. Commit to your vision: “Having a commitment involves pledging your time and energy to the pursuit of your vision, and making that pursuit a top priority in your life.”

Detroit Aerotropolis

At their March 11 administrative briefing, covered by The Chronicle, commissioners who attended had an animated debate about the pros and cons of joining the Aerotropolis Development Corp., a regional effort to develop a commercial corridor between Detroit Metro and Willow Run airports.

Commissioner Conan Smith, as chair of the board’s Ways & Means Committee, began Wednesday night’s deliberations by saying that he’d made some vehement comments at the March 11 meeting, and now felt he’d been “dead wrong” about his statements that it would be unlikely to get a return on the county’s investment of $100,000  to join the aerotropolis ($50,000 per year, for two years). While he still had concerns, he said he was willing to support the proposal.

Several other commissioners expressed their support. Wes Prater said it was up to the county’s representative to the aerotropolis board to ensure that their concerns are addressed. Rolland Sizemore Jr., the board’s chair, said he was interested in being that representative, saying he supported the effort because it offered the opportunity to partner with Wayne County for this and potentially other projects. Kristin Judge, who at last week’s meeting expressed concerns over the cost of joining, said she also felt it was important to reach out to Wayne County. She said she was more comfortable now that the fee had dropped from $150,000 to $50,000 per year.

Jessica Ping, who at last week’s meeting had also raised concerns about the cost, said she would support the project because of the jobs it could potentially create for the county. (Aerotropolis organizers have projected the district could bring in 64,000 jobs over 25 years.) Ping noted that the resolution they’d be voting on indicated the funds would come out of the  Employment, Training & Community Services (ETCS) budget, and she wondered about whether taking the money from the Eastern Leaders Group was still an option, as discussed at the March 11 briefing.

Guenzel said he was recommending that the $50,000 come from the ETCS budget. Ping asked what the money allocated for the Eastern Leaders Group in 2009 was being used for (the county budgeted $300,000 for that partnership). Guenzel said the board could certainly choose to allocate the funds from either entity. When pressed again by Ping about why the county would prefer using ETCS funds, Guenzel said that the Eastern Leaders Group was developing a plan that would be presented on April 16 focused on economic development on the eastern side of the county.

Smith asked Ping whether she wanted to amend the resolution, striking the reference to ETCS. An agitated Ronnie Peterson, who represents Ypsilanti and parts of Ypsilanti Township, asked whether Smith was trying to steer her into making the amendment. Smith said he was trying to help address her concern.

Jeff Irwin spoke next, saying the opportunities of the aerotropolis outweighed any risks or challenges. He said that freight now gets trucked out of the Detroit area to Chicago, where it is flown to other parts of the world. A lot of dollars are involved in moving those products, and those dollars could be kept in this region. He said one overlooked component of the project was transit-oriented development, and that the group needed to spend more time working on the rail corridor between the two airports.

The next commissioner to speak was Peterson, clearly upset, who addressed the issue of funding. He said the eastern part of the county has been hit hard by the economy, especially from the loss of auto manufacturing jobs. Funding for the Eastern Leaders Group is designated for economic development, he said. “It wasn’t created to be a pool of money to stick a fork in whenever you want a dollar.”

He said he’d heard about last week’s discussion that took place at the administrative briefing, and said he doesn’t attend those meetings because he doesn’t believe the people’s business should be done in back rooms. (Peterson is the only commissioner who hasn’t attended any of the administrative briefings since The Chronicle began covering them in October 2008. Not all commissioners attend each briefing, and there’s no requirement to attend. The meetings are not televised but are open to the public, though it’s fairly rare that anyone besides county staff and commissioners attend.)

Smith then proposed an amendment to the resolution, striking the reference to ETCS. He said that would give the administration more flexibility in deciding how to fund the aerotropolis fee, in the event that other funding sources arose that would make more sense. Irwin said he wouldn’t support the amendment, because the administration had already allocated and made the recommendation to use ETCS funds. Several other commissioners weighed in to agree.

Ping said she supported economic development in all parts of the county, and had only asked about an alternative to ETCS because she knew the budget situation was difficult. Smith said it’s a way to make sure the eastern part of the county gets even more funding for economic development. He noted that if the Eastern Leaders Group doesn’t use its funding – as was the case last year – it reverts to the general fund.

Peterson said it was rude not to consult with the Eastern Leaders Group before discussing their funding. He said he wasn’t at liberty to discuss the projects they were working on, but that there are several.

Kristin Judge thanked Peterson for his passion, and said that she hoped Pittsfield Township would join the Eastern Leaders Group at some point. She noted that the administrative briefings are open to the public, and that some members of the media do attend.

The amendment to strike the reference to ETCS funding failed, with only Ping and Smith voting for it.

The original resolution to join the aerotropolis passed unanimously.

Soccer Match

At the meeting’s public comment session, only one group spoke. Several members of the Washtenaw County Homeless Soccer Team – the S.S. PORT – were there to promote a March 29 match between their team and members of the Washtenaw Sheriff’s department. The game, the first of its kind, will also be a fundraiser for the team, said Sara Silvennoinen, who helps organize the team. It will be held from noon to 3 p.m. at Worldwide Sports Center, 2140 Oak Valley Drive, Ann Arbor. The team is also selling raffle tickets and T-shirts leading up to and at the event. Funds will be used toward the team’s goal of attending the Homeless USA Cup competition in Washington, D.C. this June.

A “Lugubrious” Report

Commissioner Barbara Levin Bergman is a member of the county’s Human Emergency Response Committee, and reported to commissioners that at their most recent meeting, the committee heard from the Michigan Mortuary Response Team, or MI-MORT. The group is part of a statewide disaster preparedness effort, and has equipment like refrigerated trucks that can be deployed as temporary morgues in the case of an emergency resulting in mass fatalities. Bergman, noting that her report was lugubrious, said these were important efforts being taken to prepare for a crisis. No other commissioners had comments or questions about her report.

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

Next board meeting: Wednesday, April 1 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]

During a reception prior to Wednesday's board meeting, from left: Commissioner Ronnie Peterson, author Stedman Graham, commissioner Leah Gunn, county administrator Bob Guenzel. Peterson, Gunn and Guenzel are all involved in the county's Blueprint to End Illiteracy.

The Aerotropolis Development Corp. is an economic development project targeting growth in the corridor between Willow Run Airport on the county’s east side and Detroit Metro Airport. In early November 2008, Wayne County executive Bob Ficano made a presentation at a board working session about the project, but the proposal never was brought up for a vote. At the time, several commissioners expressed concern at the cost of joining – a $150,000 annual fee.

Since then, the fee has been lowered to $50,000 for the county, and two local governments – Ypsilanti city council and the Ypsilanti Township board of trustees – have voted to join the project independently. The cost for those municipalities is $25,000 per year.

Rolland Sizemore Jr., the board’s chairman, began the discussion by saying he felt that with the lower fee, the county would be able to see a return on its investment. The board is being asked to make a two-year commitment to the project, for a total of $100,000. The return would come through tax revenues on new development.

Commissioner Conan Smith countered by saying he’d be shocked if the county could recoup that amount. He said he had asked for information quantifying a return on investment, but hadn’t gotten it. “I’ll be voting no,” he said.

When queried by commissioner Kristin Judge about how much the county had already invested in this project, county administrator Bob Guenzel said they’d paid $50,000 last year for a feasibility study, and had contributed staff time to the project as well. Guenzel, who serves on the aerotropolis task force, said the argument for joining is that the entity would provide marketing for the area, particularly of properties in Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti Township.

Saying he was very skeptical of the project, Smith raised several concerns. The county would need to see $50 million in development over two years in order to recoup its costs – he doubted that would happen. He said he’s seen no investment from Wayne County in developing the east-west rail project, and he believes rail transit would be the fastest way to bring more economic development to the east side of the county. (This point prompted commissioner Jeff Irwin to ask, “Would you be happier if it was named AeRailtropolis?”)

Smith also pointed out that the state legislation needed to make the project financially viable still hadn’t passed. The legislation is needed to allow the aerotropolis to set up a Local Development Finance Authority, which would allow it to capture tax revenues. “I’m worried that 10 years from now we’ll say it’s the worst half-million we’ve spent,” Smith said.

Several commissioners defended the project, and said they’d be voting to join. Sizemore said he thought that joining would provide opportunities to partner with Wayne County, and that Washtenaw could benefit from having someone on the aerotropolis board to give this area’s interests a stronger voice.

Commissioner Wes Prater, noting that the project in some form had been around for years, said it was worth giving it a try. He said that Willow Run Airport was underutilized, and that there were opportunities for growth there since the project’s initial focus would be on the freight and logistics industries. He later noted that the real value for the project would come from job creation, not the tax revenue that would flow into the county.

Ken Schwartz also said he planned to support the project.

Some commissioners were hesitant. Judge wondered about timing. In the current economic climate when the county is facing budget deficits, she asked, is it the right time to do long-term projects like this? Commissioner Jessica Ping asked whether they could table the decision until next year, saying it would be hard to support the expenditure while they’re also making budget cuts.

Guenzel said that if they joined now, the $50,000 entry fee would be waived. He also noted that there was a six-month opt-out clause in the agreement. Sizemore said he was reluctant to table the vote, adding that he wanted to have a decision one way or another.

Irwin said he was on the fence. He shared some of Smith’s concerns, but said it was meaningful that the local communities on the county’s east side had opted in. He said he was fairly certain they wouldn’t get their investment back quickly, but noted that the lower annual fee made a return on investment more attainable, and that if a developer decides to locate a project here, it would very likely be a sizeable one. He later said that another concern he had related to zoning – there’s been no action to streamline zoning in the aerotropolis district, and at this point local governments hadn’t given up their zoning rights, which could lead to a “free for all.”

Some of the discussion focused on where the funds would come from, if the county decided to join. Smith proposed asking the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti convention & visitors bureaus to pay, noting that the county had recently approved raising the accommodations tax that funds those entities. The tax increase is expected to add $3 million to the Ann Arbor CVB’s revenues annually, Smith said. “They’ve got a lot of extra money coming into their coffers. We don’t.”

Smith later suggested another alternative: Paying for the fee out of the amount allocated for the Eastern Leaders Group, a partnership of the county, Eastern Michigan University, Ann Arbor Spark and several other governmental, business and educational groups. He said that would make sense, since the eastern side of the county would benefit most from the aerotropolis project. Irwin noted that the ELG didn’t spend the money that the county had budgeted for them last year, and that it reverted to the general fund. There is $300,000 in the county budget allocated for that effort, in addition to staff support time.

Guenzel said they’d planned to pay for it out of the funds for the county Employment Training & Community Services department. When asked by Kristin Judge what ETCS would otherwise spend the money on, Guenzel said the department was expecting several million dollars in federal stimulus funding, the implication being they’d have sufficient resources to support their programs.

Mark Ouimet, who had earlier commented that the board would need to view the project as a long-term commitment, said it was important to listen to Smith’s concerns about where the funding would come from.

Toward the end of the discussion, Ping said she thought they should leave it on the agenda for a vote. Smith then asked whether they really wanted to have this kind of discussion on TV, where Wayne County will be “paying attention.” The board meetings, unlike these administrative briefings, are broadcast on Community Television Network. [Editor's note: Smith did acknowledge that The Chronicle would be reporting on this debate, though it seems clear he's betting that Wayne County officials won't pay attention to this particular article.]

Commissioners present: Jeff Irwin, Kristin Judge, Mark Ouimet, Jessica Ping, Wes Prater, Ken Schwartz, Rolland Sizemore Jr., Conan Smith

Detroit Region Aerotropolis

First up was Wayne County executive Bob Ficano, one of the leaders for the aerotropolis project. Ficano is hoping Washtenaw County will sign on as a partner to help create the Aerotropolis Development Corp. (ADC). The county would pay $150,000 to become a member – a decision the board will make at a future board meeting.

The project is a push to develop the areas surrounding Detroit Metro and Willow Run airports. The corridor between the two airports, which includes parts of eastern Washtenaw County, would become a transportation hub, attracting businesses that rely on air travel and transport. The goal is to create as many as 64,000 jobs on roughly 5,000 acres. Ficano hopes to launch the ADC early next year, and anticipates needing a first-year operating budget of $1 million.

Questioning by commissioners revealed their concern about how the ADC would generate revenues after its initial startup phase. Some said they were generally supportive of the project, but worried that the $150,000 fee would be increased each year. Ficano and his staff said they eventually expect tax revenues to be the main source of income. They plan to set up a Local Development Finance Authority (LDFA), which captures taxes from new business development.

Community Success Project

Tony VanDerworp, director of planning and environment for the county, is one of the leaders for the Community Success initiative, a group that’s developing a strategy for coordinated economic development in this region. (More information about this effort, including a list of the roughly 70 people involved, is on the group’s website. The project is also referred to as Ann Arbor Region Success.) The broad goals are to create jobs, build a tax base that would fund community services, and bring support for the arts and social services.

Also at the meeting to talk with commissioners were Rick Snyder, a local venture capitalist who chairs Ann Arbor Spark’s board of directors, and Rich Sheridan, president of Menlo Innovations and a private-sector leader of the Community Success project. Sheridan said that although negative economic news is garnering headlines, his company and others he’s aware of are actually growing. The goal is to foster companies that are innovative, either in products or services. Sheridan cited Health Media as a great example of this kind of company – they were recently acquired by Johnson & Johnson, but are expected to stay in Ann Arbor and add jobs.

Sheridan talked about some of the things this community needs to do to attract and retain these kinds of companies: strengthen the educational system from early childhood through college, increase the amount and quality of workforce housing in urban centers, build a regional transit system, provide business support such as funding for business incubators or access to loans and grants, and attract and retain workers by mentoring young professionals and developing more “3rd places” such as nightclubs and recreational options (i.e. places to gather outside of home or work).

Snyder told the commissioners that the group was rolling out its strategy starting with this meeting, and would be speaking with other community groups and government entities in the coming weeks. He spoke about the importance of measuring their results, including jobs creation and the local unemployment rate as compared to the national rate. Each of the targeted areas needs a champion to further develop the action plan and make sure it’s implemented, he said. It’s a long-term process: “This is where you have to get that marathon runner approach.”

Regarding workforce housing, commissioner Leah Gunn said that often such projects are resisted by the same people each time something is proposed. She said it would be helpful if young people who actually wanted this kind of housing could make their views known. She also urged the Community Success leaders to be mindful of the needs of nonprofits in the community, and the services they might require.

Commissioner Jessica Ping asked if they were reaching out to the western part of the county. VanDerworp said they’d be meeting with groups in those areas, and that they recognized the importance of communities outside the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti core.

Ann Arbor Spark

Mike Finney, president of Ann Arbor Spark and another leader of the Community Success project, gave an update on his economic development agency’s work, which is funded in part by the county. Spark focuses on the industries of advanced automotive manufacturing and materials, aerospace engineering and manufacturing, “cleantech,” homeland security and defense, IT/software, life sciences, optics/measurement, and printing and publishing.

He said he’s been asked by state officials to be involved with responding to the current auto industry crisis, because of the model Spark developed when Pfizer announced it was closing its Ann Arbor research campus. He’s working on a white paper about “open source” economic development, a more collaborative approach that involves a broad range of community participation.

He described a new ad campaign being developed called “MichAgain,” which is focused on retaining and attracting talent. One print ad he brought as an example showed a large hand with logos from different companies – including Borders, Domino’s and Google – clustered in the southeast Michigan part of the palm. The text reads, in part, “Where are the up and comers going? Right back where you started from.” Finney estimated it would take $1 million over two to three years to fund the campaign. “We’ll be back to you looking for the first check,” he joked. He also showed commissioners a prototype of a marketing brochure designed to be customized by any community. He said the brochure is in response to calls for Spark to help market areas outside of Ann Arbor.

Finney described the funding that Spark receives from the county – $200,000 annually, plus another $50,000 for Spark East – as “pretty modest,” and said it and other funding from local governments was used to leverage $19 million in investments into the community. “I think that’s the kind of leverage you want to get on every dollar,” he said.

Commissioner Ken Schwartz asked for an update on Spark East, a business incubator project in downtown Ypsilanti on West Michigan Avenue. Finney said he’d just done a walkthrough the previous day and that he’s confident they’ll have the renovation work done by late December or early January. They’d like to open with an anchor tenant, and they’re actively looking for one now. He also noted that the building will have a classroom that will be used for EMU evening courses, which will increase pedestrian traffic in that area.

Commissioner Ronnie Peterson said that while all the presentations tonight were important, they didn’t go far enough in terms of collaboration. He urged the county administration to bring all groups in the community together to better share information and collaborate.

Jessica Ping asked Finney to address the recent news reports of a dispute between Spark and the Ann Arbor LDFA resulting from an independent audit of Spark. [Background: Mike Reid, who served on the LDFA board until Oct. 7, resigned from that body citing his dissent over "recent LDFA board decisions that refused to demand immediate repayment for known instances of overbilling, instances where contemporaneous time records were never kept at all, and instances where employees or family members of employees were paid to consult for their own companies."]

The LDFA provides about $870,000 in funding for Spark. Finney said there was a disagreement about the terms of the contract between the two groups, and that Spark had submitted a recommendation to resolve the issue. He said they’d done nothing illegal or unethical, and that his team acted with great honesty and integrity. He did not want to talk about details of Spark’s recommendation to the LDFA until they’d seen and responded to it – the LDFA’s next meeting is Nov. 14.

Commissioner Mark Ouimet, who was chairing the working session, said that the LDFA audit had created a new level of interest in Spark and that people would be anxious to see the follow-up on it.

Congratulations to state House leaders

Finally, Conan Smith gave a shout-out to Democrats Kathy Angerer and Pam Byrnes, two state representatives from Washtenaw County who were recently elected to leadership positions in the House. Angerer is majority floor leader, and Byrnes is speaker pro tem. Smith’s wife, Rebekah Warren, and mother, Alma Wheeler Smith, are also state representatives, both re-elected on Nov. 4.

Present: Leah Gunn, Mark Ouimet, Ronnie Peterson, Jessica Ping, Karen Lovejoy Roe, Ken Schwartz, Conan Smith

Absent: Barbara Levin Bergman, Mandy Grewal, Jeff “New Daddy” Irwin, Rolland Sizemore Jr.