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.

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.

Release forms for a video of Thursday's panel are collected from panelists by Shannon Riffe of the Ann Arbor District Library, far left. Standing left to right are county commissioner Barbara Levin Bergman, Washtenaw County sheriff Jerry Clayton, and Christine Negendank, of the county's Community Support and Treatment Services. Not in this photo, but also on the panel, was Washtenaw County prosecutor Brian Mackie. (Photo by the writer.)

During Thursday night’s panel discussion on the Washtenaw County jail, one message from sheriff Jerry Clayton was this: It’s his job to administer the jail, but it’s the whole county’s jail – it’s our jail.

Clayton was joined on the panel by Washtenaw County prosecutor Brian Mackie, Washtenaw County commissioner Barbara Levin Bergman, and Christine Negendank, a psychiatrist with the county’s Community Support and Treatment Services department. The event was hosted by the League of Women Voters at the downtown Ann Arbor District Library.

The format allowed some time for audience members to have their written questions put to the panelists. Among those questions were concerns about translation services at the jail for non-English speaking inmates and possible racial profiling of Latinos in the immigrant population.

Questions posed by the League of Women Voters provided panelists a chance to give somewhat of a tutorial on how the government’s system of punishment works – Brian Mackie was asked to start with an explanation of the difference between jail and prison.

Jail Versus Prison

One key difference between jail and prison, explained Mackie, is that jails in Michigan are county-operated, whereas prisons are state-operated facilities. So the Washtenaw County jail is a place where (i) suspects are detained short-term after arrest but before they’re arraigned, (ii) defendants are held who haven’t been released on bond – who are accused of either felonies or misdemeanors, and (iii) people convicted of either felonies or misdemeanors serve their sentences.

Washtenaw County prosecutor Brian Mackie (Photo by the writer.)

After a suspect is arrested, Mackie said, it’s always possible to get arraignment and charging completed within 24-hours because there’s a judge and a prosecutor on duty every day of the year.

The maximum sentence to a county jail in Michigan, clarified Mackie, is one year. That’s important to bear in mind, he said, when comparing prison commitment rates across different states. Pennsylvania, for example, allows jail sentences for up to five years – so lower statistics for Pennsylvania prisons could reflect higher numbers in jails.

In Michigan, 49% of convicted felons are sentenced to time in local jails, Mackie reported, while the national average is 30% – that reflects an unfunded mandate from the state to deal with convicted felons at the community level, he contended.

The 332-bed Washtenaw County jail is the smallest jail per capita in Michigan, Mackie said. [The new jail expansion would increase the number of beds by 112 to 444.] In recent years, the prison commitment rate in Washtenaw County had crept up from the second lowest in the state at around 16% to where it’s now around the state average in the low 20s, Mackie said. Asked whether he thought there was a connection between the jail capacity and that increase in prison commitment rate, Mackie said he had trouble not seeing the correlation.

How the Jail Works

Even though the jail expansion would add 112 beds – provided that funding for its operation can be found to bring it online in October or November of 2010 – Sheriff Clayton cautioned: “We will never have enough jail beds if we do not change the way we engage people in society.”

Washtenaw County sheriff Jerry Clayton. (Photo by the writer.)

While the jail is ultimately his responsibility, Clayton said, it’s administered directly by a commander, three lieutenants, eight sergeants, and 84 corrections officers.

He also heaped praise on the number of volunteers who came into the jail to support various programs like classes in literacy and anger management.

The physical surroundings of the jail, Clayton said, are not what maintains safety. That is, it’s not the walls, the bars, and the windows that manage the inmates. Rather, it’s human engagement of inmates that should manage their behavior.

To engage inmates effectively, Clayton said, it’s important to know who they are: What risks do they pose and what needs do they have? Who are the people at the jail? Clayton gave a quick statistical snapshot.

In 2008, Clayton reported, 7,901 people came in and out of the Washtenaw County jail. In round numbers:

Male:   88%
Female: 11%

Misdemeanor: 56%
Felony:      43%

Mental Illness:  27%
Substance Abuse: 75%
Unemployed:      63%
Homeless:        14-17%
No h.s. diploma: 36%

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Assessing risks and needs of the inmates on intake was the first of six points ticked off by Clayton as the jail’s mission. The others: (ii) assign appropriate housing, putting like groups together, (iii) meet basic needs – the need to feel safe, have shelter, food, and a connection with others, (iv) define expectations – the belief that inmates will conform to the rules and be productive, (v) engage inmates through human interaction, and (vi) keep inmates productively occupied.

Medical Services

While Christine Negendank focused her remarks primarily on the mental health side of medical services, a question from the audience also drew out the fact that the jail provides other medical services as well – a dentist as well as an OB/GYN for pregnant inmates. Commissioner Bergman pointed out that Medicaid does not cover medical treatment while incarcerated. The total cost to the county per year for inmate medical care runs about $1 million.

Christine Negendank, a psychiatrist with the county's Community Support and Treatment Services department. (Photo by the writer.)

Negandank described the Community Support and Treatment Services jail diversion program, which aims to provide alternatives to incarceration for those with mental illness. She also described JPORT (Justice Project Outreach Team), which works both inside and outside the jail after release to provide mental health services.

Negandank said that it’s possible for her to see an inmate in jail, know they’re getting out of jail, and tell them: “I’ll see you in two weeks at my office downtown.” She stressed that securing funding for mental health medications was a challenge, but that providing mental health services was more than just dispensing medications.

The challenge of supporting inmates released from jail again drew out the difference between jail and prison: There’s a longer planning time for eventual reintegration into society from prison – facilitated by organizations like the Michigan Prisoner ReEntry Initiative (MPRI). Given the shorter length of time spent at jail facilities, there’s less time to anticipate and plan for time after release.

One of the audience questions addressed the issue of the time of day inmates were released. Clayton clarified that yes, inmates were released at midnight – because if a release date was Nov. 12, say, then holding them until 6 a.m. on Nov. 12 would mean an extra six hours of incarceration to which they had not been sentenced.

Another audience question drew out Mackie’s view that the work of Dawn Farm (which has the in-jail substance abuse services contract) and other social-justice nonprofits like Community Action Network and Peace Neighborhood Center was crucial to reducing the burden on the criminal justice system.

Funding the Jail and Its Expansion

Barbara Levin Bergman drew the question from the League about how the jail was funded. She began saying that she was one of 11 county commissioners who allocated money to the justice system, of which the jail was a part.

Washtenaw County commissioner Barbara Levin Bergman. (Photo by the writer.)

She stressed that those allocations, whether they were to the prosecutor’s office or to the jail, were made as part of a budget management process that included communication between the board of commissioners and the departments to which they allocated money.

One of the audience questions specifically addressed the jail expansion of 112 beds: How would that be funded? Bergman, in her remarks made earlier in the evening, had said that she was one of the people who had voted to build the expansion, which broke ground in December 2008.

Even when the construction is completed, it’s not clear if the county will open the new facility. From The Chronicle’s previous coverage in May: “Targeted Cuts for Washtenaw County Budget“:

[County administrator Bob Guezel] also laid out a wide range of possible cuts, including selling county-owned facilities – he noted that the Zeeb Road building was only half occupied, for example – and even the possibility of not opening the jail expansion when it’s completed in 2010. That expansion, which would provide an additional 112 beds, would cost at least $1 million extra per year to staff. He said that though governments in general are good at finding one-time solutions, “what we need going forward is primarily structural savings.”

What the sheriff’s department budget will look like in the county’s budget also probably won’t be clear even after the county votes on the final budget for 2010/2011, which might come at the board’s next meeting. From The Chronicle’s coverage “County Board Set for First Budget Vote“:

One unresolved issue is the final budget for the sheriff’s department. At last week’s administrative briefing, Guenzel told commissioners that he and sheriff Jerry Clayton were still negotiating, and that they wouldn’t likely reach an agreement in time for the final budget approval. Guenzel plans to come to the board at a later date with a budget amendment that would address the results of their negotiations.

Though they were expected to make an initial vote at their Nov. 4 meeting on the final 2010/2011 budget, commissioners removed that item from their agenda. The next chance to vote on the budget – likely still without the sheriff’s department portion – will be Nov. 18.

At the League of Women Voters panel on Thursday, Clayton said that the question of whether there’d be enough money to open the jail expansion was still to be answered. The numbers were still under discussion, he said. But he emphasized that “I am sound on those numbers. We won’t bring numbers that are fluff.” Saying that while he didn’t mean to be flippant about it, the situation could be compared  to the old Fram air filter commercial where the mechanic compares the cost of the air filter to the cost of engine replacement: “You can pay me now … or pay me later.”

Bergman described the discussion on providing funding to staff the new jail expansion as “tension among friends.”

Clayton stressed that the sheriff’s department was trying to do its part by becoming more efficient and raising revenues. That prompted Bergman to remark that the “frosting on the cake” to revenue generation was that his deputies were writing tickets in Ann Arbor. An audience question asked about billing inmates for the services they used, but Clayton seemed skeptical that it was an avenue worth pursuing aggressively – in light of the 63% unemployment rate among inmates.

Clayton described the jail expansion as a part of a “social justice campus” where there could be some level of supervision while inmates work at outside jobs but return for the night. They’d get supervision and support, plus treatment for substance abuse if needed, when they returned to campus each night.

In his remarks, Mackie also emphasized that it was important to distinguish between the tiny number of people who are “just purely evil” and those who needed some supervision that might not entail full-time incarceration. As an example, he gave a repeat drunk-driving offender, who might be treated in a cheaper, more humane way at something like a “probation residential center” than at a jail.

Clayton contrasted the feel of the jail expansion as fundamentally different from the old part of the jail. It was not constructed to be in any way luxurious, he said, but it did not communicate the expectation that inmates would act out. Rather, it communicated the idea that they were expected to behave appropriately.

Audience Questions: Immigrant Population

In addition to some of the audience questions already described, two related specifically to the immigrant population in Washtenaw County.  What kind of support is there for non-English speaking inmates?

After the panel concluded, Laura Sanders of the Washtenaw Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights pressed sheriff Jerry Clayton for some answers on treatment of the local immigrant population. (Photo by the writer.)

Clayton allowed that this was an area he’d noticed upon taking office a little under a year ago, saying that service for non-English speakers was “not where it should be.” As an example, he cited an orientation videotape that is shown to inmates – it’s in English only. The jail does employ translator services for inmates who don’t speak English.

A second question related to possible racial profiling of Latinos during traffic stops. The way Washtenaw County deals with racial profiling was actually a strength of the county, Mackie said. He pointed out that Clayton was a nationally-recognized expert on addressing racial profiling. ["Practitioners Guide For Addressing Racial Profiling" was co-authored by Clayton. Prior to his election, Clayton also ran a consulting firm specializing in dealing with racial profiling.]

Clayton said that in their training, they stressed that a traffic stop must be based purely on a suspect’s behavior, not anything else. In thinking about their own actions, officers should be able to answer the question: Why did you do this? Clayton said it was a dual education challenge: (i) educate officers about how to treat suspects, and (ii) educate citizens about why officers do what they do.

The author of the question about racial profiling had a somewhat more pointed question in mind. [Questions were written out and read by the League of Women Voters]. The question had come from Laura Sanders of the Washtenaw Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights.

According to Sanders, a new requirement that a Social Security number be produced in order to obtain/renew a Michigan driver’s license has led to the following kind of scenario: (i) an immigrant cannot renew their license, (ii) when pulled over at a traffic stop, they can’t produce a current license, (iii) instead of receiving a ticket for driving on an expired license, they’re arrested and taken to the jail, (iv) immigration services are contacted and (v) deportation proceedings begin.

Sanders contends that if a driver were not a Latino, they’d simply be given a ticket, not arrested and taken to jail – that’s racial profiling, she says.