The purpose of the special meeting is considering a resolution to approve a collective bargaining agreement with Local 369 of the International Union of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) AFL-CIO. The agreement would run from March 25, 2013 through Dec. 31, 2017, a bit under five years. The special meeting might also include a closed session to discuss labor negotiation strategy.

The council already had a budget work session scheduled for the same time. So the budget work session will start immediately following the special meeting. The topics of the budget session will include the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority, as well as council budgeting priorities.

The purpose of the special meeting is to hold a closed session to discuss labor negotiations strategy under the Michigan Open Meetings Act.

A budget working session had already been scheduled for the same time. That working session is now scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. The council is looking towards the latter part of May, when the fiscal year 2014 budget needs to be finalized.

Members of the Michigan Nurses Association union held banners during the Sept. 15 regents meeting, showing signatures from their supporters. (Photos by the writer.)

The Michigan Nurses Association, which represents about 4,000 UM nurses, is negotiating a new contract. Members brought large banners with signatures from their supporters, and three people spoke about the issue during public commentary – including Brit Satchwell, head of the Ann Arbor teachers union. The nurses are concerned that weaker benefits will affect patient care by hurting the UM health system’s ability to retain and recruit high-quality nurses.

Ora Pescovitz – UM’s executive vice president for medical affairs – read a statement to the board, asserting her respect for the nurses but saying the health system needs an agreement that’s market- and cost-competitive.

Also during the meeting, regents got an overview of UM’s annual development report for fiscal 2011, which ended June 30. The university received $273.14 million in contributions during the year, up from $254.08 million the previous year – an increase of 7.5%. The previous two years had shown declines from the $342.05 million raised in FY 2008, which marked the end of the multi-year $3.2 billion Michigan Difference fundraising campaign.

As part of that report, a couple who’ve given considerable financial support to UM – Bill and Dee Brehm – spoke to the regents about the motivation for their donations. They provide support for UM’s Brehm Center for Diabetes Research and Brehm Scholars program, among other initiatives.

Regents also heard from students and staff about work toward environmental sustainability on campus and in coursework. More is in the works: On Sept. 27, Coleman is scheduled to make an address to campus, expanding UM’s sustainability goals for both academics and operations. Her remarks will be shown via a webcast, starting at 11 a.m.

A range of action items during the meeting received little discussion and were all passed unanimously. They included several construction-related projects, the creation of two medical school departments, and authorization to buy a parcel at 716 Oakland Ave. in Ann Arbor, between Monroe and Hill streets near the law school campus. This is the fourth Ann Arbor property that UM has purchased within the past year with an apartment building on the lot.

President’s Raise

During the time for committee reports, regent Martin Taylor – who chairs the board’s personnel, compensation and governance committee – introduced a motion to award president Mary Sue Coleman a 2.75% raise, effective Aug. 1, 2011. Coleman’s salary before the raise was $570,105.

Taylor praised Coleman for her leadership, citing her role in the university’s economic development efforts. The Venture Accelerator program, a start-up incubator located in the North Campus Research Complex (NCRC), is 60% full, less than a year after opening, he noted. UM is in the top 10 universities for the number of spin-off companies created from technology developed there, with more than 90 firms founded since 2001. Research funding will top $1.3 billion by the end of this year, he said. And the university has created a masters degree in entrepreneurship.

UM president Mary Sue Coleman.

Taylor also commended Coleman for expanding the university’s global reach, and for overseeing the largest capital building effort in the university’s history – with projects that are all on schedule on on budget, he noted. She has also led development of an environmentally sustainable campus, and pushes on all fronts for academic excellence.

Coleman is focused on the future, Taylor said, citing the “deep” renovations of several residence halls during her tenure. She’s also a leader on the national level, he said. She was named by U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to co-chair the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship. She’s chair of the Internet2 board of trustees, and will be named chair next month of the Association of American Universities executive committee. Taylor also noted that Coleman joined president Barack Obama this summer in announcing his Advanced Manufacturing Partnership – UM is one of the partners.

Coleman “really puts the university in a place it wants to be,” he said, making it “the leaders and best.”

Taylor expressed regret that the regents weren’t proposing a higher increase, saying the raise amounts to a “whopping” $15,678. He said the board would like to award a higher amount, but must factor in the state’s economy.

Regents had awarded Coleman a 3% raise a year ago. Her compensation package also includes $75,000 in deferred compensation, a $100,000 retention bonus, $24,500 in retirement pay, and an additional $30,850 supplemental retirement payment. Her current contract goes through July 31, 2014.

Outcome: Regents voted unanimously to award a 2.75% raise to UM president Mary Sue Coleman.

After the vote, Coleman said she was deeply grateful. She praised her executives for their work, saying she was part of a team effort. She noted that she and her husband, Ken Coleman, recently received letters from students who’ve benefited from scholarships the Colemans funded to travel abroad. “I’m well-compensated,” she said, adding that she planned to donate her raise to fund scholarships for international travel. “This is the thrill of my life to be here,” Coleman said. She received a round of applause from the regents and staff.

Nurses Union Negotiations

There was no agenda item related to ongoing negotiations between UM administrators and the Michigan Nurses Association, which represents about 4,000 UM nurses. But with union members – wearing distinctive red T-shirts – packed into the audience, the issue provided a clear backdrop to the meeting. The previous contract expired June 30.

Ora Pescovitz, UM executive vice president for medical affairs, at the board table prior to the Sept. 15 regents meeting. Behind her is a banner held by supporters of the Michigan Nurses Association, which is negotiating with UM for a new contract.

During her report to the board, Ora Pescovitz – UM’s executive vice president for medical affairs – read a statement regarding the situation. She noted that the two groups had been negotiating since April, and that although they’d reached agreement on a variety of points, there remained some unresolved issues. The university needed to reach an agreement that is market- and cost-competitive, she said, allowing it to recruit and retain nurses of the highest caliber.

Pescovitz acknowledged that earlier in the week, the union had asked the Michigan Employee Relations Commission to conduct fact-finding for the two parties. She said the administration welcomes this process, and looks forward to a successful outcome. The university values and respects the nurses, she said.

Nurses Union: Public Commentary

There was no other discussion on the situation among executives or regents, but three people spoke in support of the nurses during public commentary at the end of the meeting.

Brit Satchwell – president of the Ann Arbor Education Association, the union representing about 1,200 teachers in the Ann Arbor Public Schools district – said he wasn’t there to talk about education. He went on to describe his mother, Clelia Steele, who was instrumental in the early push for Title IX legislation. She was compassionate yet formidable, he said, and not prone to fear – until she was diagnosed at age 79 with colon cancer.

Over the past year, she survived five major surgeries at the UM hospital. And while her doctor, Sandra Wong, was brilliant and helped save his mother’s life, “my mother will tell you that it was the many nurses who healed her that made all the difference.” Satchwell said he sympathized with the difficult choices that the administration needed to make as the state tries to pull out of recession, but he urged them to focus on the institution’s core priorities. “The nurses are the heart, soul and backbone of this great university’s health system, and you weaken that foundation at the system’s eventual peril.”

Keri Bokor told regents that she has a business management degree, but got into nursing because it’s her passion – she’s been working six years in the UM hospital’s surgical intensive care unit, and she’s proud of it every day. It’s difficult to become a nurse, she said, and to become a UM nurse requires a whole different level of skill and perseverance. She said she didn’t understand how administrators could expect concessions from the nurses while taking big raises themselves. [Pescovitz received a $21,000 raise for 2010-11, bringing her salary to $721,000. Doug Strong, CEO of the UM Hospitals and Health Centers, received a $53,637 raise for 2010-11 – his salary is $600,000.]

Bokor told regents that Washtenaw County sheriff Jerry Clayton took a pay cut when he asked his employees to do the same – that was honorable, she said. How can hospital administrators expect their staff to respect them when they fail to set an example? she asked. Bokor said that the situation is really about patient care. The administration risks too much if all they care about is the bottom line – high-quality, highly-specialized nurses could leave. She said there are 21 items that the administration wants to take away from nurses, and noted that the banners on display in the room show thousands of signatures in support of the nurses. “This is a game that hurts everyone,” Bokor concluded. “Please let’s not play it any longer.”

Julia Morrissey, a UM nurse and member of the Michigan Nurses Association, holds her baby while speaking to the board of regents during public commentary.

At the conclusion of Bokor’s remarks, regent Denise Ilitch asked her for some examples of the 21 items she had alluded to. Bokor said she couldn’t recall all the details, but that issues included limiting overtime, asking nurses to cover more of their health insurance costs, and taking away other benefits that the union had bargained for over the past 30 years. In essence, they’d be taking a pay cut, she said. Bokor told the regents that many of the nurses she worked with lived in Toledo, but worked at UM because the benefits were attractive. If you take those benefits away, you’ll lose high-quality nurses who have options to go elsewhere, she said.

Another UM nurse, Julia Morrissey, told regents that all the nurses and other supporters who turned out to the meeting were there because they are serious. They understand that if the administration undercuts respect for the profession, nurses will leave. Negotiations aren’t moving, she said, and the health system is more interested in the bottom line than about the people who care for patients.

Patient care suffers if there aren’t sufficient staffing levels to respond to the patients’ needs, Morrissey said. She noted that the health system will be hiring nurses for its new C.S. Mott children’s hospital, yet won’t be able to retain current staff if benefits are cut. [UM is expected to hire another 500 health professionals for the new C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and Von Voigtlander Women's Hospital, which opens in November.]

Morrissey said negotiations are a distraction to their work, requiring that they come to meetings and picket in front of the hospital. If administrators will stop caring only about money, then “4,000 angry nurses can calm down,” she said. Nurses have been asked to be world-class patient advocates, and that’s what they’re doing. As to why the health system’s administrators are behaving this way, she concluded, “we frankly can’t believe it.”

Nurses Union: Follow-up

In a phone interview with The Chronicle later in the week, Ann Kettering Sincox, a representative with the Michigan Nurses Association, clarified that the state fact-finder will look at the issues and make an objective analysis. However, it won’t be a binding decision, she said, and negotiations are ongoing. The next meeting between the union and administration is set for Sept. 21.

Safe patient care is an overriding issue, Sincox said. There’s concern that if benefits are weakened, the highly skilled nurses that currently work for UM will leave – those working in specialized areas like the children’s transplant unit. As one example, Sincox said nurses are being asked to pay 30% of their health care premiums. In some cases, that would double the amount that nurses are currently paying.

If less attractive benefits are put in place, it will be difficult to recruit new nurses with the same level of skill and experience, Sincox said, because skilled nurses “don’t come cheap.”

When asked about the possibility of a walk-out, Sincox said there’s nothing like that planned at this point, noting that it would require a vote of the union membership. However, she added, “it’s something that you can’t rule out completely.”

Annual Development Report

During Thursday’s meeting, Jerry May – UM’s vice president of development – presented highlights from the annual development report for FY 2011, which ended June 30. [.pdf file of FY 2011 development report]

The university received $273.14 million in contributions during the year, up from $254.08 million the previous year – an increase of 7.5%. The previous two years had shown declines from the $342.05 million raised in FY 2008, which marked the end of the multi-year $3.2 billion Michigan Difference fundraising campaign. Turmoil in the economy had also been a factor in the decline, May said.

Jerry May, right, UM's vice president of development, talks with provost Phil Hanlon prior to the start of the Sept. 15 regents meeting.

By unit, the top five totals in FY 2011 were received by (1) the medical school – $61.90 million; (2) college of engineering – $34.40 million; (3) athletics – $31.31 million; (4) college of literature, science & the arts (LSA) – $29.17 million; and (5) law school – $19.85 million.

May noted that UM has seen an increase in the number of individual donors giving $25,000 or less. In FY 2011, there were about 109,000 donors in that category, up from about $104,000 the previous year.

Gifts from corporations increased from $17 million to $19 million, and foundation support grew from $34 million to $46 million.

About $65 million for scholarships was available for distribution from the endowment in FY 2011. Coupled with $13 million in expendable gifts, there was $78 million distributed in scholarships during the year, helping over 11,200 students, May said.

Annual Development Report: Bill & Dee Brehm

As part of his presentation, May introduced two major donors to the university: Bill and Dee Brehm.

Before they spoke, May showed a video of Linda Saab, a graduate of Fordson High School in Dearborn who was the first Brehm Scholar. The Brehm Scholars program awards four-year full tuition scholarships to UM for students from Fordson, which Bill Brehm also attended, graduating in 1947. It’s one of several efforts at UM that are supported by the Brehms, who over the years have contributed a total of $52 million to the university.

Bill Brehm is founder of SRA International, a Fairfax, Va. firm that provides consulting and technology services to the national security, civil government and global health industries. He described how he returned to Fordson in 1997, and was impressed by the condition of the school and the quality of the students. He noted that he’d been the recipient of a regents scholarship to UM, and decided to give back by setting up a scholarship program for Fordson students. The Brehms later set up a program awarding four-year full tuition scholarships to UM medical school as well – Linda Saab received that scholarship, too.

The program has awarded 30 undergraduate scholarships so far, and three for medical school. All are given to students with three qualities, Brehm said: excellent academic scholarship, leadership, and community service.

Dee and Bill Brehm.

Dee Brehm explained the genesis of their support for the Brehm Center for Diabetes Research. She has suffered from Type I diabetes for 62 years. About 12 years ago, she was making dinner in the kitchen when Bill came in and asked how he could help, presumably with dinner prep. “I said, ‘You can find a cure!” she recalled. After pausing a few seconds, he told her he would. From that day on, she said, her husband has been focused on that cause.

In doing research about how best to support finding a cure, the Brehms had a meeting with Frances Collins, a former UM researcher who at the time was leading the Human Genome Project, and now is director of the National Institutes of Health. After they told him what they were hoping to do, Collins told them, “I think you should go to Michigan.” He then put his hands out and asked them to pray, Dee Brehm recalled – his prayer asked that they be guided to the best place for their goal of curing diabetes. Their dream is that the cure will come from Michigan, she said.

Bill Brehm also talked about the importance of outreach. He started the Brehm Coalition for that reason – it brings together nine leading researchers in the fields of immunology and beta-cell biology, which are critical to understanding diabetes and its potential cure. These researchers come from institutions that account for 95% of funding for diabetes research, yet until the coalition was formed in 2007, they’d never met in the same room. Now they say they’d never go back to the way it was, Brehm said. [The group includes Peter Arvan, director of the UM Comprehensive Diabetes Center.]

When asked by May to comment on their philosophy of philanthropy, Bill Brehm said they rarely respond to an ask. They strongly believe that dreams and ideas must come first, followed by funding. The development staff at Michigan doesn’t ask them for money, Dee Brehm said – the staff listens to what they want to do, comes back with some options, and only then is money discussed.

Regents thanked the Brehms for coming to the meeting and sharing their story. Andrea Fischer Newman, who’s been a regent since 1994, said the board hasn’t previously had a presentation like this one, and it really brought the university’s development efforts close to home. They often don’t hear this kind of personal story, she said.

Denise Ilitch, the board’s chair, told the Brehms they set a wonderful example, and that she had to hold back tears during their talk. The board and staff gave the Brehms a standing ovation.

Mary Sue Coleman told the Brehms they are a wonderful example of how individuals can change a paradigm.

Security on Campus

During her report to the board, Royster Harper – UM’s vice president for student affairs – addressed the issue of security on campus, in the wake of several sexual assaults this summer and more recently. The UM Dept. of Public Safety and the Ann Arbor police have increased their patrols in the late evening and early morning hours, she said, and there’s been good cooperation on that front.

Sue Scarnecchia, left, UM's general counsel, talks with Royster Harper, vice president of student affairs. In the background are supporters of the Michigan Nurses Association union.

Students have led the development of a pilot program focused on safety, she reported. Students are going door-to-door in neighborhoods around campus, helping do safety checks and encouraging residents to form neighborhood block clubs for additional security. Other plans include a focus on better lighting, cutting back shrubs, and creating Facebook pages specifically for student neighborhoods, Harper said.

She also noted that the university is increasing its capacity for late-night transportation, and reported that the Greek system is encouraging a buddy system for people who are out late at night. “We are working hard to reduce the risk,” Harper said.

Earlier in her presentation, Harper had praised the Michigan Student Assembly and other students for their efforts to pull off a successful tailgate at the Michigan-Notre Dame night game on Sept. 10, noting that the party drew about 8,000 people, and was safe and fun. Regent Larry Deitch responded by saying it was typical of Harper to give credit to everyone else. The great experience that students had was due in no small part to her leadership, he said. Harper received a round of applause from regents and staff.

Construction Projects

During the Sept. 15 meeting, regents were asked to authorize a range of construction-related projects. One request was for the athletics department to issue bids and award construction contracts for a $52 million renovation and expansion of Crisler Arena. The board had previously approved the project’s schematic design at its May 2011 meeting.

Construction workers at Crisler Arena were on the job Saturday as Michigan football fans held tailgate parties in the nearby parking lot.

The project is adding about 63,000 square feet of new construction. The renovation includes building new spectator entrances, retail spaces, ticketing areas and a private club space. In addition, roughly 54,000 square feet would be renovated to accommodate accessible seats, increase the number of restrooms and concession areas, and add other fan amenities. Construction is expected to be finished by the winter of 2014.

Regent Andy Richner asked whether winter commencement would be held at Crisler Arena this year – that’s the traditional venue for the ceremony. Mary Sue Coleman clarified that it would be held there, and that construction wouldn’t start until after the basketball season ends.

Outcome: Regents unanimously approved the request to issue bids and award construction contracts for work at Crisler Arena.

Several other building renovation projects were on the agenda for action:

• A $47 million renovation for the 220,000-square-foot G.G. Brown Memorial Laboratories, which was built in 1958 on UM’s north campus and houses the Department of Mechanical Engineering. The project is part of the fiscal year 2011 capital outlay request to the state, which is expected to provide about $30 million in funding for the renovation. Two years ago, regents had signed off on a $56 million, 66,000-square-foot addition to building.
• A $1.5 million upgrade to the electrical substation and related equipment at the Med Inn, which was built in 1953 and is part of the UM Health System. Renovation projects at UM campuses in Dearborn and Flint were also authorized at Thursday’s meeting.
• A $1.148 million renovation of leased offices for the UM ophthalmology department at the River Place Offices building, 1974 N. Huron River Drive in Ypsilanti. The renovations will allow the department to consolidate its two current locations in Ypsilanti into one clinical site. The project is expected to be finished by the winter of 2012.

Outcome: Regents unanimously approved all renovation requests.

Golf Facility Naming

At Thursday’s meeting, regents were asked to authorize naming the university’s golf practice facility the Weisfeld Family Golf Center. Barry and Sally Weisfeld and the Weisfeld Family Foundation have provided financial support to the new facility. The Weisfelds’ son, David, played varsity golf at UM and is a 2010 graduate.

The recently completed $2.5 million golf practice facility, located off of South Main Street, includes indoor putting and chipping areas, driving bays, offices and locker rooms. The low-slung building is designed in the Mission style.

Outcome: Regents unanimously approved naming the golf practice facility the Weisfeld Family Golf Center.

Property Purchase

On the agenda was a request to approve the $730,000 purchase of 716 Oakland Ave. in Ann Arbor, between Monroe and Hill streets. The 0.14-acre parcel includes a 2,018-square-foot apartment building. The tentative closing date is set for Sept. 30.

According to a staff memo, the property is strategically located next to the Law School’s South Hall and Weill Hall, which houses the UM Ford School of Public Policy. The law school in particular is expanding in that area – South Hall just opened this fall, and the university has been talking with the city of Ann Arbor to secure the right-of-way for a block of Monroe street for part of its law school campus. [See Chronicle coverage: "Column: Ann Arbor's Monroe (Street) Doctrine"]

Within the past year, the university has purchased three other properties – all with apartment buildings. The previous three purchases were bought to accommodate the expansion of UM’s Institute for Social Research, on South Division.

Regarding the Oakland Avenue property, the staff memo indicates that the apartment building on the site holds no historical significance, but regent Andy Richner shared one bit of history: “I used to live there.”

Outcome: Regents unanimously authorized the purchase of 716 Oakland Ave.

Conflict-of-Interest Disclosures

Regents were asked to sign off on 14 items that required disclosure under the state’s Conflict of Interest statute. The law requires that regents vote on potential conflict-of-interest disclosures related to university staff, faculty or students. Often, the items involve technology licensing agreements or leases.

This month, the items related to the following businesses: Cornell Farms; Civionics Inc.; NeuroNexus Technologies Inc.; Inmatech Inc.; Vortex Hydro Energy; Rolith Inc.; Lean Therapeutics; Electric Field Solutions Inc.; Diapin Therapeutics; Arbor Research Collaborative for Health; Absolute Nano Inc.; and Michigan Critical Care Consultants Inc.

Outcome: Regents unanimously approved all 14 conflict-of-interest disclosures.

Medical School Departments Created

The creation of two new departments at the University of Michigan Medical School – for cardiac surgery, and computational medicine and bioinformatics (CMB) – was on the agenda for approval at the Sept. 15 meeting.

The CMB department will be established as of Jan. 2, 2012. It has existed as a center since 2005, with funding from the National Institutes of Health for research and a graduate training program. Becoming a department will help CBM recruit faculty and trainees, according to a staff memo.

Cardiac surgery is currently a section within the department of surgery. The section has grown to a size in terms of faculty, financial resources, and academic productivity that it warrants becoming a separate administrative unit, according to a staff memo.

Outcome: Regents unanimously approved the creation of the cardiac surgery department and computational medicine and bioinformatics (CMB) department.

Sustainability on Campus

Early in the meeting, regents received an update on environmental sustainability efforts at the Ann Arbor campus. Andy Berki, manager of UM’s office of campus sustainability, began by noting that he had a connection with one of the regents – he’d graduated from Pioneer High School with regent Kathy White.

Berki said he usually talked about operations, and he provided a handout with some environmental metrics for the FY 2011 fiscal year, as well as trend data from FY 2004 through FY 2011. But rather than focus on that, he said, three students were at the meeting to describe their work on sustainability.

Samantha Schiebold, a UM senior, spoke to regents about her work on a sustainability guide for students. Behind her is Andy Berki, manager of the UM office of campus sustainability.

Samantha Schiebold spoke first. A senior studying interdisciplinary physics, Schiebold had worked on a student guide called “How to Be a Green Wolverine,” which is distributed to each UM dorm room at the start of the academic year. The guide covers a range of topics, from how to conserve energy and water to how to throw a sustainable party. (“Use beeswax candles” is one of the suggestions.)

Not only did the project teach her teamwork and the ability to work as a consultant for a “client” – in this case, the university – but it also introduced her to the “mysterious inner workings of this university,” she said – a line that elicited laughter from the regents and staff. Schiebold said she was proud of the guide, and thankful that she could contribute to the effort.

Up next was Matt Friedrichs, a senior studying civil and environmental engineering. Although he’s involved in several projects – including the Kill-A-Watt competition – he focused his remarks on a sustainable neighborhoods course he took at UM. The course is offered through the Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute and the college of architecture & urban planning.

Students first studied urban planning theory, then spent two weeks at Wayne State University in Detroit, where they developed a master plan for the Delray neighborhood. Friedrichs said the area has been devastated – it’s disconnected from the rest of the city, polluted and desolate. The class suggested changes like redirecting truck routes, conducting an environmental survey of the area, and remediating structures into “green centers” that would connect through pathways to other parts of Detroit. The experience took students out of the bubble of the Ann Arbor campus, Friedrichs said, and let them deal with real-world political, social and environmental issues.

The final speaker was graduate student Jose Alfara, a co-founder of the student group Sustainability Without Borders. Last year, 10 students focused on projects in rural West Africa. They worked to implement “circular economies,” where everything serves as a resource for something else. For example, a toilet system was installed that creates biogas, which is used to fuel the school’s kitchen stove. The program is now starting to focus on training, Alfara said, so that people living in a community adopt sustainability as a way of life. “That community is starting in Ann Arbor,” he said, “and hopefully we’ll take it as far as we can.”

In wrapping up the presentations, Berki said that while the campus is growing in population and infrastructure, the university needs to be aware of its environmental footprint. How can they balance growth with being good stewards of the environment? Part of the effort includes linking academics with operations, he said, as well as supporting new ventures like Planet Blue. Success also requires continued strong support from the administration, he said.

Mary Sue Coleman noted that this is one of the times when students pushed for change, and it’s great to see students involved in addressing real problems on campus. [As an example, students spoke during public commentary at the regents March 2009 meeting, urging administrators to better coordinate UM's sustainability programs. There is also an active UM Student Sustainability Initiative.]

More changes are on the way. On Sept. 27, Coleman is scheduled to make an address to campus, expanding UM’s sustainability goals for both academics and operations. Her remarks can be seen via a webcast, starting at 11 a.m.

Misc. Public Commentary

In addition to commentary related to the UM nurses, three other speakers addressed a variety of topics.

Two dogs, trained through the PAWS program, sat quietly during the Sept. 15 regents meeting.

Jane MacFarlane spoke to regents about PAWS with a Cause, a program that trains dogs for people with disabilities. [She and a colleague brought two dogs to the meeting, one of them sporting a maize-and-blue bandana.] She briefly described the program, and noted that even though UM doesn’t have a veterinary school, it was amazing to see how the community has embraced the PAWS program.

Joan Knoertzer, a retired Ann Arbor Public Schools teacher, described the building and collections at UM’s Clements Library, calling it the most beautiful library in the United States. The library is known for its holdings of American history and culture from the 15th through the 19th centuries. Knoertzer has served on the library’s advisory board for six years, and she thanked regents for their support. “We are on the academic map worldwide.”

Linda Martinson, a former UM nursing student, began by noting that she’s previously been barred from speaking at regents meetings because of several trespass warnings that have been issued against her, dating back to 2007. Those warnings are still in effect, she said, despite a recent change in the university’s trespass policy.

Martinson gave an update on her lawsuit against the university, saying “the university has argued that students do not have a property interest in their education, without which they are not entitled to constitutional due process.” [An update on the case is also included in the litigation report that's part of the board meeting packet, prepared by UM's general counsel.] The bulk of her remarks focused on details of the trespass warnings against her. She noted that she was able to address the regents at their 2010 meeting in Dearborn, saying she believes that’s “the reason General Counsel Suellyn Scarnecchia expanded the trespass policy to all three campuses, in order to keep victims of the policy from speaking at all regents’ meetings.” [.pdf file of Martinson's remarks to regents]

Present: Mary Sue Coleman (ex officio), Julia Darlow, Larry Deitch, Denise Ilitch, Andrea Fischer Newman, Andy Richner, Martin Taylor, Kathy White.

Absent: Olivia (Libby) Maynard.

Next board meeting: Thursday, Oct. 13, 2011 at 3 p.m. at the UM campus in Flint. [confirm date]

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Caryette Fenner, president of AFSCME Local 2733, the labor union representing the largest number of Washtenaw County government employees. (Photo by the writer.)

The deals affect 675 union employees, as well as 271 non-union, court non-union and elected officials – or nearly 70% of the county’s total 1,369 employees.

AFSCME Local 2733 represents about half of the county’s employees – 644 people. The Local 2733 agreement was ratified by a 2-to-1 vote earlier this week, but only 325 members voted. Caryette Fenner, president of Local 2733, described it as a typical turnout.

County administrator Verna McDaniel said these three agreements, coupled with those already approved, will yield $7.7 million in savings over 2012 and 2013. The county has a goal of gaining $8 million in labor concessions for that two-year period, to help overcome an estimated $17.5 million deficit.

McDaniel is expected to present a draft budget to the board at its Sept. 21 meeting.

There was no discussion before the board vote, which occurred after the board emerged from a 30-minute closed session to discuss labor negotiations. Commissioner Dan Smith (R-District 2) cast the lone vote against the agreements.

In a follow-up interview with The Chronicle, Smith cited concerns over health care provisions that would cost the county more than he had been led to expect, based on previous agreements already approved by the board for Michigan Nurses Association Units I and II.

And because of “me too” clauses in other union agreements, the more favorable terms negotiated by AFSCME Local 2733 will likely be applied to other union contracts as well.

In addition to the agreement with five bargaining units of AFSCME Local 2733, Tuesday’s approved agreements were with: (1) the two bargaining units of TPOAM (Technical, Professional and Officeworkers Association of Michigan); and (2) one of two bargaining units of AFSCME Local 3052. Also, the same benefits that AFSCME Local 2733 receives will be extended to the non-union, court non-union and elected officials.

The second bargaining unit of AFSCME Local 3052, representing 55 general supervisors, voted down its agreement this week. Nancy Heine, president of AFSCME Local 3052, told The Chronicle that union leaders would be polling their membership on Wednesday to determine what issues caused members to reject the tentative agreement.

In addition, agreements have not yet been reached with four other bargaining units: Two units with the Assistant Prosecutors Association, representing 24 employees; and two units with the Public Defenders Association, representing 13 employees.

Two other bargaining units – the Police Officers Association of Michigan (POAM) and the Command Officers Association of Michigan (COAM) – earlier this year reached agreements that aren’t part of the $8 million goal. The POAM and COAM deals are for a four-year period through 2014.

Details of the Agreements: AFSCME

AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) Local 2733 represents a total of 644 members. There are five bargaining units within Local 2733. The largest is Unit A with about 340 members, including all general county professional employees who have a four-year college degree or higher, excluding supervisors and jobs in several other categories.

Other Local 2733 units are:

• Unit B – general county employees whose job requires less than a four-year degree, excluding supervisors, administrative staff, and personnel in several other categories.
• Unit C – all employees of the 22nd Circuit Court and Friend of the Court program, excluding supervisors.
• Family Division/Juvenile Center – all employees of the Washtenaw County Trial Court’s Family Division/Juvenile Center, excluding supervisors, court bailiffs/officers, and temporary or seasonal employees.
• Juvenile Detention – all employees of the county juvenile detention facility, excluding supervisors, court bailiffs/officers, and temporary or seasonal employees.

Agreements for the AFSCME units run through Dec. 31, 2013. [.pdf file – summary of AFSCME agreement] The agreements stipulate no wage increases unless property tax revenues increase by at least 2% on or before Dec. 31, 2012. In that case, a 1% wage increase will take effect on Jan. 1, 2013.

Other items include:

• a 10% employee contribution to the Washtenaw County Employees’ Retirement System (WCERS). The vesting period will increase from eight years to 10 years, though current employees will be grandfathered in at eight years.
• $75/month premium sharing for the core health care plan. Currently, employees do not pay premiums.
• Co-pays will increase or be added. For example, the co-pay for an emergency room visit increases from $50 to $250. Co-pays for prescription drugs will increase ($0 to $7 for generic drugs, $30 to $70 for brands).
• 10 bank leave days for 2012 and 2013. No furlough days will be imposed. Though bank leave and furlough days are similar – both are unpaid – the bank leave days do not affect calculations toward an employee’s retirement or longevity pay. In contrast, furlough days are deducted from the calculations toward retirement and longevity pay.
• Longevity payouts will be eliminated for new hires after Jan. 1, 2012; for other employees, longevity payouts will be reduced by 25% in 2012. There will be no reduction in longevity pay in 2013. (Longevity pay is a benefit provided to employees based on years of service with the organization – generally available after 5 years of service. Employees would receive between 3%-9% of their prior year’s wages, paid out either in a lump sum payment or bi-weekly throughout the year.)
• Step increases – automatic increases in wages that are built into an employee’s contract – will remain in place for 2012, but will be frozen for 2013.
• Tuition reimbursement is frozen at 0% for 2012 and 2013.
• Payout for excess vacation will be eliminated for 2012 and 2013.

Details of the Agreements: TPOAM

TPOAM (Technical, Professional and Officeworkers Association of Michigan) represents 27 total members in two bargaining units: (1) Unit I – all senior deputy district court clerks, deputy district court clerks and probation secretaries at the 14-A District Court; and (2) Unit II – supervisors and probation officers at the 14-A District Court, excluding magistrates and the deputy court administrator. Until last year, these employees had been represented by the Teamsters, but they voted to de-certify and become certified as part of the TPOAM union instead.

The TPOAM agreement also includes a 1% wage increase, effective Jan. 1, 2013, if property tax revenues increase by at least 2% on or before Dec. 31, 2012. [.pdf file – summary of TPOAM agreement] Though the “me too” clause will likely cause some of these items to be modified, other elements of the agreement approved by the board on Tuesday include:

• a 2% employee contribution to the Washtenaw County Employees’ Retirement System (WCERS).
• a $150/month premium sharing for the core health care plan for nine months.
• 10 bank leave days for 2012 and 2013.
• Longevity payouts will be eliminated for new hires after Jan. 1, 2012. For other employees, longevity payouts will be reduced by 50% in 2012 and 2013.
• Step increases will be frozen in 2012 and 2013.

Unlike the AFSCME agreement, the TPOAM agreement also states that if Gov. Rick Snyder does not sign the 80/20 legislation into law, the union can re-open negotiations with the county. That legislation would require public employees to pay 20% of their health care costs, effective Jan. 1, 2012, or would cap the amount that local governments would pay as premiums for employees.

Labor Agreements: Commissioner Vote

All resolutions are voted on twice by the board. First, they’re voted on at the meeting of Ways & Means, a committee of the entire board.  Resolutions are given a final vote at the regular board meeting. Ways & Means and regular board meetings are held back-to-back, but typically a resolution that’s passed at the Ways & Means meeting is considered at the regular board meeting two weeks later.

However, for some items that the administration or board wants to expedite, votes are taken the same evening at both meetings. That was the case with the resolution on the labor agreements at the Sept. 13 special meeting.

Early in the Ways & Means meeting, commissioners entered into a closed session to discuss labor negotiations, which lasted about 30 minutes. When they emerged, they handled the main action items on the agenda – resolutions to approve the three labor agreements.

There was no discussion about the agreements. Generally, commissioners follow the advice of the administration and corporation counsel not to publicly discuss labor issues, particularly during contract negotiations.

Outcome: The board’s vote at its Ways & Means Committee meeting passed unanimously. Wes Prater and Ronnie Peterson were absent.

The board moved immediately into it regular board meeting. Again, the main action items on the agenda were approval of the three labor agreements. And again, there was no discussion on these items.

The final vote taken at the board’s regular meeting passed on an 8-1 vote, with dissent from Dan Smith (R-District 2). Wes Prater and Ronnie Peterson were absent.

Reached later this week by The Chronicle, Dan Smith indicated that his vote against the agreements was due in part to the health care benefits, which he described as significantly different from what he’d expected to see. He had believed the benefits would be similar to agreements previously approved by the board for the Michigan Nurses Association Units I and II, representing a total of 15 employees.

In those agreements, for example, health insurance premium sharing was $150 per month. In the AFSCME agreements, the premium sharing is half that amount – $75 per month. He noted that with “me too” clauses in other union agreements, the premium sharing will likely be lowered for other employees too.

Smith also noted that the AFSCME agreements aren’t congruent with the state law that’s expected to take effect Sept. 15, and he objected to rushing the agreements through at the last minute.

The state law that Smith referred to is the “Publicly Funded Health Insurance Contribution Act,” which was passed by the Michigan legislature on Aug. 24, 2011. It is scheduled to be signed by Gov. Rick Snyder on Sept. 15. Agreements that are in place before that date do not have to conform with the act, which is also often referred to as “80/20″ legislation. [.pdf of the bill]

The legislation stipulates maximum “hard cap” dollar amount equivalents that public employers can contribute toward employee healthcare: $5,500 for single-person coverage, $11,000 for individual and spouse coverage, and $15,000 for family coverage – for coverage years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2012. There’s another option that an employer can follow, if approved by a simple majority vote of its governing body, which would limit the benefit contributed by the employer percentage-wise instead of using a hard cap. On that option, public employers could contribute no more than 80% of their employees’ health care costs for coverage years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2012.

However, on a 2/3 majority vote, which must be repeated each year, a governing body of a public employer can opt out of these requirements. In an email to The Chronicle on Monday, county administrator Verna McDaniel stated that the board will be asked to opt out, which would exempt the county employees from the requirements of this law.

Reaction of Union Leaders

Several union representatives attended the Sept. 13 meeting, though they did not address the board during public commentary.

Caryette Fenner, president of Local 2733, said it had been a difficult negotiation, especially since union members had already given concessions in 2009, for the 2010 and 2011 calendar years. [At the time, those concessions were expected to save the county about $5.8 million over two years.]

She noted that one significant difference between the previous contract and the current one is the stipulation that members will receive a 1% raise in 2013 if the county’s property tax revenues increase 2% or more in 2012. They didn’t have that assurance when they made wage concessions in 2009, she said, and it turned out that tax revenues had been better than originally projected. [Though the county's property tax revenues have been better than projected, revenues still declined – falling 5.33% in 2010 and 2.85% this year. For this year, the county's equalization staff had originally projected a drop of 8.5%.]

Fenner also observed that even with the concessions made in this labor agreement, there’s no assurance that the county won’t cut jobs.

Nancy Heine, president of AFSCME Local 3052 – which voted down their tentative agreement – told The Chronicle that the membership would be polled to determine what issues caused them to reject the tentative agreement. There’s a question about whether everyone is bearing their fair share, she said, as well as concerns over whether employees who are already struggling will be able to absorb even more cuts. Some union members have already lost their homes to foreclosure, she said, and others are worried that they won’t be able to make mortgage payments if their longevity pay is cut – that’s a direct hit to their paychecks, she noted.

Heine also said that only nine of the Local 3052 members are “general fund” employees – that is, employees whose salaries and benefits are paid for out of the county’s general fund, which gets the majority of its funding from property tax revenue. Savings from concessions made by non-general fund employees won’t help the county deal with its projected $17.5 million deficit, she noted. [Examples of non-general fund departments include the parks & recreation commission and CSTS (community support & treatment services).]

Present: Barbara Levin Bergman, Leah Gunn, Kristin Judge, Alicia Ping, Yousef Rabhi, Rolland Sizemore Jr., Dan Smith, Conan Smith, and Rob Turner.

Absent: Ronnie Peterson, Wes Prater

Next working sessions: Thursday, Sept. 15, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. at the county administration building, 220 N. Main St. in Ann Arbor. An additional working session is set for Thursday, Sept. 22 at 6:30 p.m.

Next regular board meeting: Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. at the county administration building, 220 N. Main St. in Ann Arbor. 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.

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In addition to the agreement with five bargaining units of AFSCME Local 2733, agreements were reached with: (1) the two bargaining units of TPOAM (Technical, Professional and Officeworkers Association of Michigan), representing 27 employees; and (2) one of two bargaining units of AFSCME Local 3052, representing four trial court supervisors. Also, the same benefits that AFSCME Local 2733 receives will be extended to non-union, court non-union and elected officials.

The second bargaining unit of AFSCME Local 3052, representing 60 general supervisors, voted down its agreement this week. Nancy Heine, president of AFSCME Local 3052, told The Chronicle that union leaders will be polling their membership tomorrow to determine what issues caused members to reject the tentative agreement.

The agreements for AFSCME units run through Dec. 31, 2013. They include no wage increases unless property tax revenues increase by at least 2% on or before Dec. 31, 2012. In that case, a 1% wage increase will take effect on Jan. 1, 2013. Other items include: (1) a 10% employee contribution to the Washtenaw County Employees’ Retirement System (WCERS); (2) $75/month premium sharing for the core health care plan; and (3) 10 bank leave days for 2012 and 2013. Longevity payouts will be eliminated for new hires after Jan. 1, 2012; for other employees, longevity payouts will be reduced by 25% in 2012. Step increases will be frozen for 2013.

The TPOAM agreement also includes a 1% wage increase, effective Jan. 1, 2013, if property tax revenues increase by at least 2% on or before Dec. 31, 2012. Other items include: (1) a 2% employee contribution to the Washtenaw County Employees’ Retirement System (WCERS); (2) a $150/month premium sharing for the core health care plan for nine months; and (3) 10 bank leave days for 2012 and 2013. Longevity payouts will be eliminated for new hires after Jan. 1, 2012. For other employees, longevity payouts will be reduced by 50% in 2012 and 2013. Step increases will be frozen in 2012 and 2013.

The TPOAM agreement also states that if Gov. Rick Snyder does not sign the 80/20 legislation into law, the union can re-open negotiations with the county. That legislation would require public employees to pay 20% of their health care costs, effective Jan. 1, 2012, or would cap the amount that local governments would pay as premiums for employees.

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

At left: Andy LaBarre talks with county commissioners Rob Turner (R-District 1) and Barbara Bergman (D-District 8). Bergman is not planning to run for re-election in 2012, and LaBarre is expected to be a candidate in her district, which is being reconfigured as part of a countywide redistricting set earlier this year and implemented for the 2012 elections. LaBarre, a former aide to U.S. Rep. John Dingell, attended Wednesday's meeting in his role as vice president at the Ann Arbor Ypsilanti Regional Chamber of Commerce, to support the proposed economic development tax.

After an executive session early in the meeting, the board approved a contract with the Michigan Nurses Association-Unit II, representing two county employees. It’s the second of 15 union agreements being negotiated as part of the 2012 and 2013 budget cycle, with the hopes of securing about $8 million in concessions over the two-year period.

Throughout the evening, hallway conversations took place among various county administrators who were involved in labor talks that same night. And later in the meeting, the board voted to set a special meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 4 p.m. to discuss proposed labor agreements. It was expected that additional deals would be announced at that time.

One of those deals was confirmed on Monday, Sept. 12, by county administrator Verna McDaniel. She reported that the county’s largest union – AFSCME Local 2733, representing 644 employees – has ratified a new contract that will coming to the board for approval on Tuesday.

Commissioners dealt with a range of other budget-related items at last week’s meeting. They gave initial approval to budgets for the public health and CSTS (community support & treatment services) departments, which include about a dozen job cuts and a raft of new and increased fees. And two taxes – to support services for indigent veterans, and for economic development and agriculture – received initial approval from the board. Nine people spoke during public commentary and a public hearing on the economic development tax, all urging the board to support it. However, three of the 10 commissioners present voted against it. Final votes on both millages will be taken at the board’s Sept. 21 meeting.

An item that drew the most discussion among commissioners was a resolution to suspend the county’s use of Construction Unity Board (CUB) agreements, pending the outcome of litigation that’s challenging the validity of the state’s Public Act 98. The resolution passed, but with four commissioners dissenting. The dissent came from two differing perspectives, however. Two Republican commissioners – Dan Smith and Alicia Ping – objected to an amendment that affirmed the value of these agreements. Two Democratic commissioners – Kristin Judge and Conan Smith – voted against suspension because they wanted to keep the CUB agreements in place. A final vote on that issue will occur on Sept. 21.

Commissioners dispatched with several other agenda items, giving initial approval to: (1) appoint Jeffrey Jentzen as the new medical examiner; (2) authorize the issuance of $2.7 million in bonds to help pay for a $3.2 million facility operated by the Western Washtenaw Recycling Authority; and (3) amend a contract regarding the distribution of the county’s accommodation tax.

Several items were also brought up as communications from commissioners and the administration. Among them, commissioner Rob Turner gave an update on the situation in Sylvan Township, which has been struggling with $12.5 million in bonds issued to build a water and wastewater treatment plant intended to serve future development. It’s expected that the township won’t be able to make its May 2012 bond payment. Township officials are putting a millage proposal on the November 2011 ballot to raise funds to repay the county, which will be asked to cover the future bond payments. Information forums for township residents are planned for later this month and early October.

CUB Agreements

On the agenda was a resolution to suspend the county’s use of Construction Unity Board (CUB) agreements, pending the outcome of litigation that’s challenging the validity of the state’s Public Act 98.

CUB agreements are negotiated between local trade unions and contractors, and require that contractors who sign the agreement abide by terms of collective bargaining agreements for the duration of the construction project. In return, the trade unions agree that they will not strike, engage in work slow-downs, set up separate work entrances at the job site or take any other adverse action against the contractor.

However, Act 98 of 2011 – which became effective July 19, 2011 – prohibits municipalities from including in a construction contract anything that would either require or prohibit contractors from entering into agreements with collective bargaining organizations. The act also prohibits discrimination against contractors based on willingness or non-willingness to enter into such agreements.

The law is being challenged in federal court by the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO and the Genesee, Lapeer, Shiawassee Building and Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO. They are seeking to rule the law invalid, alleging that it is pre-empted by the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution and the National Labor Relations Act.

CUB Agreements: Commissioner Discussion

Conan Smith, the board’s chair, began by saying that he appreciated the county’s legal strategy, but he believed their CUB agreements as written do comport with the law signed by Gov. Rick Snyder. He’d be voting against the resolution, he said.

Kristin Judge agreed with Smith, and asked that the resolution be removed from the other resolutions on the consent agenda – which are typically voted on as a group – so that the vote on suspending CUB agreements could be taken separately.

Leah Gunn argued that the county can’t afford another lawsuit. [Her statement was likely an allusion in part to a years-long legal battle with three townships over the cost of police services. At its July 6, 2011 meeting, the board voted to approve the recommendation of a court-ordered facilitator, and the two remaining townships in the case later paid the recommended amount owed to the county. Legal fees for the county were over $1 million, and weren't part of the agreement.]

It’s in the county’s interest to suspend the CUB agreements, Gunn said, then reinstate them at some later date, when it’s “safe” to do so.

Barbara Bergman agreed with Gunn, saying that everyone has to sacrifice and the county shouldn’t deliberately become the target of a possible lawsuit. This doesn’t make her anti-union, she said, but it does make her anti-frivolous-lawsuit.

Rob Turner voiced support for the construction trades, and said he’s been following this legislation closely. Until the court makes a ruling, it’s not a good fiduciary decision to continue CUB agreements. He said he’d be against terminating the agreements, but would vote to suspend them temporarily.

Wes Prater also weighed in to support the CUB agreements in principle. A ruling in federal court will clarify the situation so that there won’t be a slew of cases in state courts to contend with, he said.

CUB Agreements: Amendments

Yousef Rabhi spoke passionately about the state law, saying that “what the governor has done is wrong – flat wrong.” Going after workers flies in the face of work that’s been done over decades to protect workers, he said. The board can take a stance about how they feel regarding the law, he added, but they have to comply with it.

In that context, Rabhi proposed two amendments:

(1) Be it further resolved that Washtenaw County continues to support the values that a CUB agreement embodies and asserts the effectiveness of such agreements in ensuring a fair and cooperative workplace.

(2) Be it further resolved that upon such time as it is permitted under State and/or Federal law or otherwise ruled legal by State and/or Federal Courts, it is understood that the County will reinstate its CUB agreement policy.

While they need to live within the laws that are enacted, Rabhi said, everyone needs to be vigilant about what’s happening in Lansing. And in 2012, he added, it’s important to vote for people who won’t do this kind of thing – because after the state laws are passed, the county can’t do anything about it.

Gunn, who had moved the original resolution, offered to accept the amendments as friendly, but Alicia Ping objected. [Under Robert's Rules of Order, friendly amendments require approval by the entire board. If any commissioners object, an amendment can't be considered friendly and needs to go through the entire formal voting process.]

Several commissioners then expressed support for the amendments. But Dan Smith said while he didn’t have a problem with the second amendment, he felt that the first amendment changed the tone of the resolution considerably. The resolution proposes a pragmatic solution to an immediate problem, he noted, and it was important to avoid the expense of a lawsuit. However, the first amendment takes a stance on the value of a CUB agreement, and he didn’t want to include that. This was not the time to debate the policy of CUB agreements, he said.

Outcome on amendments: The amendments were approved on an 8-2 vote, with dissent from Dan Smith (R-District 2) and Alicia Ping (R-District 3).

After the vote, Dan Smith said that as amended, he’d now have to vote against the resolution, though he was previously satisfied with it. Ping agreed, adding that she didn’t like CUB agreements but that she had an even bigger problem – she didn’t think the state should tell local governments how to do business. Legislators in Lansing should take care of their own business “before interfering with ours,” she said.

Judge said she was concerned about possible litigation regarding existing CUB agreements on county projects. She also wondered whether the county could simply not enter into construction contracts, which would result in no CUB agreements being necessary.

Curtis Hedger, the county’s corporation counsel, reported that according to the law, CUB agreements that pre-date the enactment of the law can remain in place. He said there are several county projects waiting to go out for bids – including some with the office of the water resources commissioner, and county parks & recreation – pending the board’s vote on CUB agreements.

Outcome on main resolution at Ways & Means Committee meeting: On a 6-4 vote, commissioners gave initial approval to suspend the county’s use of Construction Unity Board (CUB) agreements. Voting against the resolution were Kristin Judge (D-District 7), Alicia Ping (R-District 3), Dan Smith (R-District 2) and Conan Smith (D-District 10). Ronnie Peterson was absent. 

All resolutions are voted on twice by the board: first at the meeting of Ways & Means, a committee of the entire board; and finally at the regular board meeting. Ways & Means and regular board meetings are held back-to-back, but typically a resolution that’s passed at the Ways & Means meeting is considered at the regular board meeting two weeks later.

However, for some items that the administration or board wants to expedite, votes are taken the same evening at both meetings. That was the case with the resolution on the CUB agreements, which was on the agenda for both the Sept. 7 Ways & Means meeting and the regular board meeting.

Hedger noted that in order to pass the resolution on a final vote that same night, eight votes were needed at the regular board meeting.

Outcome at the regular board meeting: The resolution suspending CUB agreements passed by a 6-4 vote. Dissenting were Kristin Judge (D-District 7), Alicia Ping (R-District 3), Dan Smith (R-District 2) and Conan Smith (D-District 10). Ronnie Peterson was absent. Because it did not receive an 8-vote majority, the resolution requires another vote at the Sept. 21 board meeting.

Labor Issues

Two items during the Sept. 7 meeting related to ongoing labor negotiations for the upcoming 2012-2013 budget.

The county hopes to see about $8 million in labor concessions for the two-year budget cycle, to help address a projected $17.5 million deficit. There are 17 unions representing the county workforce, but two bargaining units – the Police Officers Association of Michigan (POAM) and the Command Officers Association of Michigan (COAM) – earlier this year reached agreements that aren’t part of the $8 million goal. The POAM and COAM deals are for a four-year period through 2014.

Labor Issues: Nurses Union

Early in the meeting, commissioners held an executive session to discuss a collective bargaining agreement with the Michigan Nurses Association – Unit II, a union representing two county employees. When they emerged, a resolution to approve the agreement was added to the agenda.

The contract is effective from Sept. 7, 2011 through Dec. 31, 2013, with no wage increases in 2012 or 2013. The agreement also includes several changes, including:

• Co-pays will increase. For example, co-pays for emergency room visits will increase from $50 to $250. An office visit co-pay will be $40.
• Union members will now pay $150 per month in a medical premium sharing for certain preferred provider organization (PPO) programs.
• As of Jan. 1, 2012, all employees under this contract will contribute 9% to their retirement plan.
• Employees will take 10 annual “banked leave” days – similar to unpaid furlough days.
• Longevity pay will be eliminated for new hires after Jan. 1, 2012. [Longevity pay is a benefit provided to union employees based on years of service with the organization (generally after 5 years of service). Employees would receive between 3%-9% of their prior year’s wages, paid out either in a lump sum payment or bi-weekly throughout the year.]

In addition, tuition reimbursement, a $1 per day reimbursement for employees who use their own vehicles for work, and the “excessive vacation payout” program will be eliminated as of Jan. 1, 2012. Step increases (automatic pay increases) will also be eliminated from Jan. 1, 2012 through Dec. 31, 2013.

The contract includes a “me too” clause that would provide parity if another union contract is negotiated for higher wages or benefits. There’s also a “reopener” contingency – if the county sees at least a 2% revenue gain by the end of 2012, the contract could be reopened to consider wage increases.

The agreement is estimated to save the county about $24,300.

It’s the second of the 15 union agreements being negotiated as part of the 2012 and 2013 budget cycle. Commissioners had previously approved an agreement with the Michigan Nurses Association – Unit I, representing 13 public health nurses and nurse coordinators in the county’s health services department. That agreement is expected to achieve an annual savings of $132,000.

Outcome: Commissioners unanimously gave both initial and final approval to the collective bargaining agreement with Michigan Nurses Association – Unit II.

Labor Issues: Special Meeting

Near the end of their Sept. 7 meeting, board chair Conan Smith introduced a resolution setting a special meeting of the board for Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 4 p.m. to discuss proposed labor agreements. The meeting will be held in the boardroom of the county administration building at 220 N. Main St. in Ann Arbor. It’s expected that the board will be asked to vote on additional collective bargaining agreements at that time.

Outcome: Without discussion, commissioners approved the special meeting for Sept. 13.

Act 88 Economic Development & Agriculture Tax

Commissioners were asked to give initial approval at Wednesday’s meeting to authorize the levy of 0.05 mills in December 2011 for support of economic development and agriculture. That represents an increase over the 0.043 mills that were previously levied for Act 88. The board also held a public hearing on the issue.

If given final approval at the board’s Sept. 21 meeting, this will be the third consecutive year that the tax has been levied. The millage – authorized under the state’s Act 88 – would cost homeowners $5 for each $100,000 of their home’s taxable value. Act 88 predates the state’s Headlee Amendment. That means the millage can be approved by the board without a voter referendum.

The anticipated $688,913 in millage proceeds will be allocated to several local entities: Ann Arbor SPARK ($230,000), SPARK East business incubator ($50,000), the county’s dept. of community & economic development ($131,149), Eastern Leaders Group ($100,000), promotion of heritage tourism ($65,264), Food System Economic Partnership (FSEP – $15,000), Washtenaw 4-H, operated by the Michigan State University Extension program ($82,500) and Washtenaw Farm Council 4-H Youth Show ($15,000).

Commissioners were given a report outlining activities that Act 88 revenue has supported to date in 2011. [.pdf of Act 88 activities report]

Act 88 Economic Development & Agriculture Tax: Commentary, Public Hearing

A total of nine people addressed the board regarding the Act 88 millage, all in support of it.

During the meeting’s first opportunity for public commentary, three people spoke on the issue. Leigh Greden, a former Ann Arbor city councilmember who now serves as Eastern Michigan University’s executive director of government and community relations, told commissioners that he couldn’t stay for the public hearing later in the meeting, but he wanted to ask them to support the Act 88 millage. He noted that he was co-chair, along with county administrator Verna McDaniel, of the Eastern Leaders Group (ELG), which gets funding from Act 88. He characterized Ann Arbor SPARK as a national model for generating jobs, and described projects supported by the ELG and the Ypsilanti Downtown Development Authority to improve the city. He concluded by noting that the community supports the millage, as evidenced by resolutions of support from the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti city councils and DDAs, and the Ann Arbor Ypsilanti Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Paul Krutko, president and CEO of Ann Arbor SPARK, thanked the board for funding the organization for the past two years with Act 88 proceeds, and said he felt fortunate that he was able to assume his job earlier this year as head of SPARK. When he previously worked in Silicon Valley, Krutko said, people there were aware of the Ann Arbor area and of SPARK’s economic development efforts. He handed out a description of SPARK’s accomplishments, saying “I think these results speak for themselves.”

Saline mayor Gretchen Driskell began by observing that the only reason the Saline city council doesn’t have a resolution of support the millage is that they haven’t yet passed one – that’s expected to happen at the council’s meeting on Sept. 12, she said. Noting that she serves on SPARK’s executive committee, Driskell said that in addition to job creation, SPARK helps retain jobs in the county, too. The organization’s budget also is leveraged to bring in crucial funding from other sources, she said.

County board chair Conan Smith talks with Jennifer Fike, executive director of the Food System Economic Partnership (FSEP), which receives support from a millage levied by the county.

Six others spoke during a public hearing on the Act 88 millage later in the meeting. Jennifer Fike, executive director of the Food System Economic Partnership (FSEP), thanked commissioners for their previous funding of the program. Based in Washtenaw County, FSEP serves a five-county area and focuses on economic development via the local food system.

Fike described several FSEP activities that have taken place over the past year, including: (1) support for a Washtenaw County “food hub;” (2) work with the University of Michigan food purchasing to promote the use of more locally produced food in dining halls; (3) support of the Tilian Farm Development Center; and (4) expansion of the Ann Arbor Public Schools farm-to-school program. She then read a statement of support from FSEP board member Sharon Sheldon, who’s also an administrator with the Washtenaw County public health department. Fike wrapped up her commentary by inviting commissioners to the Homegrown Festival on Saturday, Sept. 10 from 6-11 p.m. at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market.

Tim Colbeck, director of the Ypsilanti Downtown Development Authority, noted that the DDA board had passed a resolution of support for the millage. He described how the city had leveraged the 2011 Act 88 funds, partnering with the Eastern Leaders Group to support renovations and facade improvements in downtown Ypsilanti. The funds were very significant for the city, he said, especially because it brought positive change to a “dis-invested” downtown area. He urged commissioners to continue to support the millage.

Andy LaBarre, vice president of government affairs & administration for the Ann Arbor Ypsilanti Regional Chamber of Commerce, spoke briefly, referring commissioners to a letter they had recently received from chamber president Diane Keller. [.pdf of letter from Keller] In the letter, Keller stated the chamber’s general support for the millage, but suggested that the county be more transparent about how appropriations are made to groups that receive funding. The letter also reiterates the chamber’s support for cooperation among governmental units and consolidation, where appropriate.

Ypsilanti city councilmember Pete Murdock said he was representing Ypsilanti mayor Paul Schreiber and other councilmembers in support of the Act 88 millage. It’s about “jobs, jobs, jobs,” he said, adding that the Act 88 funding helps create jobs. He urged commissioners to renew the millage.

Lynn Rich of the Washtenaw Farm Council described activities at the annual 4-H Youth Show. He noted that this year there had been over 600 participants and about 7,000 exhibits at the event, held during the last week in July. He asked commissioners to continue their support.

Thomas Partridge noted that he had been elected president of his high school student body and president of the 4-H club in the same year that John F. Kennedy was elected U.S. president. Partridge endorsed the Act 88 millage, with some reservations. The county and its civil servants should support economic development activities directly, rather than outsource those activities to outside organizations like Ann Arbor SPARK, he said.

Act 88 Economic Development & Agriculture Tax: Commissioner Discussion

Rob Turner, who also is owner of Turner Electric Service in Dexter, noted that he has two new customers and two existing customers that have all benefited from SPARK’s services, and had created jobs.

Rolland Sizemore Jr. asked whether there were job-shadowing opportunities at SPARK for local high school and college students. If not, there should be, he said, indicating that it’s important to mentor local youth and keep them in this area after they graduate. Krutko replied that since he was relatively new to SPARK, he wasn’t familiar with all of the organization’s programs. However, he added, they are emphasizing the retention of young talent.

Outcome: Commissioners voted 7-3 to give initial approval to levy the Act 88 millage. Dissenting were Alicia Ping (R-District 3), Wes Prater (D-District 4) and Dan Smith (R-District 2). They did not indicate during deliberations why they were voting against the millage. When Prater voted against it a year ago, he said the tax shouldn’t be levied unless it was authorized by voters. This is the first time Ping and Smith voted on the measure – they were first elected to the board in November 2010. A final vote is expected on Sept. 21.

Indigent Veterans Relief Tax

Commissioners were asked to give initial approval to levy 0.025 mills in December 2011 to pay for services for indigent veterans.

The millage would cost homeowners about $2.50 for every $100,000 of a home’s taxable value. It’s expected to raise $344,486 – about $11,000 less than in 2010, due to projected decreases of property values. The county first began levying this millage in 2008. Because the Veterans Relief Fund Act predates the state’s Headlee Amendment, it can be approved by the board without a voter referendum. Services are administered through the county’s department of veterans affairs.

One person – Thomas Partridge – spoke at a public hearing on the millage held at the board meeting. He was supportive of the tax, and saluted all members of the armed forces. There’s inadequate money to fund the growing needs of veterans, he said, especially because of foreign conflicts like the war in Iraq. However, Partridge said he’d like to see the needs of veterans addressed in the broader context of the needs of the general citizenry for affordable housing, health care, education and job training.

Outcome: Commissioners unanimously voted to give initial approval for the indigent veterans relief tax. A final vote will be taken at the board’s Sept. 21 meeting.

Public Health Budget

A net of nearly seven full-time positions will be eliminated in the 2011-2012 public health budget that was given initial approval by commissioners at their Sept. 7 meeting.

The $11,839,496 budget, which will receive a final vote at the board’s Sept. 21 meeting, includes a $3,553,575 allocation from the county’s general fund – a net decrease of $583,597 from the previous year. Unlike the county’s general fund budget, which is aligned to the calendar year, the public health budget runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, in sync with the state’s fiscal year.

Though a total of nearly 12 full-time-equivalent positions (a combination of part-time and full-time jobs) will be eliminated in the proposed budget, five positions will be created or reclassified, for a net loss of nearly seven FTEs.

The budget also calls for a raft of new fees and fee increases. Effective Jan. 1, 2012, new fees will be required for a change of restaurant ownership ($250), a temporary food license late fee ($60), a time-of-sale authorization extension fee ($50), and a pollution prevention late reporting fee ($25).

A sampling of the fee increases includes a septic tank only permit (from $52 to $100), a new-build well permit (from $187 to $250), and a swimming pool inspection (from $56 to $150). Cremation permit fees will be increased from $40 to $50. [.pdf of complete 2012 fee schedule for public health]

Outcome: Without discussion, the public health department budget was given initial approval by a unanimous vote. A final vote is expected at the board’s Sept. 21 meeting.

Public Health: Medical Examiner

Dick Fleece, director of the public health department, introduced Jeffrey Jentzen and Bader Cassin to the board at Wednesday’s meeting. On the agenda was a resolution to appoint Jentzen to a four-year term as the county’s medical examiner, and Cassin as deputy medical examiner. Currently, Cassin serves as medical examiner, a role he’s held since 1996, and Jentzen is his deputy. Fleece told commissioners that the change in appointments is part of a transition at the medical examiner’s office.

From left: Dick Fleece, director of the Washtenaw County public health department, and Bader Cassin, county medical examiner. Cassin will become the deputy medical examiner, pending final approval by the county board of commissioners. He'll be replaced by Jeffrey Jentzen, who currently serves as deputy medical examiner.

The county contracts with the University of Michigan Health System (UMHS) for the medical examiner’s administration, customer service and autopsies – UMHS provides field investigators, administrative support, customer service, and autopsy assistants. Jentzen is a UM professor of pathology. Cassin is a clinical lecturer with UM’s pathology department. Both men attended Wednesday’s meeting.

Of the $3,553,575 portion of the public health department 2011-2012 budget that’s coming from the county’s general fund, $548,052 is allocated for the medical examiner’s office.

Fleece said the department has been having conversations for 2.5 years about making a transition in the medical examiner’s office. He noted that Jentzen had previously been a medical examiner in Milwaukee, dealing with high-profile cases like the serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. Jentzen told commissioners that he realized the importance of the position, and that he hoped to uphold the standards set by Cassin, who had served as an excellent model. Cassin thanked commissioners for their support for the past 16 years.

Concerns were raised about Jentzen earlier this year during public commentary at the county board’s April 6, 2011 meeting. Douglas Smith criticized the county medical examiner‘s autopsy report on Stanley Jackson Jr., who died hours after being Tasered during an August 2010 drug raid in Superior Township. Smith told commissioners there were a number of controversial cases in Milwaukee when Jentzen was medical examiner there.

At Wednesday’s meeting, commissioner Kristin Judge praised Jentzen for his “phenomenal” resumé, and said the medical examiner’s office is another example of silent government working on behalf of citizens. Government isn’t a bad word, she said, adding that she appreciated the work of the office.

Outcome: The board unanimously voted to give initial approval to the medical examiner appointments. A final vote on the appointments is expected at the Sept. 21 meeting.

CSTS Budget

A net loss of five full-time-equivalent (FTE) positions is part of a proposed 2011-2012 budget for Washtenaw County’s community support & treatment services (CSTS) department. The CSTS budget runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, in sync with the state’s fiscal year. The county operates on a calendar year cycle.

The proposed $26,838,557 budget calls for eliminating seven FTEs and putting one position on hold/vacant status, but creating three new FTE positions, for a net loss of five FTEs. In addition, 19 FTE positions will be reclassified.

Though CSTS is a county department employing about 300 people, it receives 98.8% of its funding from the Washtenaw Community Health Organization, a partnership between the county and the University of Michigan Health System. The WCHO is an entity that receives state and federal funding to provide services for people with serious mental illness, developmental disabilities and substance abuse disorders. At this point, WCHO “leases” its employees from the county, and contracts for services through CSTS. Commissioners were briefed on a reorganization of the WCHO at a July 7, 2011 working session. The changes are aimed at limiting the county’s financial liabilities.

Commissioner Yousef Rabhi asked about the reclassifications. CSTS director Donna Sabourin, who had just emerged from negotiations with bargaining units representing CSTS employees, said details were being finalized about the job descriptions for the tentative new labor agreement. She promised to have more information for commissioners soon, but clarified that promotions were not automatic, and required satisfactory job performance as well as a minimum of two years in an employee’s current position.

Outcome: Commissioners gave initial approval to the CSTS 2011-2012 budget, with a final vote expected on Sept. 21.

Western Washtenaw Recycling Authority Bonds

Commissioners were asked to give initial approval to authorize issuance of $2.7 million in bonds, backed by the county’s full faith and credit, to help pay for a $3.2 million facility operated by the Western Washtenaw Recycling Authority (WWRA).

The WWRA plans to use $500,000 from its reserves to fund part of the project. The $2.7 million in bonds would be repaid through special assessments on households in participating WWRA communities – the city of Chelsea, Dexter Township, Lima Township, Lyndon Township, and Manchester Township. Bridgewater Township is participating in the WWRA but will not help fund the new facility. The village of Manchester and Sylvan Township have withdrawn from the WWRA.

County commissioners had been briefed on the proposal at their July 7, 2011 working session. Since then, the WWRA board has approved adding a county commissioner to their board. Rob Turner – a Republican representing District 1, which covers large portions of western Washtenaw – will serve in that role.

Outcome: Without discussion, commissioners gave initial approval to the issuance of bonds for the WWRC facility. A final vote is expected on Sept. 21.

Accommodation Tax Contract Amended

The board was asked to amend a contract regarding the distribution of the county’s accommodation tax.

From left: Debbie Locke-Daniel, president of the Ypsilanti Convention & Visitors Bureau, and Mary Kerr, president of the Ann Arbor Convention & Visitors Bureau, confer prior to the start of the Sept. 7, 2011 county board meeting.

The county treasurer’s office collects a 5% excise tax from hotels, motels, and bed & breakfasts, which is then distributed to the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti convention & visitors bureaus and used to promote tourism and convention business. The county board had raised the tax from 2% to 5% in December 2008.

In 2010, the tax brought in $3.539 million, a 16.4% increase over the previous year. Year-to-date tax revenues, as of July 31, are $2.127 million. [.pdf of county treasurer's report on accommodation tax collections through July 2011]

The current five-year contract, approved in December 2009, calls for the county to retain 10% of that tax to defray the cost of collection and enforcement, which is handled by the county treasurer’s office. (Until 2009, the county had only retained 5% for this purpose.) The remaining funds are split, with 75% going to the Ann Arbor Convention & Visitors Bureau, and 25% going to the Ypsilanti Convention & Visitors Bureau.

The contract amendment addresses the process for distributing excess funds that might accumulate from the county’s 10%, if that amount exceeds the expenses required to administer and enforce compliance with the tax. Beginning in May 2013, the county will continue to retain 10% of the tax proceeds, plus 10% of any remaining fund balance. But if additional funds accumulate in the fund balance, the excess funds are to be returned proportionally to the two convention & visitors bureaus – 75% to Ann Arbor, and 25% to Ypsilanti.

As of July 31, 2011, the county fund balance for the accommodation tax stood at $779,475.

Although presidents of both bureaus attended Wednesday’s meeting – Mary Kerr from Ann Arbor, and Debbie Locke-Daniel from Ypsilanti – they did not make a formal presentation nor were they questioned by the board. They last gave an update to commissioners at the board’s April 7, 2010 meeting.

Outcome: Without discussion, the board unanimously voted to give initial approval to the contract amendment for allocating funds from the accommodation tax. Final approval is expected at the board’s Sept. 21 meeting.

Urban County Renewal, Expansion

Commissioners were asked to give final approval to continue the county’s participation in the Washtenaw Urban County program – from July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2015 – and to expand the program to include six additional jurisdictions. Initial approval had been given at the board’s Aug. 3 meeting.

Saline mayor Gretchen Driskell talks with county board chair Conan Smith. The city of Saline is a new member of the Washtenaw Urban County, which the board voted to expand on Wednesday. Driskell was at the meeting to speak in favor of an economic development tax.

“Urban County” is a designation of the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, identifying a county with more than 200,000 people. With that designation, individual governments within the Urban County can become members, making them entitled to an allotment of funding through a variety of HUD programs, including the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnerships. Those two programs provide funding for projects to benefit low- and moderate-income residents, focused on housing, human services and other community development efforts.

Washtenaw County and the townships of Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Pittsfield, Superior, Northfield, Salem, and Bridgewater received the Urban County designation in 2002. Later, the city of Ypsilanti and Scio Township joined, and in 2009 the city of Ann Arbor – which previously received HUD funding directly – joined as well, roughly doubling the amount of money available in the Urban County’s funding pool.

New jurisdictions that are joining the Urban County for the next funding cycle are the city of Saline, the village of Manchester, and the townships of Dexter, Lima, Manchester, and Saline.

Staff support for the Urban County programs comes from the joint county/city of Ann Arbor office of community development.

Outcome: Commissioners voted unanimously to give final approval to participate in the Urban County and expand its membership.

Sept. 11 Remembrance

During one of his turns at public commentary, Thomas Partridge called for the board to memorialize the week of Sept. 11 each year, to honor the lives that were lost during the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Later in the meeting, commissioner Rob Turner thanked Partridge for his suggestion, and introduced a resolution designating Sept. 11 as a day of reflection and remembrance for the 2001 attacks. Leah Gunn noted that the city of Ann Arbor would be holding a memorial on the morning of Sept. 11 at the downtown fire station near city hall.

Outcome: Commissioners unanimously passed the resolution of remembrance for Sept. 11.

Federal Justice Grant

On the agenda was a resolution giving final approval to apply for an Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance grant. Initial authorization had been given by commissioners at their Aug. 3, 2011 meeting.

The $42,587 grant would be awarded to the Washtenaw County sheriff’s office by the U.S. Dept. of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance. The funds would be used to support the sheriff’s community outreach program, according to a staff memo. Specifically, the grant would fund a part-time community engagement coordinator and two of the program’s five peer outreach workers.

No one spoke during a public hearing at the meeting to get input on how the grant will be used.

Outcome: Without discussion, commissioners voted unanimously to give final approval to apply for the Edward Byrne grant.

Insurance Providers

Commissioners were asked to give initial approval to accept proposed quotes for insurance coverage in seven areas, totaling $1,021,275 in premiums.

The Arthur J. Gallagher Insurance Agency has proposed obtaining coverage from several providers for the areas of: (1) property coverage, including boiler and machinery – Chubb Insurance Co.; (2) general liability, law enforcement liability, public officials liability, and auto liability – Genesis Insurance Co.;(3) crime – Great American Insurance Co.; (4) fiduciary liability – Chubb Insurance Co.; (5) lawyers professional liability – Underwriters at Lloyd’s London; (6) judicial liability – Underwriters at Lloyd’s London; and (7) medical professional – Hudson Insurance Co.

Outcome: There was no discussion on this item, which commissioners approved unanimously. The board will take a final vote on the item on Sept. 21.

Information Technology Ranking

This summer, Washtenaw County received 4th place in a national ranking of county information technology departments. The ranking is from the 2011 Digital Counties Survey, conducted by the Center for Digital Government and the National Association of Counties (NACo).

At left, Andy Brush of the county's IT staff presents the 2011 Digital Counties Survey plaque to Conan Smith, chair of the board of commissioners. Washtenaw County ranked 4th in the survey of county IT departments nationwide.

The award was presented on July 16 at the NACo annual conference in Portland, Oregon. Kristin Judge, a member of NACo’s justice and public safety steering committee, accepted the award on behalf of the county.

At Wednesday’s meeting, Andy Brush – interim head of the county’s IT staff – presented a plaque to the board in recognition of that achievement. Brush noted that last year, Washtenaw County ranked 9th, and that they’ve been in the top 10 for eight out of the last nine years.

In accepting the plaque on behalf of the board, Conan Smith quipped that he was looking forward to the year when the county would rank No. 3.

Misc. Commentary & Communications

During the evening there are multiple opportunities for communications from the administration and commissioners, as well as public commentary. Here are some highlights.

Misc. Comm/Comm: Sylvan Township

Rob Turner gave an update on the situation in Sylvan Township, including details on how the township plans to pay off debt to the county if the township defaults on bond payments, as it’s likely to do.

Sylvan Township has been struggling with $12.5 million in bonds issued to build a water and wastewater treatment plant intended to serve future development. The plan was to use revenue related to that development – from connection fees to the system – to cover the bond payments. However, the economy soured and development hasn’t materialized. Last year, the county board approved a bond refunding in order to restructure the debt and lower the township’s bond payments. If the township defaults, the county has the right to make a special assessment of township residents to cover those bond payments.

Turner read a statement outlining the chronology of events in the township. [.pdf of Turner's statement] He said the township will be able to make its November 2011 bond payment, but is likely to default on the payment in May 2012. After discussions with the county, the township board recently voted to put a proposal for a 4.75 mill tax on the November 2011 ballot, with proceeds to repay the cost of the bond payments that would be made by the county.

Turner noted that three forums have been scheduled to talk to residents about this proposal: On Sept. 15, Sept. 19 and Oct. 13 – each meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the Washington Street Educational Center Auditorium in Chelsea.

Turner said an agreement would be worked out for the county board to review, outlining the township’s repayment schedule. He hoped the board would support it, and that it would resolve the problem that’s been looming for so long. He apologized to commissioners that this issue had taken so much of his time, noting that he hadn’t been as thorough with some of his other board work recently.

Several commissioners praised Turner for his work. Barbara Bergman told him that no one would ever accuse him of being a slacker. Turner said the people who have really sacrificed are his family, since he’s had to attend many community meetings and hasn’t spent as much time at home. He then thanked his colleagues on the board, saying he doesn’t always agree with them, but he’s grown to respect and care deeply for them.

Misc. Comm/Comm: Road Commission

Kristin Judge highlighted a letter that had been sent to the board by Doug Fuller, chair of the Washtenaw County Road Commission – it was included as an item of communications in the board’s packet for the Sept. 7 meeting. [.pdf of Fuller's letter] The letter, she noted, requests that a representative of the road commission present a report to the board regarding the county’s road conditions.

Yousef Rabhi, who chairs the board’s working sessions, said he’d been asked by the road commission that they be added to an upcoming working session agenda. However, a review by county staff determined that the road commission’s report must be presented at the board’s annual meeting on Sept. 21. That’s been communicated to Fuller, he said, adding that a working session will also be scheduled for a future date.

Misc. Comm/Comm: Police Services

Alicia Ping reported that the county’s police services steering committee (PSSC) met recently for the first time since April. The advisory group is working out contracts with local municipalities that contract with the county for sheriff deputy patrols. Ping said they expect to have tentative contracts for review by the board within the next month or so.

By way of background, a PSSC subcommittee has been meeting this year to hammer out details of the cost and price of the deputy patrols, which has been a contentious – and litigious – issue over the past several years. Most recently, at its June 1, 2011 meeting the board passed a resolution that set the price of a police services unit (the amount that municipalities will be charged) at $150,594 in 2012, with 1% increases each year through 2015.

At Wednesday’s meeting, Rolland Sizemore Jr. complained that he’s heard two different things related to the contracts – that it will cost the county more money if they hire additional sheriff’s deputies, and that it will cost them more money if they lay off deputies. Both things can’t be true, he said, adding that he wanted someone to clarify those conflicting statements.

Misc. Comm/Comm: Opting Out?

Ping noted that among the communications provided in the board’s packet for the Sept. 7 meeting, there were notices of public hearings related to two businesses that are applying for “industrial facilities exemption certificates” in the city of Saline. The certificates would exempt the businesses – McNaughton & Gunn Inc., and Klingelberg-Oerlikon Tec Center – from paying a certain percentage of their property taxes for a period of time. [.pdf of notices]

Ping wondered what the county’s options were if the board wanted to opt-out of the exemption. She noted that the issue had been discussed earlier this year, in the context of the county’s equalization report that was presented at the April 20, 2011 meeting. From The Chronicle’s report:

Wes Prater pointed out that for tax-capture districts in local municipalities, the county has the option of opting-out – in that case, they would continue to receive full revenues. However, there’s a 60-day window to make that decision, and often they don’t get information about it in timely way, he said. As a result, he added, the long-term revenues that the county is missing “is really having an effect on the budget, I think.”

Rolland Sizemore Jr. asked that [Yousef] Rabhi – who’s chair of the board’s working sessions – add that topic for a future session.

[County equalization director Raman] Patel noted that it’s a political decision to be made, and that there’s no uniformity among jurisdictions about how to handle these tax-capture districts.

Prater said it’s been the county’s longstanding policy to do nothing – not to opt out. That’s ok, he said, if that’s what they decide to do. But it’s worth discussing.

Curtis Hedger, the county’s corporation counsel, said he’d look into it and provide information about options that the board might have.

Misc. Comm/Comm: Huron Valley Child Guidance Clinic

Barbara Bergman reported that county CSTS children’s services staff were forced to vacate a building at 2940 Ellsworth in Ypsilanti that they leased from the Huron Valley Child Guidance because of problems with the facility – the building is in bad shape and it wasn’t safe for staff to work there, she said. The county was the sole tenant, she said, and their lease was up at the end of September. She expressed thanks to Huron Valley Child Guidance, and said she hoped the sale of the land would cover what the group owed on it. She also thanked county administration for helping facilitate the move to extra space in the county’s juvenile detention center.

Misc. Comm/Comm: Regional Summit

Conan Smith announced that Washtenaw County has been invited to participate in a southeast Michigan regional summit on Sept. 30. In past years, the summit included Detroit and the counties of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb. This year, Washtenaw and St. Clair counties will be included, and the topics will focus on regional cooperation and transportation. Smith and Kristin Judge will be participating in the planning stages on Washtenaw County’s behalf.

From left: Peter Simms, deputy county clerk, and Curtis Hedger, the county's corporation counsel.

Misc. Comm/Comm: New Deputy Clerk

Peter Simms was introduced as the new deputy clerk – one of the responsibilities for that job is to take minutes and record votes at the board meeting, and the Sept. 7 meeting was the first one that Simms attended. Jason Brooks, who formerly held that job for several years but is now working in the county administrator’s office, told commissioners that Simms is a recent graduate of the University of Akron. Simms originally hails from Maine, but has moved to the Chelsea area. That news elicited a “Way to go!” from commissioner Rob Turner, whose district includes the city of Chelsea.

Misc. Comm/Comm: Events

Several events were highlighted in various communications during the evening. County administrator Verna McDaniel noted that Sept. 15 is the kickoff event for this year’s Washtenaw United Way fundraising campaign. The lunch runs from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. at Eastern Michigan University’s Student Center.

Commissioner Kristin Judge mentioned three events:

• The Huron River Watershed Council’s Suds on the River fundraiser on Thursday, Sept. 15. Washtenaw County water resources commissioner Janis Bobrin is one of the event’s hosts.
• The annual golf outing to raise funds for the Washtenaw County Hazardous Materials Response Team is on Monday, Sept. 26 at the Barton Hills Golf Club.
• The Michigan Cyber Summit, which Judge has been instrumental in organizing, will be held on Friday, Oct. 7 from 8 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. at the Marriott Eagle Crest Hotel and Conference Center. Keynote speakers are expected to include Gov. Rick Snyder, U.S. Rep. John Dingell, and Secretary Janet Napolitano of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Misc. Comm/Comm: Public Commentary

Ellen Schulmeister, CEO of the Shelter Association of Washtenaw County, thanked commissioners for the county’s past support of her organization. She said she wanted to report on the county’s return on investment by telling a story about a woman who came to the Delonis Center, a homeless shelter on Huron Street run by the association. Schulmeister described the services that the center provided to help the woman overcome her barriers to self-sufficiency, and reported that the woman now has a job and is renting her own place. Diana Neering, the shelter association’s chief development officer and director of communications, told another story about the help that they’d given to a 45-year-old mentally impaired man.

In addition to speaking at two of the three public hearings at Wednesday’s meeting, Thomas Partridge spoke during the four opportunities for public commentary. He objected to the state law allowing for medical marijuana, saying that it was turning Ann Arbor into a drug capital of the United States. He noted that many medical marijuana advocates had attended the Sept. 6 Ann Arbor city council meeting. He contended that one of them – Chuck Ream – had made threatening remarks about a woman who had called law enforcement about Ream’s medical marijuana dispensary, which was subsequently raided. It was important to ensure the safety of people who make such complaints, he said.

Partridge also advocated for the recall of Gov. Rick Snyder and other Republicans in the state legislature, saying they had started a “destructive juggernaut.” He urged commissioners to put an override of the state’s Headlee Amendment onto the next available ballot.

Present: Barbara Levin Bergman, Leah Gunn, Kristin Judge, Alicia Ping, Wes Prater, Yousef Rabhi, Rolland Sizemore Jr., Dan Smith, Conan Smith, and Rob Turner.

Absent: Ronnie Peterson

Special board meeting: A special board meeting to discuss labor agreements has been scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011 at 4 p.m. at the county administration building, 220 N. Main St. in Ann Arbor.

Next working sessions: Thursday, Sept. 15, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. at the county administration building, 220 N. Main St. in Ann Arbor. The working session will focus on the 2012-2013 budget. An additional working session is set for Thursday, Sept. 22 at 6:30 p.m.

Next regular board meeting: Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. at the county administration building, 220 N. Main St. in Ann Arbor. 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.

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Local 2733 represents 644 workers. The contract will be presented to the county board of commissioners for approval at a special meeting called for Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 4 p.m. in the county administration building, 220 N. Main St. in Ann Arbor.

In an email to The Chronicle Monday afternoon, McDaniel praised the employees, noting that they had also made concessions during the previous budget cycle. She said the board will be asked to exempt the county employees who reached this agreement from state legislation calling for 80/20 health care cost sharing or a cap on premiums. That legislation would require public employees to pay 20% of their health care costs, effective Jan. 1, 2012, or to cap the amount that local governments would pay as premiums for employees. To be exempt, contracts must be ratified and signed by Sept. 15.

McDaniel said the agreement includes wage concessions and shared health care costs, but no other details would be released until Tuesday’s special meeting. She indicated that other bargaining units might also ratify tentative agreements before that meeting.

The county faces an estimated $17.5 million two-year budget deficit in 2012 and 2013, and has been negotiating with 15 of its 17 labor bargaining units to achieve $8 million in concessions over that period. Two bargaining units – the Police Officers Association of Michigan (POAM) and the Command Officers Association of Michigan (COAM) – earlier this year reached agreements that aren’t part of the $8 million goal. The POAM and COAM deals are for a four-year period through 2014.

At their Sept. 7, 2011 meeting, the board of commissioners approved a collective bargaining agreement with the Michigan Nurses Association-Unit II, representing two county employees. That deal is expected to save $24,300. This summer, commissioners had approved an agreement with the Michigan Nurses Association-Unit I, representing 13 public health nurses and nurse coordinators in the county’s health services department. That agreement is expected to achieve an annual savings of $132,000.

Washtenaw County employs about 1,300 workers, including about 1,000 who are represented by collective bargaining units. For background, see Chronicle coverage: “County Board Briefed on Labor Issues.”

The city of Ann Arbor held a special meeting on Aug. 29, before its next regularly scheduled meeting on Sept. 6. The urgency to hold a special meeting was based on a typo in a legislative staffer's early draft of a subsequently corrected memo, not based on the actual date in the state's new employment health care legislation. (Simulated correction "illustration" by The Ann Arbor Chronicle)

Key features of the agreement with the 230-member union include: no across-the-board pay increases for the duration of the agreement; employees will make greater contributions to their pension and health care plans; a 10-year vesting period for the pension plan; and an access-only style plan for retiree healthcare benefits.

Council deliberations were relatively brief, with remarks focusing on praise for the city and the union’s respective bargain teams and details of the agreement. Almost equal time was given to the manner in which the special meeting was noticed to the public.

Though questions were raised by The Chronicle through the day on Monday about whether the city had met its obligation to provide notice to the public under the Michigan Open Meetings Act, city attorney Stephen Postema relied on a recent unpublished court of appeals opinion, which is not binding on other courts and which included a strong minority dissent, to justify the city’s failure to meet a basic noticing standard set forth in an opinion from Michigan’s attorney general.

That AG’s opinion – which is also not binding on courts, but which has guided the conduct of public bodies in Michigan for over 30 years – requires public bodies to post physical notice of special meetings in a way that makes the notice publicly accessible for the 18 hours preceding the meeting.

The council’s urgency in approving the contract, reflected in the calling of the special session, was based on recently passed state legislation that limits the amount that public employers can contribute to employee health care costs. Ann Arbor’s contract with AFSCME does not conform to the limits set forth in the legislation. So the council was keen to approve the contract before the effective dates stipulated in the legislation, and did so with only seven of its 11 members able to attend the meeting.

The legislation itself specifies Sept. 15, 2011 as the relevant date; however, Ann Arbor city staff appeared to rely not on the legislation, but on an early draft of a memo drawn up by a legislative staff aide to state senator Mark Jansen, which contained a typo. Although the draft was corrected immediately after its limited initial distribution, the original draft’s stipulation of “Sept. 1″ instead of “Sept. 15″ spurred the city of Ann Arbor to convene the special meeting. The council’s next regularly scheduled meeting is on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011 – well before the actual Sept. 15 date in the legislation. 

AFSCME Contract

The Aug. 29 special session had one item on its agenda – the new AFSCME contract. In mayor John Hieftje’s absence, the meeting was chaired by Marcia Higgins (Ward 4). The council’s attendance at the meeting exceeded the minimum number required for a quorum. Besides Hieftje, absent were Mike Anglin (Ward 5), Carsten Hohnke (Ward 5) and Margie Teall (Ward 4).

AFSCME Contract: Council Deliberations

Stephen Rapundalo (Ward 2) began the deliberations on the contract. [Rapundalo chairs the council's labor and administration committee, but was not part of the city's bargaining team. According to Robyn Wilkerson, head of the city's human resources department, the bargaining team consisted of Wilkerson and Aimee Carroll in the city's human resources department, and Nancy Niemela in the city attorney's office. They had support from human resources staff Richard Martonchik and Sharie Sell.]

Rapundalo said it was a pleasure to bring the contract forward. He said credit has to be given to the AFSCME  leadership and the two negotiating teams. He noted the short time period since the expiration of the previous contract on June 30. The negotiations entailed very earnest discussions that were beneficial to city, he said.

Ticking through the key features of the contract, Rapundalo noted that for its duration, there would be no wage increase. Union employees would increase their contribution to the pension plan by 1%. Eliminated is the 457 match – a 457 plan is roughly a public sector equivalent of a 401(k) plan.

Health care, Rapundalo continued, will be based on a high-low plan through the remainder of the contract period. [Under the old contract, AFSCME union employees did not make a monthly contribution for health care costs and paid a $225 deductible. Under the new contract, they can continue to pay no monthly contribution (low design), but incur a higher deductible – $1,000 per individual. On the high design, an employee would make a $44 monthly contribution, but pay only a $300 deductible. ]

The union was adamant, Rapundalo said, about retaining a full-time union official, and the city had agreed to continue that city-paid position through the current contract. But the city had put the union on notice that the city would ask it to eliminate that position at the conclusion of the ratified contract period, Rapundalo said. The city had asked for a daily activity report of the union official to get a sense of what that person did.

Rapundalo said there’d been “a lot of give” on the use of temporary employees and restrictions on their use. The union had also agreed to the new-hire program in which employees will take 10 years be vested in the retirement program instead of five.

The total savings to the city, Rapundalo said, was just shy of $700,000, 25% of which is savings in the general fund. That amounted to a reduction of  just over 3%, which had been the target, he said.

Marcia Higgins (Ward 4) stressed a contract feature under which new employees will have the same retiree health care as non-union employees. Asked for any additional details he wanted to add, interim city administrator Tom Crawford replied, “It sounds like you guys covered it.”

Sabra Briere (Ward 1) questioned the relative brevity of the contract. Assistant city attorney Nancy Nimela explained that it goes through Dec. 31, 2013. The council had requested that the city keep the contracts as short as possible, given the economic times, Nimela said. The contract was ending in December, in part because the city is changing AFSCME’s health care to a calendar year period.

Briere asked if the agreement conformed to the requirements of the new state legislation that was passed but still awaiting the governor’s signature – which limits the amount that public employers can contribute to employee health care. Nimela described it as “closer” to meeting the constraints of that legislation, but it’s not quite there.

Briere wanted to know if the city would need to open up contracts and revise them in light of the new state legislation. Nimela explained that it would not be necessary, and the contract could last through its entire period under the new state legislation. However, when the contract expires, the new contract will need to conform.

Open Meetings Act: Public Notice of Aug. 29 Meeting

During deliberations at the council’s meeting, Sabra Briere (Ward 1) noted that she’d seen correspondence on email over the weekend and through the day about the proper noticing of the meeting, and had dealt with multiple questions from constituents about the meeting – what was the meeting supposed to be about?

Briere drew out the city’s contention that the paper posting of the meeting was put in a glass display case in the lobby of city hall on Friday, Aug. 26. From Tom Crawford, interim city administrator, she elicited the fact that the posting was not placed in the glass display case designated by a label for the city council’s business, but rather in an adjacent, unlabeled window.

The unlabeled case contained three other postings, unrelated to council business – a medical marijuana licensing board notice, a board of canvassers notice and an election commission notice. The three non-council related notices were poster-like inasmuch as they appeared designed for posting on a wall, with bold headlines containing the name of the entity that was meeting in what appeared to be roughly half-inch high letters. The city council special session notice was simply the same memo, in ordinary typeface, that was sent by the clerk to councilmembers to satisfy the city charter requirement that the members of the council be notified of the special meeting.

The four notices in the glass case adjacent to the one labeled for the city council were arranged in a 2 x 2 matrix, with the city council special session notice in the lower left corner, separated from the city council glass case by a column of two non-council-related notices and the window divider.

At the council’s meeting, city attorney Stephen Postema was unperturbed by the placement of the meeting notice, saying that the labels on the glass display cases are there as a courtesy, not as a requirement. [On previous occasions, the city has also defended placement of meeting notices in locations not in the glass cases at all, but in a different part of the building.] He explained that the labels aren’t required to be there at all.

Also at issue was the public accessibility of the meeting notice. The glass cases where the meeting notice was placed are not visible from outside the city hall. The city hall lobby was locked through the weekend. In an email to The Chronicle, Postema admitted that the city hall building was not unlocked until 6 a.m. on Aug. 29, leaving the city well short of the 18-hour time window set forth in a Michigan attorney general opinion issued by Frank Kelley in 1980. The state’s Open Meetings Act statute explicitly requires that notice of a special city council meeting be posted at least 18 hours in advance of the meeting. And Kelley’s opinion interprets that part of the statute to require that the notice be accessible to the public continuously for the 18 hours preceding the meeting.

However, in advising councilmembers that they could hold their meeting without violating the Open Meetings Act, Postema relied on a recent court of appeals decision that rejected the reasoning in Kelley’s opinion. In the May 26, 2011 decision, (Citizens For Public Accountability & Responsible Development v. Northville Charter Township Board Of Trustees) two out of the three judges on the panel found that “In short, there is no time requirement inherent in the definition of ‘public notice,’ …”

However, the court did not choose to create a precedentially binding decision for other courts, which it could have done by publishing its decision. In dissenting from her colleagues on the panel, Judge Elizabeth Gleicher echoed the attorney general’s approach to statutory interpretation, which addresses the purpose of the legislation. She wrote in her dissent:

Construing the OMA as a whole and harmonizing its terms, I conclude that the Legislature intended that the public have access to a “public notice” for the entire designated 18-hour period. In my estimation, “public notice” means exactly that—notice made available to the public, not dark, deserted building corridors. The majority construes the OMA’s notice provision in a manner that would permit a public body to notify the public of a special meeting commencing at 9:00 a.m. on a Monday by posting a notice at closing time on a Friday afternoon. Indisputably, this “notice” would frustrate the legislative purpose expressed in the statute. But with its analysis, the majority sanctions precisely such “public notice.” Rather than interpreting MCL 15.265(4) expansively, the majority reads the term “public notice” out of the sentence requiring 18 hours’ notice.

At the council’s meeting, Briere also drew out the fact that the city’s press release sent out on Aug. 25, about the new AFSCME contract, mentioned that the council would be considering the contract at its next meeting, on Aug. 29, but did not mention the unusual 5:15 p.m. starting time. The press release also did not mention the fact that the Aug. 29 meeting was a special meeting that had been called.

By way of additional background, The Chronicle inquired with the city’s communication unit, which sent out the press release to The Chronicle among other news organizations, whether a special meeting had been called. City of Ann Arbor communication director Lisa Wondrash confirmed the intent of the council to convene a special meeting, but did not provide the time of the meeting. The Chronicle has a standing request made under the OMA statute, that the city notify The Chronicle of any special meetings at the same time they are posted; however, the city clerk’s office did not send out a notification that included the time of the meeting, until The Chronicle notified the city attorney about the city’s failure to notice the meeting properly.

At the council meeting, Stephen Rapundalo (Ward 2), responded to Briere’s description of receiving questions from her constituents about the topic of the meeting. He contended that the agenda for the meeting was posted in the city’s online Legistar system on Friday, Aug. 26.

Based on a conversation with AnnArbor.com’s regular city council beat reporter, Ryan Stanton, who was arriving at city hall around 6:55 p.m. as The Chronicle was departing, the unusual 5:15 p.m. start for the meeting was not well-publicized. AnnArbor.com’s reporter expressed surprise that the meeting had already concluded and stated that he thought the original posting had specified 7 p.m.

Reason for Urgency

The special meeting called for Aug. 29, 2011 came just a week before the next regularly scheduled council meeting, on Sept. 6 – which falls on a Tuesday due to the Labor Day holiday.

The state legislation mentioned by Sabra Briere (Ward 1) during the council meeting – which includes provisions with which the new AFSCME contract does not conform – is the “Publicly Funded Health Insurance Contribution Act” given approval by the legislature on Aug. 24, 2011. It has not yet been signed by Gov. Rick Snyder, but is scheduled for signing on Sept. 15.

So why did the Ann Arbor city council have sense of urgency about ratifying its AFSCME contract?

Reason for Urgency: What the Legislation Says

The guts of the legislation is in Sections 3 and 4 [.pdf of the bill]. Section 3 describes maximum “hard cap” dollar amount equivalents that public employers can contribute toward employee healthcare: $5,500 for single-person coverage, $11,000 for individual and spouse coverage, and $15,000 for family coverage – for coverage years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2012.

Section 4 describes an option which an employer can follow, if approved by a simple majority vote of its governing body, which would limit the benefit contributed by the employer percentage-wise instead of using a hard cap. On that option, public employers could contribute no more than 80% of their employees’ health care costs for coverage years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2012.

On a 2/3 majority vote, which must be repeated each year, a governing body of a public employer can opt out of the requirements in both Section 3 and Section 4.

When does the legislation go into effect? The legislation states that [emphasis added]:

Sec. 5 (1) If a collective bargaining agreement or other contract that is inconsistent with sections 3 and 4 is in effect for a group of employees of a public employer on the effective date of this act, the requirements of section 3 or 4 do not apply to that group of employees until the contract expires. …

So what is the effective date? Based on Chronicle conversations with legislative staff members in the offices of Rep. Jeff Irwin, whose District 53 covers Ann Arbor, and Sen. Mark Jansen, who sponsored the bill, the working understanding is that the effective date is Sept. 15, when Gov. Rick Snyder is scheduled to sign the legislation into law. Based on remarks made at the Aug. 29 city council meeting, there appears to be some perception that if Snyder were to sign the law earlier than Sept. 15, this would have an impact.

The legislation itself is straightforward about when collective bargaining agreements must comply with the new law [emphasis added]:

Sec. 5 (2) A collective bargaining agreement or other contract that is executed on or after September 15, 2011 shall not include terms that are inconsistent with the requirements of sections 3 and 4.

So it’s clear why the council might have wanted to make sure to act before Sept. 15 – the AFSCME contract included terms inconsistent with sections 3 and 4.

But the council has a regularly scheduled meeting on Sept. 6. So why did it need to convene a special session on Aug. 29?

Reason for Urgency: An Early Draft Memo

Queried about the urgency of the council in convening a special meeting, interim city administrator Tom Crawford emailed The Chronicle that the city had received the following guidance from the state [emphasis added]:

Q: When does this law take place?

A: The act applies to medical benefit plan coverage years beginning on or after January 1, 2012. However, contracts settled between Sept. 1, 2011 and January 1, 2012 must not contain terms that are contrary to the act, and will go into effect upon the expiration of the medical benefit plan year.

The Chronicle traced the language cited by Crawford to an FAQ document developed by the state legislature’s conference committee for the bill. Authorship of that document was then traced to a legislative staffer with Sen. Mark Jensen’s office, Debbie Drick. She indicated in phone conversation with The Chronicle that the Sept. 1 date was in fact simply a typo – it should have been Sept. 15. But she continued, saying that almost immediately upon distribution of that version to the conference committee, she’d collected the errant copies and swapped in a corrected version.

Apparently enough copies survived in the wild for Ann Arbor city staff to use that initial, uncorrected version without questioning the accuracy of the Sept. 1 date – which is not referenced anywhere in the actual text of the legislation.

Present: Stephen Rapundalo, Sabra Briere, Sandi Smith, Stephen Kunselman, Marcia Higgins, Christopher Taylor, Tony Derezinski

Absent: Mike Anglin, Margie Teall,  John Hieftje, Carsten Hohnke

Next regular council meeting: Tues. Sept. 6, 2011 at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at 301 E. Huron. [confirm date]

The agreement, which runs through Dec. 31, 2013, includes no across-the-board pay increases for the duration of the agreement. Under the new agreement, employees will make greater contributions to their pension and health care plans. Vesting in the pension plan for new hires will take place after 10 years and have an access-only style plan for retiree healthcare benefits.

The meeting took place despite concerns that it was not properly noticed to the public. The posting at city hall was not made in the glass case labeled for city council issues. The set of glass cases where meetings are posted is in a lobby of a building that was locked over the weekend, preventing continuous access to information about the special meeting for the 18 hours before it was held.

The 18-hour requirement is part of the statute that has been interpreted by the state attorney general to provide for 18-hour continuous accessibility of meeting postings. However, a recent court of appeals case, using a purely textualist approach, has interpreted the statutory requirement to be met, whether the posting is accessible or not. Some news organizations that subscribe to city notifications of special meetings under the state’s Open Meeting Act were not notified of Monday’s special meeting.

The council was keen to approve the contract before the 80-20 state legislation is signed into law by Gov. Rick Snyder. The legislation will require public employees to pay 20% of their health care costs, effective Jan. 1, 2012.

This brief was filed from city council chambers on the second floor of city hall, where the special meeting took place. A more detailed report will follow: [link]