Deputy superintendent for human resources and general counsel for the district David Comsa, and assistant director of human resource services Stephani Field. A report from HR was delivered to the board at its Oct. 24 meeting. (Photos by the writer.)

And in keeping with superintendent Patricia Green’s desire to give annual updates to the board on a variety of topics, the AAPS board of trustees heard presentations from the human resources (HR) and informational technology (IT) departments.

Highlights from the human resources report were statistics showing that percentage-wise, more cuts have been made in the last few years to administrative positions than to teaching positions. Trustees also focused on recruitment of teachers that would reflect the same demographic profile as the student population.

Trustees were also given a report on the 2013-2015 technology plan.

In addition to the informational reports, the board was briefed on a partnership between AAPS and Toyota International. The district has been selected by Toyota as the sole participant in a pilot teaching program that will focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education. The partnership will bring the methods of Singapore, described as a leading country in STEM innovation, to AAPS.

Also at the meeting, a recommendation to rename the Argus Planetarium – to acknowledge the $100,000 donation to the facility made by IMRA America – was met with enthusiasm by trustees. They also welcomed another naming proposal – to name the Pioneer High School tennis courts after long-time tennis coach Tom “Brick” Pullen. Votes on the naming proposals will come at the next meeting of the board.

Technology Presentations

Several reports on the state of technology in the district were presented to the board. Alesia Flye, deputy superintendent for instructional services, Carlos Soto, lead tech specialist in the information technology department (ITD), and Chuck Hatt, coordinator for literacy and social studies instruction, presented the 2013-2015 technology plan.

Chuck Hatt, AAPS coordinator for literacy and social studies instruction.

Deputy superintendent for operations Robert Allen, along with director of information and technology John VanRiper, gave a presentation about the IT department. The presentations reflected superintendent Patricia Green’s initiative to have the administrative departments make annual reports to the board.

Technology: 2013-2015 Plan

Green led into Flye’s presentation saying that at the end of last school year, a new technology plan – replacing one that had been in place for many years – had been finalized. This new plan was developed with input from many stakeholders in the community, Green said. The district had made sure to do that, especially in light of the commitment the district was asking the community to make with its approval of the technology bond. The plan itself has been submitted to the state and is available on the district website.

Flye reported that the plan, spearheaded by Anne Reader, former director of instructional technology, was completed last school year. The plan focuses on updating the district’s approach to technology, while acknowledging the challenges of the digital divide, the cost of equipment and infrastructure, the need for ongoing professional development, and the complexity of guiding students to become ethical digital citizens. Flye also mentioned that there will be an annual compilation and review of the progress toward the plan’s measurable goals.

The plan is a vision for how technology will be used in the district. Curriculum connections, technology delivery, parental communications and community relations, collaboration, and professional development are all parts of the plan. Soto noted that a large part of the backbone for the plan will be using the money from the 2012 technology bond to replace and build on existing technology in the schools. Improving network infrastructure is a top priority.

Technology: 2013-2015 Plan: Board Reaction

The board was generally receptive to and appreciative of the report. Trustee Glenn Nelson called the plan a significant factor in showing the public that the district would spend the resources wisely if the technology bond were passed. Board president Deb Mexicotte noted that the report shows the breadth of instruction the district is considering. She added that they had been working hard under the current administration to bring all systems together and think more holistically about education, and the plan was a product of that approach.

Several trustees asked about the future of technology in the classroom. Christine Stead drew out the fact that “about 250″ online courses are available to AAPS students. Andy Thomas wondered about the capabilities of remote classroom transmissions, especially related to some of the class offerings that may attract only a few students from each school. He imagined that with remote transmissions, there could be a “class in one school, and the opportunity for students [in other schools within the district] to participate remotely via cameras.”

Flye was receptive to Thomas’ suggestion, indicating that the topic had been discussed at a recent meeting of administrators. Not only would something like Thomas’s scenario help with budget efficiencies, but it would also maintain the quality of educational offerings for students, she said. The instructional services department and ITD were currently having those conversations. Right now, Flye cautioned, the focus is on improving the infrastructure. Once that was done, the district will be able to implement those kinds of remote learning situations.

Susan Baskett asked if there were any policy changes that might need to be made in order to work toward the plan. Flye replied to Baskett saying that eventually, policies will need to be put in place about when students will be able to check out various devices. Green mentioned the difficulty of managing content for students – to make sure that inappropriate material is filtered in an appropriate way. She also cited the challenge of teaching students how to be responsible digital citizens, by teaching them digital literacy.

Recognizing that technology in the classroom has come a long way in the past five or six years, Irene Patalan asked how the district will address the ethics of digital citizenship with students. In response, Green mentioned a community policing model, which would involve the police department taking an active role in educating students about appropriate uses of the Internet. She also brought up partnering with the community to form community connection seminars, because it wasn’t just “ethics in the school house,” but connected to the broader community.

Baskett was also concerned with teacher proficiency in technology. Flye noted that some components of teacher evaluation deal with technology proficiency, but she also pointed out that training and professional development is a key part of the technology plan. Hatt pointed out that because so much instruction was rooted in using technology, teachers “can’t deliver instruction without proficiency.”

Nelson contended that the district was approaching implementation of technology in the classroom in a way that wasn’t “pushing the edge” as far as it should. He believes technology is going to change education more fundamentally than the plan accommodates. He imagines a future where more classes are going to be akin to seminars, and the teacher may not necessarily be the most knowledgeable person in the room. This will happen, Nelson maintained, because of the instant and easy access to information the Internet can provide.

Acknowledging Nelson’s point, Flye allowed that this kind of evolution in the classroom must happen and is happening. Teachers are adopting the roles of facilitators in the classroom. She noted collaboration is one of the key tenets of the technology plan and encompasses the entire learning community of students and teachers.

Building on the point of changing education paradigms, Green gave the example of a “school of one” pilot in New York City. In that pilot program, everything centers around personalized learning for students, as each student receives a “playlist” of skills that he or she needs to master. The playlist varies across students, so they’ll be mastering skills at different levels in the classroom. The organization of the classroom is completely changed, because everything is related back to a student’s individualized learning plan. Green said the concept could be worth considering, as the district works to personalize student learning.

While Mexicotte was generally pleased with the report, she noted that assistive technology was not mentioned. She said its absence struck her because the assistive technology that works to integrate across the curriculum is just as relevant to mainstream education. Instead, it is “siloed” in student intervention and support services (SISS), Mexicotte said. She would like more integration of technology across the spectrum of students that the district serves. Hatt noted that one of the curriculum connections defined in the report is to support all students with alternative curriculum resources. Flye agreed with Mexicotte, saying that the plan does not explicitly highlight that, but it should. She said the district has been working to have stronger alignment between the two departments.

Technology: ITD Report

The ITD report dovetailed with the technology plan. Patricia Green said this reflected a collaborative approach between ITD and instruction.

The presentation outlined the structure of ITD, along with the scope of the department. Robert Allen reported that since the original technology rollout in 1996, the district has increased available technology by 400%. The original “cluster-based” support structure has currently been modified to a district-based structure, which means ITD is more responsive to needs across the district.

John VanRiper asserted that ITD will be collaborating with the instruction department to assure anticipated needs are proactively addressed. He lamented the vacant position for director of instructional technology, saying he would like a counterpart in that department. Without the close relationship between the two departments, the implementation of the NWEA [Northwest Evaluation Association] test couldn’t have happened, he said.

About ITD costs, VanRiper said he anticipates a reduction in repair costs because of the tech bond implementation. That’s because when new equipment is purchased and installed, fewer repair costs are incurred. He also said he was not repairing equipment if it didn’t make financial sense [because it would soon be replaced].

Scalability and security were two of the main focuses of the department, according to VanRiper. Both of these issues are being addressed through the implementation of the tech bond. Last year, the wireless network became so overloaded, public access had to be shut down during instructional hours. This school year, the district has been able to bring public access back.

VanRiper also noted the need for mobile device support. ITD will need to develop the infrastructure for all technology being introduced into the district – such as phones and tablets. VanRiper anticipates a BYO [bring-your-own] device system, one for which the district needs to establish best practices.

About a possible BYO device program, Glenn Nelson asked if the district envisions a program similar to the graphing calculator program, where students could check out expensive devices. He wanted to know if ITD had a plan or was just going to muddle through the implementation. Allen responded that the first thing they needed to do was to have the infrastructure in place to support the devices. To address equity issues, he foresees a system for checking out devices, but that will be in the future. Green said the district might institute a pilot program at the middle school level to test it out, as best practices haven’t been established yet.

Both Nelson and Irene Patalan remarked on the ease and helpfulness of the help desk. Christine Stead thanked Allen and VanRiper for the presentation and said their work doesn’t go unnoticed or unappreciated.

Outcome: Both reports were informational and will be updated yearly. No board action was required.

Tech Infrastructure Replacement

Superintendent Patricia Green noted that it was fitting the second briefing on the technology infrastructure replacement came immediately after the reports on the technology plan and ITD.

AAPS trustee Susan Baskett.

The trustees were first briefed on the request at the Oct. 10, 2012 regular meeting. Randy Trent, executive director of physical properties, was on hand to answer any additional questions from trustees.

The $5,192,872 purchase will be for a district-wide replacement of the network and wireless infrastructure. Trent emphasized that the work will be completed by the end of summer in 2014. Sentinel Technologies, an Illinois-based company that has a satellite office in Ann Arbor, was recommended for the contract award. Susan Baskett, who had reservations about awarding the contract to an out-of-state company, asked if the workers will be paid the prevailing wage. Trent indicated that the prevailing wage does not apply.

Outcome: After being moved from the consent agenda to a board action item, the board approved the contract. Baskett cast the sole dissenting vote.

Human Resources Report

David Comsa, deputy superintendent for human resources and general counsel for the district, and his team of Cynthia Ryan and Stephani Field, presented the inaugural annual report on the HR department. This is the second in a series of reports commissioned by superintendent Patricia Green to be make the administration’s departments more transparent.

Several of the trustees commended Comsa and his team on the presentation. Christine Stead said the “desegregation of information” was important for the board, especially the data points of administrative cuts versus teacher cuts. Irene Patalan said the information will make her job easier to do, because it “helps answer questions.” While pleased to have the report, Glenn Nelson was dismayed at the difficulty of broadening the district’s teacher demographics.

The report detailed the function and organization of the HR department. It also itemized staffing numbers, as well as teacher demographics and education. Full-time equivalent (FTE) positions in the district for the 2012-2013 school year were compared with data from the 2011-2012 school year. A loss of one FTE in the professional certified staff was the only difference between the two years.

Human Resources: Admin vs. Teacher Cuts

The trustees were most interested in the data regarding the five-year trend in administrator FTEs versus the five-year trend in teacher FTEs. The overall change in administrative FTEs [including both central administration and principals/directors] from 2005-2006 to 2011-2012 was a net loss of 8.0 positions. The overall change in teacher FTEs over the same five-year period was a loss of 67.6 positions.

Saying they continue to hear the clamor of comments from the media and the public who say the board has greatly reduced the number of teachers in the district and has done little to reduce administration, Andy Thomas broke down the math. The data shows that there has been a 27.3% reduction of central administration and an 8.9% reduction of principals and directors, for a net reduction of 11.9% over the five-year period. During the same period, there was a 5.6% reduction in teaching staff.

Thomas stressed the point that the reduction in central administrators (27.3%) was more than four times the reduction in the teaching staff (5.6%). More principals were not added, despite the opening of Skyline High School. Each administrator is now responsible for a greater number of teachers, he said. His impression is that the duties of principals and administrators have not remained static, but that there were more required reviews and increases in responsibilities over that time. His point was that a substantially increased workload was being taken on by the administrators. Comsa confirmed Thomas’ impression, saying the amount of student data collection has increased.

Deb Mexicotte said that during a time when the district has been asking more and more of the staff, the board has continued to see achievement and improvements in a wide range of areas. Green agreed, saying there is a trend of accomplishment by both principals and students.

Human Resources: Teacher Demographics

The board spent a significant amount of time talking about the demographics of teachers within the district. David Comsa remarked that progress had been made in the hiring and retaining of African American, Asian American, and Hispanic teachers. Teachers of color make up 16.6% of the overall teaching staff at AAPS for the 2012-2013 school year. People of color account for 19.5% of new hires this school year, he reported.

Both Susan Baskett and Glenn Nelson asked that the “other” category be clarified. Comsa said “other” encompassed people who did not self-identify a race or ethnicity. Responding to a question from Nelson, Comsa indicated that Arab American teachers were categorized as Caucasian. Comsa acknowledged that the district was looking at ways to break out information better.

Nelson made note of the difference between the student and teacher populations. District demographics in the fall of 2010 showed a 14.4% Asian American student population, but only a 1.7% Asian American teaching population. He wondered if hiring strategies needed to be rethought in order to have the teacher makeup more accurately reflect the student population.

Human Resources: Minority Hiring

On the topic of minority recruiting, director of human resource services Cynthia Ryan acknowledged that the district might need to rethink some of its strategies. She also noted that a significant role in the networking, supporting, mentoring, and recruiting of teachers is played by the Ann Arbor Education Association‘s minority affairs committee. The AAEA committee has been active for at least the past 10 years, according to Ryan. HR also reaches out to current teachers who may have connections to other potential teacher candidates.

Baskett mentioned that she and Nelson have talked in depth about teacher recruiting. She asked why it seems the list of schools where AAPS recruits has remained static – the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Eastern Michigan University – and has not expanded to include universities such as Wayne State. Ryan replied that in the past, the district has recruited at job fairs at Central Michigan University, Wayne State, and Saginaw Valley, but this past year, they only attended the recruiting events at the local universities.

Baskett stressed the importance of reaching out to applicants of color because “we are such a good school district.” She asked that some of that evening’s conversation translate into more action for recruiting for the 2013-2014 school year. Her concern is that the hiring timeline in AAPS was not in sync with other districts, which meant that lots of good candidates of color have offers from other districts before they graduate.

Human Resources: Hiring Process

While the district attends job fairs typically held in the spring, Ryan said, AAPS sometimes must wait until August before it can make final decisions on hiring. The district may know about its personnel needs early on, but until the budget is finalized, the district is not able to make formal hires. When Baskett asked if the problem was that budget discussions did not happen early enough this past year, Ryan indicated that was not the case. To Baskett’s question of how the board can help the HR department get better recruits, Ryan said having the district’s budget settled sooner would be most helpful.

Comsa also recognized that retirements play a part in anticipating staffing needs. He said  the district can’t make “hard offers” until the hard data is known. And Ryan noted that the retirement openings don’t always translate into the same positions hired.

Baskett asked if the hiring process should be changed. If a hire needs to be made mid-year, Baskett asked, is the district able to go back to the pile of applicants already screened? Ryan indicated that’s possible and is sometimes done.

Mexicotte wondered if there was another time to have the conversation about recruitment. She said the board needs to discuss how to maintain a pool of qualified candidates with whom the district has built relationships. Baskett suggested the many student teachers AAPS has each year as a potential candidate pool. Ryan indicated the district currently works to recruit excellent teachers from the pool of student teachers, and has been successful doing so.

Outcome: This was an informational report, which will be given yearly. No board action was required.

Partnership with Toyota

Superintendent Patricia Green, along with Cynthia Mahalak, Toyota assistant manager of media and community relations, introduced a business partnership with Toyota International, working with the Institute of International Education (IIE). Toyota has asked AAPS to join a pilot program to advance Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education at the secondary level. Toyota selected AAPS as the sole school district nationwide – due to its commitment to international standards and best practices of teaching, according to Green.

The district will work Toyota and IIE to redesign the international teacher program with an emphasis on STEM. The pilot program with AAPS will work to connect AAPS educators to educators in Singapore – a country noted for its innovation in STEM education. Green said that teams of educators from the district will begin traveling to Singapore as early as the spring of 2013.

Mahalak said that when Toyota Motor Sales contacted her to select a district in the state of Michigan for the program, there was little discussion. Ann Arbor was identified quickly as the district Toyota wanted to partner with. Toyota is growing its presence in the Ann Arbor and Saline area, having just celebrated its 35th anniversary in Ann Arbor. [The Toyota Technical Center in Ann Arbor does research and development work for the company.]

Many of the trustees thanked Mahalak and Toyota for partnering with AAPS. Irene Patalan was honored Toyota chose the district. Christine Stead said she was looking forward to seeing the partnership grow. Glenn Nelson noted it will provide the district with the interesting opportunity to see firsthand international standards in a top-rated country.

Outcome: This was an information briefing. No board action was needed on this item.

Naming of Facilities

Two facilities at Pioneer High School are likely to be named to honor service to the school district and monetary contributions, both of which are possible reasons for naming under the district’s naming policy.

Naming: The Argus IMRA Planetarium

The board welcomed the recommendation to rename the current Argus Planetarium as the Argus IMRA Planetarium – in recognition of the $100,000 in private financial support from IMRA America. The IMRA funding allows for the purchase of a new Digistar 5 system. New cove lighting, as well as new signage, will also be covered by the donation. Funds will be set aside to cover costs for opening the planetarium to the community after school hours. AAPS director of communications Liz Margolis also noted that the projector had recently failed.

The Argus Planetarium first opened in 1956 with a financial donation from the Argus Camera Company in Ann Arbor. It was the first high school planetarium in the country. The IMRA funding will ensure that the Argus Planetarium will remain the longest continually running planetarium in any school or college in the Western hemisphere.

IMRA America, which makes ultrafast fiber lasers, has made large donations to the district in the past. In 2011, the company donated $50,000 toward physics equipment, and in 2010 it donated $50,000 for science and math education.

Many of the trustees expressed their appreciation for IMRA’s donation. Glenn Nelson and Andy Thomas noted that it was an example of how the district could work successfully with the greater community. Thomas said it pointed them in the direction of where they need to be going – to look at partnerships with individuals, businesses, and other sources of private funding, as traditional sources of income decrease. Nelson said that when there was a synergy between the district, nonprofits and businesses, it works for everyone.

Christine Stead said she was very impressed with IMRA and was hopeful that other businesses also had ideas of how they could support Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education. Deb Mexicotte said the donation “speaks volumes” about how the community supports its students. She imagined the recommendation would be  wholeheartedly approved the board’s next regular meeting.

Naming: Pioneer High School Tennis Courts

The board also heard a recommendation to name Pioneer’s tennis courts after long-time boys’ and girls’ tennis coach, Tom “Brick” Pullen, based on his extraordinary service. Over his 23 years of coaching, all but one of the teams have finished in the top six in the state. He has been named Coach of the Year numerous times, as well as National Coach of the Year twice. In following the district’s naming policy, the first four steps of the process have been completed. Board approval is the next step.

Superintendent Patricia Green noted that many people in the community have asked that Coach Pullen be honored in this way. She gave the recommendation her strong support. Representing some of the 173 people who have written to the district to nominate Pullen, Dan and Sandy Lymburner, parents of four Pioneer High graduates, were on hand to speak about Pullen’s “unparalleled commitment to the tennis team.” Sandy Lymburner confirmed that Pullen met expectations, exceeded them, and was well deserving.

The trustees expressed their appreciation for Coach Pullen. Glenn Nelson said that because the district is focusing on the education of the entire student, including social and emotional needs, he was pleased to recognize individuals like Pullen. Irene Patalan was impressed by the outpouring of community support for Pullen’s nomination. Deb Mexicotte said Pullen’s work was typical of the dedication of the teaching staff at AAPS. Susan Baskett asked whether Pullen was agreeable to having the courts named after him – and Lymburner indicated he was.

Outcome: Both naming recommendations were first briefings. They will come up for a second briefing and vote at the next regular board meeting.

Communications and Comment

Board meetings include a number of agenda slots when trustees can highlight issues they feel are important, including “items from the board” and “agenda planning.” Every meeting typically includes public commentary on subjects not necessarily on the formal agenda or that are not covered elsewhere in The Chronicle’s meeting report.

Comm/Comm: Michigan Legislation

During “Items from the Board,” Christine Stead spoke about several legislative issues she felt were important to highlight. The Oxford Foundation-Michigan is engaged in rewriting the Michigan School Aid Act in its entirety to reflect the Any Time, Any Place, Any Way, Any Pace public school learning model Gov. Rick Snyder supports. Under this learning model, funding follows the student, and is not exclusively tied to the school district that a student attends. The School Aid Act could be rewritten and executed through the budget for fiscal year 2014, Stead reported. Stead highlighted problems with Snyder’s approach – related to anticipating staffing needs and tracking student performance. David Comsa, deputy superintendent for human resources and general counsel for the district, supported Stead’s position. He said there had to be better ways to address student needs than to “turn state education on its head.”

Stead also drew attention to HB 5923, legislation through which almost any entity could become a school, she said. She contended that “we could have any company in town become a school” without any accountability for student performance. Both of these pieces of legislation, Stead said, could substantively change education in the state. She said  legislators she has met with have not been aware of these changes and “didn’t think it was a big deal.” But, she asserted, these education models do not protect against conflict of interest and do not protect students.

Comm/Comm: Election Pleas

Stead continued her thought, saying that “people need to know who they are voting for in this November election.” She urged people to take action now, as legislators need to understand what Michigan needs to be a better place to live. At the state level, investments are not being made in education, which means the state is not positioned to be a knowledge-based education state, Stead contended. She noted that Michigan has dropped in ranking and is now ranked 46 out of the 50 states for education.

Tongue in cheek, Andy Thomas called Stead’s attention to a recent article in the Detroit Free Press and said she was worrying too much. He summarized the article, saying the Republican leadership in Lansing is opposing the Common Core State Standards because it takes away control from the local districts. Thomas’s perception had been that there were many other intrusive pieces of legislation that have been passed, but now he “understands the real motivation is to protect the autonomy and local independence of school boards.” He indicated that if that were true, the legislature should embrace the idea of reinstating local control over funding. In closing, Thomas urged everyone to vote.

The leaders of the state, said Deb Mexicotte, cannot race fast enough to the bottom of the pile when it comes to education. She challenged anyone at the state level to show that they have qualitatively done “a single thing to help education” in the state. She asserted that despite the lack of support from the state level, the students of AAPS are achieving. The board is committed to supporting the students, she concluded.

Comm/Comm: Huron/Pioneer Football Fight

Two people addressed the topic of the fight earlier this month following a football game between Pioneer and Huron high schools.

Dale Leslie told the board that he wanted to revisit the recent incident at the Huron and Pioneer football game. As an interested citizen, he said, he wanted to know more about what happened. [Leslie is also a candidate for the school board, running against incumbent board president Deb Mexicotte.] He said he had talked to parents and the police – one officer told him that the act of violence could have been anticipated, because there are very few violent acts that occur without a foundation of antagonism. But the officer had told him that AAPS had removed police from the district’s three large high schools because of budget cuts, Leslie said. These are officers who had gotten to know the students and faculty well, he said, and who are trained to anticipate situations like the one that took place. Leslie said it distressed him to know that the district “threw away the baby with the bathwater.”

He would have hoped that someone from the school district would have approached the Ann Arbor Downtown Kiwanis Club, where he’s a member, to ask for support for these police positions. He noted that the club already provides $30,000 in scholarships to the schools, and perhaps they could have provided funding for part of the police staffing too. It might have been a limited program, but it would have been better than no program at all, he said. This is not your mother’s or father’s high school, Leslie said. There’s a need for law enforcement to be present, and he hoped the board would rethink what’s been done and whether it was a wise decision. He concluded by saying he’d heard from another source that six police officers had been requested for the Huron/Pioneer game, but that the request had been denied.

Sarah Clark identified herself as the mother of two students at Skyline High School who were football players. Even though Skyline wasn’t directly involved, the situation affects everyone, she said. When it’s the lead story on Channel 4 News, she said, that’s not good for anyone in the district.

Sarah Clark.

This has left a negative mark on the district’s overall athletic program. She hoped that as the board reviewed the incident, they’d look at the process and outcomes. Kids need to understand how they’ll be judged, she said. It would be helpful to have a framework for how actions will be evaluated and punishments determined. Was the AAPS fighting policy applied in this case? Would the consequences have been the same if spectators had been involved, rather than football coaches and players? Was the process for evaluating the situation applied in the same way at both high schools? Who evaluated if that was the case?

Kids need to understand what the expectations are for them, she said. Had AAPS set up a system in which the punishment for swearing at a coach was the same as participating in a brawl? They might be setting themselves up for a potential conflict in the future, she said. It’s time to review how the district responded. Clark said she appreciated the risks involved with disclosing information, but there are also risks associated with not disclosing information. There were some inaccurate statements made about who was involved, and also the perception that an uneven number of suspensions had been made at one school compared to the other. She urged the board to disclose more information.

Later in the meeting, superintendent Patricia Green responded to some of the statements made about this incident during public commentary. She clarified that the police liaison officers – positions that Dale Leslie mentioned had been cut – had previously been employed by schools during the day. She noted that for after-school games, each school principal has the authority to engage as many police officers as they need. That process hadn’t been affected by budget cuts, she said. On the night of the Huron/Pioneer game, four officers were on duty – that’s the number that the principal had requested, Green said.

Comm/Comm: Nov. 6 Election

The third speaker during public commentary was Thomas Partridge. He noted that he had been elected student body president during the same year that John F. Kennedy was nominated for U.S. president. He recalled that it’s the near the anniversary of Kennedy’s announcement creating the Peace Corps, which Kennedy made while visiting the University of Michigan. It’s in that same spirit that Partridge said he’s calling for the re-election of Barack Obama, the first African American president in U.S. history. He urged the board to help provide transportation to the polls on Nov. 6 for the most vulnerable residents.

Partridge reported that he was running as a write-in candidate for the state House of Representatives in the 53rd District. [Partridge had been defeated in the Aug. 7 Democratic primary by incumbent Jeff Irwin, with Partridge getting 11.53% of the vote.] It was an important seat, he told trustees. Partridge also suggested that a male and female student should have a seat on the board, perhaps rotating representation among the high schools and even middle schools, he said. We need more participatory democracy, he said. He noted that it was an issue addressed in a free book he had picked up on his way to the meeting from a rack on the first floor of the library building. [The AAPS board holds its meetings in the fourth floor conference room of that building.] Partridge concluded by saying that people should unite to support expanded public transit, making it affordable and accessible to the most vulnerable residents.

Association and Student Reports

Five associations are invited to make regular reports to the school board: the Black Parents Student Support Group (BPSSG), the Ann Arbor Parent Advisory Committee for Special Education, the Parent Teacher Organization Council (PTOC), the Ann Arbor Administrators Association (AAAA), and the Ann Arbor Education Association (AAEA). The Youth Senate is also invited to speak once a month, as are representatives from each of the high schools.

At the Oct. 24 meeting, the board only heard from the Ann Arbor Parent Advisory Committee for Special Education (AAPAC). Carli Hildebrand, one of AAPAC’s executive officers, gave a brief report on the group’s September retreat and other activities. She invited the public to attend AAPAC’s monthly meetings – the next one will be held on Monday, Nov. 5 from 7-9:30 p.m. at the Washtenaw Intermediate School District’s Teaching and Learning Center at 1819 S. Wagner Road in Ann Arbor.

Comm/Comm: Visit from Dr. James Comer

James Comer – founder of the Comer School Development Program, and the Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry at Yale University – visited the district on Oct. 15-16. A mentor of superintendent Patricia Green, Comer visited Ann Arbor because of the district’s work toward eliminating the achievement gap. While here, he attended functions that allowed him to speak on his focus on social and emotional learning for students. Deb Mexicotte noted that “anyone who had the opportunity to engage with him felt his expertise and caring.”

Comm/Comm: Rec & Ed Grant

During her superintendent’s report, Patricia Green noted that community education and recreation director Jenna Bacolor applied for and received a $100,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH). The grant was awarded as part of MDCH’s Physical Activity and Healthy Eating Before and After School and Summer pilot program. Four elementary schools – Bryant, Carpenter, Mitchell, and Pattengill – as well as Ann Arbor Open’s Summer Learning Institute, will benefit from the grant.

Comm/Comm: Executive Session

Before the regular meeting at 7 p.m., the trustees met for an executive session [which is closed to the public] to receive and discuss with legal counsel a legal opinion protected by the attorney-client privilege requested by the superintendent and provided by legal counsel.

Present: President Deb Mexicotte, vice president Christine Stead, secretary Andy Thomas, Treasurer Irene Patalan, and trustees Susan Baskett and Glenn Nelson.

Absent: Trustee Simone Lightfoot.

Next regular meeting: Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012, at 7 p.m. at the fourth-floor boardroom of the Ann Arbor District Library’s downtown branch, 343 S. Fifth Ave. [Check Chronicle event listings to confirm date.]

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Members of student groups at the Feb. 16 UM regents meeting stood in support of a speaker during public commentary who was advocating for tuition equality for students who are undocumented immigrants. (Photos by the writer.)

Martin Taylor, who introduced the resolution at the start of the meeting, described the situation as “one that is unacceptable to the regents and that we, the regents, feel we must do everything within our power to ensure that it is not repeated.” There had been a six-month lag between the time the incident was initially reported in May of 2011, and action taken by university officials to investigate. A former medical resident, Stephen Jenson, was arrested in mid-December. [.pdf of Taylor's statement]

The university administration had issued its own report on an internal audit earlier this month, with recommendations to improve security and communications. [.pdf of UM report] But regents felt more needed to be done, and have asked UM president Mary Sue Coleman to work with board chair Denise Ilitch to make recommendations for outside consultants who could be hired to carry out an additional investigation.

During public commentary at the meeting, Coleman was sharply criticized for her handling of the situation. One speaker accused her of a repeated pattern of attacking whistleblowers. The remarks prompted some regents to come to Coleman’s defense, calling the accusations unfair.

The ongoing debate about whether to allow graduate student research assistants (GSRAs) to unionize also emerged during the Feb. 16 meeting, when three students spoke about the topic during public commentary. The same issue was the focus of an unusual special meeting that regents held the following week, on Feb. 21. At that meeting – which included heated debate among regents over whether the meeting had been called in conformity with the state’s Open Meetings Act – the board voted 6-2 to oppose Michigan senate bill 197. The bill would prohibit GSRAs from collective bargaining. It was subsequently passed by the Republican-controlled state senate on a 26-12 party-line vote.

Regents acted on a range of other issues during their Feb. 16 meeting. There was no mention of the Feb. 8 special meeting that had been called to approve the use of Michigan Stadium for the National Hockey League’s Winter Classic, scheduled for Jan. 1, 2013. However, one item on the Feb. 16 agenda did relate to UM athletics: a vote to rename the basketball player development center at Crisler in honor of William Davidson, who died in 2009. His family, via the William Davidson Foundation, recently donated $7.5 million to the University of Michigan athletics department.

Another renaming was also approved – for the Computer Science and Engineering Building, in honor of Bob and Betty Beyster. Bob Beyster, who received multiple degrees from UM and founded Science Applications International Corp., recently gave a $15 million gift to the College of Engineering.

In other business, regents voted to revise the board’s bylaws, including a change that eliminated a previous requirement that executives retire after their 70th birthday. Coleman will be 70 when her current contract expires in 2014, but regent Martin Taylor said the change wasn’t being made to accommodate her – it’s to comply with the law, he said. Regents also authorized the appointment of six Thurnau professorships, and took votes that moved forward several previously approved projects, including major renovations at East Quad and the residences in the Lawyers’ Club.

Two presentations were given during the meeting – by Martin Philbert, dean of the School of Public Health, and Doug Engel, chair and professor of cell and developmental biology. Engel’s presentation highlighted recent news that the U.S. National Institutes of Health has authorized an embryonic stem cell line developed by UM researchers to be eligible for federally funded research.

The meeting concluded with public commentary on a variety of issues, including (1) better access to a childcare subsidy available to parents who are UM students; (2) equity for students who are charged out-of-state tuition because they are undocumented immigrants; and (3) criticism of the university’s relationship with China.

Security Investigation: Child Pornography Incident

At the start of the Feb. 16 meeting, president Mary Sue Coleman began her introductory remarks by giving an update on the investigation regarding a former UM medical resident who is charged with possession of child pornography. The former medical resident, Stephen Jenson, is accused of viewing child pornography on a UM health system computer, via a thumb drive that was discovered on the computer by another medical resident. The incident was reported in May of 2011 but was not acted on by university officials until November. Jenson was arrested in mid-December, and the case is now being handled by federal investigators.

On Feb. 10, the university issued a report of its internal investigation, which included recommendations for changes to ensure better security and communication. A statement was also issued by Coleman, who called the six-month delay in responding to the allegations “a serious failure on the part of our institution – there is simply no other way to describe it.” [.pdf of UM report] [.pdf of Coleman's statement] The university’s office of the vice president for communications has set up a website with documents related to the incident.

At the Feb. 16 regents’ meeting, Coleman said the UM leadership and regents have discussed the internal audit in detail. It was a frank, difficult and necessary assessment of the institution, she said, and of the safety and security of the health system as well as the entire campus.

Regent Martin Taylor.

Regent Martin Taylor then read a resolution – one that he introduced from the floor – calling for an external investigation of the situation. The resolution described the incident as “one that is unacceptable to the regents and that we, the regents, feel we must do everything within our power to ensure that it is not repeated.” [.pdf of Taylor's statement]

The resolution called for the board chair, Denise Ilitch, to work with Coleman and others to make recommendations to the board for outside consultants who could be hired to carry out an investigation. The aim would be to (1) determine individual accountability and whether further action must be taken: and (2) examine the current organizational structure for campus law enforcement and investigations, and to provide options with regard to that structure. The resolution also stated that “911 must be fixed ASAP. When people call, it should be clear who they are talking to, and under what authority.” The resolution did not specify a timeframe for these actions to occur.

Outcome: Without discussion, regents unanimously approved the resolution calling for an external investigation.

After the vote, Coleman said she shared these concerns and appreciated the board’s deep commitment. She said she’d work with Ilitch to launch quickly the actions called for by the board. The incident and the underlying issues it revealed are unacceptable, she said. Coleman vowed to take any additional steps needed in the coming weeks.

Security Investigation: Public Commentary

During public commentary at the end of the meeting, two people addressed the board on this issue, harshly criticizing the university in general and Coleman specifically for failing to deal with the situation in a timely way.

Douglas Smith, who has regularly spoken at previous meetings on issues related to campus security, told regents that this situation is another example of Coleman’s administration reacting to a scandal by attacking the whistleblower. The phrase “Punish the whistleblower” is as much a Michigan slogan as “Go Blue,” he said. Smith cited several examples, including one in which he said a university attorney threatened him with arrest because he brought forward information about grant fraud.

Smith noted that he had appeared before the board at its Nov. 17, 2011 meeting, reporting a cover up of the arrest of UM athlete Brendan Gibbons for allegedly raping an 18-year-old freshman. Smith said he wanted Coleman to have a picture of the freshman to put by her bedside so that she could apologize to her every night. Smith wished he had a photo of the girl on Jenson’s thumb drive so that Coleman could apologize to her, too. Smith also raised questions about the “mysterious” resignation of former UM police chief Greg O’Dell, who returned abruptly to his previous job at Eastern Michigan University last year and committed suicide soon after that. Coleman refused to be interviewed by detectives investigating O’Dell’s death, Smith claimed, and the state police should be asked to investigate “this obstruction of justice.”

“This is the tip of the iceberg,” Smith said. “Don’t bury your head in the sand. No whistleblower will be safe until Mary Sue Coleman is gone.”

Regent Andrea Fischer Newman immediately responded to Smith’s remarks, calling them “unfair and uncalled for.”

The next speaker was Victoria Powell, a pediatrician, who also addressed this issue and called the case abhorrent. The issue of defending the children hasn’t been mentioned, she said. If the university had reported this incident to the police, there would have been an immediate investigation that would have looked into the safety of the children whose pornographic pictures were found, as well as the safety of children in the new pediatric hospital that UM recently opened. [UM's new C.S. Mott Children's Hospital opened in late 2011.] Powell said she’d never refer a patient to UM and she’ll tell her colleagues in the medical profession how this case was handled. UM has made children the victims, she said, while protecting a man who’s been charged by the FBI with having pictures and videos of sexually abused children. “This is absolutely shameful,” Powell concluded.

After all of the public commentary was concluded (see below for additional remarks on other topics), board chair Denise Ilitch defended Coleman, saying the personal attacks against Coleman were very unfair. Coleman works tirelessly on behalf of young people, Ilitch said. Coleman and the regents are extremely disturbed and unhappy, Ilitch said. The disdain and anger that people feel should be directed toward Jenson, she concluded, not Coleman.

GSRA Debate

The issue of unionizing graduate student research assistants (GSRAs) emerged during the Feb. 16 meeting, when three students spoke on the topic during public commentary to oppose the board’s majority view that GSRAs should be recognized as employees.

By way of background, regents passed a resolution on May 19, 2011 supporting the right of GSRAs to determine whether to organize. The resolution passed over the objection of UM president Mary Sue Coleman and with dissenting votes from the board’s two Republican regents, Andy Richner and Andrea Fischer Newman. At the board’s Jan. 19, 2012 meeting, three faculty members and one student spoke during public commentary, voicing objections to the effort to unionize GSRAs.

Then on Feb. 21, regents held a special meeting where they debated and passed a resolution – on a 6-2 vote – that opposed senate bill 971. The bill would make explicit that graduate student research assistants (GSRAs) are not entitled to collective bargaining rights under Michigan’s Act 336 of 1947. A committee hearing was held later that same morning, followed by a committee vote to send it to the entire senate. On Feb. 22, the senate voted 26-12 to approve the bill, which will next be taken up by the house of representatives.

GSRA Debate: Public Commentary

At the board’s Feb. 16 meeting, Melinda Day told regents that they had overstepped their authority by forcing faculty to remain neutral on the issue – that’s like trying to overturn the First Amendment. Higher education is about debate and the free flow of information. The GSRA issue is complex, she said, and now is the time to have free and open debate about it, from all parties, including faculty.

UM president Mary Sue Coleman, and regent Larry Deitch.

The relationship between a GSRA and faculty is more like a mentor/mentee than an employer/employee, Day said. The faculty is part of the equation – they have rights, and are true guardians of the university. As for the regents, she said, ”you are merely the overseers, and temporary as well.” If the regents choose to silence the faculty, students will speak even louder, she said. Day noted that prospective students will soon be visiting campus. Don’t make current students tell them that at Michigan, professors no longer have the right to be mentors, she told the regents.

Anna Belak, a PhD candidate and GSRA, presented regents with a letter signed by over 800 graduate students and faculty expressing strong disagreement with the board’s decision to recognize GSRAs as employees. The letter outlines rationale for considering GSRAs as students, not employees, and concludes by stating that the signers look forward to a ruling by the administrative law judge who’ll be making a recommendation in March to the Michigan Employment Relations Commission – a ruling “that relegates your ill-advised action in favor of GSRA unionization to history.”

The final speaker during public commentary was Michael Slootsky, a member of Students Against GSRA Unionization. He argued that the activities of a GSRA – even things like grant writing and repairing lab equipment – are educational in nature. To view educational activities only as those that relate directly to your thesis is like studying for a test, then complaining that not everything was tested. The university has an obligation to ensure that every GSRA is fully a student, he said.

Regent Larry Deitch asked Slootsky if he was a student in LSA – the College of Literature, Science and the Arts. Slootsky, a graduate student in physics, said that he was. Deitch then read from an LSA policy guide for hiring GSRAs, which stated that ”Whenever there is an expectation of a certain effort level or outcome in exchange for pay, an employment relationship exists – especially for, but not limited to, work supported by a grant.” Deitch said these are facts that the board was presented, and they should be part of the record.

Regent Andrea Fischer Newman objected, saying that any official policy would have to be approved by the board. She said she didn’t want to have this debate now. Deitch replied that he was just matching free speech with free speech.

Slootsky said he wasn’t familiar with the document that Deitch had read, but that he didn’t feel he was performing his GSRA for pay – the work was for academic purposes, he said. Deitch replied that if that’s the case, when there’s an election to unionize GSRAs, Slootsky should just vote no.

GSRA Debate: Special Regents Meeting & Vote

The following week, a special regents meeting was called for the morning of Feb. 21. [See Chronicle coverage: "UM Regents Debate Opposition"] The 30-minute meeting included a fractious debate over whether the meeting itself was legal – regent Andrea Fischer Newman questioned whether it conformed with the Michigan Open Meetings Act, because it apparently had not been publicly noticed 18 hours in advance, as the OMA requires.

UM president Mary Sue Coleman said the meeting – which she and all the regents conducted via conference call – had been called to consider emergency action, as allowed by regental bylaw 1.01. The bylaw states: ”Emergency action may be taken by the board between meetings if and when any matter arises which, in the opinion of the president, or any three members of the board, requires official action by the board prior to the next meeting. An affirmative vote by telephone, email, or facsimile from five members is required for action.” Newman questioned whether there was actually any emergency in this case.

The business of the meeting focused on a resolution proposed by regent Larry Deitch to oppose senate bill 971. The bill, which was introduced on Feb. 15 by state Senate majority leader Randy Richardville (R-Monroe), states: “An individual serving as a graduate student research assistant or in an equivalent position and any individual whose position does not have sufficient indicia of an employment relationship is not a public employee entitled to representation or collective bargaining rights under this act.” A senate hearing on the bill was scheduled for 11 a.m. in Lansing, a few hours after the regents special meeting that same day.

The resolution proposed by regent Larry Deitch stated opposition to the bill, and directed Cynthia Wilbanks, UM vice president for government relations, to take “all available action” and to articulate UM’s opposition to legislators and, if necessary, the governor’s office. That action could include testimony, the development of position papers, or the hiring of lobbyists. The resolution also stated that Wilbanks should report to the chair of the board or a designee on progress related to the legislation.

At the Feb. 21 meeting of the senate government operations committee, Wilbanks was one of the nine people who testified about the bill. Wilbanks told the committee that the bill would ”interfere in the internal decision-making of the university,” according to a report in the Michigan Information & Research Service (MIRS).

According to minutes of the committee meeting, four others testified in opposition to the bill. They included Samantha Montgomery, president of UM’s Graduate Employees Organization (GEO), and GEO member Jeremy Moore.

Three people testified in support of the bill: Regent Andrew Richner, UM professor Fawwaz Ulaby, and UM graduate student Melinda Day, who had spoken during public commentary at the Feb. 16 regents’ meeting.

Michael Benson, president of UM’s graduate student body, also testified but took a neutral position.

The committee – in a 3-2 party line vote – recommended the bill for passage by the full senate. The following day, on Feb. 22, it was passed by the state senate on a 26-12 party-line vote. [.pdf of senate bill 197] It will next be taken up by the Republican-controlled house of representatives.

Player Center Named for Davidson

Regents addressed a raft of other items during their Feb. 16 meeting. Following a donation of $7.5 million from the William Davidson Foundation to the University of Michigan athletics department, the board was asked to approve renaming the basketball player development center at Crisler in honor of William Davidson, who died in 2009. The resolution was added during the meeting as a supplemental agenda item.

Denise Ilitch, chair of the board of regents, praised the family of Bill Davidson for their contribution to the university. She said she spoke as a member of a fellow sports family – her family owns the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Tigers.

Davidson, a UM graduate and businessman who owned the Detroit Pistons and other teams, had been a major donor to the university over the past several decades. The William Davidson Institute at UM’s Ross School of Business was founded in 1992 through a gift from Davidson’s business, Guardian Industries.

UM president Mary Sue Coleman described Davidson as a beloved man who had been very generous to the university. She said she regretted that he wasn’t here to see how well the UM basketball team is doing this season. [The team, coached by John Beilein, subsequently beat Ohio State 56-51 on Saturday – they remain undefeated this season at Crisler, and have a 20-7 overall record.]

Jerry May, UM’s vice president of development, said it was tremendous that the Davidson family has stepped forward to do this in memory of a sports icon and one of the smartest UM alums May said he’s ever met. He also thanked the athletic department for its vision, in particular citing athletic director David Brandon.

Board chair Denise Ilitch, whose family owns the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Tigers, said she spoke as a member of a fellow sports family in thanking Davison’s family for their contribution. She said Davidson left a tremendous legacy, and that he’s sorely missed.

The new basketball player development center at Crisler is a two-story, $23.2 million addition to the basketball arena that regents initially approved in September 2009. According to a press release from the university, the athletics department will honor Davidson at halftime of the final home men’s basketball game on Saturday, Feb. 25.

Outcome: Regents unanimously approved naming the basketball player development center in honor of Bill Davidson.

Building Renamed for Beysters

Another renaming item was on the Feb. 16 agenda – to name the Computer Science and Engineering Building in honor of Bob and Betty Beyster. The building is located at 2260 Hayward Street, on UM’s north campus.

Bob Beyster, who received multiple degrees from UM, is founder and retired chairman of Science Applications International Corp., a research and engineering company. He recently gave a $15 million gift to the College of Engineering, which will be used in part to create the J. Robert Beyster Computational Innovation Graduate Fellows program. The effort will fund research in several fields that link high-performance computing, networking, and storage to applications of importance to society, according to a staff memo.

In presenting the item for consideration, Tim Slottow – UM’s chief financial officer – described the gift as very generous. Jerry May, vice president of development, also praised the Beysters for their contribution.

Outcome: Regents voted unanimously to rename the north campus building the Bob and Betty Beyster Building.

Building Projects: East Quad, Lawyers’ Club, Cardio Center

Three resolutions on the Feb. 16 agenda related to moving ahead on building projects on the Ann Arbor campus – including two major housing renovations initially approved last year.

Regents were asked to authorize staff to issue bids and award construction contracts for the $116 million renovation of East Quad. The overall project had been approved at the board’s July 21, 2011 meeting. Subsequently, regents signed off on a schematic design at the Nov. 17, 2011 meeting.  The 300,000-square-foot residence hall – located at 701 E. University, between Hill and Willard – houses about 860 students and the Residential College. The renovation is expected to be finished by the summer of 2013.

Authorization for issuing bids and awarding construction contracts was also on the agenda for a renovation of The Charles T. Munger Residences in the Lawyers’ Club and the John P. Cook Building. A schematic design for that $39 million project had been approved at the regents Dec. 15, 2011 meeting, with the initial authorization given in March 2011. The building is part of the Law School campus at South State Street, between South University and Monroe streets. The project is also scheduled for completion in the summer of 2013.

Tim Slottow, UM’s chief financial officer, introduced the resolution by describing the project as very challenging, but one that the university is “ready to roll on.” Regent Andy Richner, who graduated from the UM law school, said he has fond memories of his time there and knows that the project will preserve the building’s character.

Also on the agenda was a resolution related to a smaller $2.1 million project to install an uninterruptible power supply at UM’s Cardiovascular Center, located in the medical campus at 1500 E. Medical Center Drive. Slottow jokingly referred to it as a “another sexy project.”

Outcome: In separate votes, regents approved the resolutions related to projects at East Quad, the Lawyers’s Club and John P. Cook Building, and the Cardiovascular Center.

Changes to Bylaws

Sally Churchill, vice president and secretary of the university, introduced a resolution with changes to regents’ bylaws as mostly a housekeeping item, updating the bylaws to conform with current practices or statutes.

One of the changes removed a provision requiring the president and executive officers to end their service no later than the end of the fiscal year in which their 70th birthday occurs. UM legal staff determined that the provision violated protections against age discrimination contained in the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act.

UM president Mary Sue Coleman.

UM president Mary Sue Coleman will turn 69 in October of 2012. In November 2010, regents voted to extend her contract through July 31, 2014. If the retirement cap had remained in place, she would not have been eligible for additional contract extensions.

That change to the bylaws was one of seven proposed in the resolution. Other revisions included changing the title and expanding the responsibilities for the vice president of communications – now the vice president for global communications and strategic initiatives. That position is held by Lisa Rudgers. Another change clarified that the provost is involved in recommending the appointment and promotion of tenured professors to the regents. [.pdf of complete set of bylaw revisions]

Before the vote, regent Martin Taylor said there had been rumors about what motivated one of the bylaw revisions, but it’s not about any one individual whatsoever, he said. UM’s legal counsel has advised the board that the bylaw isn’t legal, he said: “It’s as simple as that.” Regent Andy Richner clarified that Taylor was referring to the retirement-age bylaw.

Outcome: Regents unanimously approved revisions to the bylaws.

Thurnau Professors

Provost Phil Hanlon highlighted the resolution awarding the Arthur F. Thurnau professorships to six UM faculty members. The professorships honor outstanding contributions to undergraduate education, and it’s the highest honor that the university can bestow for teaching excellence, he said. Hanlon noted that he has served on the selection committee for several years, and it’s a hard decision to choose from so many qualified candidates.

This year the professorships were all given to male faculty. They are: Joe Bull, associate professor of biomedical engineering; Michael Haithcock, professor of music; Sadashi Inuzuka, professor of art; Brad Orr, professor of physics and chair of the physics department; Brian Porter-Szucs, professor of history; and Steve Skerlos, associate professor of mechanical engineering and associate professor of civil and environmental engineering.

The award includes $20,000 to support teaching activities. The faculty will be honored this year at a March 18 ceremony at Hill Auditorium, Hanlon said.

Outcome: As part of the board’s consent agenda, regents approved the awarding of six Thurnau professorships.

Conflict of Interest Items

Regents were asked to authorize five 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.

The items often involve technology licensing agreements or leases. This month, the items related to the following businesses: Structured Microsystems LLC, H3D Inc., ImBio LLC, OncoMed Pharmaceuticals Inc., and OcuSciences Inc.

Outcome: Without comment, regents approved the five conflict-of-interest items in one vote.

Presentations: Public Health, Stem Cell Research

Toward the start of the Feb. 16 meeting, regents heard two health-related presentations – from Martin Philbert, dean of the School of Public Health; and Doug Engel, chair and professor of cell and developmental biology.

From left: Doug Engel, professor of cell and developmental biology, and Martin Philbert, dean of the School of Public Health.

Philbert gave an overview of the School of Public Health, calling it one of the not-so-well-known jewels of the university. The field of public health looks at health issues from a population perspective, at the local, state, national and international levels, he said. The school’s vision is to be the premier academic institution in public health, integrating research, teaching, service and practice to find effective solutions to public health problems.

Philbert noted that the school recently moved up from 5th to 4th place in a U.S. News & World Report ranking. It’s one of two public schools in the top 6 – the other is the University of North Carolina, which recently received a large endowment, he said.

There are 975 students enrolled in UM School of Public Health graduate degree programs. The school also offers a variety of dual-degree programs with other units, including the Ross School of Business, the School of Medicine, and the School of Social Work, among others. Their work is heavily interdisciplinary, Philbert said, and there are funded research endeavors with every school and college except for the School of Music. However, he added, the UM School of Public Health is the only one he knows of with its own pipe organ.

In other examples of interdisciplinary work, Philbert highlighted the 33 centers and initiatives that are associated with the school. He also noted that the school has also offered executive education programs for more than 40 years.

Philbert reviewed a variety of other aspects related to the school, including student achievements and faculty research, funding and publications. He concluded by inviting regents to visit.

In response to a question from regent Larry Deitch about Philbert’s own academic background, Philbert replied that he was “neither fish nor fowl,” reflecting the field’s convergence of disciplines. He was born and bred in England – though he noted that he’s losing his accent – and studied neurochemistry and experimental neurpathology. His more recent work focused on using nanomaterials for the targeting and treatment of brain tumors. At this point, he joked, he’s a bench jockey.

UM president Mary Sue Coleman noted that the database management conducted by some UM public health researchers is exciting work, allowing researchers to sort through huge databases to answer questions about diseases. The work couldn’t have been imagined even 10 years ago, she said.

Presentations: Stem Cell Research

In introducing Doug Engel, chair and professor of cell and developmental biology, Coleman noted that he joined UM about the same time she did – 10 years ago. She highlighted the recent news that the U.S. National Institutes of Health has authorized an embryonic stem cell line developed by UM researchers as eligible for federally funded research. The line – known as UM4-6 and cultivated by Gary Smith, co-director of the UM Consortium for Stem Cell Therapies – is now listed as the 147th stem cell line in the NIH registry. Coleman said the work is possible because Michigan voters, in a 2008 statewide referendum, approved the use of embryonic stem cells in research.

Engel began by reviewing the timeline of UM’s stem cell initiative, starting with a program he and Sue O’Shea initiated in 2003. Their goal was to establish a center of excellence in stem cell biology, and they were able to achieve it with a variety of support and funding, including an NIH award and support from Coleman’s office for the retention of Sean Morrison. [Morrison, a leader in stem cell research, was a vocal advocate for Michigan's 2008 voter referendum. In 2011 he took a post at the University of Texas.]

Engel gave a brief tutorial on three different types of stem cells – human adult stem cells, human embryonic stems cells, and human induced-pluripotent stem cells – and highlighted some of the work being done by UM researchers.

The 2008 Michigan voter referendum was crucial, he noted, because without it, the work being done now at UM would be a felony. The fact that it wasn’t possible to do this kind of work prior to the referendum “distinguished Michigan from all other states,” he said.

Referring to the embryonic stem cell line that’s now listed in the NIH registry, Engel said it allows the line to be used by researchers worldwide. In 2008, UM researchers struggled to identify what type of stem cell work they could do that would be truly unique, compared to research being done elsewhere. Under the leadership of Gary Smith and Sue O’Shea, Engel said, they’ve been able to generate human embryonic stem cell lines from patients that bear specific genetic diseases, including Hemophilia B and Huntington’s disease, among others.

Engel highlighted work by other UM researchers, including Yukiko Yamashita, one of three recent MacArthur Fellows who spoke to regents at their December 2011 board meeting. He concluded by saying ”you can obviously see why I’m so proud to be part of this enterprise.”

Coleman asked how many other institutions are producing stem cell lines. Only about four or five have been successful in doing it, Engel said, although more than a dozen other schools are in production. Coleman noted that the work is difficult, and requires a high degree of technical expertise.

Regent Larry Deitch asked how close researchers are to being able to treat patients using stem cell-based therapies. Engel said he was recently asked in a radio interview if those treatments would be available in the next five years, and it’s safe to say no. It’s fair to be reasonably skeptical until researchers better understand how those cell-based treatments integrate into a patient who’s not healthy. That’s a major difficulty.

In response to another question, Engel said that even though the timeline is long, the thing that motivates researchers on a day-to-day basis is the excitement of discovery – finding something new that no one else on earth has ever seen before.

“We’re happy about your persistence,” Coleman said.

Public Commentary

Ten people had signed up for public commentary at the end of the Feb. 16 meeting. One of them – Linda Martenson – did not appear for her speaking turn. In addition to the public commentary reported above, here is a summary of the speakers’ remarks.

Public Commentary: Student Transcript

Gulala Abraham spoke on behalf of her daughter, Sara Abraham, asking that the university remove a W (withdrawal) from her daughter’s transcript. She described the circumstances that led to the situation. Her daughter did not intend to take the class, and was in Iraq when she discovered that she was still listed on the class roster. An email was sent to the university, Abraham said, but internet service was sporadic and it’s not clear that the email was received. The W on the transcript is unfair, and is affecting her daughter as she applied for medical school. Abraham asked regents to help address the situation.

Regent Andrea Fischer Newman indicated that regents had received email correspondence about this issue, and said she thought they had asked it to be resolved before the board meeting. Regent Andy Richner said he believed the university was in litigation over the matter.

Public Commentary: China

As he has on several occasions at past meetings, William Kauffman, a retired UM engineering professor who is a candidate for the board of regents in the 2012 election, harshly criticized the university’s relationship with China. For nearly three decades, he said, illegal activities – including plagiarism, intellectual property theft and police brutality – have been rampant at the university. UM’s relationship with China is “substantially damaging the economic and military security of the U.S.,” he said, and thousands of Chinese on campus displace American students, “taking home their own little nugget of American assets.”

“As an individual trained concerning national security considerations during the Cold War,” Kauffman said, “it is my opinion that the damage done to our nation via the loss of industrial and military technology to Communist Chinese visitors studying at the UM exceeds all that done by all traitors since Benedict Arnold.”

Public Commentary: Childcare Subsidy

Introducing herself as chair of the parents’ caucus for the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO), Melissa Sanders told regents that issues of parents have emerged prominently during the last few negotiation cycles between the union and the UM administration.

The son of a GEO member attended the regents meeting and helped hold a sign for his mother during public commentary.

[Childcare subsidies are available for eligible students in the following amounts: $2,250 for one child; $3,300 for two children; and $4,350 for three or more children. The subsidy will increase annually based on the annual average tuition increase at UM childcare centers. (.pdf of application for UM childcare subsidy)]

Sanders said the GEO membership is concerned that some students are excluded from access to this subsidy. She gave several examples, including a work/study requirement for spouses to work at least 20 hours per week, and constraints for some international students regarding the amount of time they can work. Sanders expressed frustration that a joint GEO/UM steering committee has made little progress so far in addressing these issues, citing meetings that have been postponed or canceled. She asked regents to urge members of the committee on the administration’s side to actively engage and work toward solutions that both parties can accept.

As Sanders was speaking, another GEO member stood behind her with a small child, holding a sign that stated “Work With Us.” After Sanders’ remarks, regent Denise Ilitch told the boy: “Good job, honey!”

Public Commentary: Tuition Affordability

Daniel Alejandro Morales began by saying that he and his group – the Coalition for Tuition Equality – fully supported the GEO’s efforts. But he was there to talk about how many of the state’s brightest students are prevented from attending UM because they’re required to pay out-of-state tuition, but can’t afford it. He was asking regents to adopt a more inclusive policy regarding undocumented students from Michigan.

Morales recounted his own story, arriving in America when he was one year old. His parents are first-generation immigrants from Mexico, but he has never been back to that country. He went through public schools here, and achieved success as a student leader. The proudest day of his life was receiving a letter of acceptance from UM, he said, but that moment was quickly overshadowed by realizing that his immigration status would jeopardize everything. “Some people would say I was ‘illegal,’” Morales said, “but the only crime I ever committed was that of existing in a xenophobic society.”

He was able to defer his admission while working to secure a green card. When he told the agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement that his admission to UM was riding on getting the green card, the agent smiled, Morales said – he was a Michigan graduate. Morales got the green card and enrolled at UM in 2011. He joined the Migrant and Immigration Rights Advocacy group, and co-founded the Coalition for Tuition Equality. He asked regents to remedy the injustice of residency classification for undocumented students in the state, saying it was a moral and ethical obligation that will also benefit the university.

At the end of his commentary, Morales asked for other students who were attending the meeting in support of the coalition to stand. More than two dozen stood, many of them holding signs from the organizations they represented, including the Muslim Students’ Association, the American Civil Liberties Union undergraduate chapter, the Latino Students Organization, and the South Asian Awareness Network.

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

Absent: Olivia (Libby) Maynard.

Next board meeting: Thursday, March 15, 2012 at 3 p.m. at the Fleming administration building on UM’s central campus. [confirm date]

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Bob Beyster, who received multiple degrees from UM, is founder and retired chairman of Science Applications International Corp., a research and engineering company. He recently gave a $15 million gift to the College of Engineering, which will be used in part to create the J. Robert Beyster Computational Innovation Graduate Fellows program. The effort will fund research in several fields that link high-performance computing, networking, and storage to applications of importance to society, according to a staff memo.

This brief was filed from the boardroom of the Fleming administration building on UM’s central campus, where the regents’ meeting is held. A more detailed report will follow: [link]

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.

This brief was filed from the boardroom of the Fleming administration building, on UM’s Ann Arbor campus. A more detailed report will follow: [link]

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

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

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

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

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

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

Naming County Buildings

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

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

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

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

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

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

Road Commission Expansion: Public Hearing Set

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Millage Rate Set

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

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

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

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

-

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

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

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

Land Bank Redux

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Other Resolutions Approved

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

Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association (VEBA)

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

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

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

Natural Areas Preservation Program Ordinance

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

Resolutions Related to Finance, Treasurer’s Office

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Appointments

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

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

Other Public Commentary

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

Executive Session: Pending Litigation

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

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

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

The Washtenaw County administration building at the northeast corner of Main and Ann streets might be renamed the Robert E. Guenzel Government Center. (Photo by the writer.)

Conan Smith defended the resolution, which would name the building at 200 N. Main St. the Robert E. Guenzel Government Center. He called Guenzel’s 37-year tenure “remarkable,” saying his length of service and number of accomplishments makes him worthy of the honor. But Prater questioned the process and fairness of the decision, asking, “Who’s being overlooked?”

Also at Wednesday’s briefing, incoming county administrator Verna McDaniel announced her decision to hire Bill Reynolds as deputy administrator. He was one of two finalists who’d been in town earlier this month for a full day of interviews. The board will be asked to approve the hire at its June 2 meeting.

To mark her promotion to county administrator, McDaniel will be honored at a reception prior to the May 19 board meeting, from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at 220 N. Main St.

After last Wednesday’s briefing, commissioners also held a caucus to discuss appointments to nine county boards and commissions. They’ll vote on the appointments at their May 19 meeting, and if the consensus reached at caucus holds, it will result in turnover on the county’s historic district commission.

And a dearth of applications for the workforce development board prompted a discussion of the importance of that group, which helps oversee the county’s Employment Training and Community Services (ETCS) department. Among other things, ETCS is handling roughly $4 million in stimulus funds to weatherize local homes, and commissioner Ken Schwartz raised concerns over the effectiveness of that effort.

Naming a Building: What’s the Policy?

During Wednesday’s administrative briefing, a draft copy of the board’s May 19 agenda included a resolution under “new business” to rename the building at 200 N. Main St. the Robert E. Guenzel Government Center. Built in 2000, the four-story structure houses several departments, including offices of the prosecuting attorney, treasurer, and county clerk, register of deeds and vital records.

McDaniel told commissioners that she’d prefer to bring the resolution from the floor, rather than have it included in the agenda. The agenda now posted online reflects that request – the resolution is no longer listed.

Most of the discussion about the naming took place during the appointments caucus which immediately followed Wednesday’s briefing, and which wasn’t attended by McDaniel. Wes Prater asked how the proposal had surfaced, and was told by board chair Rolland Sizemore Jr. that it had been suggested by commissioners Leah Gunn and Barbara Bergman. Neither Gunn nor Bergman attended Wednesday’s briefing or caucus.

Prater indicated that naming a building after an employee wasn’t appropriate without discussing the criteria used. “We’ve got a lot of good employees,” he said.

Ken Schwartz pointed to the county’s Meri Lou Murray Recreation Center as an example of a building named in someone’s honor. Murray was a county commissioner – an elected position – who was the driving force behind starting the county parks system.

Conan Smith said there wasn’t a policy about naming facilities. “It’s an honor more than a process,” he said. In that case, Prater replied, it becomes a question of fairness. He wondered who’s being overlooked, and said it seemed like a done deal without any discussion.

Smith said that Guenzel’s service has been remarkable, both in length and accomplishments. He served 37 years with the county, including 15 years as county administrator, and has taken on many leadership roles in the community during that tenure. Among other things, he was instrumental in developing the county’s Blueprint to End Homelessness and in leading the effort to build the Delonis Center, a homeless shelter located in Ann Arbor. Last December he announced his retirement, which took effect May 14.

Prater said if the resolution comes to the floor at the May 19 meeting, he plans to air his concerns.

Deputy County Administrator Hired, Finance Director on Hold

During Wednesday’s administrative briefing, Verna McDaniel – the incoming county administrator – told commissioners that she has made an offer to Bill Reynolds for the position of deputy county administrator, at a salary of $138,000. He accepted the position, she said, and plans to start on June 21. Commissioners will be asked to approve the appointment at their June 2 meeting.

Bill Reynolds, right, talks with Washtenaw County commissioner Wes Prater during a May 5 reception in the lobby of the county administration building. Reynolds is being hired as deputy county administrator.

Reynolds and another finalist for the position, Jose Reyes, spent the day on May 5 being interviewed by county management and others. McDaniel said the feedback in favor of Reynolds was nearly unanimous.

Until resigning to take the Washtenaw County job, Reynolds was chief administrative officer for Chippewa County, Wisc. He served as chief of staff for Republican-turned-Democrat Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, and led the teams that oversaw the Senate confirmation hearings of both Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Sam Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court. He also served in Iraq in 2004 with a Marine Corps reserve unit, and was a senior officer leading civil/military operations in Al Anbar province. He has a masters degree in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University – McDaniel has the same degree from Harvard.

McDaniel, who was deputy administrator until being promoted to county administrator when Guenzel retired, said Reynolds’ style is very different from hers, but that they complement each other. Because of his experience running a county himself, “he can hit the ground running,” she told commissioners at Wednesday’s briefing.

Commissioner Ken Schwartz asked about the status of McDaniels’ search for a finance director. That position is vacant following the retirement of former finance director Peter Ballios at the end of 2009. McDaniel said she’s decided not to make a hire until Reynolds comes on board. There might be opportunities to restructure, she said, and she wanted his advice.

Rolland Sizemore Jr., the county board’s chair, told McDaniel he wanted her and Reynolds to attend an Ypsilanti Township board meeting and be introduced as the county’s new top administrators. He said he wanted to go along as well, and he invited the other commissioners who represent parts of Ypsilanti Township – Ronnie Peterson and Wes Prater. It was important to reach out to other government leaders, he said, adding that he wanted to go to the board of Superior Township as well – his district includes a small portion of that township.

Conan Smith said it would be a good idea to do the same thing for the Ann Arbor city council. He noted that councilmembers “might fall over dead if someone from the county showed up at one of their meetings.”

Other Agenda Items: Road Commission, Police Services Lawsuit

Several items were on the draft agenda but were not discussed in detail at Wednesday’s briefing. Here’s a sampling.

Setting the County Operating Millage

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

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

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

-

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

Setting a Public Hearing for Possible Road Commission Expansion

Conan Smith had previously attempted to set a public hearing for expanding the Washtenaw County Road Commission from three commissioners to five. At the board’s April 21, 2010 meeting, he moved a resolution to set the hearing for May 19. At the time, he told commissioners it wasn’t a decision on whether to expand – setting the public hearing was just a way to start the conversation. [The county board is responsible for appointing the road commissioners to six-year terms. Currently serving are David Rutledge, Douglas Fuller and Fred Veigel.]

The resolution was supported by Leah Gunn, Barbara Bergman and Jeff Irwin, but several other commissioners opposed the timing of the move, saying they wanted more time to discuss it. Ken Schwartz proposed tabling the resolution until the May 19 meeting, and that motion carried.

So on the agenda for the May 19 board meeting is a resolution to set the public hearing on the road commission expansion for the Wednesday, July 7 meeting. During the summer months, the county commissioners meet only once a month, so further action on the expansion wouldn’t likely occur until the Aug. 4 meeting at the earliest – after the Aug. 3 primary elections.

Closed Session to Discuss Pending Litigation

The board will hold a closed executive session at the end of their May 19 board meeting to get an update on the lawsuit between the county and the townships of Augusta, Salem and Ypsilanti. The townships sued the county in 2006 over the cost of sheriff deputy patrols. In late April, the state Supreme Court refused to reconsider a motion made by the townships to hear the case. [See Chronicle coverage: "Townships Lose Again in Deputy Patrol Case"] The county planned to ask for a judgment to cover costs of providing patrols to the townships without a contract for most of 2006 – potentially around $2 million.

At Wednesday’s briefing, the county’s corporation counsel told commissioners that a June 2 hearing has been set regarding the judgment request.

Changes to Natural Areas Preservation Program Ordinance

At their April 22, 2010 working session, commissioners were briefed on proposed changes to the county’s Natural Areas Preservation Program, which would help the county protect more land that’s being used for farming. At their May 19 meeting, they’ll be voting on those changes.

The 10-year NAPP millage expires this year, and commissioners will need to decide whether to put a renewal for it on the November ballot. The current millage, which raises about $3 million annually to preserve natural areas in the county, expires at the end of 2010.

Appointments Caucus

Two times a year, the county board approves appointments to the many boards, committees and commissions that oversee various county programs and activities. The official job of nominating people falls to the board chair, with nominations confirmed by a vote of the board. Prior to the board meeting when this occurs, an appointments caucus is held to discuss potential candidates. That caucus happened immediately after the board’s May 12 administrative briefing.

Appointments to nine groups were discussed, with consensus reached on all but one group – the local emergency planning committee. Here are the tentative appointments, based on Wednesday’s caucus:

• Accommodations Ordinance Commission: Shary Brown, Shari Faulhaber
• Agricultural Lands Preservation Advisory Committee: Charlie Koenn
• Brownfield Development Authority: Teresa Gillotti, Mark Heusel
• Emergency Medical Services Commission: Ashley Cieslinski, Eric Copeland
• Natural Areas Technical Advisory Committee: Rane Curl, David Lutton
• Public Works Board: Ruth Ann Jamnick
• Workforce Development Board: Sean Duval

For the local emergency planning committee, 13 positions are open, but only four people applied. Of those, commissioners agreed to appoint two: Samantha Brandfon and Ashley Cieslinski. There were some conflict of interest concerns regarding the other two applicants, so commissioners agreed to hold off on any decision for those appointments.

In addition, agreement was reached on four appointments for the historic district commission: Chuck Gray, Jean King, Elmer White and Ron Woods. All but Woods are reappointments. Two other HDC commissioners who reapplied – Martha Churchill and Nancy Snyder – will not be reappointed, if the recommendations made at caucus are approved.

During Wednesday’s caucus, some commissioners discussed the view that the HDC hasn’t been an extremely functional group. Conan Smith said that while commission members all care passionately about the historic district, there’s been internal fighting, primarily between White and Churchill. The HDC has potential to play a role in economic development by highlighting the county’s historical assets, Smith said, but it hasn’t to date fulfilled that function.

Ken Schwartz described White as the “heart and soul” behind the effort to organize a permanent display of a model of the USS Washtenaw, the most highly decorated ship of the Vietnam War. The consensus was to reappoint White. Smith noted that the appointment of Woods would add diversity – he would be the only minority on the commission.

Workforce Development Board and Weatherization

Sean Duval, CEO of Golden Limousine in Ann Arbor, was the only applicant for the workforce development board, though there are five openings – when full, there are 13 seats on the board. He was recommended for the position by the Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce.

Wes Prater said the commissioners need to give the workforce development board more attention, given its oversight role. It’s one of the two primary boards – along with the community action board – that oversee the county’s Employment Training and Community Services (ETSC) department.

Jeff Irwin agreed with Prater, saying it was especially true given the recent change in leadership and influx of federal stimulus dollars. [Trenda Rusher, the long-time head of ETCS, retired at the end of 2009 after nearly 30 years with the county. The department is being led by interim executive director Patricia Denig.]

ETCS has been successful in garnering millions of dollars in federal stimulus funding, including $4.29 million for a program to weatherize 600 homes for low- to moderate-income families over a three-year period. That grant was announced in March 2009.

Ken Schwartz expressed concern with the weatherization program, and told commissioners the county needs to hire an objective third-party inspector to start doing spot checks on the work. He said some of the work he’s seen has not been good – a simple audit would tell the commissioners whether the program is working, he said. He asked to schedule a working session on the issue. “It bears looking at,” he said.

Schwartz has raised concerns about the weatherization program at several board meetings over the past few months, primarily pushing for faster implementation of the program. Other commissioners have asked questions as well. At an April 8, 2010 working session during which commissioners were updated on how the county’s stimulus funding was being spent, Prater asked how many local contractors were being used for the weatherization program. Staff didn’t have an answer at the time, but on Wednesday Prater said he’d been told that of the 16 or so contractors being used, only four or five were based in Washtenaw County – that concerned him.

At a Feb. 18, 2010 working session, Conan Smith had asked whether the weatherization program at ETCS might be moved to the newly created department of energy and economic development. That issue was brought up again at Wednesday’s discussion by Schwartz, who said there had been no coordination with the new energy office.

Regarding the quality of the weatherization work, on Wednesday Irwin said it would help to get data on how effective the program is. Having that information could also help the county get future grants, he said. Smith suggested getting homeowners to sign a release from DTE, so that the county could have access to their usage records and could track how much savings are gained from weatherizing homes.

Rolland Sizemore Jr. wrapped up the discussion, saying, “It’s something we will address.”

Candidates for County Commission

Alice Ralph, a Democrat who’s running for the District 11 seat that will be vacated by Jeff Irwin, attended Wednesday’s briefing – she has attended several briefings over the past few months, as well as regular board meetings. Irwin is not seeking reelection and is instead running for the state representative’s seat in District 53.

May 11 was the deadline to file for the Aug. 3 primary, and all but one of the board’s 11 districts face competition either in the primary or the November general election. Here’s a rundown of the candidates:

District 1 (Chelsea, Dexter, and the townships of Lyndon, Sylvan, Dexter and Lima, and portions of Webster and Scio townships) This seat is currently held by Republican Mark Ouimet, who will be running for state representative in District 52.

Eric Borregard (D)
Reid McCarthy (D)
Adam Zemke (D)
Kathy Jane Keinath (R)
Rob Turner (R)

District 2 (the townships of Ann Arbor, Superior, Salem and Northfield, and portions of Webster Township)

Ken Schwartz (D-Incumbent)
Ben H. Colmery III (R)
Dan Smith (R)

District 3 (the cities of Saline and Manchester, and townships of Saline, Lodi, Freedom, Bridgewater, Sharon and Manchester, and a portion of Scio Township) The seat is currently held by Jessica Ping, who isn’t seeking reelection. Alicia Ping is her sister.

Alicia Ping (R)

District 4 (the city of Milan, the townships of York and Augusta, and portions of Ypsilanti Township)

Wes Prater (D-Incumbent)
Rick Roe (D)
Robert Van Bemmelen (R)

District 5 (portions of Superior and Ypsilanti townships)

Rolland Sizemore Jr. (D-Incumbent)
Daniel K. Benefiel (R)
Bill Emmerich (R)

District 6 (Ypsilanti and portions of Ypsilanti Township)

Mark Namatevs (D)
Ronnie Peterson (D-Incumbent)
David H. Raaflaub (R)

District 7 (Pittsfield Township)

Kristin Judge (D-Incumbent)
Sean Gray (R)

District 8 (northeast Ann Arbor)

Barbara Levin Bergman (D-Incumbent)
Melinda Day (R)

District 9 (south and southwest Ann Arbor)

Leah Gunn (D-Incumbent)
Mark Tipping (R)

District 10 (west and northwest Ann Arbor)

Danielle Mack (D)
Conan Smith (D-Incumbent)

District 11 (central and east Ann Arbor)

LuAnne Bullington (D)
Mike Fried (D)
Yousef Rabhi (D)
Alice Ralph (D)
Joe Baublis (R)
-

Contact information for the candidates can be found on the county elections website.

A sign at the entrance to Ann Arbor’s West Park, which will be closed in March through the summer for extensive renovations. (Photo by the writer.)

But commissioners heard updates on a range of issues, from capital projects – including the months-long closing of West Park, starting in March – to a report on the greenbelt program.

And though snow has blanketed the area, work is underway to prep for controlled burns throughout the city’s parks and natural areas. Commissioners got a report on that effort, which includes a public meeting on March 2 and volunteer training the following day. The topic also provided some fodder for puns – in introducing the presentation, PAC chair Scott Rosencrans joked that they’d be “burning with interest” to hear the report.

Natural Area Preservation: “Why Do We Use Fire?”

Dave Borneman, manager of the city’s Natural Area Preservation program, known as NAP, began his update on controlled burns by giving some history on the use of fire for clearing land, which he said dates back hundreds of years to when native Americans in this area used the approach.

Giving this “ancient pulse of energy” to the land has many benefits, Borneman said. It discourages the growth of most woody vegetation, takes care of the encroachment of non-native shrubs, and stimulates the growth of native wildflowers, among other things. He gave several examples, including the fact that the Upland Boneset – a wildflower not recorded here since 1937 – emerged after one of the city’s controlled burns.

The process starts with an inventory of the area to be burned, which is included as part of a more comprehensive burn plan. NAP staff get permits from the fire department, and permission from landowners, if access is needed through private land. They notify the public through letters to nearby homes and notices in the parks, and hold informational meetings two times a year.

The next public meeting is on Tuesday, March 2 at the Leslie Science & Nature Center, 1831 Traver Road, starting at 7:30 p.m. That will be followed on March 3 by a half-day volunteer training session, also at the center from noon-5 p.m. Borneman said that many people in the burn crew are volunteers.

To prepare for a burn, the crew surrounds the entire site with swaths of cleared land called burn breaks. They also use a leaf blower to remove leaves from logs, so they’ll be less likely to catch fire. Then they wait for the weather – burns are entirely dependent on weather conditions, Borneman said. The best days tend to be in late March and early April, then again in early November.

On the day of a burn, staff tries to get the word out – through announcements on the radio, signs in the park, and other means. They alert the city’s dispatch operations, in case residents call in, thinking it’s a real fire – “then away we go!” Borneman said.

There’s always a city PR person on site during a burn, to explain what’s happening. Borneman said schoolchildren sometimes attend – the April 1 burn in Buhr Park is especially popular, he said, as part of the Buhr Park Children’s Wet Meadow Project.

Some burns are more difficult than others. The small prairie along Huron River Parkway is tricky, Borneman said, because of its proximity to a heavily-used road. In general, smoke is more of a concern than fire, because smoke is harder to control. That’s one reason why most burn sites are fairly small, Borneman said – in the 5-10 acre range. They also burn during the dormant season, when plants are dry and therefore will generate less smoke. Burns are also done, whenever possible, on days when the atmospheric conditions maximize air lift, allowing the smoke to rise up and out of the area.

Responding to a question from commissioner John Lawter, Borneman said animals aren’t at risk from the slow burns that are done, since they burrow underground – even a quarter inch beneath the surface, the soil temperature can remain unchanged during the burn. Often the crew will see mice and toads scurrying around following a burn, he added – the threat to them is more from hawks than from the fire.

Commissioner Karen Levin asked how often areas are burned. It depends, Borneman said. Of the 150 city parks and nature areas, it’s not possible to do them all. Some sites are burned annually, some never, he said. In general, there are burns in 70-80 sites. Commissioner Gwen Nystuen asked about the burns done in the Ruthven Nature Area, near Gallup Park. NAP has done a lot of burning there with great results, Borneman said.

Lawter noted that others are doing controlled burns, not just the city – including private companies and the University of Michigan. That’s because there’s more interest in native landscaping, Borneman said. He gave credit to Bob Grese, director of UM’s Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum, for starting up burns in this area – Grese’s own front yard is burned each year. In addition to burns on UM and Washtenaw County property, the Ann Arbor Public Schools does one each year at the prairie next to Pioneer High School, Borneman said.

He concluded by urging residents to sign up for alerts about NAP activities by emailing nap@a2gov.org.

Greenbelt Update

At the September 2009 meeting of the city’s Greenbelt Advisory Commission, Scott Rosencrans attended and introduced himself as the new chair of PAC, and said he looked forward to the two groups working together. On Tuesday, Laura Rubin reciprocated.

Rubin, who chairs GAC and serves as executive director of the Huron River Watershed Council, gave park commissioners an update on the greenbelt program. She noted that an April 6 joint meeting of GAC and PAC has been scheduled, to talk about common issues for the two groups.

A 30-year millage at 0.5 mill was passed in 2003 to generate funds for the greenbelt. The greenbelt commission’s first strategic plan, approved in 2005, outlined priorities for the program. Those included a goal of forming 1,000-acre blocks of protected land, an emphasis on partnership and on leveraging funding from other sources. Rubin noted that three townships, for example – Scio, Webster and Ann Arbor – all have millages for land preservation, and have partnered with the greenbelt program on the purchase of development rights (PDR) in those areas.

Washtenaw County – specifically its natural areas preservation program – has been another partner. The greenbelt is also part of Preserve Washtenaw, a consortium of local groups working on land preservation.

The strategic plan gives priority to farmland and land along the Huron River, Rubin said. The deals are usually PDRs – buying the rights to development, which prevents the land from being used for purposes other than farmland or open space. The millage can only be used for acquisition, not management. In the cases where land needs to be managed, another partner – like Washtenaw County – takes the lead. The greenbelt program has partnered with the county on three purchases, Rubin said.

Since its inception, the greenbelt program has closed 15 transactions, spending $12.37 million and covering 1,782 acres. Those deals included an additional $11.85 million that came from other sources, such as the townships and federal funds.

As a result, Rubin said, “we are starting to see a greenbelt forming around Ann Arbor.” That includes nearly 900 acres in Webster Township alone.

Rubin outlined some recent changes in the program. For one, the market has changed dramatically over the past five years. Appraised values were far higher then, and there was competition from developers for many of the properties. Now, appraisals are dropping rapidly and the city’s greenbelt program is one of the only buyers in the market, Rubin said. In fact, they’re getting applications from developers who are trying to unload property previously set for development. [The implications of a drop in appraisals – which are affecting two deals that haven't yet closed – were discussed at the greenbelt commission's Feb. 10, 2010 meeting.]

The greenbelt commission is also putting more of an emphasis on the local food network, Rubin said. Farms must be 40 acres or more to qualify for federal funding for a purchase of development rights. In the greenbelt program’s previous scoring system – used to prioritize purchases – that size was give higher priority, because of the federal funds. The greenbelt commission has revised its scoring to give higher priority to small farms and community-supported agriculture, known as CSAs. Local residents buy shares in CSAs and receive produce from the farm. [See Chronicle coverage: "Greenbelt Explores Support for Small Farms"]

Rubin concluded by saying it’s an opportune time for land preservation, with less competition, lower land values and more funding coming in through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

Rosencrans asked how natural areas and open space fit into the greenbelt program. Rubin replied that the program has designated about 10% of the greenbelt funds for high-quality natural areas, but one hurdle is land management – they don’t have funds to maintain properties. Having a partner like Washtenaw County helps, she said – the county can manage properties through their natural areas preservation program.

Rosencrans also wondered whether agribusiness was a competitor in terms of acquiring farmland. Not really, Rubin replied – in the past, it’s mostly been developers who were buying property in the county. The other difficulty initially in signing PDR deals with farmers was a skepticism about the program itself, she added. They had concerns about the city coming out and managing their land. The first few deals were important in building the program’s reputation.

Sam Offen asked whether there was a requirement to continue farming the land, as part of the PDR deal. Rubin said there are restrictions on development – no more than 2% of the land can be an impervious surface – but the land could lie fallow.

Offen also wondered how much more land the greenbelt program could buy, given current market conditions. That was difficult to answer, Rubin said. There’s about $13 million left in the fund balance, but land prices vary – property that’s closer to Ann Arbor is more expensive. It also depends on how many matching funds are available.

Rosencrans noted that both the park advisory commission and the greenbelt advisory commission used the same consultants – The Conservation Fund – and that he looked forward to stronger communication and partnership. Rubin agreed, noting that there was a bit of gray area regarding land acquisition, and that she was looking forward to talking about these issues at their April 6 joint meeting.

Millage-Funded Land Acquisition: An Update

Highlighting the common ground shared by both commissions, Ginny Trocchio of The Conservation Fund also gave a presentation at Tuesday’s meeting. She updated commissioners on the city’s land acquisition efforts related to the open space and parkland preservation millage, which funds the greenbelt as well as land acquisition for parks. [She gave a similar report at the greenbelt advisory commission's Dec. 9, 2009 meeting.]

A goal for parks acquisition in 2008-09 was to complete one or two acquisitions, including at least one donation. The city completed the purchase of a conservation easement on 10 acres in Scio Township, in partnership with the township. Four other deals are expected to close this fiscal year, including the purchase of a parcel on Chapin Street near West Park, which the city council approved in December 2009.

Another goal for 2008-09 dealt was to rezone and annex 30 parks that had been acquired by the city. The rezoning of that annexed land to public land – was completed. The annexation of land that was previously in township “islands” within the city is in progress.

Trocchio reviewed financial statements for the millage, clarifying that one-third of the revenue is for parks, and two-thirds for the greenbelt. In fiscal 2009, land acquisitions for parks totaled $237,444. The fund balance for the parks share of the millage was $4.7 million as of June 30, 2009 – the end fiscal 2009.

Reviewing administrative costs, Trocchio noted that a cap of 6% had been put on those costs over the life of the bond, through 2023. At the end of October 2009, $3.1 million remained of that amount. [At its Dec. 21 meeting, city council approved a one-year contract with The Conservation Fund for $119,565, with possible renewals at $113,661 for a second year and $106,797 for the third year.]

Trocchio also showed calculations comparing administrative expenses to total expenditures. They’re hovering around 3-4%, she said. Total expenditures from the millage in FY09 were $4.26 million, for example, with administrative expenses of $184,924 – or 4.3%.

Several commissioners had questions for Trocchio. John Lawter asked about the jump in expenses for information technology – from $2,500 in fiscal 2007 to $12, 612 in FY08 and $21,540 in FY09. Trocchio said it reflected a change in the way the city charged for IT services to the different city units. Colin Smith, parks and recreation manager, added that it now reflects true IT costs, including the different software programs that are being used by Trocchio and Peg Kohring, a Conservation Fund manager who works with the city.

Sam Offen asked what was included in administrative expenses – did that include things like land appraisals? Appraisals are calculated into the cost of the acquisition, Trocchio explained. Whenever possible, expenses are allocated to specific properties, to make sure the true cost of the acquisition is known. She clarified that The Conservation Fund staff is paid on an hourly basis.

Capital Improvements

Parks planner Amy Kuras gave an update on capital projects that were completed in the city’s parks over the past year, and previewed those being considered for 2010. Some highlights:

• The ice rink floor was replaced at Buhr Park Ice Arena. It was a complex, labor-intensive project, Kuras said, involving two layers of piping – a lower layer for heating to prevent permafrost, then a layer of insulation, then piping for refrigeration and an 18” slab of concrete. The arena is open for skating again. The spring, they’ll add a barrier-free entry – a sloping sidewalk – to the pool and ice rink complex.
• A barrier-free sloping sidewalk was added to the Kempf House Museum, at 312 S. Division. A porch was replaced with a stoop and steps that are more historically accurate, Kuras said.
• Most of the steel beams and decking were replaced at Bandemer Park bridge. The vehicle bridge at Gallup Park was also repaired – railings on that bridge will be replaced later this year.
• Pathways were renovated in South Maple, Huron Highlands and Sugarbush parks. Renovations at Leslie Park Golf Course included path upgrades, benches, installation of “very fancy pit toilets,” an expanded tunnel and replacement of a bridge.
• One shade structure was added near the vending machines at Fuller Park Pool, and another one was extended.
• At the Ann Arbor Farmers Market, lights were replaced, bird screens installed and the structures were painted. The city is planning to upgrade the electrical system, Kuras said, extending electrical service to portions of the market where it is currently unavailable to vendors.
• Pétanque courts in Burns Park were donated by Howard Ando and Jane Wilkinson, who are planning to program events for the coming season, Kuras said.
• A new de-humidification system was added to the Veterans Memorial Park ice arena – it had been “pretty cloudy in there,” Kuras said. The city also renovated locker rooms there and installed a new fire suppression system.
• The kitchen at Cobblestone Farm was renovated, as it wasn’t meeting needs of caterers for large events held there, Kuras said. A trash shoot and dumb waiter are being installed.
• The Mary Beth Doyle Park disc golf course is complete, and a sign with a map of the course will be added. The park is off of Packard, east of Cobblestone Farm.
• A shelter was added at Olson dog park, off of Dhu Varren on the city’s north side, and the parking lot was repaved.

Kuras also mentioned the major West Park renovations that are underway – the park will close in March and remain closed through the summer. One of the main goals is to improve stormwater management on the site. [Kuras had given a detailed presentation about the changes at PAC's August 2009 meeting. See Chronicle coverage: "West Park Renovations Get Fast-Tracked"]

As part of that project, Kuras said she’s working with the Ann Arbor Public Art Commission to design new seat walls that will be set into the hill opposite the park’s band shell. [See Chronicle coverage: "Artists Sought for West Park Project"]

Several questions from commissioners related to the West Park project. Tim Berla asked whether there were still plans to include gardens from the nonprofit Project Grow. Kuras said there was space in the master plan for those gardens.

Mike Anglin, who represents Ward 5 on city council, said he’d heard some grumblings about the final designs not including a dog park. Kuras said that all of the mowed areas of the park are heavily used. At a previous PAC meeting, John Lawter had floated the possibility of putting a dog park in the recently acquired Chapin Street property, adjacent to the park. Kuras said that lot was too small for a dog park.

Anglin also asked whether Kuras had any control over the crossing at Chapin and Huron. No, Kuras said, but Eli Cooper – the city’s transportation program manager – is in contact with the Michigan Dept. of Transportation about it. Although vehicles are supposed to stop for pedestrians using the crosswalk, that rarely occurs – making the crossing hazardous. West Park lies to the north of Huron, and the Ann Arbor YMCA is located at the southeast corner of Huron and Chapin.

Scott Rosencrans asked about the decision to use wooden decking on the bridges at Bandemer and Gallup – that gives it a lot of character, he said, but what about durability? Kuras said she’d been concerned about that too, and that they’d looked at other materials, including concrete and metal grating. The challenge with concrete is that the entire stretch would need to be torn out if you needed to access the bridge beneath it for repairs, whereas with wood planks, limited portions could be removed.

Grating was a problem because during the winter, salt from vehicles would get through to the structural part of the bridge, corroding the cor-ten steel. Cor-ten had been a popular material for bridge construction because its self-rusting quality was believed to provide a protective coating. That works in Florida, Kuras noted wryly, but not so well in northern states. This will be a problem statewide, she added, because many of Michigan’s bridges were built with this material.

Tim Berla asked about the possibility of putting recycling bins next to trash bins at the Mary Beth Doyle disc golf course. He hated to see recyclables being put into the trash, just because there wasn’t another option. Smith noted that it was unlikely to happen at the point, since staff would have to empty those bins. Because of the budget, they were looking for ways to cut back on work, not add new tasks. He encouraged disc golfers to carry their recyclables out of the park when they’re finished.

Future Capital Project – Setting Priorities

Later in the meeting, Kuras spoke again about capital projects for parks and recreation, this time giving an update on how staff will be setting priorities for choosing projects in the coming year. Last year, staff developed a rating system based on six broad categories: environmental; safety; regulatory compliance; financial impact; user experience; and social, cultural, recreational and aesthetic considerations. The categories are weighted, she said – for example, safety is given a heavier weight than aesthetic considerations.

They’ve identified 19 projects to prioritize for the next fiscal year, based on those six categories. The projects range from additional renovations at West Park and the farmers market, to replacing deteriorated roads and parking lots throughout the parks system.

Commissioner Gwen Nystuen asked why the Allen Creek Greenway wasn’t on the list – it had been identified by PAC as a goal on the parks system master plan, she said. Colin Smith, manager of parks and recreation, said they only had about $1 million to spend on capital projects. There were certain things – like the greenway – that they didn’t include, simply because the funding wouldn’t be available, he said.

Nystuen said she’s a little uneasy leaving those larger projects – including the greenway, skatepark and dog park – off the list. Mike Anglin noted that the greenway was in the city’s capital improvements plan (CIP), which city council recently approved, so perhaps just referencing that list would be sufficient.

The staff struggles with how much to include, Kuras said, noting that the PROS plan – the state-mandated Parks, Recreation and Open Space plan, which is being updated this year – covers an even broader range of projects.

Naming, Sponsorship and Gift Policies

Colin Smith, the city’s manager of parks and recreation, told commissioners that preparation of a policy for naming, sponsorships and gifts within the parks system had been expedited because of Mack Pool and the Ann Arbor Senior Center. Efforts are underway to find additional revenues for those facilities, which have been targeted to close in fiscal 2010 because of budget cuts. Raising money through sponsorships, gifts and naming opportunities is one option that’s been discussed.

Kuras outlined some of the highlights of the policies. The gifts policy applies for gifts under $25,000, giving guidance to donors and staff about what gifts are appropriate – clarifying whether they fit the mission and vision of the parks system, for example. The policy states that installation and maintenance cost must be included in the gift, and the gift’s “permanency” – the amount of time that the city is obligated to care for the gift – will be limited to 10 years. [.pdf file of gift policy]

The policy gives people a clear idea of what’s required, Kuras said. Smith said that staff will prepare a gift guide as well, which lays out this policy. The guide will also give suggestions about what gifts the parks system needs. It’s unlikely that benches at Gallup Park will be on that list – Kuras noted that there are over 100 benches there. Maintenance workers used to joke that if more benches were added, you could eliminate the paths – it would be possible to traverse the park by walking on the benches.

For naming and sponsorship, the underlying philosophy is similar, Kuras said. Among other things, the policy clarifies that sponsorships are limited to two-year periods, and that for naming a facility, the donor would have to cover 60% of the project’s capital costs. [.pdf file of sponsorship and naming policy]

Several commissioners were concerned about adequately recognizing donations. Gwen Nystuen asked whether there was a way to permanently recognize a gift – perhaps on a plaque – even if the gift itself isn’t permanent. Kuras pointed to the mural at Leslie Science and Nature Center, where donors are named. The city could do something similar. Smith added that they could possibly have a recognition wall for that purpose – the policy gives them flexibility to determine that at a later date.

Sam Offen was also concerned about recognizing donors for their gift beyond the 10-year period. He noted that the University of Michigan had torn down a building that had been named for a donor, without notifying the family before the decision. There needs to be a continued recognition, on a permanent plaque or in some other way, he said.

Tim Berla noted that some “gifts” aren’t actually gifts at all – sometimes they aren’t items that are needed, and they end up costing the city money. Though gifts and recognition are obviously linked, he said, it would be good to try to separate the two.

Offen asked if gifts needed city council approval. Unless they’re in some way controversial, Smith said, gifts under $25,000 don’t require council approval. Anything over $25,000 would go to council, however.

Smith also clarified that in the naming and sponsorship policy, no dollar amount is mentioned. That’s intentional, he said, giving the staff flexibility to handle a wide range of sponsorships, including those that might be relatively small.

David Barrett asked how many gifts the city gets that are over $25,000.

“Not enough,” Smith quipped.

Outcome: The commission passed both policies unanimously.

Updates from Commissioners: Golf Advisory Task Force

Commissioner Julie Grand gave a report on the city’s golf advisory task force, on which she serves. The group met the previous week, she said, and had a heated discussion about the possible privatization of Huron Hills Golf Course. At this point, it’s just an idea, she said – no RFPs (requests for proposals) have been issued. [The RFP was discussed at city council meetings 0n Jan. 25 and Feb.8, 2010, and city administrator Roger Fraser indicated at the Febrary meeting that city staff will work on development of such an RFP.]

The task force has been directed to look for ways to get additional funding for Huron Hills, Grand said, and they hope to get clarification on a number of questions, such as how the city’s municipal service charges – fees paid by every department for shared services, such as information technology and legal services – factor into the budget.

Colin Smith added that the city has been approached by a private vendor interested in alternative uses for Huron Hills – splitting the course into a driving range and learning center on one side of Huron River Parkway, and a 9-hole course on the other. City staff will develop an RFP over the summer, he said, which will be put out for bids. There will then be a review process of the proposals submitted, including a look at proposed financial returns. “It is not a foregone conclusion, that’s for sure,” he said.

The RFP will likely be broad, Smith said, to allow for more creative proposals. Before being put out to bid, it would be reviewed by the task force as well as PAC. He likened it to the Library Lot process, in which the city issued an RFP for development on top of an underground parking structure. There would likely be a committee formed to review responses to the Huron Hills RFP, Smith said, and a lot of opportunity for people to know what’s going on.

Present: John Lawter, Gwen Nystuen, Sam Offen, David Barrett, Scott Rosencrans, Julie Grand, Doug Chapman, Karen Levin, Tim Berla, Mike Anglin (ex-officio)

Absent: Christopher Taylor (ex-officio)

Next meeting: Tuesday, March 16 at 4 p.m. in the Washtenaw County administration building boardroom, 220 N. Main St. [confirm date]

Outside the Jan. 20 school board meeting, one of four demonstrators against privatization of certain school services. (Photo by the writer.)

On one hand, it was an evening of accolades and celebrations.  The board heard recommendations to pay tribute to the work of two longtime AAPS staff members by naming facilities in their honor, community participation in budget planning was lauded, and the students from this year’s Hikone Exchange Program reported on their trip to Ann Arbor’s sister city of Hikone, Japan.

At the same time, concerns about possible privatization of custodial, maintenance, and transportation services dominated the meeting’s public commentary. And when the same presentation that was made to recent public budget forums was repeated for the board, looming school budget cuts again came to the fore. Requests for proposals (RFPs) for outsourcing that are a part of those cuts were also briefly discussed.

Possible Privatization: Custodial, Maintenance, Transportation Services

Among the possible cost-saving measures presented at the recent public budget forums are moves to privatize certain services: custodial, maintenance, and transportation.

Background on Privatization at AAPS

Privatization is not new to the AAPS. The district has outsourced some services completely: substitute teachers, food service, asbestos removal, concrete repair, roofing, and security. Many other services have been provided by blending AAPS employees with private contractors, such as custodial services (substitutes are privatized), electrical work, painting, and carpentry. Since Proposal A passed in 1994, effectively causing school districts across Michigan to operate under increasing financial pressure year after year, outsourcing within other units of AAPS has been increasingly considered.

Changes to custodial/maintenance and transportation contracts over the past few years have included limiting vacation scheduling, changing health insurance coverage, and reducing available sick leave. Union members who spoke at the Jan. 20 board meeting attributed these changes to the threat of outsourcing, which they said has caused their membership to approve a gradual weakening of their benefits and their pay. Many speakers during public commentary referred to concessions that have already been made over the years, with one asking “We’re the only group with a designated vacation, and a lifetime wage – isn’t that enough?”

Another fear reflected in the public commentary was that of retaining employment but losing pension benefits. It is not uncommon for privatized vendors to “re-hire” the same workers for the same jobs with less pay and fewer benefits.

For example, when Chartwells was hired to take over food service in the district, many local employees were hired. But because these workers are no longer in the state employee retirement system, it has led to complaints about their compensation – as one community member put it at a recent AAPS budget forum, tbey are paid “like McDonald’s workers.”

Public Commentary on Privatization

A few dozen members of the local custodial/maintenance and transportation unions were present and showed enthusiastic support for their six members who made statements during the public commentary section of the meeting. Some union members also picketed outside the meeting, carrying signs reading “More will be lost – not just the cost”; “Stop privatizing. It’s dangerous. Think of our kids”; “The Safety of our children comes first” and “Help AAPS staff keep our schools safe – stop privatization.”

The safety issue was echoed in the public commentary given by Darryl Wilson of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 1182, representing custodians and maintenance workers. He cited a case in which an outsourced custodian who was bothering a student was found to have two felonies on record, and reminded the board that all current custodians have been fully background-checked by the state.  Relying on a private company to have properly arranged for background checks for all employees is risky, he argued, and opens up the risk of convicted felons being granted access to students in schools or on buses.

Another speaker, a bus driver, argued that offering lower salaries and fewer benefits would lead to higher turnover, and that beyond the issue of safety, the loss of familiar adult faces on the buses would diminish the quality of students’ educational experience as a whole. Karen Kozacki-Snell, a representative of the Ann Arbor Parent Advisory Committee for Special Education, echoed that sentiment at the beginning of her report later in the meeting. As the parent of a special education student, she said, she especially appreciated the consistency of her child’s bus driver.

A bus driver with 16 years of service to the district put it this way during public commentary: “A lot of us are divorced or single … The majority of us wanted the pension.” She also suggested that the number of employees, and their families, who would need to move out of the district if they were let go, could have a substantial effect on district enrollment numbers. Another bus driver with three years of service added, “One of the attractive things about this job for me, at my age, is the health insurance at 10 years of vesting.”

A member of the Teamsters Local 214, representing bus drivers and monitors, argued that privatization did not reduce costs with food service, and that it would not with transportation, either. He referred to a study by Roland Zullo, of the University of Michigan’s Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations, which claims that privatization  “… indicate[s] no substantive decrease in the cost of student lunches and a modest increase in the cost of breakfasts with private food management.”

Many speakers mentioned that no one else could do their jobs any better than they do, and that no hired company will hold the interests of the district paramount. As one put it: “The company will say what you want to hear. They will pretend to work for the Ann Arbor Public Schools, but their priority will always be to make a profit.”

Another speaker said the fact that the district is not intending to sell the bus fleet implies that it might want to change its mind about transportation staffing in the future. He spoke of the “synergy” among custodians and other school staff, claiming that privatizing would “break the egg.” He warned board members that “you won’t be able to put the so-called ‘genie’ back in the bottle if you don’t like it.”

Budget Presentation and Update

Superintendent Todd Roberts and deputy superintendent for operations Robert Allen repeated the same presentation they had given at each of the four community budget forums earlier this month. They stated the purpose as two-fold: so that the board could ask any questions it had, and so that any community member who had not been able to attend a forum could watch the presentation on CTN as the BOE meeting was replayed this week. [Chronicle coverage of the Jan. 7 budget forum: "Ann Arbor Schools Seek Input on Budget"]

Roberts stressed that the suggested cuts were “not a plan” at this point, and that the plan will develop over the next month and a half. He said he appreciated the many thoughtful conversations and suggestions that have been offered by the 600 people who attended the four community forums, and the 200 who have completed an online survey. He mentioned two ideas from the community that could be incorporated: making need-based scholarships available for sports participation if it is decided to make sports “pay-to-play”; and charging a fee for participation in non-athletic activities as well.

Roberts urged any community member who had not yet given input to please do so. Board president Deb Mexicotte later also encouraged anyone who could not attend a meeting to complete the online survey. She reiterated that the board had received 200 online surveys, but “would love 2,000!” She also invited the public to attend a newly-scheduled board study session on Feb. 17, at which community feedback will be analyzed.

The final budget plan is scheduled to come to the board for first review at its meeting on March 24, and for final approval on April 14. Roberts explained that AAPS is not legally required to adopt its final 2010-2011 budget until June. But, should the district choose to proceed with increasing the number of AAPS students through the Schools of Choice program, a plan would need to be finalized by April in order to ensure adequate staffing of those schools.

Many board members offered encouraging remarks to the community regarding the work at hand.

Glenn Nelson mentioned that he joined the board in 2002, and that the current 2010-11 budget contains the smallest foundational allowance from the state that he’s ever seen. But he said he “feels good about” how the superintendent, BOE members, teachers’ union, and parents are working together “as a team.” He also thanked everyone who came to the budget forums, and described the discussions he heard there as “among caring people who want students to have an excellent education.” In thinking of the lessons learned from Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson said public education needs to be funded at a level consistent with its importance: “An excellent education is an important civil right.”

Simone Lightfoot thanked the public in general for the warm welcome she has received since joining the board, saying, “I have something on my calendar every day.” She recently had the opportunity to visit Mitchell Elementary’s after-school program, as well as Roberto Clemente Student Development Center, and said she was greatly impressed on both visits despite some preconceived notions. Lightfoot said though there is a lot of work to do, she looks forward to Ann Arbor being at the front of change at the state level.

Irene Patalan thanked the community for attending the forums, and said that seeing the hundreds of concerned people there has been a “profound learning experience,” and made her proud of her community. While describing the district’s strategic plan as the “guiding light” that drives her, she advised: “Change can be scary. We are changing; we have no choice … I’m choosing to look at this as an opportunity to do even better than we do now … I do believe in us.”

Requests for Proposals Issued

During the presentation, board member Adam Hollier asked how much of a difference privatization would make in total expenditures, and was told that his question could not be answered until the privatization bids were received and analyzed by the district.

Two requests for proposals (RFPs) have been issued by AAPS – one for privatizing transportation services, and one for privatizing custodial and maintenance services. They are due on Feb. 12, 2010. The full RFPs are available for viewing on the board of education website, as part of the Jan. 20, 2010 board information packet.

State Education Funding and Legislative Update

Roberts mentioned that while talking to the community has been very helpful, the district will also continue conversations with the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) and Michigan legislators to address not only cost containment, but also the inadequate funding of the School Aid Fund.

In addition, a special briefing was added as an action agenda item for Wednesday’s meeting regarding signing a service consolidation plan (SCP) agreement with the MDE. This agreement would have to be signed by Feb. 1, and could lead to the receipt of an additional $1.7 million in flexible state funding from Part 31A of the School Aid Act if the district qualifies.

In return for receiving the additional funding, the district would agree to consider consolidating business or instructional services with other districts or the Washtenaw Intermediate School District (WISD).

Roberts explained that there is some question of whether or not APPS qualifies for this funding. Currently, it looks like the district is not actually eligible based on phone conversations Roberts has had with MDE representatives; however, if this is the case, it is unclear why AAPS was included in a list of districts invited to submit SCPs. Due to this uncertainty, as well as the “flurry of legislation flying” at the state level, Roberts said he would like to have an agreement to develop an SCP on file with the MDE by the Feb. 1 deadline in case the requirements are modified to the degree that AAPS qualifies.

He explained that signing an SCP agreement does not commit the district to do anything it is not considering anyway, and that consolidation of services with other districts is already under consideration.

Mexicotte agreed, saying that this agreement would serve as a “placeholder” in case it is determined that AAPS is eligible for 31A funding.

Hollier asked about the threshold for funding: If the last cut had gone through, would AAPS  have been low enough to qualify? Roberts answered no, and explained that currently, the threshold for qualifying for 31A funding is a foundation allowance of $8,489 or less, which would mean AAPS does not qualify, but that upcoming legislation could change the threshold, thereby making AAPS eligible. [The AAPS currently receives $9,325 in per-pupil funding from the state.]

Hollier suggested that, should the board vote to sign an SCP agreement, Roberts should include a letter along with it, suggesting the legislative changes that would be necessary to cause AAPS to be eligible for the funding.

The board then approved on roll call vote, with all six trustees in attendance voting yes, the addition of the signing of an SCP Agreement with the MDE to the consent agenda, which was then approved along with other items.

Roberts also included an update on other proposed state legislation as part of his superintendent’s report. He emphasized that these bills are all focused on cost containment, reminded everyone that they might not pass, and described them as ideas “from the folks in Lansing helping us.” They include:

• A bill that would allow “hold harmless” districts, including Ann Arbor, to use their sinking funds like bond money;
• A bill that would make all public employees pay 20% of their health care premiums;
• A bill that would cap the non-instructional part of district budgets at 28%, and require competitive bids for all K-12 non-instructional services; and
• A bill that would reduce the pay of all public servants by 5%, frozen for three years.

First Briefing Items: Parking, Computers, and Facilities Naming

The board considered a number of items at “first briefing” – the board sees items twice, at a first and a second briefing.

UM Football Parking

Deputy superintendent Robert Allen recommended that the bid for managing the parking of vehicles at Pioneer High School during University of Michigan football games for the 2010-11 season be awarded to Great Lakes Environmental Services.

Since 1950, the district has been mandated to provide parking at Pioneer during UM football events, as part of a land purchase agreement with UM. If approved, this would allow Great Lakes Environmental Services to keep 11.9% of the revenue brought in from parking fees, and pass on the rest to the district. Board member Irene Patalan suggested that raising the cost of parking per car would not deter fans, and could be encouraged as a way to increase revenue. Allen confirmed that the gross revenue from football parking would increase by $1 million if the cost of parking was raised from $30 to $35 per car.

Computer Replacement

Joyce Hunter, the administrator for middle/high schools and career and technical education for the district, presented a recommendation to use $35,093 of this year’s Perkins Grant funding to replace the computers in the Business Education Computer Lab at Huron High School. Trustee Susan Baskett asked questions that clarified a number of issues: the total cost of the quote from Dell; that computers would be purchased, not leased; and that the life cycle of computers in AAPS buildings is 7-8 years. Hunter clarified that the Perkins Grant affords just enough money to do one lab each year. Trustee Deb Mexicotte commented that 7 or 8 years is a long time in the life of a computer.

Naming of Facilities

Liz Margolis, director of communications for AAPS, introduced two requests to name facilities in honor of AAPS staff. It was recommended to co-name the Pioneer High School track after the boy’s cross-country and track coach Don Sleeman, and to name the Tappan Middle School gym after former physical education teacher and coach Rob Lillie. Superindentent Todd Roberts commented that both recommendations meet all criteria and board policy.

A former student reported that Don Sleeman was recently named national track and field coach of the year, and inspired his athletes to do better in all aspects of their lives. A parent who spoke in support of Sleeman asserted, “That guy – he’s like a pirate! He is heroic to me, and to all the boys. He’s 70! I want that man to drive by the field, and see his name there.” [Sleeman was recently honored with a mayoral proclamation at the Dec. 7, 2009 Ann Arbor city council meeting.]

Trustee Susan Baskett clarified that the official name of the track would be “Westfield-Sleeman” track, as it would be named not only for Don Sleeman, but also for Bryan Westfield, a change that the board approved last year. Baskett asked about the process from this point forward, and Margolis confirmed that, if approved, the booster clubs would be authorized to raise money for a sign, and that it would take about six months to complete.

Trustee Glenn Nelson stated that it was a “pleasure to honor these people. These are fun times – these are joyful times. I’m just glad we’re doing this.”

Deb Mexicotte, president of the board, reminded her colleagues of the comment someone made last spring about how having two great people to consider naming the track after was a great problem to have, and she expressed pride that “our community solved it.”

Rick Weiler, assistant principal of Tappan Middle School, spoke on behalf of Rob Lillie, saying Lillie was his mentor and a “most gracious gentleman.” He said, “I’d be considered a success if I could fill just one of his shoes.”  Trustee Simone Lightfoot and Margolis also expressed support for Lillie, having had him as a teacher themselves or known him as a district parent. Mexicotte and Nelson also made statements of support.

Weiler explained that Lillie is currently out of town and unaware of this effort, so he will be duly surprised if the recommendation is approved. Margolis requested that if it is approved, that Lillie could be recognized by the board at a future meeting, since he would not be here at the time of approval. Nelson said Lillie would be a joy to honor.

Hikone Student Presentation

At the beginning of the meeting, the 16th group of students to participate in the Hikone Exchange Program gave a presentation. Usually students only go to Japan every other year, but this last trip was a special additional trip because it was the 40th anniversary of the Ann Arbor-Hikone sister city partnership.

Each speaking briefly, the 11 students (one was too sick to attend) described their experiences with everything from the program’s selection and fundraising processes, and the language and cultural preparation they did, to adjusting to their host families and schools, and some of the specific sites they visited in Japan.

Trustee Glenn Nelson asked the students to describe a piece of Japanese culture that they wished was a part of our culture here. Students mentioned the greater accountability of students to their own learning, the fact that people wear masks when they’re sick to prevent the spread of germs, and how the giant photo booths at the mall were interactive: “You could draw on it!”

Trustee Susan Baskett asked Larry Dishman, the program’s coordinator, about the ratio of applications to students accepted to the Hikone program. Dishman acknowledged that there are more applicants than can participate, saying a few years ago he took 18 students, but that was too big. Twelve students is a good number, he said, but “we could go up to 14.”

Trustee Deb Mexicotte thanked the students for their presentation and said how much the board looks forward to hearing from them after each program year.

Trustee Irene Patalan mentioned that thinking of the trip put a smile on her face, and that she was really proud of all the students.

Additional Accolades

During the opening of his superintendent’s report, Todd Roberts reported that the Preschool and Family Center has just won accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, an arduous process, and a fitting tribute to the work of its former principal, the late Connie Toigo.

Also achieving awards were Huron and Pioneer high schools, who each received silver rankings from US News and World Report, and Community High School, which received a bronze. Roberts added that the awards are based on a wide range of performance indicators.

Roberts enumerated a number of other awards to individual teachers in the district, and mentioned that all 131 buses passed the Michigan State Police inspection.

The meeting was closed after the conclusion of the executive session, which had been recessed in order to begin the public BOE meeting at 7 p.m.

Present: President Deb Mexicotte, vice president Irene Patalan, secretary Glenn Nelson, trustee Susan Baskett, trustee Adam Hollier, and trustee Simone Lightfoot. Also present as a non-voting member was Dr. Todd Roberts, superintendent of AAPS.

Absent: Treasurer Randy Friedman.

Next Regular Meeting: February 3, 2010, 7 p.m., at the Downtown Ann Arbor District Library, 4th floor board room [confirm date].