This is a classic example of citizen input in our county government.
John showed up. He was respectful. And he had a camera!
Oh the sunlight that so frightened those so used to the cover of darkness!
John, you are the MAN!
We now have a core of "citizen reporters".
Who will step up next?
Fellow Patriots,
I wanted to thank Jim Riley for inviting me to a County Board meeting. It was interesting to say the least.
Highlights
At one point one of the commissioners suggested that they streamline the process for starting new businesses and get more proactive to develop small businesses. Another commissioner replied if I may paraphrase that almost 80% of new businesses fail so what is the point? Wouldn't we (the board) just be helping them to fail? I felt like reminding him these businesses help pay his salary.
There was a presentation on the process for the Indian Gaming casino. I am not sure what your opinion is on this matter but the board was all for it. At one point the attorney for the tribe commented he was the one person happy to see that unemployment went up in the county. The commissioners got a big laugh out of this one.
Discussion of wind farms: The board's role appears to be minimal; either an endorsement or a "kick in the pants". They are waiting for the state to issue the guidelines and updating themselves on the issue.
Equalization:
Donna Stokes (The Equalization Director) gave a presentation including a chart. A commissioner asked about the foreclosure issue. She said there was misinformation in the paper's editorial page and that foreclosures were no where near 2/3rds of the sales. I spoke up indicating that I wrote the opinion letter and the 2/3rds figure came from a freedom of information request which was responded to by Kelly Sobel the Executive Admin. for the State Tax Commission. I also asked her how many foreclosures were included in her data. She did not know.
Budget:
The commissioners were given a copy of a budget. There seemed to be an atmosphere of gloom. A lot of talk about strategic planning and the need to work together took place. There was some talk of across the board cuts but it seemed to be a last resort solution.
Camera: I filmed quite a bit of the meeting. One thing that Jim mentioned is that the board has felt that there was no one watching them. I think they were surprised by the camera.
Idea: Jim is doing a great job finding out about these meetings and attending them. The more we show up for these meetings the better. I would also like to form a group of people focused on reviewing all the county expenses and other documents. If anyone is interested in this project let me know.
John McNally
john@mccoyltd.com
radaris.com/p/Kimberly/Misak/
Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Expenditure Detail ...
Recipient, Amount, Description, Date. Friends of Kenneth Mahoney, Montague, MI, $350, Non-Federal Ken Mahoney (MI-D), 10/27/06 ...
https://www.opensecrets.org/.../expenddetail.php?...Kenneth+Mahoney
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