Board of Commissioners - workshop

Good evening, everybody.

I'm going to go ahead and get us going. There we are. Welcome to the working session meeting. We'll start with our role, please.

Commissioner Beaman.

Present.

Commissioner Hodge. Here. Commissioner LaBar. Here. Commissioner Light. Here. Commissioner Maciejewski. Here. Commissioner Robby. Commissioner Sanders. Commissioner Scott.

Here.

Commissioner Somerville.

Here.

Thank you. Now is the time for public participation at the working session. At the working session, you have one minute for public comment. At the full board meeting directly after this meeting, you'll have three minutes. If you do want to give public comment, please give your name and the municipality within which you reside for minutes purposes. Anyone wish to give public comment at this time in person? All right, Tabitha, I don't see anyone in person.

Thank you. Dirk Mayhew, I thought you were kidding there for a minute. Commissioner LaBar. I'm here to advocate for free, fair elections. I had a minute to chat. Thank you, all of you. For free fair elections, I had a minute to chat with Mr. Jackson earlier. It sounds like that's moving forward, and Ada needs to learn how to accept money from y'all. I just want to point that out. Ada, you need to know how to take a check. The clerks that I'm in contact with aren't aware of the election legal protection system that you guys have set up. Now, maybe something's rolled out and it's not complete, but We've got about three weeks before mail-in ballots. We've got three weeks before ballots are available, and hopefully mail-in ballots go through the United States Postal Service and arrive in people's mailboxes. And somewhere between that day and Election Day, I hope that the election legal protection that's been under discussion does get rolled out to local clerks. Not that they'll need it, hopefully. And then last, it's come to my attention as a precinct chair, that Washtenaw County did increase the amount of training available for precinct inspectors. I don't know if y'all had anything to do with that. I'm happy to credit you with it. If so, additional training on all the weirdnesses in the pull book and de-escalation training. So thank you.

Thank you. Terrence, before we have anyone else for public comment, would you be willing to Get up to the microphone, sir, and just test it. Dirk, we heard you, but we may want to juice that up. I think we can.

DIRK BORGESON- Check, one, two. Check, check. Check, one, two. Hello? Check, check, check.

Is that better, you think?

DIRK BORGESON- All right.

OK. Thank you. We will proceed. And if we get notice that there's any issue with that, we'll try and rectify that quickly. Anyone else who has public comment in person at this time? Okay. Tabitha, I mean at this time. Anyone online?

No one online, Chair.

Great. We'll move to the report from the County Administrator. No report at this time. Wonderful. Tabitha, back to you. Any report from the Director of Board Operations?

No report, Chair.

Great. We have two discussion items tonight, and we will try and get through them as best we can here. Could I have Jennifer Harold join us with Citizens for Racial Equity in Washtenaw County to give an update? And as she is making her way up, you'll hear briefly, but I do want to recognize the Honorable Alma Wheeler-Smith, our former OHEC State Rep, County Commissioner, State Senator. Honorable Alma Wheeler-Smith, we appreciate you being here with us too. Forgive me. In addition to your legislative offices, you were also our RTA board, for which we appreciate, and thank you for taking that one for us. We appreciate it.

Thank you, Committee Chair LaVar. Wow, this works this time. good evening commissioners and committee chair lavar my name is alma wheeler smith and i thank you for this opportunity to present tonight and share the floor with jennifer harold i've worn different hats in my career one of which was the chair of the washington equity partnership The founding partners of that partnership were the board, the County Board of Commissioners, the trial court, public defender, prosecutor, and citizens for racial equity in Washtenaw, better known as CRWU. The WEP was a multiple year government and citizen process to develop an evidence-based plan for identifying and addressing racial disparities across all components of the Washtenaw County juvenile and adult criminal legal system. Today, I am here with crew to talk with you about our county's commitment to equity and to update you on the progress regarding the Washtenaw Equity Partnership. Specifically, our support at this moment is the hiring of a dedicated implementation manager to move the WEP recommendations and key actions into reality. The WEP was not the county's first commitment to address inequities in entrenched systems of government. For some historical and institutional context, I'd like to turn this presentation over to my colleague, Jennifer Harold, the current president of CREW, Jennifer.

Thank you, Alma. Can y'all hear me? Is this up? Right, thank you. So thank you commissioners for being here. And again, as Alma said, we're here as crew to give an update on the progress of the WEP report, particularly where we are in this moment and to give our very robust and enthusiastic support to interim commissioner Jackson and the hiring of an implementation manager. And so to understand where we are today, as Alma mentioned, we wanna do a little bit of a review of how we got here. So in 2018, the board adopted one community, advancing racial equity and the county's equity policy, both of which are recognizing that racial inequity required a much broader system-wide response. So the board then concurrently adopted, let me see if my slides are going to work. Is this on? Let's see, I'm gonna keep going. We'll see if we can get the slides to you or in your packet, or there we go. The board concurrently adopted Washtenaw's equity policy. So this policy recognizes, and there's a quote that many current inequities are sustained by historical legacies and structures and systems that continue to repeat these patterns of exclusion. And that the charge of Washtenaw's equity policy is for all aspects of County government, to not only address but to implement strategies that target inequities that exist within the county organization, inclusive of all of its services, and then resulting in equitable outcomes for all citizens. So moving forward into 2020, CRU brought the board the results of our review of more than 3,500 trial court felony charges. And we documented significant patterns of racial disparities in the adult criminal legal system. The board then met with CRU after we did this documentation in the fall of 2020, and it was suggested that there should be a deeper analysis of these disparities and their causes and remedies. And this led to the birth and the creation of the Washtenaw Equity Partnership. the founding partners of which were this board, the board of commissioners and county administration, the public defender, the trial court, the prosecutor's office, county staff, and then us crew citizens for racial equity in Washtenaw. So the WEP report was, as Alma mentioned, a multi-year process that was led by the Vera Institute of Justice. And it brought together all of these founding partners, and community organizations and people with lived experiences. And over this multi-year process, we had more than 100 folks in our community participating in this. The co-chairs of these subcommittees were both from the community and from government. this multi-year process. So then we move into 2024 and that work over those years and with all of those county partners and with community and with citizens who are impacted and living the day-to-day realities of all of the racial disparities that were being documented and uncovered, It produced the WEP report. So the WEP releases its findings. This work produces 65 recommendations and key actions organized around five strategies. This is a very comprehensive report. When you even break it down and you look at all of the key actions, we're getting into almost over a hundred like really substantive, comprehensive ways in which to try to reduce some of these racial inequities that we're seeing. Right after the release of this public report, WP representatives began having regular meetings with County executives following In the fall of 2020 following the Community forum members of the wp began working with the former county administrator Greg do. On a structure for implementation so making sure right that we didn't produce another like really great and juicy and comprehensive. outlining of problems and saying here's how we're going to fix this, but like, how do we implement these key actions and move this work forward. So the WEP members began working with former County Administrator Greg Doe on a structure for implementing the recommendations. We saw some progress halt. We saw some progress halt with the departure of that current County Racial Equity Officer and then the subsequent change in scope for the responsibilities for the position and a search for a replacement. During this time when we kind of saw this progress fall down, in the fall of 2024, however, like the county's attention to racial disparities did not stop. In 2024, the Washtenaw County Prosecutor's Office released its transparency project research that showed that black people make up nearly 50% of all the law enforcement warrant requests. to the Washtenaw County Prosecutor's Office despite making up just 12.2% of the county population. These are things that I'm sure that folks have read this report, were familiar with this, and intrinsically and intuitively, folks in the county, we feel this and we know it, but this was another documentation that came out of data providing further evidence supporting this board's commitment to address racial inequity in a systemic manner. So we're keeping moving forward in this progress. In 2025, the county hired a new racial equity officer. And in 2026, this new racial equity office under the new officer released the racial equity blueprint. Many of, I think everyone here has seen it. I know I've seen it several times. I know y'all have seen it because I've seen Derek present it. But it's the racial equity blueprint. And this is a roadmap for putting equity into action. And you're seeing it all these steps along the way. There's these efforts to continue to move towards action and implementation. And importantly, With REO's racial equity blueprint, this touches on 10, WEP touches on 10 of the blueprints pillars. CREW, and all the time since we first did our report and we've been working with the county and in the progress that's been moving forward, when we've been halting, when things have been going, we've constantly been working to keep this work alive. And most recently, CREW has been working with Interim County Commissioner sorry, Interim County Administrator Jackson, on what the responsibilities would look like of a strategic implementation manager for the WEP and for this leadership position to work closely with county departments, criminal legal system partners, and community organizations to move what has already been established as the recommendations and key actions into place and into action. CRU deeply believes that hiring such a person is a vital next step in ensuring that this broader system-wide approach to addressing racial inequity that was envisioned when the county first adopted that 2018 racial equity policy to continue this work forward. On behalf of CREW, we support Administrator Jackson in moving forward with this leadership position. So we want to thank you for this time to speak. Thank you, Commissioners, and thank you, Interim Administrator Jackson, for all the time and your commitment and your work that you have shown to continuing the work that started way back when and has continued this entire time with the WEP. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll open it up for questions from commissioners. As we get going with that, Jennifer, just one to build on. Do you have the most up-to-date document, the most up-to-date report that we should be referencing? And if not, can you send that to us at some point here? Yes. Wonderful. Yes. I just want to make sure folks are looking at the right one. Any questions for... for either of our presenters in this time or comments from the administrator. Commissioner Robby.

I'll just quickly say thank you so much for the presentation and for all the amazing work that you do in the community.

I really appreciate it and looking forward to moving forward.

Thank you.

Commissioner Hodge. Thank you, Chair. Hello. Hello. Yes, it is working. All right, thank you for the presentation. Good to see you and good to see all of our friends in the room. I know this didn't come with, because we typically don't want a budget ask during working session, but there's one thing you would want us thinking about with that.

You know what? I think the one thing that I want y'all to think about at this point is our hope is that this position, this person comes into position and I want everyone to be thinking about the continued commitment that this board has made over years. We're heading into a decade of commitment right now from this board and continuing work and all of the things that y'all do in your districts in different places. But as this work comes into implementation, I want everyone to be thinking about the historical context for when you took your oaths and you came into these roles. to support the entire county in moving these things forward. And so when you see this person coming, say yes and to them.

That was a good answer. That was good. All right.

Thank you. Thank you.

Other questions? Administrator Jackson. Not a question, just a comment. I think we have, we worked pretty closely together. I would point out that we talk about the Youth Assessment and Resource Center, putting that into implementation. I know we're just getting that going, will impact some of the recommendations on the juvenile justice side. So it's been a pretty big commitment of this group. I think the other pieces, and in the Racial Equity Office, we were talking about hiring someone who's a consultant or a contractor to allow us to think about how do we really, department by department, embed the recommendation throughout county government. That's one of the things I was working on with Greg before some of the changes happened. So I'd love to continue that work and then we can talk a little bit longer and a lot more detail around what all that looks like. But I think we have some good momentum to bring somebody on board in a capacity, at least can help us think about how we put these into action.

Jennifer, one quick timing question. You ran through the 2018 policy adoption and then the crew report back in 2020. These recommendations, I think, are coming up on roughly three years old. At what point are they coming up? too old to act on usefully? And what's our window of time here? I know we need to go urgently.

Yeah, I mean, I think this is a really good question. I think it addresses two things. It's what's the visceral reaction? I think the urgency of the moment is now. Realistically, the fact that we had in 2018, the policy come out, and then in 2020, we're looking at the same county and we're coming to the same conclusions. And then Ellie's office comes out with another report a couple of years later, and it's the same policy in the same county and the same conclusions. And then the WEP report comes out, and it's the same county and the same conclusions. Is this data getting old? Absolutely not. Is there an urgency for the socializing and the buy-in of all of the other folks around us? Absolutely, because you hit an instinctual point at which you say it was 2023. it's 2027, do we need to refresh the data? And I think there's an urgency to having someone come in and start doing the work now to make sure, and this is part of what an implementation manager does, right? Like the WEP report, when y'all go in there and I know everyone's gonna go home tonight and read the entire 187 pages and that's what, no one's gonna ignore their kids and we're just gonna all read the WEP report to refresh ourselves. But there are some things that you're going to look in there and say, the implementation manager, part of it is making sure that we're moving forward with, has this particular funding source changed? Maybe. There are nuances that may have changed. Like, this data doesn't die. And so there is an urgency to get this person in here to continue to do this work, particularly with the momentum that we have right now in the county, with the work of the YARG, with the REO blueprint, with the new county administrator, with our interim REO officer. with our new mayor-elect, the things that we're doing and the way that we're moving, there is an urgency to move the work forward because people aren't stopping suffering under these systems while we continue to make another report and make another report and make another report to say the same thing over and over and over again. The data is there and it's strong. The urgency is not, is the data going to stale? The urgency is, do we need one more report or do we need to work on the things that we've committed to since 2018?

I'm glad I asked. Thank you. I think also if the last 18 months have taught us anything, the federal government is not coming to solve some of these structural inequities, and we kind of have to act on our own in ways they can't claw back from us. So any other questions for our presenters at this time? Thank you so much.

Thank you. Thank you, commissioners. Thank you.

That was an efficient use of time and maybe could set a precedent for the rest of the evening.

Yes.

Speaking of precedents in the evening, we're going to move to the transportation alternatives program with our friends at SEMCOG. And also joining them is... both Megan Bonfiglio and Roy Townsend. I should note Roy is back in accounting role for the presentation, which is exciting for everybody. But Amy, I'm gonna turn it over to you and Kevin to sort of take us in and we'll let you get through the presentation and then open it up for questions.

All right, sounds great, thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Amy O'Leary. I'm the executive director of SEMCOG. And I want to just start by thanking you for your membership and partnership, your active participants with SEMCOG, and we appreciate that. As you know, we are an association of local governments. So we have 187 cities, villages, townships, intermediate school districts, community colleges, and counties that are members of our organization. We serve almost 5 million people in Southeast Michigan. So one of the things we wanted to do before presenting the big check is let you know that you do have a handout with you today And we wanted to present you with our annual value of membership report for Washtenaw County. So basically the rate of return for your investment with our organization. And a couple of things we just wanted to highlight. One is we're here really to celebrate one of our transportation alternatives program, but we have a lot of different funding programs at SEMCOG. And over the last 10 years, SEMCOG's direct funding programs have provided about $58 million, either for the county or the communities in the county for trails, ADA, accessible improvements, streetscapes, buses, roundabouts, and green infrastructure implementation. In addition to that, through our partnership with Watts, we've been able to insure over $668 million during that time period as well in federal transportation dollars to flow through the county. In addition to funding, our staff provides a number of technical assistance, so in the areas of transportation, environment, community economic development, and education. So we developed a number of regional plans but we work really hard on implementing those plans as well and one of the ways that we do that is basically making sure that it is based on sound data so we do a lot of data work at semcog i would say a couple of things recently we've updated our greenhouse gas inventory for uh the entire region including the county so that's available from 2024 We're currently developing our 2055 regional forecast. So looking at jobs and population growth within our region and what that looks like. So that will be presented at our October General Assembly. So we invite you all to come to that and hear more about it. We also do a number of trainings. We've had 60 trainings, just had one today on e-bikes and e-motos and being able to provide a venue for communities to talk to each other on important topics. That was an important one that we talked about today. And finally, we work on legislative advocacy, both in Washington, DC and in Lansing. And so we're very active in that space as well. So if you have any questions about the ROI on your investment with our organization, please let me know. But in the meantime, I'm going to turn it over to Kevin and he is going to be the beginning of presenting the big check to you.

Thank you, Amy. I'm so happy to be here. Thanks for having us. And thank you for your membership in SEMCOG. This is what we'd love to do, give money to really great projects. So the Transportation Alternatives Program, as Amy mentioned, provides funding for trails, streetscapes, and really the focus is improving safety for all road users, but especially pedestrians and bicyclists. So this $1.6 million investment in partnership with the county, really in partnership with the roads, the parks, and really excited to be able to make connections. And this project in particular is exciting for us because it's connecting residents, those that rely on alternative transportation or active transportation to access assets. And the new asset that I know we'll be talking about following my presentation is one that we want to get people to walk to, to bike to, and to get there safely. So this one mile stretch of either rehabbed asphalt or pathway into asphalt is something that we don't take lightly and we're really proud to. And I know Commissioner Robby brought this project to my attention maybe a year or so ago, and we're so happy that now it's moving forward. So I appreciate that connection is something that we really do value. So with that, I might take it over to our friends at the parks to give us a little more details on this exciting project.

Good evening, everybody. thanks for having us here uh happy to um come and talk about this project so uh again happy to be here i want to say thanks to semcog uh for this funding uh we have received up quite a bit of funding over the years through the tap program and um and also i wanted to thank the road commission too so matt mcdonnell is here they have been tremendous partners with county parks over the years and we're really thankful they have a very unique relationship with our road commission So I really appreciate you being here. And then also our other partners on this project. So it's Superior Township, Ypsilanti Township, and then Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation Commission. So I'm going to turn it over to Roy Townsend, who many of you probably know him as his, in his former role as the director of the Road Commission. But he has been a trails project manager with parks for a number of years and is really one of the, one of the, Key people behind the border to border trail and making sure that things are moving forward and has been very instrumental in making sure that this project here. At the eastern Washington Community recreation Center is going to go off without a hitch, so I will let him kind of cover some things and i'll i'll pop in as well and i've got a couple more details about the rec Center.

Yeah, thank you. Thank you, Megan. Thank you for having me. It's nice to be back. Not talking about roads now. I've been retired from the Road Commission. Now I've been eight years at County Parks. That's been great. So when Megan talked about this, you know, the rec center, and we started looking, it's like, what this really needs is some non-motorized connections, because communities, there's a lot of resources out there, a lot of different parks, different things. So we started looking. It's like, and then we found out, you know, TAP program, which we've worked with. So this is like an excellent opportunity. We got a rec center, gonna get people there. They're gonna wanna walk, bike, whatever way to get there. And you can see from this picture, there are sidewalks out there, probably 50 years old, pretty rough shape, doing a lot of this sideways and different things. So that's what we're gonna be replacing with a 10 foot path. Actually, we'll probably be looking at a 10 foot concrete path, because it does last a lot longer. So I'll go to the next slide. So as far as the whole TAP project and federal aid project, we've been working with SEMCOG and federal funds on actually probably nearly 25 years ago, the section of the border board trail behind St. Joe Hospital was one of the first sections that received TAP funding way back in the day. And then the other section, early section was a section in Hudson Mills, north of Dexter on the map. and that's probably 15 to 20 years old, and that's probably one of the most popular sections of the border border trail. And you can see from this map, we've gotten federal funds to have money on seven different segments totaling over $13 million. And we match that, those projects cost about $30 million. That's where the county road and trail millage comes in, because that generates for us about two and a half million dollars. We use that to leverage money and match the federal money. Obviously I know the road commission used that money to improve roads and do other improvements, but that's where this combination of road money, trail money and federal money makes this all happen. And without it, this border to border, that's how we make some progress on this project. So on this one, this is a map of the general area. And what we found out is when we got out there, it's like, there's quite a few trails already out there, and there's just like some gaps. So this project actually is gonna fill those gaps. So then you can get from the skate park, you can get up to the library in Superior Township, get down to the school on Holmes Road. So all those things, there's numerous things that this is gonna connect besides the rec center. I mean, the rec center is gonna be a huge draw, but there's quite a few other parks and things that really are already out there that are not connected. This is gonna give an opportunity to connect all those. This is just showing the route as it's gonna be on the map there. And I guess, is there a pointer on this? Anyway, and at the corner of Clark and yeah, right there, Clark and Don, that's where the rec center is going to be. And then you can see the red is all where all the trail is going to go into Ypsilanti Township and Superior Township and sort of connect both communities together. And you can see the density of the community. So, you know, there's already a lot of people out there. There's a lot of the neighborhoods have sidewalks, but this will actually pull those together because some of the bigger roads, Clark Road and those really don't have that sidewalk in this feature. So yeah. And this is just showing the different intersections. At Wendell, this is where we're connecting in, and you can see looking along Clark Road, the condition of that sidewalk, it's in pretty rough shape, no longer meets ADA compliance, because if you're in a wheelchair, you probably really couldn't go down there safely. And this one will. And just showing some of the other intersections, like at Ford and Clark Road. Actually, we got a call concerned, Right now, trying to get across that intersection, it's a busy intersection. We're going to probably narrow down the intersection a little bit and put crosswalks so it's safer for people to get across there. Because right now, it's just sort of like, you got to just run to make it across there safely. And this skate park will be tied into the skate park also. So yeah, so it's exciting to be able to bring home those federal funds back to Washtenaw County and use it in the community. And when we applied, we looked at this, so like this makes sense because all the resources and all the other things that are out there, we have to connect these all together. And the plan is we're working on design now. Hopefully we get started in construction late 27 or 28 on the project. So that, Megan?

Just a couple more slides and then happy to take any questions. I added to after we reviewed this PowerPoint, but just looking in the Superior Township area. So on Stamford Road, also connecting, we have a lot of active neighborhoods right around this area. So want to make sure that folks are able to get down to the recreation center safely. And this will help us navigate through the property on the north side as well. So what does that mean for the East Washtenaw Community Recreation Center site? Roy talked about the fact that we're obviously anchored at the corner of Clark and Don. You can see this site plan that just better illustrates what it's going to look like. And then I added in a very crude yellow drawing. just to show what you saw previously and I'll move forward kind of to show this is what Roy shared as our construction plans have been in development. It's shifted a little bit because we need to integrate the trail into the community center site. I think I can go backwards. Yep, so then going back to the site, you can see it shifts a little bit from the corner of Dawn and Clark and then integrates a little bit into the recreation center complex going up that boulevard median and then around the recreation center to the northern portion of the property where it will connect and then go into Superior Township. I think one of the things that maybe we missed talking about is there will be two signalized mid-block crossings that will be added in. Did I miss that piece? So we'll be having one down on Clark Road and then another one off of Stamford. So just looking to try to make this as safe as possible for folks who are going to want to try to get to the site and use the space. And I think with that, happy to take any questions.

Great. We'll start with Commissioner Somerville, then Sanders.

Yeah, thank you. Thank you for the presentation. I'm really excited about this. About a year ago, I walked from where I live in Depot Town to Pastor Wimberly's church when we had the public-facing meeting around the schematic design. And so I experienced what it's like to walk um obviously that's all like my district and i've been concerned about how the kids from like sycamore meadows are going to be able to safely cross and get over to the site um which is why i was concerned about it being on that end in particular because it's even further so i'm excited to see this and that there's a clear safe way for people hopefully i'm assuming like flights and things for um just extra safety so i'm super excited um Yeah, that's all. It makes sense. And I'm glad that this is happening kind of at the same time that we're getting ready to have construction start. So yay for safe routes. It's really important. I'm hoping more parts of my district that have incomplete sidewalks will eventually have complete sidewalks because it makes it like when I walked this day, some of the streets in Ipsy Township actually don't have sidewalks, but it was, you know, fine. I was aware of my surroundings and paying attention, but when you're a kid and you're on like, yeah, and you have headphones in and you're not paying attention to cars around you, you can become in danger, so. Really exciting, thank you.

Go to Commissioner Sanders.

Question is for, the first question is for Simcog. If you could just share with us, for those that are not aware, where does your funding come from?

Well, that's a good question. We have a number of different ways that we're funded at SEMCOG. Most of our funding comes from the federal government. So that designation to do as the federal transportation organization, the Metropolitan Planning Organization, means that we receive funding to do planning and to program all of the federal dollars. So that's a majority funding. But we have to match all that money. And all of the dues that the communities and the counties pay, one of the things it does is it helps match a lot of the grant funds that we do receive. But that's one, yeah.

Do you know offhand what are we paying? What is Washington?

You pay, it's in the book, you pay about $240,000 a year.

And thank you. And then my next question is for Megan. If you could, can you show us on the map just crudely where those two lights will be?

The crossings.

So last thing is, how have we shared this information with the community about these improvements?

So I'll start first with the, it's the RRFBs, the Rapid Rectangular Flashing Beacons. So that's the two crossings. So maybe, Roy, do you want to talk about the proposed locations?

Yeah, one will be One's right at Wendell where the driveway is going to be in. So it will line right up with the driveway. The other one is north on Stanford. That one, I guess, is not certain where it's going to be and if we're going to have it. Because we need to have something on the north side to go to. And right now, there's a park on that north side, but there's no sidewalk on that north side. So we need, before we can have someone go to the other side, there has to be somewhere to go to. So that one's not, Wendell, that's a certainty. Those rapid-flash beacons are the ones that are like,

And then how we've gotten the word out so we Commissioner Robbie as a parks commissioner also brought this to our attention that this tap grant application was out there and so read it to our attention we Then have taken it to this has been in play for about a year. I think it was September of last year and So that's gone through our public process at Parks. Parks provided the match through the non-motorized trail millage. And then all of the public meetings that we've had, we've talked about the tap improvement. So letting people know how to get there because there's obviously lots of neighborhoods that feed into this area. So we've been talking about it that way and then continuing to show it on maps.

Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Robby. That's one of the things that I was complaining about, not having sort of the trail connection on that side of the county. So thank you for the effort.

Go to Commissioner Robby, then back to Somerville.

Actually, that comment makes me want to give you guys kind of a narrative of how this all came about, because it was actually Commissioner Sanders and I think it was a working session of some kind, and you guys were talking about this issue. And I, you know, listening to you guys here, and then I think it was later that week we had a seminar meeting, and you guys happened to be presenting on TAP. And this is, again, emphasizing, you know, the benefits of membership, right? Here we are sitting in a room. You guys are talking about the TAP grants. And I noticed I was very attentive listening, because I was like, you were talking about how the program works, the types of projects you fund, and I was thinking about the comments that Commissioners Sanders and Light had made at that meeting. And then... you put up like the recent projects and none of them were washed on camera. And I was like, oh, and so then in the middle of the meeting, sorry, I went over and talked to Kevin, which I do this often. And then I was like, hey, what did I talk about? And he was like, we actually want to spread the wealth around. We want to make sure that each county in the region gets a good project. And you guys would definitely be, you know, viewed highly for applying and then had a conversation with Megan and it was like, and thank you, by the way, to Megan and your whole team for you guys jumped right into action and you made it happen. You helped Kevin right away. And so it's just one of those stories of everybody's pieces coming together. Everybody was part of this victory and seeing that check for $1.6 million, it's like incredible, especially for this project that we've done. The other thing that I too was like, we were looking at the funding you know, shortfall that we have for this site. This isn't necessarily helping to meet the funding shortfall for the actual rec center, but it's meeting a need on a site that would have had to be funded somehow anyways. And so this is just such an incredible moment that we're here after so much conversation and commentary from my colleagues at SEMCOG and from my fellow parks commissioners. And this is just very exciting. Thank you to the chair for being so supportive of this process all along. So benefits of membership in SEMCOG.

Go back to Commissioner Somerville.

Thank you. I just wanted to thank Commissioner Rabi for being a good rep on SEMCOG.

Megan, please.

I do also want to just point out, and maybe this is getting into the weeds, but we aren't able to apply for this funding on our own. So we have to work. We choose to and need to work through our road commission in order to be able to apply for the funding. So we work collaboratively with them on this entire project. Sometimes you work through the townships or the cities, but we need to work through the road commission. And they have been really great partners and continue to be great partners on all the different segments that we've worked on. So I just want to make sure I give them a nod

i don't know if everybody's aware of the role that they play uh commissioner robbie i'm gonna follow my sword for not acknowledging the road commission uh but i i will say i will say immediately that when i brought it to megan her first comment was i think we need to include the road commission you immediately contacted them and they've been excellent partners ever since so thank you guys for all your work appreciate your support on this project

It's always nice to have a working session with, uh, lots of positive affirmation. So commissioner were you, were you sure?

While we're talking about the trail, I don't know if Amy or anybody from SEMCOG wants to mention the member meetup that's going to happen on September 30th.

Yeah, I'll let Megan. She knows the most about it probably.

So we're really excited because we're hosting alongside the Metro Parks, the member meetup in Washtenaw County. So what this is, is maybe you guys can talk about what member meetup is, but gets to different areas in the Southeast Michigan region. Washtenaw County is the destination in September. It's September 30th. I believe it's at one o'clock, but meeting at Hudson, or I'm sorry, Dexter here on Metro Park. And we'll be doing a little bit of conversation and then walking to the Title IX Plaza. So about, you know, quarter mile down the way, being able to look at the amazing Title IX installation and talking a little bit about what made that happen and why it's important to have stops like that along the border to border trail and letting people just experience it and ask any questions. So I hope I will send out something after this just so you have it in front of you.

But we'd love to see you there too.

If it's possible, we'd like to do a picture with the big check too before we move on. If that's all right.

Before we all get up, where do you want us to go?

I mean, are there other questions? Let's take it and then we'll formally close.

all right well uh we'll move now to uh items for current or future discussion um uh oh yeah yep commissioner robbie you had a hand up please i didn't have a topic oh i think we uh i i think I had one item to bring up, but if you were going to move to adjourn, I don't want to ever block that, but I'll get right back. At board leadership, we talked a little bit briefly in terms of any potential modifications to board rules to address some of the length of meetings lately. Not to try and change content, but rather order. One of the things that we've heard from a lot of folks is it's just hard to stay engaged at this table, in this room, watching and so forth when we go late. I think we want to have that conversation at working session because if we bring prescribed answers, that probably won't be as productive as trying to develop them here. and seeing where the will of the body is. So I just wanted to raise that at items for current or future discussion. I'd like to try and do it next working session or at least begin that process and just wanted to make folks aware. Yeah.

Thank you, Andy. Mr. Sanders. Was all that to say that we're talking about being more efficient?

leaving before 2 30 or 3 30 what i what i heard commissioner sanders um i had a few people come up to me and they said andy um do you know how late you were here last time and i i said yes um and i felt bad for michelle in particular because i believe she said literally out loud as an adult in 2026 i have a 3 30 a.m stop um and and we almost kept her so i i think i don't believe she did um so let's be candid too we had two and a half hours of public comment And I know all nine of us are committed to giving the public their voice, and we have robust discussion and all that. We're just looking for ways, can we change the order to incentivize efficiency? Yes, how about that?

Well, can I just add that over the last couple of years when we attend the Association of Counties, we've Not that our residents will care, but we are literally the laughingstock of the other counties because they think it's absurd that we have no public comment and that it just goes indefinitely. None of them meet until 2.30 or 3.30 in the morning. So I'm glad that we're gonna be having this as part of our discussion, the working session. We are part-time. I say that all the time. I'm sure people get sick of it, but it's the truth. and we have other lives and jobs and there's a more organized way to gather public time than just physically being present. Yeah, excited about it, thanks.

Thank you. Commissioner Robby, you had your hand up.

Yeah, I guess I'll preview my thoughts on this discussion since you brought it up, but I, I'm gonna have a problem with us limiting public comment in any way, shape, or form. I have a problem with the fact that we limited public comment almost 10 years ago, and I will have a problem with us limiting public comment again if that's the discussion that we're gonna have. I think that the public is the boss, and if people wanna come here and read the phone book to us, then it's our job to sit here and listen to them. And even if it takes two hours, that's what it is. We're elected to do this job, we're elected to stay here late. I don't see any rationale for us limiting public comment and I think that it would be an affront to the democratic process for us to engage in that conversation. I think maybe there are ways to readjust the agenda. I don't wanna see public comment at the end though. I was at a meeting recently for a data center in Saline Township where the board moved the public comment to the end so that they didn't have to hear people before they voted. Obviously, there was public outcry about that and they ended up making a split moment decision to move public comment to the beginning. It's messy. It sometimes sucks. People say things you don't wanna hear. This is the job that we all ran for and I believe that it is a disservice to our people, to the public, to our democracy, to stunt the opportunity for the public to engage with us. I don't know what the proposal is gonna be, but I'm just saying that as a preview of where I'm gonna be on this issue.

Thank you. Commissioner Scott.

Thank you, Chair. I am really excited to talk about it. I've been looking at some of these changes to think about how we can make our time at the table. more productive um like commissioner robbie i don't necessarily want to limit the public i think yeah it's true if they want to come to the table and read the phone book that is absolutely within anybody's purview to do that um i do think that there is something about us making major policy decisions at 1 30 in the morning that is also not good for democracy So it is balancing the good of democracy of hearing people speak to us and making policy decisions not in the middle of the night. When people should be able to be in this room and see us making those decisions and holding us accountable by being in front of our faces while we're making them. And for us to be awake. we're making them and making those good decisions and not making decisions based on the fact that we really want to go home and go to bed and we have to work the next morning So I think that there's a way that we can try to balance the needs of hearing people who wanna talk to us with what we need to do at the table. And some of that means listening to ourselves speak and thinking about how long we're talking about things. I'm not just gonna cast this all upon the public. We have some responsibility here as well. But I think that there's a way that we can measure making sure that people who wanna talk to us about things that are on our agenda have the time to do that, and people that want to talk to us about things that aren't on our agenda have a time to do that also, and they might not be at the same time. I'm looking forward to the conversation.

All right. Any other comments or questions on that? Great. I might look back to Commissioner Robby for that previously mentioned motion.

Move to adjourn.

Support. All those in favor say aye. Aye. We are adjourned.

Oh, my God. What? Test, test, test. Can you hear me? Test, test. Test, test. Can you hear me? I'm testing, I'm speaking, I'm speaking to Ted.

Okay, I'm going to go from

Crystal light test, crystal light test, test, test. I am testing for crystal light, testing the audio, test, test, test, test, test, test, test, testing. Yeah. I am Commissioner Mofayefi, test, test, test. Commissioner Mofayefi, test, test, test. How does Commissioner Mofayefi sound, test, test, test.

Oh, we don't.

Mr. Beeman, test, test, test. I'm Mr. Beeman, test, test, test. Mr. Robby, test, test, test. I'm Mr. Robby, test, test, test. I'm gonna lean forward. He's leaning back, that's why I leaned like that. Okay, great. I am Mr. Derrick Jackson, pass, pass, pass. I'm Mr. Derrick Jackson, pass, pass, pass. I'm Commissioner Scott, pass, pass, pass. Chair, chair, chair. Brendan, roll call, check, check, check. Brendan, roll call, check, check, check. Justin Hodge, check, check, check. Mike, Mike, Mike. Andy, Mike, check, check, check. Check, check, check. Hers is the best.

Yeah.

Yeah. Here, wait, let's test Andy's. Or I guess Andy's not gonna sit here. Or Andy is gonna sit here, good? Okay, cool.

Commissioner Crystal Light test, test, test. Commissioner Caroline Sanders test, test, test. Commissioner Annie Somerville test test test.

I think

and the statures for it.

all right um good evening everyone i'm gonna call this can you even hear me on the microphone yes Kind of, okay. I'm gonna call this meeting, the September 2nd, Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners meeting to order. It is the last meeting of summer. I know that it's September, but it is summer until, wait, we have one more summer meeting. Okay, don't take away my summer until September 21st. All right, there's my editorializing. At this point, we rise for the pledge.

um okay brendan could you call roll for us please yes commissioner beeman president commissioner hodge here commissioner lavar here commissioner white commissioner machiasi here commissioner rowdy commissioner sanders president commissioner scott here commissioner somerville here

Fantastic. Thanks, Brendan. Before we move to public participation, I just have two very special resolutions that I want us to look at as a board of commissioners. And unlike some resolutions, these will be presented by the entire board. So I'm going to start with with a resolution honoring brady peck past director of operations brady you come on up and stand there so we can all look at you when we're doing this resolution i feel like this is making it official and i know it's already official and i don't like it um commissioners we'll read this um kind of round robin uh and i think what i'll do is i'll start down here with commissioner light tabitha uh this evening though did let me know as you may have saw the microphones are being a little bit wonky so try to speak right into that microphone and then put yourself off when you're done because somehow that's helping with things So a resolution honoring Brady Peck, past director of operations, Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners. Commissioner Light.

Hey Brady. Whereas beginning his service to Washtenaw County, Brady Peck served as park seasonal employee from December 13th, 2015 through March 4th, 2017, before returning to county service on December 9th, 2019, as a business operations and strategy analyst, demonstrating a continued commitment to serving the residents of Washtenaw County.

Whereas, hi Brady. Whereas Brady Peck was promoted to finance reporting and special projects administrator on April 24th, 2022, where he supported financial reporting, strategic initiatives and operational improvements that strengthened county administration and.

Whereas recognizing his leadership and expertize, Brady Peck was promoted to director of operations on May 7th, 2023, providing strategic guidance and operational oversight in support of county administration and the county's commitment to responsive and effective public service.

Whereas throughout his tenure, Brady Peck played an integral role in coordinating countywide operations, advancing organizational initiatives, and supporting the implementation of board priorities through collaborative leadership, thoughtful planning, and effective administration. And

Whereas Brady pack strengthen the county stewardship of voter approved millages on county millage policy property tax revenues and long term fiscal planning, while partnering with the washington county road Commission to establish enhanced accountability measures for the roads and non motorized pathways Miller and.

And whereas through his professionalism, integrity, collaborative leadership, and unwavering commitment to excellence in public administration, Brady Peck earned the respect and appreciation of elected officials, county staff, community partners, and residents, leaving a lasting positive impact on Washtenaw County government.

There's only one clause left, so I'm going to just take a little bit and share with my other two colleagues here. So now, therefore, it be resolved that the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners hereby honors and commends Brady Peck for his exemplary service and expresses its sincere gratitude for, Annie, go ahead.

His leadership, dedication, and many contributions to Washtenaw County.

The board extends its best wishes for his continued success and thanks him for the legacy he leaves in service to the residents of Washtenaw County. Thank you, Brady.

Brady, the floor is yours.

Thank you, chair. It was an honor to serve the people of Washtenaw County, the board, the employees, and work with the 1400 plus employees. And I think that's something that, you know, yeah, it's great to be recognized and honored for that, but it's really the 1400 employees of the organization that really do deserve that honor. and recognition that do the daily work and show up every single day, the frontline staff. So just wanna thank them because without them, the county wouldn't be anything. We wouldn't be able to provide the services to our residents. So I just wanna say thank you to them and make sure they're recognized as well. Thank you to the board for all your leadership and guidance. It's helped me tremendously advance my career professionally. I want to thank our previous administrator, Administrator Dill, and also our interim administrator, Jared Jackson. Both of them have helped me tremendously, given me guidance. So thank you, everyone. I'll keep it short and sweet. And hopefully, in the spirit of how my meetings are going, keep it short and sweet again. So thank you.

Thank you, Brady. For anybody who doesn't know, Brady has like encyclopedic knowledge about things that happened. And like, you can ask like, at what meeting was this? And he will tell you like, April 12th, 2021. And you're like, how do you know that? It's really impressive. So expect I still may send you texts asking that. So, all right. Thank you, Brady. The next resolution we have is Terrance Williams. You can now stand in the spotlight yourself, Mr. Williams. And I'm gonna go from the opposite direction this time and start with Commissioner LaBar.

I'm going to start resolution honoring Terrence Williams for his 14 years of service to Washtenaw County. Whereas Terrence Williams began his career with Washtenaw County in August 2013 as a youth attendant and through years of dedication, exceptional leadership and steadfast commitment to serve in the community, advanced through numerous roles before ultimately serving as executive assistant to the county administrator. reflecting a career defined by continuous growth, equity, and excellence in public service. Ann?

Whereas throughout his career, Terrence consistently worked to ensure that county government was more accessible, responsive, equitable, particularly for young people, families, and historically underserved communities and individuals directly affected by public system. Ann?

Whereas as operations manager of children's services, Terrence demonstrated his commitment to the safety development and wellbeing of young people by leading the installation of a state-of-the-art security system, serving as the facility's staff instructor for handle with care certification training and leading the youth. I read program to encourage literacy among youth center residents contributions for which he was recognized as the Sally Rucker youth center staff member of the year and

Whereas as program manager in the Washtenaw County Racial Equity Office, Terrence led the county's participation in the fines and fees justice cohort, advancing efforts to eliminate the inequitable non-statutory fines and fees associated with incarceration and the local judicial process through budget analysis, strategic planning, public education, and grant funding for community organizations serving individuals directly impacted by the justice system and

Whereas Terrance led the work to establish the ARPA Community Priority Fund, creating a more equitable and community-informed process for distributing federal resources, expanding opportunities for organizations that had not previously been eligible to contract with Washtenaw County, and directing support towards community violence intervention, educational disparities, early childhood education, household economic hardship, housing insecurity, affordable housing, and homelessness.

Whereas in his role as executive assistant to the county administrator, Terrence led this special project to move Washtenaw County's Youth Assessment Resource Center from vision toward implementation, building upon work initiated in 2019 and grounded in statewide juvenile justice reform, updated childcare, Fund guidelines and recommendations from the Washtenaw equity partnership, while also leading recruitment and hiring of a program manager to guide the center's continued development and operation and.

Whereas the youth assessment and resource center reflects Terrence's belief in prevention early intervention and equitable outcomes by connecting youth and families with individualized assessments. Trauma informed support and community based services that address the underlying causes of youth behavior and reduce reliance on detention punishment and normal system involvement and

and self-advance throughout the organization. Washtenaw County should connect its youth. Oh, Washtenaw County should connect its young people to community-based support, not systems, and Chair, I'm gonna do the next one, because that's personal to me. Whereas outside of his many professional accomplishments, Terrence became a trusted confidant to many within the office, always offering a supportive and thoughtful listening ear and sharing invaluable advice on matters of both work and life. And

Whereas Terrence's welcoming spirit and exceptional sense of humor made those around him feel comfortable, valued, and included, while his ability to bring laughter into even the busiest days created a genuine sense of camaraderie. everywhere he went. And whereas Terrence's connections throughout the organization were further strengthened by the many members of the Williams family, thank you for sharing, who have also served Washtenaw County, inspiring the familiar joke among the staff that Terrence had a family member in nearly every department. Facts.

Whereas as Terrence concludes his service with Washtenaw County to pursue an exciting new professional opportunity, his colleagues extend their very best wishes to Terrence, his wife, Katie Williams, and their children, Sophia, Sydney, Terrence III, affectionately known as Trey and Tristan, whose lunchtime visits always brighten the office and who, along with Terrence, will be deeply missed by the county administration team. And...

Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners hereby honors Terrence Williams for his dedicated service to Washtenaw County, expresses its heartfelt gratitude for the professional and personal contributions he has made throughout the organization, and recognizes the enduring legacy of equity, compassion, connection, and service that he leaves behind.

Woo-hoo!

Terrence, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Chair. I just want to say thank you to all of you. That was more than I ever expected. A lot of truth to it, though. We do have a lot of family that works here in Washtenaw County. But I just want to say that from the very start, I started my career here at the Youth Center. I was coaching with Greg at Lincoln High School at the time, and I was going to work at a camp in Arkansas. And he's like, why would you go work with kids in another community? And so he said, how about Washtenaw County? And I said, at a juvenile detention center? And he said, yes. And so I started my career at Lisa Greco. She gave me a shot. young guy with little to no experience working in detention, but they invested in me. They gave me opportunities to grow, to learn, went back to school, strengthened my education because of the county's support. And so with that, I'm just very greatly appreciated by all the experiences that I've been able to gain while working here. Kevin Mitchell was very... influential to my growth and development at Children's Services. And, you know, Elise had asked me to come down to REO and work more central and that opened up many more doors, but then came to county administration where I really found a love for working in county administration. Just being able to be exposed to so much that the county does was so enlightening to me. But I'm extremely, you know, happy for the work and experience that I've been able to get here working here. Started one of the lowest levels of the organization and just kind of navigated my way through. but it's prepared me for the leadership that I take on today, and so I'm very appreciative. I'm very appreciative to Derek. I hate that I can't be here by his side, but I know he'll do great. He's got Cammie as an executive assistant, and she'll do great, but I will miss the people that I work with every day. That's what makes this work very exciting. It makes it very enjoyable because we have good people here in Washtenaw County. And so I just want to say thank you to you all. It means a lot. And I'm excited to keep doing the work in the county and stay relevant to everything you all are doing. Thank you.

Parents, thank you. Thank you again. You're an impressive man, Terrence, and you'll be really missed. Like if you decide you want to come back, same to you, Brady. I feel like we could make that happen. All right. We love you both. Thank you. And thank you for coming back to the meeting to help us out tonight, Terrence and Brady. Thank you for giving up your free time for being here too. Okay, so with that, we will go to public participation. Now is your time in the meeting. You have three minutes to address the board. You can introduce yourself with your name and the city or township in which you reside to help our clerk out. That would be fantastic. You have three minutes. I might have said that already. And a series of lights will let you know. Green means go. Yellow means wrap it up. Red means stopped. We're going to try to make this meeting tonight all about business and brevity. So, welcome.

Oh, thank you. You can't leave, see? Okay. I'm here on behalf of several politically engaged citizens to recommend the board invest in democracy by funding free public transit on election day in November. This year marks the 65th anniversary of the Freedom Rides of 1961 when brave Americans boarded public buses across the South to prove a fundamental point that public transportation is a cornerstone of civil rights accessibility and equal participation in our society. Today, of course, we face a very different kind of transit barrier, but the principle remains the same. Voting is the foundation of democracy. Yet for many county residents, simply getting to a polling place presents a financial and logistical challenge. For fixed-income seniors, working students, low-income families, and households without reliable transportation, mobility literally determines whether a citizen's voice is heard at the ballot box. This is not an untested idea. Other Michigan communities and regional transit providers, such as in Lansing and Detroit metro area, Saginaw County, Isabella County, have successfully implemented free rides to polling locations. This county has consistently, I'm proud to say, prioritized equity, justice, and accessible services. Eliminating fares on election days aligns directly with those values. It simplifies operations for drivers, speeds up boarding, particularly along major corridors, ensures every resident, regardless of income or location, has a reliable path to cast their ballot. I hope the board might consider working with regional transit partners, especially AATA and WAVE, to fund zero fare election transits. In so doing, we can make sure that in Washtenaw County, at least, no resident is priced out of their vote. Thank you again for your leadership.

Thank you.

Good evening, Commissioners. I'm Rich Stoller-Schulk, longtime resident of Washtenaw County, and I'm here tonight on behalf of MIRA, the Movement for Immigrant Rights Action. We'd like to thank the Board of Commissioners and congratulate you also on the victory, the dismissal of the Department of Justice lawsuit against the Board of Commissioners and other county officials over the county's refusal to use local resources to enforce federal anti-immigrant policies. As you know, the federal judge's ruling upheld the 10th Amendment to the US Constitution, the anti-commandeering doctrine that's enshrined there, which bars the federal government from forcing state and local governments from using their resources to enforce federal laws and policies. But really the lessons here are larger. One is that bullies can only be defeated by standing up to them, not by caving to them. And that our community is stronger when we all stand together and our elected officials work together with the local community and constituents. And hopefully other local governments will also take courage from the knowledge that the rule of law still exists, still applies, and that they're not required to act on the whims of the President of the United States. I should add that the anti-immigrant shock troops that are about in the land are a lawless and reckless force. No one is safe from them. 57 people have died in ICE custody so far since the beginning of the current president's second term. Families have been separated. Children have been torn away from their families and incarcerated. Many hardworking people, many of whom we know personally, are living in fear every day. Immigrant rights advocates have been killed and brutalized with impunity. And it was recently revealed, as I'm sure you know, that undercover Department of Homeland Security agents infiltrated an ICE resistance event at the Zion Lutheran Church in Ann Arbor. So we all face a threat to our freedoms. We appreciate very much the Board of Commissioners of Washtenaw County for listening to the community, for standing up for what's right, and for facing down tyranny with courage. Together, we're going to get through these hard times. Thank you, commissioners.

Hi, my name is Nancy Magnani. I've lived in Washington County since 1993, and I wanted to express many, many thanks to all of you for taking a bold and brave stand against ICE in our community. I have several immigrant friends who live in daily fear of ISIS terror. These friends and immigrants in general make an enormous contribution to the community and must be protected. I continue to stand with all of you wonderful individuals in the days ahead and appreciate your stance on defending our immigrant neighbors and our entire community. Thank you so much.

Start. She's not supposed to be doing that. Where did I hear this? From Fauquier County Social Services in Virginia when I asked one Oliver Benitez and one Jacqueline Cornegay, is my Florida social worker auntie supposed to be reporting on me to Virginia behavioral health authorities and diagnosing me and recommending medication for me? Is she supposed to be doing that? Well, that's what they told me. She's not supposed to be doing that.

Really?

So how am I the mental patient again? Because I'm a victim of one of the worst cases of Munchausen syndrome by proxy you could ask for. Oh, not possible with a psychiatric diagnosis. Somebody doesn't know how medicine works. You want to know why Greg House kept saying it's not lupus? Because lupus has telltale signs like a butterfly-style rash right on the face. That's why he kept saying it's not lupus. But that's not the first rule of diagnostics. The first rule of diagnostics is every body lies. An emphasis on every body, not everyone, not every person, not every human, not every Democrat, not every Republican. No, he said, every body lies because the body can tell you one thing, but it could be something different if you don't follow the right path. Now, do you? So if I'm such a psychopath, could that be because you're not familiar with the concept of neuropathology? That might be it. But yeah, so I got to ask again, how am I the mental patient when she's not supposed to be doing that? Judge O'Brien, worrying about serious irregularities. What serious irregularities? social workers unduly using the PCO process and unduly influencing criminal proceedings, like say in the 15th Judicial District, the Justice Center, 301 Huron Street, because there are separate jurisdictions, right? Well, gee, I gotta wonder why city police keep using county resources to indict me criminally, because if I'm such a mental patient, Okie dokie, Smokey. What makes you think that a social worker is equivalent to either a public defender or an emergency medical technician? I think that's the problem here. See, that's why I know all about medical error. Had to learn about it through your missteps, your mishaps, and your mistakes, and false equivalency. There's a big one. What makes you think a social worker is equivalent to anybody who has a medical license at all? Because we do have... quasi-level medical licensees like assistants, nursing assistants. D.D. Blanchard was a nursing assistant, and that's why you have the Munchausen syndrome by proxy. Someone always next to a medical authority, but a proximity of that authority, one perhaps with a big yellow M on it, Oh dear, is that what I landed in, a county full of Karens or communists? What difference does it make? We both like the same drink.

Thank you.

My name is Ray Smith. I am Ipsy Township in Wingate. Complaint number 263883 by Deputy A. Bell is where a man who was on the property investigated a fire with a female neighbor. He stopped the building from being set ablaze. This is a building where one of the commissioner's parents lived. Here was actions, no loss of life or major property damage occurred. Then a woman who has had multiple violent interactions assaulted this man trying to gouge out his eyes as he was sitting in his truck after he was done with that. The man had a dash cam that showed the inside, gave it to the Washtenaw County Sheriff. Was he was she arrested? No, it was given directly to Eli Savage prosecution. Was she has any charges or anything been done? No. Is it all right for a woman to abuse a man under Washtenaw County and Dyer and Eli? Yes. Next one, let's talk about your police officers being used as a private hit squad enforcers for criminals. 230094331 is the next police report of the woman who accused me of crime and got me swatted at 1.30 in the morning. We're not talking about this. We're talking about the moment that she had a boyfriend and then she stated that the boyfriend broke into her home, assaulted her and would not leave her. This happened only two months after you guys swatted me. And we're still charging me with a crime. Each individual accusation is a felony. Your officers came up on that man with guns drawn. The man tried to show your officers evidence that she lied. They didn't want any of it. The moment that she said that or the moment that she agreed that she lied, then they let him go. All hugs and kisses and everything is totally fine, even though this woman had guns drawn on a man. Eli and your police department did nothing about it again. because again, abuse to a man and risking a man's life is a-okay. Now, this little thing right here, the police department said that they wouldn't do anything because they didn't have proof. Well, guess what? We put cameras in there and then we had a camera of Robert Parent putting his cell phone in a woman's window and recording, and then Norman Hunt blowing his nose and wiping it all over the window. We showed that to the police. We showed that to Marco Campagiorni, the police officer who was the head police officer on mine. And what did he do? Nothing. We literally put cameras and have shown multiple Washtenaw County Sheriff officers evidence of crimes. Nothing. They're trash. And I think some of you think you're untouchable because of some kind of qualified immunity. And future examples are going to show the world how little that immunity legally protects you from me. And I'm not talking about the courthouse. I'm talking about public shaming. I'm talking about shit like this. It's going to bring me some of the greatest joy in my life to throttle some of these careers. Dyer and Eli are trash. And they make this county unsafe. They need to be gone. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Jen Wilherski. I'm a resident of Northville Township and a property owner and taxpayer in Salem Township, Washtenaw County. Bloomberg Businessweek, and actually WDET just on the drive here, recently published a report analyzing public records from more than 100 landfills across the country. And they found that 20 of those landfills, including Arbor Hills, have reported or requested permission to operate with gas well temperatures above 170 degrees Fahrenheit. This issue, like so many associated with landfills and in general, or associated with landfills in general and Arbor Hills specifically, is complex and requires careful review of the data. However, it is known that elevated gas well temperatures can increase contaminated leachate, it releases airborne carcinogens and it potentially causes catastrophic slope failure, which is basically a landfill equivalent of a mudslide. This report is yet another blatantly obvious reason why the county needs to review all the evidence surrounding GFL's proposal to build a new landfill in Salem Township, especially evidence presented by third parties. In light of this and other recent concerns related to Arbor Hills, I'm confounded by the timelines of the material management planning process. The MMPC spent at least 12 months discussing ad nauseum the goals to be introduced into that plan. they then had two months of no public meetings but when they returned in july they had a stamp vote on citing review committee they agreed to a six-month time frame to work through the entire citing process they've been presented ai-based models that do not include the full scope of the material management landscape within michigan and next week They are expected to hear directly from GFL, but to my knowledge, there are no other third-party groups that are given an opportunity to speak. I do not understand this sudden rush through the siting process, a decision that will have decades of impact to the community and the environment. So while I have low to no expectation that GFL will discuss their recent violations related to surface emissions, their intentional bypass of their PFAS pretreatment system, their operation of a dangerous elevated temperature landfill, nor their intention to destroy an additional 33 acres of wetland during next week's MMPC meeting, I will be there, as I have been for the majority of the MMPC meetings over the past year and a half. And I will continue searching for any glimmer of evidence that this process has the community's health and safety in mind. I also hope to see others from the community there as well, because now it does feel like we are at the right step in this process to have our voices heard. Thank you.

From the south side of the city of Ypsilanti, I want to give a shout out to Brother Williams here, who I watch come to this height and has always served Washtenaw County and his community with dignity and respect. And that's all we ever look for, dignity and respect is what we look for. Appreciate you, son. It is said that When a man set out to build, he first sit down and count the cost. Likewise, it says, when a wise woman builds her house, but a foolish one plucketh it down. A wise sheriff builds her department but a foolish one plucking it down. When the morale in a sheriff's department or any police department gets to the lowness, that foolish leader has anticipated and cooperated in plucking it down. Lawsuits pluck the sheriff's department down. Matter of fact, it plucks the county down. It makes the county look bad. It makes all you commissioners look bad when lawsuits keep arriving out of the sheriff's department. It should tell you that there is something wrong in that sheriff's department. And you don't have a lot of people say to me a couple of days ago that you got to understand she inherited that from Jerry. I want to let you all know I'm 80 years old, and I have followed police work for over 45 years. And you know what? Alicia Dyer was doing the same thing her deputies do, is doing under Jerry. She was doing the same identical thing. So don't put that on Jerry as the reason why she is doing it. I would wish that the commissioner would do something to curtail this event. That's what it is, y'all. It's an event. Nothing but an event over there. And, you know, always she has a specific group that she has to come to her rescue. And I'm going to tell y'all something. I would love to see the undershare coming to her rescue sometime other than my black folks all the time. I'll be back.

Thank you.

Hey, Dirk May, UA Ann Arbor. Thanks for letting me speak. I guess I'm going to talk mostly to the folks at home. There's three election protection efforts going on in Washtenaw County through the Board of Commissioners. One of them, I'm going to credit you guys, with increased Precinct inspector training. We've got an opportunity to get de-escalation training. That's new and it might be required because there's so much weirdness going on in elections. If you guys had anything to do with that, I know you fund the clerks and you fund that training. Thank you very much. The second effort, like Mr. Rollman pointed out earlier, is free transit on election day. That's the 65th anniversary of the first Freedom Ride. I'd like to point out Most people know that for the deaths of Turner, Goodman, and Cheney, the three activists that were killed for trying to register black voters in the South 65 years ago. And you got to wonder if things have improved very much, really, because now we don't take folks out in the woods. We shoot them in the face in broad daylight, and we don't burn their car and hide it. We just let it roll into whatever it's pointed at. That's the advantage of federal funding, I guess. The third effort, and I heard a couple of things that kind of echo it, what's ICE going to do? Since the last time I was here, Secretary of Defense or HEGSETH has refused to answer our senator's question, would you refuse an illegal order to send federal agents into the polls?

That's already happened.

federal ICE agents, I think they were, showed up at a poll in Syracuse to intimidate a precinct inspector like me because of things that that precinct inspector had posted online. As a precinct chair, I honestly don't know what I'm going to do if I'm faced with that or if I'm faced with a search or seizure warrant other than call the clerk because any question you can't answer, you call the clerk. A lot of the clerks in Michigan are not ready for those questions. And that brings me to the third thing that Washtenaw County is engaged in trying to protect elections. And that is to make resources available to those clerks. I think about the Freedom Township clerks got like a thousand voters total, really fiddly little part-time job. You're not supposed to have these problems. And since elections are administered locally, everywhere in the state, they're kind of on their own. I think it'll mean a lot to them to know that there's a phone number, a lawyer that'll pick up on the other end of that phone if something weird happens on election day or before. And it's approaching us rapidly. We're going to have ballots available in 21 days. I don't know right now what envelopes those are going to go into. That is prescribed by the United States Post Office, and they're talking about changing it. There's so much chaos and uncertainty. I hope that the commissioners can speak to that plan to get Election legal support for local clerks for the upcoming election. Thank you for your time. Thank you for everything you've already done. Free fare elections, free buses on election day.

Thank you.

Now I can see. Hi, my name is Tricia Kunst and I live less than a mile from the expansion border that's being proposed for Arbor Hills Landfill. On August 19th, I gave your Materials Management Planning Committee contact information with his permission for Todd Ballhammer, a nationally recognized expert in landfill smoldering events. He reviewed Arbor Hills elevated temperature history compiled from Eagle filings and agreed to be contacted. The MMPC committee discussed hiring experts after an expansion application is filed, but the citing criteria are being written now. As of this afternoon, Todd confirmed that no one from the county had contacted him. In April 2019, an Eagle inspector titled his Arbor Hills visit an elevated temperature landfill event inspection. I'm not claiming there's a confirmed fire. The history deserves an expert interpretation. In March of 2025, one well had reached 177 degrees. At that reading, methane was approximately 8% and oxygen approximately 7%. Carbon monoxide reached 150 parts per million during that reporting period. The EPA identifies elevated temperatures, depressed methane and increased carbon monoxide among the common indicators of an elevated temperature landfill. That well has an EGLE approved higher operating value allowing up to 180 degrees through may 1st 2028 because 177 degrees was within that approved value it was not recorded as a temperature exceedance mr thalhammer recommends no higher operating value above 160 degrees without a corrective action plan The most recent report covering January through June recorded 26 well field locations that reached at least 131 degrees, including three that reached at least 145. The hottest readings declined. This was good news. But elevated temperatures remain. That is an improvement, not a resolution. The source records, all the EGLE filings for all of this, you can find at arborhillsmonitor.org, arborhillsmonitor.org. You can actually see video of the 2022 incident where one of the wells melted. I'm not asking the county merely to make a phone call before this plan. I'm sorry.

That's time. Sorry.

Get an expert to give us some advice on what to put in the citing criteria. Thank you. We don't have. Thanks.

Jeremy Haley. Um, Dixie Township. They say when you hear the same thing from two or more people, you should listen. I'm here to talk about the sheriff's response that I got three times this last month in August because my neighbor or one neighbor, they heard something and they called 911. And I got a knock at the door at seven o'clock in the morning from the sheriff's deputy asking me was I making any noise and my new roommate and I stepped out and he looked at us and he said obviously you were two two were sleeping and he didn't hear anything but he's still not and a couple weeks later somebody sent me a text saying is this your house is on that crime thing said, you got a noise complaint at 2.50 a.m. Sunday morning. Did the sheriff come out then? So I don't know, we didn't get a knock then. Maybe he had enough common sense to say and see and hear that nothing was going on and moved on. The third time was at 4.20 in the morning. And that guy, the sheriff deputy was, what is it when you get stuck by a needle? What's that word? That's how he was acting, okay? Because he basically, as he's accusing me of making noise, going down the list of noises that you can make, and the last one was like chirping. If you're ever out at 4.20 in the morning, have you ever heard what's chirping? A lot of insects, okay? Then he proceeded to tell me that I'm not supposed to be making any noise after 11. And it's like, do you have your windows open? I'm like, yeah, I do. I have AC, but I can't run it. So I have my windows open. The interaction I had with him really sucked. And the first one I had was great because he laughed about it, but he realized he made a mistake knocking. But we should really look at the... if there is not an ordinance or something about a swatting where people abuse 911. And right now I'm worried that my neighbors are going to call 911 saying they hear gunshots and screaming when it was just a car on Grove backfiring. That's what I live in fear of that they're going to do. And the sheriff's office after three times of nothing going to come out kick my door and weapons arm and up and the flash banging things so that's what i'm living in now because of that thank you thank you anyone else in the room for public comment tabitha do we have anybody online for public comment

No one online chair. Okay. We'll look for commissioner follow-up. I have commissioner Hodge in the queue right now.

Oh, thank you. I don't know if you're going to read the entire.

Nobody else at this point.

Okay. Well, I had several constituents today, so I feel like I need to respond. Well, first I'm going to say thank you again to Dirk and for everybody that came to speak about the free fair elections. I think administrator Jackson may have more information about that. Maybe not. You just came back from, a place. We can talk more about that later. But we are working very hard on it. Not just to make it work with triple ATA, which as you know, we're a big fan of here we have very, we have many triple ATA items over here. We also want to make sure that it's county wide so that other that the ride and the wave and People's Express would be included in any kind of plan that we do to make it county wide. So we're continuing to work on that. To our frequent visitor that today spoke about the challenges engaging with social workers. I would just want to point out in case anybody doesn't remember, I'm a social worker. I know it's like people do the bingo card and people say things. Social workers are actually the largest provider of mental health services in the country. Many social workers are licensed medical professionals, including myself, because I used to practice clinically as my primary source of employment. I don't do that now. Teaching is my main thing. So just a fun fact. Jeremy? Thanks again for coming out. I couldn't really get a good look at the hat, and I don't know if anybody took you up on the debate offer you talked about before. I do hope that does work out for you. I have a similar response to you and the other gentleman that's in my district from Wingate. Yes, I'm aware of the fire that occurred near my parents' home. Thank you for the reminder. And I will, for the comments that you had and for the ones that the other gentleman had, I will have a conversation with the sheriff to learn more about both of those situations. And then I'm sure I will see you again soon. And to Ray, you know where to find me and my parents. So I'm sure we will talk again soon. That's all I got, Chair. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else for a response to public comment? Commissioner Sanderson.

I just wanted to suggest, uh, the gentleman that was speaking about, uh, his disdain for the, um, prosecutor and, and the sheriff's office that, um, they are duly elected. Um, we control their budgets. We do not control the actions of their offices. Uh, I would just recommend that, um, you also communicate with them. I'm sure that you have, but, um, We don't currently have the ability to change how they operate, but you certainly can exercise your disdain through your voting. They are duly elected as we are. That's my response to that, gentlemen. And then related to the... the transportation for the upcoming general election, I would also recommend that those that feel strongly about it consider attending the triple TA Board of Directors meeting. I believe that is next scheduled on Thursday, September 17th at the Ann Arbor District Library from six until 8.30. I think that it's important that that board also hear what our residents expect or are requesting from our regional transportation authority. They are here. at the pleasure of our residents, they serve us. And so it's important that you share with us as well, but they need to know too, their board needs to know. And so that they may be able or may be gently encouraged to find a way to make this happen. Not that they're not, I believe that they are working to cooperate with this effort,

never hurts to to let the people that um are in control over the authority know and that's it thank you commissioner any other commissioner follow-up i will um just briefly say thanks for people who came to note about the lawsuit we're thrilled it felt like winning the lottery and i hope we continue to win the lottery on that i'm glad that we could be um part of efforts of taking the lead and standing up to bullies and hopefully we can do that also with election security i know that um our interim administrator has had conversations with triple ata about this i think those questions can be ongoing commissioner sanders advice is fantastic when commissioner light and i were at NACO in New Orleans. I went to a section on election security and boy was that interesting. NACO is a bipartisan conference and I heard from the sheriff of one southern county how he makes sure He puts his dogs out at every polling place the night before. And he makes sure he has deputies at every place. And if he needs to bring the dogs back, he does. I think that's not the kind of election security we are looking for here. because i felt like that was maybe intended to keep people away from the polls and not to them um so i learned many lessons at that session one is that we should not have our doubts at the polling place um uh lightly another resolution we have on the agenda tonight which is not quite as serious as what we did when we took on fighting back against ice is just a resolution about making sure that we will continue to call lake ontario lake ontario and any official documentation here at washington county we recognized this year in our bicentennial the role that the indigenous and first nations have had in naming these places and lake ontario is one of those places the names existed before we did, and we will continue to honor that. I was furious when I first heard it, and then Commissioner Beeman said we should write a resolution, and God bless us, if it wasn't raining on one day of my vacation, and what did I do? I sat down and who wrote the resolution. So I'm thrilled that we'll have that and I think that we'll communicate this action should it pass to the Consulate of Canada who will then let the Prime Minister know and hopefully many other municipalities can stand up on a small thing like making sure we continue to honor the names of the people that came before us. Okay, we are in for business and brevity. So let's go liaison reports, anyone? Okay, great. Report from the county administrator.

Just a brief one. We are obviously back from a place, as Commissioner Hodge called it. It was a beautiful place. There will be at a future meeting more input from the trip that we took for the Legacy Project. But I did just want to mention the importance of the Legacy Project, remind people that's a part of the racial equity blueprint. 25 people were invited to participate in this genealogical, what we call ancestral pilgrimage, where people are learning about their individual family history. And then eight people out of those 25 after meeting biweekly since March and learning about their family history, took a self-funded trip to Africa. And when I say self-funded, I want to stress that. People have asked me, did the county pay for it? No, my bank account can show that no one paid a single penny of taxpayer dollars to go on that trip. I say that jokingly, but in all seriousness, the commitment of the eight people who went to sell fun, to be the champions, to use their experience, to do something. The second step is to raise money, to take young people as a second cohort. So this time next year, hopefully we'll be reporting back on a group of young people that were able to go through this very emotional, very healing process. I will just give you one quick example. On one day, we actually went and walked the same path that the slaves who traveled across Africa in chains, the eight of us, made that walk down to what's called the Last Bath, the very place in the river where they would, after a long walking journey, bathe the slaves and then brand them as they chained them to a tree. And then from there, we went to the slave dungeons and to be in that dungeon and touch those walls, it does something to the soul. And then we walked through the door of no return where you look out and you see the very place where they walked from the dungeon and got on the ships to come to America. And so just as one small example of how powerful of an experience that was for the eight of us, it really was a pilgrimage. It was not a tourist attraction. It was a life-changing process. And what I've said to staff is, That's the power of county government. You know, that idea was really talked about in the halls here of county government and how we can use county government to really help to do some healing could be really powerful. So there's much more to talk about. Commissioner Sanders was one of the individuals who went with us. Mr. Cole Brown, who's the project manager for the Youth Assessment Resource Center, was another person to go. And the interim racial equity officer, Akeem, was the fourth person from county staff that went and then there were four other individuals that joined us. So I just wanted to reference that we had a phenomenal time and there's much more to come to talk about the impact and then how might we help support the legacy project moving forward. So.

Thank you. Commissioner Hodge.

Thank you. Looking forward to learning more about it and seeing pictures and all of that. Just so everyone, because I know a lot of people are really interested in this. Could you restate how many county dollars were spent on the trip? Zero? Zero. Okay. Just to be clear. Zero. Excellent. Thank you.

Could you tell us the name of the place? We just heard the place now.

I'm so sorry. Yes. We went to Ghana. So we went to Ghana. Cape Coast, they call it a castle. We call it a dungeon. But Cape Coast dungeon was one. And then Jamestown dungeon was the other place that we visited. And beyond that, we had so many Ghanaian folks who showed us around, opened their doors to us and really welcomed us, as they often say, welcome home. And so the legacy project for some is like, what's our legacy? But for us, it's really, it's the legacy of the enslaved individuals. that were really strong, brilliant, not just passive, meek participants in slavery, but for them to survive and then us to go back to Ghana really is their legacy. And so that's really what the Legacy Project is about, is that full circle moment. So again, lots to talk about related to lessons learned and how it might influence what we do here in Washington, D.C.

I love it. I'm trying not to cry. Okay, thank you. Oh, Commissioner Sanders, go ahead.

I just have to be petty for a minute and just say that for all of those naysayers that had so many comments to say about whether or not we were spending their taxpayer dollars, they are welcome to make a donation to www.mindyourownbusiness.com.

Or maybe to the people who want to come after you, to the youth that are going. So that would be a great place for them to, maybe we could get that website and then reroute it to the donation for people going. Okay. Thank you very much. I can't wait to hear more about it. And I think it's incredibly powerful. I know we've had some conversations and I won't rehash them at the board table, but thank you. Next is the report from the chair of the board. My report is business and brevity. All right, let's go. No special order business appointments. Would anybody like to move the appointment? So moved. All right. Any discussion? Okay. Let's have a roll call for the appointments, please.

Commissioner Beaman?

Yes.

Commissioner Hodge? Yes. Commissioner LaBar? Yes. Commissioner Light?

Yes.

Commissioner Maciejewski? Yes. Commissioner Robby? Commissioner Sanders? Yes. Commissioner Scott?

Yes.

Commissioner Somerville?

Yes.

Motion carries.

Great. Thank you very much. Next is the consent agenda.

So moved. Support.

Moved by LaBar, supported by Hodge. Any discussion? All those in favor?

Aye. Aye.

Any opposed? Great. Look at us. First reading resolutions. Commissioner LaVar?

Sure. Chair, under first reading A, resolution requesting authorization of the grant application to Health Resources Services Administration under Department of Health, B, a resolution approving the Washington County Health Department's 25-26 final budget from the Health Department. C, resolution authorizing the Interim County Administrator's signature in the County Health Department's comprehensive agreement for the period October 1st through, October 1st, 26 through September 30th, 27 from Health Department. D, a resolution amending the FY 2025-26 budget from Community Mental Health. E, a resolution approving the Washtenaw County Community Mental Health 2026-2027 Annual Operating Budget. F, a resolution ratifying the Community Corrections Comprehensive Plan in the amount of $3,144,299 for the period of October 1st, 2026 through September 30th, 2027. That is it for first reading. So forward.

All right, moved by LeBar. Seconded by Hodge. Any discussion on these items? Commissioner Sanders?

I'd just like to ask if we could, moving forward, provide information that tells us whether or not when you talk about the elimination of positions or reclassification of position, what is the net change? If we could add that for future, I think that's helpful for me and I think it would be helpful for our residents to see, are we saving money? Is it costing us more money? you know, just bulleted next to each one of those items. That would be helpful.

That's a great suggestion. Thank you. Thank you. Noted. Commissioner Maciejewski.

Thanks, Chair. I have a question that perhaps the County Health Department staff could answer. In reading through the background documents, it was noted in there the difficulties the department is having hiring nurses and social workers. And I was hoping that we could talk a little bit more about that. What kind of numbers are you dealing with? What is the vacancies that you're dealing with? And maybe strategies that you're using at this point in time to encourage more applicants.

I want to note, Commissioner Maciejewski asked that question, not me.

Chair, may I layer on to Commissioner Maciejewski's question?

Sure, yeah.

I'm interested in finding out what happened to the MOU that we were supposed to have that would allow us to have a... a different distinction of pay for the nurses and the social workers. That was the thing. Our last contract, and I know because I introduced it, and I'd like to know what happened to that and whether or not that's being utilized in relationship to the difficulties, because that's why I introduced

I'm going to say, why don't we go with Commissioner Maciaski, and it seems like a good question for you guys, and then Commissioner Sanders, from there, whatever you know about that, and then I'll pivot to Corporation Council. Maybe she knows something more.

Or maybe she doesn't.

Okay. I know she hates me right now. Okay. Okay. All right, go ahead, thank you.

Well, good evening commissioners and thank you for the question. I think we continue to have major challenges with the recruitment and retention of our public health nurses. It continues to be mostly around compensation. And we have some nursing positions that we are currently trying to fill with qualified candidates, but the number of qualified candidates in the pool are very limited. And when we are talking about compensation, we often are declined by the candidates because obviously it's very hard to compete with the health systems like Michigan Medicine and Trinity Health. Obviously a public health nurse is a very different role than a nurse in a healthcare system in a hospital setting. And it does require some special skills, but we offer extensive training. And so we are often not just declined in terms of offering positions. And again, mostly it's because of compensation, but also it's an extensive training process. And so we often also are having turnover in those positions. And it's a big investment for us to train a new nurse. I will say, and we can talk about the budget a little bit more, but In our budget, we've really been very conservative because as you well know, public health funding right now is, and everything having to do with public health is a little bit volatile. And so we also have, for example, in our maternal infant health program, we have a nursing position that we have not filled. And that's been a decision because we don't have sufficient revenue and funding to sustain that position. So it's a combination of factors, but I appreciate you asking the question. And Jennifer, I don't know if you have anything to add there.

Can I follow up real quick?

Yeah, you can follow up and then I have a question about that too. Keep going.

When you are able to hire somebody and bring them in, Do you find that because of the nature of the work that you do compared to what somebody might do in a hospital or clinical setting, do you find that the applicants are at the beginning of their career, the end of their career, looking for a change? Does that have an impact on the tenure they might have with the county?

Yeah, it's a combination. Sometimes we have nurses that have been in a hospital setting and really want to change. And there's perhaps more control over schedules, working at the health department, not expected to do as much overtime unless there's an emergency. So certainly we've seen that. I think also our public health nurses are often asked to be generalists. They have to know about a lot of different areas of public health and provide services in a lot of areas of public health. So that's why the training is so important and sometimes We have some nurses that come with public health experience. They've worked at other local health departments or other public health settings, which is great. But sometimes we get nurses that are very new in their career and require a lot more training. So it's kind of a mixed bag, to tell you the truth.

I appreciate the answers. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you.

Can I, before, just while we're talking about that, before we get onto this, I'm going to just pontificate a little bit about this and, um, be annoyed. Not at, not at you. Um, One of the things I hear from people who think about this is that they get talked about what their public health experience is and sometimes get offered less. They're a nurse coming in with a lot of experience, but they are offered less money because they don't have public health experience. When I started my position at my employer, nobody asked what kind of nursing experience I had. They asked how long I was a nurse. because you learn nursing skills. And I was paid based on the years I had as a nurse, not as an experienced ICU nurse. I think that that's a mistake that we do at the county, and we should be paying people based on their years of nursing experience, not public health. job nursing jobs require training when you go into them because they're all very different you want to work in my unit you also require extensive training i think i'm a very good icu nurse i would need a lot of training to come do public health nursing it's not a measure of my ability as a nurse or not but i do have the nursing process and understand what nursing is but i would come in and apply for that job and be offered less because i don't have public health nursing i think that's a travesty and should be fixed additionally we we hear this and i'm sorry to our labor relations director uh or our our human resources we don't pay the nurses enough here if i'm looking at the starting wage for a nurse and the new contract is 43.53 an hour for a new grad nurse what's a nurse make an hour at the county start with like yeah it's 116.

The 116 level or grade, Chair, it starts at $35.67. $35. $35.67.

What's the top amount of dollars an hour a nurse at the county can earn? $53.57. So $53 you can come in as a nurse with $53. eight years and be making that. And then if you're just at a regular level C nurse, and you've been there for 14 years, you're going to make $68 an hour. How do you compete with $68 an hour for a level C nurse? And then I have the option of leveling up the different frameworks. So I, for example, I'm a level E nurse. So I'm going to make even more per hour than that. it is very difficult to compete in this economy when we're saying that's what nurses are going to make. And those nurses that make that are across the board, inpatient, outpatient, ICU, public health, home visiting nurses, that's what they make. That's what we should be reaching for. And I know we're constrained, but there are nurses that make $68 an hour that don't work nights and weekends and holidays. And those jobs are posted now. So I feel for you is what I'm saying. And if I could figure out a way to get you more money and work around some of these things, I feel like we should do it. And that's gonna segue right into Commissioner Sanders' questions about what we were doing on those MOUs. You don't know if, maybe you don't know the answer and it might be Guillermo, but if anybody has any type of insight into this, that'd be great.

When we were negotiating the current contracts, so the ones that are from 2024 to 2027, we had a special carve out for the nurses and they received an additional 4% reclassification on top of all the other increases that were extended to the employees. So that was how we tried to assist with the hiring challenges at the time with the health department. The social workers were not part of that.

So we can talk about this offline, but my proposal was for the nurses and for the social workers, based on the logic that they are both licensed, they require a level of education that the average employee does not. And this is not something that's new necessarily, maybe to us it was, but it was a way to try and meet the problem that we were having with being able to recruit employees. At my former employer, we had what we called a starred classification for our IT staff, and they received a base $10,000 more than anyone else that might have been a seven and they were a star seven. And it was difficult to argue with that from a labor standpoint, because otherwise we'd have no connection to internet, that systems wouldn't work because we wouldn't have the expertise in order to do that. So that is the reason that I propose that we have a MOU, my understanding was is that labor was not a, they didn't have a problem with it. I feel like this is gonna bite me in the butt, but 4% is kind of like laughable. I mean, I don't even see how that is a next tier. So I'm just gonna reassert, restate that those two classifications specifically, because we are having difficulty and have been for years, filling those two professional areas that we relook that, look at that again. Yeah, because we're not gonna be able to compete. Even our benefit package, which is excellent, by the way, nobody ever talks about that. Then we talk about the money, but benefits cost money and they save people money when you have good benefits. That's not enough to overcome a huge difference in being able to be a traveling nurse or work somewhere else that's more established. And perhaps we need to also look at what is our onboarding and training process so that we're not stuck in this, well, if you don't have public health experience, we won't be able to make you an offer. Maybe we need to look internally and figure out how do we help fix that so that we can provide them with that professional development. So thank you for the presentation.

And thank you, Commissioner Sanders. And I didn't talk about social workers specifically, but we have many of the same issues in terms of the social work positions. So thank you.

uh i'll just say one more thing we make exceptions all the time about saying about how we're hiring people or we explain budgets away because of the expertise and need that are needed and this is i think one of those areas it's really hard for public health to run public health without social workers and nurses yeah yeah you're here okay any other questions thank you thank you thank you Any other questions, concerns on these first reading items? Okay, all those in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? Fantastic. Business and equity, I'm just gonna keep saying it. All right, no final readings, single readings. Would anybody like to, Commissioner LaVar?

Sure. Three, a single reading, a resolution authorized participation in the Clemmis agreement. B a resolution honor Terrence Williams for his service. C a resolution honoring Brady Peck for his service. D a resolution, a resolution reaffirming the historic name of Lake Ontario. I'd also move approval of claims. Support.

I have moved by commissioner LaBar supported by Hodge. Any discussion on these items? Commissioner LaVar.

Just real quick. Just want to say briefly to both Terrence and Brady, thank you for your service. And just wanted to say, Brady, for your diligence and Terrence, for all your service, but also your laugh is always a source of joy to the people around you. Please don't lose that and please know it's appreciated. Thank you.

Any other comments, questions, or concerns? Commissioner Sanders?

I'm going to need you to replace Brady as soon as possible because he was my data geek. I got my information on stuff from him in a timely fashion. And yeah, I'm going to miss Terrence tremendously. But he's close enough. We can always roll up on him. Yeah, but I appreciated both of them and their willingness and ability to answer my crazy questions and give me the information that I needed quickly. So thank you, gonna miss you both, but I appreciate your work.

Okay, let's do a roll call vote on these items. Wait, sorry, sorry, sorry. Commissioner Beeman, it looked like a stretch. I'm so sorry. That's okay. It's only 8 o'clock. Go back.

No, I'm just kidding. No, I just want to say thank you for coming forward with the resolution. around Lake Ontario. It was named by the peoples who were here before us. And it means beautiful lake, as it should be. It's a beautiful lake. And it also translates in others dialects to leading big lake as it's the most eastern lake. And so I just want to thank everyone and encourage us to keep our homes, please. homes forever.

Okay. Um, any other items? Okay. Let's have roll call now. Nobody else is stretching.

Commissioner. Commissioner LeBar. Commissioner Light. Yes. Commissioner Maciejewski. Yes. Commissioner Robin. Commissioner Sanders.

Yes. Yes.

Commissioner Skagg. Commissioner Somerville.

Yes.

Commissioner Beaman. Yes. Motions carried.

Fantastic. Look, we're all a little giddy, but would somebody like to move? Commissioner Hodge?

Thank you, Chair. I would like to move that we go into closed session for a discussion on labor negotiations.

Do I have a second? All those in favor? Aye. Let's go. Roll call. It's a roll call. Sorry. It's a roll call. I'm sorry. I thought it was so.

Yes. Commissioner LeBar.

Yes. Sorry.

Commissioner Light. Commissioner Maciejewski. Yes. Commissioner Robby. Yes. Commissioner Sanders.

Yes.

Commissioner Scott.

Yes.

Commissioner Somerville.

Yes.

Commissioner Beeman. Yes. Commissioner Hutch.

Yes.

Motion carries.

All right, let's go.

Okay.

okay all right i'm calling this meeting back to order um order please uh we have finished with closed session uh there are no pending i don't are there any other items for current future discussion commissioner raj

Thank you. I will be quick in the interest of what would we call it, a business brevity?

Business brevity.

So some time ago, we all voted on a resolution to allocate dollars to a variety of summer programs in the eastern part of the county. We received this plaque today from one of the organizations that had received funding from us, and they sent us a letter. They sent it to me, so I was just going to read it to everyone.

Okay.

So it says, dear members of the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners, on behalf of Acts of Change Network, PeaceNIC, I extend my heartfelt gratitude for your continued support and commitment to our organization and the communities we serve. Your partnership has helped us promote peace, strengthen community connections, and create a meaningful set of opportunities for families and young people throughout Washtenaw County. With sincere appreciation, Reverend Joseph Jackson. So he came by earlier and brought this card and then brought this. Nice. We funded some of their programming last year too. And then they gave us a similar sort of thank you. And they gave us with the glass, like the glass thing, the glass award looking thing out there. So I'm going to put this out there next to it too. So thank you to Reverend Joseph Jackson and our friends at PeaceNIC for recognizing our support of the program i thought commissioner robbie would in particular like it since uh you know we really want people that receive county funds to recognize the county back and they did with this it was nice and he handed it to me i thought man this is one of our things uh but it's not this is kind of that's pretty nice uh that's all i got thank you thank you any other items for current and future discussion commissioner robbie do i have support all right all those in favor let's go home