Power Grab Redux
July 25th, 2006 | by christine | Note: Please pardon any typos & grammatical errors … I am trying to whip this out before running off to work for the day. 
On July 2nd I blogged the contract status of our current County Coordinator. As I mentioned in the article, I submitted a FOIA request to get the supporting documents. The county invoked the legal extension to delay my request, putting the deadline for their response at July 27.
On Monday, July 24, the county Finance Committee met to review this contract. According to reports by people in attendance, the committee is recommending the following:
These recommendations proceed to the Committee of the Whole for recommendation. The CoW meets today at 4pm in the Commissioners’ Chambers, Surbeck Bld. If the recommendation passes at the CoW today, it goes before the full board for a vote on Thursday, 4pm, same location.
Since there has now been a public hearing on the matter, the county has complied with the FOIA request:
The documents do not reference the title of CEO, but rather that of County Administrator, which is what the committee has endorsed. However, the documents from the attorney to the county does reference the title of Controller.
Also notice this excerpt from point one in the letter:
“The only appointed department heads that do not report to the Coordinator are those of Equalization and Community Development. If the Commissioners should elect to name me County Administrator, I would assume supervisory responsibility for those departments and expect to have my salary reflective of such a change.â€
And this excerpt from point nine:
“While it is true I do not directly supervise all 250 individuals, I do provide leadership and management that affect each and every one of them.â€
This language tells us two things:
- Suspicions about Margaret’s role in the government would seem to be true … she does run pretty much everything.
- She has just grabbed control of the two departments that were not reporting to her.
Who did all of these people report to, before Margaret came to office? Have those people been let go? Have we downsized somewhere? Are the commissioners taking a cut in compensation in order to pay for the new County Administrator? If not, who is?
While I am pleased that we are not suddenly creating the role of an appointed Executive, I am deeply concerned with the way in which this one individual has created her own career path in our county. My concerns are not about Margaret McAvoy personally. It is my strong belief that our county government is not and should never be any one person’s own personal corporation, in which she names her own title, salary, and duties. Let me reiterate these sobering facts about Shiawassee County:
You can still be heard on this issue; attend the Committee of the Whole meeting today, and the full board meeting on Thursday. If you cannot attend, call or email your commissioners:
District 1 Fairfield , Middlebury, Rush twps, Owosso twp Pct 1 & 2 and Owosso City 1-1
James P. Capitan R ………….no email
1005 Meadow Dr
Owosso, MI 48867
989 723-2677
——————-
District 2 Owosso City 2-1, 2-2, 2-3, 2-4
Kim Van Pelt D vanpelt@perryk12mi.us
745 Woodlawn Ave
Owosso, MI 48867
989 723-5950
—————-
District 3 Caledona pct 1, Hazelton, New Hven, Venice pct 1 and Corunna City
Jerry Waldon R waldenje@speednetic.com
4569 E Wilkinson Rd
Owosso, Mi 48867
989 743-3995
———–
District 4 Venice pct 2, Vernon twp and Durand City
Jon-Michael Fuja R jmfuja@power-net.net
513 Hampton Rd
Durand, MI 48429
989 288-3506
———–
District 5 Antrim, Burns, Caledonia pct 2 and Shiawassee twps
Gerald Cole R colehlc@aol.com
9908 S Vernon Rd
Bancroft, MI 48414
989 634-5212
———–
District 6 Bennington, Owosso pct 3, Sciota twps, Laingsburg City and Owosso City pct 6-1
Wayne Roszman R rwrosz@netzero.net
804 W Hibbard RD
Owosso, MI 48867
989 725-8227
—————–
District 7 Perry, Woodhull Townships and Perry City
Jaime F Pavlica D jaimepavlica@tds.net
11230 S Morrice Rd
Morrice, MI 48857
517 625-7908
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One Response to “Power Grab Redux”
By Tina J on Jul 25, 2006 | Reply
Just thought I would let you know about a piece of information I just found in the Michigan Legislature…. According to Act 156 of 1851, 46.11 Powers of county board of commissioners; Sec 11; Subsection (o)….”If the county has an appointed county manager or other appointed chief administrative officer or county controller, the county board of commissioners may enter into an employment contract with that officer. The term of the employment contract may extend beyond the terms of the members of the county board of commissioners. The term of the employment contract shall be 3 years or less, unless the employment contract is entered into on or after August 1 of an even-numbered year, in which case the term of the employment contract shall be 1 year or less……..”
Seems to me that our current board is trying to shove this through before August 1 in order to get the full length of MM’s request for a 3 year contract. They could easily specify the terms to be much less, and in fact could not have it for more than a year, if they waited one week. So, if there is indeed a change in the makeup of the Board, then they would be locked into a contract that was hurried through in the 11th hour to enable the 3 year term.
Suspicious at best, sleazy in reality.
Tina