The Hastings Banner — Thursday, June 3, 2021 — Page 5Barry County Board of Commissioners Vice Chairwoman Vivian Conner and Chairman Ben Geiger disagree Tuesday about her
proposed action to rescind a state of emergency in the county, effective June 30. (Photo by Rebecca Pierce)County’s state of emergency stands
Commissioners debate
the value of in-person
meetings; use of
technology to
increase citizen
participation
Rebecca Pierce
Editor
An effort to rescind a state of emergency in
Barry County failed by one vote when the
board chairman and his lieutenant disagreed
over details.
But Tuesday’s debate raised bigger issues
about how local government works and the
role that technology may play in its operation
in the future.
“The pandemic taught us a few things,”
Commissioner Dave Jackson said.
“Technology is here to stay.”
County commissioners declared the emer-
gency on March 23 through December 31 to
allow local units of government to meet virtu-
ally and remain in compliance with the state
Open Meetings Act.
On Tuesday, Vice Chairperson Vivian
Conner proposed that the board should rescind
the order now, saying public and elected offi-
cials are more effective when they meet in
person.
Even the county board returned to meeting
in person, she pointed out, “because we felt
we did better work because we’re meeting in
person. I was cut out of a few (meetings)
because of the connectivity problems I had.
...
“I do better work when I’m here among the
rest of you.”
Commissioners meet at 9 a.m. in a
Committee of the Whole meeting every first
and third Tuesday and a formal board meeting
every second and fourth Tuesday.
But the location of their meetings was
moved to Leason Sharpe Hall at the Barry
Community Enrichment Center during the
pandemic to allow enough space for the pub-
lic to attend. Commissioners’ chambers at the
courthouse would not be large enough to
comply with the state’s social distancing
requirement.Jackson said commissioners initially
approved the state of emergency in the county
“because the state didn’t take any action or
give us any guidance. So this was the tool that
was available to us to allow our local units of
government to continue to meet – either with
hybrid or Zoom or combined meetings or
whatever.”
But the increased citizen participation that
they’ve seen since via those virtual meetings
is noteworthy, he said.
In addition, the time of their weekly meet-
ings – at 9 a.m. – precludes some people from
participating, especially when those citizens
must attend in person, he pointed out.
Now, with the advent of internet connectiv-
ity, Jackson added, “we’ve allowed people to
participate in local government that we’ve
never had participate before because of our
meeting time.
“The board has been unwilling to address a
change in meeting times to accommodate
that. So we have this as our only tool that
allows our local unit of government to do
things – and I think this board should be more
openminded about continuing this for a cou-
ple reasons:
“No. 1, the pandemic taught us a few
things. Technology provides us some things. I
know, in the broadband committee, they’ve
been able to pull people from different parts
of the state together to cover a lot of informa-
tion quickly in a short amount of time and do
some amazing work – just because they’ve
been able to do those meetings on Zoom. ...
The county is going to have to look at moving
forward.”
Conner pointed out that the purpose of the
emergency order was specifically to help
local municipalities meet the state’s criteria
regarding social distancing and other require-
ments during the pandemic.
Her proposal to rescind the state of emer-
gency is not tied to meeting times or citizen
participation, she emphasized. “They’re two
different subjects. ...Social distancing is going
to go away.”
The state is already changing its guidelineswith regard to the pandemic, Conner noted.
“That’s why I picked the end of June for when
rescinding the resolution would go into effect.
Come July 1, those (state) restrictions will be
lifted.”
Chairman Ben Geiger agreed that the pur-
pose of their resolution was specifically for
the benefit of local governments that did not
have the space to meet in person with social
distancing or had not created contingency
plans for meeting in person.
“The state of emergency was only passed
for that specific reason,” Geiger said, asking
for input from other commissioners.
Commissioner Bruce Campbell said he
could see both sides of the debate. “I’ve had
some people say the emergency order was
affecting them. They were disappointed in
having it. I kind of side with Vivian. I’d like
to see us try to get back to what we knew as
normal.
“But, like Dave, I’ve seen an increase in
attendance in some committees I’m on. I
guess I’m in the middle of the road on it.”
Commissioner Jon Smelker said, “I think
most everybody here knows what I think of
virtual. I don’t like it. I think all of our com-
mittees and stuff should be in person now.
“But I also voted ‘yes’ for this to go until
December, and I’m afraid I’m going to have
to stick with that – although I dislike virtual.”
Commissioner Howard Gibson said, “I’d
like to see us get back to normal meetings.
I’ve heard some complaints about some elect-
ed officials still doing Zoom when they could
show up in person. And that’s happening right
here in Barry County.
“That’s not a good thing. They should be
showing up in person.”
Commissioner Catherine Getty said, “I
sympathize with communities that don’t have
facilities like this (Leason Sharpe Hall). We’re
very fortunate to have access to a very large
space.”
But Getty pointed out that vaccination lev-
els in the county “are still below 50 percent- and there are people very concerned about
their health.”
So commissioners need to be mindful of
those concerns when they consider this reso-
lution.
“I also like in-person meetings much bet-
ter,” Getty said. “. ...(but) there are opportuni-
ties for Zoom that ... get good participation
when we can do it electronically. Like Dave
said, we should consider what we can do in
future.”
After listening to the input from around the
table, Geiger said, “Well, I’ve seen this play
out before and it’s going to come down to me
being the swing vote. I can see both sides of
this.”
“To get back to what Dave mentioned ear-
lier,” he continued, “we did make a commit-
ment earlier in the year to address the issue of
night meetings ... once our new commission-
ers had some experience coming to board
meetings. I would be more comfortable with
passing Commissioner Conner’s proposal if it
didn’t take effect until later in the summer and
it was tied to having night board meetings.”
So Geiger proposed that the board push the
effective date of the resolution to August and,
at the same time as it goes into effect, start
meeting at night on the second and fourth
Tuesdays.
“If we’re taking away the option to Zoom,
in the spirit of transparency and openness, it
might be good to have a night meeting.”
But Geiger’s proposal didn’t receive any
support, so he withdrew the motion and called
for the question on Conner’s original motion.
The vote for Conner’s proposal to rescind
the state of emergency, effective June 30, was
defeated 3-4, with Conner, Campbell and
Gibson supporting it, and Getty, Jackson,
Smelker and Geiger voting against it.
“Again, I’m comfortable with this (state of
emergency) being rescinded in August,”
Geiger said then, making a motion identical to
Conner’s with the exception of the date when
the action would take effect Aug. 1.
Campbell supported the motion.
But it failed, 2-5, with Conner, Getty,
Gibson, Jackson and Smelker opposing it.
As the meeting drew to a close, Middleville
Village Manager Patricia Rayl spoke to com-
missioners during public comment time to
express her appreciation to the county board
for continuing to allow the Middleville Village
government a virtual option.
“We greatly appreciate that,” Rayl said. “
Our council chambers are small. When we
have to accommodate 6-foot distance between
people, we can’t allow for more than commis-
sioners.
“That’s why we have some commissioners
who Zoom. ... We have young children who
aren’t able to be vaccinated yet. It might
appear that people are choosing, for some
questionable reason, not to attend in in person
when they could.”
But that’s not the case, she said.
Virtual connectivity “makes more space to
allow residents to come in when they want
to,” Rayl pointed out.
“I would agree this technology is going to
be here to stay,” she added. “So we need to
figure out how best to interface the two
options – to allow residents to participate and
allow the personal interaction on governing
boards.”
In other business, the commissioners:- Agreed to approve Equalization Director
Timothy Vandermark’s 2021 tax rate request
to allow for collection of summer taxes. - Approved recommending contracting
with Lynn Filtenborg of Westwind Title
Services to index all backlogged legal descrip-
tions for the Register of Deeds office from
August 2020 to May 2021 to bring them up to
date at a rate of $1 per document with a max-
imum cost for the work not to exceed $7,981. - Approved recommending the expenditure
of $31,737 for Lansing Tile & Mosiac Inc. to
replace the carpet in the Adult Probation and
Office of Community Corrections, with the
funds from the Building Rehabilitation Fund.
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Write Us A Letter:
GUEST COMMENTARY
County should invest its federal
funds in alternative energy
To the editor:
A large part of Barry County’s federal stim-
ulus money should be directed toward alter-
nate energy infrastructure, in my opinion.
Because we are a diverse community
regarding topography, population density and
land usage, I believe a mixture of alternative
energy technologies, such as solar, wind, bio-
mass or methane capture would best suit local
needs. In order not to re-invent the wheel, the
existing township boundaries and township
governments seem best to approve and devel-
op whatever alternative energy methods local
people prefer. County officials would admin-
ister and oversee as needed.Myself, I recommend coordinating with
existing utility companies because they under-
stand technical issues hands-down.
How much do your yearly utility bills run?
If a family in Barry County could save 30
percent, 50 percent or more on the annual
energy costs, it would help both families and
our shared environment.
Where to start?
Call or write your favorite local representa-
tive or official or attend a county or township
meeting.
Michael Jones,
HastingsDrain districts need apportionment
figured out before Day of Review
To the editor:
I realize it’s allowed by the Drain Code
rules, but to double some of the assessments
after the Day of Review meeting for the
Cloverdale Drain District, to me, just isn’t
ethical.
Some people may not have even gone to the
meeting, thinking their assessment was so
small it wasn’t worth discussing. Surprise!
I hope that, for the Watson Drain District,
they have the apportionments figured out
before the meeting. I know they had to spread
the apportionment so the Sewer Authority
isn’t being charged to other properties, but
shouldn’t it have been done proportionally
across all property types?
Some properties weren’t increased, while
others were increased 100 percent.
It seems to me some property types were
unfairly burdened – especially the non-lake,
district-zoned, non-riparian properties which
obviously have the least benefit derived.Larry Osborne,
DeltonSchools, local government should use
the funds they have, not ask for more
To the editor:
I don’t understand why Hastings Area
School System has to be greedy, with all of
the money they will be getting from the stim-
ulus, yet still wanting to tax the taxpayers the
full amount.
That money should be spent properly and
not wasted.
As far as I can see, the school is just like the
county: They’ve got to have more funding
than they need, yet they still expect the tax-
payers to pay for everything.
With the $12 million we are getting herefrom the federal government, why not use this
money to build a new jail, and not put that
cost on the taxpayers?
Let our county use the money they are get-
ting from the federal government to get the
job done, instead of asking the taxpayers to
pay even more.
We need new leadership on the school
board and all the way to our county commis-
sion – and all over America..
Eldon Shellenbarger,
HastingsA most pressing responsibility
requires some decisive action
U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer
The state of Michigan is home to more than
600,000 veterans, a group I’m proud to be a
part of as a veteran of the Iraq War.
Our state has 37 VA medical clinics to pro-
vide care to the veteran population, and I’ve
heard many stories, both positive and nega-
tive, about the quality and accessibility of
care.
In Congress, I consider it one of my most
pressing responsibilities to take care of veter-
ans and advocate for policies that prioritize
them and their service to our country. To me,
this means the work isn’t done until every
single veteran receives the absolute best care
we can give them, and we have a long way to
go.
During my first four months representing
West Michigan in Congress, I have introduced
and supported several pieces of legislation
designed to help our veteran population. I was
proud to cosponsor the SAVE LIVES Act,
which was recently signed into law and makes
it possible for all veterans and their spouses
and/or caregivers to receive the COVID-
vaccine at VA facilities.
I had the opportunity to visit the Battle
Creek Veterans Affairs Medical Center
(VAMC) to see firsthand their expanded vac-
cination operation. As the end of the pandem-
ic is in sight, it is imperative that we continue
to prioritize protections for veterans and their
families.
Since we have an urgent moral obligation
to take care of the men and women who have
served and sacrificed for our nation, I also
joined my colleague U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin
to introduce bipartisan legislation to address
the needs of veterans exposed to open-air
toxic burn pits while serving overseas.
Veterans across the country struggle with
serious health conditions resulting from toxic
burn pit exposure, yet bureaucratic obstacles
have prevented them from receiving the care
they deserve. Waiting even one more day for
treatment of this toxic exposure is too long,
and our veterans deserve better.Our bill, the Veterans Burn Pit Exposure
Recognition Act, offers a critical first step to
ensure service members exposed to toxic haz-
ards receive the care they have earned. It
would formally recognize that veterans who
served near open-air burn pits in Iraq,
Afghanistan, and other places were exposed
to airborne hazards and toxins and take the
burden of proof off the veteran to establish
this connection.
The bill would require the VA to perform a
medical examination to determine if toxic
exposure is linked to a veteran’s particular
ailment to make access to care easier. I’m
hopeful it will advance through the House
quickly.
Another obstacle veterans face when trying
to access care through the VA is the ongoing
staffing shortage at VA facilities.
Recently, I introduced the Veterans
Improved Access to Care Act to establish a
VA pilot program aimed at expediting the
on-boarding process for new medical provid-
ers to help address these personnel shortages.
The pilot program would include at least 10
VA medical facilities, and three of the chosen
locations must be in areas with populations of
less than 100,000, making facilities like the
Battle Creek VAMC eligible. This bill has real
potential to improve access to and quality of
care for our West Michigan veteran popula-
tion, and I am extremely proud to be leading
the effort in the House.
To our veterans and their families: Thank
you for your service and sacrifices.
Please know that, as your representative in
Congress, I understand that gratitude means
very little without action, and I will do every-
thing I can to improve the status quo when it
comes to quality of care at the VA.
I hope you will contact one of my offices if
I can ever be of assistance to you.U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Grand Rapids,
represents Michigan’s Third Congressional
District, which includes Barry County. He
lives in Grand Rapids with his wife, Gabriela.“That’s why we have some commissioners who Zoom. ... We
have young children who aren’t able to be vaccinated yet. It
might appear that people are choosing, for some questionable
reason, not to attend in in person when they could.”Middleville Village Manager Patricia Rayl
“We’ve allowed people to
participate in local govern-
ment that we’ve never had
participate before because
of our meeting time.”Commissioner Dave Jackson