Page 2 — Thursday, October 14, 2021 — The Hastings Banner
Health board, county
commissioners reflect
on recent events
Rebecca Pierce
Editor
In recent weeks, several citizens have
publicly criticized the Barry County
Board of Commissioners for what the
citizens have characterized as action – or
inaction.
The rhetoric came to a head Sept. 23
when Hastings business owner Adam
Heikkila made “a citizen’s arrest” during
the Barry-Eaton District Health
Department health board meeting at
Leason Sharpe Hall. His action brought
the meeting, which had attracted more
than 200 people, to a halt.
On Oct. 5, reflecting on recent events,
Chairman Ben Geiger, who also serves as
the chairman of the health board, said he
will remember it and the county commis-
sioners’ meeting that took place the same
week “as the two most disgusting
moments of my career in state and local
government.”
“Why?” he asked, “Because I’ve lived
here my whole life and what I saw was
not reflective of Barry County.”
Geiger said the situation felt rowdy,
even dangerous, at some points. And that
“is preventing a lot of people from show-
ing up that might want to share their
voices,” he said. “I’ve gotten messages
from Barry County residents who are
scared as hell to show up at another
meeting. That’s a travesty.
“We hear a lot of people at public com-
ment talking about listening to the peo-
ple. But, if we are creating a circus, then
nobody’s going to want to come in. “
Commissioner Dave Jackson, whoalso serves on the health board, described
that health board meeting as one of the
worst he’s experienced during his time in
county government.
Law enforcement officials are looking
into the events of that meeting, and
Heikkila’s actions are a part of what is
being scrutinized,
Jackson asked Barry County Prosecutor
Julie Nakfoor Pratt for an update, and she
said she could not discuss an ongoing
investigation.
Hastings Police Chief Dale Boulter
told The Banner he would neither con-
firm or deny any developments in the
case.
Jackson said Heikkila disrupted the
meeting so that “commissioners never
got a chance to ask Colette [Scrimger, the
health officer] the hard questions.”
The public comment portion of the
meeting was just wrapping up when
Heikkila chose to take the podium, refus-
ing to leave until Scrimger was taken into
custody by police. That didn’t happen
and the meeting concluded as law
enforcement authorities responded to
calls.
By his actions, Heikkila ruined the
meeting and any chance they had to
address the concerns of the citizens,
Jackson said.
There are certain rules and decorum to
be observed during a session like that, he
said, adding, “You can be held liable for
what you say in a public meeting.”
That meeting was shut down by one
person with an agenda, Jackson said.
“But I don’t know what his agenda is.”Mark Ramsey
IN CONCERT ON THE STEINWAY GRAND
at the Hastings Performing Arts Center
October 15, 2021, 7:00pm
Please join us for an evening of inspired
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for their generous gift of the Steinway Grand Piano.To arrange a visit, please give us a call today.(269) 795-
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Octoberfest
Hastings picks its new police chief
Benjamin Simon
Staff Writer
When Dale Boulter interviewed for the job
of patrol officer in 2006, he told the commit-
tee that, one day, he would be police chief of
the City of Hastings.
Before that, Boulter had never worked a
day in his life for the Hastings Police
Department. As a matter of fact, about five
months prior to that, Boulter was passed over
for the same patrol officer position.
This time around, though, Boulter’s friend
said he should try a new interview technique.
He should go into the interview and make a
bold guarantee.
“They asked me about my goals and what
was my goal for my career,” Boulter remem-
bered. “And I told him I will be the chief at
Hastings PD. That’s my goal.”
Monday, Boulter’s prediction came true.
Hastings City Council unanimously approved
him as the chief of police for the Hastings
Police Department.
“He has proven himself very dedicated and
loyal to the people of this community,” said
City Manager Sarah Moyer-Cale, who
appointed Boulter. “And I don’t think there’s
anybody better for the position.”
A 15-year member of the Hastings Police
Department, Boulter, 50, takes over after
serving the past six months as interim police
chief. Before that, he had spent seven years as
the deputy police chief, two years as detec-
tive sergeant and six years as a patrol officer.
“Hastings PD is me,” he said. “I wear the
patch. And that’s where I’m going to be,
hopefully, until I retire.”
Raised in the Delton area, Boulter graduat-
ed from Gull Lake Christian Academy in- He went on to enroll in the U.S. Navy,
where he rode in a ballistic missile submarine
for 3 1/2 years. Unsure of what to do next, he
returned to Barry County in 1993. He made a
pit stop at Simpson Industries in Middleville
and dabbled in construction for six months,
before spending 10 years at Viking as a CNC
machinist.
While working at Viking, Boulter decided
to go back to school. As a member of the
military, he had signed up for the GI bill,
which provides educational assistance to ser-
vice members. With time running out on his
opportunity to use the bill, he sat down to talk
with his wife, Lisa, and brainstormed what he
would do next. It didn’t take long.
“I love cops,” he said. “I love [the TV
show] CHiPs.”
So, he started to taking evening classes at
Kellogg Community College. He received an
associate’s degree in criminal justice in 2003,
and took a part-time job for nine months with
the Prairieville Township Police. When a full-
time position opened up, he dropped his job at
Viking and became a full-time police officer.
After a year and a half with Prairieville
Police, Boulter started to look around for a
new job. He set his sights on Hastings, which
offered health insurance and a larger police
department.
Boulter started in Hastings in July 2006
and, over the years, slowly moved up through
the ranks. When former Police Chief Jeff
Pratt resigned in April, Boulter was appointed
interim police chief.
Moyer-Cale decided against opening up
the police chief position to outside candi-
dates. During her first few weeks on the job,
she has observed Boulter in the work envi-
ronment and had multiple sit-down conversa-
tions with him. It was enough to make her
feel confident about tapping him as the next
police chief without looking elsewhere.
“I decided that, based on his exemplary job
performance, and knowing what the inter-
view process would be like, if we invited
external applicants, that opening up a process
would be not very fruitful,” Moyer-Cale said,
“and would unduly negatively impact the
department because they’ve been in sort of
this limbo for an extended period of time now
not having a permanent chief in that posi-
tion.”
Although he didn’t have to go through a
formal interview process, Boulter said it has
felt like he has been interviewing for the job
since he began as interim police chief.
“We’ll call it a four- to five-month-long
interview,” he said. “That’s how I consider it
because you can say I pretended to be the
chief as the interim. I filled that role, did
everything that the chief would do as the
chief.”
Boulter doesn’t anticipate too many differ-
ences between the interim and permanent
role, other than the ability to make personnel
changes.
For the most part, though, he said he
intends to continue focusing on community
policing and working with the public.
“Anything and any idea that we do always
involves a conversation about the communi-
ty,” he said. “What is it going to do? What
kind of effects it going to benefit them?
Obviously, the community pays for all of our
wages and in turn, we offer service. And that
service is to keep Hastings viable for them to
come shopping and not get mugged and
whatever the case may be.”
Moyer-Cale said Boulter’s familiarity with
Hastings played a role in his appointment.
“He’s always talking about this communi-
ty, about the good people here, about the
relationships here,” she said. “So, he’s very
caring and understanding about the city in
that way.”
During their meeting Monday, council
members gave Boulter a round of applause.
Each member, individually, offered congratu-
lations. But Boulter said he didn’t go to din-
ner or celebrate the appointment. Instead, hestayed at the office until 9 p.m., an hour and
a half after the meeting ended, to speak with
Deputy Chief Julissa Kelly about the depart-
ment’s next steps.
“I really respected all the council members
telling me congratulations. You know, I took
that to heart,” he said. “But it really wasn’t –
it’s hard to explain – it wasn’t like a Christmas
morning-type of thing. It was more of like,
‘OK, let’s rock and roll. Let’s move for-
ward.’”
In other business at Monday’s meeting:- Jenipher Roslund, the stepmother of Lane
Roslund, the Hastings teenager who has been
missing since Sept. 11, spoke to city council
members over Zoom during the public com-
ment portion of the meeting. She specifically
asked for the case to be handed over to a
larger police force than the Hastings City
Police.
“The City of Hastings is a very small force
looking for one juvenile that, in 30 days, has
not been found,” she said. “He’s been missing
for 30 days, and we have not gotten any reas-
surance that this case is going to be handed
over to an agency that is bigger, that has more
manpower or more resources to handle a
missing juvenile. We have requested that the
Hastings City Police hand the case to an
agency better equipped to deal with missing
children.
“... I love our city police. They have
always done great by us. But, when it comes
to bringing our son home, 30 days is too
long.”
Boulter, who has had multiple conversa-
tions with the family, said he understands
their perspective. “You can throw all the
resources in the world and, if your kid isn’t
found, it’s not enough and you’re not doing
enough,” he said in a later interview. “So, I
totally understand where she’s coming from.
Again, I was not offended.”
He did, however, note that the Hastings
Police Department doesn’t have enough
information at the moment to hand it off to a
different organization. They will continue to
follow leads until they can provide a clear
roadmap for next steps.
“The information sharing and back and
forth is always happening, whether it’s
[Michigan State Police], whether it’s the
county,” he said. “The problem at this point
in time with Lane’s case is, we don’t have
anything concrete to pinpoint where else to
go and what to do and or who to hand off to.” - The council approved changing payment
acceptance hours at City Hall from 9 a.m. to
4 p.m., effective Jan. 1, 2022. - Set a joint meeting with the planning
commission for 6 p.m. Nov. 1 to discuss the
implementation of accessory dwelling units
and expansion of two-family dwelling units
in the city. - Updated service fees for the clerk, asses-
sor/treasurer, cemetery, department of public
services, planning and zoning, plat review,
planned unit development, Zoning Board of
Appeals variance requests, code enforce-
ment, police and fire. The resolution will go
into effect Nov. 1. - Accepted bid from USALCO for liquid
aluminum sulfate hydrate solution at a cost of
$242 per ton, and about $55,000 total. - Set a public hearing for the Oct. 25 coun-
cil meeting to discern the necessity of a pub-
lic assessment in the downtown area for
parking. The city did not levy the assessment
last year due to COVID-19, but has done so
in the past.
County apportionment commission
to meet here Monday
Rebecca Pierce, Editor
and Bridge Michigan
A new redistricting plan for the Barry
County board will be resubmitted by appor-
tionment commissioners next week, just to
hedge their bets on a deadline that’s in dis-
pute.
County Clerk Pamela Palmer said the
apportionment commission, made up of
Palmer, Prosecuting Attorney Julie Nakfoor
Pratt, Treasurer Sue VandeCar, Mark
Bonsignore from the Democratic Party and
Phillip Joseph from the Republican Party,
will meet at 9 a.m. Monday in the commis-
sioners’ chambers on the mezzanine of the
courthouse.
The meeting is open to the public.
Palmer said the purpose of the meeting is
to confirm the resubmission of the county’s
proposed apportionment map to meet the
state of Michigan’s census requirements.
The proposed map was already submitted
to comply with federal requirements, which
were determined by U.S. Census Bureau
numbers Aug. 12. The maps were to be sub-
mitted no sooner than 30 days but no later
than 60 days from that date, Palmer said.
In the case of state numbers, Sept. 16 was
the date set for census numbers, which
makes Oct. 16 the 30th day.
The plan in Barry County is to reaffirm
the county board district map Oct. 18, Palmer
said, so the plan will be in compliance with
both state and federal deadlines.
The apportionment commission is charged
with drawing the districts for the county
board. and, in Barry County, that process
took place over the course of several meet-
ings in September.
According to state law, counties have 60
days from the time the Census Bureau
releases full population counts to draw themaps for commission seats, before filing
them with the county clerk to take effect.
But changing schedules from the Census
Bureau have county officials insisting the
deadline is Oct. 11, while the state contends
it is Nov. 29.
As with state and federal offices, county
districts are redrawn every 10 years after the
Census Bureau releases population figures.
In most counties, the districts are drawn
by an apportionment commission composed
of five officials: the county clerk, treasurer,
prosecutor and the chairpersons of the coun-
ty Democratic and Republican parties.
County apportionment panels that miss the
deadline to draw maps would lose the author-
ity to vote on their own proposals, the law
says. Instead, they’d have to choose a plan
submitted to the panel by registered voters.
Clerks worry that counties following the
state’s guidance could miss deadlines and
face legal challenges by residents.
The confusion centers on shifting dead-
lines from the U.S. Census Bureau, which
published decennial population tallies Aug.
12, but did so by releasing raw data.
The agency had promised to release a
user-friendly version of the data by Sept. 30,
then amended the release to Sept. 16.
Clerks, Palmer among them, contend the
clock for the 60-day deadline started Aug.- The Secretary of State’s Bureau of
Election believes it doesn’t start until Sept.
30, said Tracy Wimmer, a spokesperson for
the agency.
Wimmer added the Bureau of Elections
has released a tool for counties to draw maps,
and has said they are allowed to begin draft-
ing the new lines now if they wish to do so.
But the bureau has told clerks to consult
their attorneys about the official date to
follow.
The bureau has also asked the Michigan
Attorney General’s office to weigh in,
Wimmer said. The office declined comment
to Bridge Michigan.
Multiple attorneys consulted by counties- including Ingham and Livingston – and
by the Michigan Association of County
Clerks contend the state’s timeline is wrong
and counties must approve districts by Oct.
- “The bureau’s rationale is not entirely
clear,” Grand Rapids-based law firm Warner
Norcross and Judd told the clerk’s associa-
tion, according to an opinion obtained by
Bridge Michigan.
Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum told
Bridge Michigan it’s unclear why the Bureau
of Elections has a different timeline.
The Democrat added her county’s attor-
ney also has said the timeframe already
started.
“It is the opinion of counsel that the dead-
line to have those maps drawn is Oct. 11,
unless the apportionment commission wish-
es to have the public draw the map,” Byrum
said.
The issue of what is considered complete
data from the U.S. Census Bureau also has
caused problems for the Michigan
Independent Citizens Redistricting
Commission.
The panel, created in 2018 through voter
approval, has started drawing state legisla-
tive districts using the Aug. 12 data.
However, they have said they would use
the user-friendly version to cross-check
their work.
The group, which had a constitutional
deadline of Sept. 17 to have initial political
maps ready for public review, has already
said the delays in the release of the data will
likely make them miss it.
COVID cases break 200
Taylor Owens
Staff Writer
The Barry-Eaton District Health
Department reported 227 active cases of
COVID-19 in Barry County Tuesday, the
highest number the county has had for sever-
al months.
The department reported nine hospitaliza-
tions and one death so far this month. A total
of 76 deaths have been reported since the
start of the pandemic in March 2020.
The most recent seven-day average of
COVID-19 tests which were positive was
19.4 percent, according to health department
staff. They said this high rate indicates there
are likely many more unaccounted-for cases
in the county.
As of Monday, 28,989 Barry County
residents, or 58.3 percent of the popula-
tion, have been vaccinated against COVID-- The health department’s goal is 70
percent.
Nearly everyone who got COVID-19 in
September was unvaccinated or not yet fully
vaccinated, according to a health department
report.
More information is available at barryea-
tonhealth.org.
Dale Boulter stands on East State
Street in downtown Hastings. He was
officially named the Hastings police chief
on Monday. (Photo by Benjamin Simon)