Banner 10-14-2021

Page 4 — Thursday, October 14, 2021 — The Hastings Banner

Have you met?

Do you remember?

Did you see?

Government’s on the grow in Barry County

Who doesn’t like more government?

For those in Barry County who do, we’ve

got another sweetheart deal coming with the

addition of an eighth commissioner to a coun-

ty board that has operated as a seven-member

governing body for the past 10 years.

Jurisdictions across the nation are able to

redraw or “reapportion” political district lines

following the release of census numbers every

10 years. In Barry County, our redistricting

committee – made up of County Clerk Pam

Palmer, County Treasurer Susan VandeCar,

Prosecuting Attorney Julie Nakfoor Pratt,

Philip Joseph representing the Republican

Party, and Mark Bonsignore representing the

Democratic Party – admirably agreed on a

plan that their committee felt would be more

representative of voters and citizens in Barry

County.

The updated plan calls for creation of a new

seat on the county board that represents the

city of Hastings and redraws the existing sev-

en-county commission districts in such a way

that no two incumbent commissioners will

have to face one another in the next election.

The decision brings us back to an eight-com-

missioner board that existed from 2002 until

2011 following use of the 2000 Census.

I’m a true believer in representative gov-

ernment, but I believe the pencils were a little

shaky on this latest redrawing of new districts.

First, how will eight commissioners make

this group a better board? Under state redis-

tricting guidelines, the local committee could

have preserved the current seven-member

board. In fact, based on our 62,423 population

number from the 2020 Census, our county

could have anywhere between five and 21

commissioners. In 2011, when the commis-

sion was reduced from eight to seven mem-

bers following the 2010 Census, commission-

ers at that time lauded the effort as a way to

save on the cost of another county commis-

sioner.

“I am pleased that the reapportionment

committee decided to go with seven districts,”

said former board member Robert Houtman.

“I think seven is the right thing for the county

and, if the change impacts me, it impacts me.”

Former commission Chairman Craig

Stolsonburg agreed. “As chair, I think the cost

savings warrants going to seven districts, and

I think seven will work as well as eight; it was

a good move.”

The big question for taxpayers, as we move

back up to eight commissioners, should be:

Will they benefit from adding another com-

missioner?

The new commission seat will represent the

City of Hastings, but what additional benefits

will those constituents gain, compared to what

they now receive from Commissioner Howard

“Hoot” Gibson, whose District 1 includes the

City of Hastings?

My second concern is the problematic

nature of votes from even-numbered boards.

Based on Robert’s Rules of Order, a major-

ity is “more than half of the votes cast by legal

voters.” Therefore, a 4-4 tie vote means that a

motion will be defeated. I can’t imagine much

that would be more unrepresentative than

when a board is evenly split on an issue but,

by rules of order, the negative side wins.

Plus, empirical research indicates that

boards with an odd number of members make

higher-quality decisions.

Researchers have found that organizations

with an odd number of board members do

better on a variety of performance metrics,

plus the performance goes down with larger

boards.

Thirdly, although I’m a fiscal conservative

and a businessman with an eye constantly on

the bottom line, I’m not suggesting that add-

ing another commissioner is going to break

the bank. The numbers bear a close review,

though; because the addition of an eighth

commissioner will increase the cost to taxpay-

ers for what I believe will bring little, if any,

actual benefit to them.

According to the county, commissioners are

paid $12,859 annually except for the chair-

man, who receives $13,879. Currently, com-

missioners do not receive per diem payments

to attend meetings, but they do get mileage to

cover travel expenses.

They also receive a “longevity payment” if

they serve for more than five consecutive

years – $25 for each year completed or an

additional $125 annually. That benefit maxes

out at $600 a year. Presently, five of the seven

commissioners receive the perk – Ben Geiger,

Vivian Conner, David Jackson, Jon Smelker

and Gibson. They also are eligible for work-

man’s compensation, retirement benefits, and

health insurance, including dental, vision and

hearing coverage, and life insurance. In total,

with all the benefits, commissioners receive

about $30,000 each.

A separate, seven-person appointed com-

pensation commission sets the benefit pack-

age every two years.

In a fourth concern, I have grave reserva-

tions about the quiet, below-the-radar means

by which the entire redistricting determination

was conducted. Once a redistricting commis-

sion agrees on its final district map, it’s filed

with the county clerk who, in turn, forwards it

to the Secretary of the State. The district map

is then made available to voters at no cost.

My problem: What involvement do citizens

have in the process before the final decision is

made and the result is in the office of the

Secretary of State?

Redistricting commission proceedings are

subject to the Open Meetings Act, but are

rarely attended by citizens, mostly due to the

fact that the commissions don’t promote the

meetings and most citizens are unaware of the

process.

The meetings, which took place here in

September, were posted, as required, online

and on the bulletin board at the courthouse.

That’s it – for a once-in-a-decade decision that

may change who represents us.

The impact on communities can be

immense, especially if citizens have no say in

how a commission draws the new maps.

Most taxpayers consider redistricting com-

missions as just another governmental body

and, unless residents are plagued with

high-water levels, sand mining issues, zoning

changes that impact property or mask man-

dates imposed by a school or workplace, how

effectively they are being represented is not at

the top of their minds.

With this case of adding an eighth commis-

sioner in Barry County, citizens should have

the right to respond directly to the commission

prior to the county clerk submitting the plan to

the state. As it stands now under Michigan

law, the only way taxpayers can reject or ques-

tion the plan is through the Court of Appeals

or to the Michigan State Supreme Court,

which is likely not happen in a rural commu-

nity such as Barry County.

It’s kind of like the controversial mask

mandates where government officials made a

ruling without holding any public comment on

the issue. That oversight brought massive citi-

zen turnout in Barry County at meetings of

school boards, the county board and the health

department.

Looking now to the next 10 years and the

wait for another census, I don’t see where

Barry County will benefit from adding anoth-

er commissioner.

The only real measurable population

growth is coming on the west side of Barry

County from north to south, from Middleville

south into Yankee Springs Township. If the

redistricting committee would have squared

those districts and changed the north and

southern boundaries of the townships, we

could have ended up with a reasonable, less

convoluted redistricting map.

The numbers are not the key, though.

If we’re really concerned about strong lead-

ership that works together with a vision to

make Barry County a better place to live, we

should concentrate on getting the best candi-

dates for the job. Then we need to make sure

they do their best for the districts they’re rep-

resenting, as well as the entire county, on all

the issues that come before them.

What really counts is electing people who

can make a difference – not the number of

people at the table.

But it’s disappointing that county officials

did not highlight the fact that the redistricting

committee was meeting to discuss these once-

in-a-decade changes. The topic was not raised,

even as a simple point of information, which

would have ensured that interested citizens

had an opportunity to take part in the process.

And that’s a shame.

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Watch for spider

A walk around the neighborhood at

this time of year may not be for the

faint of heart. After all, it’s October and

that means Halloween is right around

the corner. Pedestrians can get a

close-up view of scarecrows, skele-

tons and pumpkins galore bedecking

people’s yards and porches. This par-

ticular house on Michigan Avenue

went above and beyond, with a spider

web growing out of the side of the

house. The spider that spun this web

must be huge, but there’s no spider ...

Is there?

‘Dean of sports

announcers’ visits

Banner Oct. 17, 1963

Bill Stearn, regarded as the dean of

American sportscasters, was here Friday

to go through the Hastings Manufacturing

Company plant where he became familiar

with the company’s products – especially

Casite because Monday he went on the air

advertising Casite over 450 stations of the

Mutual Broadcasting Company Mondays

through Fridays. Here, Stearn is shown

talking with Howard Moma, 1205 S. Park

St., day supervisor of Casite production.

Moma has been here 27 years, coming to

Hastings with Casite from Jonesboro, Ark.

The lady on the left is Gloria Goodner.

Stearn was the honored guest and spoke

briefly at a luncheon Friday noon at the

Hastings Country Club. He can be heard

on his sportscast over WMAX, Grand

Rapids, 4:30; WKLZ, Kalamazoo, 4:30:

WKHM, Lansing, 7:35; and WCFL,

Chicago, at 4:30.

When Amy Llewellyn moved to Hastings

in 1996, she told her fianc?, Jamie Murphy,

she’d live here one year. One year, she said,

until they could move somewhere else and

somewhere not so small.

It’s been 25 years. And the Murphys are

still in Hastings.

“I came to love it. It is home for me, for

sure,” said Amy Murphy, 47, who is the

program director at the Barry Community

Foundation.

Before arriving in Hastings, she had never

lived in a rural community. Her dad, John

Llewellyn, worked as a manager and vice

president in the television business, and her

family bounced from place to place – the

suburbs of Detroit, New York City, Chicago

and, for most of her childhood, Cleveland.

Then she started dating Jamie Murphy, a

football player and student at Hillsdale

College who was from Hastings. They met

in the freshman dorms and both studied

health and physical education. Amy spent

the summer breaks living with the Murphys

in Hastings.

After Amy graduated from college, she

spent a summer working as a nanny in

downtown Chicago for a family of five. She

returned to school for a semester, received

a teaching degree and got an apartment in

Hastings, where Jamie, who is now the

head varsity football coach at Hastings

High School, still lived.

But she couldn’t see herself staying. It

felt like a foreign world and nothing like

the cities in which she’d lived. She didn’t

know what to expect when they went to the

county fair or mushroom hunting. And

everyone in the small town just referred to

her Jamie Murphy’s girlfriend.

“I was super shell-shocked at first,” she

said.

She got used to the more rural lifestyle,

but it took some time, she said, for it to feel

like “home.” At first, she spent a year and a

half working as substitute teacher. Then she

took a job in Grand Rapids working in tele-

communication. Then she had their first

child, Brenagan, and she stayed at home.

But Murphy always wanted to become a

teacher. When a sixth-grade teaching job

opened up at St. Rose School in Hastings,

where she is a parishioner, she got her

teaching certificate “back in shape” and

joined her husband, Jamie, who is a physi-

cal ed teacher, in education.

She spent nine years teaching at St. Rose,

cementing her desire to stay in Hastings.

“Once I became a teacher at St. Rose, I

think that’s when it really sunk in like, ‘OK,

this is my home,’ ” she said.

Eventually, Barry Community

Foundation came on her radar. She didn’t

know much about the foundation, but she

knew she could have an impact in Hastings.

“I wanted something that was local, I

wanted something that I knew would be not

in a cubicle environment because I couldn’t

really go from teaching to just sitting at a

computer,” she said. “I like the idea of

being around community members.”

In 2015, she started as an administrative

assistant for BCF President Bonnie Gettys.

Around that same time, the foundation’s

KickStart to Career program began, and

Murphy became heavily involved.

The program opens up a savings account

for every kindergarten student in the county

with $50. Over the years, the money will

grow, teaching youngsters financial literacy

skills and providing them with a foundation

of savings.

“Kickstart’s mission is inspiring students

to believe in their future, and this money

can be used for anything – whether it’s a

four-year college, a two-year, associate

degree, an apprenticeship,” she said.

After 2 1/2 years as an administrative

assistant, Murphy was promoted to program

director, her current role, where she oversees

the KickStart program, runs the community

grant program, helps with scholarships and

serves as the administrator for the investment

and impact investing committees.

“I love that I walk around my town and I

see things that we’ve made a difference

with,” she said. “... It’s tangible.”

Even Murphy’s family has followed her

to Hastings. After moving around most of

their adult life, her parents, John and

Kathie Llewellyn, settled down in the city

in 2015. Her sister, Marianne, even spent

about five years here.

After work, Murphy will retreat to her

house on Algonquin Lake, where she might

go out on the boat, relax in their “bunker

bar” or spend time with their kids, Brenagan

and Evan, and more recently, Abel and

Victor, to whom the Murphys opened their

home and call their sons.

As her kids go off to college and get

married, Murphy has already devised her

retirement plan – she wants to buy a Class

C motorhome and spend the winters driving

through the Southwest.

But Hastings, she repeats multiple times,

is home. And that won’t change.

For her work in the local community,

Amy Murphy is this week’s Bright Light:

Favorite movie: “Sweet Home

Alabama.”

First job: Tanning salon.

If I could go anywhere in the world:

Ireland.

A big accomplishment for me: Getting

out of bed.

Favorite teacher and why: Jamie

Murphy, Hastings High School, because he

is the best.

Person I’d most like to meet: Dave

Matthews

Favorite season: Fall – football, sweat-

shirts and beautiful colors.

Something most people don’t know

about me: I am pretty quirky, and I believe

I have a sixth sense.

What I’d tell a high school graduate: If

college is for you, it can be the best four

years of your life.

If only I could... Sing. I would love to

have a great singing voice.

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a:

Singing dentist.

Favorite board game: Just not

Monopoly.

Greatest fear: Losing Jamie or one of

my kids.

Best invention ever: Pillows and blankets.

If I could live in another time, I’d like

to see what life was/is like in: Probably the

1950s because I would have gotten in a lot

of trouble in the ‘60s.

If I won the lottery: First, I would ask

my parents if they wanted to be paid back

for all their support over the years ... They

would say ‘no,’ so then I would make sure

St. Rose School’s education endowment

could sustain the school forever. I would

create a fund at the Foundation to support

mental health for adolescents and young

adults. I would pay off all of our families’

mortgages.

Each week, the Banner profiles a person

who makes the community shine. Do you

know someone who should be featured

because of volunteer work, fun-loving per-

sonality, for the stories he or she has to tell

or any other reason? Send information to

Newsroom, Hastings Banner, 1351 N. M-

Highway, Hastings, MI 49058; or email

[email protected].

Fred Jacobs, CEO

J-Ad Graphics, Inc.

Amy Murphy