Constituent letters, board rule changes prompt ad hoc committee

Mar. 4—TRAVERSE CITY — A Grand Traverse County Board ad hoc committee will look at a rule change that proposes moving back the deadline for when the board can vote itself a raise.

It will also look at how letters from constituents should be handled.

The committee was approved unanimously on Wednesday, with Commission Chairman Rob Hentschel appointing himself and commissioners Bryce Hundley and Penny Morris as members. Meetings will be public and any recommendations made will need approval from the full board.

The committee was prompted, in part, by a proposed amendment to board rules brought forward by Hundley that would require any changes in compensation to be voted on before the filing deadline for the primary election in August.

Current rules say that changes must be made before members of the next board starts their terms. The board was roundly criticized in December after increasing compensation for board members by 72 percent to $12,000 per year for commissioners, $12,500 for the vice chair and $13,000 for the chair.

Hundley, who voted "no" on the proposal in December, said he did so because he felt the raises should have been discussed before the primary election, as previously reported.

"I wanted to put space between the people voting on the compensation change and the people who are actually going to benefit from the compensation change," Hundley said.

The ad hoc committee is also tasked with coming up with a policy on what to do with communications from constituents.

Vice Chairman Ron Clous placed a letter from Christine Maxbauer on the consent agenda for Wednesday's board meeting, prompting a discussion of where letters and emails should go.

The letter supported a resolution proposed at the Feb. 17 meeting to recognize U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman, which ultimately failed. The letter was read aloud by Clous during public comment at that meeting.

Maxbauer's letter was not included in the minutes of that meeting. Clerk Bonnie Scheele said she does not like to summarize what people say during public comment. At in-person meetings people can give her a written copy of their comments, which she attaches to the minutes.

Scheele said Clous did not provide her with a copy of the letter.

Clous reminded board members that a letter written by Hundley was on the agenda for the Feb. 3 meeting. That letter asked for Clous and Hentschel to stop bringing forward symbolic resolutions and get back to doing the county's business.

Hundley said he had no objection to the Maxbauer letter being received by the board, but said he has gotten emails from numerous people on other occasions.

"Do commissioners have the individual authority to include some letters and not others?" Hundley asked, suggesting that a special section of the board packet could include all communications.

Hentschel said currently a constituent can go to a commissioner and ask them to add it to the agenda.

County civil council Kit Tholen recommended using a uniform procedure that is not dependent on the commissioner's stance on the topic of the letter.

"If a member of the public asks that their letter be included in the packet, we do that regardless of their viewpoint or the content," Tholen said. "It should be if somebody asks, we do it, not if somebody asks and a commissioner agrees. It should be viewpoint and content neutral."

Scheele said that if letters number in the hundreds the board packet would be far too cumbersome. Some recent meetings have included several hours of public comment on various resolutions and on the actions of Clous, who briefly displayed a weapon at the Jan. 20 livestreamed meeting.

Linda Pepper requested the Maxbauer letter be taken off the consent agenda, under which non-controversial items are approved in a group without discussion.

"It seems to me that this is another distraction from what the Board of Commissioners should be doing," Pepper said.

Richard Walter said he was concerned to see the letter on the agenda, even though it was read in its entirety at the last meeting. Adding it to the agenda sets a bad precedent, he said.

"That would mean that anybody that writes a letter to anyone on the Board of Commissioners would expect to have that written into the agenda," Walter said.

Hentschel noted that commissioners have the right to talk during public comment.

"Usually we don't comment, but everybody is a member of the public, even if they are an elected official," Hentschel said.

The letter was approved on a vote of 6-1, with Commissioner Betsy Coffia voting against it.