After an appointment in April 2006 and the November 2006 election, the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners has four new faces steering the leadership of the county in the coming years.
Mandy Grewal, D-7th District; Ken Schwartz, D-2nd District; Karen Lovejoy-Roe, D-4th District; and Jessica Ping-Mills, R-3rd District were elected in last year's general election, unseating some longtime incumbent candidates.
An eclectic group of personalities, self-interests and backgrounds make up the board and with such a varied gathering of representatives, decision-making sometimes can be an unwieldy process.
However, commissioners agree that the future looks bright for Washtenaw County despite facing myriad challenges such as invigorating a struggling economy, settling ongoing lawsuits over contracted police services and ensuring that public safety needs are properly funded, finding the means to fund and expand the county jail and facilitating countywide projects like Wireless Washtenaw.
The economy
Commissioners already are seeing the impact of the planned closing of the Ann Arbor-based Pfizer pharmaceutical facility, a move that will cut 2,160 area jobs by 2008.
While Pfizer, a company that generated $51.3 billion in revenue in 2005, hopes to transfer the majority of those employees to other facilities in an effort to trim the company's research and development operations, the county stands to lose $1.5 million in property taxes with the exit of one of the largest employers in the county.
Commissioners are hopeful that the loss of those jobs will benefit the countywide work force in a state reeling from economic struggles.
"It will be a very significant blow to the county," said County Commissioner Mark Ouimet, R-1st District.
"We are being optimistic. We're looking as a community at how do we continue to attract and grow business in Washtenaw County?
"Now, because of this, we have some additional people who will be dropped in the labor pool and these people will be excellent employees."
Ouimet, who represents the areas of Chelsea, Dexter, Lyndon and Sylvan townships, was among 60 community leaders who attended a Jan. 29 summit focusing on the aftermath of Pfizer closing and how to proceed.
Ouimet said the brainstorming session concentrated on what they could do to keep the more than 2,000 laid-off employees in the area and in the work force.
Area leaders also discussed the significant impact the closing will have on area nonprofit organizations.
"Pfizer was a leading contributor to a lot of organizations around the county like the United Way," Ouimet said.
Board Chairman Jeff Irwin, D-11th District, agreed, saying there will be significant challenges in the coming years to continue the valuable social services offered through area nonprofits.
"There are different community-based resources like clinics and teen programs, and they had tremendous support from Pfizer," Irwin said. "If we don't have that giant contributor, it will be hard to keep up these programs that are playing such a positive role in the community."
Irwin, an Ann Arbor resident, said recent economical struggles in Michigan are indicative of a national trend that seems to be affecting middle class families.
"The way I look at it, there's a number of factors pushing the big companies to do things in order to run away from high labor costs here in Michigan. The big companies are outsourcing jobs as much as possible," he said.
"It's not surprising that Michigan is feeling the brunt of that, considering we lead the nation in union membership workers. We have people who are willing to stand up and say, 'We deserve a share of the profit this company is making.' It's hitting us a little bit harder, but I think that's partly because of our failure, as a nation, to have our priorities in line."
With the cost of health care rising at a rapid pace, Irwin argued that putting the burden of healthcare costs onto business has been detrimental to retaining and creating new job opportunities.
"Here, in America, we don't provide workers with a unified healthcare system and, as a result, we put even more pressure on business to meet that need. That is something we are now feeling on a local level," Irwin said.
"Not only are we asking the auto manufacturers to be experts in producing cars, but you are also forcing that company to be an expert in health care.
"Additionally, we're asking them to compete in an open market with companies that have far lower labor costs where those companies overseas don't have that obligation and they don't have to deal with that business model."
Irwin said there already are socialized resources that residents use every day such as roads, hospitals and the public school system.
"I think the public school system is an unmitigated success. Social Security is another example," Irwin said.
"We already have a De Facto socialized medicine system. If somebody goes to the emergency room, and he or she doesn't have insurance, then those costs are never paid.
"Those costs are passed to the rest of us in what amounts to a terribly inefficient socialized healthcare system we have right now."
Despite countywide and statewide economic challenges, commissioners say there are bright spots in the form of county projects such as Wireless Washtenaw and Ann Arbor SPARK, an organization that helps cultivate economic development throughout the region.
With the county and a number of area municipalities struggling to overcome dwindling resources and state-shared revenue, local government needs to be concentrated more than ever on pooling resources together and working toward a better future, Grewal said.
Appointed in April 2006, to fill the seat of the retired Robert Brackenbury, Grewal wants to promote a concerted effort to share countywide resources and increase inter-department communication.
Washtenaw County government, similar to other municipalities throughout the county, is looking to trim costs without having to cut services to residents.
Grewal wants to promote not only increased cooperation among county government departments, but also to encourage increased resource sharing between municipalities and countywide organizations.
"It's a budget year, so we are going to need to take stock of what challenges lie ahead for us as a board," said Grewal, who represents Pittsfield Township and parts of Ann Arbor.
"Because of our dwindling resources, coupled with the closing of Pfizer, we are going to have to consider the impact of what all of this will have on the county and make some decisions," she said.
Commissioner Rolland Sizemore Jr., D-5th District, echoed those comments, saying there are positive things happening throughout the county in the form of regionalization.
"Now, organizations will have to work closer together," Sizemore said. "And I look at that as a positive."
Sizemore, who represents Ypsilanti Township, said that county planners will be making an increased effort to work with the townships and cities to better utilize all available resources.
"Let's look for ways to make money and save money," Sizemore said. "It's time to come with some plans. We can't wait around anymore until a decision has been made and then make a plan."
Future projects
In September 2004, a group of county Internet technology employees formed the team that would establish the framework for one of the largest technological undertakings in Washtenaw County.
Wireless Washtenaw started as an initiative to provide wireless, high-speed Internet service throughout urban, suburban and rural areas of the county in an effort to foster small-business opportunities and provide the service for residents throughout the community.
In the past three months, Ann Arbor-based 20/20 Communications has constructed, operated and maintained three pilot networks in the cities of Ann Arbor and Saline, according to a Feb. 7 news release.
The company also conducted a rural pilot program in the Manchester Village, and Bridgewater, Freedom, Manchester and Sharon townships. Officials plan to have the countywide roll out of the network in April.
Newly elected Commissioner Mills said the wireless plan is among several projects in the works the board is excited about this year.
"I'm glad that we are moving forward with (Wireless Washtenaw) and I'm also happy that we are moving forward with the Saline courthouse, as well," she said.
When the new Saline City Hall was constructed five years ago, the old courthouse was never replaced. Since that time, city officials have been advocating for a new courthouse because of the strain placed on police services as officers have to transfer arrests to the Chelsea courthouse or to Ypsilanti.
Mills, who represents Saline along with the Manchester Village and the townships of Manchester, Freedom, Sharon and Bridgewater, said the courthouse project has been in the works for a long time and she is pleased it has been approved. It will be funded from the county's general fund.
"That was a big concern for my constituents," Mills said. "We're set to close on the property Thursday."
In addition, Mills, along with Grewal, would like to see more transparency in county government as they strive to pool information resources between the various departments.
Grewal said it's so often that one department doesn't know what the other one is doing. She said it's something that would better facilitate decision-making.
"We need to be more aggressive and inform everybody about what (the county's) initiatives are, what our priorities are. That is actually a big passion of mine," Grewal said.
New faces
Are we having fun yet?
That's the question the new faces on the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners are asking themselves as they try to avoid being overwhelmed.
Grewal and Mills agreed that one of the more significant challenges is learning how to make their voices, and their constituents voices heard, as local issues and concerns are run through the proper channels of communication. Lovejoy Roe and Schwartz could not be reached for comment.
"I love the work," Grewal said.
"That's why I came on board, because I have a very deep commitment to giving back to the community. That's where my background is., I have a doctorate in urban planning, so it's very satisfying to me to help out in a small way."
While admitting that she's still a little green, Mills said the work is very satisfying.
"I am enjoying it, but I'm still learning the process of how things are handled, how I get my ideas heard and what we do as a board. It's a work in progress," Mills said.
She said she has heard complaints from residents that former 3rd District representative Stephen Solwczuk wasn't visible to the community.
"I want to make sure that I'm representing my constituents and that I maintain an open-door policy, or an open e-mail and phone policy, anyway," Mills said.
Austen Smith is an editor for Heritage Newspapers. He can be reached at asmith@heritage.com.
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