What if I told you this millage was never about cops?

http://m.gladwinmi.com/news/two-viewpoints-county-wide-public-safety-millage/article_c806d04e-423b-11e3-acfd-001a4bcf887a.html?mode=jqm

TWO VIEWPOINTS: County-Wide Public Safety Millage

Please stand with me

To the Editor:

I have sat back and watched for the past two years the leaders of this community, call for ticketing the visitors, as well as the citizens of Gladwin County for speeding through town, pleading for more tax base to fund the City Police and Sheriff departments.

This past weekend the Jeep Creep was hosted here in Gladwin, what a wonderful opportunity for families, and citizens to get out and enjoy the day and have something to do on a Saturday. Well, I saw this as yet another opportunity for the City Police, and County Deputies to harass visitors and citizens once again.

You can’t tell me that just because people come into the town of Gladwin, that it would cause an increase in the flashing lights you see approximately every 10-15 minutes, pulling vehicles over, and writing tickets. People do not need to be pulled over just because the city and county need more funds.

I would like to see The City Administrator, The Mayor, The City Council, County Commissioners, and business owners, step back and take note of the decrease in visitors coming to Gladwin, due to the fact that the police are so overzealous. If they would curb this problem maybe this town would become more attractive for people to come out and enjoy. I don’t think they understand the workings of a prosperous city. I believe in following the law, but I don’t see a need for more police in this area, there are not many people out after sunset in Gladwin (due to the reputation of the police pulling people over, in the hope of giving them a citation.)

If you travel to West Branch on a Friday evening, the town is booming, you don’t see police pulling everyone over to harass them, you see the police, but they are just there, observing not plaguing the public. As a matter of fact, when I came back home from West Branch I was pulled over by a deputy as soon as I hit the Gladwin County line. It seems that after 10 p.m. it is the law to be pulled over, for the off chance that you may have been drinking, this is ludicrous, as I am a 50 year old law abiding citizen.

Maybe some revenue would come in by means of having people want to visit Gladwin, and shop locally, instead of what is going on now, it would be nice to have a good reputation rather than the one that I often hear,” Come to Gladwin on vacation, go home on probation.” This is disgraceful to me; please take my lead in voting NO on the upcoming “Safety Millage”, to help fund our police department. There are more than enough police in Gladwin City and County; I would like to see more people enjoying the city instead of seeing all the flashing lights that are out harassing the public.

Thanks for listening,

Marybeth E. French

Lifetime Gladwin County Resident

Magistrate responds to letter

To the Editor:

After reading Ms. French's letter, I had to respond.

Disclaimer-I am the Magistrate for the Gladwin District Court, so changes in county revenue/funding could have a direct impact on my staff. All information below is public, from websites or court information.

First, I found the comparison to West Branch interesting, as West Branch has a State Police post, including the troopers that used to be stationed in Gladwin. They also have miles of expressway, which are well-patrolled.

I went to the Michigan Supreme Court Website, and pulled up the number for 2012 to compare Ogemaw and Gladwin Counties. Ogemaw had 8675 state civil infractions through their court. Gladwin had 1782. Ogemaw had 9843 total traffic cases, Gladwin had 2554.

What does this mean? For the average traffic ticket in Gladwin, [five miles per hour over the speed limit], the cost is $110. Of that $110, the first $40 goes to the state. The $70 balance is divided – $42 to the County General Fund, and $28 to the Library (Penal Fines).

Maybe all the tickets are being written on the freeway? Whatever the source, it is obvious that Ogemaw is getting a lot more money than Gladwin from their traffic tickets.

I was concerned whether Ms. French was being somehow targeted for tickets, so I checked our records (which are public), and discovered she had one speeding ticket in 2007 for which she paid $90-$32 went to the general fund and $18 to the library.

Since 2007, the Court's revenue has decreased from $581,000 to $502,000 in 2012. We have not rehired two staff that left, and tried to cut costs whenever possible. The rest of the county has similar problems.

If people follow Ms. French's recommendation and vote no so that traffic tickets won't be written, there will be a foreseeable domino effect. When the Sheriff's department cuts staff, it will increase response time, so your non-violent breaking and entering will have to be dealt with in due course as officer time allows.

If road patrols are significantly cut, there will be fewer tickets written, fewer drunk drivers stopped, less police presence as a deterrent, probably more accidents from the speeders/drunk drivers, less revenue to the county and the library – all of which will lower the general comfort level of the community.

I encourage anyone seeking more information to go to www.gladwinco.com and follow the links to budget information and statistics, and support the public safety millage.

Michael Greer, Magistrate

80th District Court

I appreciate the paper posting all viewpoints. It's important for folks to weigh all opinions.  

Mrs. French holds a view not uncommon among Gladwin County Residents and its visitors. 

Magistrate Greer took a bold approach to pull out a traffic violation against Mrs. French from 2007 to prove a point on where citation money is dispersed.  I question the motive of Magistrate Greer in pulling Mrs. French's file and posting it as an example to prove a point for the millage.  I would even go as far as to say it was to intimidate a dissenting voice.

You don't bite the hand that feeds you when your hand is out to be fed. 

Magistrate Greer went on to qualify his position in regards to the public safety millage on the Gladwin County Record Facebook page:

" Look over the county budget for the last seven years. A significant increase has taken place in health care costs(this was pre- dating obamacare so no need to go there) even though personnel numbers were going down. Read the board minutes and see how they are having to borrow from other funds to continue operating-and paying interest. The board has indicated the probable result if the millage doesn't pass, and they cannot pay the medical premium costs from the general fund money which would have went to the sheriff's department, would be to look to layoffs. As others have noted, a significant part of the county budget is people. The sheriff's department is a large part of that. Road patrols are not statutorily required. Some of you may remember that situation when Sheriff Shea first came on board. We are not in a unique situation. Other counties have or are proposing public safety millages. I understand the idea of voicing dissatisfaction by turning down taxes when you have the opportunity, but please do your research about what the result will be, and be sure you are willing to live with the consequences. If you are unhappy with police services, talk to the agency-don't do away with the services. I want to thank the Record for opening this opportunity for people to rationally discuss the issue."

This statement reaffirms what we already know is that this millage is not about public safety. It is about funding county government as a whole. Health care and pension costs will come before serving the citizens with road patrol. something has to give, and when push comes to shove, it will not be public employee insurance costs. 

This is a general fund millage plain and simple. I've attended county commission meets for months and have volumes of video. The departments naturally don't agree on what should be shaved next. 3 out of 4 dollars in our county budget is labor costs. And the employees are unionized so it's not just flipping a switch to down size (or right size) local government. The sheriff dept. Has minimum staffing levels. You will not lose your law enforcement coverage. You also will not be gaining any. Since all this does is shift current funding for the dept. back to the general fund. This is another tax. The method used is an old playbook to incite fear, if not at least enough anxiety to get folks to approve this. Our county has been slowly reaching this point. It has arrived. Population is down, taxable values are down, foreclosures are up, and every time we turn around there is another request for government funding. It's becoming to difficult to pick and choose. Government will not voluntarily downsize in any substantial manner regardless of the cuts so far that were low hanging fruit. I don't look at this through jobs, or lost economic activity, or anything remotely personal. I've just had enough. Upside down mortgages, increased fuel costs, increased insurance costs. Much of which we struggle to contain, but this is a millage question to the tax payers. Where is the threshold? When will there be enough...... 

Our county department heads are of the understanding that we don't have a revenue problem, we have a cash flow problem. They advocate the status quo. borrowing from every dedicated fund we the people have been asked to provide to fund county government,  Gypsy Moth, E-911; no fund is sacred. It used to be casually denied. Now it is common knowledge and defended as a better option than bank financing. I question whether it is co-mingling of funds. Even so, I don't like being asked for a dedicated millage then watching that fund be raided month after month.

 

Other citizens have weighed in:

"Not only is it unnerving, pulling out a 15 yr old traffic ticket (even if it is a public record) appears to be a thinly veiled intimidation tactic that some people in positions of authority use to show their power, in this case under the guise of "concern" that Ms. French might have been prejudiced against cops. Such a low caliber machination makes me wonder what it's like to stand in front of this person in the courtroom. Maybe your county shouldn't be as concerned with cutting police. Perhaps there are cuts that can be made in depts. that seem to enjoy tossing an underhand barb at the private citizens when they invoke ire, intended or not."

 

"No matter what anyone thinks about the issue of the millage, it is not proper for a government official to publish information concerning traffic violations about a person that speaks out against giving the government more money. Furthermore, my guess is magistrate Greer did the research and wrote the letter while on duty at the courthouse or he assigned someone on the county payroll to do it."

 

" What are we losing if millage don't pass ?? No one will tell me notchair not sheriff how do we know what we will lose if they wwon't tell us for fear people might start putting out apps how can we be informed just saying public safety cuts and no one willlike them is not informing the people so iI will stand with all my prior statements as iI am not being totally informed as to what will be cut i call their bluff - I vote no this is a general fund millage anyhow"

 

" I can't speak for all the police in our county but I can speak for the ones I know, they aren't writing tickets to make $$. They're great men who care about our safety! I don't support the millage but I'll voice my support of our police" 

 

" When there aren't enough deputies to respond to complaints then everyone will complain about that." 

 

" I can understand both sides of the issue here. I made a trip into downtown Gladwin to pick up a young lady from work. I was pulled over, questioned as to who I was, who I was with and what was I doing out at that time of night, etc. (she worked closing at the bowling alley) After being given the third degree, the officer decided to tell me I had a light out on the rear of my car. No ticket, just get it fixed. On the other hand, I live in southwest Gladwin County. Response time: 1 1/2 hours to not at all. Patrol of our area: none. Speeders: almost every car !! Why does Gladwin County need more money ? Reduction in a force where we don't see them anyway ??"

 

"  I wish my health care and pension concerns could be satisfied by a public vote." 

 

"  Absolutely agree. The police state that exists in Gladwin is long standing and needs to be addressed and changed. I support the police, I'm married to a cop, but I do not support the police in Gladwin." 

 

" My family is 90% law enforcement and come from all over the state to visit. They all have told me they don't see police till they get to this county and get pulled over! They are quick to pull you over but unfortunately slow in response time to a residence (too busy passing out tickets). We have been pulled over for "crossing the center line for 20'" also for not using our blinker! No one was around and on rural road I often deer drive down middle of road to avoid ditch jumping deer! It's sad, we do very little in this county for about10 years as a result. Good letter, worth a repeat!" 

 

" I certainly hope none of you would be complaining the moment something happened and we didn't have enough police protection..." 

 

We've done a good job of focusing on Public Safety.  But Public Safety is just the easiest local governmental millage to leverage.

The local Sheriff Department will receive no additional funding from this millage. And if it fails, we have mandatory funding levels to adhere to by statute. As another citizen stated, our local government is unwilling to pinpoint what the government will look like if the millage fails. There is no transparency in that to make an educated decision. 

Also, consider why a county wide / regional joint millage to share funding between two cities and the county would be requested?  the truth behind that is purely voting demographics. City residents are more prone to vote for increased police funding. The blending of county and city voters increases the odds of passage.

The Sheriff is a constitutional entity. Elected and accountable to the people. 

http://sheriffmikeraines.blogspot.com/

The local PD is accountable typically to a city council and a city manager.  Sometimes local pds are referred to as "bastions of legislation" no offense to good police officers. we just wish there were more "peace officers"  and we wish protect and serve was not removed from our community owned vehicles.

The bottom line is that the Gladwin County Public Safety Millage is not about public safety.  And any public official questioned point blank will not deny it.  It is a question of whether the citizens of Gladwin County want to continue the current level of service in their county government.  

The goal is to get the county budget in line with a 17% fund equity. With this 5 year millage, it is projected to be accomplished in three. what of the remaining two years of 1.8 million locally  extracted tax dollars?  

Our county was hit with over 800k in drain assessments in 2013 alone. Gladwin schools want 24 buses, Beaverton schools working towards their bond extension, again, Gladwin got an ELEVEN-year non-homestead millage approved. Hunting fees up, registration fees up, gas tax hike on the horizon, Obamacare RACKING the people, dog ordinance, fines, fees, costs of services persistently inching........

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Can the private individual, the private small business, the non homestead tax payer PLEASE enjoy a moratorium on all new-taxes........please?