At least 137* of the 622 county commissioner seats in Michigan in January 2017 will have new occupants, a MAC review of the unofficial Aug. 2 primary results has found.

That number could grow in November, too, as 146 incumbent commissioners who advanced out of this week’s primary face general election foes.

Right now, though, the turnover in this election cycle will be at least 22 percent, a figure that would be in line with Michigan history, said MAC Executive Director Tim McGuire.

“Based on our reviews, the turnover rate hovers between 20 percent and 25 percent. In 2014, the rate was about 22 percent,” said McGuire, who has served at MAC for more than 35 years and been executive director since 1994. “You will see that commissioners who retire and create open seats are the source of many of these changes.”

Thirty incumbent commissioners, however, did not advance out of the primary this year, according to MAC’s review.

Two northern county boards will look substantially different come January, as Emmet County will welcome six new members to its seven-member board, while Luce County in the U.P. will have four newcomers on its five-member panel.

In preparation for the new commissioners, MAC already is working with MSU Extension on training programs via “New Commissioner Schools” the agencies will co-host at several locations in November and December.

“New commissioners don’t have a great deal of time to prep before their county responsibilities fall on them in January,” McGuire explained. “These programs are our way of helping them get off on the right step.”

*Figure updated and corrected on Aug. 9.

 

The Michigan Counties Workers’ Compensation Fund (MCWCF) has awarded grants to agencies in eight counties to help reduce employee accidents and injuries.

These sums are part of the MCWCF’s Loss Prevention Grants Program, started in 2014. With this round of grants, totaling more than $23,000, the MCWCF has now handed out about $100,000.

“The growth of our Loss Prevention Grants Program is one of the most impressive recent developments at MCWCF,” said Timothy K. McGuire, the fund’s executive director. “These investments are part of a virtuous circle for our members and the fund overall.”

See the full list of recipients.

MAC Executive Director Tim McGuire used an appearance on “The Big Show” with Michael Patrick Shiels to make the case that only new revenue will propel the state out of its roads crisis.

“”Do we want dirt roads? … The point is, if you are going to fix the roads, you have to raise revenue. … We have to raise some revenues to pay for the roads. It’s just gotta be done,” McGuire said.

MAC’s Board of Directors, made up of county commissioners from across the state, has long supported a tax increase to generate the new dollars necessary to jump-start maintenance on our crumbling roads.

Allegan County Board of Commissioners Chairman Mark DeYoung and fellow Allegan Commissioner Jon Campbell were presented the first place award in the Center for Digital Government’s 2015 Digital Survey Awards at the National Association of Counties’ Annual Conference this week.

Allegan, which won in the under 150,000 population category, was honored for offering 27 different online services, including its online GIS Data Library, which citizens and customers can download at no cost. Judges also made note of the county’s Connect with Us social media portal and its collaboration with Kent and Ottawa counties on procurement. “This solution and the consortium created by these three counties serve as a model for other municipalities across the state of Michigan,” the judges wrote.

Campbell also serves as president of the MAC Board of Directors.

Several other Michigan counties received honors at the event.

Oakland County won third place in the over 500,000 category for its suite of programs, including a countywide social media strategy, its G2G (Government to Government) Marketplace.

Commissioner Don Disselkoen of Ottawa County, also a MAC Board member, was on hand to pick up his county’s sixth place award in the 250,000 to 449,999 category.

Jackson County Commissioner Sarah Lightner accepted her county’s 10th place award in the 150,000 to 249,999 category. Berrien County received fifth place in the same population category.

The 2015 Digital Counties Survey, conducted by e.Republic’s Center for Digital Government, highlights counties across the country that are digital leaders. Established in 1984, e.Republic is the nation’s only media and research company focused exclusively on state and local government and education.

“This is an outstanding example of how Michigan counties are using innovation and technology to protect and enhance public services in tight budgetary times,” said Tim McGuire, executive director of MAC. “As these results show, counties of any size can find new ways to help their residents.”

Two members of the Michigan Association of Counties (MAC) were informed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently that their grant applications for brownfield assessments were accepted. Alger County will receive $196,100, while Jackson County will get $400,000. Each county was approved for “community-wide” assessments, the EPA announced. For Alger County, the successful notice comes after several years of tweaking proposals to address longstanding contamination issues, assisted by MAC’s Grant Services Program. “This grant took a different and creative approach by only requesting enough funds to address redevelopment problems and financial barriers at the top four highest priority brownfield sites in the county,” explained Gabriel Zawadzki, who leads MAC’s Grant Services Program. “Three of these sites are located in the heart of downtown Munising along M28 — the major northern corridor through the Upper Peninsula and the gateway to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.” Alger County Board of Commissioners Chairman Jerry Doucette said the county is eager to get to work to bring these properties back into productive use. “We were fortunate to have the assistance of MAC and its experts at AKT Peerless and Envirologic to ensure that, this time, we would be successful in convincing the EPA of the importance of our proposal,” added Doucette, who also serves as first vice president of MAC. In all, the EPA approved seven of the 26 applications from Michigan in this round of funding. In addition to Alger and Jackson counties, the successful applicants were: the city of Detroit, the Downriver Community Conference, the Genesee County Land Bank, the city of Lansing and the Muskegon Brownfield Redevelopment Authority. Total funding gained via the grants exceeds $2.5 million.