I made no personal New Year’s resolutions for 2018. I was tempted
though to resolve to join the thousands of Cheboygan County residents who find
any activity is better than attending a local government meeting. I was one of
only three citizens in the audience of the County Board of Commissioners on
January 9, 2018. A sports team could not survive with more people on the floor
or field than in the stands and Cheboygan County suffers from the same apathy.
Cheboygan County’s primary role in the hierarchy of governance is
acting as the home of the Circuit and District Courts, Sherriff’s Department
and jail, deliverance and enforcement of Michigan’s criminal and civil laws,
and the dissemination of a plethora of state programs to local residents. The
vast majority of business that comes before the County Commissioners is rote
rubberstamping of an agenda mandated by others. You err if you think the County
Commissioners are lawmakers. One of the few areas where they can exert a local
influence over our daily life, freedoms or infringements on our freedoms is in
the area of planning of
land uses and zoning regulations.
The
County Commissioners have now failed that by over-thinking, micro managing, and
partially approving Amendment #144 to the County’s Ordinance #200. Amendment
#144 principally clarified or confused a multiplicity of restaurant
definitions. The law will now identify as separate or maybe combined uses a Bar,
Drive-through, Restaurant,
Restaurant-carry
out, Restaurant-drive in, and a Restaurant-fast food. Amendment #144 also
included an attempt by the Planning Commission to correct the error of omission
that occurred when former Community Development Director Steve Schnell was
forced by public pressure to backtrack on his attempt ban short-term or
vacation rentals.
Mr Schnell had redefined the biblical
definition of family to read “two or more individuals, whether related or
unrelated”. That wording excluded more than thirty percent of county residents
who reside in one person households protected by Federal Fair Housing Act. The act specifically states a family, regardless of Mr
Schnell’s ideal, includes a “single individual”.
We have all seen the
flack lawmakers attract when they vote on bills or legislation without reading
or understanding what they are voting yea or nay on. The inclusion of a
correction within Amendment #144, to be inserted into Section 2.2 of the Cheboygan County Zoning Ordinance
No. 200 is hereby amended to change the following definition which shall read
in its entirety as follows: Family An individual or a group of individuals,
whether related or unrelated, who are occupying a dwelling. It was that simple.
Then the stupidity started. Commissioner Sangster asked, “What does a
definition of family have to do with bars or restaurants?” If you read the
cover sheet explanation, the answer is there: nothing. Adding to the confusion, Cheboygan Legal
Counsel Bryan Graham interjects that in his opinion, if this is the county’s
attempt to control short-term rentals, it is “not good policy”. The wording amendment
would return the family definition to a standard that meets the FFHA. The
citizens of Cheboygan County endorsed short-term rentals and to this date,
there has not been any demonstrated need for the controls Mr Schnell
envisioned.
If the Cheboygan County Commissioners
want to micro manage, Administrator Jeff Lawson is currently at the helm of a
ship that seems adrift with people taking to the lifeboats. Despite a big
retention raise a few years ago, his friend, Community Development Director
Steve Schnell, is gone. The newly created lesser position of Planning and
Zoning Director remains unfilled with Scott McNeil’s end of February retirement
fast approaching. Finance Director Kari Kortz received an $11,342.95 raise
just less than three years ago with an additional title Assistant County
Administrator.
Ms Kortz has given her notice and is not leaving for more money
or a better pension, but a position in private industry that offers employees
more respect. Any one person will not fulfill her existing duties despite the
caveat: Performs additional duties as may be assigned by the
Administrator.
Newly appointed Commissioner Karen
Johnson has publicly recognized the County building has no dedicated Human
Resource staff. People don’t quit jobs, they quit managers. Cheboygan
County has a finite labor pool of professional and management people. Many of
the current and future openings that will occur will be very hard to fill.
