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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Mike Carr has a copy of a prior lawsuit for each county commissioner. In the lawsuit the duties of the Sheriffs office, as defined by the law, are enumerated.
Carr is upset that he is losing state mandated positions when the sheriffs office receives lesser cuts. Road patrols by he Sheriffs office are not mandated services. Some communities enter into contracts with the Sheriff for road patrols, but more patrols are currently entering into Flint, which does not contract for services.
Some county officials have stated they believe Bogardus will prevail in her lawsuit because at last count, the office was 23,000 documents behind in processing. The unions have had some issues with Bogardus. |
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Tue Jun 15, 2010 5:53 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Genesee County department heads to commissioners: We were shut out of layoff decision making
Published: Wednesday, June 16, 2010, 12:35 PM Updated: Wednesday, June 16, 2010, 12:32 PM
Ron Fonger | Flint Journal
GENESEE COUNTY -- Several county government department heads told the Board of Commissioners today that they were shut out of layoff decisions made Tuesday, unnecessarily creating problems that have to be fixed now.
"I'm feeling a bit left out of the process," said Health Officer Mark Valacak. "(There were) decisions made by accountants who don't understand public health."
David Leyton
Commissioners voted Tuesday to eliminate 21 positions from several departments and Valacak was among department heads who made alternative suggestions to eliminate different positions just 24 hours later.
Board members said they will consider those alternatives in coming days and some said they should have talked more with department leaders before voting to eliminate specific positions.
In one case, Animal Control Chief Officer Stepheni Lazar said she found out about the decision to lay off one of her employees after the fact and only through the grapevine.
"I feel I and the employee deserved better," Lazar said.
Prosecutor David Leyton said he also watched from the sideline as commissioners announced which five positions they would eliminate in his office.
One of the decisions "would threaten our ability to remain serviceable," Leyton said. "I was not consulted."
Commissioner Brenda Clack, D-Flint, said she was "strongly recommending department heads have a seat at the table" in the future, and Commissioner Omar Sims, who voted against the layoffs, called the process a "rookie mistake."
Other county board members said they were forced to act quickly to eliminate a projected $700,000-plus deficit in the current fiscal year budget.
"We no longer have the luxury that we can just dip back into our reserves," said Commissioner Patrick Gleason, D-Richfield Twp. "We've been over-spending our budgets for a long time ... It's a very, very sad situation but there is no piggy bank left anymore." |
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Thu Jun 17, 2010 6:38 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Judge to Genesee County: Find a new attorney in case against Rose Bogardus
Published: Monday, June 21, 2010, 4:10 PM
Ron Fonger | Flint Journal
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GENESEE COUNTY -- The county might have to dig deeper to pay for outside legal help after all as it defends itself against a lawsuit filed by Register of Deeds Rose Bogardus.
Genesee Circuit Judge Geoffrey L. Neithercut ruled in favor of Bogardus' motion to disqualify Ward Chapman, the county's top attorney, from handling the case in which the register wants the court to require the county to pay her growing legal fees, Chapman said.
Bogardus and her attorney contended in court filings that the county attorney's office should be disqualified from involvement in her case because she provided confidential information to it previously.
Rose Bogardus
Bogardus and the county Board of Commissioners have been fighting throughout this fiscal year about funding for her office and the register has threatened to sue commissioners to restore at least some of those cuts.
She has said she needed an attorney to protect her office in light of how she has been treated by commissioners, who cut funds to her office drastically -- from $759,000 to $484,000 in one year.
Bogardus has estimated she's spent about $40,000 in legal fees already.
Chapman said Neithercut's decision would force the county board to hire someone outside the office of corporation counsel "if the ruling stands."
Bogardus released a statement Monday after Neithercut's decision, referring all other questions to the law firm of Clark Hill.
"My efforts today in court and for the last 10 months have been to work with county officials to provide sufficient staff to meet my statutory obligations," the statement said in part. "They have not listened. In fact, the only time the county has listened and temporarily increased my staffing levels was when the county needed information in order to tax citizens of the county."
The Flint Journal could not reach county board Chairman Jamie Curtis for comment Monday. |
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Wed Jun 23, 2010 11:11 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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A number of County officials believe Bogardus will prevail in her lawsuits.
Register of Deeds Rose Bogardus sues Genesee County again, wants judge to restore cuts made by commissioners
Published: Tuesday, June 22, 2010, 2:06 PM Updated: Tuesday, June 22, 2010, 2:18 PM
Ron Fonger | Flint Journal
GENESEE COUNTY -- County Register of Deeds Rose Bogardus has filed a second lawsuit against the county Board of Commissioners, asking a judge to order more money be given to her office to bring staffing back to year-ago levels.
Bogardus filed suit in Genesee Circuit Court Monday, the same day Circuit Judge Geoffrey L. Neithercut disqualified the county attorney's office from continuing to represent the county in another lawsuit filed by the register. That first suit seeks to force the county to pay Bogardus' legal fees as she fights commissioners over funding for her office.
The move apparently represents the first time since the 1980s that a county officeholder has sued to force commissioners to provide more funding for a particular office.
"We are trying to cut the budget. There is only x-amount of dollars coming in the front door," said board Chairman Jamie Curtis. "If county co-elected (officials) are going to sue the county ... a judge (may have to) tell us how to pay for these services."
Rose Bogardus
Bogardus' lawsuit says her ability to carry out her duties as register are being "impaired or infringed upon by the Board of Commissioners by it failure to adequately fund (the) office."
It seeks a declaratory judgment determining whether the county is funding the register's office at a "barely adequate service level" and asks Neithercut to reinstate adequate funding -- enough to hire eight full-time staff from the general fund budget.
Bogardus, who would not comment when contacted today, had that level of funding a year ago but commissioners eliminated three positions in the office as part of a larger budget-cutting effort. In her lawsuit, Bogardus claims the cuts to her office were harsher than those in any other area of county government.
Commissioners voted today to authorize Curtis to make decisions regarding the Bogardus lawsuits, including potentially filing of an appeal of Neithcut's decision disqualifying county attorneys from representing the county.
Curtis would have to hire an attorney to achieve that, costing county taxpayers even more money. Bogardus said weeks ago that her legal bills were approaching $40,000 and counting. Her initial lawsuit asks that those bills to be paid with money from the county general fund as well.
Bogardus' motion to have Chapman disqualified contended the attorney's office had a conflict of interest in that she provided confidential information to county attorneys before the register hired her own attorney.
Chapman told commissioners today that he was surprised by Neithercut's decision to disqualify his office from handling the case.
"It's not unheard of ... but I was surprised at the ruling of the court," Chapman said.
The county has contended Bogardus has no legitimate reason for hiring her own attorney and that her office is being funded at a serviceable level.
Commissioners have spent much of this year attempting to erase red ink in the general fund as revenues have continued to drop even faster than anticipated because of falling property values and property tax revenues.
In recent weeks, the county board has laid off 35 employees in an effort to cut spending.
Two rating services lowered the county's bond rating earlier this year, partly because commissioners have spent down reserves funds rather than making deep enough cuts for several years. |
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Wed Jun 23, 2010 11:27 am |
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00SL2
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
untanglingwebs schreef:
Bogardus' motion to have Chapman disqualified contended the attorney's office had a conflict of interest in that she provided confidential information to county attorneys before the register hired her own attorney.
What pertinent information could be "confidential" relating to the office of the Register of Deeds. Isn't the office supposed to be "transparent" to the taxpaying public? |
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Wed Jun 23, 2010 5:06 pm |
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Ted Jankowski
F L I N T O I D
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| I tried to get Rose to come on my show. She said she can't because of all this legal crap. But, I'm wondering now how much our commissioners are wasting in legal fees that have developed from Furlow days lawsuits and all the other lawsuits. Including Argentine and Grand Blanc suing the drain commissioner when that could have been settled fairly. These elected officials have no sense of fiscal responsibility. It's not their money they are throwing away. |
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Wed Jun 23, 2010 6:33 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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| Why didn't they stop the furlough days after Sam Muma and AFSCME 1600 won their suit? The writing was on the wall and yet the county continued. Toll is over one million. |
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Fri Jun 25, 2010 9:55 am |
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Ted Jankowski
F L I N T O I D
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| I don't see how or why the County or the City cannot lay people off for One day here r one day there? Is it just a change in terminology that would fix this. Instead of furlough days. Lay everyone off for a whole week. Just close up shop completely. Lock the doors to City hall for a whole day or week and also to the County Building. Everyone is laid off. It just seems a bit ridiculous that the City and county can be sued for not providing a full work week |
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Fri Jun 25, 2010 3:03 pm |
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