[1:59] Mhm.
[3:54] » Mhm.
[5:49] » Mhm.
[6:59] » All right, here we go. Here we are.
Ryan, just as we're killing it now, so I
[7:03] agree.
So, I will call this meeting to order of
[7:07] the Kent County Board of Commissioners
Policy and Operations Committee. Today
[7:11] is Tuesday, June 23rd. Um first item on
our agenda is public comment.
[7:17] Is there anyone that would like to
address the committee?
[7:20] Seeing no one, we will close that
portion of our meeting.
[7:24] Approval of the minutes. Can I have a
motion
[7:28] and support?
We have a motion by Commissioner DeBoer,
[7:31] supported by Morris. Any comments,
questions, changes?
[7:37] If not, all those in favor, please say
yes. Yes, all those opposed, last
[7:42] meeting's minutes have been approved. We
have a couple action items on our agenda
[7:47] today.
Our first item is brought to us by the
[7:51] 17th Circuit Court. Can I have a motion
in support, please? Motion by Deboer,
[7:57] supported by Mars.
All right. Uh
[8:03] Al.
>> Yes, we do have someone from the Circuit
[8:06] Court to kind of explain the plan, so uh
Heather's here this morning.
[8:11] » Great. Thank you so much.
>> Good morning.
[8:14] Um I'm Heather Blodgett. I work for the
17th Circuit Court
[8:17] in Court Services and the Community
Corrections grant that we manage. Thank
[8:21] you.
>> You're welcome.
[8:22] » Uh so, as the action request state, a
board resolution is required um in order
[8:28] to submit our plan to the state, which
we've done and is in process right now.
[8:32] The whole goal of the Community
Corrections grant is to provide
[8:34] alternatives to incarceration for felony
offenders. So, through those grant
[8:39] dollars, which is going to be just under
1.1 or 1.2 million if we're awarded the
[8:43] full amount [clears throat] this year,
we'll fund in whole or in part 12
[8:46] different programs um including
pre-trial services, probably four that
[8:51] target substance abuse disorders and
their related behaviors. We also um
[8:56] target cognitive behavioral um issues
and trauma-related behaviors that
[9:02] uh you know, cause crime and
uh
[9:04] uh
Excuse me. Let me check my notes here
[9:07] and uh that contribute to those
behaviors. And then we also have anger
[9:11] management, domestic violence, sex
offender treatment, and a jail re-entry
[9:16] program. And together, those things
provide, you know, services that would
[9:20] otherwise cause people to become
incarcerated for much longer. We see a
[9:24] lot of success. Our program providers
are wonderful. Um they meet our KPMs,
[9:29] key performance measures, regularly and
uh work with us very well. So, we
[9:34] appreciate your support. Are there any
questions?
[9:36] » Great, thank you, Heather. Uh
commissioners,
[9:40] I look at that thorough job you did.
Thank you. We knew today would be a kind
[9:43] of a quick meeting. So, uh this does go
to full board on Thursday. So, uh if
[9:49] there's no other questions, we do have a
motion in support. All those in favor,
[9:52] please say yes. Yes. All those opposed,
that has been approved and will go to
[9:57] full board
on
[10:00] Thursday.
Our next item on our agenda is brought
[10:03] to us by the board office. This is the
Community Mental Health Authority Board
[10:06] Network 180 appointment. Do I have a
motion in support, please?
[10:12] Motion by vice minority vice chair
Favor. You know, I'm going to I always
[10:17] struggle with that and supported by
Commissioner Hennessey. I think I had
[10:21] MVC one day. I think I might just stick
to the MVC. It might be the best thing.
[10:25] Uh commissioners, comments or questions?
Um I appreciate uh
[10:30] the folks that went over this uh
uh for us. That was Commissioner
[10:34] Halstead, Commissioner LeGrand. I I have
been trying to to the best of my ability
[10:41] to uh people that are on a certain board
or commission for us to kind of
[10:45] interview those folks. Maybe even if
those those folks aren't with us on this
[10:49] committee, I think people that are on
that committee just know a little bit
[10:53] more knowledge and have a little bit
more to do with it than we do. Um so,
[10:57] again, I appreciate them going over
that. I have a couple more two more
[11:01] appointments that we need to make, so
I'll be reaching out to some of you to
[11:05] uh help with those appointments.
Uh any comments or questions or
[11:08] concerns? Yes.
>> Uh so, I'm on the Network 180 board with
[11:12] Commissioner Halstead, Steck, and
LeGrand. Uh this
[11:15] it's been an open seat for maybe 6
months or so, so it's good to see it
[11:19] being filled. Um
I know part of our charge as a committee
[11:24] is going to be sort of getting and
ramping up for the next round of
[11:28] interviews, appointments, uh the whole
deal. Um
[11:33] I'll just state one of my
frustrations with that process has been,
[11:38] you know, where we have an open seat,
but an incumbent is lined up to
[11:44] fill it, and so it's not technically
really an open seat, and
[11:49] how do we kind of make sure that as we
put these out to the community as
[11:53] available opportunities for them to
engage in this amazing county
[11:57] uh, government that they're
uh, positions that are real and are
[12:02] something that we
um,
[12:05] yeah, are open to them coming into. I
think along with that, um,
[12:10] sometimes our descriptions about these
open seats are very vague, and unless
[12:14] you click into the whole system, you
don't really know what you're signing up
[12:18] for. So, just as we prepare for uh, this
next round of appointments, uh,
[12:25] interviews, etc., um, I'd really like us
to explore how do we
[12:30] articulate positions that are actually
uh, really open and available. Um, I
[12:36] know those incumbent positions are
technically open, but we kind of know
[12:40] how that goes.
Uh, and then second, that our
[12:43] descriptions about the qualifications
for these positions are
[12:48] more available on the very front end,
uh, so we don't have people having to
[12:52] register and sign in and go through this
process only to realize that it's not
[12:56] something that they're even eligible to
apply for. So, those are my comments.
[13:00] » I I appreciate that. Thank you. I know
we are addressing those. Taylor's on top
[13:04] of that. We actually had a conversation
yesterday. She says, "Hey, we need to
[13:08] get together." cuz uh, she's already
planning for that, and I believe some of
[13:12] those uh, same issues are already in
Taylor's mind to to help uh, us along in
[13:19] that. So, I'm I'm looking forward to
that. I think this year will be a a very
[13:22] smooth, uh, easier process, um, even
like you're mentioning about incumbents
[13:29] and not getting folks hopes up. Uh maybe
this is for Al or Brian. Do we have a
[13:34] general rule of thumb where I know
I know coming from city government, uh
[13:41] we kind of had an unwritten rule, and it
could be
[13:44] could be expanded cuz you don't have
somebody available that if somebody
[13:49] served for 20 years, 10 years, do we
have do we have a a number like that as
[13:53] far as a policy or anything's concerned?
>> We don't, but I can tell you that we did
[13:58] put a term limit in for boards and
commissions in Ottawa that where it
[14:01] wasn't regulated further by the state.
>> Okay.
[14:05] » So, but here we don't have that.
>> And I know kind of like the the one
[14:09] position we're just filling, I know our
police chief position that we filled uh
[14:12] here a couple weeks ago, those are such
tough positions to fill. I'd hate to put
[14:17] that on there, but obviously there are
some some folks that uh would probably
[14:23] like to get uh plugged in at different
times, but anyways, um
[14:27] just something to think about. All
right, any other comments or questions?
[14:30] This will go to full board this coming
Thursday.
[14:35] All right, seeing none, all those in
favor, please say yes. Yes. All those
[14:40] opposed,
that appointment has been approved. All
[14:44] right, commissioner comments.
Commissioner Boujack.
[14:48] » Thank you, Chair. I just want to
echo Commissioner Baber's comment.
[14:53] Excellent county government.
>> All right, any other uh
[14:58] » I hear nothing else, thanks.
[15:01] » [laughter]
>> Please hear that.
[15:04] » Look at this.
>> Whenever someone talks, do you hear
[15:07] excellent county
>> Any other commissioner's comments?
[15:11] All right, seeing none, meeting is
adjourned. Thank you so much.
[15:17] » That's That's what it's all about,
Wallace.
[15:22] » I love you, too.
[15:57] Mhm.