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Annette Kingsbury By Annette Kingsbury By Michael Dwyer C.O.R.E Christine Lind Hage City Council City of Rochester clinton river Crittenton Dan Stickradt Dave Pruneau DDA dear crabby Downtown Rochester Grace Centers of Hope Heidi Morris Jayna Pyke L. Brooks Patterson Mayor Barnett Mayor Bryan Barnett Mayor Bryan K. Barnett Michael Dwyer Oakland County Oakland Township Oakland University OPC Paint Creek Center for the Arts paint creek trail Road Commission for Oakland County rochester Rochester Adams Rochester City Council Rochester College Rochester Community House Rochester Community Schools Rochester High School Rochester Hills Rochester Hills Fire Department Rochester Hills Museum Rochester Hills Public Library Rochester Regional Chamber of Commerce Rochester Rotary Club Stoney Creek High School Stuart Bikson The Village of Rochester Hills
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Posts Tagged ‘OPC’
Editorial: OPC mess needs fresh eyes
Written by Annette Kingsbury
Monday, 13 February 2012 11:08
9 Comments

It’s no surprise that a budget compromise offered by Rochester City Council was rejected by the Older Persons Commission governing board Feb.2. The two sides aren’t getting any closer to resolving the dispute that has dragged on since fall. If anything, the debate seems to become increasingly difficult with each passing week.

OPC Executive Director Marye Miller says lies are being spread by Rochester City Council; Mayor Stuart Bikson calls her comments “inappropriate” and reminds her that she doesn’t run OPC; the board does.  When discussing who is using the right or wrong numbers, Rochester Hills Councilman Michael Webber takes a completely uncharacteristic shot at Bikson; he later apologizes.

The positions of both sides in the budget dispute rest at least partly on principle, making it very difficult to find common ground. Each side feels that to cave in is to set a precedent that bodes ill for the OPC’s future.

In a nutshell, the dispute boils down to this: Rochester City Council feels the OPC board is being too generous with pay and benefits for its staff in a recessionary time. The OPC board and leaders of the two other member communities, Rochester Hills and Oakland Township, say the OPC board’s right to govern must be preserved.

After writing about this and a previous disagreement over OPC pensions for the past year, we have no idea how it is going to be resolved. So may we suggest that cooler heads prevail?

We propose that a committee comprised of the three OPC member communities’ CEOs take a crack at crafting a compromise: Rochester City Manager Jaymes Vettraino, Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan Barnett, and Oakland Township Manager Jim Creech.

Here’s why: None of the three has a vote on the OPC budget at any level. None serves on the OPC governing board. None has a personal stake in the outcome. All have exhibited successful management and political skills. Each can be relied upon to understand what his elected officials would and would not accept.

We have faith in these three men, but if there are any better ideas out there, someone needs to speak up. Perhaps a dozen residents would be willing to take on the task of crafting a compromise. This is a tried-and-true approach to problem solving which, unfortunately, elected officials are often slow to accept.

Let us all agree that no one wants to hurt the OPC and no one is against seniors. No one wants the partnership between the three communities that has worked so well for so many years to dissolve. And let’s end the personal attacks–now.

We all learned in high-school civics that politics is supposed to be the art of compromise. Unfortunately, compromise is unpopular these days in our national discourse, in Michigan and even in our small towns. We need true leaders to step up and seek true solutions.

 
Still no deal on Rochester OPC budget
Written by Annette Kingsbury
Tuesday, 20 December 2011 14:25
2 Comments

As the clock ticks down toward Dec. 31, neither side has yet blinked in the standoff over the Rochester Older Persons Commission budget.

Rochester City Council met Monday and scheduled a special meeting for Dec. 29 in the hopes that a compromise will be offered that will keep the OPC operational after Jan. 1. The city’s attorney has said he doesn’t believe the OPC can legally spend money in the new fiscal year without an approved budget.

The OPC Governing Board, Rochester Hills City Council and Oakland Township’s Board of Trustees have all approved an OPC budget for 2012. Only Rochester City Council has not. The dispute is over a 1-percent pay raise, step increases and payment in lieu of health insurance.

Rochester City Attorney Jeff Kragt said Monday that if there is no agreement and the OPC keeps operating, the city could appeal to Michigan’s Attorney General for an opinion based on the state’s Uniform Budgeting and Accounting Act, or the city could seek an injunction in circuit court. Under the terms of an interlocal agreement between the three municipalities, council could also vote to withdraw the city from membership in the OPC. City residents would then have to pay a nonmember fee to participate.

On Tuesday, after receiving a call from Rochester Mayor Stuart Bikson, OPC Governing Board Chairman John Dalton said he had been calling OPC board members to see what they want to do. “So far it appears the majority want to leave it as it is,” he said. If there is no new proposal by Dec. 29, Rochester City Council will cancel the special meeting.

Dalton also said that if he is elected chairman of the OPC board again next year, he is willing to revisit the payment in lieu of health insurance.

The interlocal agreement provides no guidance on what to do if the three communities disagree. Though the OPC has a voted millage in each of the three communities, Rochester Councilman Jeff Cuthbertson argued Monday that it has no authority to spend tax dollars without all three communities’ consent.

“The OPC has no power to tax,” Cuthbertson said. “The tax dollars that it receives have to come through the power to tax of the sovereign communities.”

Councilman David Zemens was concerned about what comes next.

“I’m left to ask the question; what now?” he said. “I have no interest in seeing the OPC broken apart in some fashion; I have no interest in seeing the doors close January 1.”

Councilman Ben Giovanelli argued that the OPC is raising fees on seniors, along with employees’ pay. Dalton said that is incorrect; rather, income from fees is increasing because participation is increasing. He said the budget for Meals on Wheels is decreased from 2011 because “some of the federal dollars didn’t come in. But we’ll make that up with some of our fund-raisers.”

“There has never been any increase in fees or cuts in programs,” Dalton said.

He also called “absolutely, positively false” Giovanelli’s statement that the 2012 budget gives OPC Executive Director Marye Miller an overall increase of 17.5 percent. He said she’ll get a 1-percent raise, like all OPC employees. A pension plan and payment in lieu of health insurance are in the 2011 budget and already being paid, he said. The pension plan is not currently being disputed by Rochester City Council.

A subcommittee of the OPC board is working on amendments to the interlocal agreement and is hoping to be ready to present a proposal to the OPC board at its January meeting. But it now appears getting agreement on any changes will be difficult. Several Rochester councilmembers indicated Monday that they want Rochester to have equal representation with Rochester Hills on the OPC board. The current alignment of board members and financial contribution is based on population, with Rochester Hills having four of the eight seats on the OPC board.

“Moving forward, we do need to do a better job of making sure our voice counts,” Councilwoman Cathy Daldin said.

 
Rochester’s alternate OPC budget rejected
Written by Annette Kingsbury
Tuesday, 13 December 2011 22:20
1 Comment

The governing bodies of Rochester Hills and Oakland Township this week rejected the request of Rochester City Council to change some line items in the 2012 budget of the Older Persons Commission.

In denying Rochester’s request, members of the Rochester Hills City Council and the Oakland Township Board of Trustees said they believe the structure that has governed the OPC since its inception is working, and they want the OPC governing board to remain independent of the communities’ politics.

“The way you accomplish good governance … is to appoint good people to the board,” said Hills Councilman Nathan Klomp. “I think it’s a bad precedence for us as a council to get into this sort of micromanaging these boards and committees. I think it’s more important to give them the sovereignty and stand-alone authority. … We should continue on the course we’ve had success on.”

Under an interlocal agreement that has been in place since 1983, the member communities each appoint voting members to the OPC governing board. That board approves a budget annually and sends it to the three member communities, who must each approve it.

The OPC board voted 5-2 to approve the budget, with the two Rochester members dissenting. Since then, Rochester City Council has declined to approve the budget. It’s the first time any community has refused to approve an OPC budget.

Rochester City Council wants expenses for OPC staff reduced, including a 1-percent raise, step raises and payment in lieu of health insurance. The city prepared an alternative budget proposal and sent it to the other two municipalities last week. On Monday, Rochester Hills City Council rejected it. On Tuesday, Oakland Township’s board did the same.

“The overall (OPC) budget was less than it was the prior year, the bottom line,” said Oakland Township Trustee Marc Edwards. “This is a representative form of government. … There was a vote; it was a 5-2 vote. The two dissenters were Rochester, which by the way contributes the least (to the OPC). To override that 5-2 vote is undemocratic.”

Oakland Township Trustee Michael Bailey said there is no precedent for the township board to change its mind, “just because the minority contributor to the OPC thinks otherwise.”

OPC board Chairman John Dalton asked both communities to consider the original intent of the interlocal agreement–the creation of an independent board, structured so no one community could dominate.

“It was not intended to have OPC subservient to any of the three entities. If Rochester’s request is approved, we will be starting down a slippery slope,” he said. “How do you serve three masters at one time?”

Hills Councilman Michael Webber, who is one of that city’s representatives on the OPC board, said the place to thrash out the budget is at the governing board.

“I’ve been on the winning end of some votes, I’ve been on the losing end of some votes.” He said. “The votes lie at the OPC board meeting. … Ultimately the governing board has the representatives of the three communities; it was put together by the three communities.”