Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Elder Nutrition millage request tabled after clerk halts May filing; dispute over who authorized ballot language
Loading...
Summary
A Meals on Wheels millage request presented March 11 was tabled until April after County Clerk Jennifer Kelly removed May ballot language following a county attorney opinion; commissioners and the clerk disagreed over who advised the filer, and the petitioner offered to cover attorney fees.
HOUGHTON, Mich. — A proposed one-mill ballot proposal to fund the Meals on Wheels elder nutrition program was presented at the Houghton County Board of Commissioners meeting on March 11 and tabled pending further review after a procedural dispute over ballot filing.
Kevin Store introduced Kathleen Harter, who described a Meals on Wheels program operating about 30 years and serving roughly 300 seniors. Store and Harter asked the board to place a 1 mill proposal on the ballot in August. County Administrator Rheault provided commissioners with a county attorney opinion during the meeting indicating the filing was improper for the May election and that the matter needed board consideration.
County Clerk Jennifer Kelly told the board she had stopped May ballot language and removed it from the State voter system (QVF) after receiving the attorney opinion. Kelly said she had advised the filer that the submission required board action; she also described prior meetings in which she said two commissioners had told Kevin Store he could file. Chairman Tom Tikkanen told the minutes he believed it was the clerk’s responsibility to pay for the attorney bill; Clerk Kelly said she asked the board to pay because board members had told Store to file. Kevin Store offered to pay the attorney bill.
Commissioner Glenn Anderson and other board members questioned whether proper Michigan Compiled Laws (MCLs) and legal opinions were in hand; Administrator Rheault had emailed the county attorney opinion to Commissioner Anderson during the meeting. After discussion, the board voted to table the millage request until the April meeting to allow time for legal and procedural clarity.
During public comment Jean McParlan asked that voters be given an opportunity to vote on the Meals on Wheels proposal; other public commenters addressed federal funding and meeting materials availability. The board took no final action on the ballot question at the March meeting beyond tabling it.
What’s next The Meals on Wheels millage request will return to the board for consideration at the April meeting. The minutes record competing statements about who advised the filer and who should cover attorney fees; no final decision on fees was recorded.
Attribution: Statements and procedural actions are taken from the March 11 meeting minutes and in-meeting motions and roll-call votes recorded in the county record.