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Mackinac County places animal shelter worker on leave, approves furnace/AC bid after public pleas
Summary
After multiple public comments in support of shelter staff, the Mackinac County Board placed employee Ginger Valentine on administrative leave pending legal review and approved a furnace/AC bid for the animal shelter from Mackinac Plumbing; the board also entered a closed session to review a legal opinion.
The Mackinac County Board of Commissioners on June 12 voted to place animal shelter employee Ginger Valentine on administrative leave pending further legal review and approved a bid for furnace and air-conditioning work at the county animal shelter.
The leave motion was moved by Commissioner John Kling and seconded by Commissioner Judy St. Louis-Scott; the roll call vote recorded YES from Commissioners Austin Kimberling, John Kling, Daryl Schroeder and Judy St. Louis-Scott, with Commissioner Mike Patrick absent. Lester Livermore, chair of the Mackinac Animal Advisory Committee, read the committee's resolution and told the board the committee has been acting under the resolution's intended roles.
Commissioner Kling also reviewed furnace bids the board had discussed at its May 22 meeting and said the bid from Mackinac Plumbing best matched the county's scope, including air conditioning. Kling moved, and Commissioner Kimberling seconded, to accept the Mackinac Plumbing bid; the vote was YES from Kimberling, Kling and Schroeder and NO from St. Louis-Scott. Commissioner Patrick was absent. The motion carried.
Public comment at the June 12 meeting centered on support for the shelter staff. Public commenters identified in the record included Joann Ford, Joe Durm, Tom North, Tanner North, Donna Desjardins, Bridget West, Linda Smith and Debbie Durm; several of those speakers were described as addressing the board on behalf of animal shelter staff. Tanner North and Ginger Valentine also spoke again later in the meeting during a subsequent public comment period.
The board recessed into a closed session at about 5:09 p.m. under Michigan statutory authority MCL 15.268(i)(h) to review a legal opinion and returned to open session around 5:22'5:23 p.m. The county did not disclose the content of the legal opinion in the public minutes.
The board's actions leave the shelter staffing matter under active review by county counsel and assign facilities work at the shelter to the accepted contractor; no additional personnel or disciplinary details were recorded in the meeting minutes.
The board scheduled further meetings on related county business but did not set a public date to resolve the personnel matter during this session.
