|
 |
| Ronald Blanding |
 |
 |
| Patrick Q. Carr |
| | Motion passed Jan. 26 | Moved by Commissioner Blanding, supported by Commissioner Retzloff to for a blue ribbon committee consisting of 5 to 7 members. Members to serve on the committee are Dr. Carpenter, Fran Schuleit, at least one commissioner and two to four members of the community that are on either side of the R&R Research issue. The members are to be appointed by Chairman Carr. The committee will report to the full board quarterly on their progress and their work will be completed within six months. The contract with R&R Research will remain in effect until a recommendation comes from the committee.
Moved by Commissioner Retzloff, supported by Commissioner Lindeman to amend the motion changing the size of the committee from 5 to 7 members up to 7 to 9 members.
|
|
2/10/2009 11:29:00 AM
Officials disagree on new committee's role
Ryan Jeltema
News Editor
STANTON - Nobody seems to have a definite answer of what the role of the Montcalm County Animal Shelter ad hoc committee is two weeks after it was created.
District 1 Commissioner Ron Blanding, who made a motion setting up the committee and appointing two members on Jan. 26, said he hoped to model it after other proposals presented to commissioners last month.
"My intention was to have a broadbased committee such as what Dr. (Randy) Carpenter suggested in his letter to look at all the issues surrounding animal control, including the contract with R&R and all the other issues that have been brought up," Blanding said.
He believes the committee has strayed from what he envisioned, especially with appointing R&R Research owner Jim Woudenberg and his veterinarian, Dr. Edward Lepley, to the committee.
"Two of the people on the committee have a financial interest in it, which I think it totally out of line or at least inappropriate," Blanding said.
Chairman and District 7 Commissioner Patrick Q. Carr, who appointed the remaining six members and is leading the committee, said Blanding's motion was unclear and he was left to sort out the committee's goal on his own. Carr said he interpreted the motion on paper in light of an audience topping 150 people at commissioners' Jan. 26 meeting mostly opposing the R&R Research contract.
"It's my interpretation that the motion in print clearly is an expectation of that committee to report back to this board with some recommendation of what to do with that contract with R&R," he said. "Whether it was the right intent of the motion maker or not we have to go by what the written motion says. I'm getting tired of interpreting things and getting the heat of being the county king."
Carr added that Blanding could have appointed the entire committee but chose to delegate that authority instead.
"If his motion was clearer, he could have picked the committee. He could have spit it out," Carr said. "I'm tired of be faulted for screwing it up. He left it up to the chairman to pick it. I picked it. End of discussion."
Carr said the committee, which met for the first time for 90 minutes on Thursday, couldn't even agree on what its role is. He termed the committee "dysfunctional" with some members hoping to debate the R&R Research issue and some hoping to avoid it altogether to focus on making other improvements at the shelter.
When Carr asked his colleagues for more direction on what the ad hoc committee's role should be, they all agreed it was to discuss whether to renew the R&R Research contract for another five years in its current form or suggest alternatives.
|
Posted: Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Article comment by:
toni
For someone who supposedly works for us, Carr sure sounds like "it's my way or the highway". He also has a very cocky tone that he uses on those who he thinks are beneath him. I would think that with all the politicians who are finally getting busted for their wrongdoings, he would want to keep his actions underwraps instead of having the whole state and further aware of it. I've been in contact with the Oprah show, they're very interested in both Carr and R&R. Maybe it's time they all get their ducks in order.
Posted: Thursday, February 12, 2009
Article comment by:
Vicky
OK, the job of the committee is to review the contract with R and R. Guess who gets to vote on the future of the contract with R and R? the owner of R and R!!! who is appointed to the committee set up to review HIS contract with the county.
What planet are these people on? I think a bunch of calls to the Michigan attorney general are in order. RECALL CARR.
Posted: Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Article comment by:
Joni Mulder
Having R&R Research owner Jim Woudenberg and his veterinarian, Dr. Edward Lepley, on the committee seems to me to be a direct conflict of interest.
How is it possible for the committee to make any unbiased decisions on the R&R contract?
What is the committee's
true purpose?
Is it just another delay tactic to not resolve the whole issue of the R&R contract?
Posted: Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Article comment by:
one of 150
As one of the 150 who were at the meeting where Blanding proposed the committee, I must agree that the general understanding was that it would discuss whether to renew the R&R Research contract for another five years in its current form or suggest alternatives. However, it was also broadly understood that Carr had no intention of ending the contract and that the committee had to find compromises that included keeping the contract.
Bravo to Mr. Blanding for his recent attempt to end the contract. Too bad he didn't make that motion when 150 people would have given him a standing ovation!
Posted: Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Article comment by:
Mary Ellen Snyder
Since Mr. Carr has restated that the ad hoc committee is charged with making a recommendation as to the disposition of the contract with R&R Research, the owner of R&R Reseach and Dr. Lepley his vet should immediately be excused from the committee membership. They both have a clear-cut financial interest in the outcome of the committee's deliberations. It was truly audacious of Mr. Carr to put them on the committee. Is he just waiting for a challenge to that move or is this just his way of thumbing his nose at the whole process? Or is he just so used to getting away with whatever he wants that he doesn't care? I don't get it. He's a public official and yet he's allowed to publically sneer at people who challenge or disagree with him. I just don't get it.
Posted: Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Article comment by:
gjo
Pat Carr "the county king"? Pat Carr appointed HIMSELF as Chairman of the Blue Ribbon Committee.
Carr has been a commissioner for 17 years and he blames everyone but himself for the conditions at the animal shelter. He tried to blame private citizens for not coming up with a proposal that meets his personal requirements, and now he's blaming Mr. Blanding for not spitting out a committee line up? Does Pat take responsibility for appointing Mr. Woudenberg, owner of R&R Research, to the Blue Ribbon Committee he chairs or is he going to blame someone else for that too?
I interpreted Mr. Blanding's motion to form a committee as a good thing, and it sounded like he was following up on Dr. Carpenter's request to, "Set fourth the framework for a committee to explore options and possibilities for animal control improvements. It does not involve reinventing the wheel."
Pat doesn't seem to get it. Mr. Woudenberg is the owner of R&R Research, and as such he has a vested interest in the animals at the county shelter, it's unethical to have him or his vet on that committee.
Is there anyone in the Lakeview area who would like to be a commissioner voted in by the people for the people, and not "the county king". I think it's time for change.
For citizens not willing to wait until the next election, please Google Michigan Recall Procedures.
|
Article Comment Submission Form
|
|
