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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Genesee County commissioners consider undoing merged clerk-register's office
Ron Fonger | rfonger1@mlive.com By Ron Fonger | rfonger1@mlive.com
on March 05, 2014 at 6:40 PM
GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- Just 15 months after the county clerk and register of deeds offices were merged, the Board of Commissioners is considering undoing the consolidation that was years in the making.
Board Chairman Jamie Curtis said Wednesday, March 5, that he will appoint a committee to make a recommendation on the possible separation of the offices in advance of the 2016 election.
Not only are commissioners continuing to feud with John Gleason, the county's first clerk-register, over a number of issues, but Commissioner Ted Henry, D-Clayton Township, is among those who believe the consolidation just might not have been meant to be.
"I think the Register of Deeds Office needs a full-time director. It's not getting the attention it should get," Henry said.
In an email to MLive-The Flint Journal, Gleason said he's anxious to discuss any consolidation or cost savings for the county.
"I wish we would have had in-depth conversations two years ago when they decided to do this," Gleason's statement says. "My door remains open for discussions before, during or after work hours.
"This is an important service to Genesee County citizens; two of the largest revenue generating departments and two years later we still have no concrete structure or process for consolidation. We can start in the morning if they like."
Gleason's relationship with commissioners has been rocky almost from the moment he was sworn into office in January 2013.
Gleason has since sued the county, saying the Clerk's Office is not being funded by commissioners at a serviceable level; quarreled with board members over the printing of the county directory; and defended his use of office resources to support hunter safety courses.
"I think we need to see if it's too much for a person to have that much responsibility," said Commissioner Tony Brown, R-Fenton Township.
Curtis agreed to appoint a committee to study the potential separation of the offices after some commissioners said they are worried by comments made by Gleason on his Facebook page.
Earlier this week, Gleason wrote about his request for a police investigation of the Bentley School millage election last month.
"Boy we got 'em jumping now ...," the post says in part. "It is disappointing to hear the Burton officials yelp about this."
Commissioner Brenda Clack, D-Flint, said Gleason should be working on improving the clerk and register's offices rather than using social media and Henry said he fears Gleason will step over the line, leaving the county liable for his comments.
Gleason said his Facebook posts are designed to be a way for him to share information and not meant to hurt anyone.
Commissioners voted to merge the clerk and register of deeds offices in 2010 over the objections of former Register Rose Bogardus, who warned the consolidation wouldn't save taxpayers money and would make supervision of the offices more difficult.
Neither Bogardus nor former Clerk Michael Carr chose to run for the merged office of clerk-register, opening the door for Gleason to win the new office. |
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Thu Mar 06, 2014 4:27 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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| The Register of Deeds started to decline towards the end of the Bogardus tenure. Now the office has eliminated a great deal of detail on the deeds and makes identifying what piece of property is being referenced. This may be an office gone wild and with no real control. |
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Thu Mar 06, 2014 4:30 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Editorial: Dismantling merged clerk-register office would be backwards move
Print MLive/Flint Journal opinion By MLive/Flint Journal opinion
on March 23, 2014 at 9:00 AM, updated March 23, 2014 at 9:10 AM
The following is an opinion of The Flint Journal Editorial Board.
GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- The decision to merge the Genesee County clerk and register of deeds offices wasn’t made casually – it took years of debate and scrutiny before it finally became official in 2012.
Now, a mere 15 months after the inaugural clerk-register took office, the Genesee County Board of Commissioners is considering reversing the merger, and plans to appoint a committee to make a recommendation on the move.
This is the wrong approach.
At a time when budgets are tight and consolidation is the municipal buzz word, separating these two particular offices would be foolhardy and counterproductive.
Both offices serve important and similar functions. The county clerk maintains court, birth and death, and many other records and supervises elections while the register of deeds officially records property and other records, including deeds and mortgages.
Such a decision shouldn’t be based on personality clashes.
Instead of appointing a committee to study undoing the merger, taxpayers would be better served by a study of how to make the merged offices more efficient and effective.
With an elected official in charge, the clerk-register office needs to be structured in a way that it can run smoothly no matter who is elected to lead it. Ultimately, voters will decide if a change in personality is needed.
To that end, we recognize that the county board and Clerk-Register John Gleason don’t always agree – but such a decision shouldn’t be based on personality clashes.
There’s a reason the offices were merged in the first place – cost to taxpayers – and that reason hasn’t gone away. County officials need to look beyond the politics of this issue and instead look for ways to improve services to the public.
Dismantling an effort to streamline county services would be a backwards move for Genesee County. Let’s continue to keep our community moving forward. |
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Mon Mar 24, 2014 6:44 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Let's face it, many county commissioners wanted to keep Mike Carr and resented the alleged outside influences that propelled Gleason into the position. They have displayed behavior unbecoming, such as Curtis yelling at Gleason, and have perpetuated the feud like situation between the two entities. They need to face the issue that he was elected and get over it.
Instead they made appointed positions into union positions. at a recent lunch several of us were complaining about the failure of the register of deeds to provide adequate information on the computer documents. This started under Bogardus and the commissioners almost dare Gleason to try to fix it. It now takes 4 to 5 months to get a deed back according to one attorney I spoke to. Instead of this power grab deal with Shaltz, the commissioners need to properly fund county offices and allow the proper supervision. |
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Mon Mar 24, 2014 6:53 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Ron Fonger | rfonger1@mlive.com2 weeks ago
John Gleason has said, almost from the time he took office as clerk-register, that commissioners, particularly Tony Brown, R-Fenton Twp., haven't spent enough time working through issues related to the merger.
Brown's Public Works Committee is the committee Gleason's office works through. The freshman commissioner has said it's Gleason's job to make sure the offices are functioning properly.
Genesee Clerk-Register John Gleason suing county to get money for attorney costs
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2013/08/...
Gleason, elected the county's first clerk-register in November, claims commissioners are "acting in bad faith by cutting (his) budget to a point that will impact the services he needs to provide ..." Filed Aug. 8, the lawsuit asks Genesee Circuit Jud... |
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Mon Mar 24, 2014 4:44 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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I was reminded today about how the democrats floated plans to undermine Gleason's run for the Clerk/register position. At one point Carr was to retire early and a board of three county officials would select his successor until the election. I don't know how I forgot that. It seems the first choice angered one of the three and plan b didn't work out either.
Was there ever a formal hearing to discuss the details of the merger? Some say no. What did happen was the two appointees in the Register of Deeds office were made union employees and the commissioners protect them. I understand the deeds office was 9 months behind under Melvin McCree. Some attorneys are upset that it still takes 4 or more months to have a deed returned now, Improvement, but more needs to be done,
Changes in the Clerk's office are more dramatic. There is a locked drop box for attorneys to leave their pleadings and have their copies mailed to them. Funeral homes have a streamlined process that will save them thousands monetarily and also save time. New software allows electronic filing of campaign documents. Other improvements are pending. Also more staff mans the counters to service the public faster |
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Mon Mar 24, 2014 5:07 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Gleason briefly flirted with the Judges request to keep their files. Thank goodness he came to his senses. I have tried to pull two files from cases in Yuille's court and they have been in his office for a month or more. This retention denies the media and the public access to the public information in the files.
Yesterday a clerk told me the file of the City of Flint versus Charles Young and Operation Unification was in Yuille's court for a hearing. Only problem is the hearing was February 28th.
The file of Smith Village Development versus Flint, Eason and Walling has been out of the Clerk's office for months on end,although little has happened in the last 14 months or so.
I realize the last thing the Clerk wants is a pissing match with the judges, but as Mike Carr once told me these files have been misplaced in the past.
Last edited by untanglingwebs on Mon Apr 14, 2014 4:50 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Tue Mar 25, 2014 6:41 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Genesee County commissioners vote to merge clerk, register of deeds offices
Ron Fonger | rfonger1@mlive.com By Ron Fonger | rfonger1@mlive.com
on July 24, 2010 at 2:00 AM
GENESEE COUNTY -- The county Board of Commissioners has voted to merge the clerk and register of deeds offices effective Jan. 1, 2013, but Register Rose Bogardus says the move might be reversed before it ever happens and won't save taxpayers money.
Commissioners voted unanimously to complete the merger in advance of the primary election in 2012, saying the long-talked-about consolidation will cut the cost of county government by eliminating an elected position.
Board members talked about merging the two offices in 2008 after the death of former register Melvin McCree but ran out of time, never holding a required public hearing or gaining the required two-thirds vote to make the consolidation a reality.
"(Starting early on the merger) is of the essence," said county board Chairman Jamie Curtis. "You can't miss those deadlines. If you miss them you're out of luck (for another four years).
"(Corporation counsel) Ward Chapman has the whole thing mapped out," Curtis said. "We'll follow it to the letter of the law and do it right. I think our constituents are about being conservative with their money and providing the services that are needed at the lowest cost."
The county clerk maintains court, birth and death, and many other records and supervises elections while the register of deeds officially records property and other records, including deeds and mortgages.
The clerk and register of deeds each earn more than $82,000 annually in salary, but Bogardus said she doesn't think a merger will save money because work still needs to be done and employees still require supervision.
She campaigned to eliminate the office as she ran for the position in 2008, saying the county could no longer afford to "do business as usual."
But Bogardus said last week that as she's looked closer, she doesn't "see any savings" and said commissioners are moving on the merger only "to embarrass me."
Bogardus has sued the county for cutting her budget, saying commissioners have left her to operate at less than a serviceable level, which the law requires.
"It may or may nor (happen)," she said of the merger. "Another Board of Commissioners will be elected between now and then," and could rescind the decision.
County Clerk Michael J. Carr has been an advocate of merging the two offices as a cost-saving measure.
Carr said there will be logistical issue to work out before a consolidation can take place, including the logistics of the two offices being located in different buildings.
It's too early to think about whether he would run to become the county's first clerk-register, Carr said.
Bogardus has said she planned to retire after one term as register but said last week that the position of clerk-register "sounds interesting." |
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Tue Mar 25, 2014 9:29 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Genesee County commissioners vote 7-2 to merge clerk, register of deeds offices
Ron Fonger | rfonger1@mlive.com By Ron Fonger | rfonger1@mlive.com
on June 22, 2011 at 2:47 PM, updated June 22, 2011 at 2:57 PM
GENESEE COUNTY, Michigan -- A single department head will run both the clerk and register of deeds offices in the county starting in 2013.
The county Board of Commissioners voted 7-2 today to go forward with the merger despite lingering protests that the change won't save much money and could slow down service to the public.
Two Flint Democrats -- Commissioners Omar Sims and Brenda Clack -- voted against the consolidation.
"I don't see the cost savings, and I don't see people getting the best service," said Sims.
The consolidation will save the salary and benefits paid to one of the two elected department heads, each of whom make more than $82,000.
Clerk Michael Carr supported the merger, while Register of Deeds Rose Bogardus opposed it after having campaigned to combine the offices during the 2008 election.
Clack said she was never convinced that the merger of the clerk and register offices would be more efficient than the current system.
"I'm really not confident we can adequately serve the community by combing the two," Clack said. "We have a backlog of work in the register of deeds office. I'm not sure that's the best thing to do right now.
"I think the clerk and the register of deeds need to get their work more in order" prior to this happening, she said.
Other commissioners, however, were ready to try putting the two offices together.
"I don't think that's too much to ask" one department head to manage both offices, said Commissioner Joseph Graves, R-Argentine Twp. "Supervisors and employees can do their jobs without (so much) oversight."
A handful of candidates and commissioners have talked for many years about the efficiencies of creating a single office to handle vital records and elections.
The idea picked up steam after the 2008 death of former register Melvin McCree.
Bogardus has said she plans to retire and leave the county after her term is completed at the end of 2012. Carr has said he's considering running for the combined position of clerk-register. |
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Tue Mar 25, 2014 9:49 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Board members talked about merging the two offices in 2008 after the death of former register Melvin McCree but ran out of time, never holding a required public hearing or gaining the required two-thirds vote to make the consolidation a reality.
"(Starting early on the merger) is of the essence," said county board Chairman Jamie Curtis. "You can't miss those deadlines. If you miss them you're out of luck (for another four years).
"(Corporation counsel) Ward Chapman has the whole thing mapped out," Curtis said. "We'll follow it to the letter of the law and do it right. I think our constituents are about being conservative with their money and providing the services that are needed at the lowest cost."
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These comments are from the 2010 story. If Ward Chapman had everything mapped out, why was a second vote needed a year later. When was the public hearing held?
Pundits on M-Live are speculating this merger reversal is a maneuver to give a political friend a new home. This will be interesting to watch as it develops as clearly some commissioner did not want Gleason. |
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Tue Mar 25, 2014 9:53 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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It appears the mistake was in the assignment of certain commissioners with the task of determining how to merge the two offices. Don't take public office and committee assignments if you can't do the job. Tony Brown was on the committee for the merger and can't make the meetings. Yet he proposes to undo the merger!
I was told that when Tony Brown and Mark Young found out there were sign-in sheets, they showed up to sign in and then left the meeting! |
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Tue Apr 15, 2014 2:26 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Searched for: BROWN CONSULTING SERVICES, L.L.C.
ID Num: E36076
Name:BROWN CONSULTING SERVICES, L.L.C.
Type: Domestic Limited Liability Company
Resident Agent: TONY BROWN
Registered Office Address: 12159 JENNINGS RD LINDEN MI 48451
Mailing/Office Address:
Formation/Qualification Date:1-22-2009
Jurisdiction of Origin:MICHIGAN
Managed by: Members
Status: ACTIVE, BUT NOT IN GOOD STANDING AS OF 2-24-2014 Date: Present
Tony Brown uses this corporation on his campaign bio, but he couldn't even fill out the 1 page document and pay the $25 required by the state to keep the corporation standing active! This status means he did not fill it out for three years. |
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Tue Apr 15, 2014 2:30 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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I understand the feud between Archie Bailey and Gleason has a long history.
At todays finance committee meeting at 1 pm, Bailey is going to make comments and you can bet they will be negative.
Wonder if Tony Brown and Mark Young show up. They may not have a quorum again. |
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Tue Apr 15, 2014 12:16 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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The county can't have it both ways. They can't tell Gleason he can't bring in his own people to run the Register of Deeds office and he can't make purchases for that office and then tell the public he only needs to take over.
Last Wednesday Celeste Bell, interim Corporation Counsel, is said to have told Gleason he could not hire the two at-will positions in the Deeds Office. Allegedly Curtis said he could. Gleason has repeatedly said he was told he had 5 appointments he could make and that once he took office he was denied those appointments.
Commissioners established meetings that were supposed to assist in the merging of the two offices. I am told the meetings rarely had a quorum and couldn't conduct business. Now they want to have meetings to undo the merger. Commissioners are now telling some media that Gleason only had to merge them. If that is so, why did he have to file a lawsuit?
What is the truth? I believe the lawsuit says it all. |
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Tue Apr 15, 2014 3:18 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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The lawsuit continues and any saving realized will be lost to attorney fees.
Did Interim Corporation Counsel Celeste bell adequately address her conflict of interest?
John Northrup argues that since the county commissioners hire corporation counsel, that she answers to them alone. Odd because most county corporation counsels represent all department. Isn't she in conflint when she sues the Treasurer and then represents the commissioners against the Clerk-Register. In her communications she identifies her conflict. The question is did he rightfully resolve her conflict?
Are the county commissioners lobbying to use the Register od deeds as a home for a term limited friend or an ally? |
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Mon May 26, 2014 9:12 am |
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