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The governor wants to lure more folks to live in the state, and she's created the Grow Michigan Together Council to draft a roadmap on how to get there.
However, she left out one word from the group's title.
It should read the Grow Michigan Together Secretive Council.
Item: Reporters started asking sources what the council was working on. The response was, "I can't talk to you. We are under strict orders not to talk to the media."
Hum.
Item: The council held a meeting the other day and, when capitol correspondents dutifully showed up to cover it, they were greeted at the door by a council hire and ordered to stay out of the room. However, if they wanted, they could watch the proceedings in the hallway.
But the audio of what was going on just a few feet away was so lousy that, if somebody inside said something really important, it might have gone unheard by the reporters outside.
Hum. Hum.
Item: A conservative Republican member of the council workgroup doing a deep dive into how to fund schools had some objections to one of the four recommendations the group was hashing over. After he voted no, he was told that his vote would not be recorded or sent along to the full council. He was advised he could voice his opinion at a future meeting.
Patrick Anderson was not amused, saying, "I'm upset with the no dissent rule. I'm upset with any policy that says your voice doesn't get counted. Your vote doesn't matter (and I) don't need to be told to come to another meeting."
Hum to the third power.
You get the picture here don't you?
This is a government-created body, spending your tax dollars, including the hiring of three outside research firms to help with the proposals, meeting on government property, and they probably used your money for the expensive "cone of silence" from Maxwell Smart to hide stuff they don't want you to see or hear right now.
Ah, but telling a reporter he or she is not allowed to dig in to find out what is going on is like dangling some raw meat over a shark's mouth.
Turns out, it was learned that the PK-12 workgroup had made some controversial decisions, but, instead of revealing them, the workgroup presented a very vanilla, broad generalization of what needed to be done, minus the specifics.
Here's what they did not want you to know:
1.) The State Board of Education should take a hike and let the governor appoint the state school superintendent.
2.) Given three choices on funding the schools -- spend $6 billion more, $3 billion more, or keep the status quo -- the group voted for a 14%, $3 billion boost.
And therein may be the key as to why the council is antsy about any public knowledge of what they are up to.
To raise that kind of cash, a tax hike of some sort would likely be considered, along with cutting elsewhere or finding some other way to do it.
The council co-chair, John Rakolta, did talk to reporters, and noted that a tax increase is not in his "lexicon." To those who don't understand political-speak, you might assume he was closing the door to a tax hike.
Hardly. He didn't say that.
But state Rep. Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, the state House GOP leader, has been saying that even before the council was formed. He said the governor was laying the foundation for that very thing and using the council to get there.
Now, to be fair, the final recommendations have not been decided, and a tax boost may or may not make the cut.
But wouldn't it be nice if the public could have some input on that while the soup is still on the stove?
But, if that public doesn't know it's under consideration, how can one react?
You can't.
Which makes the case for inserting the word "secretive" into the council title.
In next week's column, the council will be asked for its side of the story.