Bonnie Friedrichs: Alpena County board lacks transparency, violates policies
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ALPENA -- A long-serving Alpena County official says the county Board of Commissioners lacks transparency and fails to follow its own policies.
County Clerk Bonnie Friedrichs, who will retire next month after 43 years working for the Clerk's Office, said during public comment during the Jan. 25 board meeting, that commissioners need to handle taxpayers' money more responsibly and the media and residents need to monitor, question, and engage with the commissioners to hold them accountable.
"The last year or so, there have been subtle changes taking place within the courthouse walls that will have far-reaching consequences," she said in a written statement that she read to the board at a recent meeting. "I encourage all citizens, news media, employees, and commissioners to question, get answers, and take action when needed. Before one day we look at one another and say, 'How did this happen?'"
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Board Chairman Bob Adrian, the longest-serving commissioner, refuted Friedrichs' claims.
He said information most often comes first to the board chairman or to the various board committees, but eventually makes it to the other commissioners, who all get an opportunity to voice their support or concern before taking action.
"Not everyone can be at the meeting, and not everyone is there when things are brought forward," Adrian said. "That is one of the reasons we pushed for an administrator, so the commissioners don't have to be involved as much and focus on policy and planning. We have the administrator and department heads to handle operations."
The county in August hired County Administrator Mary Catherine Hannah to run day-to-day operations for county government.
But Friedrichs said that, over the last several years, certain policies were ignored. She said, for example, decisions regarding personnel don't always get from those on the Personnel Committee to the others on the full board and during the jail project decisions were made by commissioners on the committee before going to the full board.
She said one time a commissioner tried to move excess money from a project at one of the campgrounds into a different fund, which was not allowed.
Friedrichs said the requested transfer of funds may have been because the commissioner was unaware of the money transfer policy.
"Some of the commissioners are not in tune with the best practices or why our policies are the way they are and how we got to this point," she said Wednesday in an interview with The News. "They were put in place for a reason."
Friedrichs isn't alone in her assessment.
Board divisions have been obvious for more than a year. Many important votes wind up 5-3, with Commissioners Adrian, Marty Thomson, Don Gilmet, Bill Peterson, and Dave Karschnick on one side and Commissioners John Kozlowski, Kevin Osbourne, and Brenda Fournier on the other.
Often, Kozlowski, Osbourne, and Fournier claim during meetings that they didn't receive the same information as the others or received it later than the others and accuse the others of working together and making decisions without them.
Such action could violate the Michigan Open Meetings Act.
Kozlowski said Wednesday he agreed with Friedrichs' comments.
He said he has received last-minute information before an issue comes up for vote, leaving too little time to review it. He claims the commissioners on the Jail Committee made decisions on their own, such as when they spent money for a new roof without the entire board discussing the matter.
"Bonnie is right," he said. "These types of things have happened so many times that it gets really frustrating. We can't be a board that ignores policies or makes exceptions from them."
Friedrichs said the current issues and drama were not a factor in her decision to retire.
"In fact, it made me wonder if maybe I should be staying," she said.
Adrian said Friedrichs has served the county well for many years and, when she leaves, a wealth of knowledge, history, and dedication will leave with her. He said she will be missed and hard to replace.