Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners Chairman Andy LaBarre, D-Ann Arbor, poses for a portrait in front of the county administration building on Main Street in downtown Ann Arbor on Jan. 19, 2018. (Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News)

By Ryan Stanton | ryanstanton@mlive.com

ANN ARBOR, MI – Andy LaBarre was recently reappointed to serve as chairman of the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners for another year.

The Ann Arbor Democrat sat down with The Ann Arbor News/MLive to discuss issues on the county's plate in 2018, including talks of a massive solar farm on 15 acres out at Rolling Hills County Park in Ypsilanti Township.

There’s been discussion at the county’s Parks and Recreation Commission of potentially installing as much as 5.5 megawatts of solar panels that could offset a substantial portion of the county government’s energy usage and save the county more than $60,000 per year in energy costs. The parks commission has expressed support for the concept and it’s a project county officials are now talking about possibly trying to advance in 2018 in partnership with DTE Energy.

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A ground-mounted solar array on the University of Michigan's North Campus on Fuller Road in Ann Arbor on Aug. 12, 2017. (

Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

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County solar plans

Ann Arbor News: Where does the county stand at this point on moving toward renewable energy? Are there serious talks of adding solar panels on county buildings and properties? I've heard rumblings of a potential large array at a county park.

LaBarre: There's been conceptual discussion at the Parks and Rec Commission about panels on 15 acres out at Rolling Hills. That doesn't mean it's going to happen, but that discussion I think was received well. And Dave Shirley, our infrastructure director, is hoping to bring back some plans to the full board around our total infrastructure situation, and I think we'll have a chance to try to work some of those in on certain facilities here and there. So, the idea is getting from concept to sort of, 'OK, where do we want to try to do this? To what level? What's the ROI?'

So, I think the discussion in 2018 will get a bit more specific. We know it’s something we should do. We know it’s something that’s going to save money longterm. I think in 2018 and especially over this four-year budget, we can make some progress on it. And anything the Parks and Rec Commission can do, I think that’d be great.

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A map of Rolling Hills County Park. (Courtesy of Washtenaw County)

Renewable energy goals

Ann Arbor News: Ann Arbor city government wants to go 100 percent renewable by 2035. Does the county have any specific emission-reduction or renewable-energy goals that have been formally adopted?

LaBarre: Commissioner (Michelle) Deatrick has talked a bit about that, and I don't know for sure but I think she may bring something forward to try to get us there. I think there's an exciting potential there. Conan (Smith) has been active on environmental issues, too, so my guess is we will get something. I don't know the exact numbers.

And it’s not just window dressing. I know people were critical of the city of Ann Arbor when they passed theirs, saying, ‘You’re talking, what, 1 percent of the emissions output in the area?’ Yeah, but as we’re seeing with so many things, positive changes are by nature now having to start at the local and county level. So, I’m hopeful that’s something we can work on as a board this year.

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A screenshot from the Veridian at County Farm development proposal for the 2270 Platt Road site next to County Farm Park in Ann Arbor.

Platt Road development

Ann Arbor News: The county board voted last August to select Veridian at County Farm — a solar-powered, mixed-income, cottage community — as the preferred development for a county-owned property next to County Farm Park on Platt Road. Where does that deal stand? Do you expect it to move forward this year?

LaBarre: I do. We're waiting for a draft purchase agreement, so we're still in negotiation, but staff is hopeful that could come (to the county board) in the second meeting in February or possibly the first meeting in March.

That’s not the final action, obviously, but we’ve made substantial progress on Platt Road in selecting to go with Veridian in terms of negotiation, and I think they’re going to bring back something that is aesthetically pleasing, meets the human needs and respects the existing neighborhood.

I think that project is a game changer also in terms of environmental application. And the thing that I think doesn’t get enough attention is the AMI level that they’re looking to help with (affordable housing for people earning up to 30 percent and 60 percent of area median income), especially with the supportive housing units.

I mean, it really is a shift to the paradigm on integration with the neighborhood, environmental application and the level of service provided in terms of folks who need affordable housing. It’s not just at the top end. It’s a big deal.

Ann Arbor News: I know the development still has to go through Ann Arbor's site plan approval process after the county finalizes a purchase agreement with the Veridian team. Do you expect the county will act on that this spring?

LaBarre: That'll come back to the board in the spring and we'll basically say, 'Do we want to proceed with this?' From that point, I believe they have to go through those processes that you laid out. The one thing I don't know is what level of city involvement there will be, given that it's county land, but there'll be some. So, I think 2018 could be the year where this gets decided.

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Three different county-owned parking lots in downtown Ann Arbor can be seen on this map. (Google Maps)

Future of county lots downtown

Ann Arbor News: The county owns a number of parking lots in downtown Ann Arbor. There's a couple along Fourth Avenue. There's one at Main and Ann. What is the future vision for those lots and are there any serious talks of putting them to a different use, whether that might be a downtown park or town square, a new development, affordable housing, a parking deck or anything else?

LaBarre: Conan and I are on the space plan committee and we're looking to get a sense of where commissioners priorities are at and bring some options to the full board for discussion, so that topic is going to come up in 2018. I don't know what will be decided. I can say this: A flat parking lot in the middle of downtown Ann Arbor is probably not the highest use of land, but I don't know where the full board will be.

So we’re having those discussions. We met a few weeks back with city of Ann Arbor folks. (County Administrator) Greg (Dill) and Dave Shirley have been looking at this and trying to get this squared away so we have a notion of what we’re going to do with that space in the future and how ultimately it’s going to help us in our mission to provide services to our citizens. So, there are a lot of options on the table, and I don’t know exactly where it’s going to go. I do know it’s going to come up for discussion and it’s going to be important.

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Image from Washtenaw County's 2016 plan for completing the Border-to-Border Trail between Ann Arbor and Dexter. The 1.2-mile segment labeled D2, from Dexter-Huron Metropark to Zeeb Road, includes two pedestrian bridges over the Huron River and is expected to be constructed in 2018.

Border-to-Border Trail expansion

Ann Arbor News: When county voters approved a four-year tax for roads in 2016, 20 percent of the revenue (about $1.5 million per year) was to go toward completing the remaining 11 miles of the 35-mile Border-to-Border Trail along the Huron River. The Parks and Recreation Commission also was to use some of the funds to reenergize the Connecting Communities Program, which has funded a number of pathways throughout the county. Where do those efforts stand? What steps have been taken to improve non-motorized trails since the millage passed and what are the next big pieces of the B2B Trail where residents can expect to see some work done?

LaBarre: There's a big one coming through Scio Township connecting Dexter with Ann Arbor. They'll get out to Zeeb Road by mid-summer. And they're also working with Scio Township government and that'll be big. Eventually that'll connect Dexter and Ann Arbor with a specific trail. Also coming in this year, out near Chelsea going up north of it, they're completing a connection, so they're making a lot of progress on that.

There’s obviously more to go. You saw the path that extended over by Dixboro and so forth. They’re making progress and I think they’re going to meet the deadlines, and I think that millage is a case of a tweak to an infrastructure ask that sort of reflects what Washtenaw County residents want. Everybody is concerned about the roads and that millage is dedicated in large part to road maintenance and repair. But those non-motorized paths, those are critical for getting around and also critical for quality of life, so Parks and Rec and the county as entities are doing good jobs on those, and I think there will be those two big progress points this summer.

Ann Arbor News: So there will be work on a B2B Trail connection between Dexter and Ann Arbor this summer?

LaBarre: I'm talking coming from Dexter moving east toward Ann Arbor, they're going to get to Zeeb.

Ann Arbor News: So, this doesn't yet solve the problem of getting past the railroad tracks between Huron River Drive and the B2B Trail segment in Bandemer Park? What's the plan for making an official connection there someday?

LaBarre: I talked to Coy Vaughn (county parks director) and we're looking at a preliminary study with the city of Ann Arbor. There's potential longterm for some sort of tunnel-like structure, but that's in the preliminary phases, so I don't have a timeline for you. But that concern is being looked at and trying to get addressed.

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The Washtenaw County administration building on Main Street in downtown Ann Arbor on Jan. 21, 2018. (Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News)

Biggest issues facing county in 2018

Ann Arbor News: What do you consider the biggest issues facing Washtenaw County government in 2018?

LaBarre: We had a really successful 2017. There's a lot of wins we put up on the board. The (mental health and public safety) millage was huge. Our work to secure a four-year contract with the Humane Society was big.

I think we’re going to have an additional tweak to our police services contracts that’s going to be good for the townships.

We’ve done a lot, but going into 2018 the big thing will be the quadrennial budget and making sure that the millage funds we got passed are put to use using the community health advisory committee. The ask was significant and we want to make sure that we’re doing what we said, honoring both the letter and the spirit of the ask.

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Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners Chairman Andy LaBarre, D-Ann Arbor, poses for a portrait in front of the county administration building on Main Street in downtown Ann Arbor on Jan. 19, 2018. (Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News)

New millage funds

Ann Arbor News: Washtenaw voters approved the mental health and public safety millage in November by a 2-to-1 margin. This means millions of dollars in new tax revenue will be collected starting later this year. In what ways do you see that money having a real impact in the lives of county residents?

LaBarre: Well, you look at a universe of 350 people who were kicked off of (Community Mental Health) services because of the state cuts. The ability to bring them back in to get services, that's going to be huge. The ability to say to our townships that contract with the sheriff's office that we look stable in terms of a contracting partner for the next eight years, that's huge. You look at a place like Manchester Village where they're spending 70 percent of their general fund on sheriff's contracts, and where neighboring townships don't even contract with the sheriff — they're dependent on a Michigan State Police service unit out of Brighton. You know, those are big things.

It also allows us to look at our general fund over the next four years to see what issues that aren’t directly related to mental health and public safety, especially things like public health and community and economic development — you know, human services more broadly — what can we do there that we haven’t been able to do? Or what ill can we stop that’s been thrust upon us by state and federal policy and funding?

So this is big. And I note this: It passed in every commissioner district. It passed even if you took the yes votes from Ann Arbor out and kept the no votes in. And what I read from that is the people from Washtenaw County understand that government is an entity, is a service, is a force that is worth having around to try and help us in our lives at times, and especially those people who are in vulnerable situations — i.e. people in public safety need or people in mental health need.

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Mental health and jail diversion

Ann Arbor News: What's the long-term plan for improving mental health services in Washtenaw County? And how does the county plan to move away from having the county jail serve as a de-facto mental health facility?

LaBarre: The sheriff, within his authority, has put together a committee to look at how we best do the policing end. The community mental health advisory committee that was part of the ordinance we passed is going to look at not just how we're spending those millage dollars, but what outcomes we are getting from them and driving from them, including recidivism rates — you know, how we're keeping people out of jail.

The problem is this, though: We are part of a four-region PIHP (Prepaid Inpatient Health Plan). There was a screwup with the state of Michigan with their computer system that people use to get their health insurance through Medicaid. Instead of putting people in the right qualification, which in some cases was those who are deaf or blind, it was putting people as a computer mistake in qualifications for other parts of Medicaid, including Healthy Michigan. And why does that matter? It matters because of this: The reimbursement rate for Medicaid is different for those qualifications.

So, because of a screwup on the state’s end … Washtenaw County — if the Legislature or the executive branch doesn’t take action — is looking at a new $2.5 million burden that CMH is going to have to face. And so I make this point to say we’re not out of the woods. And I also make it to say the state of Michigan is working hard to screw up mental health, and I don’t think they mean to. But what’s the future longterm? The future is getting the funding we derive here right.

The future is looking at getting the right outcomes and helping people, but the future is also guarding against whatever it is the state is going to keep putting in place in terms of policy and funding, and we haven’t even broached the question of using an HMO model. So, on our end, with the money we’re raising from our citizens, engagement and metrics and defining outcomes, that’s how I think we’re going to do it, working with that mental health advisory committee, working with the CMH board, board of commissioners, our executive director Trish Cortes. But what Lansing puts upon us or what the feds do with some of the work rules they’re considering, I don’t know how we can account for that, because we just don’t know what’s going to happen.

So, we need to be defensive going forward, and I genuinely wish I could tell you mental health is solved in Washtenaw County. The truth is we’re in a better posture, but we have a lot to defend and a lot of challenges ahead.

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President Donald Trump speaks at the Conversations with the Women of America at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex on Jan. 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

What Trump presidency means for Washtenaw

Ann Arbor News: At the beginning of last year, you had a lot of fears about what a Trump presidency might mean for Washtenaw County, including potential cuts in federal funding that flows to the county. Have those fears come to fruition?

LaBarre: You know, largely we've been protected by his incompetence, and I'm being serious there. This has not been a president who has been able to get much accomplished given that he's got control of Congress. In terms of funding cuts, so far no, we haven't seen that hit, but the issue there is twofold.

One, you look at what they’re trying to do with Medicaid work requirements. That could impact the county. And two, if you look at 2017, about a month into the year, we had what I would call a targeted emergency situation here with members of our community, longterm members who were threatened with deportation. The county allocated $75,000 in funding to deal with that right off the bat.

So no, we haven’t seen the worst of it, but keep in mind, in 2017, we were still largely going on a budget already passed. So, now as we see going forward, I do have concerns. I do have worries. And you look at everything from HUD to HHS to any number of things — anything that’s going to fund the state of Michigan can impact Washtenaw County. Because people need to realize and remember we are set up to provide state services at the county level. That’s how we do it in Michigan. So ineptitude at the federal level will hit people’s lives at the county level.

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Betoul Ajin, a 15-year-old Community High School student in Ann Arbor, hugs family following an immigration hearing where a judge allowed her father, Yousef Ajin, an Ann Arbor father of four U.S.-citizen children and spouse of a U.S. citizen, to remain in the country, granting a rare deportation waiver and allowing him to keep his green card on Feb. 28, 2017. Yousef Ajin faced deportation to Jordan because of past convictions for shoplifting and using a credit card that wasn't his in the early 2000s. (Melanie Maxwell | The Ann Arbor News)

Helping immigrants

Ann Arbor News: The county board last May sent a strong message to immigrants to let them know they're welcome in Washtenaw, approving new policies related to immigration matters and dedicating tens of thousands of dollars to help immigrants, including those targeted for deportation by the federal government. Is this still a priority for the county and might more funds be allocated?

LaBarre: We included some in our 2018 budget, and it is a priority because human beings who are active, productive members of our society, who have families and businesses and connections, and who help our community, are being deported because they were brought here as a child. Yeah, that's important.

I know some folks have thought, ‘Why is the county government meddling in this?’ And the reason is, look, these aren’t statistics on a sheet. These are human beings who have been a part of the community. I said last year county government needed to do more for its citizenry, needed to be a shield in some ways against the state and the feds. There are limits to that, constitutionally, practically and financially. But I continue to hold that belief. And I read into the millage results the notion that, if we can show to our taxpayers that we are prudently using their tax dollars for purposes that align with their values and align with the focus and mission of county government, they’ll support that. And I was struck by the outpouring of support for what we did quietly, even though we had a lot of folks at our board table yelling at us about it last May.

Ann Arbor News: What's your response to those who argue taxpayer funds shouldn't be helping people who are in the country illegally, those who argue these undocumented immigrants you're talking about should be forced to leave the country even if they're married to U.S. citizens and have children who are U.S. citizens?

LaBarre: It's dehumanizing. Look, my faith informs my politics. When I hear that rhetoric, I find it abhorrent on a moral level and I think it's a violation of human decency in some ways. But at the same time, it's their right to believe that. It's their right to express it. And I have to defend every vote and action I take, but I'm happy to engage in that discussion, because I think we have the moral high ground.

When you tear people out of a community, you don’t just tear them out. You tear out the friendships and the relationships they’ve built.

And frankly, from a practical standpoint, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to break apart families or to tear people away from successful jobs and businesses really to prove a political point. So, I think people who aren’t emotionally engaged in it, who just view it from a practical standpoint, would agree we have so many other things that could be higher on the priority list.

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A map in Washtenaw County's 2015 Housing Affordability and Economic Equity report by consultant CZB LLC showing the percentage of families with incomes below 30 percent of the area median income in the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti areas.

Addressing inequality in Washtenaw County

Ann Arbor News: There have been reports and forums in recent years discussing income inequality in Washtenaw County and the socioeconomic divide between the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti areas. What is the county doing to address that?

LaBarre: To go back to that (mental health and public safety) millage, that was absolutely something that involved the issue of equity. And if you look at the city of Ypsilanti as a governmental unit, much was made of the $2 million and some that was going to the city of Ann Arbor. Well, the city of Ypsi, I think they have a general fund around $10 million. They have a structural input of around $300,000 on a yearly basis as a part of that millage. The 48198 and 48197 zip codes, on a per-capita basis, are the biggest or some of the biggest users of services related to public safety and community mental health in the county. In nuts-and-bolts government services, there's some real success there, and success we have to build on.

We’re trying in 2018 to look at our economic development strategy as a county, as an entity, and I think a big part of what we’ve talked about and what we’ll try to get into that plan is how do you drive economic development that has beneficial outcomes, including outcomes that affect equity, income inequality and so forth, and especially in the 48198 48197 zips, and some of our rural poor zips.

So, I think what we’ve done with the millage and what we’ll look at with economic development, those will be serious endeavors. The county’s equity ordinance that we’re working on with the city is not directly related in some ways but is tangentially related. And while that’s more policy driven in terms of what we do as a governmental entity, I think there will be net benefits.

We’re limited, though, because we suffer from the fact that there are broader economic forces that impact us. So, I think we’re making progress on what we can, and I think what we always need to do is talk about it as an issue and talk about it as elected officials in a way that doesn’t seek to stoke emotion or enmity, but rather talk about why this is good for every county resident.

Ann Arbor News: This equity ordinance you mention has been in the works for a long time, more than a year. What is it going to do?

LaBarre: We're working with GARE (Government Alliance on Race and Equity). Basically you train staff and you reposition the thinking of governmental entities to factor in equity as part of every decision and equation we face. Look, that sounds like goofy, hippie stuff, but it's not. It's real. When you make that part of the list you go down when you make decisions — 'hey, how does this affect equity?' — when you make it important, it's going to have effects that are beneficial across the board.

And it’s taking a while because it’s not like we can just pass a resolution that says ‘we love equity’ and then, hey, everything’s fixed. This is a more fundamental notion of ‘hey, we love equity’ and we’re taking a detailed look at how we factor that into all of our decision making in a way that is good in terms of outcomes, but measurable as well.

Ellen Rabinowitz (county health officer) and Andrea Plevek (community and economic development director) have really done fantastic jobs, and I appreciate the job Commissioner (Felicia) Brabec has done on it. It’s been a group effort and I think it will bear fruit, and I really appreciate the city doing some of this with us.

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Buses outside the Rosa Parks Transit Center in downtown Detroit on Oct. 26, 2017. (Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News)

Regional transit talks

Ann Arbor News: What else can county residents expect in 2018?

LaBarre: The big thing will be the budget. Counties exist to get those services out to people and to do those state-mandated services, and your budgets are a discussion of what do you prioritize and to what level? And what do your citizens want? And so that budget process will be pretty robust.

I’m also currently engaged for the county, along with Alma Wheeler Smith and Liz Gerber, on the RTA (regional transit authority) question.

Ann Arbor News: What's the latest with that?

LaBarre: Discussions are ongoing. It's the same RTA footprint – Wayne, Washtenaw, Oakland and Macomb, obviously city of Detroit. The question is, can you take that same footprint and, without needing new legislation, make some changes to the transit master plan to appeal to voters. And I think that thing failed (in 2016) really because Donald Trump was on the top of the ticket and Macomb County came out big for him, and Wayne County did not come out big enough for Secretary Clinton.

If you had generic Republican and generic Democrat top of the ticket, I think it would have passed easily, personally.

Ann Arbor News: Will there be a new regional transit tax proposal on the ballot this November?

LaBarre: I can't tell you for sure, but I'm hopeful. I've been delegated to lead our portion of the negotiations with the RTA … and those are ongoing.

Ann Arbor News: Does the fact that the University of Michigan is now operating a bus service between Detroit and Ann Arbor change anything?

LaBarre: Not really. U of M is going to take care of U of M and they know that's a need, and Wayne County knows it's a need. To me, the question is: Macomb and Oakland, do you want in on the future? And if not, I'm happy if Wayne and Washtenaw sort of pave the way here, because, I mean, people want to be connected to Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan, and that's just the truth of it.

Ann Arbor News: Does Ann Arbor want to be connected to Detroit?

LaBarre: Yeah, we do, for different reasons. And it's not just, 'Oh, hey, I want to go to Tiger Stadium and have a bunch of beers and be able to get home.' I mean, there's a good deal of job connectivity that you're looking at.