County Holds On Discussion Of Changing Meeting Times

Andrew Trzaska | January 15, 2013

The Muskegon County Board of Commissioners will run a proposed time change for committee and full board meetings through the Human Resources committee.

Commissioner Ben Cross previously brought up moving back meeting start times from 3:30 p.m., mostly on Tuesdays and Thursdays, to 4 p.m. on those same days of the week.  Cross indicated that he received complaints from constituents in his first two-year term about residents being unable to make it to meetings during the typical workday.

Cross explained that moving the meeting back 30 minutes would be a compromise, where essential county workers in the building who work in security, the clerk’s office and elsewhere would not need to stay too late while more residents might be able to make the later time.

Without debate, the commission opted to move the motion to the Human Resources committee, where it will be debated and likely moved back to the full board for a final vote. This appears to be because changing meeting times could change county employees, including having to work overtime if a meeting runs long. Commissioner Charles Nash currently chairs the committee, with commissioner Rillastine Wilkins as vice-chair.

The next Human Resources committee meeting will be February 5 at 3:30 in the commission chambers at the Kobza Hall of Justice.

Commissioner Mahoney assured Cross during Monday’s meeting that the issue would not be dropped; Cross previously suggested at the board’s 2013 organizational meeting the issue was quietly dropped in 2012 without debate.