By Maren Roeske ’18 | Staff Writer

Local

The Grosse Pointes-Clinton Refuse Disposal Authority (GPCRDA) received another great audit report as the financial term comes to a close.

The audit showed a large growth in the GPCRDA’s budget as changes in state pension reporting law GASB 68 increased transparency and clear information keeping practices.

“Luckily (for us), it’s an asset, not a liability,” CPA Lynn Gustafson, who handles the financial records for the GPCRDA, said after the independent auditor CPA Ramie E. Phillips Jr. gave the good news. “Most communities are showing liabilities (in their pensions),” Gustafson said. “It’s nice that we’re fully funded.”

GPCRDA is a pension funded program and the audit showed that the budget increased in total net value from $859,949 for the 2013-14 fiscal year to more than $1.165 million in the most recent fiscal year.  

After the audit report, GPCRDA announced it would retain Phillips and his Rochester Hills-based accounting firm. Phillips has performed independent audits of the GPCRDA’s books for the last three years and with the re-up of this contract will continue to for another three years.

During the GPCRDA board meeting on Jan. 12, it was a unanimous vote for Phillips to stay. The terms of Phillip’s contract will remain the same, retaining the auditing fee of  $4,500, including expenses, for the next three years. The new tenure for the CPA firm includes auditing for the 2015-16 fiscal year, which ends June 30. Phillip’s firm was an annual $3,000 decrease in cost for the GPCRDA from the auditors they used prior..

“They’ve done an excellent job for us,” GPCRDA board member Al Fincham said of Phillips and his firm as they voted to retain Phillips.

State

Congressional focus was turned to Michigan as Senator Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow proposed an amendment to a bipartisan energy bill that would divert $400 million in matching funds for infrastructure repairs and another $200 million for the creation of a center to study the effects of high levels of lead in the Flint water on children.

Under a state-appointed emergency manager in April 2014, Flint began drawing corrosive Flint River water that later caused toxic lead metal to leach into the water supply. Experts have said the addition of corrosion control additives in the river water would have avoided the catastrophe.

Senate minority leader, Harry Reid, called for GOP support for the $6 million proposal as Democrats rallied in support of the measure. Many Democrats used this as an opportunity to slam the Republican party with jabs at Gov. Rick Snyder for poor leadership and delegation as the water contamination began under budget cuts made by Darnell Earley, the city manager appointed by Snyder.

“This is a man-made crisis,” Reid said on the senate floor Tuesday. “We will never know the full extent of the damage to the people who live in Flint, Mich. Especially the children. They’ve been harmed because they’ve been poisoned by the acts of the leadership of the state of Michigan, especially the governor.”

Reid mentioned not only Synder but also other GOP leaders in the senate.

“Sadly, some of the same Republicans that call for relief when their states face natural disasters are disparaging government action in Flint,” Reid said, referring, for instance, to Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas, who said last week the problem is primarily a “state and local responsibility.”

Ried noted Cornyn and the state of Texas had received federal aid when facing record floods the previous year before going on to urge for support for Flint.

“If a federal government response is necessary for natural disasters, shouldn’t the federal government help respond to these man-made disasters?” Ried said.“I urge my colleagues, especially my Republican friends, to support the Stabenow-Peters amendment to give the people of Flint the relief they so desperately need.”

As the senate decides whether to pass the amendment, the Democratic National Convention (DNC) announced that on March 6, two days before the Michigan primary, they would hold a debate in Flint. Many GOP supporters are using this as an opportunity to denounce the Democratic party and candidates for capitalising on a crisis.  

Ronna Romney McDaniel, chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party, accused former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of using Flint as a “political prop” to bolster a struggling campaign against Senator Bernie Sanders.

“It’s a shame that Democrats like Harry Reid continue to use the people of Flint for their political game instead of focusing on real solutions for the city,” McDaniel said in a Tuesday statement after Reid addressed the senate. “If politicians like Reid and Hillary Clinton truly cared about residents in the city, they’d push for the federal government to stop denying requests from Michigan for additional help and resources.”

On the other hand Democratic leaders see the debate as a positive way for the candidates to get more face time for voters while simultaneously bringing the nation’s attention to the Flint’s crisis.

“This is an opportunity to shine a light on the crisis in Flint and show folks Democrats’ response to making sure this doesn’t happen again,” said Brandon Dillon, chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party. “It also is a good opportunity for folks in Michigan to see these candidates up close and personal, and talk about the issues that matter to them on a national level.

The Flint debate is speculated to focus on environmental concerns, the GOP’s budget slashing and welfare programs. It is one of three new debates approved by the DNC. The exact time and location in Flint wasn’t included in the DNC’s announcement.

National

In an unexpected ending, a Harris County, Texas grand jury reached a non-indictment verdict for Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast on charges of selling fetal tissue from abortions, as shown in a viral YouTube video. Instead it indicted video makers David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt, leaving many wondering what happening in the closed-door hearing.

“We were called upon to investigate allegations of criminal conduct by Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast,” Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson said in a statement. “As I stated at the outset of this investigation, we must go where the evidence leads us. All the evidence uncovered in the course of this investigation was presented to the grand jury. I respect their decision on this difficult case.”

The case was reviewed for over two months by the grand jury as a result of a probe launched last year under Texas Gov. Greg Abbott who accused Planned Parenthood of the “gruesome harvesting of baby body parts.”

“After a lengthy and thorough investigation by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, the Texas Rangers and the Houston Police Department, a Harris County grand jury took no action Monday against Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast,” the Harris County District Attorney’s office said in a statement.

Daleiden and Merritt were found guilty of counts of tampering with governmental records, a second-degree felony, and Daleiden was also convicted for the prohibition of the purchase and sale of human organs, which is a class A misdemeanor. The felony charge alone could sentence them to prison for 20 years.

Daleiden is a leader for the Center for Medical Progress, a group that produced a series of videos over the summer depicting Planned Parenthood officials discussing fetal tissue and appearing to talk about the price for such tissue. The videos were edited and in some cases contained footage that was not aborted fetuses at all. In one, Daleiden used footage of a stillborn child he found online with a narration about a Planned Parenthood abortion of a fetus the same age according to the grand jury’s findings.

Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit against the Center for Medical Progress, alleging the defendants lied their way into the recorded meetings and set up a fake company and personal identities to pull off the videos as well as accusing the group of committing crimes including wire and mail fraud, invasion of privacy, illegal secret recording and trespassing.

At the time Daleiden downplayed the lawsuit as “frivolous” and a “last-ditch move of desperation.” Planned Parenthood officials said they are glad to see that the false suits made by his organization are over,

“As the dust settles and the truth comes out, it’s become totally clear that the only people who engaged in wrongdoing are the criminals behind this fraud, and we’re glad they’re being held accountable,” said Eric Ferrero, vice president of communications for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, in a statement.