Content about Law

The grades are in and Jim Wonacott made the dean’s list. Wonacott, in his 16h year as village administrator, scored high grades in the annual evaluation conducted by members of Blissfield Village Council and tabulated by Blissfield Village President Jae Guetschow.

Using a five-point scale, with one being unsatisfactory and five being outstanding, each council member was asked to grade Wonacott in nine areas, ranging from profession skills to residential relations. When all the votes were tabulated, Wonacott received an average score of 4.6, which puts him a little closer to outstanding (a five rating) than above average (a four rating).

Wonacott’s top rating came in fiscal management, where he scored a 4.8 rating.
“(Wonacott) makes the best possible use of available funds (and he is) conscious of the need to operate the village efficiently and effectively,” wrote one of the council members, in the evaluation.

In an effort to save more than $40,000 a year, Blissfield Community Schools has adopted a plan to share its business manager, Dan Garno, with the Lenawee Intermediate School District.

The Blissfield Board of Education approved a collaborative deal, by a 6-0 vote, with the LISD at Monday night’s meeting. Trustee Vicky Lombard was absent.

The Advance was unable to obtain specific details of the agreement Monday night. After the board meeting, Garno said that he moving to the LISD to do much of that had been done by former LISD executive director for staff resources, Jim Philp. Philp was appointed as interim superintendent of the LISD after Steve Krusich retired.

Garno called the move a “pilot project” that would need to be closely monitored by the LISD and Blissfield Community Schools.

I sat at Monday’s school board meeting, covering it just like every other meeting I’ve ever been to. I try not to care, too much, about anything that’s being said. I’ve found that when I get emotionally involved in what’s being said, it becomes more difficult to hear what’s being said and much easier to hear what you want to be said.

A visual presentation by district chief financial officer Dan Garno brought me to life, a little bit. Garno was providing pretext for the budget and this particular segment highlighted the loss of jobs in Michigan and the rest of the country. In this presentation, a green dot signified job growth and a red dot the opposite. The more jobs or job loss, the bigger the dot.

Early in the presentation, there were lots of little green dots on the map. Except for, it seemed, in the Gulf coast area, where a giant red dot began growing on the screen (Hurricane Katrina?) As the chronological presentation continued, a red dot began hovering over Michigan. The dot kept growing. Soon other dots appeared all over the rust belt. Then on the west coast. As the map moved towards today’s economic picture, the entire country was covered in growing red dots. It looked like blood splatters soaking through a white t-shirt. It was a vivid presentation of the violence the economy has wrought on this state.

Why is it that whenever there’s a “tax cut” I get socked with a big tax bill in April?

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