The commission also considered options for moving forward with consolidated 911 dispatch.
Supporters of a Kalamazoo County ID card program who have packed recent board meetings have seen their efforts rewarded. Commissioners approved a plan to start issuing countywide IDs next year.
The vote split along party lines with the board’s six Democrats supporting the idea and five Republicans voting against it.
Advocates for local IDs say many people in Michigan lack the paperwork for a state ID. They say the Kalamazoo ID card will allow people to use services from banking to health care or even registered mail, as one carrier told commissioners Wednesday, and to prove their identity to police.
People can apply for a card regardless of their immigration status. That led Commissioner John Gisler, who said immigration law isn’t perfect, to nonetheless oppose it.
“While the laws need changing, we remain a nation of laws, not emotions,” he said.
Monica Washington Padula, who was one of about 30 people who spoke in favor of the IDs on Wednesday, questioned the opponents’ grounds for doing so.
“No humans are illegal on Mother Earth and especially in this town, I think it would stand fair to say that any of those that are here that are not indigenous to Michigan, are not Anishinabek, I think you borrowed something from us,” she said.
The commission estimates that about 27,000 people in Kalamazoo County do not have an ID. Any county resident will be able to apply for one.
The board granted the project an initial budget of $60,000.
Consolidated Dispatch
Local governments in Kalamazoo County are looking for a way forward on consolidated 911 dispatch. A phone surcharge that would have paid for a unified center was soundly defeated when it went to a public vote in May.
But on Wednesday county commissioners heard about some alternatives for funding consolidated dispatch. The idea the board tentatively supports does not call for a phone fee. Instead, participating governments would chip in a certain amount, based partly on population and partly on what they’re already contributing.
Kalamazoo County Commissioner Scott McGraw says he supports the plan though it would have the county spending more than it does now on 911 dispatch.
“I think our citizens will be safer and will be better for it in the long run,” he said.
Commissioner Kevin Wordelman says he’s okay with exploring that option. But he’d also like to know what a countywide, county-run dispatch service would look like.
“I’m from Toledo, Ohio, a city of about 300,000 people. One police department, one dispatch agency. That’s bigger than Kalamazoo County. Certainly it’s possible to do it that way,” Wordelman said.
Other board members said that discussion might scare participants away.
Five governments have worked together toward a unified 911 center. They will have to agree on any new method of paying for consolidation.
