Kalamazoo County Commissioners discussed a perceived lack of community engagement from a separate board, the county road commission, on Tuesday.
This after pushback from residents against a road safety plan that includes cutting down an estimated 4,000 trees.
If passed, the resolution would request that the Road Commission of Kalamazoo County take a number of steps to improve public engagement and transparency, including establishing a community advisory panel.
Brad Sadowski of Schoolcraft Township has helped lead the push against the tree removals.
He said the road commission has failed to communicate details of the project, including when it reduced the number of trees it plans to cut down by half in June.
“We feel largely for the last four months that we have not been heard. And quite frankly ignored on several comments and when they did make changes, it wasn't with community cooperation or collaboration. It was done on their own.”
The resolution states that if they don’t make the requested changes, county commissioners will look into changing road commissioners from appointed to elected officials.
County Commissioners Tami Rey and Dale DeLeeuw both took issue with this tactic, calling it a "threat.”
“I have no interest in threatening the road commission. I feel like maybe we need to have more discussions with road commissioners. I know we have, as individuals. It sounds like they've made some compromises that are not good enough for the community. Maybe they don't know what community engagement looks like to us, but this to me is a little far,” Commissioner Rey said.
"Every time it's like, 'Oh, we don't agree with them, let's put this back on the table.' It's childish. So, how do we meet with the road commission, come to an agreement, or figure this out without having to threaten them per se?"
The county commission is set to vote on its resolution November 4th.
