Oakland County Threatens to Pull Funding from Area Agency on Aging after Commissioners Denied Access to Meeting

(Crystal A. Proxmire, Jan. 12, 2017)

Pontiac, MI – When the Area Agency on Aging 1-B held a closed session meeting on Jan. 3, they did so without allowing Commissioners  from the six counties they cover to attend. The reason was because terms for the representatives from those counties ended Dec. 31 and their appointment to the AAA 1-B would need to be confirmed when the respective county commissions held their first meeting of the year.  This meant a gap of days to weeks where there was no Commissioner representation.

For Oakland County that meant a window of eleven days where County Commissioner Helaine Zack (D-Huntington Woods) could not attend. For the other commissioners the time varied based on their County Commission meeting schedule.

“They had a closed meeting at a time when over a third of the board could not be there.  We are the elected representatives of our counties.  They should have allowed us to be there,” Zack said.  There are 19 people on the board, including one commissioner and one older adult from each county. Because of the rule, the six commissioners could not be there.

As a result, the Oakland County Commission passed a bi-partisan resolution Wednesday night admonishing the AAA 1-B for having a closed session meeting during the window of time when elected officials would not be able to participate.

“…the actions of the Governing Board demonstrate a lack of respect for the elected officials of member Counties and a lack of appreciation for the long term financial support provided by member County governments,” the resolution stated.

It goes on to call for giving notice to the AAA 1-B of cancelling the contract with 90 days notice,  with the stipulation that the Oakland County Board of Commissioners has “the right to withdraw this cancellation upon receiving a full and complete report from the leadership of AAA 1-B regarding their strategic plan and actions taken to amend the policies, procedures and by-laws of AAA 1-B to ensure that the elected representatives of the member Counties shall not be excluded from the business of the Governing Board in the future.”

The resolution passed unanimously.

Oakland County provides $92,037 to AAA 1-B that goes into their budget to allocate for senior services.

The AAA 1-B is a nonprofit that manages the distribution of funds for many other nonprofits that serve older adults. The AAA 1-B covers Livingston, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland St. Clair and Washtenaw Counties.  A nationwide network of Area Agencies on Aging was created by the Older Americans Act in 1974, and their mission is to deliver services to seniors at the local level.  The board that oversees AAA 1-B is made up of one commissioner and one senior from each county, as well as other aging network and health industry leaders.

The Jan. 3 meeting was to review an opinion in an undisclosed legal matter.

On Jan. 4, Tina Abbate Marzolf, the CEO of the  Agency, submitted her resignation.

Jim McGuire, Director of Research, Policy Development and Advocacy did not respond to the question of why.

McGuire said that he is leading the agency on an interim basis and that his appointment as interim CEO “is expected to be formalized at the AAA 1-B Board meeting on Friday February 24, 2017.”

According to her LinkedIn profile, Marzolf “has worked at the AAA 1-B for 20 years, first as a Community Planner and most recently as the Director of Contract and Purchased Services for eight years.”

McGuire said “The older adults and disabled who are served by the AAA 1-B will remain the Agency’s top priority during the transition in leadership at the Agency.  Newly appointed directors who were unable to participate in the January 3 meeting because they were not on the Board at the time, are now being briefed…. We will be happy to work with the counties to ensure that vacancies on the Board caused by expiring terms are filled as soon as possible so there is no interruption in service.”

To learn more about AAA 1-B, check out their website at https://www.aaa1b.org/.