In a meeting on Monday, April 1, the Hillsdale City Council received updates about the Hillsdale County Senior Services Center and considered the extension of a contract with government services provider Granicus.
The Hillsdale County Senior Services Center is a private non-profit founded in 1983. Terry Vear, senior center executive director, spoke to the council about utilization of the center’s services. From the beginning of this fiscal year in October through February, 281 people used Meals-on-Wheels, Vear said. In the entire previous fiscal year, 384 people used it. Nobody so far this year has used Carecalls, a free alert and reminder telephone service, whereas last year 11 used it. Vear also reported the results of a January audit of the center’s finances.
“We have had a decrease in the split between the money we spend on administration and fundraising and what we spend on services,” she said. “We spend 13 cents per dollar on administration and fundraising, and 87 cents on services.” This is a better-than-average ratio, according to Vear.
Vear also thanked city council for senior millage funds that supplement the center’s finances.
“It’s those senior millage funds that keep us going after our grant money runs out,” she said. “Other organizations like ours keep waiting lists up to 180 days, but we have no waiting list for any of our time-based services.”
The council also discussed the extension of a contract with Cleveland-based government services provider Granicus. Granicus’ contract, renewed on a monthly basis, includes providing live feed of city council meetings. Eric Macy, a communications committee member, said that there have been a total of 249 public views of city council meetings from January through March, at a total service cost of $2,985, for a cost/view ratio of $11.99. Councilperson Ruth Brown said that she was in favor of extending the Granicus contract.
“We have to have transparency in public government,” she said. “It may seem expensive, but sometimes things don’t have a dollar value, but a perception.”
City Manager Linda Brown said there were at least three problems with extending the contract.
“We’re spending $12,000 a year on this, not getting many viewers, and it doesn’t allow us to eliminate the existing taping system for recording public meetings.”
Mayor Doug Moon said that he only wanted to extend the contract if increased viewership could be assured.
“There is no lack of transparency. We are as transparent as we’re gonna get,” he said. “The numbers will do the talking for us, I think. If people are watching it, awesome, but we shouldn’t pay for something that nobody is watching.”
Councilperson Casey Sullivan also said that transparency is not a significant issue, since all city council meetings are open to the public.
Councilperson Scott Sessions said that the video sound quality is poor.
“The sound quality is terrible,” he said. “You can hardly hear people talk, and if you do, they sound like Mickey Mouse.”
After further discussion, the council approved an extension of the Granicus contract until June 30 by a 6-1 vote.
jbutler@hillsdale.edu
