Candidate for Peaine Township Clerk

Krys Lyle · Post by **Krys Lyle** » Sat Sep 29, 2012 8:34 pm

Hi. Iâ??m Krys Lyle and Iâ??m running for Peaine Township Clerk in the upcoming election. Since some of you may not know about my background and the interest, skill, and talent I bring to the position, Iâ??m making this information available here.

Before becoming a full-time Island resident almost twenty years ago, I owned and operated a restaurant in Northern Michigan. My experience as a small business owner helped me further develop the organizational and technical skills I acquired when getting my undergraduate degree from Montana State, and my Masterâ??s degree in administration from Ferris State.

I returned from my â??out-westâ? adventures in Montana because Iâ??ve always loved northern Michiganâ??and still do. Like many Beaver Islanders, Iâ??ve worked in several different places while living here, including the Lighthouse School, Community School and CMU Biological Station. Throughout this time Iâ??ve been active in the Island community, working especially with the Baroque on Beaver Annual Music Festival. I currently serve as the Island Coordinator for Baroque, and have been a board member since its inception.

Iâ??ve served for 12-years as a member of Peaine Townshipâ??s Planning Commission, and have been the Commissionâ??s secretary for most of that time. I helped draft the Islandâ??s Master Plan and Zoning Ordinance, which required careful attention to detail and good computer skills. My technical skills also led me to become manager of the Townshipâ??s webpage on the Charlevoix County Website while also maintaining the web files for all Township Committees. This experience has given me a broad view of Peaine Township policies and practices. My most recent government experience has been serving on the Beaver Island District Library Board.

As Peaine Township Clerk, I would bring needed organizational and technical skills to the position and would continue to update these skills by attending MTA training sessions. I would be the first clerk to hold regular office hours at the Township Hall for the publicâ??s convenience, and would keep records there for ready access by all Board members and Committee Chairs. I would prepare and make regular, accurate reports at all Township Board meetingsâ??while also posting them immediately for public review on our Peaine Township website at < www.peaine.org >.

I believe fully in independent thinking to achieve common goals. I ask for your vote of confidence and hope to be your loyal servant as Peaine Township Clerk over the next four years.

Krys Lyle · Post by **Krys Lyle** » Tue Oct 02, 2012 1:05 pm

For those in Peaine Township who are not yet registered to vote, the deadline is October 9th. You can register with the Township Clerk.

Jlafreniere · Post by **Jlafreniere** » Tue Oct 02, 2012 8:24 pm

Ms. Lyle
I would like to know how you stand on EMS Millage for Peaine Township.
I ask this question after whaching a vedio on Joe Mooreâ??s site where Brad Grassmick( one of your running mates ) talks about looking into cutting EMS and FIRE millage.
After watching this clip on Sunday My day on call (24 hr. shift ) witch I get paid nothing for.
I wonder what do you people want from us.

We also Have 2 paramedic students that have paid Appx. $10,000 EACH out of their pocket to pay for this class. No other class has ever had to pay. But we simply do not have the money to pay for this.

When St. James Township levies 1 Mill Peaine Township levies less than 3/4 of a mill.
Now you may not be aware of this but another running mate Mr. Gallagher certainly is would you support equal millage or would you cut our millage even more.

Brad · Post by **Brad** » Wed Oct 03, 2012 8:58 am

Hi Gerry,

I think we need to look at all of the shared services, Fire, EMS, the Health Center, airport and transfer station budgets and determine two things. First are the budgets adequate for the needs of the island? The second is there any areas where we could save money by eliminating those things that are not necessary. I appreciate the effort all of the you in EMS and the Fire deptartment do. We can't survive without you. Your needs are important. At the same time the taxes are forcing some summer residents and retirees to have to sell their homes. Expanding our tax base by bringing more vistors who make become residents to the Island will bring more money to support EMS and the other services. To do that we have to expand our marketing and to do that will require more money. I don't want to see taxes go up so we have to spend what money we have more intelligently. This should be an open discussion with all of the island involved not just the board or other individuals. It's out island, we need to decide on our priorities together.

Trish Scott · Post by **Trish Scott** » Wed Oct 03, 2012 9:22 am

Emergency medical services are basic needs and trump marketing every time every day. Who would want to make the Island their home without basic medical services, especially emergency medical needs????? Maslow's hierarchy is still relevant.

Let's take care of our emergency medical responders so they can take care of us in times of urgent need. They save lives.

Ditto for our fire volunteers.

Brad · Post by **Brad** » Wed Oct 03, 2012 10:59 am

No disagreement. EMS is a basic need that we can't live without.

Brad

Trish Scott · Post by **Trish Scott** » Wed Oct 03, 2012 11:06 am

I must have misunderstood when your post said that we have to spend more on marketing and not raise taxes. That could imply that taxes spent on emergency services, both health and fire, would necessarily be decreased. I guess it is not entirely clear.

JFPowers · Post by **JFPowers** » Wed Oct 03, 2012 11:33 am

I have often seen these discussions about the small scale differences in the millage rates of the two townships and what seems to be missing in the discussion is the overall high millage rates that affect all property owners on Beaver Island. Both townships are currently close to 10 mills higher than Drummond Island's rates and in the case of EMS and Medical Services the burden to the taxpayer on Drummond is much less. I would suggest a starting point in this discussion would be to contact the Drummond Island Ambulance Service which is run through the township government and coordinates with Warr Memorial Hospital and other hospitals on the mainland. It is time for careful management of taxpayer dollars on Beaver Island, rather than seeking more and more taxes to throw at an issue.

sbsp · Post by **sbsp** » Wed Oct 03, 2012 1:02 pm

Brad and Jeff -
Your comments are right on target. The Island needs more responsible and responsive government and not just a board raising taxes to throw good money after bad.

Kirk D. McBride

Andy's Grooming Barn · Wed Oct 03, 2012 1:12 pm

Jeff - Is there a link to this information about Drummond Island that you can put on the forum? I would be interested in reading it.
Thanks

JFPowers · Post by **JFPowers** » Wed Oct 03, 2012 1:27 pm

I don't have a specific singular link. I researched the township tax rates and have talked to the Director of the Drummond Island Health Center regarding their management and the Township offices on Drummond Island regarding the EMS services on Drummond. The state published township millage tax rates show the overall millage disparity and so I inquired as to how things run on Drummond with less millage. The Drummond Island health center is much more modest than ours but has a larger caseload, and is integrated with Warr Memorial Hospital which provides many of the resources to fund the staffing of the facility. I do not know how the number of EMS runs on Drummond although since they have a slightly larger population I can imagine it is similar. My whole point is we need to reach beyond our borders to continuously look for innovative ways to deal with the challenges we face here.

Jim · Post by **Jim** » Wed Oct 03, 2012 3:13 pm

Jeff,

Did the director of Drummond Island EMS tell you at what level their organization is licensed? Is it a Basic Life Support unit or anAdvanced Life Support unit such as Beaver Island? Each level requires a different level of staff members and equipment.
I've tried to research it on the internet but haven't found a web page with that information yet. Thanks for checking.

Jim Stambaugh

IslandersPAC · Post by **IslandersPAC** » Wed Oct 03, 2012 3:26 pm

Sorry Jim. I didn't realize I was posting at the same time as you. Proposals 12-1 through 12-3 are not as important as your discussion. I think information on local questions and their ramifications are more valuable to the BI voter than State or National.

Ken

Jim · Post by **Jim** » Wed Oct 03, 2012 3:41 pm

Jeff,

I found that the population of Drummond Island is estimated at around a thousand in a 2000 census and our population on the 657 according to a 2010 census. Could that account for a higher number of patients at their med center?

Do you know if their EMS flies patients to the mainland or is it quicker for them to take the ferry across? It's about a 10 minute boat trip isn't it?

Thanks,

Jim Stambaugh

JFPowers · Post by **JFPowers** » Wed Oct 03, 2012 4:05 pm

Jim,

Not sure of the classifications, and yes more people usually equals more visits. I know that Senator Kahn is interested in more intercommunication between Beaver Island and Drummond Island when it comes to health care resources and perhaps in that vein more intercommunication will be forthcoming.

I imagine both the ferry and air services are used since emergencies would need timely movement to the next level of care, but I don't know how every one is handled although they did say they recieve a lot of funding from the State of Michigan.

Beaver Island Michigan

Candidate for Peaine Township Clerk

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