MOVING AHEAD
With COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths decreasing and 65,793 doses of vaccine administered countywide as of Saturday, The Macomb Daily today takes a look at what institutions might look like post-pandemic.
Government: Some tech-driven modifications likely here to stay
Challenges forced on local governments by the COVID-19 pandemic has produced some changes that will have long-lasting impacts on how they operate and respond for years to come.
Pandemic social-distancing restrictions have compelled municipalities, the county and courts in Macomb County to find alternate ways to continue to serve patrons of their services, as well as prepare for any future similar disasters.
Many of those changes have been positive despite the pandemic’s destructive impacts, said Sterling Heights City Manager Mark Vanderpool.
“In every dark cloud, there are silver linings, and that is the case now,” Vanderpool said.
In addition, the potential impact of the coronavirus on the business community has officials considering what they may have to do to adjust to fewer commercial buildings generating tax dollars.
Technology has transformed nearly every aspect of work life in both private and public industry. For local legislative and judicial branches of government, that means conducting
“In every dark cloud, there are silver linings, and that is the case now.”
— Mark Vanderpool, Sterling Heights city manager
meetings and hearings on video services such as Zoom and Google.
Macomb County Chief Deputy Executive Mark Deldin said the county, with the help of some of the $152 million the county received in CARES Act funding, has been able to improve its technological landscape and maintain services for residents by increasing online capabilities.
“We were able to enhance many of the tech systems and software to make it easier for customers, taxpayers, residents, to do things online,” Deldin said. “We see it as something we’ll benefit from as time goes on.”
Government officials for years have been gradually upgrading web sites and other technology to offer more services online. The pandemic accelerated those efforts.
“We still had to offer the services and reinvent how we did it,” Vanderpool said. “We plan to continue that.”
“We encourage people to do things online,” said Clinton Township Supervisor Bob Cannon.
The Sterling Heights Building Department, for instance, is now allowing building inspectors to conduct inspections over the internet using Zoom or Facebook, Vanderpool said. That not only eliminates social-distancing requirements, but saves time for both the city employee and the building-permit applicant.
Vanderpool expects that to continue post-pandemic.
Working at home
As in the private sector, local government officials have taken measures for their employees to work at home or in a safe office environment to protect them against each other and the public. Some of those efforts will remain, officials said.
“I don’t see us taking down the plexiglass when this is over,” Cannon said. “Everyone who comes here (to the township hall) feels safe. The employees feel safe.”
Vanderpool believes a working-at-home option should become a permanent part of the equation for public employers to attract and retain good workers. He said governmental units are in competition with the private sector for good workers.
“To be able to work from home and have flexible scheduling to attract quality employees,” he said. “Does it matter if you get the job done at 5 o’clock or 10 o’clock? The point is to get the job done that day.
“Now it’s no different whether you’re sitting at home or at a work station at work. You can do the same job.”
Deldin of Macomb County said he believes workplace social distancing and increased cleaning efforts are here to stay.
Facility needs lessened?
Deldin noted reducing the number of people needed to work in offices may eventually lessen the amount of building space used by the county, ultimately saving taxpayer dollars in maintenance expenses.
“The benefit of that (working at home) is that we may be able to reduce our physical facility footprint in the county,” he said. “These facilities are expensive to operate. But we won’t make any rash or short-sighted decisions.”
The onset of coronavirus had a major impact on plans for the county jail, which was targeted in recent years for a possible massive and expensive rebuild.
Officials had planned to ask voters in the August 2020 primary for a 0.64 mill levy to issue bonds to build a $300-million jail with a capacity of slightly over 1,000 and an adjacent Sheriff’s Office structure to replace existing facilities in Mount Clemens.
But officials put the brakes on the effort due to uncertainty created by the pandemic, which was accompanied by a huge dropoff in the inmate population that may lessen the need for more jail space. The inmate population pre-coronavirus was about 800 to 900 and recently has been 500 to 600. The population fell to less than 300 at one point last May.
Sheriff Anthony Wickersham said he is closely monitoring the inmate population and jail needs.
“Right now, it’s off the table,” Wickersham said of a new jail. “But it’s something that’s not going to go away. We really don’t know and we may not know for another year” where the population will trend.
The was built piecemeal over the past 60-plus years and continues to require heavy maintenance.
Empty stores, offices
Coronavirus has government leaders worried about the impact it will have on the business community and how it will impact their communities in general, and ultimately tax revenues.
According to tracktherecovery.com, the number of small businesses in Michigan has dropped by 35.8% since January, with a large bulk of them expected to remain closed, which officials attribute to the pandemic. The national average is 28.9 percent of businesses.
That situation likely will create a glut of commercial structures throughout the county. Empty buildings translate into fewer tax revenues for governments due to lower property assessments and less property-tax revenues, as well as blight potential.
Fortunately, local units receive the majority of their tax dollars from residential property taxes, and the residential market has remained strong throughout the pandemic. Still, if one-third of businesses remain closed, the impact will be substantial.
Deputy County Executive John Paul Rea called the situation “unimaginable” having come at “an unprecedented time” for the economy.
But he said he remains hopeful as the county Department of Planning and Economic Development has been working with local businesses, business groups and other governmental units to prepare and adjust to changes. The county formed the COVID Economic Recovery Task Force, which meets regularly.
“The story has yet to be told,” he said. “We’re trying to understand where industry is going and how to support local business and work forces. We’re trying to track and gauge all of these trends we are faced with and the unknowns.”
Vanderpool is optimistic about the future of the commercial sector.
“Capitalism always seems to prevail,” he said. “Office rates will come down and entice businesses to move in. That correction will occur over time.”
Cannon said township tax revenues will be impacted but believes Clinton’s healthy fund balance will allow the township to continue to thrive.
“Some buildings are vacant. I think that’s going to be our huckleberry,” he said. “My biggest worry is offices and retail, vacancies at the mall (Partridge Creek). In the short term, it’s already affecting us. In the long term, it will affect us even more.”
He is concerned about an increase in blight due to empty structures, noting township building inspectors are making extra efforts to keep track of and enforce anti-blight rules.
Community officials are going to have to encourage property owners to make creative use of their facilities to “repurpose” their facilities, such as allowing commercial space to be converted into residential, he said.
For Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights, the pandemic has accelerated plans to convert the retail compound into a mixed-use facility with additional residential, lodging and office uses, Vanderpool said. He expects a formal proposal by the mall owners within the next year.
“There will always be Lakeside mall in some form,” he said. “It’s just going to be a smaller retail space with mixed use.”
The redevelopment will take time, he stated, noting “green space,” roads, infrastructure uses will also be determined
“What we’re working on will make the property more productive,” he said.
Emergency management
The pandemic put pressure on the local emergency management officials to not only to up their game but prepare for any future similar crises.
Deputy County Executive Vicki Wolber noted most disasters in the past have been shortterm, a couple of days or a week of recovery.
“This is the longest emergency management crisis we’ve ever been under,” Wolber said. “This will cause emergency management professionals to look at the stability of their departments and ask, how did we weather this?’”
She expects a similar trend that followed the 9/11 terror attacks in New York City, albeit slightly different, in which government officials began paying close attention to potential biological terrors attacks or attacks on utilities, both of which remain concerns.
In the pandemic aftermath, she expects “a heightened awareness” of protecting against another pandemic.
“We have done a lot of planning that has come out of the pandemic,” she said.
Vanderpool said of local emergency management officials and politicians: “If they hadn’t updated their plan, they have now.”
Wolber also expects a review of the state laws that allow government officials to declare an emergency under which, “You can wield a lot of power and authority,” she said
The pandemic also has emphasized the need to keep an inventory of personal protection equipment. County officials will have to determine how much of a stockpile to maintain for post-COVID-19.
Zooming in the courts
The pandemic has also left a mark on the judicial branch of government, with courts in Michigan converting nearly all of their proceedings to be held remotely over Zoom.
State Chief Justice Bridget McCormack testified Wednesday in front of the state Senate Subcommittee for Appropriations
on Corrections and the Judiciary, saying in a graphic: “Virtual courtrooms are here to stay” post-pandemic.
“When physical access is limited, virtual access is potentially unlimited, opening court proceedings to more people,” she said. “In some cases, virtual hearings are easier for participants,” such as for children and disabled participants particularly in probate court.
McCormack said Michigan courts were able to move to Zoom fairly quickly because the state court obtained Zoom licenses for every judge prior to the pandemic, not knowing they would be needed so soon.
At question is which hearings will continue to be held via Zoom once the pandemic ends.
Macomb County Chief Judge James Biernat Jr. said judges likely will “have wide latitude in making these calls themselves, within the parameters of the law,” such as a defendant’s right to an in-person hearing. At each Zoom hearing held in court, the defendant typically waives his or her right to attend live.
“The court anticipates that case evaluation and mediation may continue to be conducted remotely,” Biernat said in a written statement. “Some in-custody (criminal) proceedings at the Macomb County Jail and MDOC facilities will likely remain remote proceedings.”
The Macomb Circuit Court recently began conducting in-person trials, although they are being staggered so that no more than one jury is seated at the 15 courtrooms at any one time.
“It is extremely complicated logistically to run juries this way and it is unlikely that this will continue once COVID is over,” Biernat said.
The sheer volume of trials also will require more than one to be held in the courthouse at a time, he added.
Trials will be shown over youtube.com via Zoom during the pandemic but likely won’t be once the pandemic restrictions are lifted, court officials said.
“There are reasons to discontinue this once we reopen the courtroom,” Biernat said. “Although individuals are told not to record or anything, there is an obvious risk that we can’t police these requirements easily when live streaming.”
While there has not been any reported hacking of Zoom court hearings, a Macomb County Board of Commissioners meeting last November was nearly taken over by hackers.
Two attendees of the Nov. 20 public meeting overcame the mute button and delivered loud mechanical, static-type noises for about five minutes near the end of the meeting. One flashed a graphic image of the “Anonymous” character, which represents a computer activist movement.