LWV Pats County Board's Back

The Board of Commissioners rëmved a pat on the back Wednesday from the Ann Arbor League of Women Voters (LWV). Local LWV president Naomi Gottlieb said her group is pleased with recent board actions and decisions that "promote cooperation between and among iocal governmental units." The LWV also pf-áísed íasfyear's commissioners for putting the .appointed county manager proposal on the November general election ballot. It was defëated. Gottlieb said the ballot proposal, while defeated, opened debate on po'ssible county government restructuring. The _LW_Gottlieb said. nres the present board to continue studying ways to streamline county government structure. In areas of cooperation among governmental units, the LWV said the board has made great strides with last year's support of the also-defeated state mass transportation proposal; its willingness to cooperate, through the county's Manpower Consortium, with the City of Ann Arbor in bringing federal job funds into the county; and the county's continued membership in the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG). The mention of SEMCOG, Gottlieb told The News, sterns from periodic discussions among some commissioners and local officials promoting withdrawal from the planning group that unites Washtenaw County with six other southeast Michigan coünties. For the past 15 years, Gottlieb explained, the LWV has urged and encourages cooperation among neighboring governmental unitjs in areas such as planning.