EDITOR:

The definition of conflict of interest is a situation in which a person is in a position to derive personal benefit from actions or decisions made in their official capacity.

County Commissioner Dave Moyle first brought forward a motion to repeal county zoning on March 1, 2022. This first motion was met with community frustration because ending zoning was never discussed with the major stakeholders before it was brought to the board and voted on. In addition, the process was flawed from the beginning because zoning is in place by ordinance and the only way to repeal an ordinance is with another ordinance, which was not provided.

At the September 20, 2022 board meeting, County Commissioner Bob Barron brought forward an ordinance to repeal county zoning and argued that the commissioners should adopt his ordinance that evening. This struck me as odd since the county board has been actively working with the townships since March on whether the county can continue to provide zoning and our County Administration has been working on determining the real cost for the zoning program so informed decisions can be made. The board, administration, and the townships working together to arrive at an informed decision.

In addition, County Commissioner Bob Barron is attempting to annex his property out of Escanaba Township and into neighboring Cornell Township. If Commissioner Barron is successful in doing this his property will be in a township that relies on county zoning. And, if he is able to convince the board to repeal county zoning then he will meet his goal of having no zoning related to his property.

Commissioner Barron has been vocal about wanting no regulations for utility-scale solar development and that he is working with a developer. In past board meetings he argued for removing regulations within the solar ordinance the county planning commission put forward and was successful in some regards but not in all. In the end, the county board adopted a solar ordinance on June 14, 2022. Then Commissioner Barron expressed the same desire to have no regulations for utility-scale solar development when the Escanaba Township Planning Commission was developing their solar ordinance. In the end, Escanaba Township passed a solar ordinance on September 6, 2022. Therefore, in order for Commissioner Barron to meet his goal of no zoning related to his property he would need to accomplish two moves; he would need to annex his property from Escanaba Township into Cornell Township and then he would need to eliminate zoning at the county level.

So, why did Commissioner Barron bring a new ordinance to repeal county zoning to the September 20, 2022 board meeting and push to have it approved that evening? In my opinion, he did so for personal benefit and is using his official capacity to influence decisions that he will personally benefit from. Commissioner Barron is using his position to feather his own nest. Commissioner Barron should be recusing himself on issues that obviously benefit him personally. Delta County deserves better.

Christine Williams

Bark River