by Graham Sturgeon, co-editor
The Shiawassee County Board of Commissioners voted Thursday, July 14 to appoint Commissioner Les Schneider to conduct an investigation into retired chief deputy clerk Marcy Brady’s claims against Shiawassee County Clerk Lauri Braid. The board voted in November 2014 to change the county’s pension plan for all county employees, effective Jan. 1, 2015. Brady alleged that Braid filled out the MERS (Municipal Employees’ Retirement System) Defined Benefit Plan Adoption Agreement incorrectly, stripping employees of certain compensation not spelled out in the board’s motion.
Schneider reported Wednesday, July 27 that Braid had provided him with information stating her side of the case, but he had still not been authorized to access MERS documents on his own. Schneider requested access from Braid and Board Chairman Hartmann Aue on numerous occasions, but was still unable to conduct a full investigation two weeks into the investigation.
Brady took issue with Braid’s actions because the changes made to the county’s pension plan, most notably the pension compensation criteria, were not discussed in an open meeting, and she does not believe that the employees were notified of the changes. Brady also believes that Braid did not follow the board’s decision while filling out the form, since the board never discussed the criteria changes during an open meeting.
Due to what he calls “insufficient note taking” on the part of Braid, Schneider could not verify if the commissioners discussed changing the criteria during a meeting, and he could not verify if employees were ever notified of the changes to their pension plan. The book detailing all of the board’s resolutions was also missing when Schneider requested it, which “raises questions,” in Schneider’s opinion.
