AGENDA REPORT TO: Mayor & City Commissioners FROM: Diane Lyon, City Clerk DATE: October 31, 2014 RE: *Communications For the Agenda of November 3, 2014 *Note: This is a Consent Agenda item and is considered as routine by the City Commission. As such, this matter shall be automatically enacted by one motion with all other Consent Agenda items unless a Commissioner or citizen requests this item be individually discussed, in which event it shall be removed from the Consent Agenda and considered and acted upon in its designated sequence on the approved Clare City Commission agenda of November 3, 2014. The following major items of correspondence were either received by or transmitted by the City since the last regularly scheduled City Commission meeting: Michigan Public Services Commission Hearing. The city received notice of a public hearing of the Public Service Commission on November 10, 2014 related to proposed rate adjustments by Consumers Energy. If the proposed rate adjustments are approved, residential electric rates are estimated to increase approximately 2.5% per month commencing in December 2015.. Letter of Support. The City offered the attached Letter of Support to EMCOG for a proposed grant application related the Region 5 Regional Prosperity Plan Initiative. SOS Express. The latest editions are attached for the City Commission’s review. MDOT Quarterly Public Report. The most recent report is attached. Attachments. As outlined above. Diane Lyon From: Michigan Secretary of State [[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2014 3:14 PM To: Diane Lyon Subject: SOS Express News from Secretary of State Ruth Johnson An Election Update Vote on Nov. 4! Secretary of State Ruth Johnson encourages eligible voters to cast their ballot in the Tuesday, Nov. 4, general election. "With so many races on the midterm ballot, voters face an opportunity to make a significant impact on their communities and the entire state of Michigan," she said. Dear Voters, Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day. Our elections team and election officials throughout Michigan are working very hard to ensure the best possible voting Johnson said the Michigan experience for you Tuesday. Our efforts include: Voter Information Center is a great online resource for voters. They can review a Reducing lines – We’ve provided tools and training to sample ballot, get a map help clerks, who actually run elections in Michigan, as to their polling place or track they determine how many voting stations they’ll need on their absentee ballot to Election Day. We’ll also have several teams fanning confirm it has been received out in some larger cities and townships to measure wait by their local clerk. times. A select number of Secretary Training - Our state Bureau of Elections held training of State offices will remain sessions in every county this year for local election open on Election Day, which officials as well as online training for poll workers. is a state employee holiday. 1 Post-election audits – We began audits to examine the More entire elections process. We’ve done 420 audits to date and will oversee 275 audits statewide, with some conducted in every county. The audits help clerks identify areas where more poll worker training may be needed. Poll books –Electronic poll books, which help reduce human error, speed voter processing and help keep our voter rolls up to date, are now used in 92 percent of all precincts. Helping voters – At the Michigan Voter Information SOS partners with Center at www.michigan.gov/vote, voters can look at a BBBS Metro Detroit sample ballot, confirm they are registered, find their polling location and track the status of their absentee Secretary of State staff, along ballots. As many as 10,000 people a day visit the site. with officials from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Election Day help desk – As always, the Bureau of Metropolitan Detroit, All Star Elections will be working extended hours on Election Driver Education and the T. Day and all staff will be working to assist clerks Wall Foundation, announced throughout the state. Voters with any issues should a partnership on Oct. 16 that contact their local clerk for help. will provide 20 driver education scholarships to at- risk teens in the Detroit area. Finally, I want to say thank you to Michigan’s 38,000 poll workers who help make voting – one of our most precious rights and responsibilities – possible. Wishing you a wonderful Election Day! Remember sacrifices made by veterans Secretary Johnson reminds residents that, in honor of Veterans Day, all SOS offices and the Office of the Great Seal will be closed Nov. 11. She also encouraged people to thank veterans for their service and sacrifice. "I had a rare opportunity to visit our troops in the Middle East in 2012 to study how to make overseas voting easier for those in the military," Johnson said. "I will never forget the sense of honor, duty and patriotism that those young men and women displayed in spite of the terrible conditions. We owe everyone who has ever served this country a great debt for their service and Johnson honored for Michigan organ sacrifice." donor registry's record-breaking growth Secretary of State Ruth Johnson was presented with the Michigan is home to more Michigan Donor Family Council’s 2014 “Inspiration Award” in than 680,000 veterans and Lansing on Oct. 22 for her work promoting organ, tissue and eye Johnson has unveiled a 2 donation. number of initiatives to support them. Johnson changed the way the Secretary of State’s office promoted Michigan’s organ donor registry after she was elected in 2010. Since that time, more than 1.7 million people have joined the registry, which has grown from 27 percent of all eligible adults registered to nearly 50 percent. She said she is proud of the historic growth of the state’s organ donor rolls, especially because it was accomplished without additional tax dollars. Ducks Unlimited PL8 In 2011, Johnson formed a task force to look at creative, low- Motorists can now purchase cost ways to expand the registry. She credited her staff, the new Ducks Unlimited partnerships with Gift of Life Michigan and the Michigan Eye- fundraising plate, and Bank and the people of Michigan “who are so generous and revenue from the sales caring. will benefit more than just ducks. “I’m so proud of the hard work our staff has put into this, from asking customers if they are registered to spreading the word “The new Ducks Unlimited about organ donation by putting messages on our most widely license plate supports used forms and our website,” said Johnson. “Together we are conservation and outreach saving and improving lives.” activities that highlight the importance of wetlands,” Johnson said. “Wetlands are essential not only to waterfowl Secretary of State Johnson announces but to the millions of Michigan expanded plan to protect consumers residents who depend on them for clean drinking water, Secretary Johnson recently announced a recreation and more.” new plan to thwart scammers trying to take advantage of law-abiding citizens by Find out more selling fake insurance or through other tricks. The move is part of her ongoing efforts to protect consumers and fight auto insurance fraud. The new efforts use cutting-edge technology, expand best practices and maximize resources. They include: A comprehensive review of her department’s processes, technology and structure to determine how best to detect and deter fraud. Data analysis to identify signs in transactions that may Customer feedback indicate fraud. At the Michigan Secretary of State's Office, we appreciate Expanding the verification of the thousands of insurance hearing feedback from our certificates the department receives from customers customers. daily. Here are some comments we An upgrade in case management software to give have recently received: department investigators the best tools for tracking down fraudulent activity. "Love the virtual line! I walked in and was immediately A roundtable discussion with business leaders about helped. Was in and out in 10 fraud to seek their advice and ensure the department is minutes!" following best practices. "The ability to manage my 3 “These new measures will strengthen consumer protection and place in line via text was root out fraud,” Johnson said. “Using cutting-edge technology AWESOME! Keep up the and through our continued use of best practices, we’ll dig good work." deeper into the millions of transactions we process each year to catch criminals running their scams and stop them from taking "Very happy with the changes advantage of law-abiding citizens.” you've made. Couldn't ask for better service." Some of the new initiatives are the result of recent recommendations by the Fighting Auto Insurance Rip- Offs (FAIR) Task Force. Others reflect Johnson's intent to crack down on any type of fraud that targets the department and its customers. More Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page. Please do not reply to this email. We are not able to read or respond to replies sent to this email address. We welcome questions and comments at the Contact Us page. Manage Subscriptions | Unsubscribe All | Help STAY CONNECTED: This email was sent to [email protected] using GovDelivery, on behalf of: Michigan Secretary of State · 430 W. Allegan Street · Lansing, MI 48918 · 1- 888-767-6424 4 M I C H I G A N D E P A R T M E N T O F T R A N S P O R T A T I O N PUBLIC INFORMATION REPORT JUL/2015 THRU SEP/2015 2015 FISCAL YEAR AS OF October 14, 2014 STATE TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION Jerrold M.