ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – The Delta County Board of Commissioners is writing a letter of complaint to the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) regarding Delta Conservation District Board Chair Joe Kaplan.
In March, Commissioner Bob Barron accused Kaplan of a potential “breach of confidentiality,” as well as singling out the county as a landowner by asking about the county’s enrollment the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program (MAEAP). The situation specifically involves a proposed day-use area project at O.B. Fuller Park.
On Monday, Barron once again brought the issue to the Board of Commissioners.
“The confidentiality, I believe, potentially was violated when it was brought to Administrator [Ashleigh] Young…by the chair of the Soil Conservation District, especially the comment saying we couldn’t do the Fuller Park project,” he said. “That’s not something that they can do from that aspect.”
Barron added that Kaplan should not have been the person to bring material to Administrator Young. Rather, Barron says it should have been the MAEAP technician.
“It is between the tech and the landowner,” he said. “We’re an individual landowner. Why are we being singled out?”
Administrator Young told the board that she spoke with MAEAP representatives about her conversation with Kaplan, following Barron’s initial allegations.
“[Kaplan] is the administrator of the program, so he can have that information,” she said. “We sat and discussed it at the conference table, all the different plans.”
Commissioner Steven Viau asked, “And he’s allowed to do that?”
“Yes,” Young said. “I talked to MAEAP and…he is allowed to do that. He is not allowed to share anything outside…”
“So there was nothing in confidentiality broke?” asked Viau. “Even now?”
“Not that I was aware of,” answered Young.
“What he did was within his rights in that position, correct?” Viau asked.
“I believe so, because he is the administrator of the program,” Young said. “…I think Commissioner Barron’s part was that we were not allowed to go to the technician. I don’t know if there’s any credibility behind that, but that’s the part I could not address.”
Kaplan continues to deny Barron’s claims. He says the true confidentiality breach was when Barron made the situation public.
“I had an internal conversation with our staff about what happens if we do something that’s inconsistent with the management plan,” Kaplan said. “Somehow, that made it from my lips to Commissioner Barron’s ear. It wasn’t my breach of confidentiality; it was his.”
Barron made a motion to send a letter of complaint to MDARD. Barron, Commissioner David Moyle, and Commissioner Robert Petersen voted in favor of the motion. Commissioners Viau and John Malnar voted against it.
“I don’t want to just write a complaint if we don’t have the actual facts,” Viau said.
“If they’ve done nothing wrong, they don’t have anything to worry about,” said Petersen.
At Petersen’s suggestion, the board also voted to look into the pros and cons of pulling out of MAEAP. Commissioners Moyle, Malnar, Petersen, and Barron voted in favor of the motion.
