CR Nation

From the Associated Press:

CHEBOYGAN, Mich. – Dennis Lennox wants to downsize Cheboygan County government, starting with himself.

Lennox wants to eliminate the position of county drain commissioner, a job to which he was elected in November. The Republican from Topinabee said he planned to ask the county Board of Commissioners to pass a resolution to abolish his office during Wednesday’s session.

“There is nothing for the drain commissioner to do except waste taxpayer money,” said Lennox, who defeated a two-term Democratic incumbent in November. “We simply don’t need a drain commissioner. We don’t have any drains for the office to oversee and manage.”

State law requires that counties with more than 12,000 residents elect a drain commissioner. The post dates to Michigan’s statehood in 1837, when local officials were put in charge of developing and managing drainage ditches to eradicate swamplands.

Lennox wants to raise that threshold to 35,000 residents, with drain commission duties in smaller counties turned over to county road commissions. He says it would save money for rural, cash-strapped counties and make government more efficient.
Lennox says in a written statement that Cheboygan County, located at the northern tip of the Lower Peninsula, sent resolutions to the Michigan Legislature in 1955 and 1956 to allow counties not needing a drain commissioner to abolish the office. Bills were introduced but they didn’t clear the Legislature.