Kalamazoo County is looking into the possibility of creating a countywide ID program. On Tuesday commissioners voted 10-1 to create a task force to study the idea.
Supporters say it would give people who lack a state ID a way to access services from banking to borrowing from the library.
“You need it for daily life, every aspect of our lives. Not having an ID is almost like not having a name,” Yazmin Fuentes told the board on Tuesday.
She was one of several people who spoke in support of appointing a task force.
Advocates for a local ID program say some residents can’t afford to piece together all the paperwork for a state ID. Others are barred because they can’t prove that they’re citizens.
Pastor Nathan Dannison told the county commission that state identification can be hard to secure.
“When our deacons and our ministers come alongside homeless folks and begin that journey with them toward housing, ID is oftentimes the first step. And it is labor-intensive, because the way the state does it is just messed up,” he said.
Dannison says a local ID would get around that problem. Washtenaw County and the City of Detroit have both created local ID programs.
The task force that’s going to consider the concept will report back to the board in a few months.
Health Department Location
Kalamazoo County’s health department is getting a new home. The county has agreed to rent the old Illinois Envelope building on Alcott Street for Health and Community Services. Right now the department operates out of the former Nazareth College campus, but it says the space does not meet its needs.
The county plans to lease the Illinois Envelope building for up to 20 years. It’ll pay $5 million in advance toward the cost of the lease. Kalamazoo hopes to open the new health department space within a year and a half.
Resolution on the Citizens United case
The Kalamazoo County Commission has voted to symbolically oppose the US Supreme Court decision known as Citizens United. That 2010 ruling allows corporations and unions to spend without restriction on elections, though they still can’t contribute directly to federal candidates’ campaigns.
The vote split on party lines, with the board’s six Democrats voting to condemn Citizens United while the five Republican members rejected the resolution. Commissioner John Gisler said that rather than restricting political spending, the government should make it more transparent.
