by Patricia Lesko

Let me preface this by saying that in 2013, when our son was diagnosed with whooping cough, we received excellent support and supervision from the Washtenaw County Health Dept. Our entire family was quarantined. In Nov. 2021, when we tried to find a place to be tested for COVID-19 in order to have a safe Thanksgiving with family, the Health Dept. offered no help. No one answered the phone, or returned my calls. The Dept.’s website was out of date, and listed a testing location that had been long since closed. We visited IHA for same-day COVID-19 testing. We received vaccinations, in early-2021, and booster shots from IHA.

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County Commissioner Ricky Jefferson (District 6) represents Ypsilanti Township, a Black-majority district in Washtenaw County. At the recent meeting of the Washtenaw County Commissioners, Jefferson pointed out that he had called the Washtenaw County Public Health Dept. on behalf of a constituent, and no one had picked up the phone. Jefferson also said that according to his constituents in the Black-majority district, the Health Dept.’s efforts to distribute masks and COVID-19 tests were coming up short. Drive-through mask and test kit pick-up services, Jefferson observed, were missing his constituents without cars. Jefferson said he had gone door-to-door in his district to distribute supplies and to alert his constituents about County-provided services. Finally, Jefferson related that his constituents feel like County offices are empty and that County staff are not readily available.

Ann Arbor County Commissioners Andy LaBarre (District 7) and Katie Scott (District 9), clearly rattled by Jefferson’s observations, as well as those of his uppity constituents, attacked him for telling the truth. It was a billboard-sized display of white privilege from two Ann Arbor commissioners who don’t face the socio-economic, public health and racial challenges Jefferson faces in his district.

By percentage, twice as many of Jefferson’s constituents (23,000 of his 100,000 constituents) have contracted COVID-19 as compared to the 50,000 constituents represented by Scott and LaBarre. In the districts represented by Scott and LaBarre, as of Feb. 2022, according to County Health Dept. data 4,671 people have contracted COVID-19. Black residents in our County have suffered higher rates of infection, lower rates of vaccination and, of course, a higher rate of COVID-related deaths.

In April 2020, months after tens of thousands of vaccine doses were given to U-M and St. Joseph Mercy hospital workers, U-M faculty and staff, and County employees, it was reported that, “44% of Washtenaw County COVID-19 cases were residents of the 48197 and 48198 ZIP codes in Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti Township.” One year later, in April 2021, it was reported, “The area most affected by the recent surge has been the 48197 ZIP code, which covers most of Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti Township.” As of Feb. 2022, in our County Black residents make up 12.3 percent of the population and account for 21 percent of the COVID-19 cases, according to County Health Dept. data.

These are facts. Now for some sad fantasies.

In his response to Jefferson, Commissioner Andy LaBarre began his comments by defending County Administrator Greg Dill, whom LaBarre patted on the back as a “consummate professional.” LaBarre then claimed he would “go down swinging” to bring the COVID-19 supplies and services to the County residents who need them. Data show that LaBarre, who is running for re-election, has consistently whiffed when it comes to providing high quality services (including Public Health services) to the County’s minority residents. From LaBarre’s self-serving refusal to hold the County Administrator accountable, to championing a boondoggle mental health millage that has not improved services to County residents, to ignoring the SafeHouse Center debacle for months, LaBarre’s lack of leadership not only adversely impacted the health of Black residents in this County, it facilitated the victimization of dozens of domestic/sexual violence victims and their children. Andy LaBarre has been a spectacular disappointment as an elected official and County residents have suffered because of him.

LaBarre said at the Feb. meeting: he claimed he would “join hands” with his colleagues on the Board of Commissioners (after publicly insulting Jefferson) to get the COVID-19 services and supplies to the residents in need. Given the damning Health Dept. data, it was little more than a political song and dance. Listen to LaBarre’s comments in response to Jefferson in the video clip below:

With a wink from LaBarre, Commissioner Katie Scott, a U-M nurse, put her knee on Jefferson’s neck right after LaBarre removed his. Her screed was as histrionic as LaBarre’s, but even more shocking. She is a health care professional who should be able to admit the public health stumbles made in our county since 2020. She should be able to understand the public health data that show the brutal cost in Black lives as a result of those failures. Instead, Scott began her comments with: “I’m gonna tell you, every nurse in this country, wherever we work, we’re done….” In response to Jefferson’s observation that no one answers the phone at the Public Health Dept., Scott said, “Don’t think those public health nurses aren’t answering the phone because they’re playing cards or eating candy. They’re working so hard and they’re so tired.”

Jefferson had pointed out that no one answers the phone at the County’s Health Dept. He didn’t offer any guesses as to why, and he never said County employees were playing cards and eating candy rather than doing their jobs.

Scott also complained bitterly and loudly that the County’s public health nurses are significantly underpaid. In public social media comments beginning in 2020, County Health Dept. staffers have repeatedly told the public their department is understaffed and underfunded. This is a serious problem the County Commissioners could have (and should have) rectified long ago.

Scott went on to say: “I’m also done with territorialism. I am done with territorialism in all of this.” It was a racist and despicable choice of words to sling at a Black man.

Territorialism has two definitions: The first is “Landlordism,” a word first used in 1844 that is associated with slavery and share-cropping. The second definition of that word is, “the principle established in 1555 requiring the inhabitants of a territory of the Holy Roman Empire to conform to the religion of their ruler or to emigrate.” You can listen to Commissioner Scott’s response to Jefferson in the video below.

Days after the meeting of the County Commissioners Scott, perhaps suffering from total amnesia, was on Twitter opining about the importance of respecting your colleagues:

Commissioner Andy LaBarre, in office for the past decade, included in his comments the comical caveat that, “I can no longer sit on my tongue.” LaBarre then asked, “Which other health department would you want to swap with?”

Well, call the Livingston County Health Dept., or the Macomb County Health Dept., and a staffer answers the main number. Call the main number of the Washtenaw County Health Dept. and you get a nine item, two-minute message. Make any selection, and you are sent directly to voicemail.

LaBarre’s bio on the County website includes this: “On the Board of Commissioners Andy has given special focus to strengthening the County’s human service capacity, particularly within the Community Mental Health and Public Health departments.”

On Glassdoor, the County’s Health Dept. staff give their own employer 2.6 stars, a rating than has fallen over the past year, according to Glassdoor data. While Google reviews are unscientific, our County Health Dept. has a 3-star rating. A county resident reviewer left feedback that suggests Andy LaBarre’s decade of “strengthening the County’s human service capacity” has failed to translate into better citizen services:

I called here to schedule STI testing and from the moment I started speaking to a woman she had an attitude with me. She was questioning me about my insurance, about having my friend also wanting to schedule an appointment, and just straight up had an attitude. She literally told me “it just wasn’t going to work,” for me to get tested. What if I was a r*pe victim who needed emergency testing and that was how I was treated? The services the health department offer are essential to citizens and the care and kindness put into these services are just as essential. This lady was everything but kind and compassionate. I called to report the woman to her supervisor “Cathy” and after explaining in detail what had occurred, she just hung up on me. I tried calling back to further report these incidents and now I can’t even get anyone to answer the phone. This place is an absolute joke and just plain disgusting for how they treat their clients. Why is this acceptable? PLEASE, WASHTENAW COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT LET ME KNOW.

There was positive feedback, as well:

Went for a covid booster and every person we encountered was kind and friendly. It was also the least painful injection I’ve had in my life – I didn’t even know they had done it! Thanks for this great experience.

At no time did Scott or LaBarre bring in comments from their own constituents to support their responses to Jefferson. LaBarre and Scott bloviated and blustered. LaBarre went so far as to claim it’s inappropriate to publicly criticize County employees or County services. Washtenaw County residents deserve better. Start with something simple: when residents call county departments, answer the damn phones. Then, stop hanging the County’s most vulnerable residents out to dry by pretending their feedback, criticisms and complaints are inappropriate.