District 4 County Commissioner Caroline Sanders Criticized For Defending $1.2M ARPA Grant to Murderer on Parole, and Registered Sex Offender

Editor’s Note: Robert Zimmerman is an accountant and a candidate for the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners in District 4. The seat is currently held by Commissioner Caroline Sanders. In July 2022, Sanders voted in favor of awarding a $1.2 million ARPA fund grant to non-profit Supreme Felons, Inc. In Oct. 2022, Sanders subsequently defended her vote to hand over the federal ARPA money to the non-profit. State records show the non-profit was incorporated by Alan K. Fuqua and Billy Cole. Cole is currently on parole, and in 1975 was sentenced to life + 60 years for the execution-murder of 24-year-old Mark Simpson, a student at EMU. Fuqua served 17 years of a 15-30 year sentence for multiple counts of criminal sexual conduct with a child under 13.

by Rob Zimmerman

The Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners awarded a $1.2M American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant to Supreme Felons (SF), an organization founded by a registered sex offender. The grant was given for community violence intervention (CVI).

According to reporting by The Ann Arbor Independent, SF’s April 2022 grant application, the organization cited its principal purpose as working with previously incarcerated individuals to decrease recidivism. The grant is to expand its work, noting among other projects a goal to expand school partnership to three local schools, featuring in-school mentoring. The proposal also cited they would “push-into” schools for mentoring support or “assist school leadership,” developing relationships both inside and outside of school.

SF was established as a Michigan non-profit in 2020, founded by Alan Fuqua and Billy Cole. Mr.
Cole serves as president and is also a part-time outreach worker for the County Sheriff’s department. He is a felon on parole through August 2023 for his life sentence for murder. Mr. Fuqua is a registered sex offender for multiple acts of criminal sexual conduct with a 13-year-old girl in 2003. He is required to maintain separation and school notification consistent with Michigan law. A FOIA request by The Ann Arbor Independent indicated both Ypsilanti Community Schools and Washtenaw County Intermediate School District have no record of permission given to an SF volunteer, contractor, or employee.

A 30-year resident of Washtenaw County and District 4 Candidate for County Commissioner, I spoke to the Board of Commissioners at its Oct. 19 meeting. I identified concerns, highlighting a need to ban registered sex offenders from this program out of the need to protect our youth.

This grant expands Supreme Felons programming beyond their initial purpose of decreasing recidivism. It presents additional risk to the community as no track record of success was presented for “pushing into” schools, or preemptively addressing the obvious need to keep registered child sex offenders away from our youth. The Board failed to address in any manner its most important fiduciary obligation, protecting our most vulnerable youth from harm.

Parents will not stand for their children to be placed in such risk of sexual assault and similar crimes. The law requires prior approval of our school boards and the Michigan Dept. of Education to place felons in our schools. The County Board can avoid this controversy simply by banning this practice. Who is to determine which youth are to be classified as “at risk?” What training will these mentors receive before they are deemed qualified to push into our schools with any of our youth? What guardrails and accountability will be established based on what identifiable track record?

The Board is taking on high risk with no assurance their “no transparency plan” will truly help.
Washtenaw County youth who are already struggling do not need any more pain during this
most vulnerable part of their lives.

At the meeting where I spoke, the Commissioners responded defensively and inappropriately to valid concerns about the county’s at- risk youth. Instead of responding in a manner reflecting transparency and accountability to the public they were elected to serve, board members deflected the issue, accusing anyone questioning the grant as motivated by politics and racism.

Is Washtenaw County being well served by a Board of Commissioners populated by elected officials who refuse to answer questions as to why they will allow at risk youth to be placed in harm’s way?