Grand Traverse County officials have alerted the Michigan Bureau of Elections about a possible violation of campaign finance laws by a former county employee.

County Administrator Tom Menzel emailed state officials Friday to report a “potential violation of the Michigan Campaign Finance Act” by former Commission on Aging (COA) Deputy Director Laura Green. Green was terminated from her position February 9 for unrelated reasons, according to Menzel. In his memo to the Bureau of Elections, Menzel says administrators discovered after her termination that Green appeared to have used county resources to advocate for the passing of COA’s millage renewal last August.

Michigan law prohibits public employees from using public funds or resources to promote or advocate for candidates, millages and other ballot initiatives. Resources are broadly defined to include everything from office space and computer hardware/software to property, personnel, stationary, postage and more. Employees are permitted only to distribute “factual” – not persuasive – information about ballot proposals, and are prohibited from using government time or equipment to disseminate their personal views or advocate for election issues while on the clock.

Menzel says administrators first warned Green about a potential violation in March 2016, when she amended her job description to include “the successful passage of the Commission on Aging millage renewal every six years” as one of her primary duties and responsibilities. County Deputy Administrator Jennifer DeHaan emailed Green on March 24, 2016, stating: “I am clearly providing you with a direction that this is not a part of your job description or your duties to be performed on behalf of the county, nor may any county resources be expended for the purpose of this.”

DeHaan told Green she had “significant concerns that your actions…could place the county in a position to be accused of a violation of the Michigan Campaign Finance Act.”

Green acknowledged DeHaan’s concerns in an emailed response, stating: “I do know that all millage work that I do is on my own time, which it has been. Nights, weekends, lunch when and if I take one, etc.” Menzel says administrators believed the issue to be put to bed at that time. But after Green’s termination, administrators discovered lengthy email exchanges between Green and COA volunteer and marketing consultant Gregg Smith, which they say indicate Green was using county time and email software to advocate for the millage passage.

Copies of the emails obtained by The Ticker show numerous messages at various timestamps throughout the workday between April and July 2016 sent from Green’s county email account. The communications strategized with Smith on potential donor recruitment, press outreach, and brochures and local forum pieces for the millage campaign renewal effort. On August 2 – the day of the election, when 83.3 percent of voters approved the COA millage – Green wrote to a colleague: “I do feel as if I personally did everything I could to get this millage passed.”

Menzel said the emails coming from a county account during county work hours concerned him enough to consult with legal counsel and ultimately alert the Bureau of Elections. “We’re hoping there won’t be any real negative ramifications, because the person who’s responsible is no longer employed by the county,” Menzel says. “But we felt it was important to be transparent. The worst thing would be if it came out (another way) and it’d look like we’d been trying to avoid the consequences.”

In a phone interview with The Ticker, Green strenuously denied any wrongdoing, stating that though emails were sent from her county account, she worked on the millage on breaks and her own personal time. Green also says she focused on disseminating factual information about the millage – which is permitted under state law – and approached the election “no differently” than any other county department head with a millage on the ballot. “It’s a very fine line in this law between education and advocacy,” she says. “I did nothing wrong. I have no trouble standing up in front of the Bureau of Elections and speaking to them regarding it.”

Green also questions the timing of Menzel’s memo, noting it comes eight months after the millage renewal and two months after her termination. Green, who believes she was fired because she publicly questioned administrators’ changes to COA, says she is “being singled out” in retaliation. “I don’t understand what the administration has to gain by continuing to come after me,” she says. “I feel persecuted and personally targeted.”

Determination of any wrongdoing – whether by Green or Grand Traverse County – will ultimately be made by state officials, who are still reviewing Menzel’s memo. State law indicates an individual who “knowingly violates” the Michigan Campaign Finance Act can be charged with a misdemeanor and up to a $1,000 fine and/or one year in jail. Entities like Grand Traverse County can be fined up to $20,000 or an amount “equal to the amount of improper contribution or expenditure.”

Green says if she’s personally found in violation of the law, she’ll accept responsibility and “take whatever punishment comes," though she believes she's done nothing improper. Menzel, noting that state officials have discretion in pursuing and punishing potential violations, says he hopes the county’s forthrightness with the Bureau of Elections and commitment to better educating county employees on the law going forward will eliminate the need for any further action.

“We’re hoping this will sufficiently resolve things,” he says.