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Ingham Commission Chair: dismissals triggered by FOIA

Brian McGrain photo
Scott Pohl
/
WKAR
Brian McGrain chairs the Ingham County Board of Commissioners.

Ingham county recently fired two IT officials for accepting tickets to sports events and other perks from county vendors. Now, county officials are reviewing how  county contracts are rewarded. We talk with Board of Commissioners Chairman Brian McGrain.

Ingham County officials recently decided to give taxpayers some of their money back. Late last month, the county Board of Commissioners approved Ingham’s  2016 budget. It included a reduction in the millage used to pay for the Ingham Health Plan. Recent projections underestimated the number of residents that would become covered by Obamacare and Michigan’s medicaid expansion, and the IHP’s balance ballooned to about $10-million.

Meanwhile, the county is also considering expanding a review into how contracts are awarded, following the firing of two employees in its IT department. Chief Information Officer Michael Ashton and IT project manager Frank Chain reportedly violated the county’s code of ethics when they attended sports events and got other perks from a county vendor.

Current State discusses these developments with Ingham County Board of Commissioners Chairman Brian McGrain.

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