Keranen speaks!
Long-silent commissioner addresses jail millage
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HOUGHTON -- Houghton County Commissioner Joel Keranen, District 2, broke his long-standing silence on the county's defeated jail millage during Board of Commissioners November regular meeting Tuesday evening. Keranen, delivered an extended statement criticizing the board majority's handling of the jail proposal and Sharon Avenue property purchase.
Keranen criticized the board for what he called its refusal to listen to the voters on the millage issue and the Sharon Avenue purchase.
“The majority of this board had ample opportunity to advance their plan to pay for the jail, but for the fifth time, the people said no," he said. "Now, four of the five commissioners find themselves in a minority. If we put this back to a vote for the sixth time, we will redefine insanity.”
Keranen emphasized he is in favor of a new jail, but continues to oppose the measure because he does not want to burden county residents with yet another tax. He contested prior public assertions made by Board Chairman Tom Tikkanen regarding the purchase of the Sharon Avenue property. Tikkanen had previously stated the property was acquired at no direct cost to county taxpayers.
“That is a false statement,” Keranen said. “The hard-working people of Houghton County pay federal taxes and that is precisely where the money came from. The county doesn’t have the money in our budget to run two county buildings if we move to Sharon Avenue. If we move county offices to Sharon Avenue, we double all our utilities, snow removal and maintenance. When a hard-working courthouse employee is looking for a raise, they won’t find it because it has been spent on the building on Sharon Avenue.”
Keranen said the county does not have the money to build a jail, nor to maintain both the courthouse and the Sharon Avenue property.
"To further prove this point, two months ago this board was ready to borrow $1 million from the building department to upgrade the Sharon Avenue property," he said. "Why are we going to borrow that money from the building department? Well because we didn’t have the money and we couldn’t afford to spend it in the general fund." He said the move was deemed illegal, so nothing came of it.
Keranen went on to say there are three possible funding sources for a new jail: One, a tax, which has been defeated five times. The second option is to accept donations and gifts.
"The gift option is actually a reasonable ask. If you wish to donate to a jail we can and will accept your donations. I would tell the people of Houghton County that voted for the millage to start sending your checks in. Put the money where your vote was."
He then suggested soliciting aid from Copper Shores, which he said “could come from their possible $90 million.”
"After all, they are receiving about $1.25 million from the taxpayers of Houghton County, so maybe they can pay it forward."
The third option Keranen suggested is to pay cash. While Keranen said he understands the county does not have funds to pay for the jail, they do, however, possess assets.
"I know it was stated by our chairman that the sale of county property was thoroughly discussed," he said. "I can speak to that now and say that is not true."
Keranen said he chaired the County Held Properties Committee before the first meeting was convened.
"Four of my fellow commissioners told me they are not in favor of selling assets to pay for jail," he said. "Furthermore, two of the commissioners voted against even being able to get an appraisal done on a county property."
Keranen emphasized Houghton County is required to have a jail, but it is not required to own the other facilities it possesses.
"We have these three businesses because we choose to. So we must prioritize a jail over a transfer station, a marina or nursing home," he said. "It's time to seriously look for another way to pay for a new jail or then continue to live with a crummy, outdated and insufficient jail. In other words, put up or shut up."
Keranen said he has met with the county prosecutor on the jail topic.
"The main idea is to renovate and expand our current campus while preserving historical aspect of our courthouse," he said. "If I recall we bought property 30 plus years ago to build a jail at the former Houghton High School site. I see that hasn’t gotten very far."