PHOTOS COURTESY OF JACKSON NATIONAL LIFE INS. andCITY OF WALKER
by Cynthia Price
Legal News
By all appearances, Governor Rick Snyder has been very careful to balance the board appointments he has made in terms of geography.
Among West Michigan appointments, attorneys and others associated with the legal system have significant representation.
Some of the appointments specifically require someone with a legal background. Such is the case with the Workers’ Compensation Board of Magistrates, of which Gov. Snyder named Grand Rapids’ George Jay Quist chair.
According to michigan.gov, the Workers’ Compensation Board of Magistrates “hears administrative claims for benefits and resolve disputes arising under the Workers’ Disability Compensation Act.”
Quist was originally appointed by Gov. John Engler and served throughout Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s administration. The Board of Magistrates appointees also serve with the advice and consent of the Senate.
Quist says that are are now 17 magistrate positions in the state, down from a high of 30. “Workers’ compensation cases have shrunk due to all the jobs leaving the state but also due to better safety policies and other factors. Claims have gone down a lot in the past 10-12 years,” Quist noted.
His appointment to the magistrate board constitutes his position as the magistrate for the geographic cluster served by the Grand Rapids office, which includes Kent, Ottawa, and Muskegon, as well as Mason and other counties to the north. The office has one full-time magistrate, and one half time.
All of the magistrates must have law degrees, and submit to an interview process before their term-limited appointments. “We’re really trial judges in workers’ compensation cases,” Quist explains. “A better term might be Administrative Law Judges, but when the statute was changed in the 1980s, they called us magistrates.”
Part of the problem that statute change addressed was that civil servants then doing the job were under-producing in terms of cases handled and timely decisions. “The legislature made it an appointment process so the magistrates have more accountability.
“I was honored to be appointed as the chair, happy that the governor chose me,” Quist continues. “The day-to-day work is increased, and I have a lot more to think about, since I’m not just responsible for my own productivity but also that of all of the other magistrates.
“My focus will be on ensuring that all of the magistrates produce as much as they should and get opinions out expeditiously.” The Snyder administration strongly emphasizes metrics, especially measuring improvement in the job government officials are doing. “Our job cannot be objectively measured in every aspect,” Quist says, “but handling cases in a timely manner is one that can.”
John Brown, formerly Executive Director of the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce and now Vice President of Governmental Relations for Jackson National Life Insurance Company, is an attorney who received his law degree from the University of Michigan.
Brown’s recent appointment to the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board, which oversees funds from the Children’s Trust Fund (CTF) to prevention programs around the state, stems from work with the CTF he began with his move to Jackson National in 2003.
“Though I continue to live in the Grand Rapids area, in Cascade Township, Jackson National Life Insurance Company is based in the Greater Lansing area. Jackson for a number of years has been involved with the Children’s Trust Fund. I got heavily involved with the fund’s big fund-raiser, the Signature Auction, which occurs every spring.” This year the event will take place on May 18 at the Lansing Center.
“During the economic and financial crisis of 2008, CTF was increasingly coming under financial stress. Jackson chose to dramatically increase our involvement financially, and I become more involved on the advisory board of the auction, so the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board appointment grew out of that.”
Noting that this particular board is different from some that might oversee a regulatory process or a state agency, Brown says, “We try to engage the entire state of Michigan in programs that work to prevent child abuse and neglect.” Brown’s first board meeting took place earlier in April.
“Unfortunately, it’s something that’s badly needed,” Brown said. “We’re obviously pleased to be a part of it, but it’s sad that it’s the nature of things that we do have child abuse and neglect, and really for these kids we’re arguably the best way to help under the circumstances.”
The governor also appointed Thomas Zook of Kentwood, executive director of the Children’s Assessment Center and formerly at Bethany Christian Services, to the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board.
A local law enforcement official has also very recently been honored with a state commission position. The City of Walker’s Public Safety Director, Catherine Garcia-Lindstrom, will serve on the Crime Victims Services Commission., which administers the annual Victim of Crime Acts grant to ensure victim assistance in communities around the state.
Garcia-Lindstrom’s position is also subject to the advice and consent of the Senate, and she says she has not yet received the official letter, but Gov. Snyder’s office announced the appointment April 21.
Garcia-Lindstrom has been in law enforcement for over 36 years, retiring after 25 years from the Detroit Police Department and serving as Walker’s Chief of Police for 10 years before being made the city’s Public Safety Director in July 2010. Her educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Michigan-Dearborn and a master’s degree in interdisciplinary technology from Eastern Michigan University, with a focus on law enforcement technology.
It was the latter degree that best qualified her to serve on the Technology Committee for Michigan Chiefs and Sheriffs (which she chaired), and the Criminal Justice Information Systems (CJIS) Policy Council. The latter body considered all of the criminal records edicts that come down from the federal government including the FBI, and how to apply that to the state. Garcia-Lindstrom received those appointments from the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police.
“The new director of the State Police, Kriste Etue, served on the CJIS council with me,” Garcia-Lindstrom explained, “and I was told she recommended me for this commission.”
Garcia-Lindstrom is currently in fire school — “my choice” — to learn more about the fire department aspect of her Public Safety Director position, but said she was surprised and delighted when she received the call telling her of the appointment.
Another local attorney was appointed as a general public representative to the Michigan Board of Medicine, which promotes and protects the public’s safety, health and welfare. Jamie Frain from Ada, who could not be reached for comment, is a Vice President at Corporate Security Services Alliance, Inc. She has previously served in the state Senate, the Kent County Office of the Defender and as a Kent County assistant prosecuting attorney.
Other (non-legal) appointees come from Grand Rapids, Muskegon, Spring Lake, Hudsonville, Howard City, and several from nearby Kalamazoo.
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