Spring 2015 T H E D S O C O N N E C T I O N

STATE REPRESENTATIVE JON HOADLEY

60

th D

istr

ict

Ser

vice

Off

ice

315

N B

urd

ick

St.

, St

e 10

0, K

alam

azoo

MI

490

07 *

269

-382

-467

6 the

60th DSO By Edie Trent, DSO Director &

Legislative Aide to State Rep Jon

Hoadley

The Honorable Michigan Supreme Court Justice Bridget Mary McCormick pre-sided over the Oath of Office Ceremony for newly elected State Representative Jon Hoadley on Friday evening, December 5, 2014 at the Kalamazoo YWCA.

Local friends and supporters were able to participate in this most momentous occasion, as well as

members of Jon’s immediate family and several of his colleagues from across the country.

Jon is very much already “On it!” with respect to representing the needs and concerns of the residents of the 60th House District.

Rep. Hoadley Hosts Town Hall on Paid Sick Leave Bill

Rep. Hoadley Takes the Oath of Office Locally in Style

On March 23rd, advocates for House Bill (HB) 4167 came together to talk about how this proposed legislation would man-date paid sick leave for full or part-time employees in the State of Michigan.

HB 4167 and the Senate bill would:

Require employers to set aside one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours an employee works regardless of whether an employee is part-time or full-time.

(from left to right): Formers Reps. Mary Brown, Sandy Lipsey, Sean McCann, Justice McCormick, Rep. Jon Hoadley & Former Rep. Ed LaForge (photo by Fran Dwight)

Town Hall Panel included: Rep. Jon Hoadley, WMU Economist Jean Kimmel, Worker Emily Johnson & Dessa Cosma-King, Executive Director of EFAM (Economic Freedom Association of Michigan.)

Stipulate when a worker can use this particular earned time off, including during their own illness, the illness of a close family member or recov-ery after a violent crime.

Protect all Michigan families including LGBT families,

grandparents raising children, domestic partners raising chil-dren and single parent fami-lies.

Companies that fall under the federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) are only required to offer unpaid sick leave to their workers.

Would you like to also receive Rep Hoadley’s Legislative eNews? If so, please either give the DSO a call at (269) 382 -4676

and we can add you, or log on to subscribe at http://housedems.com/state-rep-jon-hoadley and add your email address.

Who are we serving?

Conveniently located in

Downtown Kalamazoo, at 315 N.

Burdick near the bus\train station, we

welcome drop-in visitors, as well as

phone calls and emails. We serve

“face-to-face.” Here are a few exam-

ples of our recent constituent service

work:

Now registered as a Notary Pub-

lic, Edie Trent, the DSO Director

& Legislative Aide to Rep Hoad-

ley, is now available on a walk-in

basis to notorize your documents.

As with all services at the DSO,

there is no charge for her to do so.

The DSO continues to serve as a

problem solver go-between with

Consumers Energy. We are

sometimes able to assist our con-

stituents in creating payment

plans and we can usually ask for a

shut-off hold for someone strug-

gling to find the resources to pay

their bill.

We have assisted several constitu-

ents to find out the progress on

“sticky wicket” income tax ques-

tions this past tax season.

We assisted a small business own-

er to resolve issues related to the

new mandatory electronic unem-

ployment earnings reporting pro-

cess.

We assisted an older parent who

was unexpectedly housing her

disabled son to apply for an in-

crease in her household’s food

stamp allotment.

We assisted a young woman to

follow up on a complaint that she

had filed with the Department of

Insurance and Financial Services

relative to her medical insurer

having interrupted her medical

coverage for non-payment of the

premium, when indeed she had

been faithfully paying the premi-

ums.

We are looking into the process to

request a pardon from the gover-

nor.

We assisted a gentleman in secur-

ing a second unemployment refer-

ee hearing for an issue that had

been overlooked in the first hear-

ing.

We investigated how automobile

license plate fees are computed.

One might think that an older car

would cost less to license than a

newer one. It is computed on the

original price of the vehicle, not

the current “blue book” value.

We continue to make referrals to

Loaves & Fishes, the communi-

ty’s network of food pantries.

We assisted an apartment dweller

to communicate appropriately

with his landlord about “No

Smoking” rules that were posted

in his building. Allegedly, his

neighbors were not following the

rules and the second hand smoke

is hazardous to his health.

We helped local teachers arrange

to have Rep. Hoadley come to

their classrooms and read to their

children during Literacy month

celebrations.

We assisted a constituent connect

with local financial institutions to

reestablish his eligibility to have a

bank account. It is estimated that

there are over 5,000 individuals in

our area who have past histories

with a financial institution, and

that usually precludes them from

opening any new account.

Spring 2015—Page 2

Serving the Kalamazoo Area’s House District Since 1973

Hello, my name is Drake Collins.

I was born in Evanston, IL, but raised

in Beach Park, IL, which is located in

the Northern Suburbs of Chicago.

I graduated from Zion Benton

High School in 2010. Currently, I am

attending Western Michigan Univer-

sity and plan on graduating this up

incoming fall semester, with a major

in Political Science and a minor in

Sociology. After I get my BA, I plan

on going to Law School.

This past fall I volunteered to

help Namita Sharma out on her cam-

paign to become Probate Judge for

the county of Kalamazoo. I’m very

excited to be working for the DSO

and I’m happy and grateful they have

allowed me to work for them. From

this opportunity, I plan on soaking up

as much knowledge and experience

as possible.

I just want to thank Rep. Jon

Hoadley for this chance to work for

the 60th District Service Office, and I

also want to thank Edie Trent as well

for being there for me and showing

me the ropes.

I am usually here several after-

noons a week. Stop in to see us. I

look forward to meeting you.

Welcome to Drake, our

WMU Political Science

Senior Intern

Page 3—Spring 2015

60th District Service Office (DSO)

In the summer of 2012, Eric Ulmer

literally “tweeted” his way into our

hearts, as our volunteer IT Director. He

put out a call to local non-profit organi-

zations in the Kalamazoo market, via a

“tweet,” and former State Rep. Sean

McCann immediately jumped on the

opportunity

and suggested

that the 60th

DSO Office

might be a

great spot to

consider offer-

ing his talents.

and. VOILA!

Eric, a self

-taught IT

guru, learned

the intricacies of his craft on-the-job,

beginning in 1996 at an IT Help / Cus-

tomer Support Desk. Intrigued by the

creative magic of computers, systems

and the internet, Eric’s full time posi-

tion in Grand Rapids is as a Sr. Systems

Engineer for Spectrum Health.

Eric does the routine tech work on

our two laptops, cleans up any viruses

that may creep through and trouble

shoots on our internet connections and

printer. In 2013, the DSO contracted

with him to redevelop our office web-

site at http://www.60thdso.org.

Eric lives in the Winchell neighbor-

hood with his wife, Jessica, and their

three young daughters, Adie, Metta and

baby Evelyn.

We are thrilled that Eric is one of

our most treasured volunteers. We

thank you from the bottom of our heart.

Our IT Depart Director

celebrates his 3rd year

with the DSO!

Our Annual Poinsettia Sale is always

a marvelous holiday “friendraiser.” For the second year in a row, our annual Poinsettia Pickup Brunch was

held atop Fairview Hall, at the Prairie Gardens Pavilion, a senior living com-

munity owned by the Kalamazoo County Landbank.

May 1: the 60th DSO is an Art Hop Stop for an

Old-Fashioned Block Party—Open House!

We have put in our request for a

lovely Spring evening on Friday,

May1st, as the 60th DSO is sponsor-

ing an old-fashioned block party.

And, you are all invited to join in the

fun, from 5 to

8:00 pm.

The entire

300 block of

N. Burdick

street will

close down

and several of

our neighbor-

ing business-

es will be

joining us.

The list includes Viridis Land-

scape Design, the Rickman House,

Mr. President Restaurant, Fair

Food Matters, Trident Realty &

the Reverence Home Health &

Hospice, a service of Borgess Hos-

pital.

We are also registered as an

ART HOP stop, with the Ar ts

Council of Greater Kalamazoo. Our

featured artists are members of the

AP Studio Art Program at Loy

Norrix High School. These very

talented artists are students of LNHS

instructor, Cindy Vanlieu.

Also providing us musical enter-

tainment for the evening with be

Lorraine Caron & Tom Duffield. Work by Emma Greschak

Please join us for an evening of Art, Fun & Friends!

The 60th DSO is currently recruiting for two new members of our Board of Directors. If this is a volunteer opportunity

which interests you, please call the DSO office at 382-4676 & we will put you in touch with our Governance Chairperson.

Jon Hoadley State Representative 60th House District

60th District Service Office

315 N. Burdick Ave., Ste. 100

Kalamazoo MI 49007

(269) 382-4676

www.60thdso.org

Lansing Office

N-994 House Office Bldg.

P.O. Box 30014

Lansing, MI 48909

Phone: (517) 373-1785

Toll Free: (888) 833-6636

Fax: (517) 373-5762

Established in 1973, the 60th District Service Office is a non-profit corporate entity established for the purpose of

providing Kalamazoo area residents with direct access to their government and increasing the responsiveness of the

government to their needs and concerns. Services are provided without fee on an entirely non-partisan basis. While

the staff for the 60th DSO is provided by the State Representative, it relies on the contributions of supporters to fund

the daily operations.

Matthew Lechel, Chair Tracy Hall, Vice Chair Laurie Harbaugh, Secretary Fran Dwight, Treasurer Ken Greschak Janet Jones Millie Lambert Rondale Nichols-Templeton Mary Roscoe Creed Stegall

Mary Brown Ed LaForge Alexander Lipsey Sean McCann Rep Jon Hoadley Julie Vogel, Staff Edie Trent, Staff

60th DSO Board of Directors

Page 4 - Spring 2015

Follow us on Facebook

The Back Page i

https://https://

www.facebook.com/pages/60th

-District-Service-Office-of-State-

Representative-Jon-

Hoadley/196617097024987?

ref=hl

Or use your smart phone to

find us on the web.

Dedicated to Serving Others

The 60th District Service Office assisted on over 400 cases in 2014, up significantly from 2013.

Our problem resolution, information & referral services are free to anyone living in the 60th District.

Our Annual Spring Brunch is May 17th And is in MILWOOD!! 11 am to 1 pm at the homes of

Zach Bauer & Doug Pierce, 1403 Kingston, with

Cohosts Bob Cinabro & Natalie White

and Martha Cohen

Katie Eaton, 1407 Howland,

with Co-hosts Ed & Ann LaForge