I am concerned this is another example of incestuous partnerships between the State of Michigan DHHS/MRS, Governor Snyder appointed Councils and the entities profiting from federal and state tax dollars. I say 'profit;' while I acknowledge the businesses are organized as tax exempt the reality is the executives and administrators are very well paid.
As an example of my concern is Peckham Inc.whose principle officer is Mitch Tomlinson, on the Board of Directors of MARO, who sits on the MCRS and who will make recommendations and decisions about the E.O. Employment First. Peckham is part of the Ability One program and given priority in assignment of federal contracts. Peckhna's IRS 990 2013 reports gross revenue of 126 Million dollars, CEO Tomlinson received over $500,000.00 in compensation with next five executives totaling $840,000.00 more. This should make state employees and other agencies shutter considering their wage scale and when we consider that some Peckham employees work for less than the prevailing wage, commensurate wage, and even sub-minimum wages that year, I'm incredulous.
As the voice of vocational rehabilitation consumers, the Council is required to be lead by individuals with VR disabilities. It is disturbing to see Mr. Tomlinson, who is probably a wonderful human being, acting in a number of influential roles and crossing personal and public interests. Partnerships between public state entities and private corporations may yield some benefit for people people with significant disabilities, but the example definitely raises some questions about conflict of interest and the the resulting exploitation of the Disabled.
We just don't know when Mr. Tomlinson is acting as the CEO on behalf of Peckham, or the Board of Directors for MARO, or representing the Michigan Council on Rehabilitation Services. Regrettably, this is not the only example of Michigan's abuse of power.
Please join me in questioning these conflicted appointments which so clearly result in low wage employment for people with significant disabilities, a multitude of solid middle-income jobs for state and non-profit service providers, and grossly disparate income for a few well connected individuals. Most people with disabilities want the access and independence that can only be gained through employment at a fair wage; none of us want to be second class citizens depending on the charity model.
Equal employment for the Disabled has been the goal of many state and federal programs for a long time, but all the good intentions of legislation is weakened and lost if people responsible for implementation put established partnerships, historical practices, a head of the individuals they are paid to serve.
Do you mean to tell me that there were no correspondences related to the EO, issued on November 18, 2015 until February 5, 2016 which was three days after my request right in here?
Did MCRS ever even get notified that it was the lead agency for implementation?
I mean one of your members was absent at your November 2015 meeting while he was in the media  at  the signing  of the EO; Mitch Tomlinson of Peckham.
Were you all the last to know?
By the way MARO is MCRS' fiduciary and Todd Culver was   also at the signing?
Didn't they fill you all in?
This seems to me to go to the utter sham of the EO to begin with, and is precisely symptomatic of the total lack of transparency, consumer in put, and all else that goes to this current Administration and, of course, MCRS.
Mr. Harcz – the only MCRS correspondence related to Executive Order 2015 -15 outside of our membership being informed of the new responsibility is a letter to Lieutenant Governor Calley, which was on hold as contact with his staff led us to believe that our questions may have been resolved via phone conversations. Since we did not receive that confirmation, the attached letter was sent to Governor Calley last week.  Our hope is to gain the information needed to fulfill our responsibilities under the EO.
