Oct. 15—TRAVERSE CITY — The Grand Traverse County Commission chair is being challenged in the upcoming election by a frequent board meeting attendee who is often critical of his opponent's actions.

Commission Chair Rob Hentschel, a Republican, faces Democrat Bruce Moore on Nov. 8. Hentschel currently represents District 7; he is running in District 5, where he purchased a house. The district encompasses parts of East Bay and Acme townships.

Hentschel, who is in his third term, said, as a commissioner, he is fairly calm under fire.

"When things get contentious, I'm able to be the adult in the room," he said.

A number of contentious moments have occurred in the last two years, from one commissioner holding an assault-style rifle across his chest during a livestreamed meeting, to a resolution banning the county from mandating vaccines for employees, to more recently opting to leave the six-county Northern Lakes Community Mental Health Authority, a move that would dissolve the CMH.

During his tenure, technology has been overhauled, outdated county ordinances have been removed and all employees got 9.5-percent raises in addition to 3 percent cost-of-living raises in 2021 and '22. The compensation changes were made after a wage study was done.

"I'm tenacious about making things better and I think my record reflects that," Hentschel said. "We've been really running at a breakneck speed for government."

Moore, who made a failed bid for a county seat in 2020, said the behavior of some board members would not be tolerated if they were Grand Traverse County employees.

"I bring experience in a large company environment where you have expectations of behavior that have not been demonstrated by my opponent," Moore said.

Moore said he spent his working years living in an environment that grew from a population of 2 million to 8 million, much like what GTC is now seeing, though on a smaller scale.

"I've seen all aspects of rapid growth," he said. "That's a skill that I bring to the table."

Many residents and local agencies cite the lack of adequate mental health services as a top priority in the county. Hentschel said services have been inadequate for many years, although some of the problem lies with federal and state funding that do little for people with mild to moderate mental illness.

Hentschel was the impetus behind the decision to explore leaving Northern Lakes. Leaders from the six counties are now meeting regularly and have agreed to rewrite the enabling agreement that created Northern Lakes nearly 20 years ago and has never been updated.

"The answer is to have an organization that's willing to think outside the box to improve services," Hentschel said. "Up until this last year, we had a CMH that was unable to do that."

Hentschel also was behind the push to remove two Grand Traverse County representatives from the 16-member Northern Lakes board and appoint new members. The two removed members, Justin Reed and Nicole Miller, supported giving interim CEO Joanie Blamer the top post. The following day, the offer to Blamer was rescinded with the support from new members.

"I don't mind being the guy who sticks his neck out and I have no regrets," Hentschel said.

In August, the Northern Michigan Regional Entity — the funding agency for 21 counties in northern Michigan — and the NMRE board took over the search for a new CEO for Northern Lakes and to appoint an interim CEO. Brian Martinus, veterans services navigator for NMRE, replaced Blamer as interim CEO until a new one is hired.

Moore said he doesn't think leaving Northern Lakes is the answer. The people who are generally happy with the services they are getting are those who are developmentally disabled, he said.

"The people that are upset, and I think rightly so, are on the mental health side and are between moderate and severe," Moore said. "They come into jail or to the hospital, get patched up and are sent out to the private sector."

State law only regulates treatment of severe mental illness, he said. It's an issue that must be dealt with, whether the county stays with Northern Lakes or not.

"Splitting off won't fix that problem," Moore said. "That's baked into that system."

It also won't fix problems at the county jail, he said. There are a number of people in jail who have mental health and homelessness issues, he said.

Statistics have shown that about 40 percent of people in Michigan's jails have mental illness. They end up in jail after they are picked up for misdemeanors such as trespassing, drunk and disorderly conduct and more.

Moore said the jail's physical layout does not allow for group therapy sessions, which would provide for economical delivery of services. He said he has long advocated for a new jail.

The county also needs a mental health center that would offer a full spectrum of services, including short-term inpatient beds for children and adults. Several community members and agencies, including Northern Lakes, are working on creating such a center.

When it comes to the housing crisis, Hentschel said that, across the state and across the country, nobody has found a magic bullet.

The role of government is to make sure it is not an impediment to the free market, Hentschel said. The county needs to work to create an environment where developers can come in and build homes, he said.

The county has already streamlined the permitting process to let builders apply online, he said.

But it has no control over zoning and must encourage townships to be smart about how they plat out the land for future use, he said. Zoning must include areas for high,- medium- and low-density housing, Hentschel said.

Moore said the county does have a role to play. It can appoint people to its Land Bank and Brownfield Redevelopment Authority who have housing as a priority, he said.

It can use some of its American Rescue Plan Act money to participate in township water and sewer projects, he said. That would provide incentives for developers, who find it cheaper to put in a well and septic system than to connect to a system.

The county also can use an existing housing rehabilitation fund on projects in low-income areas, Moore said. The fund, which is not currently being used, he said, could be administered by Habitat for Humanity, which has experience in that area.

"That could go a long way to keeping people in their homes," Moore said.