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The first event offers a non-partisan, unbiased and factual presentation about county government at 7 p.m. on April 2 at the Sterling Heights Public Library, located at Dodge Park at Utica roads.

“We are providing this program for our residents so that they have an understanding of county government and the options that are available,” Library Director Tammy Turgeon said. “We see ourselves as a place where residents can go to get factual information.”

Citizens Research Council of Michigan Senior Research Associate Bettie Buss will speak about the county form of government, the functions of counties and the various options of how a county can be governed. For more than 90 years, the objective of the CRC has been to provide independent information on significant issues concerning state and local government organization and finance.

“What we’re trying to do is to give folks in Macomb County a basis to make good decisions about the upcoming election,” Buss said. “It will be about, ŒThis is the law, this is what your options are, this is what the experience has been in Michigan.’”

The second presentation, also at the Sterling Heights library, will include two Macomb County Commissioners speaking in favor of the ballot proposal from 7 to 8 p.m. on April 7. Commissioners Robert Mijac, D-Sterling Heights, and David Flynn, D-Sterling Heights, will talk about the reasons they believe a county executive form of government would be good for Macomb County.

“We need to have a county executive,” Mijac said. “We need to have one voice for the county - one elected voice to speak for us all.”

The proposal was placed on the ballot after Flynn garnered more than 400 volunteers to gather more than 35,000 signatures in favor of giving voters the option of choosing the county’s form of government.

Currently, Macomb County operates under the control of 26 commissioners following the general law form of county government - which is what 80 of Michigan’s 83 counties use. Another form of county government is the optional unified form, which is used by Bay and Oakland counties. The May 6 ballot initiative proposes changing to a chartered form of government in Macomb County, which is the form used in Wayne County, and would place a county executive as the leader.

Since the ballot proposal is for a chartered government and not only a county executive, the ballot language is as follows, according to Flynn: “Shall the County of Macomb elect a charter commission, for the purpose of framing and submitting to the electorate of the county, a county home-rule charter under the constitution and laws of Michigan?”

According to Buss, the CRC discussions are important because residents have the opportunity to have their questions answered in a non-biased way. “The more of these conversations we have, we find out what the voters are concerned about,” Buss said. “I think the basic question is do we need a change in the current form of government, and is it adequate for Macomb for the future?”

Buss said many of the questions she receives are that people are concerned about the cost of switching government styles, about the process, the cost, the structure and about their taxes.

It would take about two years for the county executive to be in place if the May 6 proposal passes. First, a panel would be elected to write the charter, or county constitution, and then the executive would be elected in 2010.