Koskela Charges Ala Unqualified for County Board

The simmering feud between current Houghton County Board of Commissioners chair Scott Ala and former chair Al Koskela bubbled to the surface at last night’s meeting. Koskela submitted a proposal designed to limit the mileage stipend paid to commissioners who attend meetings to the distance from their official residence to the meeting site. It was a jab at Ala… who represents the City of Houghton, but has been commuting for several months from his summer residence at Big Traverse. Koskela went so far as to question whether Ala should be allowed to continue to serve District Four… KOSKELA A. Ala responded by saying there’s no law that prevents an office-holder from spending a few weeks away from home… ALA C. Ala said he’s getting sick of the potshots Koskela has been taking at him since he replaced Koskela as board chair… ALA D. In fact, a report presented at last month’s meeting showed that Koskela’s mileage reimbursement is greater than that of all the other four commissioners combined, although some noted that Koskela does make more official trips to meetings outside the area than other commissioners. In the end, the measure failed… with Koskela and Tim Palosaari voting in favor… Anton Pintar and Tom Tikkanen voting against… and Ala abstaining.