Government of Saginaw, Michigan
Encyclopedia
The Government of Saginaw, Michigan is a council-manager form of government with a mayor selected from members of the city council by members of the city council. Saginaw
is classified as a home rule city under the Michigan Home Rule Cities Act
which permits cities to exercise "home rule
" powers, among which is the power to frame and adopt its own city charter which serves as the fundamental law of the city, in a manner similar to a constitution
for a national or state government. The present charter was adopted in 1935 and took effect on January 6, 1936.
passed Act 455 to consolidate the City of Saginaw and the City of East Saginaw
into a new city that also was named the City of Saginaw. The early government was fraught with geographic rivalries due to the forced merger of the two cities. Distrust between both sides led to 21 wards to be created each electing two aldermen to the city council and a mayor to be elected at large for a city with a population of approximately 42,323 at the time. After years of dysfunctional government, the citizens of the city changed the government to have five wards with a single member of the council elected from each ward. Each council person ran a specific department of the city: public works; finance; parks and cemeteries; health and safety; and water and sewer.
Council. The term of office for a member of the city council
is four years commencing with the first meeting following a regular municipal election. The terms of council members are staggered so that the entire council is not subject to re-election at the same time; alternatively either four or five members are elected in each odd-numbered year.
for a two year term. The mayor is chosen at the first meeting following a regular municipal election and a mayor pro-tempore (usually simply called "mayor pro-tem") at the same time. The mayor's principal function is to preside at meetings of the city council. The mayor has the prerogative to make some appointments to various boards and commissions, and otherwise serves in a ceremonial role.
.
, who is a city employee appointed by the city council. The position of city manager has been, at times, caught up in an ongoing, sometimes racial, fight for city control. Many of the employees filling the position have been fired after short periods of time in office. The present city manager is Darnell Earley
who was selected by the City Council at its June 5, 2006 meeting. Prior to his appointment, Earley had been serving as interim city manager since September, 2005 after the previous officeholder, Cecil Collins, was removed from office by the city council.
, the voters of the city elected a nine member Charter Revision Commission on November 2, 2004. The commissioners begun their three-year term of office on November 16, 2004. If the body fails to complete its task during this time it will automatically dissolve. This commission has the power to frame a new city charter and submit it for adoption or rejection by the voters. During the campaign for electing the commission, the major issues included the stability of the city manager form of government for the city. Earlier in the same year, city manager Deborah Kimble had been removed from office by the city council under contentious circumstances after having only served for 18 months. Ethnic and Racial division on the city council that led to the office of mayor having been held for eight years by Gary L. Loster, an African-American, followed by Wilmer Jones Ham, also an African-American, for four years fueled a push by the main proponents for charter revision for having the mayor of Saginaw directly elected by the voters rather than the city council. Other prominent issues were a desire to have the council elected by wards rather than from the city at-large and increased efficiency and accountability in city government. Much of the latter issue was prompted by well-publicized reports of mismanagement of money by certain city officials. The leading proponents of charter revision in the election were the father and son duo of Allen C. Schmid and Gregory C. Schmid, both attorneys.
reviewed the proposed charter upon having received a report from the attorney general and returned it to the charter commission with her approval for being submitted to a vote of the city's electors. The proposal to be submitted to the voters is the second version presented for review by the attorney general, the first version was reviewed by the attorney general's staff and given a recommendation to reject. The charter commission subsequently revised the charter draft. Adoption of a revised version by the Commission was scheduled for April 19, 2007. The proposal has been approved to be placed on a city-wide ballot at an election to take place on August 7, 2007. If the harter proposal is rejected by the voters at the August 7, 2007 election, the commission would only have one remaining available election date (November 6, 2007) at which to submitted another proposal before it's term ends on November 16, 2007.
The proposal also limits the ability for disciplined or terminated city employees to sue the city.
The districts for the election of city council members each stretch across the city from the west to the east city limits containing territory of both the west side and east side. Because of the historical trend of lower voter turnout on the east side, it is argued by some that the districts could limit the representation for east side by ensuring the election of a council consisting of nearly all west side residents.
The revised charter proposal would pay the Mayor a full-time salary and the council members would be paid more. The plan has been criticized because of the City's present financial distress. The plan would consolidate the city's operations into seven departments. A controversial provision of the proposed charter is the creation of an office of ombudsman. According to the document, the ombudsman would have broad investigative powers. The review by the attorney general found some powers of the office to be illegal. Once such example is the power to compel affidavits from those who aren't city employees. The ombudsman's office was especially criticized by the Police Officers Association of Michigan whose affiliate represents the police officers of the city of Saginaw.
Saginaw, Michigan
Saginaw is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw was once a thriving lumber town and manufacturing center. Saginaw and Saginaw County lie in the Flint/Tri-Cities region of Michigan...
is classified as a home rule city under the Michigan Home Rule Cities Act
Home Rule Cities Act (Michigan)
The Home Rule City Act was enacted by the Michigan Legislature as Public Act 279 of 1909. This statute provides the framework by which a new city may become incorporated and provide for its own government by adopting a city charter...
which permits cities to exercise "home rule
Home rule
Home rule is the power of a constituent part of a state to exercise such of the state's powers of governance within its own administrative area that have been devolved to it by the central government....
" powers, among which is the power to frame and adopt its own city charter which serves as the fundamental law of the city, in a manner similar to a constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
for a national or state government. The present charter was adopted in 1935 and took effect on January 6, 1936.
History
On June 28, 1889, the Michigan LegislatureMichigan Legislature
The Michigan Legislature is the legislative assembly of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is organized as a bicameral body consisting of the Senate, the upper house, and the House of Representatives, the lower house. Article IV of the state's Constitution, adopted in 1963, defines the role of the...
passed Act 455 to consolidate the City of Saginaw and the City of East Saginaw
East Saginaw, Michigan
East Saginaw is a defunct city in Saginaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan.East Saginaw was founded in 1850, and was incorporated as a village in 1855 and as a city in 1857...
into a new city that also was named the City of Saginaw. The early government was fraught with geographic rivalries due to the forced merger of the two cities. Distrust between both sides led to 21 wards to be created each electing two aldermen to the city council and a mayor to be elected at large for a city with a population of approximately 42,323 at the time. After years of dysfunctional government, the citizens of the city changed the government to have five wards with a single member of the council elected from each ward. Each council person ran a specific department of the city: public works; finance; parks and cemeteries; health and safety; and water and sewer.
Current government
The current government was formed in 1936 in response to allegations of corruption of the heads of each department. In order to resemble a more business like structure, voters in 1935 approved a change to a council-manager form of government in which council members are elected by the people and a mayor is elected by the council from its ranks.City Council
Pursuant to the city charter, Saginaw is governed by a nine member elected at-largeAt-Large
At-large is a designation for representative members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent the whole membership of the body , rather than a subset of that membership...
Council. The term of office for a member of the city council
City council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
is four years commencing with the first meeting following a regular municipal election. The terms of council members are staggered so that the entire council is not subject to re-election at the same time; alternatively either four or five members are elected in each odd-numbered year.
Mayor and mayor pro-tempore
The members of the council select one of its own members to serve as mayorMayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
for a two year term. The mayor is chosen at the first meeting following a regular municipal election and a mayor pro-tempore (usually simply called "mayor pro-tem") at the same time. The mayor's principal function is to preside at meetings of the city council. The mayor has the prerogative to make some appointments to various boards and commissions, and otherwise serves in a ceremonial role.
.
City manager
Actual executive power is vested in a city managerCity manager
A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a council-manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief executive officer or chief administrative officer in some municipalities...
, who is a city employee appointed by the city council. The position of city manager has been, at times, caught up in an ongoing, sometimes racial, fight for city control. Many of the employees filling the position have been fired after short periods of time in office. The present city manager is Darnell Earley
Darnell Earley
Darnell Earley is the current city manager of Saginaw, Michigan. He served as interim mayor of Flint, Michigan after the recall of Woodrow Stanley. He is also an ordained Baptist deacon.-Early life:...
who was selected by the City Council at its June 5, 2006 meeting. Prior to his appointment, Earley had been serving as interim city manager since September, 2005 after the previous officeholder, Cecil Collins, was removed from office by the city council.
City charter revision
In August 2007, Saginaw voters rejected a proposed Saginaw city charter revision by a 5,761 to 1,082 margin.Election
Under the provisions of the Home Rule Cities ActHome Rule Cities Act (Michigan)
The Home Rule City Act was enacted by the Michigan Legislature as Public Act 279 of 1909. This statute provides the framework by which a new city may become incorporated and provide for its own government by adopting a city charter...
, the voters of the city elected a nine member Charter Revision Commission on November 2, 2004. The commissioners begun their three-year term of office on November 16, 2004. If the body fails to complete its task during this time it will automatically dissolve. This commission has the power to frame a new city charter and submit it for adoption or rejection by the voters. During the campaign for electing the commission, the major issues included the stability of the city manager form of government for the city. Earlier in the same year, city manager Deborah Kimble had been removed from office by the city council under contentious circumstances after having only served for 18 months. Ethnic and Racial division on the city council that led to the office of mayor having been held for eight years by Gary L. Loster, an African-American, followed by Wilmer Jones Ham, also an African-American, for four years fueled a push by the main proponents for charter revision for having the mayor of Saginaw directly elected by the voters rather than the city council. Other prominent issues were a desire to have the council elected by wards rather than from the city at-large and increased efficiency and accountability in city government. Much of the latter issue was prompted by well-publicized reports of mismanagement of money by certain city officials. The leading proponents of charter revision in the election were the father and son duo of Allen C. Schmid and Gregory C. Schmid, both attorneys.
Process
The commission's chairwoman is Susan Carter who previously had served as a member of the city council and mayor pro tempore. A majority of the commission consists of members who strongly favor a revision of a charter rather than a more conservative process of amending the current charter. At its January 9, 2007 meeting the commission formally adopted a proposed charter. The proposed revision provides for a Mayor elected directly by the voters who will assume a full-time administrative role in city government. The office of city manager will be retained under the new charter but will assume a bit of a diminished role. The city council will be elected from four wards, two from each ward, for four year terms staggered so that half of the council will be elected at each city election. In addition, a ninth member of the council will be elected by the city at-large who will serve as President of the city council. The compensation to be paid to council members and the mayor will be substantially increased over the current levels. The proposed charter was submitted to the attorney general of the state of Michigan whose staff reviewed it and found 99 questionable issues with the document including some outright violations of law and released a report on March 2, 2007.Current status
Michigan's governor Jennifer M. GranholmJennifer Granholm
Jennifer Mulhern Granholm is a Canadian-born American politician, educator, and author who served as Attorney General and 47th Governor of the U.S. state of Michigan. A member of the Democratic Party, Granholm became Michigan's first female governor on January 1, 2003, when she succeeded Governor...
reviewed the proposed charter upon having received a report from the attorney general and returned it to the charter commission with her approval for being submitted to a vote of the city's electors. The proposal to be submitted to the voters is the second version presented for review by the attorney general, the first version was reviewed by the attorney general's staff and given a recommendation to reject. The charter commission subsequently revised the charter draft. Adoption of a revised version by the Commission was scheduled for April 19, 2007. The proposal has been approved to be placed on a city-wide ballot at an election to take place on August 7, 2007. If the harter proposal is rejected by the voters at the August 7, 2007 election, the commission would only have one remaining available election date (November 6, 2007) at which to submitted another proposal before it's term ends on November 16, 2007.
Controversies
The commission's proposal calls for combining the police and fire departments into a single public safety department. Under this plan, by the year 2020 all police officers will become fully trained and certified fire fighters and all fire fighters will become fully trained and certified police officers. All police and fire stations in the city will function as dual-purpose public safety stations.The proposal also limits the ability for disciplined or terminated city employees to sue the city.
The districts for the election of city council members each stretch across the city from the west to the east city limits containing territory of both the west side and east side. Because of the historical trend of lower voter turnout on the east side, it is argued by some that the districts could limit the representation for east side by ensuring the election of a council consisting of nearly all west side residents.
The revised charter proposal would pay the Mayor a full-time salary and the council members would be paid more. The plan has been criticized because of the City's present financial distress. The plan would consolidate the city's operations into seven departments. A controversial provision of the proposed charter is the creation of an office of ombudsman. According to the document, the ombudsman would have broad investigative powers. The review by the attorney general found some powers of the office to be illegal. Once such example is the power to compel affidavits from those who aren't city employees. The ombudsman's office was especially criticized by the Police Officers Association of Michigan whose affiliate represents the police officers of the city of Saginaw.