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James R. Fouts (born 1942 or 1944) is

Personal life

Fouts grew up in Hazel Park, Michigan where his father was the city assessor then city manager. He spent his career as a government and psychology teacher in the Warren Consolidated School District. His last approximately ten years of teaching were at Sterling Heights High School.

Early political career

In 1976, Fouts ran as a Republican for the Michigan state house of representatives in the 70th District. He was elected to the Warren City Council in 1981 and served for 26 years. During his tenure, he had initiated several anti-tobacco proposals.

In 2007 Mark Steenbergh reached the term limit as mayor of Warren and did not seek re-election. Fouts, who was also term-limited, ran against City Clerk Richard Sulaka for the open seat and won, 62% to 38%. In the 2007 campaign, finance reports show that Sulaka outspent Fouts $332,000 to $225,000. Sulaka described Fouts as a “maverick” and attributed his victory to voters seeking an alternative to the previous administration. The election also saw Warren citizens electing a new clerk, new treasurer and a majority of new council members.

He said it was not until he "went door-to-door seeking signatures for a petition in protest of a proposed charter school that he made up his mind" to run for the mayoralty.

Mayor of Warren

His enforcement of local building codes led to the demolition of dilapidated buildings and the promotion of neighborhood "clean sweeps" by city inspectors and was touted as a model for other mayors.

In response to the challenges facing the automotive industry, an industry which employs many Warren residents, he initiated a "Buy American Products" policy for automotive purchases by heads of city departments.

His 2011 re-election campaign was endorsed by the Detroit Free Press who said the campaign had become "way too focused on legal battles over Fouts' age" which became an issue when his opponents filed suit to remove him from the ballot because he had refused to place his age on the candidacy form. He won the lawsuit and the election with more than 80% of the vote against City Councilwoman Kathy Vogt.

In 2012 he acted to ban smoking within 100 feet of any city building without legislative approval, but the court said he did not have the authority, and had the No Smoking signs removed. Fouts brought the measure back to the city council, after they had tabled it in September.

In December 2013, the city settled a whistleblower case for $175,000 in which a former staffer had brought charges that he had been demoted for making recordings that showed Fouts speaking in a threatening manner. The city also paid $47,613 for two private attorneys to defend Fouts. Criminal charges against Fouts had been dropped in May because Fouts's statements "violated no statute and do not form a criminal act under Michigan law."

In July 2014, Fouts denied access to the Warren City hall for a group seeking to establish a Reason Booth, in contrast to a long-established Prayer Booth. The American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, have sued Fouts and Warren, alleging a violation of First Amendment rights to free speech and a violation of the Establishment Clause. The lawsuit was filed by Douglas Marshall in the United States District Court.

In August 2014 Fouts initiated a suit against the passing of 2014 Proposal 1, which eliminated the Michigan Personal Property Tax for businesses, replacing it with an Internet sales tax, alleging the ballot wording was biased. In early December 2014, according to the Macomb Daily, "...Court of Claims Judge Deborah Servitto ruled this week Fouts failed to sufficiently make a legal claim that state election law was violated. In doing so, Servitto granted a motion for summary judgment filed in by public relations consultants Truscott Rossman Group and its chief executive officer, Kelly Rossman-McKinney, that they be removed as defendants because they did not have legal standing in the case." Fouts has appealed the ruling.

Legal issues and lawsuits

Lawsuits against the City of Warren and Fouts since he took office.

James Hartley’s lawsuit for wrongful dismissal was eventually settled out of court for $175,000.00 payoff so that the case would not have to go to trial. This was just one of many settlements that have occured so that the mayor would not have to be in testify in open court. You may recall this lawsuit, the one where the Mayor threatens to kill a few people with a baseball bat, and even a gun, not to mention the incredibly foul language used. Aside from ther $175.000.00 payout, the outside attorneys in the case made close to $50,000, plus the time spent on the case by the City Attorney. Overall coast to the taxpayer, about $250,000.00 of taxpayer money. These recordings where the Mayor threatened to kill people also caught some lewd and vulgar comments about the City Treasurer when she questioned some wire transfers of City funds without councils approval and without the proper channels being followed, the Mayor said this about the Treasurer: "And all of a sudden, Moceri woke up. She hasn't done s-- all, all week except roll in at 2 o'clock and hang around for three hours and (masturbate) and look at television,"