User:Sp/Government of Saginaw, Michigan

The Government of Saginaw, Michigan is a Council-Manager form of government with a mayor from members of the city council by members of the city council. Saginaw, MI 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.

Initially formed from the forced merger of the cities of Saginaw and East Saginaw, the government has changed forms over the years.

Saginaw's City Hall, completed in 1936 built of limestone and Indiana Rock

Form of government

City Council

See also: List of City Council members of Saginaw, Michigan

Pursuant to the City Charter, Saginaw is governed by a nine member elected at-large 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.

Mayor and Mayor Pro-tempore

See also: List of mayors of Saginaw

The members of the Council select one of its own members to serve as Mayor 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

See also: List of City Managers of Saginaw, Michigan

Actual executive power is vested in a city manager, 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.

Politics

City Charter revision

A Charter Revision Commission is undertaking a process of drafting and proposing for voter approval a new city charter for the City of Saginaw.

Election

Under the provisions of the Home Rule Cities Act, 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. Granholm 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 Charter 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.

Budget and finance

The city itself is in an extreme budget crisis. A "cap" on property taxes was imposed in 1978 by means of an amendment to the City Charter adopted by the voters, on both the method of imposing the tax and on the total amount that can be collected. The city, formerly having a population of approximately 100,000 in the 1960s, is trying to support itself with an income tax imposed on those businesses which still remain within city limits — and those persons still employed who reside within the city. However, the many retired city employees require a large amount of the city's budget, and police, fire, and recreation have all suffered. Saginaw owns a large and very popular water park, but it has been closed for three years (as of 2006).

External Links

City of Saginaw