- Water Dept. worker Andrew Daniels-El speaks on city charter in January, 2009 at Call ’em Out meeting as Agnes Hitchcock and AFSCME Local 207 President John Riehl moderate.
By Joyce Moore
My name is Joyce Moore and I a former Detroit City Charter Revision Commissioner for the adoption of the 1997 Detroit City Charter.
In this article I want to outline some of the events, the players, provide laws, and encourage you to vote “NO” on Proposal C.
MAYOR
Under both Charters that I have read, the Mayor will continue to be in complete control of all city services:
Article 5. Sec. 5-102. The Executive Branch
Except as otherwise provided by law or this Charter, executive and administrative authority for the implementation of programs, services and activities of city government is vested exclusively in the executive branch (In both Charters).
Morris Mays (center) and others campaign against Charter revision at Occupy Detroit march
There is no shift in power, the Mayor will have more power. For example, many parts of the city are currently without street lights and yet when you go downtown you have street lights, and in addition, there are garbage trucks with brooms to sweep up overspills in certain areas of the city and not in other parts. If this Charter passes, the Mayor will have more power in determining which districts that he favors will get city services, which ultimately from my perspective will impact on who will get elected to city council.
I am encouraging you to continue reading this article as it will explain and further clarity, the havoc that has been brought upon the people of the City of Detroit by a RESOLUTION that should not have been neither presented nor adopted by any council members.
CITY COUNCIL
Below is Section 9-403 of our current charter which clearly states the following:
Article 9. Sec. 9-403. Revision Question.
The question of whether there shall be a general revision of the City Charter shall be submitted to the voters of the city of Detroit at the gubernatorial primary of 2018, and at every fourth (4th) gubernatorial primary thereafter and may be submitted at other times in the manner provided by law. A primary election shall be held for the offices of Charter Revision Commissioners at the same election and shall be void if the proposition to revise is not adopted. If the proposition to revise is adopted, Charter Revision Commissioners shall be elected at the ensuing general election for governor.
THE FOLLOWING
1. The Detroit City Council’s malicious abuse of the legal process in constructing the February 3, 2009 resolution, which placed a charter revision question on the ballot, in the May 5, 2009, Special General Election.
2. Article 7 Section 22 of the Michigan Constitution, relevant part, stated: “under general laws the electors of each city… shall have the power and authority to frame, adopt and amend its charter…”
Chris Griffiths, with APTE VP Cecilyn McClellan and Pres. Dempsey Addison march against revised charter during first Occupy Detroit march Oct. 14
3. The general law under which the City of Detroit is incorporated is under the Home Rule Cities Act, No 279, Section 117.18, which provides two conditional ways to submit the question of whether Detroit City Charter may be revised, relevant part, states that: “any city desiring to revise its Charter shall do so in the following manner [as laid-out in this Sec 117.18] unless otherwise provided by Charter…”
4. The City of Detroit already operates under the 1997 Detroit City Charter, the above quoted dependent (Subordinate) clause – “unless otherwise provided by charter”, complies with Article 7 Section 22 of the Michigan Constitution, by granting cities with a Charter, the Autonomy to frame and revise their charter.
5. In November 1996 the voters adopted the revised 1997 Detroit City Charter which states in Section 9-403 that: “the question of whether there shall be a general revision of the City Charter shall be submitted to the voters of the City of Detroit at the gubernatorial primary of 2018, and at every fourth (4th) gubernatorial primary thereafter and may be submitted at other times in the manner provided by law…”
6. Grammatically, the above provision, in paragraph 5, construction consists of one independent (main) clause – “the question of whether there shall be a general revision of the city charter shall be submitted to the voters of the City of Detroit at the gubernatorial primary of 2018”. And two dependent (subordinate) clause, respectively, “and at every fourth (4th) gubernatorial primary thereafter and may be submitted at other times in the manner provided by law.”
7. On February 3, 2009, the Detroit City Council adopted their own constructed resolution beginning with the fourth statement, whereas the resolution, which states that: “the changes that are required in the 1997 City Charter necessitate that a revision of the charter begin before calendar year 2018 and, therefore, in accordance with Section 9-403 of the 1997 Detroit City Charter and may be submitted at other times in the manner provided by law”.
8. When the Detroit City Council adopted the February 3, 2009 Resolution that was introduced by Council Members Kwame Kenyatta and Brenda Jones with a vote of 6 to 2 to place the question for revision on the ballot for the May 5, 2009, special general election, citing Section 9-403 from the 1997 Detroit City Charter and arbitrarily used procedures from Section 117.18 Home Rule cities act, as an authority granting them permission to submit the charter revision question to the voters, they maliciously abused the legal processes laid out, respectively, in the City Charter and Home Rules Cities Act. And thereby, violated the State Constitutional Right provided by Article 7, Section 22.
9. “A malicious abuse of legal process occurs where the party employs it [the Charter and home rules cities act] for some unlawful object, not the purpose within it is intended by the law to effect; in others words, a perversion of it.” Lauzon v. Charroux, 18 R.I. 467,28A. 975.
FURTHER NOTE THE POSTAL CARD
Most people have received the postal card (above) in the mail recently circulated by the current Charter Commissioners, please note these two (2) statements:
“The Detroit Charter revision process is a legal process started by local City Council members”. (NOT BY THE PEOPLE)
“Feb 3, 2009, City Council members Kenyatta and Jones sponsored a resolution, approved 6 to 2, to place the charter revision question on the May 5, 2009 ballot – calling for the charter revision question earlier than scheduled for 2018.”
The definition of resolution is a written motion adopted by a deliberative body (Wikopedia) and in the Dictionary – Merriam-Webster’s: the formal statement expressing the opinion, will, or intent of a body or persons.
In short, the will of the people was ignored and violated by members of City Council in creating a RESOLUTION for Charter Revision. There is no city that has a charter that poses the question of charter revision as a RESOLUTION, except in the City of Detroit.
There is a penalty when the Charter is violated. It should be enacted upon each city council member that either initiated or voted on such a RESOLUTION, as to the maximum extent possible by law .
CITY CLERK
The City Clerk has the responsibility to ensure that every proposal that is to be placed on a ballot is in compliance with the law and can challenge any proposal in a court of law.
Specifically, to place the Proposal for Charter Revision, the City Clerk could have challenged the legality of the resolution as related to in Sec. 9-403, but did not. However, we (citizens) pursued a law suit only to be bombarded by the courts with appeals and more appeals, with no results and finally to be lost in the mix after two (2) years, with the process of Charter Revision continuing.
Tyrone Travis speaks at special community meeting Sept. 10, 2011
Although the people will vote, the question is whether their votes will be counted properly? In the last election, Tyrone Travis and myself requested an extensive investigation of the City Clerk’s office with no response from the Justice Department in Washington as well as provided extensive documentation to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the fraudulent activities of this office.
One candidate running for Mayor clearly showed how the “absentee ballots/votes” were tainted in the last election. (VOD ed: the Wayne County Election Commission found that nearly 50 percent of the votes in that election, including 100% of the absentee ballots, were not recountable due to numerous irregularities. Mayoral candidate Tom Barrow requested the recount, and appealed the fact that the election was allowed to stand to both the Appeals and State Supreme Courts, with no results.)
Tom Barrow speaks at Call 'em Out dinner Feb. 2010
Tyrone Travis and myself had done exactly the same thing in bringing attention to the tainted “absentee ballots/votes” even in 1996 and requested even then a Federal Investigation of the Clerk’s Office. Just for history, Tyrone Travis and I sued the Secretary of State Candice Miller back then, to bring the election at that time in compliance with State Law, ultimately to ensure that the votes would be counted properly. Currently, we have recently heard how the computerized machines have gone down in the 2005 election and were re-initialized only to find that votes had been lost with no one bringing this information to the public’s attention until four (4) years later. Unfortunately, nothing has changed in protecting the votes of the people.
DISTRICTS
This Charter that is being proposed for the November 2011 Election is about Districts. “Districts” was placed on the 2009 ballot illegally; again the City Clerk ignored her responsibility to the people. We showed how many suburbanites circulated petitions for Districts, not the people ofDetroit.
We showed in the 2009 Election how the QVF (Qualified Voter File) through the City Clerk’s office was reduced by 45,872 Registered Voters from May 5, 2009 to August 4, 2009 to accommodate the number of signatures necessary to place the proposal for Districts on the ballot. Specifically, when there is a petition drive for a proposal you have to know how many signatures are needed, which is why the PREVIOUS general election results are used. The CURRENT QVF was used to place Districts on the ballot.
This issue alone now possesses an even greater threat by using our Charter to determine who draws the boundaries of the Districts. Further, Districts will:
- clear the way to take control of more of our assets,
- dilute the tax base,
- reduce the voting power for all the citizens,
- consolidate the voting blocks of those who wish to confiscate the most desirable and valuable areas in our city, and
- finalize the concept raised as far back as 1972 of, a “City within a City.
A clear example of these events is Midtown as part of Downtown. It is one of the choice areas of the City for Districts and is being populated by rewarding people to move into this area.
“NO” on CHARTER – PROPOSAL C
The sad and devastating part is that most of the general public is unaware of the politics that is changing our city, partly because the mainstream media has not provided accurate information to the public and special interest groups have more input into the structure of our city than the people of the city.
Have no doubt it is absolutely about money, power and greed. Again I stress: 1.) people will go to the polls and vote, 2.) votes will be counted and 3.) there will be official results. NOTE AND NOTE AGAIN, part of the demise of our great city with be, are the votes actually being counted properly?
Therefore, the only choice that I have is to Vote “NO” on Proposal C. I hope that this information helped in understanding the importance of voting “NO” on a proposal that was not to be brought to the people until 2018. This new charter is about control of the assets and a new regionalization ofDetroit.
Yours for a Better City!
Joyce Moore,
FormerDetroitCityCharter Revision Commissioner (1993-1996)
P.S.
BE PREPARED FOR A RECOUNT AND DISTRACTIONS!
F.Y.I.
To read both versions of the Charter, click on Detroit City Charter and on Revised City Charter for the Charter with revisions proposed.
To stay current with the issues of the city and hear the truth and accuracy of “WHAT’S GOING ON” go to http://voiceofdetroit.net, an on-line newspaper written by Diane Bukowski, a Detroiter and life-long, writer.
