Mayor Miller's First Effort

[XLFD]

Today was the first city council meeting that new Ludington Mayor Steve Miller has presided over.  Miller has resolved to fix some of the bad perceptions many people have of the Ludington city government, he said so in today's opinion page in the local paper (click to magnify):

Miller pledges for him and his fellow officials to give us the best of his ability, before besieging us with paragraphs where he tells us how attentive, self-sacrificing, and underappreciated our public officials and employees really are.  He finishes his weekly presentation by emphasizing his goal of widening the avenues of communication between city hall and Joe Citizen, who can realize their potential through involvement on city boards and running for office, like he did.

Oddly, he seemed to believe that it takes a week of work to prepare for today's meeting, a rather simple Committee of the Whole (COTW) meeting where the city council was scheduled to have two tasks:  to review the 37 candidates for the open city manager position, and set goals for 2019. 

In COTW meetings, the task is to deliberate over issues but withhold any final vote over those issues for a later 'regular' meeting; but they are official meetings of the city council regulated by the Open Meetings Act (OMA).

So it was a bit surprising that in a new mayoral regime that has given plenty of lip service and spilled plenty of ink suggesting that it will prize communication between officials and citizens, that the very first vote made was for the COTW to go into closed session to discuss who the next administrative leader of the city should be using their metrics without any citizens invited to watch and contribute.  

And that such a vote came after giving the public no ability to comment until after the business was done.  Look at the agenda, the public was given no right to speak before the two plus hours they took to review the 37 candidates, nor during the goal setting session, only at the end when there was nobody but city officials around.

Mayor Miller needs to back his rhetoric with action.  If you seriously want regular people to attend COTW meetings and don't let them speak until after the business has already happened, it won't happen.  The former mayor recently affirmed that the policy for city council meetings allowed for 3 minutes of comment at the beginning of the meeting, and 2 minutes at the end.  The COTW meetings of the city council over the last year has never allowed that.  It's a violation of their own policy and inhibitive of open communication that Miller supposedly champions.

Likewise, a city manager search can be held outside of closed session and protect a candidate's confidentiality, if they desire to have such.  The purposes for closed sessions are all permissive, so had the new council and the new mayor really wanted to open communications, they could have preserved the confidentiality-requesting candidate's wishes by assigning them a number and substituting other potentially identifying characteristics by equivalents supplied by the candidate.  Such as substituting a city's name with "a Michigan city with approximately 'n' population".

In a pool of 37 candidates, it would be instructive to see which candidates rose to the top and why, but the public is out of the loop.  What did happen was that the 37 candidates was reduced to three when the meeting opened again, and a special meeting was set on January 24 at 4 PM where the three will be interviewed in open session.  

The goal session discussed a couple of topics involving looking at revisions of the city charter and whether the splash pad was a good fit in Copeyon Park.  The city council will meet for its first regular meeting on Monday, January 14, let's hope we can get a better effort for bridging the gap between officials and citizens and eventually validate Miller's capabilities and leadership skills.

[AQUAMAN]

Steve's so-called "pledge statement" appears more like something he copied from a book, rather that something that came from his own mind and heart. Same goes for an earlier statement he made on FB CLL forum recently. Going into a (COTW) immediately for the simple interviews of a City Mgr. also is Not Transparent in any shape, way, or form. It's a continuation of what the recent 3-4 Mayors have also done, and not necessary nor positive for locals. It clearly serves the purpose of alienating the public, just the opposite of what his "pledge of the best of his ability" says he stands behind, sad, and disgusting carry-over of the sameo sameo.

[Willy]

Steve Miller  is either clearly clueless or is just another bullsh_tter. On  one hand he praises the Council, boards, etc, and on the other hand he claims he will  "widen the avenues of communication into an out of City Hall" and he "will be prepared to meet any citizen who wanted to present their questions". Where has he been these past years when the "council" acted in illegal and unethical ways and absolutely operated out of view of the citizens, running up huge attorney fees trying to hide information. Holy crap Miller either open your eyes and be honest or explain why your ignorance about what has been going on has been posted in the most biased, leftist, propaganda news paper this side of Russia. Mr. Miller, please don't mistake Ludington citizens for idiots and please stop with the a_s kissing BS.

Thanks for the post X. According to Miller he should be opening his office to any and all of your concerns. That must mean you won't be asked to be seated if you exceed your time limit at the Council meetings because he wants to hear what you have to say. I can guarantee you that as soon as those sneaks at CIty Hall are finished whispering in his ears about you, his door will be locked and his phone will be turned off.

[AQUAMAN]

You are probably right about your last statements here Willy. Steve Miller moved to Detroit shortly after LHS graduation, and lived there for 40 years. His return to Lud. just came about the last 3 years or so, that's why he's totally out of the inside loop around here. He seems to greatly praise and approve the status-quo for now at least, and I figure into the far future also.

[Willy]

Thanks AQUAMAN. I may have been prematurely critical of Mr. Miller in assuming he had been knowledgeable of the conduct of City Hall. I am willing to give him a chance to help turn things around and to prove me wrong. I hope he was being honest about an open Mayoral office and listening to citizens concerns. My apologies Mr. Miller. Although I am anxious to see how he treats X's concerns regarding how City Hall conducts it's business.

[XLFD]

And there's a little more controversy about this meeting, some of which I am checking on to see whether the 'open communication era' is real or not.  Apparently the MCP editor, Rob Alway, got ahold of Jeff Mueller's memo to the councilors (don't know his source) and noticed that a few things looked screwy, in this article he writes (much to my amazement, though I had planned on checking to see whether all 37 candidates had claimed confidentiality):   

"The council may have violated the Michigan Open Meetings Act by going into closed session, and then discussing the applications in closed session.
The OMA states under Section 8 (5) [LT Editor's note:  actually section 8(f)] that a public body may meet in a closed session “to review and consider the contents of an application for employment or appointment to a public office if the candidate requests that the application remain confidential. However, all interviews by a public body for employment or appointment to a public office shall be held in an open meeting pursuant to this act.”
Interim City Manager Steve Brock said prior to the interviews that the MML had stated that if one candidate had requested confidently then it would be OK for the council to review all applications in closed session. He did not state if all the applicants had requested confidentially. Instructions from MML facilitator Jeff Mueller obtained by MCP stated “Since some applicants requested confidentially, in accordance with Michigan law, the discussion we have will need to occur in a closed session. Your agenda for that afternoon’s meeting should contain an item requesting your vote to move into closed session to discuss potential candidates for interviews who have requested confidentially.”
According to Michigan Press Association general council Robin Luce-Herrmann, the OMA is very specific that the determination must be made based on each separate application. Luce-Herrmann said if all of the candidates requested confidentiality then all could be considered in closed session, but the applications of any candidates who did not request confidentiality should be reviewed in open session.
The council may have further violated OMA by deliberating on which applicants would be interviewed in closed session. If the candidate requests confidentially, the OMA is very specific that the council may only “review and consider” the contents of an application. Here, the council spent 2 hours, 15 minutes in closed session and then resumed the open session with a list of candidates to interview already determined though not yet formally voted on, which strongly suggests the council did more than “review and consider”, another likely violation of OMA.
Mayor Steve Miller said the council did not hold any discussion about the applications in open session at the instruction of the MML facilitator. Mueller’s advice that the council go into closed session to “discuss potential candidates for interviews” is clearly a violation, since the law allows only review and consideration of applications where the applicant requests confidentiality.
Clerk Luskin said the city currently does not have the names of the applicants who have applied for the position.
Mueller’s memo also stated to the council “…to continue to honor the law’s requirement for confidentiality, I will retrieve the screening report and resumes before the meeting ends so they will not remain in your possession and, therefore, be subjected to request under FOIA. Remember, too, that because we are discussing confidential candidates in a closed session, no information about that session can be shared in any way outside the meeting.”
Luce-Herrmann said that the law does not require confidentiality, it merely allows a limited closed session to review applications where the applicant requests confidentiality; and that there is nothing in the law to prevent telling candidates that applications will be public. She also noted that a public record is not limited to a writing in the physical possession of the public body, it includes a writing used by the public body in the performance of an official function, and thus the materials are subject to FOIA."

I have a FOIA asking for the applications, any confidentiality forms, and correspondence between the city and Mueller.  If I get refused, I just may visit Steve Miller during his office hours to find out why.

[Willy]

Interesting article by Mr. Alway. Thanks for posting it X.

[stump]

I would think that a person applying for a city manager job would not be the average Joe. He/she probably would at present have a good job in that field and would rather not at this time let it be known that there out there looking to either bail out for some reason or change jobs. Thus the confidentiality.  After it is narrowed down to the top contenders, let it be known who might be the new manager. Maybe Shay is back LOL.

[AQUAMAN]

I partially see your confidentiality point stump but consider this. Shay also was looking for another job, and the entire town knew about it regardless of him trying to keep it secret. He took time off from his job to go for interviews. He also must have talked about the change with his family, and since when can others, esp. kids, keep secrets? Wife and her friends too no doubt also talk. So, that confidentiality theme is pretty weak imho in reality. The COL is again continuing in non-transparency agendas, and this will never change unless they start following OMA law and rules, and they should be litigated for doing this again and again without repurcussions, (sp)?

[Freedom Seeker]

I am going to hold a majority of my gut feelings about Steve Miller and hope for an honest leadership that considers the taxpayers and building the infrastructure and working to get out of debt but so far it doesn't seem that goal has even been mentioned.  

Steve Miller, upon his return to Ludington quickly served in the inner circle of the DDA and that seems, imo, is where citizens get left with the short toothpick.  Our "paradise" is being overdeveloped.   Downtown growth versus infrastructure repair, citizen needs versus tourist parties that cost the taxpayer in DPW salaries and downtown development which give tax breaks for the businesses. Miller's words, "long-lasting paradigm change" and "continue to steer our paradise toward growth and greater prosperity" as almost the most important part of the "solemn vow" will be some words to consider and watch develop.

I fear Miller is another one coming back from the big city to change our little paradise.  If they LOVE Ludington so much, why must they come back and change it so much?  Meanwhile in all this change from another Detroiter returning and controlling the reigns, our infrastructure was neglected so badly that we now have way over $50 million in infrastructure debt alone, with much more work to be done, our streets are bad in many places and our water and taxes rates just keep going up to pay high city salaries and we get very little in return unless you like beer parties and want to fight the crowds to go downtown.

Good point about letting the people be heard, X, with no comment period before 2 1/2 of closed session.

[XLFD]

The three finalists for the Ludington City Manager position has been announced.  These were the best of the 37:  The candidates include: James Van Ess, supervisor of Tallmadge Charter Township in Ottawa County, Patrick Reagan, city manager of Crystal Falls, and Mitchell Foster, village administrator of Winneconne, Wisc. 

Van Ess has been Tallmadge Township supervisor since 2005. He received a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management from Ferris State University.
Reagan has been city manager of Crystal Falls since 2016. Reagan, who is from Muskegon, worked in Iron Mountain in 2008 as a Downtown Development Authority director and Main Street manager. He also worked at city as interim city manager and Downtown Development Authority director in Portland.
Foster has been village administrator of Winneconne, Wisc. since 2015. From 2013 to 2015 he was Kingsley, Michigan’s village manager. He received a master’s degree in public administration along with a bachelor’s degree in political science and government from the University of Nevado-Reno. He is from Big Rapids.

[shinblind]

This is easy for me to decide.

                                   Winneconne WI     Tallmadge  Crystal Falls   Ludington

 Median family income.        $53,477           $65,086          $35,000       $36,333                                      

% below the poverty line        03.04%             03.04%             10.4%          16.3%        

The one closest to Ludington's demographics is the dude from Crystal Falls.  By the nature of the similarities between Ludington and Crystal Falls, he should come into the job with an empathy for what the local Ludington citizens are dealing with. The other two CM candidates who ruled over citizens with about $20,000 more disposable income and a low poverty rate will be coming into the job without a clue as to what the locals are dealing with financially.

Personally I would like to ask the 3 candidates what would be the lowest salary and benefits that they would be able to accept for compensation. That and if they have a clue how to handle the local debt burden.

Data is from WIKI derived from the census bureau.