Scottville Commissioner Deering Earns an Early Summer Vacation

[XLFD]

At the regular meeting of the Scottville City Commission at 6 PM on Monday June 10, 2024, a bit of history was made.  When one looks at the agenda packet, one might think that the history may be the acceptance of the contract with the interim city manager, Clarence Goodlein, but let's be serious:  selecting an interim city manager is no big deal, it's a transitional thing.  

What was historic was the decision the commission made just after emerging from a closed session.  No, not immediately after, when they appointed a Parks & Recreation Board member, but just after that.  After a brief description by City Attorney Mark Nettleton of what the city charter said about absenteeism of commission members, and that Commissioner Al Deering had missed too many meetings over the last fiscal year, a motion was made and approved by the six other commissioners 4-2 to vacate the seat, as the city charter effectively mandated.  

Deering, who had made the meeting, had to do the 'walk of shame' right after the vote, situating himself in the audience and wisely staying his tongue during the public comment period that followed.  Like him or not, Deering had brought this dishonorable discharge on himself by missing over 25% of the bimonthly meetings with unexcused absences over this last year.  The city charter is rather unforgiving to commissioners who don't show up in section 6.3(c):

During most of this last fiscal year (which in Scottville is July 1- June 30 of successive calendar years) the commission has had few citizens coming to these meetings to notice that Deering has been absent, so one may wonder who originally discovered this.  That may go down as one of the biggest mysteries in Scottville history, but it's easy enough to confirm by looking over the meeting packets of the last year on the city website documents page.  When one does this, they find that former Commissioner Deering missed seven meetings over the last year, all unexcused:

September 11, 2023

October 9, 2023

October 23, 2023

December 4, 2023

January 22, 2024

February 12, 2024

April 24, 2024

Including the commissions two special meetings in March and May, and presuming he made the last June meeting, he would at best miss seven of 26 meetings, which is 27%.  The math and the charter combine to necessitate the vacancy of the office.  This undoubtedly was what was discussed in the closed session held before the vote, and Al Deering really has no one to blame but himself and a majority of commissioners who respect what the Scottville City Charter says.

The most troubling thing that arises from this forced dismissal of Deering, who was appointed and not elected to the position in the first place, was that two of the commissioners, Randy Wyman and Darcy Copenhaver, voted effectively against the city charter and never expressed why they did so.  

If there was ever a clearer vote to make, it would be to uphold the law as written in your own city charter.  Wyman and Copenhaver swore an oath to affirm the state constitution and the laws derived from that which allows for charter cities and the understanding that those who represent such cities follow their charter.  Voting against the dictates of your own charter and not giving any rationale for doing so indicates a bigger problem in their public servant persona, and another challenge for the rest of the commission to overcome when it comes time for them to select a replacement commissioner, which they can do in the next two regular meetings.

There is nothing in the charter prohibiting Al Deering from being chosen for the seat that was just vacated by him, so if he decides to put his name in for that seat, and nobody else does, he will be back in that chair.  So, if you live in the city of Scottville, meet all of the qualifications, and think that you can attend more meetings and offer a better perspective than Mr. Deering, send Scottville City Hall a letter of interest in the position.  Better days are ahead for the city.

[Willy]

I understand the City Charter gives the City C omission the right to send Deering packing and maybe that's a good thing, however i still do not think that's the way elected officials should be removed from office. I can see the removal if he was convicted of a serious crime. That would make sense. Otherwise, in my opinion, the recall method should be implemented and the voters who elected him should be the final say in his removal not a group of other elected officials who may have a political axe to grind.

[XLFD]

i agree that this is more of a technicality which could affect an otherwise good commissioner that has recurring health issues or a certain career that makes it difficult to make 75% of the meetings.  However, it's unequivocal in the charter and commissioners do have the responsibility of getting their absence excused and that excuse in the minutes if it is excusable, and there hasn't been that effort.

This did turn political, however, since if only one commissioner switched their vote and made it a 3-3 vote, they would be on record for voting against the charter rather than observe their duties in the same document.  Nothing prevents Al Deering from applying for the office he vacated or getting his name on the November ballot (there is still time in Scottville to do that).  If he applies for the seat and it is contested, it will be interesting to see how the odd coalition that voted to vacate his seat will vote.