Scottville City Commission, August 14, 2023: Quickening the Processes

[XLFD]

While a beleaguered Ludington councilor and mayor had prepared comments to glorify themselves and attack a person who would oppose their direction philosophically, a beleaguered Scottville councilor and mayor faced with the same nemesis decided it best to take the evening off. 

Is the dishonorable conduct of Councilor Darcy Copenhaver and Make-believe Mayor Marcy Spencer weighing heavy on their shoulders?  Spencer will appeal the results of the recall petition against her, affirmed at a clarity hearing, to the circuit court next Thursday (August 24th), Copenhaver (with Councilor Aaron Seiter and other unelected officials) may see her own day in court once a proper investigation into what happened in Scottville back in November 2022 is performed.  Being reminded of the illegitimacy and impropriety at each meeting is probably taking its toll on their consciences.

The only item of unfinished business on the Scottville agenda packet reflects the fear that those in charge have about having to be held accountable in the future for violating their covenant with the people of Scottville found in the city charter.  They have found out that their risk management insurance provided by MMRMA is insufficient when it comes to non-monetary claims against the City's corporate officers. 

They sought other insurers and found one that offers additional protection at about the same price as MMRMA, but in their discussions it was unclear whether this was some sort of supplement to the existing coverage or a replacement, but it appears that at least initially they need to have both in place-- neither the discussion that evening or the material in the packets would clarify the direction and or extra cost in the short term at least.

 Make-believe Mayor Marcy Spencer (left, seated) listens as Carlos Alvarado peddles his latest legal theory in her defense of a recall petition

As they would accept it this evening, one suspects they want the additional coverage immediately.  Will city leaders try to pay Marcy Spencer's legal bills while she fights against the recall?  Will they try to use it for affected officials should an investigation into last November's shenanigans reveal wrongdoing and conspiracy?  The City's determination to get this supplemental coverage at this point in time certainly suggest that.

In their defense, if this is used as replacement insurance it certainly looks like a better deal over MMRMA and perhaps the City of Ludington should look into this option.  Read the option offered by PGU, LLC offered in the packet beginning on page 32, and see whether you don't agree.  

During the first comment period, I was sorely tempted to speculate on their motives for looking into alternate defense/indemnity insurance at this point in time, but I figured it would be better to listen and pay attention to their actions and reactions.  I wasn't disappointed, but I noticed something else in the business of the meeting which needed to be addressed:

XLFD:  "I know from previous actions, that the city commission has very little regard for their own city charter, ignoring that document, and that the current city attorney from Grand Rapids shares that disrespect and does not know the difference between when to pass an ordinance and when to pass a resolution.  He also apparently doesn't know how to pass an ordinance in Scottville according to their laws.  Section 7.12 of the city charter says:  "Except in the case of ordinances which are declared to be emergency ordinances, no ordinance shall be finally passed by the Commission until one month after the meeting at which it is introduced. A brief description of the subject and contents of the ordinance as introduced shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the city at least one week before final passage."

The ordinance is not labeled as an emergency ordinance, nor should it be, but Ordinance 23-01 beginning on page 63 of your packets, indicates that it is supposed to be introduced for the first time and passed this very night.  It does so by noting that the ordinance was offered and supported at this meeting on August 14th and then at the end has a space for the vote totals and a statement that the ordinance is hereby adopted-- on this day.  

If you do such actions, you will go flagrantly afoul of the laws stated in the city charter.  Please reconsider this action and have the ordinance be introduced for first reading only." [END comment]

The recording of the meeting would start late due to the cameraman arriving slightly late:

To City Attorney Mark Nettleton's credit, I noticed just after my comment that he was talking with City Manager Jimmy Newkirk and they would later change their course of action and say that this was just for introduction of the ordinance and that it would be approved in September.  To his discredit, Nettleton should know the City's process of adopting ordinances after serving as Scottville city attorney for nearly a year, but this has been the first ordinance passed in that time.  It shouldn't have been, as when the City established boat parking fees at Riverside Park an ordinance was definitely called for, a point I made then.

And guess what?  That topic came back as another item of business.  Because they put signs up before they had any commission action done, then simply passed a resolution, sneaking it past the electors of the general electors of Scottville, any community discussion on what should be done was lost and several people were upset they were getting charged for parking at a place their taxes supported.  Current Scottville officials saw the controversy beach parking fees were generating in Ludington and decided to cowardly creep this fee onto their own people.  

The commission decided to look at various possibilities of tweaking the existing 'resolution', which is legally meaningless if you get ticketed for not paying, by sending it back to committee to look at ways of making it fairer to citizens and offer yearly rates.  Josh Henry of Henry's Landing attended with his wife and politely commented favorably at the end of the meeting on the city's amenities, the parking fees, and whether the city has any ideas on how to keep the area from being overly used for fishing.  

In other business, County Commissioner Steve Hull gave an update on county business that may affect Scottville, they went forward with looking for bids to repair parts of the parking lot in the City's main lot (serving businesses on the west side of South Main, the food truck area, Optimist Hall area, and the bank. 

As for my second comment, I created four different multicolored placards each having a section of the city charter on and used it to prove the legal point that Scottville has a make-believe mayor.  Other than the interactive visual aids it was not unlike the comment I made at the last meeting, and none of the assemblage decided to entertain why their mayor wasn't as illegitimate as I portrayed, simply because they can't, and they lack the integrity and cojones to support the City's own charter, which is effectively supporting the Michigan Constitution, which they have sworn a duty to uphold.  What a shame.