Conceived in Sin and Born in Corruption: The Illegal Interim City Manager Installation

[XLFD]

At the head of any meeting of the Ludington City Council, they pledge allegiance to the US flag, and "to the republic for which it stands".   America was set up as a constitutional republic back in the 18th century, meaning that the people elect their representatives in government which have powers, duties, and restrictions described by a written constitution or charter.  One can say that those who serve on municipal government bodies often have the hardest jobs to perform, as they have to act not only within the federal and state constitutions, but their city or township charters as well. 

Verily, when a Ludington public servant swears an oath to the state constitution in their oath of office, they are swearing an oath to uphold the city charter as state amendments to the Michigan constitution allow our cities a degree of autonomy if they abide by the Home Rule Cities Act and set up a charter that delineates municipal powers and duties of city officials much like our constitutions do for federal and state officials.  

At the June 10, 2024 Ludington City Council meeting, a couple of planned actions were taken that were not on the agenda (see Gnarled Oakes article).  3rd Ward Councilor Jeanne Oakes (pictured above) abruptly made a decision to resign in the middle of the meeting and just as abruptly, Mayor Mark Barnett would add his own item to the agenda about 10 minutes later, making clear what Councilor Ted May had indicated earlier:

"It's my honor to present the appointment of Ms. Jeanne Oakes as interim Ludington city manager to council tonight... It is my intention that Jeanne Oakes appointment would be effective immediately, that she would be compensated $6500 per month while acting as interim city manager, the appointment would be effective for a period up to six months and a written contract would be presented to council for its consideration at the June 24th meeting."

As noted in that article, the city charter's process for creating an interim city manager position was not satisfied, and suggested what could have happened instead to appoint someone to the created but temporary position:  have the first reading of an ordinance describing the proposed employment agreement introduced at the June 10th meeting, and then vote on it at the June 24th meeting.  

Instead, by a simple motion, Mayor Barnett with the city council acting as willing accomplices and with three attorneys strong (Hammersley, Councilors Terzano, and Bulger) looking on, immediately appointed and hired former-Councilor Oakes ten minutes after she resigned and without the rest of the council even accepting her resignation (the latter isn't required, but officially acknowledges the vacancy).   

In doing so, the council not only elevated Ms. Oakes salary from what was a pauperly $300/month to a princely $6500/month (a 2167% increase!) but also gave her a position where she lacks many qualifications the council had considered important in their prior interim manager search back in 2018.  Being the superintendent of ISDs more than 15 years ago is a far cry from managing a city in 2024, at the age of 75.   In contrast, the City of Scottville just hired an interim city manager named Clarence Goodlein, who has decades of experience in the field of managing cities and public safety departments. 

But the unethical back room deals made before Oakes got her new job is bad enough to make those looking on roll their eyes and maybe get a little queasy, what makes her appointment and her 22-fold wage increase less acceptable is that it directly violates another section of the charter that should disqualify her from the position as defined orally at the June 10th meeting and in the written employment agreement approved by the council on June 24 (see p. 492-7).  

That section is 6.6(a) and it describes a prohibition on elected city officials made to make it so that they aren't tempted to corruptly use the powers of their office to make themselves a lot of money-- for example, by a quick resignation of your councilor job so that you can make 2167% of what you were making as a councilor to accept a city position that your peers have just created out of thin air.  Remember, there is no interim city manager position in the charter, only an uncompensated acting city manager position.

A one-year break is required by city councilors before accepting employment with the City.  This is a standard anti-corruption addition to Michigan city charters, and you will find it in other states that allow for charter cities in their state constitutions.  For example, you will see language very similar in the charters of Bay City and Arcadia here in Michigan:

And plenty more throughout the country, such as this from the City of Marshall, MI and the

City of Springboro, OH, and Norcross, Georgia:

The only potential defense for Jeanne Oakes to keep her well-paid interim city manager position would be that the city charter ends that subsection using the language "elected to the council".  Recall, she was selected to the council as a replacement for Les Johnson's escape to the county board.  This is a purely semantical defense, as you can see the intent of the charter section is to prohibit the very real ethical quandary that is posed when somebody has a career advancement that is accomplished with back room deals with her peers who have the power to make it real and real profitable.  

For even if the City of Ludington decided in their corrupted thinking that this was allowed by the city charter, they would still have to deal with state law which establishes standards of conduct for public officers and says so explicitly in MCL 15.342(5):

"A public officer or employee shall not engage in a business transaction in which the public officer or employee may profit from his or her official position or authority or benefit financially from confidential information which the public officer or employee has obtained or may obtain by reason of that position or authority."  

Jeanne Oakes did just that, as witnessed by the intrigue that all can witness by watching the June 10th meeting and reading the personnel committee meeting notes of June 6 and June 10, the former keeping everyone in the dark of this mystery appointment:

The city council will need to repeal the contract they just approved with Ms. Oakes at their next meeting, they need to admonish Ms. Oakes for profiting from her position of authority-- to whit, by getting a 22-fold raise by scheming and machinating outside of the view of the public.  She needs to apologize to the people for violating the charter and state law as pertains to minimal standards of conduct.  Failing to do this will ruin her reputation and ruin any semblance of ethical conduct coming from Ludington City Hall during her illegal tenure.  

"Man is conceived in sin and born in corruption and he passeth from the stink of the didie to the stench of the shroud."  -- Robert Penn Warren

[Freedom Seeker]

If you, X, didn't check the Ludington City Council on these simple-to-comprehend laws, who would? Are we to believe that a city Councilor as educated and experienced as Jeanne Oakes has not read the 9th-grade level Ludington City Charter? It is not that long or complicated. It should be pre-requisite reading before any Councilor takes oath.

[XLFD]

All of those officials on the dais at council meetings, along with all those attending such as the assistant city manager, should have had a little voice pop up in their heads saying that something about this wasn't right-- even if they neglected to read and comprehend the rather small document known as the Ludington City Charter, that has remained the same over the last three decades spanning two millenia (except for two minor changes).  Ignorance of the charter seems to be part of the requisites for being a councilor.

It's there, however, in black and white and I can see them getting together after seeing this article and having the city attorney draft some kind of opinion that makes a claim that Ms. Oakes does not have to abide by this section of the charter because she was selected by councilors rather than elected by the people.  But even this flawed rationale is disputed by the minutes in which she was elected by the council, as those who ran for the spot were part of a voting process, as seen in the November 14 2023 meeting minutes:

[Freedom Seeker]

That's the trouble, X, the City attorneys probably at the direction of some corrupt official "rationalizing" (covering up) their wrong acts. Again and again. If they only did what wss RIGHT from the beginning they would not have to waste so much money in defending their wrong.

Until we get councilors/mayor/city manager who are ethical and not inclined to do wrong (and then cover up), we are in a spiral of corruption. Thanks again for all you do to fight this corruption.

[stump]

Not only the councilors be required to read the charter before taking the oath the city attorney should as well. No excuse for the city attorney to allow such a back door deal. Only shows that the attorney isn't earning his pay.

[Beenentrapped]

It should also be prerequisite reading/education that every officer be able to read our constitution, recite every amendment correctly and define it's meaning. They know nothing of why they have their jobs or their jobs purpose and intent.

[Willy]

This nonsense has taken place when 3 councilors are lawyers and 1 enforced the law. Add to that a rent a lawyer and that means this has got to be the lowest IQ average of any group of legal experts ever gathered in one place, Congress not included. This is the best Ludington citizens can elect to represent them? Ludington's Council is like the Biden Administration on steroids.

Excellent article X. Your investigative reporting is as good as it gets.

[XLFD]

Thanks, Willy, and we'll see how city hall handles this crisis of leadership.  I have a bad feeling that they will try the usual failed method of blaming me for pointing it out, rather than taking corrective action after admitting their ethical lapse.