“The Charter is like our Bible, our Constitution”
By Diane Bukowski
Michigan Citizen
DETROIT — A group of citizens claim that charter revision represents an imminent danger to the human rights of Detroiters.
Joyce Moore, a former Charter Commissioner, Carl Williams, Sandra Howard, and Hassan Aleem sued to overturn the May 5 election when less than 25 percent of registered voters approved the charter revision.
The group contends that the question should not have been on the ballot according to Charter and state-law provisions.
On June 26, the plaintiffs argued before Wayne County Circuit Court Chief Judge Virgil Smith that the Charter mandates the next Charter Commission election must be held in the gubernatorial election year of 2018 at the same time voters consider the revision question. Both city and state law allow exceptions, but state law expressly defers to the city’s charter provisions, the plaintiffs say.
“The Charter is like our Bible and our Constitution,” Williams said. “Many people are not aware of what is in it. It’s against the Charter to sell the Water Department and Transportation Department, or parts of them, without a vote of the people. The Charter says only the Council can sell other city property, like Cobo Hall. The Charter guarantees us Home Rule. Some forces want to open up the Charter now so they can get in there and strip us of our rights and our property. This is a violation not only of our legal rights, but our human rights.”
Williams is a life-long Detroiter and retiree who works with Hood Research and a watch-dog organization formed during the last charter revision process in 1994-97.
Judge Smith denied the group’s pleadings June 26 and ruled against their motion for reconsideration Aug. 7, giving no analysis of the legal issues.
Williams said, however, that the plaintiffs plan to file a motion for relief from judgment and if not successful, to appeal the case. Smith did not return a call for comment on his ruling.
The defendants are the City of Detroit, Mayor (at the time the case was filed) Kenneth Cockrel, Jr., the City Council, City Clerk Janice Winfrey and Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land. Cockrel, Jr. and Councilman Kwame Kenyatta, sponsor of the Council resolution which put the election on the ballot. None had returned calls for comment before press time.
City Clerk Janice Winfrey earlier responded to an article in The Michigan Citizen “Charter Election Illegal?” (MC 5/31/09).
“As Chair of the Detroit Election Commission, I assure your readers that we did our due diligence prior to approving the placement of this question on the ballot, thus leading to the election of candidates for the Detroit Charter Commission on August 4, 2009,” Winfrey said. She said the City Council Research and Analysis Division (RAD) and the Law Department approved language for the City Council resolution placing the issue on the ballot. The resolution passed 6-2 in February.
“Over the course of the last 12 years, the need for substantial change in several sections of the Detroit City Charter has become apparent and the nature of the concerns raised may require changes in the structure of City of Detroit government, which cannot be accomplished through amendment of the charter, but only through a revision,” the resolution said in part.
Among issues some revision proponents have raised are changes to the Council’s power to remove city officials like the Mayor, and institution of council-by-district government. Opponents have said such issues can be addressed individually through ballot amendments and ordinances.
Williams believes Smith handled the case improperly. Although the defendants’ attorneys did not appear at the June 26 hearing, Smith denied the plaintiff’s claims. The city excused their non-appearance, saying that they had been informed by the Court Clerk that the hearing was to be held in a different courtroom.
Assistant Attorney General Joseph Pittel argued on behalf of the secretary of state that the plaintiffs did not show a likelihood of prevailing or clearly state their claims, and that Land is not a proper party in the matter, among other issues
Former Charter Commissioner Joyce Moore is now a candidate for City Clerk, facing off with Winfrey in November.
“We need time to educate the people on the issues,” Moore said. “Charter Commissioners can do whatever they want to the entire government structure. That can be positive like reinstituting alley trash pick-ups, getting rid of the trash fee, and changing the deadline for property tax foreclosure from two years back to three years. They can put a stop to privatization, which provides less service for the same taxes because of company profits. But they can also damage our city through regionalization and other efforts.”
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