At the April 10th City Commission Meeting. City Charter says "Power to the People ! " and "Vote Baby Vote !"

Agenda Item  6 ? It's cool baby. The Mayor Man asked the Dirk, the dude from the City Attorney Bill Hampton's office. Dirk rattled off the facts just we stated them in our post earlier in the day. Like Groovy. What ever the Commission cats want t to change, drop or  include, we vote on. Nobody wants a Charter Commission because that's heavy stuff. Commission chick McClure says she just wants to tidy up the charter you know, Chicks dig  a clean scene  but  we have to  do it like they says because that's the law. Some stuff we don't do even if the charter says we do because the state says otherwise, and the state rules. Other times the stuff  we do on Tuesday the charter says we do on Monday. So one we change and one we drop but each item get its spot on the ballot.Very Cool. But you can't have 79 or a zillion item ballot all at once because those folk in Lansing will wonder what we are smoking. Just be cool. A little here a little there.

Finding a ballot  now is like finding a taxi in the rain. We may have to grin and bear a grunge charter for a while. Sorry Sarah. The Mayor Man who was really digging the meeting's mellow vibes asked City Clerk chick AmyBurton  to put the stuff in Queen's English so  everybody could read it and then we will all  so shake rattle roll and bugaloo untill it all goes on a ballot.

The only Power Trip item was  something about a survey question, moving the election date and changing the terms of office.a which means a change in the Charter. Would that one have to stand in line or could it go to the head of class ? 

It would have to wait for a Taxi like everything else. 

Messin' with election date is a bad trip Bro. Check out the the elections dude in Lansing. He gives you a date and you don't get your old one back because you change your mind. Your just are up the creek without a paddle.We hear  the Man in Lansing is has so few election dates left he is giving therm out at two year interviews.
You'd  get August in odd years only. Means a Cat in the City has to vote every other year. Not Annually.

We say Power to the People ! The People own the charter. Change it only with the permission of the people. We say the people own the the right to vote and annually. We dig that the Man in Lansing likes his ducks in a row but we are Home Rule Cats and we have a say in the matter. An annual election means two year terms which means the people rule. Dudes in office  like long terms. Say they need the time to get their head together. We say short terms give the people the power to get rid of Head trips quick.School board cats  and chicks get six year terms. Then the  Folks get uptight  enough to want to impeach. Definitely not cool. Two is Cool.

The Michigan State motto says if "You dig a cool scene, check out what is coming down around you". Like right now it is Spring and Election time in the city. Three Cats and two chicks are running forCity Commission the only elected office in town. Like Right On ! And they are writing to you ! In Case you missed it You got a card from Connie and Sarah. Then Sarah sent you a letter.You got a piece from John and Michael . It was in color but it wasn't mailed.You haven't got anything from Mark as yet  but he says he's working on it. Point is they are talking to you about the future of the ville which totally cool. It happens every Spring like baseball and Spring Flowers. Change that to the dog days of August and  the combined campaign advertising expenditures  of Connie, John, Mark, Michael, and Sarah  will be a third of  the expenditures of  one relatively minor candidate running county wide in a primary. Go National in the gales of  November and the factor  will be 100 to 1 and unless your hip to the scene and  can flip fast to the back of a ballot you may not even know there is a city election. Definitely a bad scene out of a bad trip.

The Charter says the the commissioners must elect a Mayor with in seven days after the City Election. Is it better for the head or the pysche better to start a new Mayor and new commission weeks before Labor Day when many are still vacation ? A Bummer man. How about November when people are thinking about the Holidays and the Motto of many things requiring initiative  is "Call us after the first of the year." Bums you
out !  How about now where flowers are in bloom and their scent fills the air and it's so nice outside that residents have even been known to  stroll to City Hall and tale in a City commission  meeting. How Cool is that bro !

Flower Power ! Don't underestimated it ! Power to the People ! Vote Baby Vote ! Once a Year ! Every Year for the City Comishs ! Peace.

Tonight's Planning Commission Meeting. Round Three of Public Hearing on the Woodlands Tree Ordinance.

This afternoon's 4pm Planning Commission Meeting Agenda Packet

Latest Draft of 11 page Tree Ordinance

Since the beginning of the year the Planning Commission has had only one other Agenda Item besides the Tree Ordinance. By contrast the Zoning Board of Appeals which  meets only when there are appeals  that constitute agenda items has had two.

The April meeting will  conclude the first third of  the calendar year .  In 2011, by the end of the April Meeting  The Planning Commission had worked it's way through 20 Agenda items which include the the approval of prior meeting minutes. In 2012 the Commission with one less meeting (do to lack of agenda items) will by the end of the April Meeting have worked it's way through 7 agenda  including minute approvals.

In addition uncertainty  over the Planning Commissions meeting schedule has delayed the free of charge and highly regarded training program City Consultants LSL put on for the approximately twenty members of the Planning Commission and the Zoning Board of Appeals.

The Agenda Packet for tonight's meeting includes specific and  new information about the Woodland Ordinance including the latest draft of the ordinance which has been reduced in size to slightly more than ten pages. Also included is a letter in regards to  conversations between the Planning Commission and the Golf courses concerning the ordinance.

If the it is decided to vote on the Ordinance  tonight and the motion passes.; It will go City Commission where another public hearing will be held. Whether that could be an Agenda for the May 18th City Commission Meeting is yet to be determined.

Tonight's City Commission Meeting. The Charter and Who Decides. Agenda Item #6 .

For Tonight's 7:30 pm Meeting  Agenda Packet Click Here


Agenda Item #6

First it should be noted that the City's Charter, in the State of Michigan belongs to the People and can only be changed by the people. The topic first came up at the February 14th City Commission. The minutes of that meeting reported that...

When City commission was asked in February to "consider a possible Charter Commission to update the various sections of the Charter that are outdated a nuclear solution was suggested.. That is because a Charter Commission is employed  only when when a very major or perhaps total  Charter overall is deemed necessary. Then the existing government, all elected officials, all appointed officials, and the city employees are removed from the process. The Citizens on their own elect a charter commission from  their own. No active Government officials elected, appointed or employed may participate. The process of arriving at a significantly new or revised charter is arduous, fraught, and may require a period of time as long as eighteen months. Then it must be approved by the Governor and Attorney General of the State.

Is this what City Commission is requesting ? Mayor Zambricki  per the above minutes requested a an  "inventory of of sections of the City Charter that are obsolete. That inventory which consists of a page and a half of items appears in tonight's agenda package and is reproduced below.

To submit a page and a half of unclear items that often reference other documents that are not available to the reader is insulting to the reader. To use such  as  a focal point of  discussion  on topics that effect the rights of  the people is an indication that the Commission does not understand the importance of the Charter or the rights of it's citizens.

While the commission may discuss what ever it chooses it  can not change the charter without the approval of the people.

To "update " various sections that are considered "outdated" , the people of the City   must approve or disapprove  amendments suggested by the commission.  The approval process requires every amendment suggested be listed and voted on  Usually there is a 60 day time limit to put on the  ballot "suggestions" that come from a legislative body.

One might  argue that these points are so insignificant that  as" a convenience to residents and to reduce costs " the commission just go ahead and on it's own change the charter. Why make a fuss over something so minor ?  That is just it. They are minor. In regards to Charters the State of Michigan is quite specific  about who has the power to do what. It says the people not the City Commission  make all decisions major or minor regarding the Charter.
An ambitious City Commission could conceivably use  points so minor that no "reasonable " person  could "possibly "object to test the knowledge and will of the people.

Power in Government is a continually shifting thing. The point of a Charter or a Constitution is to balance that power. Our charter gives the resident only two powers. The right vote and the right to approve charter changes.  Allowing City Commission to change the charter no matter how minor would forfeit half the rights the people now enjoy. 

Consider the plight of Congress which according to the the Constitution has the right to to declare war.

 The last American President to ask Congress for a Declaration of War was Franklin Roosevelt in 1941. Since then vague terms like a Police Action in Korea,  or ad hoc resolutions like the Gulf of Tonkin  Resolution in Vietnam have allowed the President to act as he saw fit. The Congress did attempt to
re-establish some control with The War Powers Act. Wikipedia  tell us .....

The War Powers Resolution requires the President to notify Congress within 48 hours of committing armed forces to military action and forbids armed forces from remaining for more than 60 days, with a further 30 day withdrawal period, without an authorization of the use of military force or a declaration of war. The resolution was passed by two-thirds of Congress, overriding a presidential veto.
The War Powers Resolution was disregarded by President Clinton in 1999, during the bombing campaign in Kosovo, and again by President Obama in 2011, when he did not seek congressional approval enforce to a U.N. no-fly zone over Libya. He argued that the Resolution did not apply to that action.^[2] All presidents since 1973 have declared their belief that the act is unconstitutional. ^[3][4]

Incidentally matters concerning the legality of an act per the Constitution are determined by the The U.S. Supreme Court not the President. Thus the concept of an  Imperial Presidency

In the State of Michigan Charter changes regardless of how small or seeming insignificant  must be presented as Charter amendments must  voted on by the people. The first step would be to replace the short hand below with clear language.

Baldwin New Titles 4/3/2012

The Lost Years  by Mary Higgins Clark:  Biblical scholar Jonathan Lyons believes he has found the rarest of parchments – a letter that may have been written by Jesus Christ. Now, under the promise of secrecy, Jonathan is able to confirm his findings with several other experts. But he also confides in a family friend his suspicion that someone he once trusted wants to sell the parchment and cash in. Within days Jonathan is found shot to death in his study. At the same time, his wife, Kathleen, who is suffering from Alzheimer's, is found hiding in the study closet, incoherent and clutching the murder weapon. Even in her dementia, Kathleen has known that her husband was carrying on a long-term affair. Did Kathleen kill her husband in a jealous rage, as the police contend? Or is his death tied to the larger question: Who has possession of the priceless parchment that has now gone missing?  Check Availability

The Beginner’s Goodbye by Anne Tyler: Anne Tyler’s new novel explores how a middle-aged man, ripped apart by the death of his wife, is gradually restored by her frequent appearances – in their house, on the roadway, in the market. Crippled in his right arm and leg, Aaron has spent his childhood fending off a sister who wants to manage him. So when he meets Dorothy, a plain, outspoken, independent young woman, she is like a breath of fresh air. Unhesitatingly, he marries her, and they have a relatively happy, unremarkable marriage. But when a tree crashes into their house and Dorothy is killed, Aaron feels as though he has been erased forever. Only Dorothy's unexpected appearances from the dead help him to live in the moment and to find some peace. Gradually he discovers, as he works in the family's vanity-publishing business, turning out titles that presume to guide beginners through the trials of life, that maybe for this beginner there is a way of saying goodbye.  Check Availability

Death Comes Silently by Carolyn G. Hart:  When her fellow charity shop volunteer Gretchen Burkholt is murdered, Dead on Demand Mystery shop owner Annie Darling enlists the help of her husband, Max, to piece together a puzzle involving an overturned kayak, a stolen motorboat, a troubled love affair, and a reckless teenager. Check Availability 

War Horse (DVD): Set against a sweeping canvas of rural England and Europe during the First World War, begins with the remarkable friendship between a horse named Joey and a young man called Albert, who tames and trains him. When they are forcefully parted, the film follows the extraordinary journey of the horse as he moves through the war, changing and inspiring the lives of all those he meets; British cavalry, German soldiers, and a French farmer and his granddaughter. Check availability

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We Bought a Zoo (DVD): This film adaptation of a memoir by Benjamin Mee tells the true account of how the author and his family used their life savings to buy a dilapidated zoo, replete with 200 exotic animals facing destruction, in the English countryside.  Mee, along with his children, had to balance caring for his wife, who was dying of brain cancer, with dealing with escaped tigers, raising endangered animals, working with an eclectic skeleton crew and readying the zoo for a reopening. Check Availability