Goodrich -Noise and attendance at village meetings are on the rise.
Nearly 60 residents and media crews packed the downtown Goodrich library community room Monday, where Vacate the Village members set up a table, asking for signatures to recall all five council members.
Approximately 20 residents approached the microphone with questions and statements, many questioning council actions, voicing dissatisfaction on issues such as paying for the new municipal complex or snow plowing services, or sparring with village attorney Tom McKenney.
Hawthorne Ridge resident Jerry Kaczperski spoke up in favor of dissolving the village.
‘When I bought my place, I thought it was in the township, not the village. I pay $860 a year in village taxes. As far as I’m concerned, I get nothing,? he said.
While some residents have made up their mind about dissolution and about a council-wide recall, a resident who felt ‘outnumbered? spoke in favor of keeping village government; others were searching for answers.
Discussion also centered on last month’s council meeting, in which the council went into closed session to discuss the legal opinion on dissolution petitions with McKenney.
McKenney rebutted a statement by Vacate the Village Secretary Cindy Hendry, who asserted the closed session was illegal.
Residents also accused McKenney of being antagonistic.
Targeting council members for not setting up a vote based on McKenney’s legal opinion–without seeing the opinion–suggests some residents are antagonizing council members, McKenney replied.
Residents asked for McKenney’s written opinion regarding the signed dissolution petitions presented last month to be published.
Copies of the opinion are available at the Village of Goodrich offices, now located at 7338 S. State Road across from Brown’s Do-it Center.
Since Goodrich is a Home Rule village operating under its own charter, McKenney didn’t recommend setting up a vote only for village residents. The charter doesn’t provide for township residents to have a vote, he said.
McKenney recommended the council work with the governor’s office on amending the charter, which residents would vote on.
The council reviewed a draft of the charter amendment, to adopt by reference provisions of the General Law Village Act, which was amended in 1998, since chartered villages aren’t allowed to operate under general law, unless general law is adopted into their own charters.
According to McKenney’s written opinion, the General Law Village Act provides:
‘No provision of this act shall apply or be construed as having heretofore applied to any village incorporated or reincorporated under Act No. 278 of the Public Acts of 1909, as amended, being Sections 78.1 to 78.28 of the Compiled Laws of 1948 (The Home Rule Village Act), unless specifically adopted by the electors as a part of its village charter.? MCL 61.1b.
Council members heeded McKenney’s advice last month, and are working on amending the charter (as outlined in ‘Council to amend charter?, Oct. 18, The Citizen).
The conclusion of McKenney’s written opinion, in its entirety, is as follows:
‘The Village of Goodrich has no obligation to conduct any election for disincorporation under the provisions of the General Law Village Act. Under the Charter for the Village of Goodrich, the Village Council may adopt a resolution by a majority vote to vacate the incorporation of the Village, precipitating a vote by the qualified electors in the Village as to whether the incorporation of the Village of Goodrich should be vacated. Such a vote by the Village Council, and the referendum on the issue of vacating the incorporation of the Village by the qualified electors may be of little or no legal consequence because of the impact of the vote on the residents of Atlas Township outside the boundaries of the Village of Goodrich.
‘At this juncture, the better procedure would be to update the Village Charter to incorporate the 1998 amendments to the General Law Village Act into the Village Charter providing for a vote on the disincorporation of the Village, pursuant to a petition requesting such a vote by not less than 15 percent of the registered electors of the Village. The amendment should parallel the statute in terms of requiring votes in both the Village and the Township. The closer the amendment parallels the statute, the more likely that the Governor’s Office will, through the office of the Michigan Attorney General, approve the amendment language for submission to the voters.?
The council is also considering an amendment allowing a minimum length of time between disincorporation attempts.
The council affirmed its intent to follow McKenney’s advice to let villagers vote on changing the charter, ultimately allowing township and village residents to vote on consolidation if another petition is then submitted.
Phil Jackson, who chairs the Vacate the Village committee, disagreed with the decision, and is joining other committee members in collecting recall petition signatures.
To get a recall on the ballot, 126 signatures on each council member are required, says Rob Coffman, Genesee County elections director.