© 2024 WEMU
Serving Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County, MI
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Outgoing Ypsilanti Mayor Urges 'No' Vote On Two Charter Amendment Proposals

Bob Eccles

Ypsilanti voters will decide a total of 10 proposed amendments to the city charter on November 4th, and outgoing Mayor Paul Schreiber hopes they'll reject two of them.

   
Proposal I would give city council the power to remove appointees to board and commissions with a two-thirds majority vote. 

Mayor Schreiber says those decisions are best left to the Mayor.

"The Mayor is the person that goes and recruits these people, really has to pay attention to the make-up of the board," Schreiber says. "So I think if there's an issue with a board or commission the Mayor is the one that's best equipped to understand the dynamics of what's going on on the board an if a termination is required."

Council member Brian Robb says having this tool available will help government operate better.

"Recently we had a big fight over the quality of the appointments on the Housing Commission," Robb says, "and I think it was very necessary for us to remove people, and it was very difficult to get that process done without this amendment."

Mayor Schreiber also opposed Proposal A, which would eliminate the automatic review of the city charter every 16 years. 

He says it's good to have periodic review to, among other things, make sure the city charter is consistent with changes in state law. 

Robb describes that issue as a "red herring." 

He says council can put charter amendments on the ballot any time it wants to.