By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
Under Dowagiac's 1964 charter, votes have been canvassed locally by a city board, which became an issue in last Tuesday's election.
City Clerk James Snow "checked with Lansing and was advised – we're not sure they're correct – but (the ruling) was that votes should be canvassed by the county. Based on what Jim was told, that's what happened," City Attorney Mark Westrate reported at Monday night's City Council meeting.
City results were certified by the Cass County Board of Canvassers – Rosemary Gillam, Tina VanBelle, Jackie Goodman and Margaret Stanley.
"You use that an as an example of the charter being outdated," Westrate said to Howard Hall. "I seriously doubt there's a charter anywhere that's been around longer than 10 or 15 years that is not in some respects outdated because of changes in state law.
"Unfortunately, you can't just go change the charter willy-nilly," Westrate said. "It requires a vote of the people. It requires a lot of work and, in my opinion, a lot of money for the city to hire someone to go through and flyspeck that charter to determine total compliance to state law.
"There is a savings provision in the charter that essentially says that if state law changes or the constitution changes, then that supersedes what the charter provides. One example is the state law passed regarding residency requirements," which are illegal.
"Before you can submit a charter to a vote of the people, you would have to get approval to do that," Westrate said. "That has to be vetted in Lansing. "We're talking, frankly, a very expensive process," Westrate said. "I'm not an elected official, but I certainly don't feel it's necessary. The charter's worked well for us for a lot of years – and I still think it's working well for us."
Addressing another question posed by Hall, about how a citizen can get something placed on the council agenda, Westrate said, "Under the charter, the city manager is charged with responsibility for preparing the agenda and it is in the discretion of the city manager what should be on the agenda. If a council person wants to move an additional item onto the agenda that the city manager has not opted to put on there, and you've seen it happen at council meetings, someone will make a motion, someone will second it and there will be a vote on whether or not to add it to the agenda. That's how items get on the agenda. They are put there by the city manager, in his or her discretion, or by vote of the council to add an item."
"What the city Web site should say is that anybody can request of the city manager or of their elected representatives that an item be placed on the agenda. If the city manger agrees, it goes on. If he or she doesn't, then if the council wants to put it on, the council can put it on."
Westrate administered an oath of office to Snow, re-elected Nov. 6 to continue in the city clerk's office he has held since 1983.
Snow in turn swore in Darron Murray and Lori Hunt in First Ward, Wayne Comstock in Second Ward and Dr. Charles Burling and Leon Laylin in Third Ward. Comstock was reappointed Mayor Pro Tem.
Snow also swore in Third Ward Constable Joseph Bercini, who is Michigan's longest-serving – since April 1963.
First Ward Constable McKinley Greer could not attend.
In other business, Interim City Manager Rozanne Scherr's salary as assistant city manager/human resources director was adjusted to $46,296 to reflect her 2.5-percent non-union raise effective Oct. 1, plus an additional 1 percent based on her year-end performance evaluation.