Macomb County Circuit Court Judge Joseph Toia listens to both sides in the combined Warren City Council and Ronald Papandrea v. Sonja Buffa and the Warren Election Commission case.
By: Gena Johnson | Warren Weekly | Published March 31, 2023
WARREN — Macomb County Circuit Court Judge Joseph Toia ruled in his written opinion and order on March 23 that Warren Mayor James Fouts can stay on the ballot and run for mayor for an unprecedented fifth four-year term.
This was the decision in the combined cases of the Warren City Council and Ronald J. Papandrea vs. Sonja Buffa and The City of Warren Election Commission.
The judge’s opinion resulted from the omission of specific words on the “Proposal” section of the 2020 ballot and the amended Warren city charter. These words were “any terms or years served prior to this amendment are included.”
In 2020, Warren residents voted to amend the term limits of the mayor to reflect the term limits of other elected officials in Warren city government to the greater of three complete terms or 12 years in that office. This was after a 2016 election where voters extended only the mayor’s term limits to five terms or 20 years.
According to Toia, the confusion stemmed from unclear and omitted language.
“Rather, the evidence presented demonstrates that the ballot language and Charter are not clear on whether previous terms served are counted towards the current term limits,” Toia wrote in his opinion.
“‘Any terms or years served prior to this amendment are included’ language was included on the ballot’s explanatory caption, but was not included on the ‘Proposal’ section on the ballot or in the amended Charter,” Toia wrote.
In court, the judge explained the “Proposal” section of the ballot as the section where voters vote, yes or no.
In further support of his decision, Toia wrote, “The language ‘any terms or years served prior to this amendment’ are included in previous ‘Proposal’ sections.’”
The judge also said, “This is especially troubling considering Plaintiff (the Warren City Council) previously included similar limiting language regarding prior terms served on the ballot proposal and in the amended Charter language in 1998, but failed to do so with the 2020 amendment and Charter language at issue here. Specifically, as laid out above, the following language was included on the 1998 ballot proposal and in the amended Charter: ‘[t]his provision shall be applied to commence with the term of office that took effect after the election on November 7, 1995.’”
“This language was removed in 2016,” the judge wrote. “No similar language regarding prior terms served was included in the 2020 ballot ‘Proposal’ section or Charter language.”
Attorney Jeffrey Schroder, representing the plaintiff, the Warren City Council, said, “The City Council will be appealing this ruling because 41,000 voters, 67.8%, approved equal term limits for all offices and the ballot language stated ‘any terms or years served prior to this amendment are included.’ We believe that the voters knew exactly what they were doing when they voted for this.”
Longtime Warren resident Lori Harris was present in the courtroom during the oral arguments.
Harris said, “The voters knew what they were voting for. We don’t want the mayor to have another term in office.”
Also present in the courtroom were supporters of the mayor.
“We want him back in. He’s the best mayor. He is the only mayor that ever created diversity amongst the executive positions and he’s been very fair. And we want him back in,” said Jerry Tommie Bell, who identified himself as “an advocate for the city of Warren.”
Attorney Lawrence Garcia, representing the defense, Sonja Buffa and the Warren Election Commission, said, “I am pleased with the decision and I am also glad for the fact I understand the reasoning behind it.”
Although the mayor was not a named defendant, this decision has a direct impact on his potential tenure as mayor.
“It is a victory not for me but for the residents of Warren and the rule of law. It ensures the voters will have a choice,” said Fouts. “Had I been prevented from running (for mayor) the only choice left with name identification, incumbency and financial backing would have been Pat Green. And Pat Green is the one who tried to take me off the ballot and came up with this proposal.”
Pat Green is currently the Warren City Council’s president who received the most at-large votes, making him the mayor pro tem. He announced his mayoral run in December.
Green said most Warren residents support equal term limits.
“Coming up with an idea that is supported by (nearly) 70% or 41,000 of the residents, I think that’s the residents’ proposal,” said Green. “It’s a referendum.”
Also running for Warren mayor at press time on March 30 were Macomb County Commissioner Michelle Nard, D-District 12; Warren City Councilman Ron Papandrea; and state Rep. Lori Stone, D-Warren.