Five proposals offer chance to amend Madison Heights charter

MADISON HEIGHTS — Madison Heights residents will have a rare opportunity Nov. 7 to amend elements of the city charter, deciding how vacancies and resignations are handled, how often meetings are held, and even whether council members can stay in office while running for mayor.

“When something is in our charter, the only way to change it is by a vote of the people,” said Mark Bliss, the mayor pro tem. “I think this is a great opportunity for our residents to have a say in updating language that is decades old, in some case even since the origin of the city.”

According to Cheryl Rottmann, the city clerk and deputy city manager, all five proposals were recommended by a citizen-led charter amendment study group.

“These proposals were all suggested as ways to improve the administration of the city government,” Rottmann said via email. “It is the citizens who decide how to best administer the rules that govern the city charter, and streamline or change how their government works.”

 

Proposal 1
Proposal 1 will decide how the mayor pro tem is appointed. The mayor pro tem is the council member who fills in for the mayor when needed.

Currently, the mayor and council vote on the mayor pro tem at their first meeting after a mayoral election. But if approved, Proposal 1 would change the rules so that the council member with the highest number of votes in the last regular city election becomes the new mayor pro tem and serves for the next two years.

If approved, Proposal 1 would first take effect during the regular city election in 2025. It has been unchanged since 1985.

 

Proposal 2
Proposal 2 is about who can run for elected office in Madison Heights. Currently, a member of the Madison Heights City Council must resign their elected office prior to running for mayor in the city. Likewise, if a person already holds elected office for the state, county or another city, they must resign from their elected office before running for office in Madison Heights.

If approved, Proposal 2 would change that so candidates can remain in their current offices while they campaign, and they would only be required to resign from those offices once they’re elected in Madison Heights.

Proposal 2, if approved, would take effect during the regular city election in 2025. This was last amended in 1961.

 

Proposal 3
Proposal 3 decides how resignations are handled. Currently, when an elected official or an appointed board member resigns, the council must accept or reject the resignation at its meeting.

If approved, Proposal 3 would change the rules so that the council only handles resignations for its own members, including the mayor, while the resignations of appointed board members and commission members would be handled by the city’s administrative staff.

If approved, Proposal 3 will be effective this year, and would mark the first time this has been amended since the charter was adopted.

 

Proposal 4
Proposal 4 decides how vacancies are filled in elected offices. Currently, if the mayor’s office is vacant, the council votes to appoint one of its members to serve as mayor for the rest of the term. For a vacancy on the council, the council appoints a new member at the next meeting after the vacancy occurs, choosing the runner-up from the last regular city election. If there is no runner-up, the council votes on another resident to fill the vacancy.

If approved, Proposal 4 would change the rules so that a vacancy in the office of mayor is instead filled by the mayor pro tem, starting at the next council meeting after the vacancy. The vacancy created by the mayor pro tem, in turn, would be filled by the council member who received the second highest number of votes in the last regular city election. Both the mayor and mayor pro tem would then serve until the next regular city election. Vacancies on council would be handled the same as before.

If approved, the changes would take effect for the 2025 regular city election. The rules for vacancies in elected office were last amended in 1984.

 

Proposal 5
Proposal 5 concerns the number of council meetings held throughout the year. The charter currently requires the council to hold at least two regular meetings each month, except during December when only one meeting is required, for a total of 23 regular meetings per year.

If approved, Proposal 5 would still require the council to hold 23 regular meetings each year but would improve scheduling flexibility by allowing a minimum of only one regular meeting in any given month. If approved, the change would go into effect this year. The last amendment was in 2001 when dates were changed to allow for one meeting in December.

Roslyn Grafstein, the mayor, said she will vote “yes” on Proposal 5, since she feels the added scheduling flexibility would be helpful. She will also vote “yes” on Proposal 3 because she feels the council’s permission is not needed for board members to resign.

She said she will vote “no” on the other three proposals. The mayor said she feels that the appointments of mayor pro tem and interim mayor should stay in the purview of council.

“When I was appointed mayor, it was by a 4-2 vote. So even when votes were not unanimous, there was the opportunity for discussion and for the voice of each council member to be heard,” Grafstein said. “Finally, I feel that having the mayor and up to six council members running for the election for one position (mayor) would create a hostile environment for council to work in. The mayor and council members are elected as independents who need to work together. Even if there are only two people running for one spot, it can make compromise and cooperation more difficult.”

 

Early voting
Rottmann noted that this year, voters will be able to access an early voting site, open for nine days from Saturday, Oct. 28 through Sunday, Nov. 5 at the Royal Oak Senior Community Center, located at 3500 Marais Ave., north of 13 Mile Road and east of Crooks Road. The hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily, except for Thursday, when the hours will be noon to 8 p.m.

“If you’d like to vote early, you can visit this location during the open hours and cast your ballot,” Rottmann said.

She also thanked her volunteers and staff for the long hours they put into the process.

“Without these dedicated citizens and employees, we would not be able to administer elections for the community,” Rottmann said.