BY PHIL CUSTODIO
Clarkston News Editor
Clarkston City Council members and candidates Jason Kneisc, David Marsh, and Scott Reynolds support all four proposed amendments to the City Charter – Proposed Charter Amendment 1, Restrictions Concerning Officers; Proposed Charter Amendment 2, Zoning Board of Appeals; Proposed Charter Amendment 3, Independent Audit; and Proposed Charter Amendment 4, Board of Review – in the Nov. 5 election.
In principal, they are needed for the city to be compliant and consistent with Michigan Laws that have evolved, Reynolds said.
“During the last election it became very evident we had an issue where a person that wanted to run for a new position had to first resign as required by our charter,” he said. “In this case, it was a city council member that wanted to run for the position of mayor. Honestly, it just created a mess and these amendments, if approved, will resolve that issue.”
Following this issue, the city formed a Charter Committee to study it at great length, he said.
“These ballot proposals are the result of that good work from the committee,” Reynolds said.
The proposed amendments will allow the city to be more in line with the state, Kneisc said.
“In particular, I found the need to resign to run for a different position concerning and am glad to see a charter amendment being offered to allow the public more choice,” he said. “After all, if you don’t have to resign as the vice president of the United States to run for the presidential position, then it seems logical to allow this same behavior in the city where we have much less choice already due to our smaller population. This is definitely a recommended amendment that is for the residents in order to give them more power and choice.”
All seven members of City Council and all five members of the Charter Committee voted to approve the charter amendments, Marsh said.
“We have had a public meeting on the four items and will be having another presentation and discussion at the next city council meeting, Monday, Oct. 28, for any unanswered questions,” he said. ” I encourage the public to attend.”