Residents discuss Mayor Jim Fouts at Warren City Council meeting

Resolution to force Fouts to take lie detector test fails

WARREN, Mich. – Resident discussed Warren Mayor Jim Fouts Tuesday night at the City Council meeting amid two brewing scandals.

One scandal involves the vulgar audiotapes Fouts said are fake, but experts said sound exactly like his voice. Another issue is the state's investigation into a potential violation of campaign-finance laws.

A resolution to force Fouts to take a lice detector test failed at the meeting.

Since the tapes were made public, Fouts' life has been a nightmare, according to his Facebook post.

From the beginning of the incident, he's claimed the tapes are fake. Warren residents aren't so sure.

"It sounds like the mayor," resident Bruce Gibson said.

Sources told Local 4 there could be a demonstration Tuesday night at the meeting to show how someone could create a tape like the ones that allegedly involve Fouts.

"I think it would be futile," resident Gil Schramm said. "People ... know how he sounds."

City Councilman Keith Sadowski will also introduce a resolution to hire outside counsel to handle the state's investigation into whether Fouts' 2016 State of the City Address, which doubled as a political fundraiser, was put on with taxpayer dollars.

"When he was a councilman, the neighborhoods loved him because he did a lot for the neighborhoods, and they're not forgetting that," one resident said.

Many supporters and non-supporters are expected to stand up during public comment at the meeting.

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Jason is Local 4’s utility infielder. In addition to anchoring the morning newscast, he often reports on a variety of stories from the tragic, like the shootings at Michigan State, to the off-beat, like great gas station food.

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