MELVINDALE, Mich. – Newly obtained audio from a recent Melvindale City Council meeting revealed concerns among some city officials that the mayor may worsen their current situation.
The mayor of Melvindale is Nicole Shkira.
In the recording, obtained through a public records request, Corporation Counsel Lawrence J. Coogan can be heard informing council members that the city’s insurance provider, Liberty, is canceling its liability policy.
“The insurance carrier just notified us they’re going to be canceling our insurance,” Coogan said in the audio from last Wednesday’s (Feb. 11) meeting. “I’ve warned this situation for two years was coming, so the city will be uninsured at this point. We’re now scrambling to try and get someone to do it.”
Without it, Coogan told council members, residents could be on the hook.
“It means this, that anytime there’s a judgment against the city, it’s going to be levied against each and every one of you,” Coogan said.
One Melvindale resident called that possibility ridiculous.
“Poor management throughout the mayor’s office,” said Dennis. “They (the mayor and city council) fight all the time. Things [are] going downhill around here a lot.”
Earlier in the recording, Coogan referenced ongoing litigation facing the city and directly linked some of the issues to the mayor, saying more are forthcoming.
“It is my duty to notify the Melvindale citizens of some problems we’ve had associated with litigation, and particularly it associates with the mayor,” Coogan said.
Later in the meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Joseph Jackson called for the mayor to resign.
“Honestly, the ethical and moral thing for the mayor to do is step down,” Jackson said on the recording.
Local 4 reached out to Mayor Shkira for comment about the statements made during the meeting. She has not yet responded.
Last week, the mayor told Local 4 that she believes the city’s current contract with Liberty, which she described as the only insurer willing to cover the city in that area, is set to end in June.
Local 4 also contacted Coogan to ask whether Melvindale has secured another liability insurance provider.
That call went to voicemail.
We also reached out to the Insurance Information Institute to ask what cities could do in situations like this.
They couldn’t speak specifically to what Melvindale is going through, but did mention “If a municipal policy in Michigan is cancelled by a private insurance company, options may be the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust (LMCIT) or Michigan Municipal League (MML.)