Warren City Council to investigate ‘secret’ consultant hiring by Mayor Fouts
WARREN, Mich. – The Warren City Council has opened an investigation into the appointment of an employee by Mayor Jim Fouts. The council met Tuesday for a special meeting to discuss Fouts’ appointee Jamie Roe, who was hired as a clerical technician last March. “It just comes across as corruption in city hall. It scares the heck out of me of what we don’t know yet,” said Council President Pat Green“We became aware of a political consultant on city payroll -- getting benefits, 401K -- was also running campaigns during city hours,” Green later added. “My work with city hall has been no secret,” he said.
Warren mayor vetoes city council’s vote to reject marijuana settlement proposal
WARREN, Mich. – Days after the Warren City Council voted 5-2 to reject a marijuana settlement proposal, Mayor Jim Fouts has vetoed that vote. The proposal would have granted 28 licenses for medical marijuana provisional centers in Warren. Previous coverage:“Several members of the previous city council were fed by greed and corruption and charted a course behind closed doors at the direction of the mayor and the legal advice of city attorney Vinson.” Councilman Jonathan Lafferty said during Tuesday’s meeting. The city found itself in legal trouble after a Macomb County judge ruled that its marijuana licensing process under the former city council was done in secret and violated the Open Meetings Act. The current city council was presented with the settlement earlier this month to grant 28 new licenses in lieu of the original 15 licenses.
Warren Mayor Jim Fouts upset after city council cuts his personal assistants job position
WARREN, Mich. Budget cuts have left the mayor of Warren without one of his closest aides. Last week, the city council cut the position of an executive assistant to mayor Jim Fouts. READ: Warren Mayor Jim Fouts warns businesses to enforce social distancing guidelinesAmanda Mika, was the mayors executive assistant and made $90,000 a year. You did in fact this evening remove my position from the budget, Mika said at a June 26 council meeting. There are no games being played in the budget, Green said.