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Rancor between the warring factions on the Houghton City Council reached a fever pitch last night.
In a two-and-a-half hour meeting, the council did manage to accomplish about an hour’s worth of business. They unanimously approved the reauthorization of the sale of $1.5 million in bonds to help pay for the cost of tearing down the big downtown parking deck. City Manager Eric Waara reported that city crews have already begun stripping items that can be reused off the structure. Waara also noted that a task force has been meeting to devise alternate parking plans for use during the deck’s demolition, and afterward.
Waara encouraged residents whose discarded Christmas trees haven’t been picked up by city crews to call the city office.
Council members supported a request that the Michigan Department of Transportation conduct a feasibility study on the prospect of combining the Houghton and Hancock Transit Systems. Waara said the City of Hancock also favors having a study done…
Councilors also voted to allow food trucks at the upcoming Jibba Jabba snowboarding event, which is scheduled for downtown on February 18th.
City Attorney Patrick Greeley resumed his discussion with the council about a potential conflict of interest regarding councilor Jan Cole. Cole is the registered agent for the Hall Building, which is owned by her brother, Edward Cole. Edward Cole is suing the city, after plans were approved for a taller structure to be built on an adjacent lot.
Charges have been raised that she should have recused herself from some votes involving the process. She has recused herself from many related votes, including several last night involving the discussion.
Greeley had begun his discussion at the council’s last meeting via remote computer link, but the link failed. He attended last night’s meeting in person.
His opinion, based on material he said was provided to him, was that Cole is in the clear…
Councilor Craig Waddell pressed Greeley, referring repeatedly to a 17-page document Waddell had submitted to Greeley, and trying to get Greeley to weigh in as to whether Cole’s actions were ethical. Greeley explained that it’s not his job to judge whether behavior is actually ethical or not. His job is to evaluate whether behavior runs afoul of the city’s ethics policies. Waddell went so far as to question the quality of Greeley’s legal training…
Greeley reiterated that law school ethics training is designed to educate attorneys about their professional ethical obligations, and repeated that it is the council, not its attorney, that sets ethical standards. He did note that Houghton’s ethical policies could be clearer.
Most of last night’s session, though, was consumed by infighting, mostly between Waddell and councilor Mike Needham, who alternated between quick verbal jabs and extended soliloquies.
Mayor Brian Irizarry responded to two letters that were read into the record at the last council meeting. Irizarry focused on one letter, the authorship of which is indeterminate…
Needham said he doesn’t think the council should restrict free speech by discounting communications just because they can’t figure out who sent them…
Regarding the points raised in the letter, Irizarry said there was no collusion in advance of the mayoral vote by the council members who supported him. He said appointments to various commissions and subcommittees have been made according to city policy, and that business is being conducted within city guidelines.
You can hear his response to the letter, and Needham’s reply, here:
By the end of the meeting, multiple councilors were trading barbs about such old issues as the loss of the Veridea Group as a development partner for the waterfront, and the zoning decision regarding the proposed seaplane base on the sands west of the city…
We asked Mayor Irizarry to be a guest on Copper Country Today this weekend to further address issues raised in the letter referred to in the story. He refused. Mayor Pro Tem Joan Suits has agreed to be a guest on Sunday’s program.
