To the Editor:
[private]In the November 8, general election other candidates were elected to the Alma City Commission, and I congratulate them. Most comforting is the fact that the composition of the commission has new and continuing members that I believe will serve our community with strong sense of dedicated service to our city’s future economic growth, expansion, public health, and quality of life.
My deep appreciation and sincere thank you is extended to all who took the time to listen to my visions for our beloved city and cast your important vote my way. Though I have great respect for Alma’s city mayor, Greg Mapes and support the concept of a City Commission of seven elected Commissioners that form our city government, I am opposed to an unconstitutional City Charter that allows for the mayor’s position to be “appointed” in direct violation of the XV Amendment of the US Constitution in its citizenry formally “electing” their mayor by vote. Section 1 of this amendment specifically states: The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Citizens who pay taxes and/or are employed, “past or present,” qualifies as “previous condition of servitude” equally reflective of former emancipated slaves who gained their freedom as a result of the American Civil War. What has happened with an “appointed mayor” (or any city officer in a similar capacity) is that the “check and balance” of city management is lost in citizen voting right opposition to important economic, health or safety issue that might arise in serious conflict with the commission. The mayor’s office should be completely separate, just as the Executive Office is separated from Congress and Supreme Court. This government system is meant primarily to weigh out laws and regulations before they conflict or damage the social integrity, structure and consistency of American law and fiscal/economic stability. Our voting right protection is vitally important to our national security as a Democracy, and as a Republic. Give up your scope of voting protection in any manner; your personal power over elected officials in public discourse is severely diminished.
Removal of your protected voting rights under this present system is illegal according to the US Constitution. Article VI, Clause 2, “Supreme Law of the Land” provides that the US Constitution serves as supreme law in the United States. It directs that, “state courts are bound by it and state constitutions are subordinate to it.” The Alma 1976 Charter is in direct violation of both Amendment XV and Article VI of the US Constitution. My thought is that it is the obligation of the present Alma City Commission to correct the problem quickly by Special Election to amend the Alma City Charter, or end up in Federal Court to have it adjudicated for them.
Alma voters need to have legal protection under the law for their vote and quality of government. The Michigan Constitution of 1963 contains the following statement: All political power is inherent in the people. Government is instituted for their equal benefit, security, and protection. Your Republic is “you” as American Government. Your Vote is “you” as an equal part of American democracy; the US Constitution verifies that guarantee. My plan is to continue my efforts to that end.
Greg Mapes has served Alma citizenry with distinction, dedication and honor for many years. He deserves to have his devoted legacy remembered as “elected Mayor,” nothing less. In researching the 1976 vote for the current Alma City Charter, little or nothing was mentioned regarding the fact that over 9,000 people would no longer have an elected mayor; only that an amendment to the City Charter was being proposed. In reviewing what was written historically in the voter ballot for 1976 is one statement only, “Alma City Charter Amendment.” It is my view, that this was perhaps a deceptive situation that needs further investigation. The implication it projects is that less than 2000 Alma city voters were adequately informed of the Charter amendment issue, and thousands of Alma’s approximately 9,000 citizens were not. Alma voters need their voting right back, and I invite the new 2022 City Commission, though not their direct fault, to correct that error now. [private]
Doug Haney
Alma