Hingston Denies Violating Meetings Act
Village of Mackinaw City

At the Thursday, January 17, meeting of the Mackinaw City Village Council, trustee Jeff Hingston denied a charge by President Ronald Wallin that a council member had misled the council into violating the Open Meetings Act by privately prearranging every trustee's vote on an initiative to remove planning commission members Nancy Dean and Florence Tracy from their seats December 6, one meeting after appointing them.

The Open Meetings Act protects citizens' rights to know what their government is doing by requiring governmental bodies to meet and make decisions publicly.

In a prepared statement, Mr. Hingston acknowledged that he had spoken to all trustees about the matter, and to members of the public, but said he had not prearranged any votes or broken the law.

City Attorney Tom Evashevski told Council December 12 that Ms. Dean and Mrs. Tracy could not be removed from their seats, and Mr. Hingston said he met with them afterward and apologized on behalf of himself and his colleagues.

Mr. Hingston charged that Mr. Wallin's accusation of law-breaking was irresponsible and inappropriate.

"If it occurs again, you could subject yourself to censure," he said.

Along that line, Mr. Hingston proposed a code of ethical standards for all village employees and elected officials.

Mr. Hingston and Village Clerk Elizabeth Clemens plan to attend a seminar by the Michigan Municipal League in Gaylord Thursday, February 21 that will include information on ethical conduct.

All council members except Mr. Wallin voted to alter two components of council meeting agendas, which imposed time periods for council members and the public to speak about any subject.

They voted to remove the word "council."

At Mr. Wallin's request, shortly after his election, two open comment periods for council members were added.

"By eliminating the word 'council,' what it does at the very least is [to] eliminate any council person from grandstanding," Mr. Hingston said. "It served us well before not to have two other areas on the agenda where someone can speak about" any subject.

Former meeting agendas included one public comment period, but no open comment periods for the council.

"It disallows grandstanding, but more importantly, the public can make an informed decision to attend the council meeting for what is on the agenda, rather than for what is not," Mr. Hingston added.

Mr. Wallin questioned whether Mr. Hingston would miss the opportunity to address a matter not on an agenda, but which could be discussed during an open comment period.

Mr. Hingston replied that open discussion periods for council members are not necessary. Members can place matters on the agenda that they wish to discuss.

Further, committee reports open matters for discussion, as do reports by the manager, treasurer, and president, he said.

Questioned by the public, Mr. Hingston explained that the change does not eliminate the public comment period.

Mr. Hingston told The St. Ignace News that he was absent from the November meeting when the open comment periods for council members were added.

It allowed the president to deliver several prepared statements on issues council members were not prepared to discuss, he said.

The continued rift between trustees and the president has angered some residents, one of whom demanded that council members look beyond their differences and attend to the business they were elected to do.

"I would like nothing better than to come into a meeting and not have to worry about what protocol we are going to argue about, and do something [rather] than to come in here and do what we do now," Trustee James Alford said. "I would like to get on with the business that we are supposed to be doing."