Special Council Meeting: Assertion Charter Was Violated Found to be Without Merit, City Attorney Will Settle Two Lawsuits
By Lucas Day
East Lansing City Council held a special meeting Thursday (Nov. 2) where the body accepted a finding that there was no merit behind the anonymous complaint, a tentative collective bargaining strategy was reached and City Attorney Anthony Chubb was given permission to settle two lawsuits.
ELi was surprised to find out the special meeting took place, as it was not on the meeting schedule at the start of the week. City Communications Director Carrie Sampson said the meeting was added to the schedule on Wednesday (Nov. 1). The meeting was held in Conference Room A, on the second floor of the Hannah Community Center, and not in the usual first-floor location, according to the agenda. No part of the meeting was recorded.
Notably, the meeting took place less than a week before Tuesday’s (Nov. 7) election, where three seats on Council are up for grabs and at least two members of the current Council will be replaced as they are not running for reelection.
There was a special Council meeting scheduled for Oct. 24 at one point, but it was canceled. In response to an email, Interim City Clerk Marie Wicks said Councilmember George Brookover was not at the Thursday special meeting.
Almost the entire meeting was done in closed session, with the agenda noting Council only came out of closed session to vote. There was time for public comment but Sampson said no one was in the audience of the meeting.
Independent investigator determines assertion that charter was violated to be without merit.
The most notable outcome from the meeting is that independent investigator Randall Secontine, who was hired to look into an anonymous complaint alleging overreach by Mayor Ron Bacon and Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and Organizational Culture Elaine Hardy, found assertions of charter violations to be without merit. It does not appear more information will be shed on what Secontine found, as details will be protected by attorney-client privilege.
“The City Council wishes to advise the public that the independent review authorized by the City Council and conducted by Randall Secontine found that the assertions of charter violations contained within the anonymous complaint were without merit,” Sampson wrote to Eli in an email. “The City Attorney concurred with this determination. The report is attorney-client privileged and will not be made public to protect the identities of those that cooperated with the independent review, to allow the City and its employees to move forward with providing services to its citizens.”
It isn’t clear how the investigation was done or who Secontine spoke with as part of the process. The city paid $30,000 for the investigation. ELi published an investigation in April about the complaint that highlights employee complaints and potential instances of overreach.
Council votes to settle two lawsuits.
Outside Secontine’s investigation, Council voted to allow Chubb to settle two lawsuits.
One of the suits, “Country Mill Farms, et. al. v. City of East Lansing” has been a six-year saga. In 2017, Country Mill Farms owner Steve Tennes posted on Facebook that his Charlotte-based business would not serve as a venue for same sex couples’ weddings. The city then changed its farmers market policy to require vendors to comply with the city’s civil rights ordinances and policies, which include not discriminating against people who are in same sex relationships.
In August, it was announced the city had lost the battle against Country Mill Farms and now it appears the city has reached a settlement. Sampson’s email said Council provided Chubb with “settlement authority in the requested amount” but did not specify how much the settlement was.
The second lawsuit, “Ronk, et. al., v. City of East Lansing,” was not as publicly scrutinized as the Country Mill case. Sampson said Council voted to grant Chubb “settlement authority in the requested amount” in this case as well. Details about the case were not made clear.
ELi will work to gather more information on both cases.
The fourth action item approved a tentative collective bargaining agreement between the City of East Lansing and Capital City Labor Program East Lansing Police Department Supervisory Division, according to Sampson. This was also discussed in closed session.
Executive Assistant to City Council Tammy Verchereau told ELi each motion passed unanimously, with Brookover being absent.
City Council’s next meeting will be Nov. 14 and include the swearing in of the three newly-elected Council members.
Correction: Story was corrected to specify that Secontine found assertions of charter violations were without merit.