Warren council overrides Mayor Stone's veto of ordinance on purchase limits

Warren's City Council overrode a veto by Mayor Lori Stone on Tuesday night to pass an amendment that puts a $50,000 limit on her ability to make emergency purchases.

The city's emergency purchase ordinance allows mayors to make purchases immediately in a crisis without seeking the council's OK.

The City Council revised the ordinance in April and made the definition of an emergency stricter, according to council attorney Jeffrey Schroder. In a 7-0 vote Tuesday, the council delivered the first override of a veto by Stone five months into her administration.

"This amendment tightens up the definition of emergency to prevent these no-bid contracts to outside vendors and maintains council oversight," said City Council Secretary Mindy Moore.

The mayor does not have to solicit bids for an emergency purchase. Stone said she is "disappointed" by the override.

"And I'm concerned about how this will impact services going forward," she said. "That's yet to be seen, so I'll be watching closely."

The previous Warren council disagreed with former Mayor Jim Fouts' use of the emergency purchase ordinance, prompting the revisions. The council considered an amendment to the ordinance in 2022 and approved it on a first reading. It didn't hold a second reading until April 9, when the council had four new members and the city had a new mayor. The council approved the amendment then in a 7-0 vote.

Schroder said the board changed the definition of an emergency to match the definition in Michigan's Open Meetings Act. The ordinance defines emergency as "a severe and imminent threat to the health, safety, or welfare of the public where a delay would be detrimental to efforts to lessen or respond to the threat."

Under the revised ordinance, if an emergency occurs, Stone can spend up to $50,000. The purchase will serve as a stopgap measure, allowing Stone to get what is needed until the council can hold a special meeting and approve further spending.

In emergencies, the council can call a meeting with less than 18 hours' notice and can approve spending above the $50,000.

In November, a hearth collapsed in Warren's waste incinerator and the council approved an emergency purchase at a scheduled meeting, adding the item to the council's agenda.

After the council approved the amendment earlier this month, Stone vetoed the ordinance. In a news release, she said the city's existing ordinance for emergency purchases allows a mayor to "quickly respond to disruptions to city services." The new ordinance, she said, redefined the word emergency in "extreme terms."

Stone told The News last week that in her time in the Legislature, she learned about the "unintended impact of language."

"I think it's very important when ordinance and policy language is being developed, that our legislative branch is doing their due diligence and doing their homework, and understanding both what it is they're trying to affect and whether the language gets there," she said.

She said the city charter already has an emergency management ordinance, but the emergency purchasing ordinance serves a different purpose. The ordinance allows city departments to continue providing operations and services when a crisis occurs.

At Tuesday's meeting, Stone said the ordinance has "arguably been abused in the past," but "quite rightly, it has been exercised regularly to address issues." She said it was used to pay for wastewater incinerator repairs in 2017 and to address flooding in the library later that year.

Her press release notes that the council is instituting an "arbitrary cap on spending."

Moore, the City Council secretary, said Tuesday evening that in a true emergency, the council can "quickly approve any necessary expenditures in excess of $50,000." The board normally needs to provide the public at least 18 hours' notice before holding a meeting, but in the event of an emergency, it can convene sooner.

"As soon as we have a quorum, we can hold the meeting ― whether it's in 10 minutes, 20 minutes, an hour, five hours, whatever ― we can do it," she said.