Politics & Government

City Defends Right to Appoint Mayor in Letter to State

Troy City Attorney Lori Grigg Bluhm responds to state Director of Election Christopher Thomas' Monday letter ordering a Feb. 26, 2013 special election.

Troy City Attorney Lori Grigg Bluhm, in responding to a letter sent to her late Monday afternoon from state Director of Elections Christopher Thomas, sent a letter Tuesday challenging Thomas' reasons for ordering a special election on Feb. 26, 2013, to elect a replacement for Janice Daniels, who was recalled on Nov. 6.

Thomas' letter arrived the same day Troy City Council voted 4-2 to appoint Dane Slater Mayor of Troy until the Nov. 5, 2013 regular election.

"This letter is in response to your letter of November 26, 2012, to Troy City Clerk M. Aileen Bittner, which was sent via e-mail at 5:30 pm," Bluhm wrote. "It was received after the fifteen day candidate filing deadline set forth in MCL 168.971, which is the statutory recall provision that you rely upon for your legal analysis. Unfortunately, the letter was received after the City had already turned away two persons who were vying to be a candidate by paying $100 prior to the 4 pm filing deadline yesterday. These attempted filings were not accepted at the City, since there has not been a February 2013 election called."

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Bluhm went on to refute several more of Thomas' reasons for ordering a special election in February in her four-page letter.

"I encourage you to share this letter with the Attorney General's Office, so that they can have a condensed version of our legal research available in deciding whether or not to initiate proceedings to force our community to endure a special February election, at an estimated cost of approximately $50,000 plus untold political costs and further turmoil."

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To read both letters in their entirety, please see the PDF files attached to this story.

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