Dozens of Troy residents asked Mayor Janice Daniels to resign Monday night, and Daniels listened attentively but has said she has , despite the criticism over her use of a .
Attorney Michael Bartnik of Troy-based Bartnik Law Offices, who said he does not approve of the since the offending post surfaced Friday, wrote in a letter Wednesday to Troy Patch: "The people of Troy do have the recall remedy."
In order to file a recall petition, Bartnik said, there are three substantive requirements:
- The petition must “state clearly each reason for the recall.”
- “Each reason for the recall shall be based upon the officer's conduct during his or her current term of office.”
- The petition cannot be filed until six months after “the officer has actually performed the duties of the office." For Daniels, this is six months from the first City Council meeting following the November election, Bartnik said.
The petition may be filed with the Oakland County Clerk. "Then, whoever wants to organize this would need to put in their language that they want as grounds for the recall," Bartnik said.
Bartnik said the petition must be signed by at least 25 percent of the number of Troy voters who voted in the recent election for governor*.
He noted that since the was made before Daniels took office, it does not meet the second requirement and cannot be used as a reason for recalling the mayor.
"However, if Troy voters want to recall the mayor for something she has done while in office, the state constitution and statutes are behind them," he said.
Troy City Attorney Lori Grigg Bluhm said Troy City Council members "don't have the ability to remove her in any way, shape or form," and that a recall is the only way to remove the mayor from office. But the City Council "can pass a resolution (censure) that basically is a resolution of disapproval," she said.
She added that the censure "is really just a slap on the hand."
The only government official in the state who can remove Daniels from office without a recall is the governor, Bluhm said, though Daniels would first have to be found guilty of misconduct of office — a criminal offense.
"This probably does not rise to misconduct of office," Bluhm said.
Bartnik said he contacted Patch about the recall requirements because "the residents should just have the information available to them so they can take the initiative."
He added: "I’m very upset about the negative publicity that this has engendered for our town. It’s a negative impact on our diverse community."
*We originally reported the petition must be signed by at least 25 percent of the number of Troy voters who voted in the recent election for mayor; it should read "governor," not "mayor."
In any case, it sounds like she has to do something while IN office for the recall process to apply.
is voters who put her in office and not a bunch of students or the person that passed this around and put it on a blog. I think this lawyer has a lot of guts, what is he looking for new business????
Regarding the action being taken against the mayor, and the comments and petitions being circulated that indicate she should lose her job for her offensive language on facebook, my opinion is that hate and intolerance are at the heart of it. In other words, I believe that it's hateful and intolerant to call for a person to lose their professional job because of... something they said in their personal life. In this economy or any economy, it's wrong to try to get someone fired because you don't like something they said when they were at home. If they misspoke at work or in their official capacity, that's an entirely separate thing. Although I still think it'd be better to ask for an apology, and recommend some sort of sensitivity training. But fired? That's gonna impact that person's ability to pay their bills, feed their family, and prepare for their future. There are plenty of people who respect the gay rights movement, but aren't necessarily in full support of it. Actions like trying to hurt a person by making them lose their job over their personal opinion...seem hateful to me. That's how it looks to me and the few friends I've asked about this. There has to be a better way to seek resolution to these concerns besides trying to get her fired. Thanks for letting me make my comments. Please know that I don't mean anyone any disrespect. Sincerely, Stephen
How could anyone be so stupid to put something so contraversial in writing. Seriously, is this the type of judgement we'd expect from a "Mayor?" I think not...
Sincerely, Thomas
She did NOT apologize. With her smug, smirking delivery and weak words, all she did was communicate that she thought this was no big deal. I want her to sit down with former bullies who used to torment kids every day by calling them "queers" and ask them where they got the idea it was okay to do that. (Hint, Mayor: it was adults using the term in a derogatory way. Adults like YOU.) And I want her to talk to the families of gay MI teens who were bullied to the brink of suicide - or beyond it. She can call Senator Gretchen Whitmer's office for the list. I want her to tell us that if a gay Marine saved her son's life in battle, she would call that Marine a "queer" and tell him that she thinks he shouldn't be able to marry the person of his choosing. I want her to stay out of New York City. Without the "queers" she hates so much, it would be a boring hellhole of Wal-Marts, missing a lot of the creativity, talent and generosity that gay people bring wherever they go. She doesn't deserve to love New York, and it surely doesn't deserve her. This goes far beyond "one little word that people don't like". She is indecent. She has horrible judgment. She is an unrepentant bigot. She does not deserve to represent Troy. Resign, Janice. You are unfit for duty.
You want to talk about cruel, hateful accusations? Google Tyler Clementi. Google Jacob Rogers. Talk to anyone who has been bullied to death by someone like this horrible person Troy elected. This is not an isolated slip of the tongue on her part - it's part of who she is. The fact that she doesn't even know it's wrong despite being told multiple times makes her unfit to govern. She doesn't deserve an apology from anyone. She deserves justice. She deserves to be fired. It's only out of mercy that she should be allowed to resign.
Not exactly contrition as normal people understand it.
"If your parents don't straighten you out when you are young, then the world will do it for them when you are an adult. That will not go well for you, because the world doesn't love you." - Miss Manners
1) Freedom of speech is great but it's not an excuse to be a jerk. The First Amendment protects the individual's right to express their opinion without the government throwing them in jail. Janice was more than free to say "I openly disagree with the decision in New York". No one is denying her her right to have an opinion about gay marriage. HATE speech is not protected under the First Amendment, nor should it be. 2) Janice's remark on Facebook does not show that she "has a spine". It shows that she has absolutely no sense of what is appropriate to post on a public forum and what isn't. I would say that the people with spines are the ones who have emailed her, called her, emailed the rest of council, and shown up to council meetings to express their own opinions. You should also note that many of those people were liberals--not "spineless liberals" as you referred to them. 3) It is also important to be aware of the fact that it is not only liberals who were upset about what Janice said. It's anyone who has any sense of common decency...liberals, conservatives, gay, straight, whoever. 4) You mention the phrase "crooked liberal liars"...have you done any research whatsoever into the activities of Troy Citizens United, a group with whom Daniels is very closely connected? Alright, I think that's all I needed to say.
We know where she stands, all right. But it didn't take a spine for her to tell us. All it took was a lack of prudence, a big mouth, and a sense of entitlement. For one, I'm glad she said it. Sunlight is the best disinfectant, and it looks like her brand of slime is drying up as we speak. Good thing you weren't on the West Coast during WWII, Edward. Based on your name, "spineless liberals" would have had to fight to keep you out of an internment camp. People like Janice would have loved to lock you and any other Asian right up.
That being said, Mr. Bartnik has alerted us to the remedy necessary to correct our mistake. At the same time he put Mayor Daniels "on notice" that she must be responsible for her own behavior, every minute of every day. She will be held accountable for her actions. Just as we all should be. I hope the damage she has done to our city doesn't cost us even lower housing prices, more stores closing, more unemployment. But if it does, we have no one to blame but those who didn't vote in the last election; oh yes, and Ms. Daniels. Let's use this as a teachable moment that we are all responsible for our actions, including taking an interest in our local, state and federal politics before an election - not only after our politicians take office and displease us.
http://boycotttroy.com
Curious to think if we (Troy residents) can get the petition going for a recall based off the detrimental way she has handled herself since this story came to light. She has been mayor since her responses and her opposition to any form of regret of this situation. I mean, standing by her previous statements is reaffirming her disdain for the gay and lesbian community. So doesn’t that count as a “reason for the recall [that] shall be based upon the officer’s conduct during his or her current term in office”?