EDITOR:

I am writing to express my disappointment with the state of the Escanaba Planning Commission’s affairs.

Looking at the minutes kept on the City website, it’s clear that the Commission is neglecting the rules. Section 601 of the Commission’s Bylaws clearly state that the minutes of any given meeting must include all materials the Commission reviewed during that meeting. The January, February, and March meetings all fail to include this information.

I also noticed that, in conjunction with that lack of information, none of the motions made on any administrative subjects include any findings of fact. They also fail to make any conclusions. Besides the fact that these motions fail to leave everyone involved more vulnerable to legal action down the road. An aggrieved individual could easily take the Commission to court (and win) because there is nothing in the record that proves that any of these approvals were done lawfully. The minutes do, however, indicate that public hearings are not being conducted according to the procedure identified in the Bylaws. That’s a violation of peoples’ rights to procedural due process under the 5th Amendment.

To another point, the February and March minutes do not indicate whether they have been posted in accordance with OMA. While there’s certainly a high degree of plausible deniability there, the January minutes lay bare a clear violation of OMA. According to State law, draft minutes must be made available to the public within 8 business days after the meeting. Since that meeting was held on January 9, the deadline was January 21. However, the date of availability in those minutes was February 3, a full 17 days after the meeting.

The Commission is failing to follow its own adopted rules and the laws of this State. How can they expect the people of this City to abide by its authority while failing to abide by other authorities? I hope that it takes stock of these shortcomings and cleans up its act.

Tyler Anthony

Escanaba